Rubenstein Public Relations is looking for an Associate Publicist

Ketchum is looking for an Event Manager, Creative Services

Mediashop PR is looking for an Assistant Account Executive

LaCoste is looking for a Public Relations Manager

The Dowd Agency is looking for a Publicity Coordinator

Corporate Responsiblity Officer magazine – yes, it does exist – has named its Top 10 PR Firms in Corporate Responsibility for 2008.

Taking home the number one ranking is Manning, Selvage and Lee. CRO reporter Jay Whitehead writes, “So if this were the Democratic Presidential race, Golin Harris would be Hillary (‘experience’) and Manning would be Barack (‘change’). Business imitates politics. Or maybe it’s the other way around.”

Others in the top ten include Ketchum (2), Edelman (3) and Porter Novelli (4).

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Surprise, surprise. Many agencies “don’t get” social media, according to a TNS Media Intelligence/Cymfony survey of more than 60 marketers in North America, France and the U.K. released yesterday.

In addition, the survey noted, “Nearly 50 percent of marketers said social-media efforts needed to be handled at an executive level with ‘significant’ resources. Another 30 percent agreed social media is a “‘revolutionary opportunity.’”

There is also a noticeable gap between us stateside marketers and those across the pond:

Just 18 per cent of the UK businesses questioned believed their brands must engage urgently with social media if they were to avoid falling behind the market.

In the US the comparable figure was almost 50 per cent…

The news is good either way for TNS Media Intelligence/Cymfony, the brand monitoring agency who got some great press out of the survey. For those who “don’t get” social media, maybe Gabe & Max can help.

We reported earlier this week about how the “big three” holding companies in the ad/pr/marcom world would do this earnings season. Well, it’s turning out they all did pretty well.

We already know that Omnicom reported a 12.9% net income gain, and numbers are looking good for both WPP and IPG, both of whom reported today.

WPP announced a revenue growth of 5%, but still warned that a “‘slowdown’” although not a recession, would probably be hard to avoid in 2009 as a new US government might cut spending.”

Meanwhile, Interpublic Group reported, “net income of $178.4 million, or 31 cents a share, up from $69.1 million, or 11 cents a share, a year earlier.”

Not at all doom and gloom, but “cautiously optimistic” could be an appropriate description.

CNET: Nokia Party Tanks on the Swag

The Edge Daily: Five agencies in pitch for Samsung PR account

Portfolio: Did Microsoft Just Talk About Being in Talks With Yahoo?

Romenesko: Newsday eliminates about 120 jobs across the company

PR Week: The (PR) devil made me say it

Last night, 150 or so PR, media and marketing pros gathered at Katra on the Bowery for mediabistro.com’s monthly PR party. The agency I work at, Horn Group, was kind enough to sponsor this month’s party and provide some free drinks to those who attended.

Check out more pics after the jump.

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Everyone PR pro loves working with a good celebrity spokesperson, right? It helps the whole pitching process, but then turns the game into making sure the reporter doesn’t just ask about that celeb’s personal life or other juicy details and instead keeps it focused on the issue at hand: the product!

Courtesy of FishbowlNY, Mandy Moore is “launching herself into the social networking world with UPumpItUp.com, a Kraft-sponsored endeavor targeted to women. Mandy’s a ‘wellness expert,’ who will provide users with challenges and goals to meet.”

Challenge us Mandy, challenge us!

It’s almost that time of year again, when the PR world gathers together for a black-tie event at Tavern on the Green. The PR Week Awards are coming up on March 6th.

Reserve your spot here. A complete list of finalists can be found here.

The above video from last year’s awards, courtesy of Beet.TV features Edelman CEO Richard Edelman, Mary Stutts of Genentech and Aedhmar Hynes, CEO of Text 100.

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Everyone’s weighing in on Starbucks’ little (big?) stunt of shutting down all of their stores for three hours Tuesday night. No caramel macchiatos? Help!

So, let’s take a look at the results, which ranged from the slightly negative:

Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Starbucks made a promise. Do you believe it?

Washington Post: Espresso Yourself: Starbucks Takes a Break

to mostly neutral:

WSJ: Starbucks Closes Stores To Retrain Baristas

NY Times: Starbucks Takes a 3-Hour Coffee Break

And of course, not to be left out in the news cycle, both Dunkin’ Donuts and McDonalds attempted to lure in shut out Starbucks customers with promotions.

Meanwhile, coffee enthusiasts are calling Starbuck’s bluff. Ken Nye, owner of Ninth Street Espresso in New York, told ABC News, “To say that 3.5 hours is a barista training is hard to swallow. Company training is another story,” he said. “It probably makes sense when you have hundreds of thousands of employees. Probably makes sense that everybody learns about thirty rules of operation, but it’s also probably got nothing to do with the art of making coffee.”

We agree with Ken Wheaton in Advertising Age, except for the happier employers thing:

In my opinion, it’s a brilliant marketing stunt (but mine isn’t the only opinion). And if anyone takes offense at this being called a stunt rather than a concerted effort to retrain employees, tough. As someone in the office pointed out, Starbucks ain’t exactly open 24 hours a day, so some post-closing or pre-opening training could have been in order. Do it over a span of a few weeks after close and take the time to focus on things that really matter. But hey, this not only gets the chain a load of free press, it probably makes for slightly happier employees.

Either way, most of us will likely be back for our daily caffeine injection, re-training or not, right?

UPDATE: Gawker received some emails from Starbucks employees.

Financial Times: Microsoft’s record $1.4bn fine

PR Blog News: Chelsea Clinton, Secret PR Weapon?

LA Times: Weak ad market hurts newspapers

PR 2.0: Should PR Agencies Blog?

BL Ochman: Viral is a result, not an intent