Company Rank: 2.0 out of 5

Average length of employment : 29 years

Average salary of employees: $75,000

	05|
Were your performance expectations clearly communicated?		3.0
Were you recognized for meeting or exceeding expectations?		4.0
Did you feel like your personal contribution was important?		3.0
Was your career path clearly outlined and discussed?		2.0

	03|
I would recommend this as a place of employment.		1.0
I believe in the purpose of this organization.		2.0
I would work for this organization again.		1.0
I feel employees are fairly compensated.		2.0

Climbers' Joblogs at Brandweek:

Marketing expert, creative writer, excellent investigator

SUMMARY
Prolific journalist who has written extensively about advertising, consumer package goods, digital marketing politics and business possesses deep investigation experience for finding irregularities and exclusive stories. Can perform in high-pressure environment, meet tight deadlines and manage several projects simultaneously.

• Top notch oral, interpersonal abilities and expertise attracted appearances as an authority on TV’s American Originals by Bill Kurtis Productions, Fox Business Network and CNBC. Called for quotes on radio’s Market Watch, BBC and NPR, as well as the Associated Press, Orlando Sentinel and Colorado Business Report among others.
• Speaker and discussion panel moderator at numerous, high-profile business conferences for associations like the Promotion Marketing Association and the American Marketing Association.

EXPERIENCE

Euromonitor International, Chicago & London, 2009-present.

• Gathered marketing intelligence and analysis for a candy manufacturer regarding how candy packaging changes grow from an idea to execution on the shelf.
• Completed heavy lifting on a prescreening RFP project for a motor oil manufacturer about advertising in the consumer oil category. Duties included store checks and recommending and interviewing ad agencies. Also analyzed current below-the-line marketing activity.
• Delivered information nuggets for appliance manufacturing clients such as retailer’s margins and brown and white goods, the role of retail buying groups in the supply chain and compiled list of authorized distributors with manufacturers.

RK Public Relations, Chicago, 2008-present.

• Ghost written opinion columns for executives of Engauge Direct, an Atlanta-based advertising agency, which were published in MobileMarketer.com.
• Strategize story pitches to the media and wrote press releases and speeches for clients like NGK Spark Plugs, Michigan State University College of Law and the YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids.
• Successfully pitched story to Ad Age about ad agency R&R Partners and its business model for issue advocacy marketing.

Brandweek Magazine, Chicago, 1998 - 2008.

Senior Reporter: Broke exclusive stories in highly competitive beats which made this weekly marketing journal the go to source for the latest developments. Wrote features, analysis, opinion columns and online stories. Stories included the following:

• Scoops: MySpace.com’s cool factor is diminishing so it competes by charging half the CPM rates that Facebook assesses for banner ads¬¬. Craft beers are grabbing cachet and market share away from imports. Hotel loyalty clubs are filling the void of frequent flyer redemptions by offering free air travel through their programs. The next breakout attraction for the iPhone will be the widgets, games and third-party software that Apple will sell on the App Store. The business model for widget development and distribution could the medium’s adoption by marketers. Nestle withdraws more confection marketing resources by cutting its sales force. More marketers are shifting budgets to digital-out-of home advertising, the second fastest growing ad medium behind the Internet. The economy is forcing snack companies to stop printing the suggested retail price on packages.

• Beer: The New York Times and international news wires followed my exclusive story about Boston Beer’s Jim Koch inventing the extreme beer niche with a brew that he pitted in taste tests against the world’s finest ports, sherries and cognacs. Was out-front on how mass market brewers are trying to capture craft beer growth while craft brewers expand distribution and marketing beyond their home markets.

• Candy: Reported how Hershey cannibalized its own sales by giving retailers incentives to cram new brands and a slew of product extensions onto shelves two years before revenue declined, prompting the company to change its 2007 merchandising program. Another feature story foreshadowed the potential for
chocolate to be sold by the bean (cocoa content) and country of origin years before big candy manufacturers jumped into premium chocolate.

• Tobacco: Broke R.J. Reynolds Tobacco launch of the Marshall McGheraty “smoking lounge and retail store,” which was picked up by the New York Times, Associated Press and Advertising Age. Also provided early coverage about how Philip Morris USA’s desire for FDA regulation is motivated by creating barriers to entry for protecting its market share and opening a new growth market in reduced-risk products.

• Travel: Groundbreaking stories include how the glut of frequent-flyer points is diminishing such airline programs; cruise lines struggling to draw first-time cruisers; destination marketers using social networking to connect with travelers; and car rental companies responding to the growth of car-sharing by leasing vehicles by the hour.

Faulkner & Gray, Chicago, 1997 – 1998

Associate Editor: Covered marketing and technology developments in the banking and electronic funds transfer industry for Bank Network News and Debit Card News. Wrote features for Financial Services Online magazine and contributed editorial to Insurance Network News and Insurance Networking & Data Management. Stories included preparing ATMs for the Millennium change, and the advent of online gaming.


The Times of Northwest Indiana, Munster, Ind., 1995 – 1997

Business Reporter: Primary beats included the steel industry, labor unions and manufacturing. Also wrote weekly business column, financial pieces, consumer stories and features for daily newspaper with 90,000 readers in Northwest Indiana and Illinois.

• Won First Place for feature writing in the 1997 Indiana Associated Press Managing Editors (APME) contest for a series about Lake Michigan.

• Story about steel mill closing won First Place for feature writing in the 1995 Indiana APME contest and Third Place for best business story in the Hoosier State Press Association and the Society of Professional Journalists-Indiana Chapter contests.

• Part of reporting team covering the Beta Steel explosion, which won the 1997 Peter Lisagor Award for deadline reporting and First Place nods from the Indiana APME and Hoosier State Press Association.


PROJECT
MANAGEMENT

Steered the course of a Nielsen Gaming project so that a survey measured consumer behavior rather than attitudes about advertising in video games. We drafted open-ended and multiple choice questions for a poll of 2,500 video game players. The study found that more than one-third of players who recalled seeing ads in a game either bought the product advertised, sought more information, talked about the product or recommended it to others. I wrote a September 2008 news story about the study, which has been referenced by MarketWatch.com,MarketingCharts.com, and MarketingVox.com.

Organized benefit within a four-month period that raised $35,000 and attracted more than 300 people to the headline event.
• Secured silent auction/raffle items by networking with travel brands, professional sports ticketholders and many other volunteers.
• Negotiated hall rental, booked entertainment, such as the lead guitarist for the Freddy Jones Band and the Shannon Rovers, recruited and delegated food servers, emcees, silent auction monitors and other volunteers.
• Marketed the event with a Web site that included music snippets of the entertainment and weekly e-mail teasers to a database of contacts about available auction/raffle items.

EDUCATION

Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University, Chicago,
M.S.J., Print Journalism

Millikin University, Decatur, Ill.
B.A., American Studies

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