Experience

Although I have spent most of my career in technology marketing I have had diverse work experiences that have molded my understanding about effective marketing.

Formation

My early days gave me marcom agency experience where I provided marketing strategy and supervised campaigns and projects for several divisions of Eastman Kodak. This was back when they were printing money (actually “printing” photo-sensitive layers on acetate — what you know as film). I have since worked in very small companies and very large ones, developing global brands and handling every aspect of marketing strategy, planning, execution and measurement. For me, the “client side” of the equation was more gratifying, however I do miss the incredible creative energy of an agency environment.

Tech Focus

In my B2B marketing manager/director/VP roles I always built strong relationships with the engineering teams because it was my job to identify customer needs and business opportunities and communicate that understanding to the people in the company that could create the corresponding product or service. Also, in tech companies, it is essential to be passionate and knowledgeable about the underlying software/hardware/system. And engineering is where that knowledge resides. I freely admit to being a bit of a geek and am quite conversant in the latest breakthroughs in electronics technology.

That underlying interest in tech, coupled with a native understanding of systems and processes led me to integrate and utilize new marketing technology in every stage of my career — from specifying the first Mac-based system at the marcom agency to first website and customer database in a wireless company to implementing a full-featured inbound marketing and automation platform at a software company.

Ideation and Innovation

I am not content to maintain the status quo but constantly look for ways to improve productivity, effectiveness and stakeholder value. In each of my roles I was known for being a quick study, and making significant, rapid improvements to marketing effectiveness. It is NOT change for change’s sake but the ability to bring new perspective and insights. That creative thinking and problem solving can be applied to all areas of the marketing arena, from customer engagement to underlying business systems.

Effectiveness

My employers were not necessarily household names, but in each instance my skills, experience and creativity helped build unified global brands in their sectors, initate and nurture relationships with customers and potential customers, effectively launch products, support the sales team with the right support materials, and achieve KPIs.