Madison Alexander PR

Public relations is a critical component to any company's marketing efforts. Creating and fostering a communications climate, with a steady flow of news, tells reporters, editors, industry analysts, partners, customers, prospects, (and the competition) that your company is positioned to compete, grow and lead.

The momentum PR can build spills over into new technology partnerships, increase qualified sales lead generation, aid recruiting, and create new investment opportunities.

Madison Alexander Public Relations helps clients do just that.

For start-up and small/mid-sized technology companies, effecitve public relations and analyst relations services from an experienced, well-sourced team can make all the difference. Building thought leadership and mindshare among key industry influencers is something the team at Madison Alexander PR does every day.

Dan Chmielewski is a creative and experienced high technology public relations and marketing communications professional. He is also one of a shrinking number of industry professionals with actual newsroom experience having worked as a radio news director and anchor with stations in New York and as a freelance newspaper reporter and magazine article writer. This newsroom experience is one of the things that sets Madison Alexander PR apart from the competition.

Since starting Madison Alexander PR in 2004, Dan was named "Security PR Professional of the Year for 2012" and the agency was the 2011 "PR Agency of the Year for the Security Industry" by InfoSecurity Products Guide. The firm has won national IT PR campaign awards from Network Products Guide and a Golden Bridge Business Award in 2011 and 2010 respectively.

With more than 25 years of experience, Dan has spent most his career working in enterprise networking and data security at large corporations such as 3Com and Data General, and working on large accounts at agencies with clients such as Lotus Development, Mitsubishi Mobile Computing, and Legent. In addition, Dan has worked with start-ups like Gradient Technologies and Moss Software, and held senior management positions with technology firms in Boston and Southern California. Dan's work in media relations has been honored by the Orange County Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). He received a PRSA President’s Citation for contributions to the practice of public relations and PRSA in 2002. Before starting Madison Alexander PR, he was director of worldwide public relations for Rainbow Technologies before its acquisition by SafeNet.

A writer at heart, Dan has considerable experience managing technology product PR programs through message development and strategy, to building strong news pipelines, managing comparative product reviews, and handling quarterly financial earnings announcements for publicly-traded companies. Dan has international PR experience as well, having managed PR programs throughout Europe, Asia and Latin America. Dan is featured in several textbooks on writing for publication and magazine article publishing written by John C. Behrens.

Dan was a founding member of the Orange County chapter of the Software Council of Southern California and served as the organization's co-chair from 2000-2002. He is also active with the Business Marketing Association of Southern California, and several community organizations in Irvine, CA. He has also written about technology topics for a variety of business , trade and consumer publications ranging from Profiles in Diversity to Home Theater Magazine to the Boston Phoenix. Dan is the managing editor of a political blog based in Orange County and has been blogging since 2005.

Dan is a leader in his community. A resident of Irvine, California since 1997, Dan served as a legislative action representative for Sierra Vista Middle School, he served as a homeowner's association president for eight years, and was the commissioner for the Boy's 6th, 7th and 8th grade divisions for Irvine Youth Basketball League over a three year period. He also served as a commissioner for North Irvine AYSO Girls U6 and Girls U7, and Girl's U8 divisions in addition to coaching his daughter's AYSO girl's soccer team. Dan is a certified AYSO youth soccer referee. He was a volunteer for the neighborhood Irvine Swim League team. Dan was also a cubmaster for Pack 672 for the Boy Scouts of America. He was the head coach for the Irvine -North Boys 8 all-star team that participated in the 2006 National Junior Basketball national championship tournament and was an assistant coach for the Girl's 4th grade silver Irvine Youth Basketball All-Star team. Dan coached girl's youth basketball for three years in Irvine; his last team was the 2010 girl's sixth grade all star team which finished second in the nation in the National Junior Basketball Evans Tournament.

Dan and his wife Dawn, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, were honored by Utica College's Raymond Simon Institute as 2007 Alumni of the Year for Professional Achievement. Professor Raymond Simon was one of PR Week's Top 100 Most Influential Professionals. The couple are 1983 graduates of Utica College of Syracuse University.

Dan is a proven problem solver and community leader. His involvement in these organizations is to make sure his children, Madison and Alexander, get the best possible experience as they grow up. So if you were wondering where the agency's name came from, Madison and Alexander is much easier to say than "Chmielewski."

Read more about Dan here: http://www.utica.edu/ssm/pub_rel-journ/danchmielewski.htm

Madison Alexander PR Associates

Paula Brici -- For nearly 20 years, Paula has developed and implemented public relations program initiatives from strategic program development and message segmentation and planning, to successful frontlines tactical implementation including copywriting, product launches, trade shows, press and analyst tours, and news, trade, businesses, broadcast and feature story media coverage.

Paula’s communications expertise draws on her wide-ranging experience as well as her personal focus on maintaining a high degree of professionalism, trust and responsiveness in client relationships. Her efforts have helped entrepreneurs and organizations from small-to-medium sized businesses to established multi-million-dollar companies. Paula’s background in a wide range of business and consumer markets, including relationships with regional, national and industry media, provides a broad-based perspective for clients seeking to reach audiences in key markets.

She attended Indiana University and graduated with a B.S. in public affairs, minoring in business. In Indiana, Paula managed PR and legislative affairs for the state’s leading trial bar association. After relocating to Southern California in the late 1980s, Paula held PR positions at leading full-service advertising and PR firms. Her wide network of contacts includes a range of service providers well-known to the Orange County technology community.

Paula recently concluded a two-year term on the board of the Orange Coast Venture Group, one of Southern California’s preeminent networking platforms for those who advise, finance and manage fast-growing early-stage and middle-market companies. She is an active supporter of the AeA Orange County Council and has served on the steering committee for its annual Orange County High-Tech Awards for a number of years. She has also contributed PR support to the Laguna Art Museum, Second Harvest Food Bank, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and American Cancer Society.

