Beth Comstock, President of NBC Universal Integrated Media, and Larry Foster, retired Corporate Vice President-Public Relations for Johnson & Johnson, will headline the Institute for Public Relation’s Annual Distinguished Lecture & Awards Dinner at New York City’s Yale Club on Thursday, November 8.
Comstock’s lecture will reflect on a public relations career as preparation for broader executive responsibility – and her experiences working with some storied top executives known to have strong views about the communications function. Foster will receive the Institute’s highest honor, the Alexander Hamilton Medal for lifetime achievement in public relations.
The event, which each year draws more than 250 leading public relations executives and communication officers, will include cocktail reception, dinner and program. Tickets can be purchased through the Institute for Public Relations website for $400 each or $4,000 for a table of 10. (For more information, visit instituteforpr.org or contact Michelle Hinson at 352-392-0280.)
Comstock’s current position includes oversight of television ad sales and leading the company’s digital media strategy, business, content and distribution efforts. Previously, she served as chief marketing officer for General Electric and was responsible for the company’s “ecoimagination” environmental campaign. She has been a GE company officer since 1998, when she was named vice president of corporate communications. Earlier she held communications and public relations positions with GE, NBC, CBS and Turner Broadcasting.
Larry Foster, named one of the ten most influential PR executives of the 20th century by PRWeek, joined Johnson & Johnson in 1957 to form the company’s first public relations department. Foster had spent 33 years with Johnson & Johnson upon his retirement in 1990. He has been the recipient of numerous awards in public relations, including PRSA’s Gold Anvil Award and the Arthur W. Page Society Hall of Fame Award.
The Institute for Public Relations is an independent nonprofit dedicated to the science beneath the art of public relations.™ The organization seeks to bridge the academy and the profession, supporting new PR research and mainstreaming this knowledge into practice through PR education.
