(Washington, DC)   Accomplished journalist, communication trainer, and advisory board facilitator John McPherson has joined Washington, DC-based Training Services On Demand (TSOD: www.tsod.com), according to chief instructor Frank Whyte.

"John and I have a relationship going back some thirty years," Whyte said, "and my respect for his skills and accomplishments has grown with every passing week."

Whyte said he expects McPherson to bolster TSOD's relationships with chemical, petrochemical, and manufacturing firms, where McPherson is well-regarded as a communication consultant.

"We have a solid reputation for media relations and presentation skills training for industrial customers," Whyte said.  "John is ideally positioned to build-out our offerings to ensure that we're regarded as the best-of-breed provider for the entire array of communication offerings." John McPherson specializes in media relations and crisis communications training, as well as presentation development, key messaging strategy, and the development and facilitation of stakeholder outreach programs.

McPherson has trained corporate communications executives and managers of Fortune 500 companies, and he has developed stakeholder outreach programs for numerous corporations including major chemical, oil, coal, electric utility companies, and for the State of West Virginia.  He also has significant experience with stakeholder outreach for Brownfield and Superfund remediation sites.

He has presented seminars on crisis communications management for entities such as the American Petroleum Institute, the International Disaster Management Conference, Ohio Safety Council, and Florida Association of Chiefs of Police.

Prior to consulting, McPherson spent 20 years as a television journalist.  His coverage of significant events, such as the space shuttle Challenger disaster, the explosions of the Phillips oil refinery and the Arco-Lyondell plant, and the burning of the oil tanker Mega Borg, gives him a unique perspective on the management of media, community and stakeholder relations during a crisis.

"I'm overjoyed to be back on a team with former broadcast colleagues Frank Whyte, Tim Sharp, and a solid, reputable group of curriculum designers and consultants," McPherson said.  "Together, I believe we're going to deliver some results that set a new community outreach standard for our customers."

Training Services On Demand (TSOD) is a top-tier provider of training and employee development solutions.  TSOD provides onsite training at customer locations for complete teams, ensuring that its programs are adapted to meet organization-specific training needs.  Popular training course titles include MBTI® Team Building, Team Leadership, Presentation Skills, Media Relations, Negotiation Skills, Business Writing, Time Management, Stress Management, Sexual Harassment Prevention, Diversity Training, and Convention Mini-Seminars.

TSOD's industrial customer list includes hundreds of companies such as ExxonMobil, 3M, Goodrich, Michelin N.A., The Boeing Company, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, GE Oil & Gas, Merisol Antioxidants, Arctic Slope, Morton Salt, Materials Processing, Evonik Degussa, VirTex Operating Company, PaR Systems, Glasfloss Industries, WISco Enterprises, Brazos Electric, Downs Energy, MacLellan Integrated Services, Viracon, Alliance Coal, MTU Detroit Diesel, James Hardie Building Products, WISco Enterprises, Carbo Ceramics, Sews-Dtc, Numatech West, Boston Scientic, Gentex, Dial Corporation, Bostik Findley, Metso Paper USA, Nova Chemicals, Alabama Power Company, and others.