Head of Communications at Omniva (2024-01 – Present)
Responsible for strategic, internal, external and executive communications as well as government relations support.
- Conceive and manage all external and internal communications messaging and frameworks
- Crisis communications related to fundraising, litigation and other issues
- Manage all internal communications initiatives and programs, including Town Halls, team meetings, talking points memos, etc.
- Public Affairs and Government Relations support related to Chip Export Controls and AI Diffusion Rules, and related licensing and VEU efforts.
Chief Communications Officer at Forbes (2021-07 – 2024-01)
Responsible for all global integrated communications, including public relations, internal communications, crisis and reputation management, and investor relations, reporting to the CEO.
- $630M IPO effort via SPAC
- Two $800M private sale transaction efforts
- Globally-publicized controversies re: the above.
- Response to labor union organization
- Promotion of celebrity-rich events on four continents
- Publicity for newsroom talent on major and breaking news stories
- Multi-faceted internal communications program
Communications Consultant at Hankes Consulting (2020-04 – 2021-06)
- Develop communications strategy, messaging, story development and execution plans for consumer and B2B technology companies
- Specialize in branding, re-branding and corporate messaging
- Counseling to create crisis-ready cultures
- Provide bespoke media training and on-camera exercises, having completed sessions for CEOs in law, accounting, technology, manufacturing and food processing industries
- Advised clients in the U.S., European and the Middle East ranging from a recognized brand in AI-based video conferencing to a well-regarded analyst firm, to emerging growth companies in DevOps, Kubernetes, GPT-3 based digital advertising optimization, and a rapid-growth grocery delivery service that used machine learning and artificial intelligence as differentiators.
Founder & CEO at Sqoop, Inc. (2013-10 – 2021-06)
A news discovery network trusted by journalists in every newsroom in America
- Help customers position and message announcements for maximum impact
- Create compelling storytelling that helps move the needle on customer PR objectives
- Designed and delivered to the three largest hedge funds alternative data for alpha
- Regularly assists journalists in news discovery efforts, including assistance in one Pulitzer-nominated investigation
- Author and speaker on public relations automation and communications strategy
- Honored on stage in Vienna, Austria as one of the eight most innovative startups in news worldwide by the Global Editors Network, and overall winner in the data journalism category.
- A regular speaker at journalism conferences, including the SABEW Government Data Immersion Workshop in Washington, D.C., for four years running, the NICAR conference in Denver, and at the Investigative Reporters and Editors conference in Philadelphia where Sqoop was debuted.
Director of Bing Public Relations at Microsoft (2010-09 – 2013-10)
- Responsible for technology and business communications, the Bing community blog, and corporate storytelling.
- Launched Bing's social strategy and features at press event in Microsoft's San Francisco offices.
- Worked with Facebook on Bing-powered Facebook search and Facebook integration into Bing search.
- Led a number of strategic announcements, including Steve Ballmer's surprise appearance and partnership with Blackberry at RIM's annual conference.
- Launched msnNOW and MSN for Windows 8, gaining the highest press coverage in MSN's recent history.
- Led communications strategy for the Online Service Division's controversial news, including the MSNBC divorce, the Ciao divestiture in Europe, and how the company was tackling illegal and inappropriate content.
- Responsible for the widely read Bing blog and recruiting its incredible manager who nearly doubled the blog's traffic in two years.
Vice President, Corporate Communications at RealNetworks (2006-04 – 2010-08)
- Overall responsibility for public relations, corporate/marketing events, Web site, Intranet, social media, the company's digital music and video recording labs.
