Veteran journalist Manny Cruz, who has reported on San Diego politics, business and breaking news for nearly 50 years, has moved out of San Diego and relocated to Michigan, but he is continuing to write the San Diego Metropolitan’s “Daily Business Report” weekday column and edit the Metropolitan’s monthly magazine.
Cruz, who turns 77 on June 29, recently arrived in Smiths Creek, MI, a rural community in the Kimball Township (population: 9,358) in St. Clair County. It was a three-day, cross-country drive for Cruz, his son Matthew and dog Ginger.
“I’m enjoying getting reacquainted with my son Matthew, who left San Diego many years ago to establish a home here,” said Cruz. “Matthew extended an invitation to me to relocate here and I accepted. The proceeds from the sale of my condo in San Diego will help pay for building my granny flat located on his two-acre property.
“I will miss my sisters and the wonderful friends and professional relationships I’ve developed over the years, as well as the wonderful climate and progressive California politics, but I will not miss the high cost of living in the state.”
In 1970, Cruz joined the Daily Californian newspaper in El Cajon as a reporter and later as editor (today, the newspaper is published weekly and called the East County Californian).
After 20 years with the Californian (1970-1990), he spent 11 years (1990-2001) as special sections editor and wire editor with the San Diego Daily Transcript. Then, Cruz spent two years (2001-2002) as editor of the Star-News in Chula Vista and two years (2002-2004) as editor of “Antique & Collectables” magazine, before joining the San Diego Metropolitan as managing editor and editor of the North Park News in June 2004.
“A half-century of journalism sounds like a long time, but I’ve enjoyed my career and it’s been rewarding to cover the growth of San Diego over the decades,” Cruz said.
Dike Anyiwo joins MNM Advertising & PR
Manolatos Nelson Murphy Advertising & Public Relations of San Diego has appointed Dike Anyiwo as an account executive. Anyiwo previously worked in retailing, specializing in soccer merchandising and digital content creation, including social media, podcast and video production, in the soccer community. He also has coached soccer at the University of California Riverside.
Anyiwo is active in the community as a board member of the Midway-Pacific Highway Community Planning Group and as a delegate for the San Diego Community Planners Committee. He also is active with the YIMBY (Yes In My Back Yard) Democrats of San Diego County.
“Dike’s fresh perspective and skills will enable us to further enhance the services we provide to our clients, and I am proud to welcome him to the team,” said Tanya Mannes Castaneda, vice president of public relations at the firm. “Dike is a rare talent who combines his involvement in the community with creativity and a laser-focus on achieving results. As a young and savvy podcaster, he brings a new dimension of digital skills to our public relations toolkit.”
Founded in 2016, the agency is headed by Tony Manolatos, former principal of Apex Strategies, and Bob Nelson and Kelly Murphy Lamkin, former principals of BNA Communications.
Oster Adds Account Coordinator
Branding agency Oster and Associates has hired Jacqueline Helms as an account coordinator. Helms, a San Diego native, will support client accounts, including Armstrong Garden Centers and Organics Unlimited.
The Point Loma resident previously worked as an event manager for Teal ATMs, a local mobile ATM company. She also was an intern with The Cravory and The Worldview Project. She has a bachelor’s degree in marketing from San Diego State University.
Founded in 1986, Oster and Associates has clients in retail gardening, produce, agriculture, nonprofit, sports and travel industries.
Cook + Schmid wins national PRSA Silver Anvil
San Diego marketing firm Cook + Schmid said it recently won a national 2019 Silver Anvil Award Gold from the Public Relations Society of America for its promotional campaign on behalf of Kratos Defense and Security Solutions.
Cook + Schmid said the award was earned for its re-launch of Kratos’ line of military drones at the Paris Airshow, as well as a series of other product launches and company announcements. News coverage included business outlets in the U.S., Europe, Asia and the Middle East, as well as industry and military trade publications and blogs. Popular Science named the Kratos drone as one of the top aerospace inventions of the year.
“The Cook + Schmid team demonstrated its expertise in taking complex technical information and communicating the value to mainstream media,” said Jon Schmid, president and CEO. “This campaign also showed our team’s reach, not only geographically, but also in terms of specialized media. The results were clearly directly attributable to our efforts and showed a high ROI.”
It is the fifth Silver Anvil award presented to Cook + Schmid since 2006.
Rick Griffin is a San Diego-based public relations and marketing consultant. His MarketInk column appears weekly on Mondays in Times of San Diego.
