FOCUS COMMUNICATIONS LLC, Boston, Massachusetts | Washington, D.C.
2003 * Present
Principal and Founder
* Built effective and widely-recognized business team that cultivates a
diverse roster of clients including municipal boards, advocacy organizations,
professional associations, marketing cooperatives, non-profit
entities and private enterprise.
* Achieved preferred vendor status with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by
assembling a team of partners * each certified as either a minority-, woman- or
disabled-owned business enterprise (M/W/DBE) * with capabilities spanning the
full range of marketing communications functions.
* Created a virtual agency comprised of professionals located on the
East and West coasts, as well as in Canada; developed an interactive, web-based
collaboration and measurement system that enables team members to track their
efforts, as well as ensure that clients have ongoing access to real-time progress
reports detailing account activity.
* Implemented GSA / DCAA / Sarbanes-Oxley compliant Replicon timesheet billing
system to track staff time billed against project budgets; integrated the system
's time management and project tracking reports into agency accounting system to
ensure sound management practices and fiscal accountability.
Key accounts include:
* Association of Professionals in Business Management (with Carpman
Communications)
* Century Bank
* Democratic National Convention Committee
* Hilton Family Hotels
* L 'Or al USA
* National Afterschool Association
* Newell Rubbermaid, Inc. / Sanford Brands
* Provincetown Art Association and Museum
* Provincetown Tourism Office
* Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry
* The Maids New England Marketing Coop
Selected account accomplishments:
* The Provincetown Tourism Office (PTO) / Town of Provincetown, Mass.
After experiencing declining room tax revenues post-9/11, the PTO and
municipality hired the FOCUS team to broaden its tourism base. Directed a program
that generated earned media worth more than $11 million. The town 's room tax
revenues rebounded, increasing by 10 percent in 2008. The August 12, 2008 issue
of
The Boston Globe featured the campaign as a major success story and example for
other towns reliant on tourism revenue.
* Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry (RCFM)
Directed, managed and implemented a public relations campaign enabling the RCFM
* an interfaith coalition of 1,000 Massachusetts clergy supporting equal
marriage * to counter clergy that favored a ban on marriage after the
Massachusetts ' Supreme Judicial Court ruling in Goodridge vs. Department of
Public Health. The Pray for Justice campaign engaged RCFM clergy to lead more
than 40 prayer gatherings on the evenings preceding critical legislative
milestones. Boston congregations hosted television, radio and print media, and a
letter to the editor campaign demonstrated grassroots support across the state
and helped win overwhelming legislative opposition to a ban on gay marriage.
* CardScan, Inc.
Led a communications team of five professionals to create and implement an
integrated marketing communications campaign supporting the launch of a new
consumer / business technology tool:
- Developed, directed and managed a proactive media relations campaign
leveraging seasonal / opportunistic news-hooks to generate demand within consumer
/ business market segments; targets included international, national and regional
media, as well as highly-targeted local media in key markets - Produced product
demonstration videos for use on social media (e.g., YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn),
as well as on technology / product review websites and blogs (e.g., c|net,
gizmodo.com, Wired.com)
- Enlisted the participation of customers (consumer and business) to serve as
media surrogates offering third-party endorsements for media, marketing, product
review / award and advertising initiatives
- Crafted a white paper series positioning the technology to highly-technical
audiences; worked with major retailers (e.g., Macy 's) to showcase technology in
non-traditional, lifestyle-oriented venues
- Launched counter-offensive media efforts targeting competitive claims and
demonstrating client 's superior technology through side-by-side demonstrations
by customers for media; provided comprehensive monitoring reports on industry,
product and competitor news
The campaign reached 17.5 million consumers, yielding a cost per impression
(CPI) of $0.002; coverage included features on The TODAY Show, O, The Oprah
Magazine, The Financial Times and many more; when CardScan Inc. was purchased by
Newell Rubbermaid, Inc., the campaign was shared company-wide as a best practice
because of campaign 's out-performance of advertising at a ratio of 40:1.
BISHOFF SOLOMON COMMUNICATIONS, Boston, Massachusetts, March 1997 * January
2003
Senior Account Supervisor, Marketing Communications
* Launched new business initiatives that enabled the firm 's
business-to-business practice to produce over $1M in its first year; supervised
eight junior executives; created incentive-based mentoring programs.
