Gail Simmons is the first client for the allied Wagstaff Worldwide and True PR. Photo: Tina Rupp

The National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) has elected Derek Cole the 2012 chairman of the organization’s board of directors. Cole is the VP of IR and corp comms for ARCA biopharma. He succeeds Douglas Wilburne, VP of IR at Textron.

Dave Armon has been appointed president of broadcast monitoring and analysis provider Critical Mention. Armon spent 20 years with PRNewswire, last serving as president and COO. Since leaving that company, he’s worked with Context Optional, dna13, and other companies.

APCO Worldwide has added Christopher McCannell as VP in its Washington D.C. office. McCannell was most recently VP of government affairs at Ameriprise Financial and previously served as chief of staff to Democratic Rep. Michael E. McMahon (N.Y.). APCO also has a new senior advisor in the healthcare practice. Bronwen Kaye is the former senior director of government affairs at Pfizer.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.