GARY CONKLING
Contributing Assistant Professor

EML: gconklin@willamette.edu
WEB: www.cfm-online.com

Gary L. Conkling is president and co-founder of Conkling Fiskum & McCormick, Inc., (CFM) a public affairs, strategic communications and research firm based in Portland, Oregon, with a full-time office in Washington, D.C. CFM is a member of Pinnacle Worldwide, a network of more than 50 independently owned and operated public relations agencies stretching around the globe. Conkling’s professional practice is split between state lobbying and providing communications counsel to clients. He also has experience as a federal tax and environmental lobbyist.

Prior to starting CFM in 1990, Conkling was director of public affairs for Tektronix, Inc., the world’s largest producer of oscilloscopes and at the time Oregon’s largest private employer. He came to Tektronix after working as staff director in Washington, D.C. for former Oregon Congressmen Les AuCoin and Ron Wyden, who is now Oregon’s senior senator. While working for AuCoin, Conkling served as staff member on the House Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.

Conkling began his career as a journalist, covering local and state government and rising to become managing editor of a daily newspaper in Oregon. He has written about politics and public policy since his days as a college newspaper editor, continuing today with an online newsletter devoted to Oregon issues.

In 2000, Conkling received a Silver Anvil award, the highest honor handed out by the Public Relations Society of America, for his work on legislation to create a competitive electricity market in Oregon. Conkling serves as a contributing faculty member of the Atkinson School of Management at Willamette University. He also has served for 14 years on the commission that runs the Oregon Convention Center and the Portland Center for the Performing Arts. Previously, he served as a gubernatorial appointee on Tri-Met’s board of directors. He is an active member of the Oregon Chapter of the American Marketing Association. And he was a co-founder of the Business-Education Compact, one of the nation’s most durable and successful partnerships devoted to improving education quality through experiential learning.

He is a graduate of Seattle Pacific University. Conkling has worked on a U.S. presidential campaign and ran for the U.S. Congress in 1992.

An avid New York Yankees fan, Gary enjoys hiking, biking and the arts.

Visit the Conkling, Fiskum and McCormick website for more information.

Gary Conkling writes hundreds of articles about the public relations profession through his "Tips and Trends" articles online. He also writes about issues within and around the State of Oregon through his company newsletter, the CFM Insider.

Conkling, Gary. "Speaking with Consistent, Integrated Voices." Tips and Trends Online.

Conkling, Gary. "Marketing Your Point of View." Tips and Trends Online.

Conkling, Gary. "The Case for Cause Marketing." Tips and Trends Online.

Conkling, Gary. "Media Lessons from Edwards Affair." Tips and Trends Online.

Conkling, Gary. "Tying CSR with Reputation Management." Tips and Trends Online.

Conkling, Gary. "Trusted Partner or Satellite Office." Tips and Trends Online.

Conkling, Gary. "From Dull to Memorable Presentations." Tips and Trends Online.

Conkling, Gary. "Integrity Top Tool of Top Lobbyists." Tips and Trends Online.