I’m good at…
Building Teams
I’ve spent a lot of time learning how to hire and manage high-performing teams. I love this part of my job so much that I spoke about it at both Digiday Content Summit (2018) and Content Marketing World (2019). Newscred wrote a great CMWorld summary of my thoughts re: teams. In addition to building in-house teams, I have also hired and managed teams of freelance content creators and talent.
Media Production
As part of a team or as an individual, I have produced all kinds of awesome written, social, audio and video content. Some examples!
digital publishing (Babbel Magazine, Conductor Blog (below), Schoology e-book (below))
email newsletters (The Oncology Download)
video production (Babbel USA YouTube, Made Possible By Schoology (below))
podcasts (Multilinguish Podcast, an article where I talk about podcast strategy)
Brand & Product Messaging
I’ve worked with company founders and external agencies in a key role to develop company and product messaging for both B2B and B2C brands — from launching a new product feature to complete company repositioning.
Content & Community Strategy
I love community organizing and bringing people together around a common cause. I’ve organized for politics — both in a post-college field canvass role and as a current volunteer with my local town Democrats — and also built formal community strategies in my role at Schoology. There’s not much I can say about content strategy that doesn’t sound totally cliché, community and content strategy are inextricably linked.
Event Programming & Production
I’ve helped create not one but two successful annual user conferences at two different startups — Conductor C3 and Schoology NEXT (below) — planning every aspect from naming the actual conference, to logistics, speakers, programming, talent booking (including Farheed Zakaria and Bill Nye), keynote writing and scooter procurement. (Not kidding: ask me about the time I hunted down the last electric scooter in Chicago for my CEO, hours before his opening keynote.)
Executive Producer | Babbel Media Network (US)
Ok, so the Babbel Media Network isn’t ~official~ but it’s the term I’ve coined to describe my team’s work. I was hired at Babbel’s relatively new NYC office to lead the expansion of their very successful content marketing efforts via Babbel Magazine. In typical American fashion, we wanted more. We saw the opportunity for content that celebrates the joy of connection and discovery when learning a language. Together, we produce a high volume of engaging multimedia content for an American audience. We’ve generated thousands of organic leads and sales while expanding the brand profile of Babbel in the American market. More importantly, we’ve had a lot of fun and learned a ton while doing it all.
Newsletter | The Oncology Download
Before newsletters became THE hot content marketing strategy (again), I started this curated news roundup for oncology professionals dedicated to using data and technology to improve the lives of cancer patients. It was marketed as its own property with minimal Cota branding and generated an impressive and engaged following during its short lifespan. I owned the entire project — the vision, curation, writing, editing and marketing automation program.
Product Marketing |
Cota OCM
Working closely with our VP marketing, product and sales teams, and our users, I created a variety of materials to support the launch of a new product for Cota Healthcare. I developed the following assets:
Full product messaging of benefits, features, and functionality
Product brochure and sales messaging
Script and full production of a product explainer/demo video
Blog post announcing launch
Client spotlight/case study
Whitepaper: "3 Key Attributes of Every Successful Value-Focused Oncology Practice"
Video Producer | Made Possible By Schoology
This content was a cross-department collaboration with a colleague on the Sales team, to create a video highlighting some of Schoology's amazing users and advocates. The video was shot over one afternoon at a national trade show.
I was responsible for the overall video execution including creating the brief, sourcing/coordinating the interviews, liaising with the videographer, managing the budget, coordinating releases and communication with the interviewees and reviewing edits. The final product has been used and repurposed in a variety of sales and marketing campaigns.
This was one of my favorite projects to work on at Schoology. It's an authentic reflection of the kind of community you can cultivate when you build a great product. It was a total blast to make and I think you can see how much fun we had with it.
Event Organizer | Schoology NEXT User Conference
(2014, 2015, 2016)
I organized every aspect of Schoology's first user conference—overall vision and messaging; content; ticket sales; promotion; speakers; sponsors; event logistics; and more. Thankfully, I got some help for 2015 and 2016 and focused more on speakers, promotion, community and content. We had a total blast. I loved this team and the community we helped build.
Author | Six Tips for Launching Successful Mobile Learning in Your District
This is an introductory level, 21-page e-book discussing the considerations for implementing a mobile learning initiative in a K-12 school district. This piece was the backbone of Schoology's first paid lead generation campaigns across social media and sponsored content partnerships. I wrote this content and managed the in-house end-to end production, editing, and design process.
Most importantly, educators and instructional technology folks told me it was pretty good.
Introduction: Why Mobile Learning?
Begin with an End in Mind
Common Mobile Models and Technology Considerations
Engage Internal Resources to Create a Plan
Communication Before, During, and After Program Rollout
Piloting the Program: Think Big, Start Small
Assess, Review, and Keep Growing
Event Organizer | Conductor C3 Conference 2012
I was on the team tasked with creating the inaugural Conductor user conference. I coordinated the logistics, content, tweeting and probably a lot of other stuff I’ve blocked out. It’s crazy to see how this conference has grown through the years — I’m so proud of the Conductor team’s success.
Editor & Research Contributor | Conductor Blog
As a member of a three-person content and research team led by Conductor's director of research, I contributed to all stages of content ideation, data collection, analysis, visualization, editing, and promotion for more than 10 research studies in my two year tenure. In particular, I led the ideation creation — drawing on my academic background and personal interest in how people search for information — for the prescient Election 2012 research piece, which is one of my all-time favorite pieces of content to this day. I also wrote and edited posts for the Conductor Blog, under my own byline and often for the executive team.
More links!
The New SERPs: 8 out of 10 High Volume Keywords Now Have Universal Search Results
Search Engine Watch: Why 2013 Will be the Year of the SEO Pro
Could DuckDuckGo Be The Biggest Long-Term Threat To Google?
How the Internet Filter Bubble is Impacting Search and What It Means for SEOs
SEO Jobs Salary Guide [Infographic]*
*This was the beginning of a series of what became (at least, during my time) the highest-performing piece of content we created. It is now updated annually.
