The Council of PR Firms spoke with three CEOs – Burson-Marsteller’s Mark Penn, Hill & Knowlton’s Paul Taaffe, and Waggener Edstrom Worldwide’s Melissa Waggener Zorkin – to gather their thoughts about the global nature of the PR industry and how to be a part of it.

Waggener Zorkin discusses the need to be a part of the community you seek to enter, emphasizing that “what works in one part of the world isn’t necessarily the right approach for every region.”

Penn talked talent. “Clients appreciate proximity and your ability to be with them frequently,” he says, adding that staff members should have a global perspective.

Taaffe highlighted the need to educate new markets and take a “light touch.”

“These markets recoil if Americans come in and suggest they have superior skills,” he says.

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In an effort to push back against the “excessive polarization and hyper-partisanship” that is the current state of politics in the U.S., more than 1,000 people – independents, Republicans, and Democrats from across the country – are in New York today launching No Labels.

The advocacy group says it seeks “to encourage our leaders to work together and develop practical solutions to our nation’s problem.”

Among those appearing at today’s event are New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has switched parties (among other things) in the past, Delaware Republican Rep. Michael Castle, and Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman. A livestream of today’s events are available here.

Update after the jump.

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Hillary Clinton still owes Mark Penn $479,000 from her presidential run, according to paperwork submitted to the Federal Election Commission. So to pay that back, her hubby Bill has a fundraising pitch: donate $5 or more by Thursday, December 16 and you could win a trip to NYC for a visit with the former President, USA Today reports.

He has done this before and, according to the story, enjoyed it in the past. But no word on how much money this has raised previously.

Burson-Marsteller CEO Mark Penn has a post-election day write-up on the Huffington Post that slices and dices  yesterday’s vote and gives his take on what President Obama has to do to reclaim the spark that brought him to office two years ago.

“Only 23 percent of the voters said that they were casting a vote for the Tea Party while 56 percent said it was not a factor and the rest outright opposed them,” he writes. “But 62 percent of the voters said that the economy was the key factor determining their vote.”

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As reported by PRNewser’s colleagues at WebNewser, two Burson-Marsteller execs will be delivering the keynote speech at the BlogWorld & New Media Expo 2010: Mark Penn, CEO of B-M and Penn Schoen Berland; and Karen Hughes, worldwide vice chairman for B-M (and former counselor to President George W. Bush). They will discuss the results of a recent study about the use of social media during the mid-term election races. The speech will take place Friday, October 15.

Penn Schoen Berland and Politico have released figures from the latest in its poll series “Power and the People,” finding that there is a pessimism about the likelihood of a second recession spread across segments of the voting public.

Overall, 54 percent of voters believe there will be a double-dip recession. But Republicans fear a double-dip in far greater numbers than Democrats. Higher income voters (those earning more than $100,000 per year) are more optimistic than lower income voters that a second recession can be avoided. And Black voters are more optimistic than white voters that we can avoid another recession.

Mark Penn, CEO of both Burson-Marsteller and Penn, Schoen Berland, goes into greater detail here, a post that also appears on his blog.

The poll, which surveyed 1,000 Americans between September 9 and 16, also asked for respondents’ thoughts on the war in Afghanistan, the Tea Party, the Bush tax cuts, and other issues.

Politico said today that it has partnered up with Mark Penn‘s market research firm, Penn Schoen Berland, to create “a monthly poll series exploring the policy and political views of Washington insiders, compared to the views of the American public.” More:

Power and the People: A POLITICO Poll Series will be sponsored by Qualcomm…The first poll, to be released Monday, covers the Gulf Coast oil spill and the response by the federal government.

Penn, the longtime Democractic strategist who serves as CEO of Burson-Marsteller, is also CEO of Penn Schoen Berland, which was founded in 1975 and acquired by WPP Group in 2001.

RELATED: Mark Penn: ‘Obama Could Lose 25 Seats in the House and Four Senate Seats and Still Call it a Midterm Victory’

Burson-Marsteller CEO and Democratic strategist Mark Penn lays out his thoughts on the Obama administration’s midterm elections prospects and messaging in a Politico op-ed today.

While Penn certainly sees challenges ahead with a “dissatisfied” public, he does say that the Democrats are “tackling problems rather than just letting them spin out of control,” as opposed to Republicans, who have “no unifying platform to speak of or cohesive ideas that could power the country forward.”

That being said, Penn says Obama, “could lose 25 seats in the House and four Senate seats and still call it a midterm victory.”

RELATED: In March, Penn said Obama ‘has his mojo back.’

The Hillary Clinton presidential campaign still owes Burson-Marsteller CEO Mark Penn money.

And now Bill Clinton is getting in on the act to help pay off the debt.

In an email to supporters to drum up donations this week, Clinton says, “Hillary’s campaign still has a few vestiges of debt that I know she would like to see paid in full,” adding, “And yes, she still needs your help. That’s why we’re going to choose one supporter who enters between now and May 18th and fly them and a guest to New York, where they’ll spend a day with me.”

For the record, all of Hillary Clinton’s remaining debt — $771,000 — is owed to Penn’s firm, Penn, Schoen & Berland Assoc. LLC.

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Burson-Marsteller CEO and Democratic stategist Mark Penn appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” this morning to talk about the Obama administration and the political landscape post health-care reform passing.

“I think President Obama has his mojo back,” said Penn. “People had a lot of doubts on all fronts and I think he is back in many ways.”

When asked about the “force” that is Sarah Palin, in reference to how she in many ways is leading the counter message against the administration, Penn said, “I don’t think the White House should tangle with Sarah Palin, because that would only elevate her.”