Baruch MarkLab Conference Features Public Relations Industry Leaders

NEW YORK-(Business Wire)-September 22, 2009 - The Baruch College MarkLab has assembled a panel of leaders in the public relations industry for a can’t miss conference - “The Changing Dynamics of Public Relations” – to be held at the school on October 15 between 12:30-2:30 p.m.

Panelists include such luminaries in the public relations industry as Don Middleberg, Founder and CEO of Middleberg Communications; Peter Himler, Founder and Principal of Flatiron Communications; Bill Southard, Founder and CEO of Southard Communications and Jeff Gluck who leads external communications globally for the General Business division of IBM. The moderator is Dave Armon, former President of PRNewswire.

The conference is being held in Baruch College’s Newman Library at 151 East 25^th Street (Room 750). It is the second in a series of Mark Lab conferences, following the highly acclaimed “Yes We Can: Going Viral in a Social Marketing World” conference in April 2009. Online registration can be completed by going to http://aux.zicklin.baruch.cuny.edu/luna/registration.htm or email marklab@baruch.cuny.edu.

On both the corporate and agency side the public relations profession has changed dramatically over the past few years and has been impacted more than most industries by the Internet and other communications tools. Industry leaders will detail how the industry has changed, how it has remained the same and what direction it will take going forward. Panelists will extract from their own experiences and explain what role the Internet has played, how down-sized newspapers have impacted their clients’ goals and objectives and how direct to consumer opportunities (i.e. viral marketing) have changed the ground rules. They will also explore what qualities and skills sets are necessary for beginners to be successful in a public relations career.

DON MIDDLEBERG

With more than 30 years in the communications business, Don has created innovative programs for such companies as American Express, AXA Financial, Consumer Reports, Dreyfus, Gartner, IBM, and Reuters. Don’s first firm, Middleberg & Associates, started in 1989 with core competencies in corporate and financial services and expanded by attracting clients in technology, consumer goods, media and marketing. In 2000, the agency was acquired by Euro RSCG, the largest communications division within Havas, the world's sixth-largest communications group. After serving as CEO of Euro RSCG Middleberg for four years, Don opened Middleberg Communications. In the 1990s, Don was an early adaptor to the Internet, leading him to become one of the first communications practitioners to understand the web’s long-range impact on public relations and corporate communications. With Professor Steve Ross of The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Don initiated "The Middleberg/Ross Media Survey," a groundbreaking annual study of the nation's print and broadcast media. Don’s book, Winning PR in the Wired World, was published by McGraw Hill in 2001 and remains required reading for communications majors at major universities and professionals at Fortune 500 companies. The book was printed in six languages and sold over 10,000 copies making it a PR best seller. Don is also a “Senior Fellow” at the Society for New Communications Research, an organization that continues his groundbreaking research on journalism and digital communications. Don has lectured extensively on public relations before industry and educational forums including the American Advertising Federation, the Arthur Page Society, the Financial Communications Society, the Public Relations Society of America, Boston University, Cornell, New York University and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. Regularly asked for commentary by magazines and newspapers, Don has been seen and heard on CNBC, C/Net, CNN and National Public Radio. Don holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s of business administration in marketing.

PETER HIMLER

Peter is founder and principal of Flatiron Communications LLC, a PR/media consulting firm in New York. He most recently served as Chief Media Officer for Edelman Worldwide, following 11 years with

Burson-Marsteller as head of the agency's U.S. corporate and strategic media team and its worldwide spokesperson. Prior to B-M, Peter was media director for six years at Cohn & Wolfe, which followed five years at Hill and Knowlton where he led H&K's broadcast and consumer media relations group. He began his career with three years at the NYC entertainment PR firm of Robert Zarem Inc. In 2005, PR News named Peter its “PR Professional/Media Relations Executive of the Year.” That same year, PR Week awarded the PR program he led to build the World War II Memorial in Washington D.C. as its “Public Sector Campaign of the Year.” Peter's blog, “The Flack” was awarded the “2006 PR News Platinum Award” as the year's best blog. He is recognized on the Power 150 Blogger and Twitter lists.

