Partner Profiles

Sydney Weisman

Sydney Weisman, a veteran TV, radio, and print journalist, was part of an award winning news team at WLS/ABC radio in Chicago. After leaving radio, Ms. Weisman worked as a freelance writer for Chicago newspapers and international magazines before opening up her own PR firm there.

Upon arriving in Los Angeles, she and her husband (David Hamlin) founded WHPR. Since then, Ms. Weisman has been among the most successful publicists in the Los Angeles metropolitan market. Her work has earned the respect of clients and, more impressively, working journalists -- a reporter with one of the top-rated news programs in Los Angeles says she is “the best publicist in town.” An expert in the crafting and presentation of public relations campaigns, Ms. Weisman is respected for her ability to recognize, shape, and sell quality news stories.

Ms. Weisman is active in a number of Los Angeles organizations, including Los Angeles Area Chamber Of Commerce and the Progressive Jewish Alliance. She is also a talented and popular commentator; her commentaries have been featured on APR’s Marketplace and she has been a regular contributor to KCET’s nightly newscast, Life & Times.

David Hamlin

David Hamlin enjoyed national and international recognition for his successful leadership within a prominent civil rights organization during a sustained crisis in the 1970s. The insights and experience he gained are the cornerstone of the mature counsel and guidance he now provides to WHPR clients. CEOs, law firm managing partners, and senior administrative and executive staff rely on Mr. Hamlin’s analytical and management strengths, always a part of WHPR campaigns. Prior to founding WHPR with his wife, Sydney Weisman, Mr. Hamlin also worked as a free-lance journalist and is the author of a book about the First Amendment and political free speech. He is a veteran community leader who has founded and led several non-profit and advocacy agencies. He has served as an elected Board member of United Neighborhoods Neighborhood Council in Los Angeles.

Mr. Hamlin’s understanding of the theory and practice of public relations has earned the respect of WHPR clients and a position as Adjunct Professor of Public Relations at Pepperdine University, where he taught PR to upper-class Communications majors during the 1996-97 academic year. He also developed, with his partner, the popular Mastering The Media^TM series which has provided comprehensive PR training to hundreds of non-profit professionals throughout California. He and Ms. Weisman conduct the highly respected Mastering The Media^TM workshops, in conjunction with a variety of non-profit foundations, The Annenberg School for Communication, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and the California Society of Association Executives (CalSAE).