EXPERTISE
I have served in a variety of management roles within media and startup companies. My interest in the constantly evolving intersection of content and technology helps companies navigate change and create exciting and new experiences for their audiences.
- Product development & project management lifecycle processes including Agile and Waterfall
- Strategic leadership and management for media and branded digital organizations
- Organizational development and team building, coaching and mentoring
- Content licensing, business development negotiations and client/partner management
- Operations management including process development & improvement, content management systems & workflows, Application Programming Interfaces (API) creation and management
EXPERIENCE
Gracenote, Director, Product Management February 2010 to present
As Director, Product management I am responsible for the strategy, design and development of three major product initiatives within the video vertical.
- Successfully launched OnConnect, our API data product.
- Developed and launched On Entertainment Sports, integrating Gracenote Sports and video data.
- Defined a machine learning and human assisted computing system that will enrich our video content with semantic information to enable content to content recommendations, drive playlist and carousel creation and improve video discovery experiences (in progress)
- Defined, developed and implemented new processes for the management of image workflow and storage
- Created content strategy and processes to improve the coverage of core video metadata in order to meet customer needs
Tribune Media Services, Director of Operations May 2006 to February 2010
Primary responsibilities included directing all operations-related activities within Tribune Media Services’ News & Features division.
- Provided leadership in product development, process improvement and project management across the division
- Accountable for developing and implementing action plans and products that support the division’s short-term business goals and for recommending long-term strategies that position the division for growth
- Led the development and launch of a new syndication platform and four web-based delivery sites successfully migrating hundreds of customers
- Winner of company wide leadership award for 2008.
HighBeam Research, Inc.
Director, Content and Editorial 2004 to 2006
Primary responsibilities included leading the company’s content strategy and acquisition program and the strategic direction for content related product development.
- Closed deals with the Washington Post, Oxford University Press, Knight Ridder and others that added millions of premium news and reference articles to the database
- Managed relationships with key content partners
- Worked with the product team to create and launch the Highbeam BlogEnhancer and RSS products
- Worked with team to increase revenue, decrease subscriber churn resulting in 60% growth
Tribune Media Services, FluentMedia
Executive Producer/Implementation Manager 2000 to 2004
Served as a charter member of the project team that identified the product requirements and operational processes needed to create, launch and operate new online corporate content licensing product.
- Provided project management for all customer implementations coordinating with in-house editorial and technology staffs, technology outsource providers and customer technical and functional teams
- Served as a first point-of-contact on all new customer requests and issue resolution resulting in a high-level of customer satisfaction
- Operational responsibilities also included recruiting, training and managing a distributed team of freelance editors
- Developed online tools to support distributed sales and editorial teams
- Monitored the marketplace for new technology trends and product developments, identified emerging industry trends, reported findings to senior management
The Arizona Republic
New Product Development Manager 1999 to 2000
- Researched, developed and launched five wireless products for The Arizona Republic
- Provided research of the wireless marketplace and content delivery mechanisms for handheld computers and mobile phones – reported findings to the Executive Vice President, Digital Media and Operating Committee
- As a member of the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) Wireless Task Force, researched and analyzed wireless technology vendors for member newspapers
- Special assignments included trouble-shooting development problems and customer complaints at another regional newspaper group
- Analyzed their online development operation and implemented new development process and issue tracking procedures resulting in improved customers satisfaction, retention and new revenue growth
The Arizona Republic
Online Operations Manager 1997 to 1999
- Managed Online Advertising Producer and team of six developers, Entertainment and Travel producers and calendar desk.
- Spearheaded the revision of compensation and incentive plans to attract and retain staff
- Consulted with Online Direct to organize entire digital media staff
- Played key role in vendor selection and relationships
- Consulted with Online Sales Manager to determine products and pricing
- Created and implemented development and pricing procedures resulting in increased sales (sales up 100% year over year) and customer satisfaction
- Primary consultant for all major web development efforts including The Arizona Cardinals, Westcor Development, Bashas’ Grocery and the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
- Based on customer needs, developed databases driven sites that could be managed and updated by clients resulting in increased customer satisfaction and retention and increased web development sales to major accounts
The Arizona Republic
Online Advertising Producer 1996 to 1997
- Developed online advertising department growing it from one web developer to four within the first year
- Implemented Realmedia’s Open AdStream ad management software on azcentral.com – one of their first newspaper clients
- Part of a team that produced some of the earliest database driven automotive and real estate sites on the web resulting on almost $1M in sales the first year
- Headed up team to redesign and product arizonaguide.com, the premier destination site for the state of Arizona, resulting in almost 1M page views per month – a 150% increase over the previous year
- Presented new site for the Arizona Office of Tourism at the annual Governor’s Tourism conference
The Arizona Republic
Photographer/Multimedia Producer 1981 to 1996
- Award winning photographer, multimedia producer
EDUCATION
Arizona State University, Bachelor of Science, Liberal Studies