O’Dwyer’s has published the 2011 version of its independent PR firm rankings, with nearly half of the top 50 firms on the list showing double-digit growth.

Topping the list is Edelman, which is up 15.9 percent to $604.7 million in net fees for 2011. Rounding out the top three are APCO Worldwide with $120.7 million in net fees, up 6.4 percent; and Waggener Edstrom, up 3.5 percent from 2010 to $115.8 million in net fees. The full table is available here.

According to the feature story accompanying the table, 24 of the top 50 firms experienced double-digit gains with the biggest leap coming from Jones Public Affairs, a D.C.-based firm that was up 149 percent for the year to $4.2 million.

Absent from the list is IMRE, which previously raised objections to a request from O’Dwyer’s for an ad purchase of $3,000. In an email sent to us and included in that link, Jack O’Dwyer, the publisher and EIC on the site, said, “Firms that benefit from our rankings must support the $500,000 website on which the ranking reside[s].”

IMRE’s fees for the year would have placed them among the top 30 of the list.

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With Women’s History Month just a few weeks away, PRNewser is shining a spotlight on some of the women leaders across the PR industry.

As we’ve talked about here on PRNewser, women make up a big part of the industry and their rise to the executive levels continues. Over the next six weeks, the “Women Leaders in PR” profiles will take a closer look at a few of the women who are running PR departments and PR firms.

We start today with Melissa Waggener Zorkin, president, CEO, and founder of Waggener Edstrom. For Zorkin, personal fulfillment and giving back are top priorities, alongside business results and client successes.

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The Super Bowl's star quarterbacks. Image from Waggener Edstrom infographic. Link after the jump.

For the past week, we’ve been watching clip after clip of the upcoming Super Bowl commercials. Needless to say, the ads are a highlight of the game.

But the public relations industry is also excited for the event. The big game is not just a platform for creative advertisements, but for all of the PR and marketing that surrounds the broadcast at the game and elsewhere.

“For PR practitioners, there are several avenues to consider when thinking of ways to work with your clients around the Super Bowl,” Lisa Zlotnick, Lippe Taylor‘s VP of media told us in an email.

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Akso Nobel has chosen Emanate as the AOR for Glidden Paint, the first for the brand. Work will highlight brand messaging — quality and color, for instance — and grow the company’s share of the DIY and home space. It was a competitive search including seven other firms. Emanate will work with Digital Influence Group, social media AOR, advertising AOR DDB, and media buying firm PHD.

Adam Ritchie Brand Direction has added two clients to its roster. LifeSpan, the Utah-based fitness manufacturer, has chosen the firm to launch new products over the course of 2012, including the treadmill desk, pictured above. And stkr.it, a company that creates QR codes for personal items. The firm will focus on different uses for the stickers and special events.

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In the past couple of weeks since we posted a story about the good works and well wishes coming from PR firms for the holiday season, there’s been a whole lot more, and its getting even more elaborate.

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The Make-A-Wish Foundation has chosen Waggener Edstrom to redesign the nonprofit’s national website and those of its 62 chapters. Besides branding and information-sharing, the site will offer enhanced ways for people to connect with one another nationwide.

Celebrity dog groomer and stylist Jorge Bendersky has chosen Whitegate PR as his AOR. Bendersky has appeared on a number of programs including the Today show and his own Animal Planet program in 2008.

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Research by Waggener Edstrom shows that marketers in India are increasingly spending their money and effort on digital outreach.

According to the firm’s research, non-advertising digital spending is set to rise 13 percent in 2011 while the spend on print is set to decrease by 17 percent. WE has an infographic with the results that you can find here and after the jump. The firm, working with Blackbox Research, polled 50 marcomms pros and 200 consumers in India.

Along with the study, the firm has announced that it’s adding operations in Delhi and Bangalore, one year after it opened its first office in Mumbai.

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After MSLGroup SVP Mike Huckman offered up his five tips for journalists making the transition to PR, we thought we’d open up the forum to others. After all, there are plenty of reporters making the switch and, as we’ve seen on certain occasions, a couple of thoughts about how best to handle the new career may be in order.

We put it out there for PR pros and asked for your advice for your new PR colleagues. After the jump, read what we got. What do you think? Share your thoughts (and your tips) in the comments section.

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Waggener Edstrom has invested in Buchan Consulting, a 25-year-old Australian firm with offices in Melbourne and Sydney. The two firms began working together in 2007, with Buchan serving as a Global Alliance Network affiliate. Buchan specializes in investor communications, corporate comms, stakeholder management, and business and economic policy.

Melissa Waggener Zorkin shares her thoughts on the new partnership here.

Waggener Edstrom‘s third corporate citizenship report for 2010 details everything from the firm’s turnover (25 percent), to the amount of charitable work it did ($1.1 million in pro bono services, volunteering, and donating dollars), to its fee revenue ($111 million).

The firm also details its contributions to a vast number of philanthropic organizations, both as a group and as individual staffers. And it breaks down its efforts to be green, with greenhouse gas emissions up a bit from last year (4.8 metric tons in 2010 vs. 4.6 metric tons in 2009), but overall, a decent showing as the firm tries to keep paper usage, travel, and other waste to a minimum.

This week, Melissa Waggener Zorkin, the firm’s CEO, president, and founder, will be attending this week’s Clinton Global Initiative in NYC, so the good works continue. Zorkin talks about the Initiative here, you can get the full corporate citizenship report here, and there’s a video with the highlights here. If you’re looking for a job and want some info about the firm, there’s tons of it in that report.