Ketchum Bolsters Public Affairs Team, Adding Four Seasoned Strategists

NEW YORK and WASHINGTON, June 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Ketchum, a leading global public relations firm, today announced the addition of four senior strategists to its Washington, D.C.-based North American Public Affairs practice. The recent hires include Katie Conover, senior vice president; Joe Wagner, vice president and group manager; Brian Hart, vice president, group manager and senior media strategist; and Matthew Simmons, vice president and account supervisor. All four have extensive experience across a wide range of industries and in legislative issues, with a particular focus on healthcare, energy, and food and nutrition policy.

“Ketchum Public Affairs has a proven track record of providing superior client service and developing and executing award-winning public affairs campaigns,” said Kathy Jeavons, partner, Public Affairs. “Katie, Joe, Brian and Matt each bring an impressive breadth of knowledge and experience, and we are delighted they have joined our team. Their expertise will enhance the quality of the strategic counsel we provide to clients as they seek to achieve their policy, business and reputational goals and add depth in three key policy areas — healthcare, energy, and food and nutrition.”

Katie Conover, Senior Vice President

A senior public affairs and media relations specialist, Katie Conover has worked at the intersection of politics, policy and media for more than 20 years. She joins Ketchum after more than six years at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, serving most recently as a senior vice president in the agency’s Public Affairs practice. In this role, she provided senior crisis communications and issues management and strategic media counsel to clients facing major reputational and regulatory challenges in health policy, nutrition, and food safety. Previously, she worked for more than 15 years as a national television producer in Washington, with stints at Fox News, CNN and C-SPAN. Conover received her undergraduate degree in political science and international relations from Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.

Joe Wagner, Vice President and Group Manager

Joe Wagner has 20 years of experience in communications and has provided strategic counsel to a number of trade associations, foundations, companies and nonprofits on national and international public affairs issues. Prior to joining Ketchum, he was a vice president at GMMB for seven years, where he focused primarily on healthcare policy issues and public education campaigns. Wagner previously worked at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, Dutko Worldwide, Powell Tate and the Democratic National Committee. Prior to coming to Washington, D.C., he worked as a general assignment reporter for a CBS affiliate. Wagner received his undergraduate degree in broadcast journalism and psychology from the University of Southern California.

Brian Hart, Vice President, Group Manager and Senior Media Strategist

Brian Hart is a seasoned media relations, public affairs and political communications professional, with nearly a decade of Capitol Hill experience. He offers clients a breadth and depth of knowledge in the policy and legislative arena, including foreign policy, energy, transportation, sports and higher education, aviation, and human rights. Prior to joining Ketchum, Hart was deputy chief of staff to U.S. senator Sam Brownback and communications director to U.S. senator Judd Gregg. He has worked on multiple presidential, gubernatorial and Congressional campaigns. He also has extensive agency experience working in both the Houston and Washington, D.C., offices of Hill & Knowlton. Hart received his undergraduate degree in government from the University of Texas at Austin.

Matthew Simmons, Vice President and Account Supervisor

Matthew Simmons is an experienced communicator and public policy professional, who has a particular emphasis on energy policy. He joins Ketchum from Potomac Communications Group, where he was a program director and was responsible for day-to-day account management for a number of high-level clients in the electric, nuclear and renewable energy space. Simmons previously served as a legal assistant at Kaye Scholer LLP and as a legislative assistant at PennEnvironment. He received an undergraduate degree in political economy from Princeton University and a master’s degree in political management, with a concentration in issues management, from George Washington University.

About Ketchum

Ketchum is a leading global communications firm with operations in more than 70 countries across six continents. Named 2010 Large PR Firm of the Year (Holmes Report and PR News) and the winner of an unprecedented three consecutive PRWeek Campaign of the Year Awards, Ketchum partners with clients to deliver strategic programming, game-changing creative and measurable results that build brands and reputations. For more information on Ketchum, a unit of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC), visit www.ketchum.com.

SOURCE Ketchum