PR Masters Series

Overview The Stevens Group has been presenting the PR Masters Series Podcast for almost two years now.  This series is part of the ongoing partnership between The Stevens Group and CommPRO to bring to PR,digital/interactive and marketing communications agencies the wisdom of those who have reached the top of the PR profession.  Today’s special guest is Michael C. Lasky,…

Overview

The Stevens Group has been presenting the PR Masters Series Podcast for almost two years now.  This series is part of the ongoing partnership between The Stevens Group and CommPRO to bring to PR,digital/interactive and marketing communications agencies the wisdom of those who have reached the top of the PR profession.  Today’s special guest is Lynn Casey.

 

 

About Our Guest

Lynn retired from Padilla at the end of 2019 following 18 years leading the employee-owned firm through multiple acquisitions and, in 2018, a sale to Canadian-based AVENIR GLOBAL. Prior to joining a predecessor agency in 1983, she was marketing communications manager for Burlington Northern (now BNSF) and developed Minnesota’s first public relations campaign for foster care home recruitment.

Active in the communication sector at a national level, she has chaired PRSA’s Counselors Academy, served on the board of the Council of Public Relations Firms, and serves on the board of the Arthur Page Society. She has served on and chaired numerous nonprofit boards in Padilla’s headquarters community of Minneapolis. Corporate board service includes a Fortune 300 electric utility and two private companies.

Lynn was named Woman Business Executive of the Year by the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal in 2011, was inducted into the Junior Achievement Hall of Fame in 2011 and into the Minnesota Business Hall of Fame in 2014, and was named to the PR Week Hall of Fame in 2018.

Overview The Stevens Group has been presenting the PR Masters Series Podcast for almost two years now.  This series is part of the ongoing partnership between The Stevens Group and CommPRO to bring to PR,digital/interactive and marketing communications agencies the wisdom of those who have reached the top of the PR profession.  Today’s special guest is…

Overview

The Stevens Group has been presenting the PR Masters Series Podcast for almost two years now.  This series is part of the ongoing partnership between The Stevens Group and CommPRO to bring to PR, digital/interactive and marketing communications agencies the wisdom of those who have reached the top of the PR profession.  Today's special guest is Dr. Kathy Bloomgarden, Chief Executive Officer of Ruder Finn Inc.

 

About Our Guest

Dr. Kathy Bloomgarden, Chief Executive Officer of Ruder Finn Inc.

Dr. Kathy Bloomgarden is Chief Executive Officer of Ruder Finn Inc., one of the world's largest independent public relations agencies. She is known for her work positioning companies, CEOs and senior management as leaders and changemakers in an era of disruption and accelerated transformation.  Dr. Bloomgarden is also the author of Trust: The Secret Weapon of Effective Business Leaders.  Drawing from her more than 30 years of experience with dozens of top CEOs and business leaders across Technology, Healthcare and Corporate sectors, Trust brings into vivid focus the characteristics that make today's leaders successful, and the principles and techniques they use to earn the confidence of employees, colleagues, customers and the public.  Dr. Bloomgarden’s work spans a wide range of multinational companies, including Novartis, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, GE, PepsiCo, Barclays, McKinsey, Cisco, Nokia and Alibaba.

Dr. Bloomgarden’s specialties include:

Corporate reputation and CEO leadership positioning: Bloomgarden advises the executive leadership of leading multinational corporations on their communications strategies during moments of change.  She creates thought leadership narratives and platforms that build reputation for companies and recognition for leaders, creating a sense of urgency around market transitions and evolving business portfolios, and presenting a new vision to internal and external stakeholders as the company redefines itself and sets a new path.

Policy and community building: Bloomgarden counsels clients on stakeholder and influencer strategies, creating engagement around business-related policy agendas.  Using data analytics and social channels, Bloomgarden helps companies build communities around shared interests.  Active listening, influencer mapping and predictive analytics help guide content development and decision making. 

