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Work experience

May 2009Present

President/Owner

ACME Solutions LLC

Directed communications for marketing firm. Responsible for marketing planning, communications, event planning and public relations for clients. Duties include writing marketing plans; writing copy for print, radio, TV and direct mail advertising; event management; graphic design; and managing budgets. Also responsible for firm’s administration and management, including invoicing, banking, payroll, certifications and other corporate administration. 

Selected Accomplishments

  • Directed and implemented strategic planning activities for firm.
  • Launched awareness-building social media strategy.
  • Achieved WBE/FBE certification, for private, federal and state purposes.
Mar 2001Apr 2009

Marketing Specialist

BroMenn Healthcare

Continue to work for BroMenn as a marketing consultant.

Manage marketing communications activities for regional not-for-profit health care system. Responsible for communications, advertising, event planning and public relations within assigned areas. Duties include planning, writing and designing print, radio, TV and direct mail advertising, planning community and educational events and associated publicity, and managing service line marketing budgets.

Selected Accomplishments

  • Directed and implemented the first corporate annual meetings held by the organization.
  • Led the organization's participation in major community events; handled logistics, staff, printed materials, displays and activities.
  • Coordinated internal and external communications and public relations to launch new heart center service line, which became market share leader in 12 months.
  • Led development of corporate graphics standards; held in-house seminars to educate other personnel.
  • Brought design work in-house to reduce costs, saving an estimated $7700/month, and improving turnaround time.
  • Served as liaison to neighborhood surrounding hospital; anticipated concerns; fielded questions and organized meetings with executives as needed.
  • Coordinated logistics, selected cast, and directed production of BroMenn's first custom television commercial, resulting in a 7 percent increase in awareness of neuro services.
May 1996Mar 2001

Corporate Communications Manager

Managed all corporate and marketing communication activities for high-growth regional managed care organization. Duties included creating member educational materials, including physician directories, member handbook, member certificates, wellness information, and  quarterly magazine; newsletters for physicians and employers; executing special events and meetings; supervising photo and video shoots; issuing press releases, serving as media liaison; editing all customer service and claims correspondence for quality control; supervising assigned staff and interns.

Selected Accomplishments

  • Created new corporate identity, including logo and marketing materials, to support 100 percent growth in five years of tenure.
  • Edited and published quarterly member magazine, meeting deadlines while managing freelancers, photographer, designers and printer.
  • Initiated quarterly special interest newsletters for physicians and employer groups.
  • Developed and designed supplemental marketing and educational materials for members of diverse backgrounds and education levels.
  • Designed and helped prepare and organize printed materials, documents and presentation leading to highest accreditation status from NCQA upon the first application.
  • Brought all publication writing and many design projects in-house to improve control and expedite production.
  • Created and supervised special corporate events, including groundbreaking, business after-hours.
  • Produced regional community benefit events across 18 counties, in over 50 participating schools, to support expansion of service area.
  • Supervised the activities of the advertising agency, working with them to write and refine copy, approving artwork and concepts.
  • Planned and assisted with member surveys and focus groups.
  • Successfully developed and managed 1.5-million-dollar annual budget.
  • Consistently brought in projects on time and under budget while meeting or exceeding annual membership goals, despite frequent time constraints and rapidly changing corporate environment.
Mar 1989Sep 1995

Marketing Communications Manager

Trap & Field Magazine/Curtis Publishing

Managed all marketing communication activities for a national sporting magazine.  Responsibilities included creative design, production of display advertising, customer service and sales.  Wrote new product column, prepared press releases, created media kits, mail promotions and client newsletter.

Selected Accomplishments

  • Increased advertising revenues by 10 percent, despite an 11 percent drop in circulation.
  • Designed display ads, media kit materials, marketing pieces, rate cards, forms and other projects by learning to use design software, reducing ad turnaround by two weeks.
  • Met deadlines and brought all projects in on time, handling a variety of tasks simultaneously.
  • Responded promptly to customer needs, improvised and adapted available resources.
  • Moved ad production almost entirely in-house, resulting in increased creative control and better customer service.
  • Implemented AdMate system, centralizing all advertising records, orders and billing.

