GBSM has promoted Kyle Miller to the position of Senior Associate. Since joining the firm, Miller has concentrated on both statewide and community-based projects involving land use, natural resources, health care, telecommunications and public involvement.
GBSM has added water-rights expert Alexandra “Alex” Davis as principal. Prior to joining GBSM, Davis was the Assistant Director for Water with the Colorado Department of Natural Resources and the First Assistant Attorney General for the Water Rights Unit where she litigated cases for the State Engineer’s Office, the Colorado Water Conservation Board and the Division of Wildlife.
“We are excited that Alex brings her deep experience in managing complex water and natural resource matters to GBSM,” said John Baron, chief executive officer. “She is highly skilled at solving problems in complicated situations in which both the substance and process count. She will be immensely helpful to our clients and to our already strong natural resources practice.”
GBSM has promoted Cody Wertz from senior associate to principal. Wertz has been with GBSM for four years, and has helped build “a rapidly growing public affairs practice while providing media relations, positioning and communications strategy for the firm’s clients.” Prior to joining GBSM, Wertz was communications and press secretary to U.S. Senator Ken Salazar.
GBSM has hired Russ Rizzo as a senior associate and Andrea Cunningham as an associate. Rizzo formerly was with Linhart PR and Cunningham joins GBSM after positions with Res Publica Group and Schneider Associates.
Michele Ames has rejoined GBSM as a senior associate, following a four-year stint as a special assistant to the Chancellor at University of Colorado Denver. Ames, a former Rocky Mountain News reporter, will support GBSM clients in the areas of strategic communications, crisis communications and media relations.
GBSM has hired Kyle Miller, a government and public affairs specialist who formerly advised Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, as an Associate. Miller most recently served as the Director for the Governor’s Office of Economic Recovery where he managed a team responsible for implementing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In his new position, Miller will help craft strategy and communications efforts for GBSM clients.
GBSM is seeking “an exceptional professional to serve as senior executive assistant for our growing corporate communications, public relations and crisis management practice. The position requires one or two years experience in a PR agency, consulting firm or communications department. You must have absolutely superb organizational, administrative, research and project management skills. Responsibilities include all facets of principal support, scheduling, research and assessment, materials creation, contact management, social networking, conferences and events, distribution, community outreach, media relations, reporting and other areas.”
For consideration, send resume with cover letter directly to Steven Silvers at stevensilvers@gbsm.com. Put “Attn: New Staff Position” in the email subject line.
- GBSM promoted Megan Lane to senior associate.
- M Squared Public Relations & Marketing has been hired by the Denver Home Show to manage media relations for the March show.
GBSM is hiring a senior associate to join the strategic consulting, communications and public affairs firm. GBSM says candidates need “at least six years experience with a proven background in behavioral-focused integrated communications and community-based social marketing.” You can read the entire job description here. If you are interested, send your resume, cover letter and few samples of your work to Raleigh-Durham Decker.
The most thoughtful clients are the ones who know you are coming and take the time to create a public relations crisis so your visit will be worth the effort. GBSM’s Steve Silvers shares his story of a thoughtful client in a broader post about what Tiger Woods and other scandals tell us about crisis management planning.
By Steven Silvers
Principal, GBSM
A key theme in 2010 will be information command and control:
Millions of people will stop using free social media services as they realize that those revenue-hungry companies are giving or selling access to their profiles, posts, pics and friends lists.
Court cases will reaffirm that employee use of social media during working hours is not protected speech, adding to intense monitoring and far more stringent policies by employers.
“Agenda media” will continue to grow as more formerly ad-supported news outlets become funded by interest groups, politically leaning foundations, single corporations and even government.
Public interest and watchdog groups will try to put teeth on the FTC’s new rules requiring full transparency in all marketing, promotion and publicity.
Denver management consulting, strategic communications and public affairs firm GBSM is seeking an Executive Assistant. For more information, check out Andrew Hudson’s Jobs List, the single best resource for Denver marketing and PR jobs.
Congratulations to Tracy Boyle and her team at GBSM, which was named as a finalist in the annual PR News’ Nonprofit PR Awards for their work with client Delta Dental Foundation.
Scatterbox’s (and GBSM’s) Steve Silvers offers a business primer on the new FTC blogging rules that require bloggers to disclose any “material connections” they have to companies they write about.
Remember Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf (a.k.a Baghdad Bob)? He achieved new heights in propoganda during and after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, proclaiming on TV that no American troops were in Baghdad and that American soldiers instead were “committing suicide by the hundreds at the city’s gates.” For about a week, he had more face time on CNN than Wolf Blitzer.
Anyway, AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel apparently went to the same school as Baghdad Bob. Here’s is Mark’s statement to C/NET on the vast and increasing number of complaints about AT&T’s pathetic service quality:
“We have a strong, high-quality mobile broadband network. It is the nation’s fastest 3G network, now in 350 major metropolitan areas.”
