Bruce E. Hicks
General Manager - Houston

Bruce Hicks is a senior public relations and marketing communications counselor with 35 years experience in the news media and public relations fields.  

Prior to joining The Alliant Group, Hicks headed Darcy Communications/Houston, which he founded in 1989, serving a wide range of international, national and local clients in travel and tourism, airlines, energy, commercial real estate development, legal, technical and manufacturing industries.  At Darcy, he worked with American Airlines, Allstate Insurance, KPMG Peat Marwick, American Express Travel Related Services Company, Ethyl Corporation, Coastal Corporation, Century Development Corporation, Crown Central Petroleum, Olympic Figure Skating Gold Medalist Tara Lipinski, Mexico City Tourism Board, Hawaiian Airlines, Mexicana Airlines, Midway Airlines, RiceTec, Inc., and others.

Since 1992, Hicks has consulted with American Airlines on a wide variety of issues, including labor organizing attempts, contract disputes and strikes, the September 11^th tragedy and the November 2001 A300 crash in New York .  For more than a year, he served as internal and external communication strategist and public media spokesperson in the successful effort in 2003 to restructure all labor agreements and avoid bankruptcy.

In his 27 years as a public relations executive, he has both agency and corporate experience, including his highly public role as chief spokesman for Continental Airlines and Texas Air Corporation for more than a decade.  

He is recognized as an expert in crisis communications and has written and lectured frequently on that issue.  Hicks’ crisis and issues management experience includes labor (contract negotiations, strikes, corporate campaigns, union organizing), financial (bankruptcy, takeovers), legal and regulatory (lawsuits, government investigations and hearings), and physical (airline crashes, office building fires) crises. 

Prior to Texas Air, Hicks was regional manager for the Houston and Kansas City offices of the international PR firm, Carl Byoir & Associates.  At Carl Byoir, he counseled such clients as the City of Kansas City , Hallmark Cards, Johnson Wax, Honeywell and RCA.

As a journalist for eight years, Hicks was medical/science/energy/aerospace writer for United Press International and the Houston Chronicle, night city editor of the Austin American Statesman, and editor of the weekly Austin Citizen.

He has won numerous awards, including the Public Relations Society of America’s top national honor, the Silver Anvil, twice.  Hicks holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Houston .  He is active in community affairs and is a former member of the National Board of the American Diabetes Association. 

	Most memorable inspiration:
	An early mentor taught me that creativity requires a broad brush for the panoramic view and a fine brush to paint in all the details to make it come alive.

	Best career moment:
	I hope I haven't had it yet.  To date, it would have to be the feeling of having contributed something worthwhile through my client, American Airlines, in the aftermath of September 11th, 2001 .

	Worst career moment:
	Walking through a throng of laid-off fellow employees the morning after Continental Airlines' first bankruptcy in 1983, feeling guilty to still have a job and knowing that how well I did my job could be the difference in how soon they would have theirs back.

	When not working:
	Time with family, which includes my young daughter's basketball and softball games and my teen son's ice hockey.  And, my passion for youth baseball umpiring became even more fun as my son joined the umpiring ranks and we get to work together as a crew.