Synergy + Expertise + Purpose + Results. PR Synergy Plus is a communications collaborative comprised of senior level public relations and brand strategists. Our approach is fresh and engaging, offering clients a proven portfolio of marketable solutions designed to deliver strong, bottom-line results.
Our work helps generate brand awareness through third-party endorsements, build credibility, create demand, influence decision makers, and position our clients to be successful industry leaders.
PR Synergy Plus differentiates itself in the marketplace through our partnership approach. Each PR professional brings more than 20 years of specific PR experience to each client relationship. Clients get the 'A' team every time. Our process includes analysis and evaluation of each clients objectives, priorities, opportunities, and risk at the beginning, and throughout the public relations campaign.
Our business model is flexible, highly professional, and transparent. Please visit our individual credentials to learn more about how we can help your company grow and prosper.
Our work helps generate brand awareness through third-party endorsements, build credibility, create demand, influence decision makers, and position our clients to be successful industry leaders.
PR Synergy Plus differentiates itself in the marketplace through our partnership approach. Each PR professional brings more than 20 years of specific PR experience to each client relationship. Clients get the 'A' team every time. Our process includes analysis and evaluation of each clients objectives, priorities, opportunities, and risk at the beginning, and throughout the public relations campaign.
Our business model is flexible, highly professional, and transparent. Please visit our individual credentials to learn more about how we can help your company grow and prosper.
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Deborah Burns Managing Principal Burns Communications, LLC  FounderPR Synergy Plus www.burnscommunications.net |
Deborah Burns is an expert in developing brand communications and public relations campaigns, branding, messaging and positioning for premium brand and luxury consumer products companies, with a specialty in wealth management financial services PR. She is based in Fairfield, CT.
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Deborah Burns has more than 25 years of public relations and brand communications experience directing consumer product launches, brand re-positionings and special event programming for premium brand clients such as Rockefeller & Co., Inc. Rockit Solutions, U.S. Trust, Parker Pen, Revlon, Rolls-Royce & Bentley Motor Cars, C.C. Filson, Shipman & Goodwin, Becks Beer, and Danbury Hospital. From 2002 to 2007, she spearheaded the launch and evolution of the Consumer PR Division at Stamford, Connecticut-based Creative Partners. In addition to her leadership role on client business, she also headed up the Divisions new business development initiatives, training program, and agency marketing campaign. She was instrumental in helping Creative Partners to become one of Connecticuts leading public relations agencies.
In 2007, Burns launched Burns Communications, LLC, then one of Connecticuts only full-service virtual brand communications and PR agencies. In April, 2009, Burns launched PR Synergy Plus, a communications collaborative comprised of five seasoned PR experts and one of the nations only full-service virtual public relations agencies.
Burns is also the founder of a Public Relations Consortium of PR professionals in Fairfield and Westchester Counties, that meets monthly to share best practices and resources.
Ms. Burns helps her clients own their markets by consistently providing innovative ideas and superior strategic counsel. She has been recognized by her clients and her peers as a top brand and media relations strategist. She has placed business page lead cover stories and major feature stories in nearly every major print and broadcast media outlet including the most prominent, such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, CNBC, CNN, as well as in dozens of key business trade publications.
For U.S. Trust, one of the nations oldest and largest wealth management firms, she directed a speaker series event entitled Conversations With Greatness: Pivotal People at Pivotal Moments in History, featuring former Secretary of State, General Colin Powell. She also directed an outreach campaign for U.S. Trust and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors entitled The Fine Art of Tangible Assets, that brought together industry thought leaders from the worlds of art, law, and finance. For Danbury Hospital, she collaborated with the hospitals executive management and cardiac surgery team, cardiac patients, and community leaders and lobbyists, to implement a multilingual, award-winning integrated marketing, public relations/public advocacy, and advertising campaign over a three year period. The hospitals goal was to obtain a Certificate of Need from the Connecticut Office of Healthcare Access (OHCA) to offer advanced cardiac services. After garnering hundreds of articles, op-eds, letters to the editor, and more than 30,000 signatures from concerned citizens across several states, the CON was granted.
