Working on the Clinton-Gore ’96 election campaign has given Coby King plenty of experience for one of his new roles at Rogers & Associates crisis communications.
“Anyone who has ever worked on a political campaign knows that a campaign is a day-to-day study in crisis communications,” he said.
That’s just one area where King expects his passion for politics to come in handy at Rogers & Associates. “You always have to be on your toes, and Rogers encourages me to do the kind of things that I already like to do,” he said.
Rogers & Associates, an independent public relations firm in Century City, provides strategic communications counsel to a variety of public- and private-sector clients.
King’s involvement in marketing started early. Right after earning his political science degree, he went to work for a Washington, D.C.-based direct-mail firm, where he was involved in campaign fund-raising for gubernatorial and senatorial races.
After graduating cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center, King joined the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and then went to work in the government practice division of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.
“I split my time at Manatt between two areas, including legal research on issues that were important to clients and a fair amount of strategizing with clients on the public affairs aspects of these issues,” King said. “I found that I liked dealing with government agencies, working with the media and strategizing and decided to further my interest in these areas.”
His combined legal, political and communications experience will serve as the foundation for his involvement in developing communication strategies for Rogers & Associates’ clients. Additionally, his experience in directing political campaigns will be used to grow the firm’s government relations and issues management practice.
King’s volunteer efforts include Campaign Watch ’96, where he trained, organized and managed a statewide network of attorneys to deal with legislative advocates intimidating voters before and on Election Day.
“Keeping my finger on the political pulse is something I’ve been doing all my life,” he said.
Julie Sable
