Capstrat Expands Client Services Team by Four

Raleigh-based strategic communications firm, Capstrat, today announced the addition of four project coordinators to its client services team – Jonathan Smith, Lindsay Raplee, Claire Dorrier and Amy Jackson. All four new employees will be responsible for managing day-to-day client activities.

Jonathan Smith, a graduate of North Carolina State University, comes to Capstrat from SAS Institute Inc., where he served as a corporate communication liaison for its global public policy department. Prior to his work at SAS, Smith worked at the assignment desk for WRAL-TV and currently produces the station's high school football program, Football Friday.

Lindsay Raplee comes to Capstrat from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH). She is a graduate of the School of Journalism and was selected as the 2007 recipient of the Lois and H.C. Cranford award for outstanding public relations senior. Raplee interned with several local organizations including Jennings & Co., the Carrboro Police Department and Second Bloom, a nonprofit thrift store that raises money for domestic violence and rape crisis services. Her internships equipped her with valuable experience in media research and planning, crisis communications, public relations and event coordination.

Claire Dorrier joins Capstrat as a recent graduate of the School of Journalism at UNC-CH where she was an active member of the Public Relations Student Society of America and an employee of The Daily Tar Heel, UNC-CH's student-led newspaper. Dorrier's studies led her to spend a semester abroad at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. She is a former intern of the Carolina Women's Center in Chapel Hill.

Amy Jackson, also a graduate of UNC-CH, is a former intern for The People’s Channel, a nonprofit public access station in Chapel Hill. While with the company, Jackson helped to increase the station's volunteer base and donations. At UNC-CH, Jackson wrote for the Arts & Entertainment section of The Daily Tar Heel. She also interned with the Carolina Environmental Program and started a program to learn more about carbon-neutral events for the organization.

Raplee, Dorrier and Jackson all served as interns at Capstrat prior to their hiring. All four new project coordinators will be involved in events, media relations and project management.

"Jonathan, Lindsay, Claire and Amy are hard workers and will be instrumental in executing communications strategies for Capstrat clients," said John Peterson, director of client services for Capstrat. "We’re very excited about what they’ll bring to our company."

About Capstrat

Capstrat is a full-service strategic communications firm with offices in Raleigh, N.C. and Washington, D.C. The company’s services include public relations, public affairs, marketing communications and interactive communications.

This year, the agency has earned seven ADDYs and nine Boom Awards for advertising and design achievements, five Telly awards for Web and broadcast work and five Sir Walter Raleigh Awards for excellence in the communications industry. Capstrat also received gold and silver SABRE awards from the Holmes Report and an honorable mention from PRWeek for Small Agency of the Year.

For more information about Capstrat, please visit www.capstrat.com.