Prior to joining Creative Partners in 2002, Burns was a senior member of Earle Palmer Browns consumer public relations team, and directed the agencys premium brand practice. She also managed an internal communications and training program for EPBs public relations division in each of the agencys four U.S. offices.
Earlier in her career, she was a public relations executive at Max Factor Cosmetics company. She also worked on the editorial staff of Travel Holiday, a national consumer travel magazine, and Power & Motoryacht, an upscale yachting magazine.
Ms. Burns served two terms as President of the Connecticut Chapter of The Association for Women In Communications (AWC). Over two decades, she and her team have won several national and regional industry awards and accolades for public relations and integrated marketing campaigns. Most notably, a national MATRIX Award from AWC for the Revlon Technologies campaign, and a NESCHO Regional Health Care First-Place Award for the Danbury Hospital integrated marketing campaign for the Praxair Regional Heart & Vascular Center.
She graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Long Island University/C.W. Post College. An enthusiast at heart, Ms. Burns loves to travel and is an avid skier and golfer.
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Victor Emmanuel Principal VJE Consultants  www.vjepr.com |
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Vic has 38 years of agency experience in PR, with a focus on crisis communications and business-to-business marketing. He began his career with Burson-Marsteller in 1969, became a partner of New York-based McDermott Kilsby & Co. in 1988, then co-founded Stamford-based Emmanuel Kerr Kilsby in 1991-2006, with accounts that included Swiss Bank Corporation (now UBS), Gabelli Mutual Funds, and Rodman & Renshaw.His sector expertise includes energy, financial relations, government and community relations, architecture and construction, food and entertainment. He has represented clients including Owens-Corning Fiberglas, UBS, Gabelli Funds, Chevron, Saudi Basic Industries, DuPont, and The Hudson River Club, one of New Yorks landmark restaurants prior to 9/11. He has also been senior counsel to the Economic and Finance Ministers of Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Sri Lanka and Panama.
His account experiences are broad and complex. He managed the introduction of Swiss Bank to Stamford, directed all government and community relations, crisis communications and special events; and was integrally involved with the roll out of the Owens-Corning Pink Panther campaign, a hallmark communications effort still alive and well today.
Between 1988 and 1992 he was involved with the Australian Meat & Livestock Corporation, a public/private sector initiative to import and promote fresh meat products into U.S. markets from Down Under. This campaign is still active, focusing on Fresh Australian Range Lamb.
Vic spent several years in Argentina during periods of great political and economic strife working with the Economic Ministry on a global basis to attract foreign investments. He also did years of ground time in Saudi Arabia, working with the Energy Ministry to position the country as a fair player in its emerging role of a major petrochemicals supplier. Several years ago, the President of a major private banking client was kidnapped and murdered in Panama, requiring a quick trip to Panama City to work with government officials and bank employees on crisis containment and media relations.
Since founding VJE Consultants in 2007, Vic has consulted on a regular basis with LGL Group (AMEX:LGL) (high tech), eLottery.com (internet gaming), TMPG Inc. (marketing promotions), Pristina Systems (water purification), and others. He is a member of the Entertainment Committee at Westchester Country Club, and a graduate of the University of Notre Dame. He has written several newspaper columns on Crisis Management, most recently on the Cheney Shotgun Incident; and is currently writing a novel about his experiences in Argentina.
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Jenifer Howard Director J. Howard Public Relations .jpg) www.jhowardpr.com |
Jenifer Howard is a seasoned public relations expert in food and beverage PR, special event marketing, arts/music promotion, community PR and cause-related marketing. She is based in Greenwich, CT.
