Vincente Calderon
The Society of Professional Journalists’ San Diego Pro Chapter has named Vincente Calderón, editor of Tijuana Press, an online news website, as its 2022 Journalist of the Year.
SPJ San Diego officials have described Vincente as independent, idealistic, courageous and generous. SPJ also said many San Diego-area journalists whose beats includes the border have turned to Calderón over the years for assistance in navigating the complexities of the region.
“They’ve always found an enthusiastic guide, willing to go above and beyond to help his colleagues,” said SPJ.
In addition to reporting on Tijuana for his online news site, Calderón has collaborated with San Diego journalists on stories about the San Diego-Tijuana region. He’s currently working with MacKenzie Elmer of Voice of San Diego, an online news website, on a series of stories exploring the environmental impacts of the Tijuana River.
“Vicente has been a bridge between San Diego and Tijuana’s journalism communities for so many years,” said Scott Lewis, editor and CEO of Voice of San Diego. “He has always been there for me and my staff when we need to make a connection or pull off a story with implications for both sides of the border. I cannot fathom how many fewer things we would know without him.”
SPJ also said Calderón has continued his reporting despite the dangers and challenges faced by Mexican journalists, including low pay, threats to their personal safety and pressure to ignore certain stories.
Calderón will be honored, along with other journalists, at SPJ’s awards event from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Thursday, July 21, at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens at Liberty Station in Point Loma, 2816 Historic Decatur Road, San Diego. Cost to attend is $30 for members, $35 for nonmembers. For more event information, visit www.spjsandiego.org.
KCD Public Relations Hires 2 VPs
KCD PR, a San Diego-based public relations agency specializing in financial services, fintech and technology industries, has added Chris Clemens and Sarah Bilyeu, two veteran communicators to its leadership team. Both new hires have VP titles.
In a statement, KCD PR said Clemens and Bilyeu will be an integral part of the leadership team and responsible for creating and implementing communications campaigns to cultivate and enhance meaningful relationships with key audiences to advance brand identity and drive consumer adoption of client products and services.
“I am incredibly excited to work with Chris and Sarah, both proven leaders in elevating brands through effective public and media relations, communications and marketing strategies,” said Kevin Dinino, KCD president and founder. “Our firm has served the financial services and fintech space for over 10 years and continues to see strong growth across the industry. The addition of these two exceptional leaders will not only expand the firm’s depth of knowledge and relationships but also enhance our reach while better serving new and existing clients.”
Clemens has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services and technology industries. Previously, he spent 10 years with Haven Tower Group, a Santa Monica, CA-based PR agency that focused on the financial services, private equity, alternative investments and real estate investment trust industries.
He also worked for nine years in the telecommunications, investment banking and mergers and acquisitions field with Level 3 Communications in Colorado, BMO Capital Markets in New York City, Nassau Group in Connecticut and Citigroup in NYC. During his career, Clemens has worked with such firms as Oppenheimer & Co., Advisor Group, Cetera Financial Group and the Financial Services Institute. He has a bachelor’s degree in history from Yale University
Bilyeu, with more than 20 years of experience, previously spent the past nine years at San Diego County Credit Union as senior VP of business development and community relations. She was the International Association of Business Communicators San Diego chapter’s 2021 Communicator of the Year. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science from San Diego State University and a master’s degree in business administration with a specialization in marketing from Ashford University.
“I am tremendously excited to be part of the KCD PR team,” said Clemens, who works with KCD remotely from Las Vegas. “Kevin has created a powerful firm with exceptional capabilities across the fintech, financial services and technology sectors, with a strong client roster of both established firms and fast-growing startups. I look forward to telling our clients’ stories to help them achieve the visibility they richly deserve, and to working alongside Sarah and the other members of our team to drive further strategic growth for KCD PR.”
“I am thrilled to join the talented team of communications professionals at KCD PR,” said Bilyeu. “I have known Kevin for many years as a professional colleague and leader in the fintech communications space and look forward to working alongside a leader of his caliber to help grow the agency and serve our diverse portfolio of clients. I am most excited to influence positive brand recognition and elevate the voice of clients through my expertise as well as an innate passion for storytelling and cultivating interest in stakeholders, employees, the community and media.”
Encinitas Chamber Adds Video Producer Sean Flannery to Board
The Encinitas Chamber of Commerce has announced that Sean Flannery, co-owner of Max Lux Media, a video production and photography company that serves small-and-medium-size businesses, has joined its board of directors.
The chamber said Flannery, as one of its youngest board members, will attend monthly mixers to attract a younger demographic to become chamber members.
Flannery said he hopes to give back to the community. “Joining the chamber was essential for me to understand the business landscape and network with community leaders,” Flannery said in a statement.
Advertising, PR Jobs Now Exceed Pre-Pandemic Levels
The advertising and public relations industry has recovered from its COVID pandemic-related job losses, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
As reported by Ad Age, an industry trade publication, total jobs in advertising, public relations and related services hit 484,700 in June 2022, which was up by 7,300 from May 2022 and the fourth-highest monthly gain since the year 2000. Jobs in “related services” included media buying, media reps, outdoor advertising and direct mail.
The June 2022 jobs total is above where it stood on the eve of the pandemic in February 2020 (484,400) and above the pandemic low of 430,800 in January 2021.
BLS reports with a one-month lag for specific updates on job totals at ad agencies specifically and Internet media employment.
Ad agencies added 2,100 jobs in May after gaining 1,500 jobs in April, with employment up 21,900 year-over-year. Ad agency employment totaled 218,300 jobs in May, an all-time high.
For Internet media employment, which includes Internet publishing and broadcasting and web search portals, total jobs were up by 5,900 in May, following a 1,600 jobs gain in April, with the total up 31,000 from May 2021. Total Internet media employment stood at 339,600 jobs in May, also a record high.
Even with recent cutbacks at some U.S. technology companies, the recent job figures from the government suggest that widespread job cuts in digital media now seem less likely.
Rick Griffin is a San Diego-based public relations and marketing consultant. His MarketInk column appears weekly on Mondays in Times of San Diego.