- Managed multi-disciplinary team of 14 and multiple agencies
- Led effort to reposition company as consumer-facing digital entertainment provider, culminating in the first major Web site launch in half a decade
- Worked across lines of business to influence product features and positioning in order to improve reputation, consumer adoption and virality, as measured by tonality, frequency and reach
- In 2007, developed social media function that is now a central part of product management and marketing as much as it is an integral part of everyday corporate communications
- Led aggressive communications effort throughout national-spotlight litigation against the six major Hollywood movie studios in which public perception overwhelmingly favored Real's position that consumers should have a "fair use" right to make copies of their DVDs
- Managed and acted as principal spokesman in publicity surrounding Real's involvement in the Scrabulous-Facebook controversy with rights-owners Mattel and Hasbro that included a feature on the front page of the Sunday New York Times, and a successful issue leadership strategy focused on key influencers in the social media
- With Viacom's MTV Networks unit, launched Rhapsody America JV, and simultaneous partnership with Verizon to make Rhapsody the exclusive music service for its VCAST service, with a press celebration featuring an acoustic performance by Ben Gibbard, lead singer for Death Cab for Cutie
- Led massive communications process for $350 million acquisition of Seoul, South Korea-based WiderThan (Nasdaq:WTHN) and five others
Director, Global Corporate Communications at Destinator Technologies (2005-10 – 2006-04)
- Launched publicity for European-based technology into China and North America. Led PR efforts and agency resources in eight countries, including press driving tours, device reviews program and event strategy. Managed crisis and investor communications around management changes and company restructuring related to unfulfilled financial plans.
- Managed globally distributed communications in Germany, China, the U.K., France, Italy, and the United States—with extensive international travel
- Developed strategy for launching first navigation solution for Symbian mobile phones: at CES with limousine driving tours with journalists from The Wall Street Journal, BBC, ABC, CBS, Newsweek and many others
- Developed creative methods to evangelize GPS solutions at auto shows, BMW driving tours in Bavaria, and similar press junkets in Italy and China
Director, Global Corporate Communications at Sterling Commerce, an AT&T Company (2005-02 – 2005-10)
- Led Communications team responsible for public relations, analyst relations and internal communications.
- Help reposition company and its three divisions as B2B solutions provider, including development of new messaging framework. Established broadcast PR program, secured two leader Gartner Magic Quadrants, and initiated comprehensive internal communications program for global audience.
- Conceived branding strategy for major product and strategy announcement and drove strategy to bring together previously disparate software and network parts of the business
- Managed network of PR agencies in Brazil, Mexico, the U.K., France, Spain, China and Japan
- Attained Leader status in 3 out of 3 Gartner Magic Quadrant evaluations
Director of Public Relations at Cyclone Commerce, Inc. (2002-07 – 2005-01)
- The senior-most PR professional responsible for media & analyst relations
- Increased average monthly media impressions 540%, and prominence rating 275%, and parity with more established, publicly traded competitors, within the first year
- Selected to participate in The White House conference on e-government
- Placed key customer articles in InformationWeek, Optimize and others
- Negotiated and managed $100k Gartner relationship in which the firm defined category with six reports, a Spotlight and a MarketScope rating Cyclone as a positive
- Negotiated and managed relationships with Meta Group and Yankee Group in which the former debunked a common competitive belief, and the latter published two key reports creating a category with Cyclone as the leader
- Launched new application with widespread acclaim: 17 prominent stories, three customer endorsements and two analyst reports
- Led media and analyst tours in U.S. and Europe
Director of Corporate Communications at Internap Network Services (NASDAQ: INAP) (2000-02 – 2002-07)
- The senior-most communications official, reporting to the Chairman & CEO
- Responsible for reputation management in challenging economy
- Created strategic communications framework for a $101M PIPE, $43M secondary public offering, three corporate acquisitions, a joint venture with NTT in Japan, as well as strategic alliances and other partnerships
- Key member in scripting sessions for quarterly financial reporting and guidance calls
- Acted as spokesman for company with broadcast and print media
- Product launches, including tradeshows and TV debut (CNBC Power Lunch)
- Crisis communications, including four layoffs, management changes, and service outages
- Obtained positive media coverage from CNBC, CBS, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes, trade outlets, and publications in Germany, The Netherlands, The UK, and Japan
