Life has been busy at our Vancouver PR agency.  When Paul and I founded AHA over 7.5 years ago, we had a vision for what our agency would become. We knew that we wanted to deliver world-class service to our clients, but we didn’t want to grow to become a huge agency. It’s just not how we saw things. We have grown and evolved since those first days and today, we are thrilled to announce the addition of two new crew members to AHA Creative Strategies.

Barb Wickens, who is based in Toronto, joins us as a Senior Account Executive and Senior Writer/Editor. I worked with Barb for years at Maclean’s and am so excited to be back working with her again. Barb brings a range of skill sets to AHA, including incredible writing and editing talent and the ability to untangle complex information and present it in a clear, concise and engaging manner.  The fact that she also has a crazy mutt of a dog that’s a member of her family just gives us more to talk to about!

Valerie Lapp, who is also in Ontario (in Peterborough, just north east of the Greater Toronto Region) joins us as Marketing/Promotions Strategist and Writer. I also worked with Val for many years while at Maclean’s. Val held the role of national publicist for CBS Records and our worlds were connected as she often (and successfully) put forward many story ideas for artists under the CBS label to be covered in Maclean’s.  Val’s experience and expertise bring a great deal to AHA; her ability to balance marketing and promotions within the context of communications is exceptional. She is also a talented writer and brings a different perspective to the communications process. That she is flat out one of the funniest people I have ever met just makes our conference call meetings so much livelier!

Having Barb and Val join AHA gives us the opportunity to provide an even greater level of service. We’re looking forward to working with them and to introducing them to our clients.