Sparkpr

Sparkpr is one of the largest independent social media and technology public relations agencies in the world. The agency is headquartered in San Francisco and also maintains offices in New York, London and Cape Town.

Sparkpr has specialized practice areas focused on Consumer, Consumer Electronics, Digital Media & Advertising, eCommerce, Enterprise & IT, Financial Services, Gaming, Green Tech, Media & Entertainment, Mobile & Wireless, Music, Open Source, Social Media, Travel and Venture Capital.

In 2011, Sparkpr was ranked by PRWeek as one of the Top 50 US Agencies, was honored as one of the fastest-growing privately held companies for the third year in a row by Inc. Magazine and was recognized as one of the Bay Area’s “Best Places to Work” by The San Francisco Business Times.

The agency has also won numerous awards, including the coveted 2009 TechCrunch 'Crunchie Award' for best overall technology public relations agency in the United States.

History

Sparkpr was co-founded by Donna Sokolsky Burke and Chris Hempel in 1999 at the height of the Internet explosion in Silicon Valley. Fresh off their corporate careers at Netscape where they helped launch the first browser that gave millions access to the Internet, Donna and Chris were well equipped to create a new economy communications agency. Several former colleagues from Netscape and other like minded Silicon Valley entrepreneurs hired Sparkpr to help them create innovative publicity programs and launch their new start-ups. Today the agency works with many leading companies ranging from startups to Fortune 500s.

Personnel

[4]

• Alan Soucy - Chief Executive Officer
• Donna Sokolsky Burke - Co-founder, Senior Managing Director
• Chris Hempel - Co-founder
• Cheryl Overton - General Manager, New York
• Diane Schreiber - Senior Managing Director
• Leyl Master Black - Managing Director

Income and Employee Totals

Sparkpr took in over 8 million in net fees in 2010. The firm has over 60 employees.

Clients

Current clients include:[5]

• Barclays Group
• Good Technology
• Index Ventures
• INQ Mobile
• Jive Software
• Rdio
• Virgin Green Fund

Previous clients include:[6]

• Bing Travel
• Electronic Arts
• Economist
• Flickr
• Skype
• Sony PSP
• Yahoo!

Awards

• 2011, Top 50 PR Agency, PRWeek Annual Agency Business Report
• 2011, Bay Area’s Top 10 'Best Places to Work', San Francisco Business Times and Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal
• 2011, Top 35 Independent PR Agency, Odwyer's Annual Agency Rankings
• 2011, Winning Workplaces and Inc. Magazine 'Top Small Company Workplaces', Finalist
• 2010, PRWeek 'Small Agency of the Year', Top 5 Finalist
• 2010, Ranked #6 Largest Independent Technology PR Firm Worldwide, O’Dwyer’s Annual Rankings
• 2010, Bay Area’s 'Best Places to Work', The San Francisco Business Times
• 2010, Ranked #1 largest privately held communications agency in San Francisco, O’Dwyer’s Annual Rankings
• 2009, TechCrunch 'Crunchies Award' Winner, Best US Technology Public Relations Firm
• 2009, Ranked #1 Mid-sized Agency (26-99 employees), PRSourcecode survey of 500 journalists and bloggers
• 2009, Inc. 5000, #3215 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America,
• 2008, PRWeek, 40 Under 40 – Recipient, Donna Sokolsky Burke, Co-Founder
• 2008, PRWeek, 29 Under 29 – Recipient, Rachel Bremer, Senior Director
• 2008, Inc. 5000, #3943 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America
• 2008 PRSourcecode's 3rd Annual "Top Tech Communicators" Study, Donna Sokolsky Burke, Honorable Mention
• 2008, PRWeek, 29 under 29 – Recipient, Rachel Bremer, Senior Director, SPR Europe
• 2007, Inc. 5000, #3817 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America
• 2007, Ranked #12 Top PR Agency, High-Tech & Industrial PR, O’Dwyer’s Annual Rankings

Contact details

2 Bryant Street, Suite 100
San Francisco, CA 94105
Phone: (415) 962-8200
Email: info AT sparkpr.com
Web: http://www.sparkpr.com/

External links

This article is a stub. You can help by expanding it.