PondelWilkinson Turns 40
Firm Spreads Insight with Formal Launch of Blog
In 1968, when Mel Rifkind launched his then eponymous specialty public relations firm on April fool’s day, some of his friends looked askance.
Mel may have been a bit nervous that day, but he was no fool. He opened his doors in a small office on mid-Wilshire, with a goal of building a firm that would stick to several guiding principles: operate with the highest degree of integrity; provide thoughtful counsel; hire smart people; take on quality clients slowly and selectively; and always deliver results—guidelines that the firm continues steadfastly to follow today.
More than half of the current staff, including Principals Roger Pondel and Rob Whetstone, were students when Mel founded the company—Roger was in high school, Rob was finishing kindergarten. The other half were either in diapers or not yet born. One of Mel’s first clients, Bell Industries, is still active with us today.
In commemoration of the firm’s anniversary, we are launching pwinsight.com, our new blog that will focus on items of relevance for those who are employed by, and advise, publicly traded companies. We hope you find some of the items useful in the months to come and that you will click on the Subscribe button to automatically receive new postings.
To all of our clients and friends, thank you. We deeply appreciate your business, are grateful for your friendship and support, and will continue to work diligently to maintain your loyalty and trust.
— Roger Pondel and the entire team at PondelWilkinson
