Crisis Communications SWAT Team

Cleveland Public Relations Counsel

The following are of counsel to Hennes Paynter Communications LLC.

Michael O'Mara - Media & Law

Michael A. O'Mara, J.D. is Vice President of Hennes Paynter Communications, a crisis communications, media training and media relations consulting firm based in Cleveland.

Considered by many to be one of the premier television reporters in Cleveland - and certainly one of the most recognizable - O'Mara brings more than 30 years of experience in media and law, having worked as an Emmy award-winning television news reporter, anchor and attorney.

In 2010, O'Mara joined Hennes Paynter where he is responsible for the development, management and implementation of communication strategies for clients of the firm.

More information about Michael O'Mara

Lee Bailey - Media Relations & Crisis Communications

Lee Bailey has years of experience in media relations and crisis communications, with special expertise in dealing with government officials and regulatory agencies.

He spent nearly 20 years as a journalist, first in print at the Akron Beacon Journal, then in broadcasting. In that field, he held on-air and senior news management positions at network affiliate television stations in Cleveland and Nashville. He won a number of TV awards, including an EMMY for investigative reporting.

After leaving journalism, Bailey spent more than a decade at Centerior Energy, now part of First Energy, one of the nation's largest electric utilities. In that capacity, he served as spokesman for a variety of sensitive health and environmental issues, including the safety of nuclear power and the effects of electric and magnetic fields on consumers.

At the power company, Bailey worked closely with senior executives, including the development of annual reports, speeches and reports to customers. He also offered training to management in dealing with the news media and delivering effective presentations.

Upon taking early retirement from the utility, he worked for several years as executive director of the Citizens League of Greater Cleveland, a non-profit, non-partisan organization working to improve local government.

Bailey is a past president of the Cleveland Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists, and past president of the Greater Cleveland Chapter, Public Relations Society of America.

He serves on the Board of Directors of the Columbus Speech and Hearing Center and is an active member of the Ohio State Alumni Association Advocates, a committee that works with government officials to boost support for higher education. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from The Ohio State University.

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George Becker - International Media Relations

For more than 20 years, George Becker has been one of Cleveland's leading business-to-business specialists, having founded George A. Becker & Company where he developed programs that enhance clients' images within communities where they conduct business, with particular focus on building relationships with their customers, prospective customers, suppliers, employees and stockholders. Becker's particular strengths include publicizing the introduction of new products and professional services to general-interest, consumer and trade-industry media; organizing local, regional and national publicity tours for entrepreneurs and senior corporate executives; organizing special events for the media, including trade shows, news conferences and ground-breakings; writing web content, marketing and sales brochures, annual reports, press-kit materials, by-lined articles in clients' names and newsletters.

Becker's past and present clients include Bonne Bell, Northcoast Business Systems, The Ohio Tuition Trust Authority, The Brennan Financial Group, Cleveland State University, PSC Metals and Case Western Reserve University. He is also a former columnist for Smart Business News, a monthly magazine in Cleveland and his writing has been featured in Crain's Cleveland Business, Ophthalmology Times and Ohio Magazine, among many other periodicals.

Previously, Becker wrote and edited for United Press International, as well as for The New York Daily News and The Cincinnati Enquirer. He also served as director of editorial resources and media relations for Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores, Inc.

Becker served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in northern India from 1966 to 1968, and in 1970, he covered events for six months in Israel as an International Journalism intern. In 1982, he was chosen as a delegate to East and West Germany under the auspices of the American Council of Young Political Leaders. He is an active alumnus of Leadership Cincinnati Class VI. Becker has undergraduate and graduate degrees in Journalism from The Ohio State University.

Annually, Becker travels to the People's Republic of China where he has developed business contacts in Shanghai and in Zhongshan, Guangdong Province. Becker is multilingual, speaking Spanish, French, Hebrew and Hindustani. He is currently learning Mandarin and providing media relations and writing services to Chinese companies entering the N. American market.

