The Team
Prakash Mirchandani (Managing Director)
Prakash Mirchandani has been a communications consultant and media executive who has worked in India, with the BBC in the United Kingdom and in Australia, where he has advised on a number of critical issues in the Government and NGO sectors.
Prakash’s recent assignments have included working with the seniormost levels of the Department of Defence to tackle a range of issues. He has also been involved in the preparation of risk management strategies for senior executives appearing before Senate Committees.
Prakash has provided training in strategic use of the media to SES in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Department of Defence and a number of NGOs, and with Queensland Rail. He was asked to evaluate strategic communications for the Queensland Police in the wake of the Arnott’s extortion case.
He is the founder and principal of Media Gurus, whose aim is to provide a common-sense approach to the provision of high-quality communications advice to organisations.
Prakash is highly regarded as a consultant and teacher in the field of strategic media management and is a skilled facilitator for media training courses.
He has been Executive Trainer to CEOs for presentation skills as well as written and prepared addresses for senior officers to the National Press Club of Australia.
He was a senior ABC executive who set up the news division of the Australia Television satellite service to Asia, was on the Prime Minister’s National Multicultural Advisory Council and has been awarded a certificate of excellence in management by the Australian Institute of Management.
Prior to that he was a correspondent for the BBC in India and in London, where he reported widely for Television News on major events, including from Northern Ireland and on major terrorist incidents.
He has worked in every area of journalism from reporting through to being Foreign Editor, News Editor, News Producer and documentary film maker.
Andrew Reynolds
Andrew Reynolds is a Planning and Strategic and Crisis and Issues Management specialist. He has had extensive Government and Corporate public affairs experience covering the whole range of public affairs disciplines.
He has been involved with policy development for the Department of Defence, Australian Sports Commission and Centrelink by communications input into the formulation of the policy. This includes CHOGM 2002 for the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and the communications policy aspects of integrating a revamped information technology area into Centrelink.
Andrew has done numerous strategic plans. These include planning for the Department of Defence on issues as diverse as recruiting, marketing product (books, other publications including internet sites and reputation management). He has successfully completed planning for clients such as Esso/Mobil, Diamaru, and Centrelink.
Andrew has successfully run his own Canberra-based public affairs company and is a former Director of Public Affairs for the world-wide PR company Hill and Knowlton. His corporate clients during this time included Esso/Mobil; Diamaru and Caltex. Work included media management of the aftermath of the Longford gas explosion, which resulted in two deaths, and the loss of gas to Victorian homes for a fortnight.
A 21 year career in the military was completed after a stint as Director General of Public Information, the most senior public affairs position within the Australian Department of Defence.
Cathy Reid
Cathy Reid has had an extensive background in journalism, public relations university teaching and media training for many government and non-government organisations.
Her career began in media, where she held senior positions in television newsrooms, including news director, news producer and chief of staff, being responsible for running newsrooms and making decisions on the make-up of nightly news bulletins.
After beginning her career as a reporter for regional newspapers in South-East Queensland, Cathy became involved in television in 1988, first as a reporter and producer at Capital Television in Canberra. In 1992 she was recognised for her work in sports journalism when she was presented with the inaugural Prime Ministerial Women and Sport Award for excellence in media coverage.
A year later, the challenge of establishing a new news service in Canberra proved too great and she moved to Prime Television where her diverse skills were used in various positions, from reporter to producer and news director. She held key positions in that newsroom for nearly a decade.
During her time at Prime she was involved in allocating stories, coordinating journalists and camera crews and compiling and airing a nightly news bulletin.
Cathy was also the Prime Network’s Senior Health Reporter, researching producing and scripting a weekly report on a range of health and medical issues and topics, which was aired on Prime Television stations around the country.
She has worked as a public relations consultant for a variety of organisations, both large and small, including the Australian Defence Force, the Australian Federal Police, the Australian War Memorial and ACTION Buses.
Many organisations have also used her knowledge for media training and other communications services including the Australian Defence Force, the ACT Department of Urban Services, the Australian Institute of Sport, the Australian Sports Commission and the ACT Academy of Sport.
In addition to her news media work, Cathy has lectured and tutored second and third year advanced broadcast journalism and sports journalism students at the University of Canberra since 1991.
Bob Crawshaw
Bob Crawshaw specialises in national community relations and social marketing campaigns. He achieves results for clients because of his extensive public relations and marketing experience and thorough understanding of Australian Government communications processes.
Bob blends a unique mix of media skills and community networks to help organizations get their messages faster, deeper and further into the Australian community.
Since 2002 he has worked with the Departments of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Foreign Affairs and Trade, Defence, the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory Governments, the Council of Multicultural Australia, the Australian Anaesthetist Society and Multiplex.
