New year, new opportunities
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
If I’ve seemed distant here on the blog for a couple of weeks it’s because I’ve been going through some changes in my professional life. After eight wonderful years with my previous employer I decided to shift direction a little bit and jump in to the digital side of the PR world. I am officially (as of yesterday) the new Director, Digital Marketing at Fleishman-Hillard here in Cleveland.
If you don’t know who FH is, that’s okay. I didn’t either before I looked at my LinkedIn “who’s viewing you” page one day and saw one of their recruiters had stopped by my profile. I did a deep dive and was impressed with what I saw. FH is one of the largest PR agencies in the world and part of the impressively diversified Omnicom network. That’s all well and good, but why choose PR now?
Why PR?
I could have (would have) continued in digital marketing firms, but I’ve truly been impressed with the thinking coming from the PR side of the marketing blogosphere. Specifically, I’ve been impressed with the new media thought leadership. The PR industry is full of people whom I greatly respect like Kevin Dugan, Shel Holtz, Geoff Livingston, Rohit Bhargava, Katie Paine, Steve Rubel, David Reich, Neville Hobson, Phil Gomes, Brian Solis, Doug Haslam and numerous others.
Why Fleishman?
Fleishman is very respected, digitally savvy company that is taking new media and technology seriously. PR has always been about forming relationships and engaging in conversations and there is a natural progression into social media (maybe more so than ad agencies or digital shops). They’re also very supportive of this blog and the social media activities that I participate in, which will continue full-force.
I am looking forward to learning a lot and being able to share some of that knowledge with you, my readers. I am still 100% focused on digital marketing, but the PR effect will certainly be fun to weave into my arsenal and hopefully yours as well. This blog will not turn in to a place to pitch, it will remain a place to learn and grow together.
If I’ve ignored an email you’ve sent me over the past couple of weeks, don’t despair. I’m slowly catching up.
(Btw, did you know that PR doesn’t stand for press release? Just kidding! I had to say it.)