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Dr. Peter Collins - Threat Assessment & Analysis

Dr. Peter Collins is the Manager of the Forensic Psychiatry Unit, Behavioural Sciences and Analysis Services of the Investigation and Support Bureau of the Ontario Provincial Police and serves as the Consultant Psychiatrist to the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET) of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Collins is also the Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist for the Profiling Unit of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Since 1998, Collins has worked with Hennes Communications on a variety of crime-related situations and threat assessments.

In 1997, Collins was elected a member of the International Criminal Investigative Analysis Fellowship. In 2000, he was appointed a member of the INTERPOL Specialist Group on Crimes against Children.

Collins obtained his Masters in Applied Criminology from the University of Ottawa, his Medical Degree from McMaster University and completed his postgraduate medical training in Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. His clinical appointment is with the Law and Mental Health Program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. He is an Associate Professor with the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto and an Affiliate Professor with the Forensic Sciences Program at Nebraska Wesleyan University.

Collins is an expert on violent crime and has worked with, and instructed, numerous criminal justice agencies in Canada, the United States, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Micronesia and Australia including the FBI, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Interpol, Europol, and the Australian Federal Police.

Collins is a Lieutenant-Commander in the Canadian Forces (Navy Reserve) and has served, as psychiatrist, on two deployments in Southern Afghanistan.

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Julie Conrad - Small Business Communications

For 13 years, Julie Conrad has specialized in spearheading, managing and implementing communications programs for business-to-business, healthcare, technology, consumer and nonprofit organizations. She currently leads communications programs for small businesses, guiding these organizations in developing and telling their story.

She has partnered with management on crisis and issues management situations and has developed messaging for and media-trained C-level executives and high-profile individuals, including the 2004 & 2006 U.S. Ryder Cup Captain and PGA Professional Suzy Whaley, the first woman to qualify for a PGA Tour event in 50 years.

She most recently served as a senior account supervisor for Cohn & Wolfe New York, an international communications agency. During her four-year tenure at Cohn & Wolfe, Conrad worked with a number of brand-name organizations, including Automatic Data Processing (ADP), The PGA of America, Sanofi-aventis (Aventis), Ford, and MSN. Serving as the day-to-day account manager, Conrad ensured that communication initiatives were strategic and in line with the organization's marketing and overall business goals.

Prior to Cohn & Wolfe, Conrad worked for Airfoil Public Relations, a technology public relations firm in Detroit, where she was responsible for providing direction and counsel on IT analyst and media relations programs for technology companies.

Conrad began her career at Dan Pinger Public Relations in Cincinnati, Ohio. There Conrad coached several clients through corporate identity and positioning campaigns.

Conrad holds a bachelor of arts degree in speech communications from Miami University (Oxford, Ohio). She holds Accredited in Public Relations (APR) status from the Public Relations Society of America, a designation reserved for public relations professionals who have demonstrated strong expertise in the field.

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Dawn Hanson - Crisis Communications & Media Training

Dawn Hanson specializes in crisis communications, issues management, media relations and media training. Her crisis experience includes helping clients deal with manufacturing accidents, workforce reductions, union conflicts, environmental issues, product liability issues, mergers and acquisitions, sudden changes in leadership and ownership and other high-stakes reputation issues.

Hanson is a seasoned communications executive with more than 20 years of experience in the field. She is the founder of The Fairmount Group, an independent consulting practice specializing in marketing and communications strategy and management. Previously, Hanson worked for diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton Corporation for five years as Director of External & Marketing Communications with global responsibility for crisis communications, media relations, branding and corporate identity and financial communications.

Prior to Eaton, Hanson worked in Europe for a decade serving two international petrochemical companies. She spent four years in Helsinki, Finland, where she headed up external communications for the chemicals division of Neste Oy, a national oil and petrochemicals company. She then spent six years in Copenhagen, Denmark, where she was Vice President of Corporate Communications for the Borealis Group, Europe's leading producer of polyolefin plastics. The earlier years of her career included public relations positions with Riggs National Bank in Washington, D.C., and a private hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Hanson holds a B.A. degree with a major in public relations from Louisiana State University and a M.S. degree in communication management from Syracuse University.

