Management Team
Professional Staff
John S. Bliss Founding Principal
Why PR?
I had a master’s degree in journalism and five months to kill before going to Air Force Officers Training School, so I asked my Dad—who ran a small PR firm in NY—if I could work for him. He said he’d been waiting for me to ask that question for several years. So I went to work with him, detoured for four years in the USAF, went back to work with him for three years and then founded our present firm in 1975 when he went into semi-retirement. He had a great career that included his being the first Executive Director of PRSA, chairman of the New York chapter of PRSA and a founder of the International Public Relations Association.
Expectations on Founding the Firm
I guess I’m an entrepreneur at heart because I was sure I wanted to run my own business and I liked the “learning experiences” that one has in PR. Every client teaches you new aspects of the business world. I thought if I could make a living combining those benefits that it would be pretty neat.
Most Satisfying Moments
That’s an easy question: watching people grow. The senior management team of this firm has been together for 15 years, and we’ve all had to grow. Some of our younger staff are on that trajectory now.
Our firm is now a member of the Worldcom Public Relations Group, the largest global network of independent PR firms, and I serve as chairman of the Americas Region. Worldcom extends the resources of our firm and gives our staff an opportunity to learn from PR professionals around the world.
What I Do for Fun
Golf, hike, read crime fiction and historical non-fiction. Drink good wine and cook good food. Play with grandchildren. Serve as trustee of the Museum of the Hudson Highlands.
