STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING LEADER

Communications and marketing expert and team leader with proven track record of increasing sales, audiences and engagement, as well as overall brand awareness, in a fast-paced environment. Unique blend of expertise in mastering new technologies for maximum impact, while ensuring collaborative teamwork to exceed expectations.

NOTABLE TALENTS AND SKILLS

Team management * Social media strategy * C-suite collaboration * Media relations * Project management * Content development and strategy * Creative * Data-driven * Content production (print and digital) * Written and verbal communication  * Copy editing * Proofreading * Strategic communication * SEO * Collaborative * Content vision * Goal-oriented * Brand strategy * Annual reports * Video strategy * Grant writing * Integrated marketing and communications

CURRENT POSITION:

Vice President of Marketing & Communications, December 2021 – present
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, 32 E. Washington St., Indianapolis, IN

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Lead the ISO Marketing & Communications team to launch season campaigns vital to the long-term success of the organization, including the general season, Kroger Symphony on the Prairie and AES Indiana Yuletide Celebration.
  • Manage the Marketing & Communications budget, including media buys, paid digital campaigns, printed collateral and contractors (approx. $1.2 million).
  • Establish four consecutive years of record first-day sales for AES Indiana Yuletide Celebration (growing from $636,000 in 2022 to $930,000 in 2025).
  • Record-setting total ticket revenue for AES Indiana Yuletide Celebration (reaching $2.8 million and higher in sales for the first time in ISO history) through optimized brand awareness and marketing campaigns.
  • Create in-house content strategy to engage new and existing audiences on all platforms; improve new households metric by 7% over three seasons.
  • Reinstate group sales manager position and coordinate group sales strategy.
  • Launch new music director in January 2024; more than $70K in earned media.
  • Migrate email marketing to a new platform (Prospect2) to establish automations; identify audience segments for nurture campaigns.
  • Cultivate new partnerships and explore cross promotion opportunities to expand audience demographics.
  • Oversee media relations, earned media metrics and paid advertising campaigns.
  • Lead Marketing & Communications team in interdepartmental relations to support the marketing needs of Development, Venue Operations, Executive, etc.
  • Train key stakeholders to be ISO brand ambassadors.
  • Provide guidance during crisis situations and implement crisis communications as needed.
  • Coordinate with Executive Leadership Team to provide insight and decision-making on key issues.
  • Liaise with Strategic Planning Committee to develop a new strategic plan for the ISO (including new mission and vision statements and goal-setting).
  • Work across all levels of the organization to promote and execute special events (Opening Night Gala, Symphony on the Circle).
  • Provide strategic guidance and material support to all departments in connection with revenue goals.
  • Serve on the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) Committee to advance the ISO’s diversity initiatives.
  • Engage musicians through Marketing Task Force and implement resulting initiatives.
  • Serve on the Lobby Experience Task Force to identify and implement new ways to engage patrons.
  • Refine patron survey to streamline data and share across the organization.
  • Re-establish media monitoring and implement media relations strategy to increase brand awareness.

UNIVERSITY OF INDIANAPOLIS, 2017-2021
Associate Vice President of Communications, University of Indianapolis, April – November 2021
Director of Communications & Content Strategy, University of Indianapolis, November 2019 – March 2021
Communications & Content Strategy Manager University of Indianapolis, January 2017 – October 2019

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Strategize university communications for internal and external audiences.
• Liaise with Cabinet members and key contacts across all university departments to coordinate messaging around COVID-19 policy and routine communications.
• Lead the department’s creative team through complex marketing and communication projects to connect in-house expertise with client needs.
• Provide informed advice to President’s Cabinet and craft messaging for crisis communications.
• Oversee the coordination of executive communications, including Board of Trustees and grant foundation reports.
• Serve as primary point of contact for clients from throughout the university.
• Lead an integrated team with the goal of amplifying the University’s reputation through external, internal and executive communications, including media relations.
• Oversee strategy on key messaging for distribution across multiple platforms including print, broadcast, and social media, amplifying awareness of the University’s unique story, distinctiveness, prominence as an educational institution, accomplished faculty, innovative programs, centers, and as a leader in innovation in higher education.
• Lead the University of Indianapolis Communications and Content Strategy team to produce comprehensive coverage across all University platforms to support brand awareness goals and advance the University reputation.
• Oversee overall content strategy to support University initiatives, faculty research and expertise, and campus events, utilizing an editorial calendar, social media, and video.
• Direct internal and external communications including feature stories, social media initiatives, video, press releases, annual reports and executive presentations.
• Executive speech-writing, internal and external reports, grant proposals and executive communications.

