Chris Powers, Account Executive

The 80:20 team expands again today, with Chris Powers coming on board as account executive. Chris has just completed his degree in Journalism, during which he managed to secure work experience at national newspapers The Independent and The Mirror, as well as writing his own sports column during a placement at the Portsmouth News. He clearly has the gift of the gab, which bodes well!

We have been on-site at the Palexpo in Geneva this week for the annual European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (EBACE). As ever, everyone who is anyone in business aviation is at the show, and visitor levels are well up on last year. The 80:20 team has been hard at work supporting Cessna’s press conference, issuing last-minute news (Cessna’s Citation CJ4 jet getting its eagerly anticipated EASA certification) and managing various media interviews, including with Chinese and Russian TV broadcasters. Throw in our annual pilgrimage to our favourite fondue restaurant, and it has been a full week in every sense!

80:20 is a member of the Airline Public Relations Organisation (APRO), a networking group for airline and travel PRs and journalists. Last night we attended the latest APRO networking drinks, kindly sponsored by Qatar Airways. Essential facts discovered as a result:

• Buying Business Travel has a new editor starting soon;
• Andy Hoskins, deputy editor of The Business Travel Magazine, supports the same football team as our own Barry Dunstall (Brighton & Hove Albion – God bless ‘em); and,
• despite the best efforts of Low-Fare & Regional Airlines editor Bernie Baldwin, Marc will never ‘get’ the thrill of being a football fan, not even of AFC Wimbledon.

We’ve just returned from a day at ‘Infosecurity Europe 2011’ at Earls Court in London, where one of our clients, IT Governance (ITG), has been showing off the company’s extensive range of industry-leading books, products and services. With so much on offer to help organisations strengthen their defences against cyberattack, ITG’s biggest challenge at the event was trying to put everything on display in a single stand. There was hardly any room left to welcome all the interested visitors who dropped by. (Over 10,000 people attended the three-day event overall.) Not surprisingly, ITG is planning an even bigger stand next year.

We have an exciting opportunity for a dynamic PR executive to join our growing firm, help shape our future and benefit from our success. (more…)