As reported this week, hedge funds are concerned about inevitable government regulation and they’re using comms more to talk about the industry.

Conrad Capital Management Consultants (CCM) has introduced the Independent Verification and Operational Review (IVOR). The tool is an on-site, independent audit and operational analysis that detects fraudulent processes and procedures. According to Ron Pateka, a director with CCM, hedge funds are first “apprehensive” about the procedure, but ultimately see the value of it and appreciate the tips that CCM offers for tightening up a hedge fund’s business.

“[Hedge funds] are trying to rest people’s fears, so they’ve hired an outside company to make sure they’re doing everything correctly,” said Donald Conrad, president of the company. “We want to try and help clean up what’s going on.”

The company says most hedge funds are doing things properly, but Pateka says they have found “discrepancies with valuing the portfolio that they didn’t agree with” at some organizations. CCM has been in touch with the Securities and Exchange Commission to propose IVOR as a road map for regulatory decisions.

Citi Cards launched two new options for cardholders on March 4: Citi Forward, which rewards customers who use the card responsibly by actually lowering their purchase interest rate by a quarter of a percent; and , which gives customers rewards points for reporting their socially responsible activities on the card’s social media page.

“For Citi, this is an offering that rewards consumers for using credit wisely,” noted Terry O’Neil, EVP of Citi Cards in an e-mail to PRWeek. “For MySpace, the new card educates users about being fiscally responsible and mindful in today’s economic climate.”

Citi Cards has been working with TMGpr on the launch activities, which include a pre-launch Webcast moderated by Christopher Penn from the Financial Aid Podcast; “man-on-the-street” video clips now appearing on the card’s ; ; and media outreach, which has gotten coverage in a number of outlets, including Fox Business News.

“If you want to establish deep connections with your consumers, you have to be wherever they are,” Tami Gross-McCarthy, founder and CEO of TMGpr, told PRWeek. “Citi is interested in a two-way dialogue with consumers. The social media world helps us to achieve that.”

The PR for new online community Daughters.com focused on what the site offers: advice and an interactive community designed to help families raise girls ages 8 to 15.

New Moon Girls Media, the company behind New Moon Girls magazine and Web site, worked with Cahill Media Group on the March 10 launch, reaching out to mommy and grandparent bloggers, telling them of the “parent to parent” discussion board, searchable collection of articles about raising girls, and ways they can submit questions to experts. Additionally, the PR campaign targeted traditional media nationwide.

Founder and CEO Nancy Gruver contributes to one of several blogs on the site and said in a statement, “After nearly 17 years of creating groundbreaking communities for tween and teen girls, we’re thrilled to provide parents and caregivers with the first place they can visit 24/7 to find answers to all of their questions about raising daughters.”

The from this year’s (more subdued) CES seems to be: Palm is poised for a comeback. Palm’s newly unveiled Pre is being lauded as “the best in show” and a serious threat to Apple’s iPhone. Leslie Letts, director of product PR for Palm, says there’s more buzz in store for the Pre.

“For us, [CES] was just about unveiling this new OS platform that we plan to carry for several years and the first flagship device on that system,” Letts told PRWeek. “That’s really where we are at this point and I think you’ll begin to see more [media events] over the next few months.”

Letts declined to give more details about what we can expect from the Pre. But stay tuned.

Anyone else want to share highlights from CES?

Cisco Systems is planning to carve out a greater name for itself in the consumer electronics category with the of new technologies at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January.

The product line, set to debut at CES, is currently under embargo, but Jim Brady, senior manager of PR for Cisco, hinted that “what we’re showcasing at CES are new technologies that leverage [an] Internet-based network as the platform of a new age of connecting consumers. . . The consumer electronics landscape [is] very much a device centric environment, what Cisco’s aim is to enable a new connected life, by more visual and social [components].”

Brady emphasized the importance of CES as a way for media, analysts, and key influencers to “experience” these products and discuss Cisco’s plans for the consumer electronics space.

Currently, the company’s consumer-facing business is less than 10%, according to Brady, but the company has plans for expansion.

“Before the greater part of the 1990s, Cisco established itself and really transformed the enterprise sector. And, over the course of the last seven or eight years, [the company began] the same thing within the telecommunications service provider market. We, too, believe that talking about [these] products will begin the same transformation in the consumer space,” said Brady.

Leading up to CES, Cisco’s PR tactics have included media outreach and briefings with analysts. For PR, Cisco currently works with Text 100.

has Profile 2.0, which is part of its site redesign. The feature is optional and lets users customize their profiles for different friend categories. The social network is taking a cautious approach to its rollout, perhaps to avoid the redesign mistake of others. caused a earlier this year when it to a new design. MySpace, on the other hand, claims it won’t ever force users to make the switch. On his blog, the MySpace’s president, Tom Anderson , “No, we are not forcing people to switch to this profile, and don’t intend to. I know some people are happy with MySpace just the way it is.”

1-800-FLOWERS.com and CBS have joined forces to create yet another holiday: Ex Day on October 16. The campaign is promoting CBS’s new comedy series, The Ex List, and a specialty Ex Bouquet from 1-800-FLOWERS.com. On The Ex List, the character Bella Bloom, played by Elizabeth Reaser, is a flower shop owner who, according to a psychic, must go back through all her exes, as she has already dated “The One.”

According to a study from Wakefield Research and quoted by CBS and 1-800-FLOWERS.com, 39% of people feel they let “The One” get away and more than 40% say they still have romantic feelings for an ex. Now, only two days before “Sweetest Day,” people can re-connect with an old flame via flowers on Ex Day.

So far, The Hollywood Reporter and Crain’s New York Business have reported on the new holiday. No word yet if Hallmark has started making Ex Day cards.

USA Network is expanding the brand of its show The Starter Wife, starring Debra Messing, into fashion. Partnering with handbag designer Lauren Merkin and illustrator Sujean Rim, the network has created a signature handbag and T-shirt for the show, with the former being carried by Messing’s fashionable Molly Kagan character in an upcoming episode. Both items will be available for fans to purchase.

“For USA, these unique partnerships demonstrate a fresh approach to extending The Starter Wife brand into the fashion arena while providing fashion-conscious consumers the opportunity to tangibly connect with Molly’s stylish sensibility,” Alexandra Shapiro, SVP of brand marketing and digital for USA, said in a statement.

When the somewhat famous attach their names to a consumer brand products, it isn’t necessarily easy money. Former Playmate Jenny McCarthy may be serious about marketing her new non-toxic Too Good children’s line, after the success of several mommy memoirs and dedication to children’s health organizations. However, success might still be a long shot, no matter how noble or legitimate the product tie-in. Sure, the likes of George Foreman and Paul Newman built product empires on their eponymous consumer lines. But, what about Billy Beer, (promoted by the Billy, brother of then-president Jimmy Carter) Hulkaroos, Michael Jackson brand chocolate, or even Old Dirty Bastard’s potato chips, aka Dirt McGirt’s Rap Snacks? All, if I remember correctly, were once-upon-a-time tasty products, that have become ironic memorabilia.

In the wake of California allowing same-sex marriage, Hallmark created a line of wedding cards for same-sex couples, the reported. Four designs were gradually released this summer, with plans for a larger roll-out next year. The company previously offered coming out cards.

The cards have neutral language, so they can be used for both commitment ceremonies and weddings. American Greetings Corp., a competitor for Hallmark, has no plans for such products, “saying its current offerings are general enough to speak to a lot of different relationships,” the Times reported.

“It’s our goal to be as relevant as possible to as many people as we can,” Hallmark spokeswoman Sarah Gronberg Kolell told the Times.