Here’s a free PR tip to all of you starting out in the business: Don’t – repeat, DO NOT – grab the nearest brochure and start reading from it when an unexpected question from a reporter causes you to panic. Instead, do what GBSM’s Steve Silvers does: pretend your building’s fire alarm is going off and tell the reporter you’ll have to call them back in a few minutes.
- GBSM has added Becky Karlin as an associate. Karlin formerly served as a senior policy advisor to Gov. Bill Owens on health care, insurance and higher education issues. She also worked in the corporate communications department of Frontier Airlines.
- The Humane Society of Boulder Valley named Kim Sporrer as director of communications. Sporrer most recently was with Linhart PR.
Great news – GBSM’s Steven “Steve” Silvers, author of the Scatterbox blog, has returned home and is doing well following emergency double bypass surgery last week. Steve will remain out of action for three to four weeks, but doctors expect a full recovery.
GBSM is in the market for an associate to support the firm’s public affairs and public outreach work. Send your resume/etc. to Raleigh Decker. No phone calls. Details are here: GBSM Associate_Public Affairs – 52009.
GBSM’s Steve Silvers, JohnstonWells’ GG Johnston and Denver Post Business Editor Steve McMillan are panelists at the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce’s “Gold Program” event titled “Old Media. New Media. The Extraordinarily Changing Face of the Information Age” (I’m betting that neither Steve nor GG were responsible for naming the event). Anyway, the details are:
Thursday, May 28
11:30 am – 1:00 pm
Denver Metro Chamber
1445 Market Street, 5th Floor
www.denverchamber.org/goldprogram
GBSM has been awarded management consulting, strategic communications and/or public affairs assignments over the last quarter from AARP State Operations, Black Creek Capital Group, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Denver International Airport, Denver Water, Evergreen Energy, Grease Monkey International, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, The Klutznick Company and the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments/Fort Carson Regional Growth Plan.
Filed under: GBSM
GBSM’s Steven Silvers squares off against PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. Unfortunately for catfight lovers, they appear to be on the same side of the issue, with just a few minor semantical differences.
GBSM expanded its management team with the promotion of Andy Mountain to Principal. Mountain has been with GBSM for five years as Senior Associate working with issues management and public involvement clients including AARP, RTD FasTracks, and Denver Water.
Filed under: GBSM, GroundFloor Media, Layoffs, Metzger, Pure Brand, Rocky Mountain News, Webb PR
Among those offering their thoughts on the demise of the Rocky Mountain News are Metzger’s Lisa Greim (a former Rocky business reporter who offers a touching eulogy for the paper), Webb PR’s Pete Webb, GBSM’s Steve Silvers, GroundFloor’s Ramonna Tooley and Pure’s Larry Holdren.
GBSM’s Steve Silvers compiles the list on his Scatterbox blog.
By Steven Silvers
Principal Hype Optimizer, GBSM
• Tired of negative stereotypes, PRSA will change the term “public relations” to “hype optimization.”
• Bruce Goldberg’s Press Release Theater will become a Broadway musical staring Nathan Lane as a local newspaper editor who falls for a bottled water publicist played by Swoosie Kurtz. Hit songs include “Embargo my heart until Friday” and “Pourin’ pourin’ pourin’ at the Press Club.”
• Having become enamored with microblogging service Twitter, PR people will be first to adopt nanoblogging service Twit.
• Radical environmental groups will march in front of PR agencies in outrage to global warming caused by the Harvard comma.
• Half of all PR graduates will admit they said they “like working with people” just to get a job.
Filed under: GBSM
GBSM’s Steve Silvers (of Scatterbox blog fame) has compiled his Best Posts of 2008.
GBSM principal Steve Silvers is among several Denver business leaders profiled in a Rocky Mountain News piece examining how companies are reacting to the troubled economy.
Filed under: GBSM
As a follow-up to our recent post about Generation Y/Millenial career tips, here are five things every PR student should know courtesy of GBSM’s Steven “Steve” Silvers.
GBSM hired Lynn Brackpool as Senior Associate. Brackpool has a 20-year background driving communication initiatives in the technology, health care, retail, tourism and transit industries, including with AT&T Wireless, Walt Disney and Albertson’s among others.
GBSM’s Steve Silvers shares the advice he gives to his clients with the Rocky Mountain News:
“Bad news happens with you or without you.”
Apparently we aren’t the only ones following PRSA’s McCain-Obama pledge request. While we viewed the request as a grandstand, Steven Silvers at GBSM views it simply as hypocrisy.
