In 2004, Ellen Parker was working as an assistant to MLA David Swan until she took off to New York where she joined a PR agency. After a couple of years, she came back to Calgary and was hired as manager of education and outreach at the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra.
Then working as a stay-at-home mom with two children, she used her Mount Royal University PR skills as an independent consultant, but soon became too busy and two years ago launched Parker PR that now has four employees.
Last year, they picked Youth Singers of Calgary as a pro bono account; this year it is the Calgary Drop-In and Rehab Centre. They began serving meals but have now been retained to help promote events like the October 18th Concert for Kindness with the CPO. Then it is on to the annual Christmas campaign to raise funds to help implement its many programs.
Kensington figures high in its growing list of clients, helping retailers and restaurants as well as the BRZ. Parker PR also helped organize the Harry Potter-themed day that drew more than 50,000 people to the Kensington community celebration.
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Mark’s has engaged Tandem Marketing Design to work on point-of-sale and packaging solutions for its proprietary brands including Denver Hayes and WindRiver.
Tandem managing director Todd Fraser also reports his team is busy creating and implementing campaigns for Calgary-based Fresnel Software that is developing cloud-based production accounting software for the fibre-optic industry.
Tandem is involved in all aspects of its marketing program including brand strategy, naming and logo development, and digital execution.
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Good to catch up with Tyler Chisholm, CEO of ClearMotive Marketing Group, who spends a lot of time travelling between his Calgary and Toronto offices.
The Calgary team has begun working with RGL Reservoir Management, a global leader in the heavy oil industry, and on what Chisholm calls a very cool virtual reality project for Hive Innovations, also a heavy oil player.
On the non-oil and gas front, ClearMotive is rebranding Matrix MSK, a leading sports medicine institute and physiotherapy group, and launching a revolutionary young driver’s insurance program called Carrot in Alberta and Ontario.
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Calgary Telus Convention Centre (CTCC) has hired Kurby Court, who has had 20 years of experience at Spruce Meadows where he served as the vice president of special features and contract management. He becomes CTCC’s vice president of experience, while Adam Joyce, consultant with Adjoy Ventures, is the centre’s new vice president of acceleration.
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Yvette Biggs, formerly with Alberta Cancer Prevention Legacy Fund, has joined United Way Calgary and Area as vice president of marketing and communications.
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Parker’s Pick: Washington-based Clutch, an independent third-party review firm, has ranked Calgary’s Full Blast Creative as one of Canada’s top 2017 branding, PR and digital agencies.
