PR's Revolving Door

Kiersten Hollars, director of communications at social networking site Digg, has left to join AOL. The connection? Hollars was plucked away by her old boss at Yahoo, Brad Garlinghouse. Garlinghouse is now President of Internet and Mobile Communications at AOL.

Hollars' new role is senior director of corporate communications, reporting to both Garlinghouse and EVP Corporate Communications Tricia Primrose. "This is more about working with Brad again, and nothing about Digg," Hollars told TechCrunch, who broke the news. This is the second high profile PR hire made by AOL this fall. PRNewser reported exclusively on September 24th that Caroline Campbell joined the company from Porter Novelli. Campbell has ties to AOL CEO Tim Armstrong from their days together at Google.

Meanwhile, Digg is looking for a replacement.

Broadcast monitoring and intelligence provider Critical Media, Inc. beefed up its management team today, with the addition of executives from Burelles Luce and dna13. Critical Media is most known for its Critical Mention broadcast product, which everyday "digitizes and monetizes more than 15,000 hours of keyword search-able broadcast content from four continents."

The company claims that Critical Mention is "utilized by 25 percent of the Fortune 100." UPDATE: The company tells us it counts FedEx, Adobe, IBM, Apple, GE, NBC and agencies Weber Shandwick and Cohn and Wolfe as clients. It competes directly with services offered from VMS and Cision, among others.

Steve Shannon joins as VP, Sales & Marketing and was previously with BurrellesLuce for 17 years, most recently served as Executive Vice President overseeing sales, service, marketing and product development. Andrew Koeck joins the company as Director, Strategic Partnerships and previously served as previously served as President and VP Partnerships at dna13 Inc.

RELATED: Former PR Newswire President Joins Monitoring Vendor dna13

PR Junkie came across some startling stats from the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). A recent survey revealed that 26.5 percent of IABC members have lost their job in the last 12 months. That is up from 10.9% in March and 14.3% in June.

The numbers, "provide an indication of just how tough it is at the moment for professional communicators," wrote IABC member Liz Wilson.

A few weeks ago, we wondered if the search was still on for the open position of SVP Corporate Communications at the New York Times Company, since 12-year veteran Catherine Mathis left in late August for Standard & Poor's. Today the company told us that it is.

"...we are in the process of evaluating candidates and have nothing to report as of yet," Abbe Serphos, Director of Public Relations for the New York Times Company told PRNewser via email today. The new hire, if announced soon, could presumably aid the company in PR efforts around potential new approaches to monetizing the Times' website and handling buyouts/layoffs of 100 employees.

Video and online PR consultancy D S Simon Productions has hired Paulina Brusca as VP, Media Tour Services. She will oversee the company's Satellite Media Tours (SMT), Internet Media Tours (IMT), Radio Media Tours (RMT) and Ground Media Tour (GMT) services.

Brusca previously spent ten years as Director of Media Tours at News Broadcast Network. Media tour talent seems to be a hot commodity, as this area of broadcast PR has remained somewhat healthier as compared to video news releases, which have been decimated by government regulation and online competition.

Just in the last few months, D S Simon competitor On the Scene Productions went bankrupt and one time industry leader Medialink was acquired by the Newsmarket for $.20 a share.

[Disclosure: This PRNewser once worked for D S Simon Productions.]

Razor & Tie Entertainment seeks a Senior Director/VP of Media & Artist Relations

Kwittken is looking for an Account Supervisor with healthcare experience

5WPR needs an Account Exec with knowledge of Israeli/Jewish issues and political/public affairs

CityPass Inc. is looking for a telecommuting Director of Communications and Public Relations

The David Zwirner Gallery is hiring a Press Officer

The Council of PR Firms announced this morning that APCO CEO Margery Kraus will serve as 2010 Chair of the industry trade group, following Ketchum CEO Ray Kotcher's run. The release was issued at the same time the Council meets for its annual high-end Critical Issues Forum.

The PR Council lists exactly a hundred member firms on its website ranging from boutiques with under ten employees to megafirms like Ogilvy, Porter Novelli and Weber Shandwick.

The executive officers joining Kraus are Andy Polansky (Weber Shandwick) as Chair-Elect, Jens Bang (Cone) as Treasurer, Otis Wragg (Wragg & Casas Public Relations) as secretary, and Kotcher as immediate past chair.

The Council also elected new board members Christine Barney (rbb Public Relations), Donna Imperato (Cohn & Wolfe), Jennifer Prosek (CJP Communications), Dave Senay (Fleishman-Hillard), Laura Tomasetti (360 Public Relations) and Melissa Waggener Zorkin (Waggener Edstrom Worldwide).

Waggener Edstrom (WE) added Jean-Louis Robadey to its Social Innovation practice this week, as vice president in the Washington, DC office. He will report to EVP and practice lead Matt Reid.

According to the release, Robadey will serve as senior agency contact for corporate, government and NGO clients on initiatives that support communities and drive economic growth in the developing world.

WE has huge clients including Microsoft, T-Mobile, BMC, and Chevron though doesn't list which ones work with the Social Innovation practice. An article on the WE site by CEO Melissa Waggener Zorkin explains that the challenge of social innovation for corporations is to follow a sustainable, responsible approach and mindset, or, the "confluence of good business and 'doing good'."

Robadey was the CEO of Pact, a $150 million non-profit Pact which develops programs for the developing world in the areas of community health, microfinance, good governance and women's empowerment. Prior to Pact, he worked at Unisys and Arthur Anderson. He speaks English, French and Italian.

First on PRNewser: Summer Wilkie has joined the NBC News team as Senior Manager, Communications. Wilkie is overseeing the PR for "Nightly News with Brian Williams," among other projects and initiatives within the News division.

She will report to Lauren Kapp, Vice President of Communications for NBC News. Previously, Wilki was at Oxygen for nearly eight years covering public affairs, corporate communications and PR.

First on PRNewser: PR News Editor Courtney Barnes is leaving the publication to join former Manning Selvage and Lee CEO Mark Hass at his recently launched agency, MH Group Communications.

"Mark is forward thinking to the communications business as a whole. He did this first with first firm, and he is looking to do it again," Barnes told PRNewser. "This opportunity was so attractive because he's really seeking to maximize his background with C-level executives but bring the new social media and communications paradigm to them at their level, in a way that is relevant."

PR News will be hiring a replacement and is currently interviewing candidates. Barnes' first day at MH Group will be December 1st. She joins as Vice President and Director.