NEW YORK -- Trying to bulk up their public-relations skills, the Mets have hired Harold Kaufman to the newly created position of executive director, communications.
The team writes in a press release:
Kaufman will be responsible for the strategic development and implementation of publicity strategies and tactics to elevate the profile of the organization. He will be the club’s primary contact for off-field (business, entertainment, community, and lifestyle) media coverage.
Kaufman brings more than 25 years of publicity and media relations experience to the organization. He will join the Mets June 23 from The Ehrhardt Group, a full service public relations and marketing firm in New Orleans, where he was Senior Counselor since 2013.
For more than two decades he was Vice President of Communications for the National Basketball Association’s Hornets, first in Charlotte and later as part of the club’s management team following its 2002 relocation to New Orleans. He continued with the franchise as it transitioned through a change in ownership in 2012.
Kaufman was a member of the Super Bowl XLVII PR Host Committee and was chosen by the NBA to have leadership roles in the press operations of the 1996 Summer Olympics and multiple NBA All-Star Weekends. He began his professional career in 1986 with the Dallas Mavericks before joining the Hornets.
He will work closely with the Mets media relations group -- headed by Vice President Jay Horwitz -- and the Mets Marketing & Communications department. Kaufman will report directly to David Newman, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Communications.
A native of Dallas and graduate of SMU, Kaufman will relocate to the New York tri-state area from New Orleans with his wife Lisa. They have two sons -- Alex, who will begin his junior year at the University of Texas in the fall, and Stanley, who graduated last week from LSU.
Steven Tyler at our game vs. Lakers last week. I'm sure he enjoyed his photo with our dance team much more. pic.twitter.com/MlMXHaW
— Harold Kaufman (@haroldk12) December 10, 2012