Cleveland Public Relations

Hanson is active in a number of community and professional organizations on the local and national level. She is a past board member of the Greater Cleveland Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and an active member of its Diversity Committee. In 2003, she received the PRSA President's Award in recognition of her leadership in the area of diversity and inclusion. In 2007, she was honored with the chapter's Davis Young Award for Exceptional Mentors. She currently serves on the Marketing Communications Committee of the Cleveland Commission on Economic Inclusion.

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Lora Hummer - Media Relations & Issue Management

Lora Hummer's experience is focused on media relations and issue management. She is practiced in coordinating and managing public meetings and community outreach for controversial issues.

She most recently held the position of Public Information Officer for the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) District 12 office serving Cuyahoga, Lake and Geauga counties. Hummer served as the spokesperson for all departmental operations in the three counties and facilitated responses to diverse issues including project planning, construction, maintenance operations and personnel issues.

Cleveland Media Relations

For several years, Hummer coordinated the department's outreach for the controversial Cleveland Innerbelt project including managing a high volume of media inquiries, constituent correspondence, the project Web site, and collaboratively planning and executing public meetings. She handled a variety of crisis situations including the departmental response to the bridge collapse in Minnesota, the demolition of the Fulton Road Bridge in Cleveland, criminal charges leveled against employees and various issues that impacted customers using the regional transportation network.

Hummer started her tenure with ODOT in its Central Office in Columbus, where she was responsible for media relations for statewide issues as well as administering special events on behalf of the department and Governor's office.

Prior to joining ODOT, Hummer worked in the private sector for several public relations agencies. She graduated cum laude from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University in Athens and is a graduate of the Cleveland State University Leadership Academy.

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Nora Jacobs - Crisis Communications

Jacobs is an experienced crisis communications counselor with three decades of agency and corporate experience. Over the years, she has counseled top executives at companies, associations, nonprofits and professional service firms throughout the country on reputational issues and problems ranging from accidents, environmental concerns, product failures, criminal matters and activist attacks to reorganizations, management transitions and downsizings. She has a strong portfolio of client work in consumer and industrial products, healthcare, biotechnology, education and economic development.

Previously, Jacobs served as executive vice president of Ohio-based Edward Howard, the nation's oldest independent public relations firm. There, she was a member of its board of directors and executive committee, with management responsibility for its largest office, as well as staffing and training firm-wide. During her tenure with the firm, she managed some of Edward Howard's largest accounts and led the firm's healthcare practice. She began her career at BFGoodrich Chemical Group, a division of the Fortune 500 BFGoodrich Company, where she oversaw the group's advertising, public relations, community relations and issues management programs.

Jacobs holds a bachelor's degree from Kent State University and a master's degree from John Carroll University. She is a member of the Kent State University Foundation Board, a director and past-president of the Kent State National Alumni Association, president of the Kent State Honors College Advisory Board, a director on the board of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park Association, an accredited member of the Public Relations Society of America and a member of PRSA's Counselors Academy.

A three-time Silver Anvil winner, the highest award given by the public relations profession, Jacobs has received numerous other communications awards, including a Gold World Award from the International Public Relations Association. She has received the Distinguished Honors Alumni Award from Kent State's Honors College, and the Distinguished Alumni Award from Kent's College of Arts and Sciences. In 2009, she was presented with the Davis Young Award for Exceptional Mentors by the Cleveland Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America in recognition of the work she has done to help young professionals and others advance in the field.

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Scott Juba - Social Media and Web PR

As the president of Radar Public Relations & Consulting LLC, a firm specializing in the strategic use of social media, Scott Juba understands the unique opportunities and challenges that Internet platforms pose to organizations during a crisis.

