Corporate Hires
- Activision, Los Angeles, appoints Michael Larson as senior publicist; Larson was an account executive for Manning, Selvage & Lee, Los Angeles.
- Autobytel.com, global leader in automotive e-commerce and services based in Irvine, Calif., names Melanie Webber as director of PR; Webber was VP of PR at Hollywood-based PR firm, RBI Communications Inc.
- Estee Lauder, New York, rehires Maureen Case as VP, general manager of Bobbi Brown Essentials International; case most recently was SVP, general merchandising manager for Fashion and Beauty for World Duty Free, a BAA subsidiary.
- Chancellor Marketing Group, Washington, D.C., the national sales promotion arm of AMFM Inc., names Rose Ann Domenici as managing director; Domenici most recently headed Domenici & Associates/Impact Coaching & Consulting in Washington, D.C.
- Hughes Space and Communications Company, El Segundo, Calif., a unit of Hughes Electronics Corp., appoints George Torres as director of communications; Torres was previously a director of communications at Boeing Space and Communications Group.
- Medialink Worldwide Inc., London, names Daniel Hodson non-executive chairman of the company's London-based international unit; Hodson is formerly the chief executive of the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE).
- Swissotel, a New York-based global luxury hotel management company, names Regina Henry as director of corporate communications; Henry was VP at Trombone Associates, New York, an advertising and PR agency.
Corporate Promotions
- Dennis Eastham has been promoted from president and COO of Brann North American Agencies to president and COO of Brann Worldwide, Bethesda, Md., a subsidiary of Snyder Communications Inc.; also, Fred Kaseff was promoted from CFO of Brann North American Agencies to CFO of Brann Worldwide.
Agency Hires
- The Berline Group, a Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based advertising, marcom and PR firm, hires Thomas Hill as director of PR; Hill was an account manager at Corporate Technology Communications, Chicago.
- Connors Communications, a New York-based strategic public relations and marketing firm, names Scott Allison SVP of West Coast operation in San Francisco; Allison was SVP and partner for Gable Group, San Diego; and Jan Rauckhorst joins as VP, media relations; previously a PR manager for Intel.
- Edelman Public Relations Worldwide, Dallas, appoints Samuel F. Falcona as managing director of Edelman Texas; recently served as president of Alert Five Communications, a corporate consulting organization in Chicago.
- G.S. Schwartz & Co. Inc., New York, names Libby Roberge VP of the firm's consumer group; Roberge was previously VP, media relations for Porter, LeVay & Rose Inc., New York.
- Golin/Harris Int'l, Chicago, appoints Marc Rose as SVP in its corporate communications practice; Rose previously served as SVP, director of marketing and communications for Mentor Investment Group, Chicago.
- MMW/Savitt, Seattle, hires Gretchen Bakamis as SVP and chief operating officer; was president and founder of Bcommunications, a strategic communications firm in Seattle.
- Ruder Finn, Los Angeles, names Melissa J. Schumer SVP; Schumer was formerly VP of PR for Sega GameWorks, Los Angeles.
- The Widmeyer-Baker Group Inc., Washington, D.C., appoints Scott Ward as assistant VP and group director; Ward was most recently senior account executive at Vanguard Communications; and Jodie Pozo-Olano, as senior associate; was formerly deputy director/external communications for The Universal Service Administration Company.
Agency Promotions
- Peg Culotta, from VP to SVP at The Weber Group, Arlington, Va.
- Clay Hausmann, from director to VP for Connors Communications, San Francisco.
- Hill and Knowlton, New York, announced several senior promotions: Paul Graves, from global relationship manager to senior managing director; Michael Kontos, from managing director to senior managing director; Lisa Kennedy, from account director to managing director of H&K's New York pharmaceutical group; Jessica Ross, from managing director to senior managing director for H&K, Washington, D.C.; Wendi Taylor Nations, from managing director to senior managing director at H&K's Chicago office; Nancy Buono Cartwright, Kevin Elliot and Mary Hancock, from managing directors to senior managing directors at H&K's San Francisco office; and Tracy Campbell, from managing director to senior managing director at H&K's Sacramento office.
- Dan Pecchia, from director of editorial services to VP of public relations for Innis Maggiore Group Inc., Canton, Ohio.
- Bill Rylance is named president and CEO of Burson-Marsteller's Asia-Pacific region based in Hong Kong; Rylance rejoined Burson-Marsteller earlier this year following B-M's purchase of Merit Communications, his Seoul, Korea-based PR firm.
- Rick Toller, from senior account executive to director for Duffey Communications, an Atlanta-based independent communications firm.
- Michael Turner, from public affairs director to senior public affairs director at The MMW Group, East Rutherford, N.J.
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