Journalism & Public Relations

2008 PR Hall of Fame Inductees

Vanessa Bortnick

Vanessa Bortnick

Vanessa is senior director of public relations for Kimpton’s 43 hotels and restaurants nationwide. In this capacity, Vanessa is responsible for leading the eight-person public relations team, providing direction to the company’s 20 PR agencies, overseeing internal communications and leading the overall media relations strategy. Prior to Kimpton, Vanessa was a senior account executive at Blanc & Otus, a Hill & Knowlton public relations agency based in San Francisco. Vanessa graduated from Chico State in 1996 with a bachelor of arts degree in journalism. While at Chico, she interned at Tehama Group Communications as an account executive and served as the secretary of International Association of Business Communicators.

Jeff Burghardt

Jeff Burghardt

Jeff completed his public relations degree from Chico State in 1990. This evolved into a marketing career specializing in travel, healthcare, fashion, food and wine, education, retail and photography. Proof of Jeff’s hard work is a wall of national awards for TV, radio, print, and interactive campaigns hanging proudly on the wall of his ad agency Anda-Burghardt Advertising in Monterey. Recently quoted as “the mayor of advertising” in an article titled “Fastest Growing Businesses,” Jeff’s successful track record puts him in a unique position of being able turn business objectives into integrated marketing campaigns that get results. While at Chico State Jeff interned with Adventure Outings and pursued his passion for skiing by competing with the ski team.

Paul Eagle

Paul Eagle

Paul has nearly 20 years of public relations experience. For the last 10 years, he has worked at Imre Communications, a branding/marketing agency in Baltimore. He is a vice president at Imre, where he has provided public relations counsel to Target, Travelers Insurance and MetLife, among others. Paul has worked in the press office at Peace Corps Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and at San Francisco-based Wernick Marketing Group. He also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Liberia, West Africa. At Chico, Paul was an intern for the Chico News & Review and spent four years at KCSC-Radio as a DJ, and later program director.