Alumni VP's lead Winning Top Tech PR Firm

SHIFT Communications was named a Top Five "Large Tech Agency" by more than 800 technology reporters and bloggers, as tabulated by PRSourceCode in its annual Top Tech Communicators survey. Congratulations to Ithaca College Park graduates, Derek Lyons (TVR ’94) and Catherine Allen (Corporate Communication ’98), both serving as vice presidents for the Boston office.

As a vice president at SHIFT Communications, Catherine Allen pulls from 10+ years of communications experience providing trusted strategic PR and social media counsel to a variety of emerging and established brands. She takes existing PR programs and brings them to the next level with fierce messaging, creative pitch angles and aggressive tactics. On the flipside, she turns start-ups into overnight PR and social media sensations and these programs have won her team recognition from the Society for New Communications Research and the New England Publicity Club’s Bell Ringer Awards program. Prior to joining SHIFT in 2003, Allen was a senior account executive with Sterling Hager, Inc., one of the country’s leading independent public relations agencies.

As a vice president at SHIFT Communications, Derek Lyons serves as a primary client contact and strategic counsel lead, while driving tactical execution with an account team that services a diverse range of clients. Prior to SHIFT, Derek was at Sterling Hager, Inc., starting in May 2000 as an account executive and rising through the ranks to the level of account manager. Prior to Sterling Hager, Derek managed client relations and project management for a number of Boston-based video production companies, working with clients like Discovery Channel, ABC News, VH1 and NBA Entertainment. After graduating from IC, he earned an MBA from Bentley College.