Lincoln Center Taps New Chief of Public Relations and Media Strategy
The Lincoln Center of Performing Arts recently selected Mary Caraccioli as its new Chief of Public Relations and Media Strategy. Caraccioli is an Emmy Award winning journalist and media executive, in this position, Caraccioli directs and leads the Lincoln Center’s public relations, media strategies, and messaging for all institutional branches, performances and programs.
Mary Caraccioli built an impressive curriculum vitae in her career. She did this by creating and presenting award winning content for cable, digital and broadcasting venues, such as, CNBC, Comcast, FOX, Al Jazeera America, and ABC. More recently, she held a position as Senior Vice President of News and Planning at Al Jazeera America, where she managed daily news, arts and feature coverage. In the past, Caraccioli worked in communications with Fortune 100 companies, major event producers and university clients.
JP Schuerman Named President of MWW PR West Coast Region
JP Schuerman, new President of MWW PR western region, shows that a few smart corporate choices can go a long way, too.
MWW PR recently promoted their own JP Schuerman to the rank of president for the firm’s western regional offices – a new vacancy following the departure of a number of key senior managers from MWWPR. He now manages fifty staffers in the firm’s San Francisco, Dallas and Los Angeles offices.
The new president also oversees MWW’s national LGBT, travel, tourism, food and beverage, wine and spirits, technology, and family and toy practices. Schuerman commented that management created this role “out of necessity.”
Schuerman’s began working with MWW in June of 2012, when the firm bought Enso Communications. There, he held the position of founding partner.
Before founding Enso in January of 2011, he worked as EVP and general manager in Edelman’s Los Angeles office for two years. Further back in his career, Schuerman also held top positions in CarryOn Communication, and Faiola Davis Public Relations.
Diamond Industry is Seeking PR Support Amidst Difficult Reputation Challenges
The Diamond Industry around the globe continue to search for a PR agency capable of supporting its attempts at overcoming challenges threatening its reputation and economic growth. The World Diamond Council (WDC) issued an RFP to various PR firms, as the executive director Patricia Syvrud confirmed.
This comes amidst continuing public scrutiny from NGOs about the diamond industry’s efforts to phase out “blood diamonds”, this term refers to unethical acts in the procurement process. The WDC presently represents over fifty diamond industry organizations, and focuses its efforts on the challenge of diamond conflicts.
The WDC president Edward Asscher made an announcement on the eighteenth of November, asking the industry to increase stakeholder dialogue, specifically in the Civil Society Coalition. The latter’s watchdog group alliance intends to boycott 2016’s Kimberley Process, a diamond industry effort to trade in conflict stones used to fund rebel violence against legitimate governments.
At an annual meeting in Angola, the WDC’s Asscher said the diamond industry leaders “need to engage with the NGOs and embrace their scrutiny if their criticism of the system is justified. We all have blind spots, but we should never turn a blind eye to their findings. Where they are justified in their criticism, we should adjust; where they are wrong, we should tell them, without any doubt, professionally and openly”.
In the midst of this debacle, a recent Amnesty International report claims more effort to stop “blood diamonds” from entering the global supply chain is needed, specifically in the Central African Republic. The WDC promptly invited Amnesty to work with the Kimberley Process “to achieve the goal of zero conflict in the rough diamond supply chain.”
The diamond industry is also concerned about the rise in using synthetic stones. This and other concerns created the name “perfect storm”. Additional issues include a lowering demand in China, and reduced pricing around the world.