Tila Pacheco -- Tila Pacheco is a senior counselor at Madison Alexander PR in addition to managing her own consulting practice. Through her work, Pacheco has built a solid reputation for helping companies develop and achieve their public relations goals. Working with consumer and B2B companies in a variety of industries including technology, medical/healthcare technology, dot.coms, and real estate, Pacheco has a strong track record of success in technology, real estate development, mortgage lending, medical devices, tradeshow management, financial services, non-profit and entertainment.

Pacheco has helped companies get the “ink” they need to create awareness of their business, products and services. Previous media placements include NBC's "The Today Show," “Tech TV,” VH-1, syndicated radio show, "The Osgood File," Discovery Channel, MTV, CNN, USA Today, The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News, People Magazine, Business Week, Billboard Magazine, as well as leading trade publications.

Pacheco’s PR experience includes work done for such clients as Voikex, Inc., Urban + West, Sage Software Inc., V-Tech Soft Inc., SRS Labs Inc., The Edgewater Funds, Net Effect Systems (now part of Ask Jeeves), Virgin Interactive Entertainment, Buffalo Technology, Coast Concierge Service, Scoop!, Troy Financial Systems, Mind2Media, Dynamic Concepts, Inc., Advanced Tissue Sciences, DogByte Development, Cal Events, and Argent Mortgage Company and The Fender Center for the Performing Arts through Gladstone International. She has also worked on the client side at companies such as Graphix Zone, MTI Technology Corp., Western Digital, MTI Technology, Archive Corp. and CalComp/Lockheed.

She holds a B.A. in Communications from CSU-Fullerton.

Ronnie Manning -- Ronnie Manning brings more than 10 years of both agency and corporate public relations experience and currently serves as a technology and consumer public relations consultant specializing in media and analyst relations, technical writing and editing, product reviews, and strategic communications planning. Prior, Manning served as public relations manager at San Diego based Websense, Inc. (WBSN) where he successfully transitioned the organization from a traditional web filtering company to a highly recognized web security company.

While at Websense, he managed all technology- and product-related public relations, including acting as company spokesperson, garnering more than 4,000 media hits per year. Manning launched the respected Websense Security Labs as a leading source of internet fraud, phishing and crimeware trends and statistics to media while working in conjunction with the Anti-phishing Working Group.

Before relocating to San Diego, Manning worked as a senior account executive specializing in media relations for Edelman in Washington, DC. As a media relations specialist, he worked on Edelman’s broad range of clients ranging from consumer, technology, government, and grassroots campaigns. Clients included Microsoft (launch of Xbox live), Michel Richard’s Citronelle Restaurant, Nissan, American Red Cross, Kinkos, Verizon, National Association of Broadcasters, National 4-H Council, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Michelin, National Society of Professional Engineers, U.S. Conference of Mayors, and Blueprint Technologies.

Joann Killeen -- A veteran of over 30 years in the public relations industry, Joann Killeen is a senior counselor with Madison Alexander PR and also manages her own PR practice. Killeen has worked in a variety of markets including technology, healthcare, food industry, education, finance, government, recreation, and transportation. Companies include: Lifetime Corporation, DAKA International, Wal-Mart, Microsoft Corporation, Blockbuster Entertainment, Litton Industries, Holy Family Hospital and assignments for and with several international public relations agencies.

Joann holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from California State University at Northridge (CSUN) and a Master’s Degree in Communications Management from Simmons College in Boston. A member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) for the past 24 years, Joann has been member of the PRSA Counselors Academy for over 12 years and is accredited by PRSA

She has won numerous awards for her work as a professional counselor and for her service to the profession. She was honored to win the PRSA President’s Exceptional Leadership Award in 1993 and 1994. The Los Angeles PRSA Chapter named Joann the Public Relations Professional of the Year in 2002 for her significant contributions to the industry and to the local community.

Joann is a noted writer, speaker, author and educator in the field of public relations and investor relations. She has taught at Whitworth College and was a guest lecturer at Simmons College and Boston University. She was a keynote speaker on public relations ethics at an International Public Relations Symposium in South Africa in 2002 and continues to speak on this and other related topics locally and regionally. Presently, Killeen is a part-time writing instructor in the Public Relations Certificate program at UCLA.

Maureen MacGregor --A senior strategic PR counsel with hands-on program execution, Maureen has been helping technology start-ups and public affairs organizations gain compelling market momentum. She works closely with clients to maximize their news opportunities and fully leverage the differentiations and nascent customer assets typical to the industry’s start-ups.

She regularly achieves the highest levels of positive visibility among key trade press, analyst communities, business press and prospective investors, and helps clients garner prestigious awards and recognitions. Clients are regularly featured in key business media outlets and the full scope of targeted trade/technology media and industry analysis. Clients such as Sandburst Corporation (acquired by Broadcom), Internet Photonics Inc. (acquired by Ciena), Nexabit (acquired by Lucent), Sonus Networks (NASDAQ: SONS), Edge Velocity and Verscom International Pactolus Communications and ODINE/Verscom Technologies (of Dubai and Istanbul) reflect the clear articulation and aggressive program that has supported their evolution from start-up to respected manufacturer.

Prior to joining a distinctly agile, effective and start-up/jump-start focused practice, Maureen was PR Director and Director of Marketing Services for a successful, publicly held Internet equipment start-up, and previously worked at two of the information technology industry’s most respected public relations agencies, directing AT&T’s highly successful UNIX International “UNIX war” initiative for Miller Shandwick.

She has more than 15 years years in marketing communications media relations and business reporting for various news outlets. Maureen is based in New England and she and Dan worked together at Proteon in Westborough, Mass.