We’re Growing the Family (Tree)

TreeOver the last five months the PRBC founding members and contributing bloggers have had the absolute joy of bringing you nearly 250 posts on the things that impact all our lives — PR, Social Media and everything else that touches on the various communications arts we all get to call our day (and sometimes night) jobs.

After some thought, we’ve come to the realization that you, our devoted readers need more — more variety of specialty, experience, geographic diversity, and everything else that makes each of us, as a person and professional, unique.

And so we started taking particular note of the PR folks we find ourselves surrounded by on a day-to-day basis and sent out some invitations asking if they would do us the honor of joining our little family as bloggers. Nearly all of them (one got away because of time issues) paid us the highest praise by agreeing to come on board and add to our mix with their own special flavor.

(Short version: We’re adding new bloggers with different backgrounds, experiences, and locations.  We all think this is kinda cool).

And so, without further adieu, I’d like to introduce you to the newest PRBC bloggers.  Some familiar names in there I’m sure, and perhaps some new people you’ll get to know over the coming months.

Eric Berto
Eric is a PR and corporate communications specialist in the Seattle area. Eric’s background as an award-winning journalist and sociology brings a people-powered approach to community engagement for companies ranging from global software companies to growing enterprise software companies. Eric blogs semi-regularly at http://thegeekgiant.com and http://www.babyberto.com.

Danny Brown
Danny has been providing business branding and emerging media consultancy services to the consumer and commercial markets for more than 15 years, from small start-ups to Fortune 500 businesses.

He is currently the Social Media Strategist for Maritz Canada and founder of the 12for12k Challenge, a unique charity project using social media to connect globally and help locally.

Colleen Campbell
Colleen is an Account Director at Ogilvy Public Relations, Washington, D.C. Always curious, an insatiable desire to learn more about communications lead Colleen to a career in PR. Her background is in B2B, B2G (Business-to-Government), social marketing and government communications. She holds a B.A. in Political Communications from George Washington University and a M.A. in Communication, Culture and Technology from Georgetown University. You can connect with Colleen on her blog www.prsoapbox.com or on Twitter where she shares her personal views and opinions that do not necessarily reflect the views of Ogilvy Public Relations or its clients. When she’s not working hard for clients, Colleen enjoys hanging out with her awesome husband, Ed, doing Pilates, and cooking.

Rebecca Denison
Rebecca is a recent college graduate working as an assistant account executive at Edelman Digital in Chicago. As a biochemist-turned-PR-professional, Rebecca has a passion for measurement and social media which she brings to PRBreakfastClub. Rebecca also blogs about PR measurement on her own blog and bleeds Carolina blue, especially during the college basketball season.

Jeff Esposito
Jeff is a PR carpetbagger who has worked for a variety of professional sports teams along the east coast. He’s the PR manager at Vistaprint and also blogs at www.jeffesposito.com.

Arik Hanson
As the principal of ACH Communications, a digital communications firm, Arik helps organizations across the country create tight-knit communities, build strong brand awareness and drive thought leadership through integrated PR, communications and digital programs. Arik is the chief blogger at Communications Conversations and co-founded the B2B Voices blog in 2009.

Kristen Massaro
Kristen was born and raised and is STILL living in NYC. She accidentally tripped into a career in public relations almost seven years ago and somehow the industry just can’t shake her. She has a mild obsession with social media, the New York Yankees and her shih-tzu puppy, Alfie.

Mike Schaffer
Mike is the Director of Social Media for Brotman-Winter Fried Communications, focusing on sports, entertainment, restaurants and museums. A former DJ and sportscaster, he has worked with MLB, MLS, NBA, NFL, NHL, NCAA, PGA and ATP teams, athletes and events, not to mention a few professional wrestling projects! He is the founder of the weekly #SportsPRChat on Twitter and runs http://thebuzzbymikeschaffer.com. He lives in Washington, DC, with his beautiful wife, Marisa, and their ridiculously awesome dog, Balki.

Amanda Sena
Amanda is a reformed television news reporter who now works for Xenophon Strategies, a Washington, DC, based public relations company. Despite being voted one of the “60 PR Experts to Follow on Twitter” in October 2009, don’t let her pleasant demeanor throw you off guard. At the young age of 17, Amanda enlisted in the U.S. Army and served for four years before going to journalism school at the University of Missouri for her Bachelors and Masters degrees. When Amanda isn’t working hard for her clients you can probably find her at the gym training for another marathon or triathlon. She is doing her first Half Ironman in May 2010 so take a minute to wish her luck! The postings on this site are her own and do not represent the viewpoints of Xenophon Strategies, its clients or the other writers for this site.

Elizabeth Sosnow
Elizabeth Sosnow is a Managing Director with BlissPR, a B2B based public relations firm in New York and Chicago. Elizabeth leads BlissPR’s social media strategy development, helping clients and colleagues assess and maximize customer engagement via evolving communications tools. You can also find her blogging at http://blog.blisspr.com/

Josh Sternberg
Josh is the owner/founder of Sternberg Strategic Communications, a communications firm helping clients get their messages to the right audiences. Prior to entering the field, Josh was an adjunct professor at two New Jersey universities. He also writes for The Huffington Post, Mashable and Mediate.

Alex Tan
Alex is a digital account supervisor in GolinHarris’ Dallas office. He also writes about his experiences in PR, social media and the world of technology over at The Human Application. Although he has said at least one smart thing in his life, the postings on this site are his own and do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of GolinHarris or those of GH clients.

Joseph Vasquez
After 12 years successfully managing PR programs in New York City, Joe decided to move to Austin to start his own shop, VASQ PR. Through the years, he has seen the best and worst practices in the industry, inspiring him to defend the integrity of the PR profession. According to his Twitter profile, he’s just a dude adding diversity to the industry.  You can learn more about his approach to PR at hissite or by following him on Twitter.

Heather Whaling
Heather is an award-winning, seasoned communicator, fusing strategic thinking, strong writing skills and creativity to deliver public relations, social media and marketing results. She recently launched Geben Communication to work more closely with nonprofit organizations and small businesses. Additionally, Heather co-moderates #pr20chat, a weekly exploration of social media’s influence on public relations. She loves social good, sports (especially the Yankees!), her iPhone and a good glass of wine. Connect with her on her blogTwitter or via email at heather [at] gebencommunication.com.

Andrew Worob
Andrew Worob is a passionate and enthusiastic public relations professional with five years of journalism experience combined with four years of agency experience serving a broad range of clients. Andrew began his communications career as a journalist at publications such as MLB.com (FL), Rivals.com, the Journal News (White Plains, NY), and the Dominion Post (Morgantown, WV). He also has experience in broadcast media working at WDTV (CBS) (Clarksburg, WV) and U-92 Radio (Morgantown, WV).

He graduated from West Virginia University, where he received a B.S in journalism with a minor in history. He works in New York City and currently lives in Rockland County, NY.  His personal blog PR at Sunrise is updated every Monday and Thursday morning.

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