Directed and managed public relations / media relations strategies for key
accounts:
* Cross Country Automotive Services Telematics
* L'Or al USA
* Marsh USA
* Vantage Partners / Harvard Negotiation Project
Major campaign oversight:
* The Daniel Pearl Foundation (DPF)
Developed and directed the media relations strategy that * after the slaying
of The Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl * shielded the Pearl family
from in-bound media queries while preserving important media relationships;
negotiated terms of interviews with national / international, print / broadcast
media; led the media training effort, and accompanied Pearl family members to
broadcast and print interviews. Media contacts developed through this effort
remain intact and strong today.
* Governor 's Highway Safety Bureau
Directed, managed and implemented a six-month campaign * Driving: It 's Not a
Crash Course * comprised of media relations, a partnership with the Governor
's office, the Department of Transportation, state safety officials, as well as
events. Efforts generated 130 feature articles and placed editorials focusing on
the Massachusetts Governor's Highway Safety Bureau efforts to reduce motor
vehicle-related fatalities and injuries to at-risk drivers, primarily teenagers.
HILL AND KNOWLTON, INC., Los Angeles, California, October 1993 * March 1997
Account Executive, Marketing Communications
* Developed and implemented media relations campaigns targeting general market
and trade journalists for key accounts including the California Avocado
Commission, Gemstar Development Corp., Hunt / Wesson, Nissin Foods USA, Oscar
Meyer, Sony Imagesoft, The California Milk Processor Board, The Century Council,
The Consul General of Malaysia / Los Angeles, and The Royal Thai Government
Department of Export Promotion.
Major campaign involvement:
* California Automotive Industry Alliance / Alliance to Save California Jobs
When President Clinton proposed trade sanctions against Japanese automobiles
manufacturers in May 1995, the agency was tapped by the American subsidiaries of
these companies to respond. The team developed The Alliance to Save California
Jobs campaign comprised of 210 organizations that focused on demonstrating the
impact sanctions would have on the Southern California economy. Responsibilities
included developing phone banking efforts and implementing a media relations
effort, a key component of which was a rally at the Los Angeles Convention Center
on the same date that trade dispute hearings were held in Washington, D.C.
On June 28, 1995 the U.S. reached a settlement with Japan; the campaign 's more
than 50 million media impressions converted a California public that, when
originally polled, was 81 percent in favor of the president 's proposal to one
that was only 38 percent in favor after the campaign concluded.
RECENT POLITICAL AND CAMPAIGN EXPERIENCE
* Obama for America LGBT Steering and Policy Committee, Obama Pride GOTV Team
Leader, Mass. (2008)
Employed MyBO, Facebook GOTV strategies to deliver Massachusetts LGBT community
members to New Hampshire and turn out for other Obama for America activities
(e.g., pride marches, house / watch parties and New Hampshire canvassing
initiatives); coordinated weekly visibility initiatives, literature drops, house
parties,
phone banks and GOTV efforts. The 74 person volunteer pool delivered individuals
to phone banks and canvassing efforts with the coordinated campaign and other
organizations such as MassEquality.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS AND COMMUNITY SERVICE
NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts Board Member, 2006 - present
Anti-Violence Project of Massachusetts, 2006 * present
Boston University School of Communications, Guest Lecturer for Adjunct Professor
Larry Carpman, 2007 * present
Public Relations Society of America Advocacy Advisory Board, 2005 * present
Massachusetts School Age Coalition Board Member, 2005 * 2006
Vice President, Professional Development Programming and Seminars, New England
Publicity Club 2001 * 2003
AWARDS
First Place B2B Feature Story; eSupportNow Anniversary, New England Publicity
Club, 2002
First Place Campaign; Turning Cookies into Dough, New England Publicity Club,
1999
First Place Campaign; Turning Cookies into Dough, Bulldog Awards, 1999
Gold Award: Turning Cookies into Dough, IABC Silver Quill Awards, 1999
Silver Interactive Award; Avocados Online, Inside PR CIPRA Awards, 1997 |