Internal engagement and talent transformation: Bloomgarden helps business leaders create large-scale internal engagement programs aimed at enhancing motivation, dedication to values, and commitment to stretched targets. Her internal engagement campaigns focus on building emotional connections with company purpose, cross-enterprise collaboration and innovation, and individual talent development, aiming for greater performance and global competitiveness.

Reinforcing emerging technology connections: Dr. Bloomgarden advises companies and startups on collaboration and how to foster connections that accelerate innovation, enable adoption and scale up for technologies that reshape business models, and meet new customer demands.

Dr. Bloomgarden is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a board member of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, the Partnership for New York City, the China Institute, and sits on the advisory board of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.  Dr. Bloomgarden holds a B.A. from Brown University, an M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University in Political Science, as well as a certificate from the East Asian Institute. She is fluent in French, and has a working knowledge of Chinese, Italian, and basic German and Russian.

Overview The Stevens Group has been presenting the PR Masters Series Podcast for almost two years now.  This series is part of the ongoing partnership between The Stevens Group and CommPRO to bring to PR, digital/interactive and marketing communications agencies the wisdom of those who have reached the top of the PR profession.  Today’s special guest…

Overview

The Stevens Group has been presenting the PR Masters Series Podcast for almost two years now.  But never has a subject been explored as thoroughly as the role that the coronavirus plays in the present and future of public relations.  We've invited Gil Bashe back to steer us to our collective future as public relations professionals.  Gil's medical and healthcare background prepares him well to make observations that the rest of us haven't thought of.  You won't want to miss this special edition of PR Masters and learn from the consummate PR healthcare professional, Gil Bashe.  This series is part of the ongoing partnership between The Stevens Group and CommPRO to bring to PR, digital/interactive and marketing communications agencies the wisdom of those who have reached the top of the PR profession.

 

About Our Guest

Gil Bashe, Managing Partner, Finn Partners Global Health Practice

Champion for health innovation to sustain life and improve patient care, Gil has been tapped by PharmaVOICE “as one of the 100 most inspiring people in healthcare;” included in the Fast Company “50 People to Watch in the New World of Work”; chosen as a MM&M Top 10 Innovation Catalyst; by PRWeek/MM&M as a Top 50 Health Influencer;” recognized by the PRSA Health Academy with its “Excellence in Public Relations” award, and selected for the PRNews “Hall of Fame.” American Heart Association and Marfan Foundation advocate for patient engagement and access to care. Gil has led three top agencies cited by The Holmes Report as “Healthcare PR Agency of the Year” winners.

Gil is associated with 40+ product launch campaigns for global med/tech and biopharma blockbusters in cancer, diabetes, heart, respiratory, women’s health and non-communicable and orphan disease therapies. His background in payer, provider, policy, pharma marketing and patient-advocacy communications enables him to integrate ideas that impact patient access to care. He enables client messages and ideas to navigate successfully through the complex health ecosystem.

Dedicated to inspiring colleagues to succeed for clients and their customers, he was Group Company CEO, CommonHealth, and at WPP Group sister-company Hill + Knowlton, EVP, Worldwide Health Practice Director – its first Global Practice Head. He served as CEO of Health!Quest Global Communication Partners, funded by GTCR Golder Rauner, a private-equity firm, now with $10 billion in active assets.

Gil held leadership positions with New York agency Makovsky, Medicus, a global health-marketing company (today part of Publicis Healthcare), and at the pioneering integrated health-marketing agency Sutton Healthcare Group. As a health lobbyist, he was a director with the New Jersey Health Products Council.  He serves on the advisory boards of Lets Win for Pancreatic Cancer, Marfan Foundation and Galien Foundation.  He is also a member of the CNS Summit organizing committee and was honored by the Summit for his leadership role in the life science community. He completed his military service as a paratrooper combat medic and staff sergeant.@Gil_Bashe

