San Diego public relations firm c3 Communications, specializing in special event promotion and public relations, recalls the impact of government-mandated, COVID-19-related shutdowns of public events as “pretty rough.”

The firm lost several long-standing client events due to COVID over the past the two years, including promotional efforts for more than 25 boat shows and the IDEA World Fitness Convention, said owner Joice Truban Curry, who opened her firm in 2000.

“Some will come back in 2022, others will not,” she said. “The past couple years have been pretty rough.”

Curry noted how special event promoters, as well as the hospitality industry, were greatly affected. “It seemed when they adjusted things to accommodate for the safety of their customers with current guidelines, the guidelines were changed,” she said. “How is a business supposed to be able to operate when the rules continually change?

“The shutdowns and mask mandates were extended far too long. It’s sad how many places went out of business because of the ever-changing rules. The event industry was hit pretty hard because of the confusion of mixed messages and fear that was instilled in consumers to go out. Many events weren’t allowed to operate at all, even though many were outdoors.”

Curry said she is hoping for a rebound in business in 2022. She recently announced three new clients, including: Rincon Reservation Road Brewery in Ocean Beach; Gleam In Your Eye, a monthly subscription box of games and activities to help individuals with moderate-stage dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease; and The Spirit-Free Challenge, an online business platform to help people transform their relationship with alcohol.

“c3 is still around because of the diversity of clients in our portfolio,” Curry said. “It’s a new world, but one to be embraced. It certainly is looking brighter for everyone.”

Permission.io Names Lauren Griewski as Chief Revenue Officer

San Diego-based Permission.io, a start-up specializing in permission-based advertising for ecommerce, has hired Lauren Griewski as chief revenue officer.

The company said Griewski will lead Permission.io’s growth through strategic partnerships with global advertisers to transform the digital advertising ecosystem. She will oversee the development of the company’s advertising sales organization and on-boarding advertisers to its innovative products, including Permission Ads, which enables advertisers to offer tokenized rewards to consumers for consent and sharing data.

Griewski has more than 15 years of experience in media, advertising, technology and executive management. Most recently, she was the founder and CEO of Soul Expressed, LLC., a tech platform that assisted business leaders and organizations to accelerate global growth and transformation. 

She also previously worked for Facebook (Meta), Roblox, VEVO and Viacom. At Facebook, she served as a leader in ad technology, monetization and strategic partnerships. She led the development of Facebook’s B2B advertising business while implementing global market strategies, including the establishment of the B2B Center of Excellence.

“We’re honored to have Lauren Griewski join our growing team at such a critical time for our company,” said Charlie Silver, CEO of Permission.io. “With her years of leadership experience and proven results in the advertising industry, Lauren will be a key component to advancing the growth of Permission Ads, Permission’s core product which we believe will be fundamental to the future of Web3 advertising.” 

“I’ve been fortunate to be a part of massive shifts and transformation in the advertising industry,” said Griewski. “Now more than ever, with evolving technologies, new currencies and customer-centric solutions, advertisers are well poised to exceed their business goals and redefine consumer relationships. Crypto and Web3 are no longer just the way of the future, they are here and experiencing rapid adoption. I look forward to partnering with innovative businesses and brand leaders to accelerate their success in partnership with Permission.”

Launched in 2017, Permission.io has created the Ask Coin, a cryptocurrency that’s part of a global digital advertising ecosystem built on opt-in data sharing. Users who agree to share their information on digital channels are rewarded with Ask Coins, which are issued by advertisers. Ask Coin empowers consumers to own and monetize their data while delivering engaged audiences to marketers.

North County’s KPRI-FM Rez Radio Turns 11

KPRI-FM Rez Radio 91.3, a North County radio station owned by the Pala Band of Mission Indians, recently marked its 11th year on the air.

In February 2011, with the call letters of KOPA-FM at the time, the station was issued its broadcasting license from the Federal Communications Commission,

John Fox, station manager, said in a statement. “Since then, we have never unintentionally gone off the air. The full 60 minutes of every hour are devoted to informing and entertaining. We don’t even browbeat listeners for donations for a solid week every three months like other non-commercial stations. Thank your tribe for that.”

According to Fox, the station has earned more than 20 awards from the San Diego Press Club, as well as honors from the Southern California News Association for best small-station newscast.

Fox said KPRI’s shows include: “Pala Life Past and Present,” featuring Eric Ortega discussing the legacy of the tribe and interviews with tribal elders; “Mark’s Groovy Trip,” with top 40 musical hits from the 1970s; “Vinyl Resting Place,” with San Diego rock radio veteran Jim McInnes; “Jack’s Tracks,” with Chris Carmichael highlighting local musicians; “Rez Dub Reggae” with host Elijah Duro; “Rockin’ the Rez” with folk musician Joel Rafael; Pala Mission Catholic Church’s 8 a.m. Sunday mass services. Also, Fox said select programming and IDs, including hourly time checks, are spoken in Pa’enexily, the native language of Kupa.

Starting in the 1960s, KPRI served as the call letters of a couple of San Diego, album-oriented rock music radio stations, including one station heard for several years on 102.1-FM. In 2015, the 102.1 frequency was acquired by Educational Media Foundation, which today plays adult contemporary Christian music on its nationally syndicated K-LOVE network.

In March 2018, Rez Radio changed its call letters from KOPA to KPRI, with the KPRI initials standing for “Kupa Pala Rez Indians.” Kupa refers to the name of the Pala tribe’s ancestral home near WarnerSprings.

IABC Discusses Storytelling with Katy Temple

The International Association of Business Communicators San Diego chapter will host a virtual interactive session on “Building an Executive Presence through Storytelling and Engagement” with Katy Temple from 4:45 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 23. Cost to attend is $10 for members, $20 for nonmembers and $5 for students.

Temple is an Emmy Award-winning TV broadcaster who has covered sports for Fox Sports South, NFL Network and the Olympic Broadcasting Channel in Vancouver. She currently delivers sportscasts on KFMB-TV CBS8 and CW San Diego on a fill-in basis.

She also coaches and trains sales teams, executives and professional athletes to find their authentic voice and make their voice camera-ready, and is a TEDxSan Diego speaker coach.

Rick Griffin is a San Diego-based public relations and marketing consultant. His MarketInk column appears weekly on Mondays in Times of San Diego.