Forbes is out with its list of the 400 Richest Americans, and the Colorado component looks like this:
- Charlie Ergen, EchoStar, $8.1 billion
- Phil Anschutz, Qwest, $8.0 billion
- James Leprino, Leprino Foods, $2.3 billion
- John Malone, Liberty Media, $2.3 billion
- Pat Stryker, Stryker Corp., $1.8 billion
- Tom Marsico, Marsico Capital Management, $1.5 billion
- Steven “Steve” Silvers, GBSM, $1.2 billion*
Filed under: Denver Business Journal, Denver Post, GBSM, Linhart, Rocky Mountain News, Schenkein, Story + Welch
Mark Harden at the Denver Business Journal talks to various public relations executives in town about the rumors of a Post/News consolidation, and quotes perspectives from Schenkein’s Leanna Clark, Story + Welch’s Jeremy Story, GBSM’s Steven Silvers, Linhart’s Paul Raab and Cutter Communications’ Lisa Cutter.
We have been reporting how weakened the economy has been getting for months now, but you wouldn’t know it from the jobs available this week on Andrew Hudson’s PR Jobs List: 9Health Fair, Action Marketing Group, Agilent, American Water Works Association, APRIA Health Care, Cohn Marketing, Denver Art Museum, Denver Water ($60K for a “junior writer” position?), Durango Public Schools, Envision, Lawscomm, Rotary International, CU-Boulder and University of Colorado Hospital.
Also, GBSM is conducting informational interviews for an accomplished, mid-level strategic communications professionals with experience in consulting, public outreach, issues management, media relations and corporate affairs. Contact HR manager Raleigh Decker at (303) 825-6100. GBSM assures that all communications will be held strictly confidential.
GBSM has been awarded management consulting and strategic communications assignments from new and existing clients, including AARP, the National Endowment for Financial Education, Colorado Council of the Arts, the Colorado chapter of the National Association for Industrial and Office Properties, Regional Transportation District, Boulder Scientific and New Mexico State University.
GBSM has hired U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar’s communications director Cody Wertz as a senior associate. Wertz will lead the firm’s public involvement and outreach efforts related to water and transportation issues. The firm also added Christine Alducin as an associate. She formerly was director of Marketing and Film for Sonora Entertainment Group.
U.S. Law Radio interviews Denver’s own Steven “Steve” Silvers of GBSM on public relations in litigation environments. The piece is about five minutes long, and definitely worth a listen.
GBSM has promoted Miles Graham to associate and named Jessie Roatch as executive assistant. Graham has worked with GBSM clients such as RTD and Aurora Water since joining the firm in 2006, and Roatch will support GBSM principals and client teams with research and project management.
A reminder that the Colorado Municipal League and DRCOG are sponsoring the two-day Colorado Communicators Conference April 10-11. Speakers include Andrew Hudson, Ed Sardella and Steve Silvers.
Filed under: blogs, GBSM, Public Relations, Pure Brand, Schenkein, Story + Welch
The amount of lip service public relations agencies give to new media, social media, Web 2.0, etc., is stunning. It seems you can’t sit through a pitch these days without listening to agencies explain how “critical it is to connect directly — and unfiltered — with your target audiences.”
So we thought it might be interesting to examine how many Denver PR agencies practice what they preach even at the most basic levels. What we found surprised us. Of the 32 agencies we checked, only seven had blogs, and even those seven had great disparities in how often posts appeared and how easy it was to find their blogs. So here is the honor roll:
- Pure Brand – 45 posts to its blog since January 1. We found this blog to be the most varied and interesting, with a lot of quick hits on a number of PR and advertising issues.
- Schenkein – 25 posts since January 1. The Schenkein blog disappeared for a while, but was resuscitated by Elaine Ellis at the end of January. Since then, it has made a strong showing.
- Story + Welch – 21 posts since January 1. We found this to be the smartest blog, with a lot of analysis about business issues (not just PR issues). But mixed in with those lengthier pieces are some amusing quick hits.
- Metzger – 19 posts since January 1. Originally, we missed Metzger’s blog because it isn’t linked from the agency’s Web site (or if it is, we still haven’t found it), but fortunately a reader emailed us the URL.
- GBSM – 8 posts since January 1. For GBSM, we counted Steven Silver’s Scatterbox blog, which offers an array of opinions on topics that interest Silvers ranging from elder care to HBO’s Inside the NFL. Our only complaint is how infrequently he posts.
- JohnstonWells – 6 posts since January 1. A mix of JW and industry news, it is not uncommon for the blog to go almost a month without a new post.
- GroundFloor Media – 3 posts since January 1. The GFM blog offers updates (albeit sparingly) on interesting firm and client projects.
Steven Silvers/GBSM had already found his way into our blogroll, but we will be adding the blogs from Pure Brand, Schenkein, Story + Welch and Metzger because of their commitment to blogging frequently on interesting topics.
NOTE: Post updated 3/9/2008 @ 1:04 p.m.
