Stern + Associates
Company: Stern + Associates, Cranford, NJ U.S.A
Company Description: Celebrating 25 years of success and creativity, Stern + Associates is a full-service public relations and marketing communications agency with offices in Cranford, N.J. and Cambridge, Mass. The company’s growing roster of national and international clients covers a broad range of consumer, business-to-business, education, healthcare, technology, energy, and architecture and design accounts.
Nomination Category: Individual Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Lifetime Achievement Award
Nomination Title: Susan Stern, President
Describe for the judges the nominated individual's lifetime of accomplishments (up to 500 words):
Early in her career, as an account executive at Carl Byoir & Associates, Susan
Stern was called upon to speak at a White House Conference on Productivity in
America after finding out her client would not be able to attend. Her speech,
immediately following President Reagan, solidified her path to a management
position. At age 30, Susan became one of the youngest professionals to ever
attain vice president status at the world’s third largest public relations firm
at that time. However, after a few years, Susan decided to step away from bustling New
York City life to raise a family and, in 1985, launched her own agency in New
Jersey.
It has been twenty five years since Susan founded Stern + Associates (S+A), a
full-service public relations and marketing communications agency, with just two
employees working from a spare bedroom in her home. Today, her business is
driven by a team of 30 people based in Cranford, New Jersey, Cambridge, Mass.
and Pittsburgh, Pa. The firm has built a sterling reputation for its work
partnering with market leaders and emerging companies in a broad base of industries
including healthcare and architecture and design, and representing the world’s
leading thinkers in the areas of innovation, strategy and technology. S+A has also
established its literary and speaking services as a hallmark of its diverse
expertise - a unique capability for a public relations firm.
As testament to Susan Stern’s exemplary management capabilities, S+A works
with its clients as an extension of their organization to provide comprehensive
campaigns and targeted programs. Many of S+A’s clients have partnered with the
agency for a decade or longer seeing that S+A continually produces consistent,
impactful results. Susan, along with many clients, have been featured in
publications including NJ BIZ, The Star Ledger, PR Week, the Wall Street Journal,
Forbes, BusinessWeek, and more.
Even through the tough economic downturn, S+A expanded its business, at a time
when many others were not. Most recently, Susan has driven strong initiatives
within the company to stay relevant with and ahead of the ever-changing media
landscape. S+A now employs an in-house digital staff offering an array of web,
digital and video services to its clients. In coordination, a team of media
specialists are charged with developing and implementing social media strategies
for S+A and its clients.
But what makes Susan Stern’s story so unique is that she has accomplished all
of this while also overcoming the challenge of being profoundly deaf and battling
cancer multiple times. Since founding the company in 1985, her hearing
deteriorated to the point where participating in group meetings, telephone calls
and client functions became increasingly difficult.
Despite these challenges Susan continues to create and lead an organization that
is dedicated to the highest standards in public relations service as evidenced by
the nearly 50 awards won since 2001 from communications organizations
including the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), the International
Association of Business Communicators (IABC) and the Jersey Shore Advertising
and Public Relations Association (JSPRAA).
List the URLs (web addresses) of any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that you would like the judges to see that support your entry. IMPORTANT: List each URL on a separate line, begin each URL with http://, and enclose each URL in square brackets. For example, [http://www.yourcompany.com/pressrelease.html]:
Stern + Associates YouTube Page:
(Stern 25 Interview with Susan Stern)
http://www.youtube.com/user/sternassociates#p/a/u/2/4XzHZ1rTQ88
(Stern 25th Anniversary Celebration Video)
http://www.youtube.com/user/sternassociates#p/a/u/0/5SHbWUYAX7c
Stern’s 25th Anniversary page:
http://www.stern25.com/
Susan featured on The Glass Hammer:
http://www.theglasshammer.com/news/2010/07/23/brand-preservation-five-
critical-steps-for-effective-crisis-communications/#more-5271
Stern + Associates Blog:
http://www.sternassociates.com/blog
Stern + Associates Home Page:
http://www.sternassociates.com/
Stern + Associates Twitter Page:
http://twitter.com/sternassociates
Stern + Associates Facebook Page:
http://www.facebook.com/sternassociates
Provide a brief biography of the nominated individual (up to 100 words):
Susan Stern became one of the youngest professionals to become vice president
at the world’s third largest public relations firm at the time, Carl Byoir &
Associates. She left NYC in 1985 to concentrate on her family and founded Stern
+ Associates (S+A), a thriving full-service public relations and marketing
communications agency now driven by a team of 30 people based in three states.
S+A built a sterling reputation, winning over 50 awards since 2001, by partnering
with market leaders and emerging companies in a broad base of industries
including healthcare and architecture and design, and representing the world’s
leading authorities in innovation, strategy and technology.