A variety of organizations in Northeast Ohio solicit Juba's counsel to guide them in building engaged online communities on social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs and more.

Juba has also authored and presented extensive research about online communications, including projects that have been included as part of the PRSA International Conference, the Tenth Annual International Public Relations Research Conference and the Ohio Communication Association Conference.

In 2007, Juba collaborated with PR Newswire on a groundbreaking research initiative that examined the credibility of blog measurement methods in the public relations industry. Later that year, he earned special distinction from the Ohio Communication Association in large part because of his social media research endeavors.

Aside from strategic social media communications, Juba is also skilled in media relations, multimedia production and several other public relations functions.

His educational background includes a master's degree in public relations from Kent State University. He earned his bachelor's degree in economics from Baldwin-Wallace College, where he was a Collegiate All-American Scholar.

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Ron Kirksey - Crisis Communications and Media Relations

Ron Kirksey specializes in crisis communication, media relations and executive communications, with special expertise in higher education issues.

Kirksey most recently served as executive director for University Communications at Kent State University. During his 10 years at Kent State, Ohio's third-largest university, Kirksey served as spokesman for the eight-campus university, led crisis communications efforts, provided the strategies to protect and promote the university's image and wrote strategic executive communications – speeches, op-eds, articles, annual reports and internal and external messages.

He also led Kent State's media and public relations efforts with its many partners including NorTech, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Samsung, Summa Health Systems, Cleveland Botanical Garden, Ohio Board of Regents, NCAA and N.E. Ohio Council on Higher Education.

Prior to coming to Kent State, Kirksey spent more than 20 years as a journalist, most of that time as an editorial writer, editor and columnist. His weekly column for the Akron Beacon Journal was published regularly throughout the United States through the Knight Ridder Wire Service.

Kirksey received numerous writing awards throughout his career. He also served as a lead writer on a year-long project for the Beacon Journal that won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.

As a ghostwriter for higher education executives, Kirksey's writing appeared in the Columbus Dispatch, The Plain Dealer, Akron Beacon Journal, trade magazines and regional and national publications. He also wrote speeches and presentations to promote the organization's brand or to re-establish its image following a crisis. Kirksey also led efforts at Kent State that resulted in two CASE (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education) Gold awards for national excellence in higher education marketing, for media relations and events supporting the 30th anniversary of the 1970 Kent State shootings.

Kirksey is a former president and board member of the Akron Press Club, and former member of the National Conference of Editorial Writers. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in political science (international studies) from the University of Tennessee and a Master of Arts in journalism/media management from Kent State University.

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Phyllis Quail - Media Training & Public Affairs

Phyllis Quail is an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years of television experience to her credit.

A graduate of Bowling Green State University, Quail landed her first job as an on-air reporter in Toledo. In less than three years she was named the first female evening news anchor in the Toledo market. She began her move into management at WKBK-TV in Detroit.

Cleveland Media Training

In 1984, she moved to Cleveland to assume the role of Executive Producer for News Programming at WJW-TV, the longtime local CBS network affiliate. She then served as Director of News and Communication at the station until the early 1990's. Under her leadership, WJW produced the highest-rated news programs in the market and her team of journalists received countless awards, gaining a reputation for excellence through the country.

Upon leaving WJW, Quail was named the first district-wide Director of Television for Cuyahoga Community College where she assisted in the development of distance learning curricula for the college's cable channel. She also trained faculty the finer points of teaching on television.

In 2001, Quail was recruited by WVIZ/PBS to produce the public affairs program, Feagler & Friends, where, under her direction, the show received numerous EMMY and other awards. In 2006, the station called upon her to develop and produce “Ideas,” a new news and public affairs program. Under her leadership “Ideas” garnered three nominations and two EMMY wins.

Today, in addition to media training for corporate and non profit clients, Quail specializes in public affairs, commercial and promotional video production.

