For Immediate Release
Thursday, February 5, 2009

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Ed Barks
(540) 955-0600
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National Press Club Names Barks to Head Communications and Marketing Committee

Barks Communications President Ed Barks will serve as the 2009 chair of the National Press Club’s Communications and Marketing Committee.

That committee, composed of press club members, provides strategy and guidance that allows the club’s leadership, committees, and members to more effectively promote their efforts and activities.

One of the prime initiatives Barks plans to launch involves an effort to improve understanding between working journalists and public relations/public affairs practitioners. Both professions make up the club’s membership. “The centerpiece of our effort to build bridges,” Barks said, “will revolve around a series of programs that will demonstrate what life is like on the other side of the fence for both reporters and communicators. Increasing understanding begins with increasing communication, and that is what we on the Communications and Marketing Committee intend to do.”

The committee also plans to revive its educational efforts for members of the Washington, D.C., public affairs and public relations community. Its prime initiative will be a series of events modeled after its sold out 2007 program “Connecting Reporters and Sources: The Electronic Beat.”

“In order to achieve these ambitious goals, we will need more peoplepower on the committee, both on the part of senior and junior practitioners,” added Barks, a club member since 2000. “I am pleased to note that we have already more than doubled our membership in one short month.”

Ed Barks works with corporate and association executives who need a magnetic message and sharp communications skills, and with public affairs and public relations experts who counsel their bosses and clients. The former radio broadcaster is the author of The Truth About Public Speaking: The Three Keys to Great Presentations. As President of Barks Communications since 1997, he has taught more than 3000 business leaders, association executives, government officials, athletes, entertainers, non-profit executives, and public relations staff how to succeed when they deal with the media, deliver presentations, and testify before government officials.