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Jenifer has more than 24 years of professional public relations and marketing experience on the agency, corporate and consulting sides of the business. She has spent time with two of the top public relations agencies in the U.S., Ketchum Public Relations and Public Communications Inc., and one of the highest regarded consumer products companies in the world, Dreyers & Edys Grand Ice Cream. For the past 13 years, Jenifer has serviced client's public relations needs with her own agency, J. Howard Public Relations. Jenifer's experience ranges from building and executing creative PR programs, such as insuring an ice cream tasters taste buds for $1 million, to publicizing one of the most spectacular medical stories in the past two decades -- the use of aspirin to reduce the risk of heart attacks. Recently, her clients have been featured on NBC Nightly News, in The New York Times, Oprah Magazine, and more. Specializing in consumer public relations, Jenifer also conducts sports marketing programs, healthcare marketing, community service projects and programs for the arts.Recent clients include Dreyers and Edys Grand Ice Cream, Nestle Ice Cream, Rockin Water, Swim Across America, the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy, Rob Mathes and the Presidential Inauguration Concert, Danas Angels Research Trust, I Am Because We Are book launch, York Construction & Development, Just Books, Whitby School, the Greenwich Library, the Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich, and several other local and national clients.
Prior to her consulting business, Jenifer spent several years as the in-house corporate public relations manager for established brands for Dreyers and Edys Grand Ice Cream. She has maintained a 19-year relationship with Dreyers and Edys by consulting for the company on a project basis. While at the corporate headquarters for Dreyers and Edys, Jenifer handled the public relations efforts for Dreyers and Edys core brands, coordinated public relations efforts for at least one or more national consumer product contests per year, managed multi city media tours, video production, and new product introductions. Jenifer also oversaw the launch of Starbucks Ice Cream, one of the most successful new ice cream product introductions in the history of consumer products.
Jenifer also spent several years on the agency side with Ketchum Public Relations and Public Communications Inc. in Chicago, where she handled accounts for Miller Brewing Company, General Mills, Kraft, Quaker Oats, Pfizer, Bristol-Myers, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and several other medical-related clients. Jenifer is a past Vice President of Public Relations and past Special Events Chairperson for The Old Greenwich-Riverside Newcomers' Club. She has a B.A. in Marketing Communications from Columbia College, Chicago, and completed an internship at Young & Rubicam Advertising, Detroit.
Jenifer is also a co-founding member of a public relations consortium for pr professionals in Fairfield and Westchester Counties, that shares best practices and resources.
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Kelley Connors Founder KC Healthcare Communications, LLC  www.kc-health.com |
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Kelley Connors is a B2B and B2C healthcare marketing and communications expert with 20 years of experience spanning public health education, and healthcare advertising and public relations. Her signature strength is telling her clients stories through impactful PR programs that reach influential healthcare stakeholders, especially women as the chief health officers of todays families and communities. Her expertise lies in such core competencies as branding, positioning, message development and health education program development. She is fluent in web based PR tools and social media strategies, and has recently launched her own on-line radio show that reaches women on the web.
Her PR and marketing programs have helped healthcare companies such as Interbrand Health, Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, Medialink, HealthMedia, Ryan TrueHealth, and Transmarx LLC meet their business goals. As a marketing and sponsorship consultant, Ms. Connors has worked with women-focused non-profits such as Ms. Foundation for Women and Dress for Success.
Ms. Connors is a member of the Healthcare Businesswomens Association, Co-chair of the Metro Chapter Entrepreneur Affinity Group and is on the advisory board of the National Health, Wellness and Prevention Congress.
Prior to forming her marketing and communications consultancy, her experience focused on serving pharmaceutical company clients included Berlex, Sanofi Winthrop, Kodak, Eli Lilly, Serono, Bausch & Lomb, & Pharmacia in both domestic and global capacities. Ms. Connors also worked in account management roles with agencies such as Euro RSCG Life and Medicus DMBB with a focus on the pharmaceutical industry.
