The Society of New Communications Research named its 2008 fellows today, and I’m lucky enough and honored to be one of them.

The SNCR fellows are a thoughtful group of men and women passionate about how societies communicate. A tremendous amount of research is being generated by the members of SNCR, which is helping business and political leaders grasp social media’s unique characteristics.

I look forward to working with my colleagues at SNCR as social media is used by more individuals for personal and professional reasons. I’m also looking forward to seeing many of you (SNCR colleagues, my blog readers and plenty of other smart people) at the 2008 New Comm Forum; I’m speaking in the “strategies for PR & corporate communications” track.

Our Marketing Edge podcast made the list of “100 useful, informative podcasts for small business owners and entrepreneurs,” as assembled by the good folks at Small Business Trends Radio.

The China Business Podcast, from Technomic Asia, a client of ours, also made the list.

Albert Maruggi, president of Provident Partners, will join the roster of communication professionals and other speakers at the Minnesota Health Strategy and Communications Network’s annual summer conference July 19 and 20.

Albert will give a presentation titled “Storytelling Using New Media,” in which he will discuss emerging trends in the use of social media like blogs, podcasts and online videos for telling stories. He’ll also show examples of new media uses from the health care organizations and recount interviews with people who have used some of these tactics.

Albert has a diverse background that includes work in corporate communications, broadcast journalism and politics at the national level. He’s also the host of the highest ranked marketing podcast on iTunes, the Marketing Edge, in which he offers advice and insight on marketing, public relations and business communications.

“Health care communicators face a lot of unique challenges: regulations, dealing with difficult subject matter, very diverse audiences,” he said. “At the same time, they have many opportunities to make an impact. The personal stories and the emotional elements lend themselves perfectly to using new media to tell stories effectively.”

MHSCN is a network designed to unite health care professionals into one multi-faceted organization for sharing strategies and proven techniques for marketing, public relations and communications in the health care industry. MHSCN’s summer conference is an opportunity for different organizations’ communicators to share their stories and to learn from each other on effectively communicating with a variety of audiences.

For more information about Maruggi and Provident Partners please visit www.providentpartners.net. To find out more about MHSCN and its summer conference visit www.mhscn.com.

Photo from Flickr courtesy of happysnappr

We have a new account executive on staff to lend us a hand — two, actually.

We at Provident Partners have increased our workforce by 50 percent with the recent hire of Kirsten Johnson as an account executive.

Kirsten is a recent graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism. She previously worked in public relations for the Nebraska Soybean Board. Her addition to the Provident Partners staff means big things for this growing agency, which is at the forefront of integrating traditional, multimedia and social media PR tactics for clients.

Our boss (founder and president), Albert Maruggi, had this to say:

“I’ve been in this business for 25 years –- in front of the camera and in the inner circle of communication strategy sessions. Today we’re witnessing a sea-change in the way our society, its members and its institutions communicate, learn and interact.

“I call this the ‘trans-’ era: trans-media, trans-generation, trans-location. This era calls for the right combination of traditional marketing communications, true public relations and new-media strategies. Kirsten’s strong writing, new media savvy, and unique perspective of potential solutions for clients is a perfect fit for the Provident Partners culture.”

Kirsten, a native of Roseville, Minn., has also worked for Swanson Russell Associates, a 75-person public relations agency in Lincoln, Neb. Her recent work with colleagues in a senior campaign class, for which Johnson served as PR director, was honored with a “Marketing Maverick” award from the Lincoln chapter of the American Marketing Association.

“With this 50 percent increase in our workforce, we expect our productivity to increase by about 100 percent,” Maruggi said. “In all seriousness, with everything that’s happening on the Web and with these new media tools, communication and marketing are changed for good. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, but we do take our work seriously. And to that end, we’re delighted to have Kirsten aboard.”