Following up its stellar performance at the 38th Annual Jersey Awards, THE STAR GROUP/M&M won 20 gold awards and the Best of Public Service Award at the 2006 Philly Gold Awards Show held at the Marketplace “Bistro St. Tropez” in Philadelphia in June. The Cherry Hill agency won the public service award for its work for the American Red Cross as well as multiple gold awards for Virtua Hospital, Amerihealth, Glenmede, the Learning Center and Lacas. “It’s a thrill to honored and recognized for our creative work,” noted CEO Linda Rosanio. The agency has accumulated 102 awards for outstanding creative achievement this year. Rosanio was honored as Humanitarian of the Year by Eagles Fly for Leukemia for her outstanding work in raising awareness and funding for pediatric cancer and leukemia research in the Delaware Valley. “For more than a decade, Linda’s remarkable caring and support have enabled us to move closer tothe ultimate goal of abolishing childhood cancer,” Eagles Fly for Leukemia president Joseph McHale said in presenting the award.

CHRISTINE PARKER, former vice president – retail marketing for Harrah’s Atlantic City, has joined MASTERMINDS ADVERTISING in Egg Harbor Township as an account supervisor. She brings 25 years of advertising and marketing experience from both the agency and client sides, including responsibility for bottom-line results, brand development, a $7.5-million budget and directing a 25-member staff to record revenue and operating income for Harrah’s. Earlier, she was vice president/account supervisor for Trahan Burden and Charles in Baltimore. Parker is a cum laude graduate of the University of Pittsburgh.

NJBIZ MAGAZINE has selected LANDMARK GROUP, INC., Eatontown, as one of the Best Places to Work in New Jersey for the second straight year, one of 25 middle- and large-sized companies honored at an awards celebration at the Sheraton Woodridge Plaza in June. The publication also picked chief creative officer MICHAEL McCARTHY as one of Forty Under 40 for 2006. He will be honored at an awards reception on October 6. In other news, JENNIFER ORT joined the agency as copywriter. She had been public relations manager at Creative Marketing Alliance in Princeton Junction and winner of a 2004 Gold Jasper Award for media campaign placements. Ort holds a B.A. degree in Communications from Monmouth University.

MAYOSEITZ MEDIA of Blue Bell, Pa., has bee n named agency of record for the 2,300-student undergraduate and graduate liberal arts institution Cabrini College in Radnor.

RITTA & ASSOCIATES, Englewood, has promoted PAULA SILVA, to account executive, coordinating BMW’s e-marketing program and employee publications and assisting in the motor vehicle company’s product brochures and events. A nine-year veteran with the agency, she most recently served as traffic coordinator. She holds a B.S. degree in marketing from Rutgers University. Succeeding Silva as traffic coordinator is ELIZABETH PATINO. Patino has a B.A. degree in Business Administration from Montclair State University and has worked as an administrative assistant for several New York firms. Also joining the staff as a copywriter is ELI MUSSER. The Western Reserve University graduate has worked with agencies in Pittsburgh and Wheeling, W.V., before coming to New York. He will be crafting copy on the BMW and Samsung accounts.

TERRY KENNY has been promoted to New Jersey market manager by TITAN WORLDWIDE, New York City. Kenny, who had been national account manager for the Philadelphia market, will be located at the out-of-home media firm’s Fairfield offices.

BLOCK & DECORSO, Verona, has been recently elevated partner BILL DeCORSO to the presidency of the agency. Founder DAVID BLOCK is now chief executive officer. KARLA FERNANDES is promoted to traffic manager. She had been assistant traffic manager for the past five years. Fernandes joined Block from Grand Union, where she worked as a production coordinator in the advertising department. She is a graduate of Penn State University with a B.A. degree in Advertising and Public Relations. Following a series of focus group studies to gain insights into the banking behavior among northern New Jersey residents, the agency has developed and launched a new brand-building campaign for Boiling Springs Savings Bank, one of New Jersey’s largest independent financial institutions. The campaign uses friendly, engaging illustrations to emphasize the theme “Come Home to Better Banking” in print ads, television and radio spots, posters and brochures.

Ad Club board member BARRY COHEN, president of Clifton-based ADLAB MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS, has had the rights to his book 10 Ways to Screw Up an Ad Campaign purchased by Adams Media, a publisher of business books. First published in 2001, an updated and revised version of the book will be released by Adams this month. The publication advises smaller businesses on how to advertise more effectively, covering such topics as how to hire and work with advertising counsel, how to write ad copy that sells, how to devise promotions that drive traffic, how to properly measure campaign results, and how to stay on the right side of advertising law and regulations. 10 Ways has been endorsed by Entrepreneur, Business Week, CNN and WCBS News Radio and will be available through bookstores and on-line booksellers.

SANDRA SCHLER, account executive with AJ IMAGES, Roselle, and JOHN LONSDORF, founder of the R&J GROUP, Parsippany, have been named to the New Jersey Advertising Club board of directors, Schler for a three-year term and Lonsdorf for a one-year stint.

According to a nationwide survey of advertising agency and senior corporate marketing executives conducted by the Creative Group, Menlo Park, Calif., 60% said their firms would increase staffing levels over the next 12 months. Half the respondents said their company’s efforts to attract new talent have increased in the past six months.

Read September 2006 Ad Talk