It is my pleasure to be able to share some very exciting news with you - Social Media Group has signed a letter of intent to purchase Washington, DC-based Livingston Communications, one of the world's most highly respected social PR firms.

Former CEO Geoff Livingston, author of Now Is Gone: A Primer on New Media for Executives and Entrepreneurs, will continue to head the DC office, joining our global team as Executive Vice President, Americas. Geoff's primary areas of responsibility will be North American business development and strategy. You can read his post about our deal here. I am thrilled to get the chance to work closely with Geoff - there's a reason he's one of the industry's most highly-respected thought leaders, and we are going to make a killer team.

We also welcome Geoff's fabulous staff - a group of talented communications professionals who will round out our already stellar lineup (can you say Social Media All-Stars?).

The acquisition is expected to be formally completed by the end of August, and will bring our collective staff to 20, making us the world's largest independent social media marketing and communications firm. Though our collective client list is already impressive (Ford, SAP, Network Solutions, Yamaha, Harlequin Publishing...) we now have the bandwidth and complete service offerings to happily go toe-to-toe with any traditional agency's so-called "social media practice". Our clients have told us again and again that they want specialized expertise in this space, and we look forward to continuing to help companies in the Global 2000 understand how social media is transforming the way they do business.

SMG will also acquire the internationally recognized Buzz Bin blog and the BlogPotomac conference as part of the deal, which is for an undisclosed amount of cash and stock.

Please join me in welcoming Geoff and his team to SMG - exciting times ahead for all of us!

Photo credit: Eli Singer

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