Over the past three years, he has managed community relations initiatives with companies like AMP, Bunnings, Coca Cola Amatil, Computer Sciences Corporation, Drake, Ford Motor Company, McDonalds, Microsoft, Rydges Resorts, Telstra and Woolworths.
As Director of the Secretariat for the Council of Multicultural Australia (an advisory body reporting to the Australian Prime Minister) he set up the Council’s first communications programs. Before that he marketed Canberra as a business destination to overseas audiences.
Bob was the Australian Army’s first Director of Public Affairs and, for three years, developed national PR and communications strategies involving 400 Army units in Australia and overseas.
His training background is strong. As a Reserve Officer in the Australian Defence Force, he created community relations and media training packages for front line staff.
Bob is a member of the Public Relations Institute of Australia, the Australian Marketing Institute and the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). In January 2004 he became one of three Australian members on the IABC’s Asia Pacific Regional Council.
He has a Master of Marketing Communication (University of Canberra 1997), reviews books for the Australian Marketing Institute and regularly contributes to the UK based magazine, Strategic Communications Network.
Andrew Rhodes
Andrew Rhodes has more than fifteen years experience as a journalist, media consultant, and communications trainer. He currently is a strategic communications adviser to a major ACT Government department.
Andrew has provided advice to the Royal Australian Navy on significant media events, worked with the ACT Bushfire Recovery Taskforce in the wake of the recent Canberra bushfires, and was CARE Australia’s media coordinator during the 1999 Kosovo War when three CARE aid workers went missing in Serbia. In April 1999 he spent three weeks in Macedonia as Media Officer in the Stenkovec refugee camp managed by CARE Australia.
As a communications trainer, Andrew has worked with a range of major organizations over the last seven years, including the Australian Defence Force, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, the CSIRO, the ACT Government, and the Royal Australian Planning Institute.
Andrew has also lectured and tutored journalism students in the Division of Education and Communication at the University of Canberra. As Media Adviser to the ACT Greens, Andrew devised and implemented the party’s successful media strategy for the 1998 ACT election.
Andrew had an extensive and successful career as an ABC journalist from 1987 to 1996, working in Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory for ABC TV News and The 7.30 Report. He was a leading member of the team, which created and broadcast the ABC's satellite service into Asia, Australia Television.
Andrew has a Master of Arts (International Relations), specialising in Asian defence and Australian relations with Asia.
George Wood
George Wood has been a working journalist for more than 25 years, with experience in print, radio and television.
After completing a journalism degree course at Bathurst he got his start at the Illawarra Mercury newspaper in Wollongong. The paper provided grounding in all types of reporting, from rounds to sport and a stint with a special investigative team.
From there he moved into radio, working with the ABC in Wollongong and Cairns before deciding to try his hand in television.
For more than 20 years he has worked in a variety of capacities in the medium including
Judy Fasher
Judy Fasher brings 30 years of communications experience to the team. Her more recent work has involved being communications consultant to the Australian equestrian team during the Sydney Olympics, working with the Royal Australian Navy to deal with issues involved with deployment to the middle east, preparing division heads to face a contentious senate committee and dealing at peak levels with the issue of drugs in sport.
Judy has had an established career as a radio broadcaster with the ABC in Perth and in Sydney as well as in an advisory role to sports administrators in both NSW and national levels
Judy's particular strengths lie in bringing lateral but practical solutions to issues and crisis management.
Ann Lund
Ann began her career as a regional radio journalist in the UK before joining the BBC in Bristol where she was a Producer and Presenter for News bulletins. The moved on to TV news production as Reporter/Producer where she presented all the main sequence programs, two newshours daily, general phone-ins and was Chief of Staff for radio and TV.
After 8 years in the UK, Ann moved to Australia in 1998 where she was Production Manager and journalist, working for the ABC as well as being academic and tutor for journalism students at the Queensland University of Technology.
Ann has also worked in the Public Affairs areas of the Queensland Government and was more recently the Election Co-ordinator and Studio Presenter on ABC 612, Coast FM and News Radio.
Graeme Shenton
Graeme began his journalistic career in Perth with radio 6KY and then joined TVW as a journalist/presenter, where he travelled internationally to provide coverage for special events.
In 1982 he moved to London where he was Editor and News Manager, Asia for VISNEWS/REUTERS. After three years he was posted to Tokyo to supervise coverage in Asia – looking after staff crews from 17 countries. He also developed the world’s first daily satellite news service from Tokyo by a non-Japanese organisation.
