Stories by PRNEWS

The Weber Group , Cambridge, Mass., hired James Finlaw as senior vice president. He was a director at Cunningham Communications, Cambridge. Lisa Lindgren was appointed director of the San Diego HyperMedia Center, a unit of… Continued

H&K’s Berard to Fleishman John Berard, executive managing director and head of the advanced technology unit at Hill and Knowlton’s New York office, is joining Fleishman-Hillard as general manager of the firm’s San Francisco office.… Continued

Politis & Associates Inc. , Sandy, Utah, changed its name to Politis Communications . According to agency founder David Politis, the change reflects the firm’s expansion of services beyond public relations to direct mail, trade… Continued

GPC Opens in Calgary GPC Communications , a Toronto-based PR and public affairs firm, has opened an office in Calgary, Alberta. Heading GPC Communications- Alberta will be Gordon Forstner, who joins as general manager. He… Continued

First Data’s Tobin Starts Firm Gary Tobin, senior vice president of communications and government affairs at First Data Corp. launched a new counseling firm, TOBIN Inc. , in New York. The former American Express Co.… Continued

With their intense involvement in legislative and regulatory developments at the local, state and federal levels, many corporate public affairs departments set their priorities in reaction to the timetables or priorities of governmental and legislative… Continued

May 7-10: Center for Corporate Community Relations, “The Institute on Corporate Community Relations,” Boston, 617/552-2555. May 8: Congressional Quarterly, “Using Internet to Find Free or Low-Cost Federal Info,” Washington, D.C., 202/887-8620. May 8: Ragan Communications,… Continued

Gary Grates, president and CEO of Boxenbaum Grates Inc. , New York, was named the 1995/96 “Outstanding Alumnus” of the journalism and public relations department at Utica College of Syracuse University. Grates also initiated the… Continued

MERCOMM Inc. , Ossining, N.Y., issued a call for entries for its yearly corporate annual report contest. The entry deadline is May 10. Winners will be announced at a ceremony in New York on July… Continued

The annual “Creativity in Public Relations Awards” will be announced next week at a dinner reception May 14 in New York at the Plaza Hotel, beginning with cocktails at 6:00 p.m. The annual recognition event… Continued