PR's Revolving Door

Planned Parenthood Federation of America is looking for a Vice President, Communications

Rubenstein Public Relations is looking for a VP/SVP Consumer/Lifestyle Media Relations Guru

Hunter Public Relations is looking for an Account Supervisor

SoHo Publishing is looking for a Publicity Manager

Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at Maryland is looking for a Communications Manager

Just 16 months after joining Ketchum's KIC division and one Twitter gaffe later regarding the FedEx account, James Andrews launches social media consultancy Everywhere with three clients and two partners.

According to his PitchEngine press release, Andrews and partners Danica Kombol, former VP, Ketchum, and Tamara Knechtel, formerly SVP, Operations at Radio One, are launching with Delta, legendary actress Jane Fonda and Hip-Hop producer Jermaine Dupri as clients.

Andrews kicked off the launch with some time with Don Lemon on CNN this weekend, talking Iran, Michael Jackson and the new, Now media.

Good stuff but why didn't the Atlanta-based Andrews drop by CNN headquarters to do the spot in person?

Andrews ...

Just 16 months after joining Ketchum's KIC division and one Twitter gaffe later regarding the FedEx account, James Andrews launches social media consultancy Everywhere with three clients and two partners.

According to his PitchEngine press release, Andrews and partners Danica Kombol, former VP, Ketchum, and Tamara Knechtel, formerly SVP, Operations at Radio One, are launching with Delta, legendary actress Jane Fonda and Hip-Hop producer Jermaine Dupri as clients.

Andrews kicked off the launch with some time with Don Lemon on CNN this weekend, talking Iran, Michael Jackson and the new, Now media.

Good stuff but why didn't the Atlanta-based Andrews drop by CNN headquarters to do the spot in person?

Andrews ...

Proctor & Gamble (NYSE: PG) announced the retirement of Charlotte Otto, 55, after 33 years of service to the company, the last 13 as global external relations officer.

Christopher Hassall, 55, moves in to her spot from his post as North American VP, corporate communications & reputation.

P&G owns just about every household brand you can think of, Crest, Gillette, Dawn, Pampers, Ivory, Tampax, Vicks, Mr. Clean, etc etc etc.

Otto is a fixture in high-level corporate comm as the description of her in PRWeek's 2007 influencer rankings shows (she was 3rd), "she oversees PR for 22 billion-dollar brands. She is a thought leader who helped give every PR pro the ammunition needed to walk into the C-suite and say, 'PR is as effective as advertising, and I can prove it.'"

Under her watch, research was done at P&G to show that PR could be measured, and that it is actually equally or more effective than advertising. She's also an Arthur Page Society Hall of Famer, which is like being the top Stonecutter in this business.

Hassall brings international experience to the job, with brand work in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. He built cause programs in China including the P&G Hope Schools, and personally led P&G's relief program following the May 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

Playboy Enterprises, Inc. is looking for a Sr. Director of Online Marketing

Formula is looking for a Senior Account Executive

Baruch College is looking for a Communications and Marketing Web Specialist

Wired is looking for an Integrated Marketing Manager

Hachette Book Group is looking for an Online Publicity Specialist

Ogilvy PR's Far East CEO Christopher Graves upgraded to global CEO of the large WPP agency, according to a press release today. Graves is characterized within by Ogilvy & Mather's CEO Miles Young as a man who will "take the work forward with flair and elan" and as a citizen of the world.

Graves, 50, succeeds Marcia Silverman who moves over to the title of Chair. The move is presumably part of Ogilvy's expanded board's move to younger leadership.

What's interesting about Mr. Graves, is that his accent in PR may be the highest example of "Hack turned Flack" available. His 23 of experience in business news ending with his joining Ogilvy in 2005 spans many divisions of Dow Jones, and CNBC, including the co-founding Wall Street Journal Television, as managing editor of Asia Business News, vice president of news and programming for CNBC Asia, vice president of news and programming for CNBC Europe, managing director of business development (EMEA & Asia) for Dow Jones Consumer Electronic Publishing (WSJ.com) and as managing director of Far Eastern Economic Review. In a good-natured quote give to the Wall Street Journal, he admits to being evil to PR people during his tenure in the media.

[Photo via the Clinton Global Initiative]

PRWeek editor-in-chief Keith O'Brien left the publication for a position at Attention PR last month. More recently LA Times technology editor Chris Gaither announced his departure for a corporate comm. position at Google. Countless others have either made the move, or at least are considering it, given the state of the journalism job market and growth opportunities.

But the question remains: do these former journalists make good PR pros? "Former journalists make fantastic PR people," said Matt Shaw, senior vice president and director of communications for the Council of Public Relations Firms. Shaw cited their background in story telling and explained, "Whether it's new people to the work force or mid-career transfers, people just don't write anymore."

Laura Moss, a 25-year-old Account Executive for Stern + Associates, called the news business "a dead end," and said,"In PR, there's still a chance to take control of content and write and use your creativity and see it published, even if it's under someone else's name." Despite these ringing endorsements of journalists entering the PR world, we've heard from several agency execs who say former journalists aren't always the best fit. A few reasons they give:

1) Journalists may be good at story telling, but they sometimes lack in key agency functions such as client management and business development.

2) They don't always feel comfortable making "the push." Former journalists are - generally - used to getting their phone calls returned. Things are sometimes different on the "other side."

Have you hired a former journalist for an agency or internal role? What has your experience been?

[image cred]

Los Angeles Times Assistant Business Editor Chris Gaither is the latest member of the media to make the switch to PR, to fill a coveted internal position at Google as senior manager in the corporate communications department. He begins on June 29th to focus on Google News and Book Search.

Gaither's career straddles this downturn, and the last, when he started covering tech as a contributor to the New York Times in the Fall of 2000. From there he landed a full time job as the Boston Globe's only west coast staff writer, and then joined the LA Times in early 2004.

Related, from FishbowlLA: We (Heart) LAT Tech Geeks

Lindsay Olson is a partner and recruiter with Paradigm Staffing (and PRNewser guest columnist). She specializes in helping companies and agencies find public relations and communications professionals throughout the United States. She has over ten years experience recruiting in the PR industry and also writes a career-related blog at LindsayOlson.com. You can find her on Twitter via @prjobs.

Her latest column seeks lays out "8 Ways to Network Effectively Online."

The value of networking online will never replace face-to-face networking. Some things are better in-person and networking is definitely one of them. That said, online networking has its purpose and is a powerful tool that should be integrated into your overall strategy when it comes to expanding and nurturing your professional network.

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First on PRNewser: Peter Shankman added Thom Brodeur to his rapidly growing source-to-journalist matching service HARO (HelpaReporter.com) today. He was laid off last month from his post as senior VP, global strategy & development at Marketwire.

Brodeur will handle corporate strategy, marketing, sales, business development and operations from L.A., because Shankman says in the press release he's "smart enough to know what I do well, and with what I need help."

In emails to PRNewser, Shankman characterized Brodeur as a good guy, and hungry, "this is going to be fun" he added.

Related: Is ExpertClick Stealing Journalists from HARO?

Thom Brodeur, Out at Marketwire