In 1990 Graeme returned to Perth where he joined Channel 9 as a news producer. He moved on to the ABC where he was in turns journalist, Producer and Executive Producer. He was responsible for coverage of all State and Federal elections and then Executive Producer of George Negus in the ‘Australia Talks’ series. He was Consulting Producer for the series “Year of the Outback”
Since then he has been a Director of APV Link which is a news satellite uplink operator as well as Strategic media consultant to a number of major corporations in Western Australia, including SkyWest airlines, of which he is a Director.
Jo McManus
Jo McManus has been a journalist for more than 20 years. She began her career with the Fairfax group of newspapers in Sydney and continued working in newspapers when she moved to Perth in 1983.
In 1986 Jo moved into television ... working first as a news reporter for TVW Channel 7 Perth, then moving into current affairs as a reporter on Channel 7's top rating State Affair program.
After four years of daily current affairs journalism, Jo moved to Channel Nine, Perth as a Chief of Staff and News producer.
In 1990 Jo joined the ABC's 7.30 Report as assistant producer and story producer. Since then, she has executive produced a daily news/magazine program for Channel Nine, produced TV news at the ABC, worked as a producer and presenter on ABC radio, as a reporter and news producer at Channel 7, and as a sessional lecturer in TV news reporting and program presenting at the WA Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).
Debra Bishop
Debra Bishop has more than 20 years' electronic media experience specialising in television reporting, presentation and documentary production.
After beginning her career in radio in Perth, she has spent the last 20 years working in Perth television including Channels 7,10 and the ABC where she has produced and presented award winning television news reports and documentaries.
As a news producer of Channel 7's news, Debra co-ordinated coverage of the dramatic ocean rescue of English sailor Tony Bullimore and the Bali bombing.
She was the West Australian Bureau Chief for the current affairs programme 'Hinch' and worked on Channel 7's 'Today Tonight' as a reporter.
Debra now consults to both State and federal Government departments and private enterprise on media matters including training, as well as working on a casual basis with the Seven Network producing news bulletins and reporting.
Ted Rayment
Ted is the National president of the Australian Cinematographers Society and a former National Vice President of this body, which is the apex of all camera operators. He is on the selection panel for the Australian Film, Television and Radio School and a lecturer at the Academy of Photogenic Arts, as well as running his own courses for camera operators for News, Documentaries and Feature films.
Ted began is career with the ABC as a film trainee and emerged as a Director and award winning cinematographer 33 years later.
He has been involved in all aspects of film and television production from News and Current Affairs to drama and documentaries.
He was Director and cinematographer for the fifty minute documentary "Voyage to the Ice", the story of the Antarctic expedition led in 77/78 by Dr David Lewis aboard the yacht "Solo". He then worked on the "Journey into the Himalayas" which took him to India, Nepal and Bhutan.
In his latter years with the ABC he was involved almost exclusively with the Rural Department of the ABC and the "Big Country" series.
Ted left the ABC in December 1985 after shooting in excess of 100 documentaries and, after a short stint as a freelance, joined SBS as Senior Cameraman. With SBS Ted once again roamed the world, shooting everything from documentaries to drama series. His Current Affairs assignments took him to hotspots in India, Pakistan, Madagascar, Mauritius, Canada, Bougainville, Czechoslovakia, Turkey, Vietnam, and many other locations.
Ted currently runs specialised courses in film-making for camera operators.
Jeanette Trefle
Jeanette has a background in English and Psychology and has taught at the secondary level and in the TAFE system. She became interested in plain English while working in the Brisbane Public Relations Unit of Social Security. She continued to develop her interest in this area while working as a copywriter in an advertising agency and in her own copywriting business which she began in 1986.
Since then, she has written, rewritten and edited documents for government departments at the Federal, State and Local levels. She has been appointed as a consultant to two government departments in Canberra and is a preferred supplier to two local Councils. She has also rewritten major legal documents and policies in plain English for a leading financial institution.
Jeanette lives in Brisbane and complements her work in plain English by freelancing as a copywriter for Brisbane advertising agencies and providing services to her own client base.
Jamie Wilson
Jamie Wilson graduated with distinction as a Live Sound Engineer from the National Recording Studios in Canberra.
Jamie spent 14 years with the military, his most recent experience being at the the RAAF Staff College where he was co-ordinator of the multi-media and audiovisual unit.
In addition, Jamie has gained experience in video-camera shooting, in script production and in event management.
Jamie now continues to record, compose and produce his own audio and video productions in the ACT. He is part of the top-rating music group known as "The Hit Men".
He is also currently familiarising himself with the techniques and details of broadcasting on the Web.
Jamie was recently awarded a Diploma of Communication and Media, where he specialised in the field of Multi-Media. Jamie has also graduated with distinction as a Live Sound Engineer from the National Recording Studios in Canberra.
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