Jerry Griffin has been named GM of Bender/Helper Impact‘s New York office. Griffin started his career as a journalist and was most previously an SVP at Edelman.

The National Retail Federation has hired Katie Wilson as VP of comms, starting April 9. She’s currently the senior director of comms and strategy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. [via]

Vijay Lalwani has joined Bratskeir & Company to manage strategic development for the agency’s client list. Lalwani was previously director at PainePR’s New York office.

Blast! PR, which specializes in PR for the digital media industry, has named Lana McGilvray principal of the firm. She will work directly with clients and  has opened a blast! office in Austin, TX. She’ll also be helping to expand the firm’s New York presence. She was previously the VP of marketing at media technology company PulsePoint. [via]

Susan Davis International is providing PR and media relations services Capitol Communicator, a comms resource for the mid-Atlantic region, to raise the profile of the organization.

The PRSA Foundation will honor Harold Burson, co-founder of Burson-Marsteller, during its annual Paladin Award Dinner taking place April 26 in New York. More info here.

And the PRSA’s Counselors Academy has announced the keynote speakers for its 52nd annual conference: Jay Baer, president of Convince and Convert; Ginni Dietrich, CEO of Arment Dietrich; Marcus Sheridan, president and founder of The Sales Lion; and Candy Chang, an artist, designer, and urban planner. The conference will take place May 6 through 8 in New Orleans. More info here.

[image: Harold Burson]