PORTLAND (Oct. 16, 2014) – PR Boutiques International™ (PRBI), the worldwide collaborative network of boutique PR firms, announced its 2014‐15 slate of officers and board members during its seventh annual meeting, this year held in Portland, Oregon June 13 ‐ 15. Under the theme of “Reinvention,” the summit provided an opportunity for member agencies to share best practices among a changing communications landscape, gain industry insights from world class experts in the field and network among peers.
“The 2014 PRBI conference provided an exceptional opportunity to take a critical look at the PR industry from a global perspective and identify how we can evolve and stay competitive,” stated Joy Scott, PRBI President and President of Scott Public Relations. “From the latest landscape in digital practices, to practical agency management tips, the conference was well received by all participants and is the highlight of the year for PRBI. It is one of the most valuable resources for our members and priceless in terms of the connections and ideas it sparks for both PRBI as a network and for our individual agencies.”
The 2014‐2015 PRBI officers announced at the meeting are:
- President: Joy Scott, President, Scott Public Relations, Canoga Park, CA (Los Angeles area)
- Vice President: Paul Furiga, President, WordWrite Communications LLC, Pittsburgh, PA
- Secretary: Judith Huss, President, Huss-PR-Consult, Munich, Germany
- Treasurer: Jeanette Darnauer, Principal, Darnauer Group, Aspen, CO
- Member‐at‐Large: Dan Leinweber, President, Leinweber Associates, Sudbury, MA (Boston area)
Other members of the PRBI Board of Directors are:
- Lucy Siegel, Bridge Global Strategies, New York, NY
- Margot Dimond, DoubleDimond Public Relations, Houston, TX
- Ann Gallery, High View Communications, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Irene Maslowski, Maslowski & Associates Public Relations, Roseland, NJ (NYC area)
- Julia Labaton, RED PR, New York, NY
- Rasila Hamzah, RUSS Consulting, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Lee Weinstein, Weinstein Public Relations, Portland OR
The annual meeting included presentations by such industry experts as:
- Jerry Swerling, USC Annenberg’s Professor of Professional Practice & Director of PR Studies who shared insight’s from the university’s biennial Communications and Public Relations study
- Indra Gardner Bowers, Founder and Chief Influence Officer at i.d.e.a. of San Diego who provided insight on transforming agencies through inspired creativity
- Ekaterina Walter, Author of the bestseller “Think Like Zuck: The Five Business Secrets of Facebook’s Improbably Brilliant CEO Mark Zuckerberg,” who discussed best practices in content development and social media bridge building
- Kellie Leonard, VP of Corporate & Employee Communications for Nike, who shared PR best practices from a Fortune 500 company perspective.
Member agencies also presented and discussed topics such as the blogger relations landscape, new business best practices and agency financial management.
PRBI’s eighth annual meeting will be held June 3-6, 2015 in London, England. PRBI currently consists of 34 boutique member agencies specializes in a wide of array of service areas, and headquartered throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia.
About PR Boutiques International:
PR Boutiques International™ (PRBI) is an international network of boutique public relations firms. The principals of member firms are experienced practitioners who have held senior positions in large PR agencies and/or corporations but now put service first and work directly with clients. PRBI member firms excel in meeting a huge range of client needs in a large number of industries, including corporate public relations, consumer PR, health care PR, investor relations, crisis management, business‐to‐ business PR, economic development PR, not‐for‐profit, academia, government, financial, technology, legal, multicultural and international PR and investor relations. Member practitioners have won the highest levels of professional awards, with qualifications ranging from PhDs to former top journalists. They also represent memberships in the most noteworthy international public relations and business associations. For more information, visit http://www.prboutiques.com.
Contact: Amanda Foley, 206-957-1387, amanda@duopr.com