Executive Summary

• Director of Marketing and Tourism Development for Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area – Successfully developing and marketing the brand of Rivers of Steel, partnering with names such as PBS’ “Antiques Roadshow,” Travel Channel & PCN public television, among others; creating public events, media days, workshops, community markets and monthly e-newsletters; pertinent press releases and very successfully getting story coverage; also nationally and internationally attending travel shows to create a strong network of contacts to develop tourism prospects in the region.
• Award-Winning Women’s Magazine Editor – Five years experience running a magazine with unique experience of creating it and successfully bringing it into the mainstream and marketing the brand while making it very profitable, exceeding advertising goals almost every single month. Won state Keystone Press award for publication in 2010 & 2011.
• Magazine Marketing and Sales Coordinator – 5 years experience organizing and promoting the annual and monthly marketing goals of Views & Voices magazine, guiding the publication to exceed their sales goals every month since its inception. Experience includes cold calls, business visits, creating specials and closing deals.
• Tourism Promotion and Travel Writing– established a Pittsburgh neighborhood walking-tour company in unique areas of Pittsburgh; as well as travel writer and liaison to nationwide tourism bureaus including Ontario, VA, PA, NY and MA.
• Successful Conference Organizer – 5 years of creating and coordinating The Women’s Expo – the largest Mercer County event for women and the end-to-end running of it including organizing 100+ vendors; large prize giveaways, large-scale event marketing and donations to non-profits.
• Event Planning annually for women’s organizations and non-profits – including Unhooked: a bra-inspired art event for the American Cancer Society; and An Evening for Women – a women’s shelter fundraiser. Have also provided support for many business, art and non-profit fundraising events in the region.
• Community leader and supporter of women’s organizations including ATHENA PowerLink program – a businesswoman’s advocacy advisory group; and Director of area women’s business coalition meetings. Also provided support for American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, Susan G. Komen Foundation, among others.
• Seasoned Writer – 12 years of communication experience at a daily newspaper, including reporting, investigating and photography on topics including government, education, business, religion, community features, agriculture, travel, sports, and police news. Also won award for CNHI’s best news story in 2002.
• Experience with MS Office Suite, Newsedit Pro, Quark, Social networking sites for marketing promotions and Internet research.

2010: Director of Marketing and Tourism Development for Confidential, Homestead, PA

Aggressively developing a public face for the almost 20-year old nonprofit organization to make it household name in the region using tools such as brand marketing, creating public events such as ethnic heritage marketplaces, media days, cultural heritage workshops, increasing media coverage and creating monthly e-newsletters; also nationally and internationally attending travel shows (NTA, ABA, etc.) to create strong network of contacts to develop group tourism in the region. Booking tours and working with area hotels, restaurants and attractions to do so, developing solid contacts while creating successful collaborations between Rivers of Steel and the region.

2005 – 2010: Confidential, Sharon, PA

• Creating monthly themes and content for a women’s magazine which includes writing and editing over a dozen stories for each edition, tracking down pertinent story subjects, conducting interviews and creating accurate and interesting stories. Successfully working with a variety of contributing writers, freelancers and interns. Overseeing all photo and layout work, which includes preparing photo assignments, taking photos when necessary, scheduling models and creating backdrops. Facilitating direct advertising sales by tying in magazine themes with the interests of our readers and potential advertisers. The magazine has exceeded its monthly revenue goals with my coordination of a marketing plan and specific goal-oriented guidance, as well as hands-on sales experience.
• Creating presentations and publicly presenting them to agencies and organizations to promote the magazine product, averaging at least one speaking event in the western Pa/eastern Ohio region every month.
• Organizing the most successful and now annual women’s expo event in Mercer County with 100+ vendors, demos and giveaways, as well as coordinate other large-scale fundraising events. I am called upon frequently to help organize various vendor events, most recently An Evening for Women – a women’s shelter fundraising event with an average of 350 business women in attendance and Unhooked: A bra-inspired art/cocktail event to raise money for the American Cancer Society.
• Creating special features such as a dining guide and cookbook that added value to the magazine product and brought in extra revenue.
• Director of area women’s business coalition meetings-a working women's business support network group that spans two counties, providing marketing business support.
• Liaison to nationwide tourism bureaus such as the Niagara Region, Virginia, Eastern New York, Pennsylvania and Boston, among others, for stories and potential advertising.

• Reporting, investigation, writing and photo taking for a three-borough/eight-township beat for a daily newspaper. Creating successful work-related contacts that still continue to funnel news/story ideas to the newspaper and magazine department
• Successfully re-organizing and re-opening of previously debunked bureau office single-handedly, collaborating on weekly editorial projects for special assignments and features with the main office.

Education

B.A., English - plus post-graduate work in English.

Extracurriculars

• Vice-president elect of Destination: Greater Pittsburgh – a group tourism promotion group in the Pittsburgh region.
• Taught communication workshops including editing, creative writing and journalism classes for writers’ groups. Also developed and taught marketing and social media workshops for Gannon University Small Business Development Center and various businesswomen’s groups
• Experienced speaking to various groups and organizations about the communications field and magazine/product promotion

Deputy Press Secretary for Mark DeSantis’ 2007 Mayoral campaign and provided Press Support for Kevin Acklin’s 2009 Mayoral campaign, both in a volunteer capacity
Member of the Steering Committee (media) for The Pittsburgh Tote Bag Project, which collects tote bags for participants of the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank in conjunction with said food bank
Vice-president-elect of Destination: Greater Pittsburgh, a tourism organization encompassing southwestern PA to promote group tourism to operators across the country.

Further Info

Confidential
Confidential