After months of planning, this week Cookerly Public Relations is hosting the Worldcom Public Relations Group Americas Region meeting in Atlanta. As an Americas Region board member, I am especially excited to have many of our…
It is 3 a.m. On a Wednesday. And I am over 600 miles away from home. In this business, when a client has an emergency and requires you to get to the airport and board a…
Comments from Cookerly’s own Football Commish, Andrew Agan… Hello friends, Greetings from Southwest Airlines flight 1587, where I’m joined at 38,000 feet by teams not named Tennessee and Arkansas whose dreams of a national title are…
Find out Beth’s greatest accomplishment this year…
During face to face communication, what percent of your message do you think is shaped by “body language” – or non-verbal cues – versus your actual words? The answer, depending on which study you cite, is…
This week we celebrate Founder’s Day in honor of our own Carol Cookerly who started Cookerly Public Relations in Atlanta in 1992. Typical of her self-effacing humor, Carol is known to say, “I couldn’t get a job I liked so I started my own company.” She hasn’t looked back a day since…
Find out Sally’s hidden talent…
Until recently, for me the concept of ‘Man vs. Machine’ summoned images of a human world chess genius fighting an inevitable checkmate, two all-time Jeopardy champions defeated by IBM’s Watson computer and even Arnold Schwarzenegger saving…
Grammar and proper sentence construction are tools of the trade for writers and editors. But it’s shocking how often we fail to follow the basic rules – and how often we pretend they’re not important anymore.…
As pundits from across the media landscape wring their hands over the “debacle” created by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz’s “#RaceTogether” campaign, questions remain as to what impact this event will have on the company, the race…
Cookerly helps steer major corporate and executive initiatives for the nation’s #1 luxury automaker including recent award-winning programs such as “Greatness Lives Here” and “No Limits,” initiatives designed to empower the next generation through community activism and education. We recently helped launch the Mercedes-Benz A-Class vehicle line including MBUX artificial intelligence including tie-ins with the Super Bowl, Ludacris and the Ron Clark Academy. Leveraging paid, earned, shared and owned media, the Cookerly team supports MBUSA across both external and internal channels.
As a senior vice president at Cookerly, Matt helps organizations protect and advance their reputations and bottom lines through strategic communications programs. Using creativity, planning and flawless execution, he works with a team to deliver compelling public relations campaigns that produce results and support clients’ business objectives.
Industry expertise includes banking/finance, energy and automotive across clients such as SunTrust Banks, Colonial Pipeline and Mercedes-Benz USA. Recently, Matt helped launch SunTrust’s first Super Bowl ad and generate earned media for the grand opening of SunTrust Park, the home of the Atlanta Braves.
Matt is also a member of Cookerly’s crisis response team and has experience managing major crises generating national headlines.
Other areas of expertise include designing/implementing communications campaigns, media relations, executive speech writing, media training, survey design and execution, and more.
A Georgia State University graduate with a degree in economics, Matt served as managing editor of the student newspaper. He attended graduate school at George Washington University, receiving a master’s degree in strategic management, public policy and economics (MPA).
As senior vice president at Cookerly, Mike Rieman specializes in building and maintaining relationships with the media and has an excellent track record of landing significant placements in print and broadcast media including USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Money Magazine.
Mike comes to the firm with more than a decade of public relations and journalism experience. As a former news editor, Mike understands how to work with his clients to craft stories that garner recognition on traditional and social media channels. He has led numerous award winning campaigns for a number of clients, including Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Construction Market Data Group and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency’s Ready Georgia campaign. Favorite recent assignments include a campaign to announce McDelivery, McDonald’s new delivery service.
Mike is a native of Tulsa, Oklahoma and a graduate of the University of Georgia where he earned a degree in speech communications. He serves on the PRSA Georgia Chapter Programming Committee and is an avid sports fan and trail runner. He resides in Marietta with his wife and two children.
As vice president of Cookerly, Sheryl Sellaway uses her extensive corporate communications background to lead consumer PR efforts, deliver strategy for marketing programs and share expertise about community initiatives.
An award-winning speechwriter, Sheryl comes to the firm with over 20 years’ expertise in media relations, employee communications and community affairs. Some of her best work has occurred while leading product launches, handling crisis situations, managing senior leadership meetings and overseeing employee events.
Sheryl is a Georgia native with an MBA from Amber University and a bachelor’s degree from Georgia State University. Active in the community, she is a Leadership Atlanta graduate currently serving on several boards including Bethany Christian Services. Sheryl is an author, pen collector, avid runner, mentor and philanthropist.
NAPA AUTO PARTS, the nation’s top brand in the automotive aftermarket, is ramping up its retail operation across the country with grand reopening celebrations to show off its transformed “top stores,” expanded inventory and “NAPA Know How.” Cookerly designed a creative program that has successfully sparked conversations across media and social media channels in the target markets, enhanced community relationships, built awareness/visibility, increased customer traffic at store events and helped boost NAPA sales and follow-on business.
The Arthritis Foundation has undergone significant changes and seeks to build upon a renewed direction with fresh perspectives. The foundation relies on Cookerly to infuse new ideas, raise national awareness and engage internal stakeholders to support the organization’s new and powerful “Champion of Yes” branding. The comprehensive communications strategies and tactics conceived and implemented for the foundation put a national focus on the critical nature of arthritis and are helping reinvigorate the organization’s image of one committed to conquering the insidious and debilitating disease.