BILL SOUTHARD

Bill Southard is founder and CEO of Southard Communications, a firm he founded in 1994. Southard Communications is a premier creative, brand building public relations firm. The agency has won several distinguished awards for its work on behalf of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point (for which the agency coordinated its 200th Anniversary celebration), LeapFrog and Toymax International. The firm is routinely recognized for its outstanding creative program development as well as for maintaining one of the best staff and client retention records in the public relations industry. With more than 25 years of communications experience, Bill has counseled some of the country's leading Fortune 500 firms. Before founding Southard Communications, Bill was president of Earle Palmer Brown Public Relations. In addition, Southard held the title of president of Earle Palmer Brown/New York, a $100+ million, 80-person integrated marketing communications operation, overseeing public relations, advertising and direct marketing in the New York office. Southard joined EPB in 1992 after 10 years at Dorf & Stanton Communications. In the consumer products area, Bill has managed communications efforts for Ciba-Geigy Pharmaceuticals, Maxell Corporation of America, El Al Israel Airlines, Sharp Electronics, Guinness Import Company, Nabisco Brands, Planters LifeSavers, Melvin Simon & Associates, and several other accounts. His experience in corporate public relations covers accounts with several Fortune 500 companies, including CB Richard Ellis, American Express, Monsanto, Guinness, Ford, Rhone-Poulenc, Pitney Bowes, and Chase Manhattan Bank. In the public affairs area, his experience runs the gamut from designing crisis management programs for clients under fire, to preventing conflicts through counseling. Southard graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and journalism from Seton Hall University. He is a member of the Public Relations Society of America, The Counsel of Public Relations Firms and is a frequent lecturer.

JEFF GLUCK

Jeff Gluck leads external communications globally for the General Business division of IBM which is responsible for IBM products and solutions for small- and mid-sized clients. Jeff has been with IBM since 1998 and most recently was director of New Media Communications at IBM Corporate Headquarters. Before that he worked in Systems and Technology Group with responsibility for employee communications within IBM’s 200,000-member technical community. Before joining IBM he was a media-relations manager at Bell Atlantic’s corporate headquarters. Mr. Gluck started his career in broadcast news and worked as a reporter, anchor and news manager at WRGB TV and WGY Radio in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy market. He holds a B.S. in economics from the State University of New York Collage at Oneonta.

DAVE ARMON

Dave Armon’s career had a humble beginning. He drove a Skippy ice cream truck and was also a teenage traffic reporter in his home town of Rochester, New York. After earning a journalism degree at Utica College of Syracuse University, Dave worked as a bureau chief for United Press International. When UPI declared bankruptcy he joined one of Saatchi & Saatchi’s agencies, Rumrill-Hoyt, and did marketing communications. He next moved to PR Newswire, where Dave became the Cleveland bureau manager and served there for 10 years. In 1998, PR Newswire moved Dave to New York as senior vice president of sales. He later became president of the Americas group and chief operating officer. After 20 years with PRN, Dave recently left the company and is now serving as a mentor and advisor for junior PR practitioners, and as a board member for a number of start-ups. Dave is an active user of Twitter, where he has 800 followers, and is always very easy to track down on Facebook, LinkedIn and Skype.

ABOUT THE MARKLAB

The Baruch College MarkLab is where the academic discipline of marketing merges with professional marketing resources. Under the guidance of Professor David Luna, the Lab is a faculty-directed, student-run resource center that supports learning in the areas of advertising, public relations, marketing, viral marketing, corporate branding, web and graphic design and marketing research.

ABOUT BARUCH COLLEGE

Baruch College is within easy reach of Wall Street, Midtown, and the global headquarters of major companies and firms, and gives students unparalleled internship, career, and networking opportunities. Some of the city’s top executives are Baruch alumni, and many of them regularly come to campus to share their expertise with current students. Baruch College’s 15,500 students, who speak 110 languages and come from 160 countries, have been repeatedly named the most ethnically diverse student body in the United States. Baruch offers undergraduate and graduate programs through its Zicklin School of Business, the only CUNY school that offers business programs accredited by the AACSB, representing the highest standard of achievement for business schools world-wide; the Mildred and George Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, which offers a full range of traditional liberal arts disciplines; and the School of Public Affairs, which is widely recognized in the areas of municipal government, nonprofit and educational administration, and policy analysis and evaluation.

To register go to http://aux.zicklin.baruch.cuny.edu/luna/registration.htm or email marklab@baruch.cuny.edu. For additional information please contact Professor Michael Lissauer at Michael.lissauer@gmail.com or 516-732-0547.

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