We’re seeing lots of news about award winners. Here’s a round up for your bragging pleasure.

The Diamond and Gold SABRE Awards have been handed out. Among the winners were GM and Weber Shandwick for Excellence in PR in the C-Suite; Starbucks and Edelman for brand building; and IBM for B-to-B marketing. A list of SABRE winners is available here and here.

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Update: PRNewser had a brief conversation with PRWeek EIC Steve Barrett, who had no further comment besides the one submitted via e-mail by Haymarket MD Lisa Kirk. In addition, he said we’ll “soon see adverts” to fill the position. A quick scan of the Mediabistro job board didn’t turn up any postings as yet.

Exclusive: PRWeek executive editor Erica Iacono is leaving the publication and heading to Ketchum to fill the newly-created position of account supervisor, senior new business specialist. Her final day with the magazine is November 12 and she will join the firm later that month. Iacono has been with PRWeek since 2004.

For Ketchum, Iacono tells PRNewser she will work on new business and handle content creation for clients in the corporate practice.

On Friday, we reported on the departure of Kimberly Maul, PRWeek‘s corporate reporter. In June, PRNewser spoke with Julia Hood, who announced she would be leaving the publication to become president of the Arthur W. Page Society. Hood had served as editor-in-chief of the magazine from 2002 to 2008 and was publishing director of both PRWeek and DMNews when she left.

Steve Barrett joined PRWeek in March as editor-in-chief, a position that was open for nearly a year after the departure of the previous EIC, Keith O’Brien.

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We’ve noticed that in the advertising and public relations industries, agencies are increasingly on the lookout for professionals experienced in social media. We can argue the merit of who has social media expertise and who doesn’t later. For now we want to know: what are agencies and their clients looking for in this burgeoning field?

Over the next few days PRNewser and AgencySpy will run interviews with major agencies seeking social media hires. These are not exhaustive interviews, just 10 quick questions aimed at peeling the lid back. Hopefully the questions we asked will help you guide your career path, if social media is part of it. Today, an interview with Nick Ragone, partner and associate director, New York at Ketchum.

What are the core skills of the social media staffer?

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