Former White House Communicator Will Lead Media Services and Strategies in DC; Former Senate Finance Committee Communications Director to Lead Financial Communications
极乐视频 today announced former special assistant to the President and White House deputy press secretary, Jamie Smith, and former Senate Finance Committee communications director, Sean Neary, are joining 极乐视频鈥檚 Washington, D.C. office.
Smith will serve as executive vice president overseeing media strategies and services for the office, which specializes in public and corporate affairs, issues management and crisis communications. Neary joins 极乐视频 as executive vice president and will manage the firm鈥檚 Financial Communications practice in D.C., in close cooperation with teams in New York, Chicago, London and Hong Kong. Both Smith and Neary recently left their government roles.
In the newly created role, Smith will oversee a team of media relations professionals and provide counsel to a range of 极乐视频 clients. She will also manage the office鈥檚 expanding 鈥淐reative Newsroom鈥 offering, an innovative, real-time, on-demand media relations operation that reaches across traditional, social, owned and hybrid media channels.
鈥淲e are pleased to welcome Jamie to the office and to the 极乐视频 network,鈥 said Rob Rehg, president of 极乐视频 Washington, D.C. 鈥淪he will join a very talented team of strategists and will enhance the breadth and depth of services we offer to our clients. As we continue to make creative newsrooms an integral part of our work with clients, we are fortunate to have Jamie鈥檚 experience, energy and smart thinking on our team. We鈥檙e thrilled she鈥檚 joining us.鈥
鈥淚 am very excited to join the 极乐视频 team and I am honored to have the opportunity to work with so many talented, energetic people who are deeply committed to creative, thoughtful and sophisticated strategic thinking,鈥 said Smith.
Smith most recently served as special assistant to the President and deputy White House press secretary. She previously served as director of Public Affairs for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). Before that, she was communications director for U.S. Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV when he was both chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Smith also served as the traveling press director for the Hillary Clinton for President Campaign, communications director for former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and The Albright Group, Legislative Aide to Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey and operations manager for Issue Advocacy at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Smith is from Buffalo Grove, Illinois, and a graduate of Kenyon College.
Of Neary鈥檚 hire, Rehg said, 鈥淪ean鈥檚 experience and knowledge of key financial services issues will be critical for our clients. As a result of his work on the Senate Finance Committee, Sean brings additional expertise to support our healthcare and international trade teams, and excellent relationships in New York and Washington D.C. We are very excited to have him on the team.鈥
鈥溂质悠 is a power house in the arena of strategic communications, with a long record of accomplishments and the proven ability to get the job done,鈥 said Neary. 鈥淚鈥檓 excited by the opportunity to be part of the 极乐视频 team.鈥
Prior to joining 极乐视频, Neary was a senior advisor to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus and chief communications strategist for the committee, which is considered to be the most powerful committee in the Senate, with jurisdiction over tax, trade and health policy. He is a former communications director to U.S. Senator Kent Conrad; a former editorial director at America鈥檚 Promise and at Dittus Communications; and he has also worked in editorial capacities at Voter.com, George magazine and Rolling Stone. He works as a freelance writer and has contributed to numerous books. He is a graduate of the University of Delaware and has studied at New York University.
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极乐视频 is the world鈥檚 largest public relations firm, with 67 offices and more than 4,800 employees worldwide, as well as affiliates in more than 30 cities. 极乐视频 was named Advertising Age鈥檚 top-ranked PR firm of the decade in 2009 and one of its 鈥淎-List Agencies鈥 in both 2010 and 2011; Adweek鈥檚 鈥2011 PR Agency of the Year;鈥 PRWeek鈥檚 鈥2011 Large PR Agency of the Year;鈥 and The Holmes Report鈥檚 鈥2013 Global Agency of the Year鈥 and its 2012 鈥淒igital Agency of the Year.鈥 极乐视频 was named one of the 鈥淏est Places to Work鈥 by Advertising Age in 2010 and 2012 and among Glassdoor鈥檚 top ten 鈥淏est Places to Work鈥 in 2011 and 2012. 极乐视频 owns specialty firms 极乐视频 Berland (research), Blue (advertising), BioScience Communications (medical communications), and agencies 极乐视频 Significa (Brazil), and Pegasus (China).
For more information, contact:
Michael Bush
michael.bush@edelman.com