|
Degree and Year: BJ '74 (Photojournalism) Company: Business Credit Resources from NACM Company Web Site: http://www.nacmnc.com/ Title: Director, Marketing and Communications City and State: Minneapolis, Minn. Describe your place of employment. It's wonderfully schizophrenic, which makes every day interesting and challenging. Officially, we're a trade association of 600+ member companies...but we behave more like a professional association of 2,000+ individuals. Technically, we're a not-for-profit organization...but we behave more like a for-profit entity. Add to that the fact that very few people really understand what we do (business-to-business credit), and there's never a dull moment. What do you do? I'm on the executive team, managing two separate but related functions: marketing and communications (both internal and external). Last month, I started taking over two other functions (education and member services) because another manager will be retiring after the end of this year. I also serve on our board of directors as corporate secretary. How did you get your job? Through a matchmaker. I'd been searching for work for about a year (laid off from a human resources consulting firm). A friend of mine from church knew I was looking, and put me in touch with her former employer, who needed a marketing director. Best professional lesson learned at J-School? Know your audience. What is your favorite J-School memory? It's a three-way tie: (1) photographing Tiger football and basketball games; (2) setting type by hand in a job stick; and (3) any time spent in the photo lab! What would be your best advice to current students? Don't fight the liberal arts requirement - embrace it! The J-School is a great place to learn how to write...but your liberal arts classes tell you what to write about and why it's important. J-School courses polish your craft; liberal arts courses supply the context. What are you working on currently? Lots of different projects: updating our five-year strategic plan (as well as our corporate mission/values/vision statements); helping create our annual business plan and budget; leading a project team to create a new business model for delivering education services to our members; creating and delivering "webinars" (seminars delivered over the World Wide Web); plus plenty of hands-on, day-to-day writing and design stuff. What do you consider to be your greatest professional achievement? Earning my ABC (Accredited Business Communicator) designation from the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). Only about five percent of IABC's 13,000+ members worldwide hold this designation. What makes you good at your job? The same qualities that made me a decent reporter/photographer once upon a time: being a good listener, being able to research an issue quickly, and being able find the right combination of words and images to tell a story. Who would you like to work with and why? I believe I am working with exactly the right people and in exactly the right place right now. But when I retire, I'd like either to teach or to do communications work for my church. What are your next career steps? As I said, I'm taking over two additional functions at work, which should keep me fairly busy for the next two years. In addition, because I'm still fairly new to association management (less than five years), I need to expand my skills in and knowledge of the field...and I plan to earn my CAE (Certified Association Executive) designation sometime this fall. My goal is to be ready to succeed my boss as president of our association when he retires in about five years. What is one thing you wished you had done? I wish I had taken singing and/or acting classes at Mizzou or gotten involved earlier in community theater. I love it! 
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| Revised: 20 April 2007. Copyright © 2008 The Curators of the University of Missouri | Contact the J-School | |