Overview The Stevens Group has been presenting the PR Masters Series Podcast for almost two years now.  But never has a subject been explored as thoroughly as the role that the coronavirus plays in the present and future of public relations.  We’ve invited Gil Bashe back to steer us to our collective future as public relations…

Overview

The Stevens Group is pleased to present the podcast series that salutes the masters of public relations and revels in their observations, insights and advice to PR professionals.  This series is part of the ongoing partnership between The Stevens Group and CommPRO to bring to PR, digital/interactive and marketing communications agencies the wisdom of those who have reached the top of the PR profession. Today’s guest is Carol Cone, internationally recognized for her work in social purpose and CSR.

 

 

About Our Guest

Carole Cone On Purpose, Founder & CEO

Carol is internationally recognized for her work in social purpose and CSR. Carol Cone ON PURPOSE is her return to her entrepreneurial roots and life’s passion: to educate, inspire and accelerate social purpose programs and impacts for organizations and nonprofits around the globe.

For more than 25 years, Cone has embraced a steadfast commitment to building lasting partnerships between companies, brands and social issues for deep business and societal impact. She adamantly feels that today, companies and brands must have a deeper meaning beyond the bottom line.

In her work, she continually brings breakthrough and lasting big ideas to clients to build their business and societal impacts. Early in her career, Cone launched the walking movement with Rockport as its leader, which grew the company three times over in the span of 4 years and led to its acquisition by Reebok. She created the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade, which grew to 50 countries around the globe and raised $1 billion. For PNC Financial Services, she identified early childhood education as a key aligned issue, which the company has supported nearly 15 years, uniting them with nonprofit partners including Head Start, Sesame, Donors Choose and tens of local grantees to advance this critical issue.

Most recently, Cone conceptualized My Special Aflac Duck, a social robot developed from extensive child centered design to comfort children going through an average of 1,000 days of chemotherapy. The robot evolved Aflac’s iconic mascot, the Aflac Duck, to deepen the company’s engagement with society. With Aflac underwriting its development and donating the Ducks to all children newly diagnosed with pediatric cancer, this innovative idea has been heralded around the globe, from the Tech for a Better World Award and Most Unexpected Product at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show, to Time Magazine’s list of Best Inventions of 2018.​

Other organizations Cone has worked with include: Action Against Hunger, Adobe, The American Lung Association, Bezos Family Foundation, ConAgra Foods, the Everglades Foundation, Girl Scouts of the USA, LG, Microsoft, P&G, Reebok, Southwest Airlines, Unilever (Dove, Vaseline, Dirt is Good) and Western Union, among others.

She is also a recognized thought leader in purpose, having conducted the world’s first research, then dozens of studies with business executives, citizens, employees and nonprofits, to gain critical insights to inspire organizations to engage with society as wise business strategy.  She is a sought-after speaker and media expert, sharing her insights on purpose branding, corporate citizenship, sustainability and CSR.

She was the Founder, CEO and Chairman of Cone, Inc., recognized as the nation’s leading Cause Branding consultancy. PRWeek called her "arguably the most powerful and visible figure in the world of Cause Branding." Overall, Cone’s signature programs have raised more than $2.5 billion for various social causes.

In 2009, she was one of two US judges for the first PR Lions Awards at the Cannes Festival of Creativity. Her book, Breakthrough NonProfit Branding, was published in 2010.

Other career highlights include: creating and hosting Purpose 360,

Overview The Stevens Group is pleased to present the podcast series that salutes the masters of public relations and revels in their observations, insights and advice to PR professionals.  This series is part of the ongoing partnership between The Stevens Group and CommPRO to bring to PR, digital/interactive and marketing communications agencies the wisdom of those who…

Overview The Stevens Group is pleased to present a new podcast series that salutes the masters of public relations and revels in their observations, insights and advice to PR professionals.  This new series is part of the ongoing partnership between The Stevens Group and CommPRO to bring to PR, digital/interactive and marketing communications agencies the wisdom of…