Education

Bachelor of Arts

Purdue University

Skills

Software Skills
  Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, QuarkXPress, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, CorelDraw, Prezi   Used both Mac and PC platforms  

Portfolio of Work

Community Involvement

Board member, McLean County Chapter, American Heart Association

Member, Bloomington-Normal Association for Women in Communications

Graduate of Leadership McLean County, Class of 2008

Volunteer, Money Smart Week

Volunteer, Illinois Heart & Lung Foundation/Women's Health Night

Member, Kiwanis Club of Bloomington

Significant Accomplishments

Comprehensive Communication

The ability to develop, write and design communications for diverse audiences

  • Created business-to-business electronic magazine
  • Created numerous patient education pieces, restating complex medical information in simple language
  • Published member magazine Personal Best for PersonalCare, as well as physician and employer newsletters
  • Wrote member handbook for PersonalCare at eighth-grade reading level

Public Relations

The ability to share the corporate message with the public and with specialized audiences

  • Coordinated internal and external communication and events for BroMenn Heart Center launch, conveying complex messages for varied audiences
  • Led Halftime Hoopla, PersonalCare's community benefit event to support schools across the 18-county service area
  • Served as neighbor liaison for BroMenn, fielding concerns and rebuilding positive relationships
  • Organized and led advisory groups in three cities for PersonalCare
  • BroMenn participant in Leadership McLean County, 2007-2008

Fiscal Responsibility

The ability to use limited resources to best advantage

  • Increased sales at Trap & Field by 10 percent over 6-year tenure, despite 11 percent drop in circulation
  • Oversight of marketing activities leading to 100 percent membership growth in five years of tenure at PersonalCare
  • Brought advertising and design work in-house to save significant time and money at BroMenn

Event Planning

The ability to plan and carry out large corporate events

  • Led managed care event Beyond the Headlines for PersonalCare
  • Produced BroMenn annual meetings, 2003 to 2008
  • Organized PersonalCare community and business open houses
  • Organized BroMenn Heart Center opening
  • Leader for BroMenn's participation in Women's Health Night, 2002 to 2009

Graphic Design

The ability to create professional materials to support messages

  • Led update of graphic standards at BroMenn
  • Created graphic standards and style manual at PersonalCare
  • Learned QuarkXpress, InDesign, Illustrator, CorelDraw, Photoshop to better serve organizations
  • Served as department resource for graphic design questions and troubleshooting

Summary

Experienced in developing advertising and marketing communications for varied audiences; ability to restate complex concepts for a lay audience to understand; writing and producing both print and e-mail newsletters; event and meeting planning, creating supporting materials; direct mail planning and design; supervising video and photo shoots; media relations, news releases and providing feature story content; executing marketing communication plans.

Examples: How I Use My Skills

Creative Developer

BroMenn joined Women’s Heart Advantage heart health program and needed to introduce it to the community. I developed an event at the local mall, including a style show, cholesterol screenings, kid’s play area, and displays from local organizations related to heart health. Held on a Saturday, the event drew almost 200 people for the cholesterol screenings alone, and large crowds for the other attractions. The hospital also obtained positive media coverage, reaching our awareness goals.

During my tenure at PersonalCare, managed care suffered from damaging and inaccurate publicity. My goal was to reach out to influential constituents – employer groups, legislators, media, and well-known members of the public – with a positive message. I was able to secure a date for the president of National Committee for Quality Assurance, the managed care oversight agency, to visit the area. We invited representatives for our target groups to a luncheon and presentation in Springfield, with the hope of getting legislators or their staff to attend. I also prepared a comprehensive resource book on managed care issues for all attendees. The event surpassed our attendance expectations and generated positive media coverage in both the Springfield and Champaign MSAs.

Collaborative Achiever

BroMenn’s CEO decided to hold an annual meeting for the first time in 2003. I was chosen to head the event team. After meeting with the CEO to determine his vision, I gathered a team to help. The committee made decisions, then divided the work to execute the plan. We selected a venue, created the décor, arranged for catering, created a guest list and invitations, organized a display area, developed packets for all attendees, wrote and produced a presentation and video. The meeting was carried out beautifully, and worked so well that we followed the same guidelines for subsequent years.

I participated in Leadership McLean County, a program of the Chamber of Commerce. BroMenn’s CEO sponsored my application. As a part of the program, the participants were divided into groups to complete a community service project. My group decided to create a guide for fundraising for not-for-profit agencies, and met regularly to decide on the project, scope and division of tasks. Each stage of the process required all members to collaborate to make the best use of the strengths of each participant. I took over the final design of the booklet and the presentation. I also gave a part of the live presentation. The final product was a very useful guide for local agencies.

Resourceful Connector

One week prior to the event, BroMenn committed to sponsor a tent at CommUniversity Day at ISU. Additionally, most of the marketing department was going to a conference on the weekend in question. I took charge of the event and used my formal and informal network resources to get a plan together on extremely short notice. Caterers was not available at such a late date, so I had to acquire food. I ordered giveaway items from a reliable vendor who could get them quickly. I located a putting green to provide an activity. I found staff to man the tent. The tent drew a great deal of traffic and turned out very well, despite very short notice.

After updating BroMenn’s graphic standards, I held educational sessions for internal customers who often created their own materials, and also served as their internal resource for questions and help. This greatly improved the look of our public materials and compliance with standards.