CONNECTICUT
Lang/Durham & Co. in West Hartford will handle advertising and public relations chores for First Night Hartford, the city's official millennial celebration. Alexandria Manor, a nursing and rehabilitation facility in Bloomfield, has retained the agency to create a campaign that includes TV spots and collateral materials.
Corporate Information Technologies has hired Maier Advertising, both in Farmington, for marketing communications initiatives.
Strategic Design in Southport has developed a retail brand identity for Shell Oil. Work includes communications and point-of-purchase merchandising programs using the "Quick and easy" brand positioning.
MASSACHUSETTS
TFA/Leo Burnett Technology Group in Boston has been named agency of record for Comdial Corp. in Charlottesville, Va., a provider of integrated communications technologies such as wireless phones, call center hardware and software, voice process systems and Internet telephone gateways.
Tomlinson in Cambridge has fashioned a corporate identity and stationery system for Cone, a public relations agency in Boston.
Sebastian's Catering in Boston has hired Pierce-Cote in Osterville for various promotional services.
Weber Public Relations Worldwide in Cambridge and Lowe/GGK in London, both members of the Interpublic Group of Cos., have announced a strategic partnership in Central and Eastern Europe. Weber will collaborate with Lowe's existing public relations operations in Austria, Hungary and Poland on various initiatives.
Clarke & Co. in Boston has been tapped to provide promotional services to Concert for the Cure, a symphony event being held to raise money for the fight against breast cancer. Now in its third year, Concert for the Cure will be held Nov. 7 at Symphony Hall in Boston. Maestro David Zinman will conduct and violinist Pinchas Zukerman will perform. Clarke will oversee media relations and event planning chores.
Harmonic Drive Technologies, a Peabody-based manufacturer of precision gear systems, has hired Gray Rambusch Advertising in Boston. Gray & Rice PR, an affiliated shop, has also been retained by the client.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Carella & Co. in North Hampton has been named agency of record for EnergyNorth Natural Gas in Manchester. The shop will help the state's largest natural gas utility increase consumer awareness through a brand campaign and collateral materials.
Centuria in Portsmouth has donated its services to the United Way of the Greater Seacoast. Fundraising brochures and a Web site for online pledges are in development. A multimedia ad campaign is planned.
Salisbury Sales in Framingham has completed promotional projects, including the creation of collateral materials for Chestnut Hill Realty in Brookline, Thermedics Polymer Products in Woburn, Access Health Network in Boston and Harris Bank in Chicago.
Reputation Management in Cambridge has been renamed Stewart Strategies Group, part of a move to align the firm's identity with its professional services portfolio. Art Stewart founded the marketing firm in 1993.
Wallwork Curry Sandler in Boston has created a print campaign for Transitions, a second-hand clothing store with branches in the city's South End and Jamaica Plain neighborhoods. The ads parody well-known logos and brands identities. One execution shows a polo player on his pony, contrasted with a man guiding his tired horse by the bridle. A caption beneath the second picture reads: "Slightly worn name-brand clothing." A second ad features a Nike-style airborne basketball player beside a winded hoopster staring down at the ball. "Slightly worn name-brand footwear," the caption reads. The tagline: "Transitions. The store for second chances."
RHODE ISLAND
Hurley Chandler & Chaffer in Providence recently donated its services to event organizers promoting a charity hockey game benefiting the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Rhode Island. Teams from the state police and U.S. Secret Service faced off at the Providence Civic Center for "The Heat on Ice." About 1,000 attendees contributed more than $5,000 to the foundation, which makes wishes come true for terminally ill children. Hurley Chandler designed a logo and assisted with publicity.
Trainor Associates in Providence has acquired the assets of Integrated Marketing Concepts, a small shop in East Providence founded last year by Lee Gorman. Gorman joins 15-person Trainor as executive vice president and creative director.
VERMONT
Paul Kaza Associates in South Burlington has been retained by the Governor's Commission on Women in Montpelier to produce a campaign to generate higher awareness and greater understanding of managed health care. Ads will include both paid and public service media components.