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Carol Saferin - Corporate Marketing, Media & Communications

Carol Saferin spent more than 30 years in corporate marketing and media. Utilizing her experience in marketing communications, public relations, promotions, advertising and media relations, she developed highly targeted strategies and campaigns for clients in Cleveland, Los Angeles, Orlando, Las Vegas, Chicago, Atlanta, Detroit and Dallas.

Her professional experience includes eight years as Corporate Director of Advertising and Promotion for the gaming and entertainment conglomerate Bally Manufacturing Corporation in Chicago. During her years at Bally, she oversaw all advertising, collateral and public relations for the corporation and several of its divisions, including gaming, video and pinball games, Six Flags theme parks and Bally Health & Fitness. Saferin's responsibilities also included the annual report and stockholder relations.

While serving as Director of Corporate Communications for Matrix Essentials, she obtained national public relations coverage in all major fashion and beauty publications, including Vogue, Mademoiselle and Bazaar. Saferin also spent several years in radio, including WTAM in Chicago and WWWE in Cleveland, as well as in advertising and promotion agencies in Chicago and Cleveland. She also opened the Front Row Theater in Cleveland as its first Advertising and Promotions Director. Saferin also produced the Revco Health & Beauty Expos across the eastern U.S. and directed sponsorship development for the AAU Junior Olympic Games.

Saferin is experienced in both traditional and non-traditional marketing and public relations programs, corporate development, strategic planning, media relations, sponsorships and promotions.

Saferin is Vice President of the Board of Directors of Women in Sports and Events, Cleveland (WISE). She is also a Vice President of The Press Club of Cleveland and a member of the Business and Professional Advertising Association, Public Relations Society of America, Professional Meeting Planners Network, National Association of Golf Tournament Directors and Northeast Ohio Communicators Association. She has been listed in Who's Who in Advertising, Who's Who in American Women and Who's Who in the Midwest.

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Phil Stella - Executive Communications Coaching

Phil Stella is a dynamic coach and trainer, teaching business professionals to communicate with power, persuasion and poise. With more than 25 years experience, Stella specializes in helping executives become more comfortable and competent when they present, testify, train, network, write, lead meetings and interact with customers, colleagues, juries and stakeholders.

Stella has worked with hundreds of client and association audiences around the country in industry segments such as financial services, health care, manufacturing, media and nonprofits. His clients have included GE, Case Western Reserve University, N.E. Ohio Regional Sewer District, University Hospitals, Marsh, Ernst & Young, American Express Financial, Key Bank, Progressive Insurance, National City Bank, Sherwin Williams and Employers Resource Council. He has also been on faculty at the University of Phoenix Cleveland Campus for over eight years, teaching workplace communications classes.

Prior to his solo consulting career, Stella managed corporate communications and management training functions at Progressive Insurance in Cleveland for 10 years. His previous experience includes assignments in the university, public school and media arenas. He has an M.S. from the University of Illinois, where he also received his B.S. in Communications, cum laude. Phil is an active member of Sales & Marketing Executives, the American Society for Training & Development and the Cleveland Coach Federation.

Besides the individual and group coaching assignments he's handled, Phil's signature seminars include:

Communicate With Style (learning the strengths and weaknesses of executives' personal style of communicating, how to quickly identify the styles of colleagues, bosses and customers, and how to adapt your style for maximum interaction success);
Planning Winning Presentations (learning how to become mission-critical presenters or presentation resources by planning, organizing, visualizing and practicing effective and efficient audience-driven presentations);
Handling Communication Challenges (how to deal with the challenges executives face when communicating with managers, colleagues and customers, including effective listening, assertive interactions, telephone techniques and communicating with "uncommon courtesy");
Make Meetings Work (meeting skills for busy managers and business professionals, focusing on techniques and strategies to analyze meetings, plan them thoroughly, lead them effectively and follow up properly);
WordPower - The Words You Use Do Make A Difference (helping business professionals choose words on purpose, not out of habit, for routine memos, letters, e-mails, proposals or reports, stressing the use of short, simple, conversational, consistent, assertive and personal language).

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