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Social Media Specialist/Communications Coordinator
Belleville, IL
Jan 2015 - Present (9 years 8 months)
~ Implemented the small nonprofit's social media strategy, positioning its Facebook and Twitter accounts as a source of fundraising, awareness and branding in the marketplace. ~ Led all marketing and event planning efforts for a large diversity conference focused on bridging the cultural gap. ~ Designed printable, web and social media graphics and marketing materials for the nonprofit. ~ Coordinated vendor contracts, managed 40 volunteers, solicited sponsors, developed graphics and marketing, and planned the nonprofit's first-ever fundraiser at a minor league baseball stadium. The event raised more than $20,000 in its first year, far surpassing any previous fundraisers of its kind.
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Freelance Reporter/Photojournalist/Columnist
Monroe County Independent/Patch.com/Feast Magazine
May 2009 - Present (15 years 4 months)
~ Developing story ideas, interviewing sources and writing feature and news articles for news outlets. ~ Shooting photos and videos of events and people to run with the stories editing and compiling the artistic elements to create a complete story package. ~ Proofreading the entire Independent newspaper prior to publication. ~ Writing a popular bi-weekly parenting column for the Independent. ~ Researched facts, verified information and created multi-media story platforms, such as audio slideshows, for the Patch.com websites.
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Social Media Specialist
Bridgeton, MO
Dec 2010 - Oct 2014 (3 years 10 months)
Created a twice-weekly blog for the 10th largest nonprofit in St. Louis. Edited all posts and wrote most of the entries. ~ Instituted and managed five social networking platforms for the St. Louis Area Foodbank, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Google Plus. In four years, I successfully tripled the Foodbank's social media reach and positioned the brand as an expert in the field of hunger relief. ~ Orchestrated two successful social media voting campaigns that resulted in $105,000 in grants being awarded to the Foodbank. ~ Conceptulaized and developed a short video in just seven days that won the Foodbank a new Toyota in the 100 Cars for Good campaign. ~ Wrote and edited press releases and coordinated with media outlets for news coverage. ~ Coordinated fundraisers and publicity events crafted talking points, op-eds and speeches for executive leadership. ~ Represented the Foodbank at local and national events, particularly as a social media expert. ~ Created a community group of social media advocates to promote the Foodbank's mission, leveraging their independent voices and networks to be secondary voices for the brand.
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News Resource Center Supervisor/News Writer
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
St. Louis, MO
Sep 2000 - Aug 2009 (8 years 11 months)
~ Managed teams of up to 18 people in projects such as website writing, online content management, search engine optimization (SEO) and a news research response plan. ~ Developed and produced internal communications to newsroom staff and management of other departments, using email and the company intranet system. ~ Wrote and copy-edited website/print news content, researched facts and background for news stories, and verified identities of sources using social media networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn. ~ Implemented software that resulted in a 625% traffic increase in page views on stltoday.com.