NEW YORK—Ketchum has named Bill McIntyre director of its Washington, DC, office. McIntyre most recently served as executive vice president and group head for the Washington office of Edelman. In addition, he is an adjunct professor in Georgetown University's School of Continuing Studies, where he teaches graduate-level courses that focus on digital and traditional communications. Prior to joining Edelman, McIntyre served as CEO of Grassroots Enterprise. Kathy Jeavons, the Ketchum partner and associate director who has overseen the office since June, will remain in the associate director role and work closely with McIntyre to lead the office.

ST. LOUIS—FleishmanHillard has named Stefan Gerard to lead its global strategic integration team and the New York office’s brand marketing group. Gerard, a senior vice president and senior partner, has helped lead the agency’s strategic integration practice in the Americas since joining the firm in 2010. He has experience across advertising, public relations, digital content, brand strategy, consumer research and experiential activation. Among his previous roles, Gerard was president and co-founder of brand engagement firm Gen Art. He also was director of marketing and content strategy for iFUSE, as well as a planning director at advertising shops Y&R NY and Deutsch LA.

DALLAS—Allison+Partners has appointed James Florez to be general manager of the agency’s Dallas office. Prior to joining Allison+Partners, Florez was the co-founder of the McKinley James Agency, where he developed the Perspective Imperative, an evidence-driven communications planning approach that provides insight into how individuals shape their perspectives on and relationships with brands. Earlier he was the general manager for Burson-Marsteller Dallas.

WASHINGTON, DC—APCO Worldwide has named Karen Buerkle managing director of APCO Insight, its opinion research consultancy of APCO Worldwide. Buerkle has been with APCO since 2008. In addition, Bill Dalbec becomes deputy managing director, and Chris Levy was named director and will manage all the group’s activities in Europe. Levy is the former associate director at YouGov and will be based in APCO’s London office.

NEW YORK—Capitol Media Partners has named Chris Byrne a partner and leader of a new office in New York City. Byrne worked at the White House from 2005-2009, working first as a deputy associate director of Presidential personnel, and later as a special assistant to White House press secretary Dana Perino, and most recently was a senior producer at the Fox News Channel.

NEW YORK—GCI Health has promoted the leader of its media relations team, Becky Lauer, to executive vice president. She will continue to oversee the agency’s media department. Her career prior to GCI includes 20 years as a producer for CBS News and 15 years in the agency world, where she has helped GCI Health generate coverage in Newsweek, Time, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, and on the Today Show, among others.

SAN FRANCISCO—FoodMinds has promoted Howard Goldstein to vice president, based in San Francisco. Prior to joining FoodMinds in 2009, Goldstein spent five years in sales and business development at Thomson Financial, and three years as a consultant for Porter Novelli. 

AUSTIN—International marketing agency Metia has appointed Dan Brooks as regional vice president, based in Metia’s Austin office. Since joining the agency in 2010, Brooks has held leadership positions focused on content and customer advocacy. Earlier, Brooks held numerous international client and agency-side marketing roles, including European marketing manager at Clarion Europa in Frankfurt, as well as EMEA marketing manager at Hewlett-Packard based in Munich and London.

NEW YORK—Emerging Media, a branding, PR, and social media agency for disruptive companies, has added David Wheeler as account director. Prior to joining Emerging Media, Wheeler was director of media and public relations for NYIT where he managed marketing and public relations strategies, led crisis communications efforts and conducted media training with university leadership. Earlier, he was deputy chief of corporate communications in the US Army Corps of Engineers.

BOSTON—BackBay Communications, a financial services-focused marketing, advertising and public relations firm, has hired Ken MacFadyen as account director, with a focus on strategic communications, content development and media relations. Immediately prior to joining BackBay, MacFayden served as a speechwriter and communications specialist in the office of the CEO at Panera Bread, and before that worked in the global communications/investor relations group of The TJX Companies. Earlier, he spent more than a decade in publishing, including roles at Mergers & Acquisitions, Investment Dealers' Digest and Buyouts magazine.