Industry Veterans Form the Placemaking Group

New SF Bay Area Marketing Agency to Focus on Cities, Land Use, Travel, Entertainment

OAKLAND, Calif., May 17, 2007 — West Coast marketing veteran Dennis Erokan has formed a new PR and marketing services firm, the Placemaking Group. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, the full-service agency specializes in integrated branding, PR, Web and advertising programs, with a special expertise in marketing cities, commercial real estate, travel destinations, and entertainment.

“A company can begin in surprising ways,” said Erokan. “Our team has a special affinity for ‘making places’ in the market for cities, commercial and residential real estate developments, travel destinations, entertainers, and products. With this said, we decided to embark down a new path, with the formation of a new company called the Placemaking Group.”

Founder and president, Erokan is best known for a string of successful entrepreneurial initiatives including BAM Magazine, the BAMMIE awards, MicroTimes Magazine as well as the management and growth of the Alliance of CEOs networking groups, now located throughout the Bay Area.

The firm’s senior vice president, Irv Hamilton has spent the majority of his public relations career focused on real estate, economic development, land use and tourism marketing. Hamilton started his own agency, AVISO, Inc., in 1983, and represented the Australian Tourism Commission, Voyages Hotels & Resorts, also in Australia, the Guam Visitors Bureau and commercial real estate developers, Catellus, Shorenstein, and SRM Associates. Prior to that, Hamilton worked for Kaiser Aluminum, 3M, and the Wall Street Journal.

Most of the Placemaking Group team has been working together for a number of years as members of the AVISO staff.

About the Placemaking Group
The Placemaking Group offers a broad range of marketing services to help their clients effectively position themselves, communicate their strengths, and inspire their audience to take action. The firm is based in Oakland’s historic warehouse district of Jack London Square. Currently, the Placemaking Group clients include Applied Economic Development (ADE), the American Iron & Steel Institute, Catellus, City of Fairfield, the Micronesian island of Kosrae, Napa Downtown Association, Shorenstein’s Oakland City Center, The Waterfront at Harbor Bay and the Bayport housing development in Alameda. The firm also represents Americana musician Keith Greeninger and Music Players Network.

For more information, please go to www.placemakinggroup.com or call 510-835-7900.

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MEDIA CONTACT:

Miriam Schaffer
mschaffer@placemakinggroup.com
510.496.2354 x207

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