Ray Kotcher was elected to his second one-year term as chairman of the Council. Kotcher, the CEO of Ketchum since 2000, will chair the board of directors though November 2009. Joining Kotcher on the executive committee are Margery Kraus (APCO Worldwide), chair elect, Andy Cooper (CooperKatz), treasurer and Cos Mallozzi (Gibbs & Soell), secretary.

 

The Council also announced the election of its new board members, all CEOs and principals of their firms: Tom Coyne (Coyne PR), Ken Eudy (Capstrat), David Fuscus (Xenophon Strategies), Ken Makovsky (Makovsky and Company), Andy Polansky (Weber Shandwick) and Becky Powell-Schwartz (The Powell Group).

 

Continuing directors, all CEOs and principals of their firms, are Mark Hass (MS&L), Lou Hoffman (The Hoffman Agency), Kathy Obert (Edward Howard), Helen Ostrowski (Porter Novelli), Mark Penn (Burson-Marsteller), John Seng (Spectrum Science Communications), Paul Taaffe (Hill & Knowlton), Jim Terman (Jasculca/Terman and Associates), and Otis Wragg (Wragg & Casas Public Relations).

 

“I am honored to serve a second term as Chairman of the Council,” said Kotcher. “There is a lot of important work to be done, and with the help of an exceptional board and a dynamic membership our ongoing efforts to strengthen the public relations agency business will continue unabated. My focus this past year has been on providing a voice for the industry, something I think we achieved with the successful launch of the weekly online publication, The Firm Voice. That mission will be increasingly important going into a year with so much uncertainty, both economically and politically. The good news for public relations firms is that we have never been stronger as an industry or better positioned with our clients as strategic counselors.”

 

“Council members – and the industry at large -- will benefit from another year of Ray’s stewardship,” said Kathy Cripps, president of the Council of Public Relations Firms. “He is a tremendous leader, and in one year has already left an impressive record of accomplishments at the Council. Ray is the perfect person to lead our organization into its second decade as the home of America’s leading public relations firms.”

 

The Council of Public Relations Firms was founded in 1998 and is composed of America’s leading public relations firms. Its membership represents the premier global, mid-size, regional and specialty agencies across every discipline and practice area. The Council’s mission is to advance the business of public relations firms by building the market and firms’ value as strategic business partners. For more information about the Council, visit www.prfirms.org.