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS:

• Led efforts to increase the University’s exposure through earned media by creating greater opportunities for faculty to share their expertise with media outlets locally, nationally, and globally.
• Directed a team of two content strategists to develop editorial and social media planning to build reputational awareness with internal and external audiences.
• Liaised with the recruitment marketing team within the Office of Communications & Marketing to execute content strategy aimed at reaching critical audiences of prospective students.
• Coordinated the launch of a new human interest-focused website, https://you.uindy.edu/, to elevate awareness of the university.
• Grew the University’s media presence with a 14-percent increase in the number of faculty featured in the news, and the number of media outlets featuring the University grew by 61 percent (2019 vs. 2020 figures, per Cision analysis).
• Led a content strategy throughout the COVID-19 crisis to greatly assist the University in its efforts to re-engage the campus community and provide a hub for all COVID-19 resources.
• Implemented media relations strategy to increase brand awareness and media exposure by 192 percent year to year, per Meltwater analysis (2017 vs. 2018).
• Launched new internal and external news sites in coordination with Integrated Marketing and Communications team.
• Executed brand strategy plan across digital platforms, including monthly and weekly direct email messaging created in Delivra.
• Weekly tracking of ad value equivalency and data analytics, including quarterly and annual reports.
• Increased audience engagement by 10% over ten months via a content strategy plan utilizing an editorial calendar to develop themed content promoting key university initiatives.
• Conducted faculty workshops on best practices for media interviews and digital content strategy.
• Served as managing editor for Portico and Inside UIndy, feature publications that reach 35,000 alumni and up to 70,000 prospective students, respectively, two to three times per year.
• Worked with local and national media to pitch faculty experts for commentary on topical issues.
• Produced monthly highlights video to promote stakeholder achievements and university initiatives.

Executive Producer of Digital Content, WTHR-TV, Indianapolis: April 2006 to January 2017

CONTENT STRATEGY

  • Implement new workflows and SOPs, resulting in an increase of 233% in traffic to WTHR.COM over a ten-year period. (From an average 600,000 unique users per month in 2006 to over 2 million by February 2016.)
  • Supervise web content development and distribution on all WTHR.com digital platforms, including news-gathering, writing, editing, proofreading and producing stories, graphics and video clips on a daily basis. Produce and publish content across multiple sites and mobile platforms, including infographics, timelines and widgets.
  • Create SOPs for WTHR’s digital policies, including social media – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ and Snapchat; push alerts, breaking news and comment forums.
  • Lead training programs and create presentations that empower reporters and producers to become active contributors, ensuring fresh content on all WTHR digital platforms 24/7.

SEO

  • Web Trends, ComScore, Chartbeat and Google Analytics – Daily tracking to determine where to place content on the site and which stories to share on social media. Boost traffic to trending stories by up to 50% by maximizing social media exposure, adding content to increase time on site and refining SEO tags.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

  • Hire and supervise web content producers.
  • Create and oversee SOPs; establish and track KPIs.
  • Lead WTHR.com’s full site redesign, liaising with the internal digital group and web platform provider WorldNow (2008, 2011, 2013).
  • Manage a team of web content contributors consisting of 11 digital desk producers and ten line producers.
  • Maintain constant communication with reporters and photographers in the field, news managers, line producers and assignment desk editors.
  • Team projects include WTHR’s blog site, a micro site on the digital switchover (2008-09) and WTHR’s Olympic Zone site via NBC Universal (2008, 2010, 2012, 2014).

SOCIAL MEDIA

  • Research, create and implement station policy and best practices for social media accounts. Lead training sessions across all newsroom workgroups to introduce and reinforce SOP.
  • Create training programs for admins and talent on Facebook best practices, leading to a 388% increase in likes (from 89,000 in October 2011 to over 435,000 currently.)
  • Increase WTHR’s Twitter audience by 720% over a four-year period (from 15,000 in October 2011 to over 123,000 currently.)
  • Launch WTHR’s presence on three new platforms: Google+, Instagram and Snapchat.

 ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE        

Web Content Producer, WISH-TV, Indianapolis: August 2002 to April 2006.

Chief Web Journalist, WNDU-TV, South Bend: October 1999 to July 2002.

Copy Editor, Tokyo Journal, Japan: June 1998 to May 1999, part-time.

English Language Instructor and level leader, Simul Academy, Tokyo, Japan: 1995-1999, full-time.

EDUCATION:       

Master of Science, Communication
Purdue University
Bachelor of Arts, Communication
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Film and TV Studies, Exchange Student Program
Glasgow University, Scotland, UK

AWARDS:                  

MarCom Awards: Platinum Award for Portico, The Magazine for the University of Indianapolis 2017
Indiana Broadcasters Association Best Website Multimedia 2013 (http://www.wthr.com)
Indiana Associated Press Best Website 2015 & 2012 (http://www.wthr.com)
Society of Professional Journalists Best Web Journalism site 2006 (http://www.wishtv.com)

SKILLS:
HTML
Cision
Sprout Social
Meltwater
Photoshop
Delivra
Wordpress
Canva
Infogram
Hootsuite
Microsoft Office Suite
Powerpoint
TV Eyes

COURSES AND QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Capacity Interactive Boot Camp, 2023
  • League of American Orchestras Webinars, 2022-2023
  • Public Relations Society of America Webinars, 2017-2019
  • Poynter Institute Webinars, 2011-2016
  • Introduction to Flash Animation, IUPUI, 2007
  • Photoshop 7.0 – Level 2, New Horizons, 2004
  • HTML, Dreamweaver and Fireworks, Univ. of Notre Dame, 2001
  • Japanese Language Proficiency Test, Level 3, 1995

INTERESTS:
Japanese language and culture
Writing short stories
Riding my bike to work
Tennis

BOARD ACTIVITY:
Board member, Southbank Theatre Company, Indianapolis (2021-present)
Board member (effective 2024), Indianapolis Public Relations Society
Downtown Indy Marketing Board (2021-present)