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Work experience

As sections editor, I developed and managed the content of numerous focus and award sections for print, online and events, as well as attended numerous award events for networking and branding.

​Editorial sections​

 

 

  • ​​​Jan. 12, 2012: The 'Vroom' is back (cover story and slideshow) - BBJ.com

  • ​Feb. 17, 2012: Solar energy bides times for its day in the sun - BBJ.com

  • March 9, 2012: Choosing a commercial banker - BBJ.com

  • March 30, 2012: Tapping global markets - Section; BBJ.com

  • ​April 6, 2012: State of the state - Section; BBJ.com

  • ​May 4, 2012: Local advisers say tougher fed scrutiny is good change - BBJ.com

  • ​May 18, 2012: BioAlabama's 'key ingredients' to bring tech to market - BBJ.com

  •                       Interview with a newsmaker: A.J. Tipton of Evonik's Birmingham Laboratory

  • ​​June 1, 2012: Midyear economic outlook - BBJ.com

  • ​June 8, 2012: The perils of gifting - BBJ.com

  • July 6, 2012: Samurai of the kaizen: Manufacturers are adopting the way of continual improvement - BBJ.com

  • Nov. 2, 2012: Commercial real estate outlook - BBJ.com

  • Dec. 21, 2012: Fiscal cliffhanger: If no deal is reached, how will it impact Birmingham? - BBJ.com

  • Feb. 18, 2011: Energy - Section

  •                       The Bottom Line: What do you think about biofuels? - BBJ.com

  • March 11, 2011: Surviving a taxing time with a not so kinder, gentler IRS - BBJ.com

  • April 1, 2011: Local retailers go to D.C. really to keep swipe card reform - BBJ.com

  • April 25, 2011: Experts sound off on economic hot spots - BBJ.com

  • April 27, 2011:  State of the State - Print;

  • June 3, 2011: Business owners share concerns as tornado recovery continues - BBJ.com

  • July 21, 2011: Breaking the mold - BBJ.com; digital cookie factory tour.

  • Sept. 23, 2011: A tale of two giants - Section; BBJ.com

  •                        Interview with a newsmaker: Brasfield and Gorrie's Regional VP Jack Darnall

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​Interview with a Newsmaker​ (Q&As - inside content for focus sections and online)

  • Feb. 25, 2011: HudsonAlpha Institute's O'Neal Smitherman​ - BBJ.com

  • ​Feb. 18, 2011: Mark Bentley, Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition - Section; BBJ.com

  • Nov. 26, 2010: Gregory Hawley, president of the Birmingham Bar Association​ - BBJ.com

  • Dec. 10, 2010: Hoar Construction President Robert O. Burton - BBJ.com

  • Nov. 30, 2008: Scott Latham, president and CEO of Community Bankers Association of Alabama - BBJ.com

 

The Bottom Line (Surveys - content for focus sections and BBJ.com)

  • ​​​​Nov. 23, 2012: What legal practice areas do you anticipate will be the fastest growing in 2013?

  • Sept 28, 2012: Are you concerned about cyber security? If so, what are the concerns and how are you dealing with them?

  • Aug. 31, 2012: What’s your biggest concern about estate planning with major law changes anticipated in January?

  • Aug. 17, 2012: What’s the hottest technology trend in your business?

  • March 16, 2012: What are the challenges women face in business?

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​BBJ Award sections
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Special Publications​

BBJ partners with local or statewide associations to produce some sections. Parent company, ACBJ, also partners with organizations such as NABCAP for the Top Wealth Managers section.​

 

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Clips:

As associate editor of Modern Woodworking magazine, formerly a publication of now Randall-Reilly Publishing, I was charged with developing news coverage of the U.S. secondary wood products industry. The job required extensive U.S. travel for stories, tour plants and network at trade shows and conventions. The magazine was discontinued in October 2009.

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Clips:

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As a staff writer of the Tuscaloosa News, then a New York Times affiliate, I was county reporter for six of my eight years with the newspaper. I covered education for two years.

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  • Expanding South Louisiana's ports was a major subject and why I focused on writing a series about port development and how the state's considerable water access could be further harnessed for economic growth. Articles

 

 

  • After spending the day covering an oil lease sale in New Orleans, the day ended with two men proposing the more interesting opportunity of leasing salt domes for the Strategic Oil Reserve. - Article

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The Birmingham Business Journal
Modern Woodworking
The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report
The Tuscaloosa News
Alex Hopkins adjusts a polisher at WKW Erbsloeh North America Inc. in Pell City. The company is one of many local auto suppliers seeing an uptick in business.

In addition to managing editorial and awards sections, I was responsible for developing new awards programs, such as the Corporate Counsel awards, that generated considerable new dollars for the BBJ last year and all related promotional collateral. I determined themes for most of these programs, including last year's highly popular​​ Top 40 under 40 super hero theme and this year's Magic City Time Machine theme. This work entailed extensive interdepartmental planning with key BBJ departments, including production, events and advertising. I wrote the promotional copy for key collateral for these programs, including advertising, blast mails, emails and blogs​, and edited all content to ensure consistency and accuracy. To further promote outreach on these programs, I initiated the paper's first Awards 101 instructional pdf outlining its award programs and how to submit a strong nomination. I also initiated the paper's first weekly e-newsletter that I called BBJ Peep Nation Newsletter, which was well received as evidenced by the growing number of requests from my mighty peeps to be placed on the mail list and quick requests to update their email address if it changed to continue receiving the newsletter. Because of my Excel software training, I was able to develop and manage the email database for this project.​

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Awards 101 - I developed this instructional pdf that could be downloaded on BBJ.com or emailed, which successfully grew award participation and event attendance. The 2013 version of Awards 101 also was circulated by advertising and circulation.​

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BBJ Peep Nation e-newsletter - A playful weekly email newsletter that successfully grew public participation in focus and award sections, as well as news and BBJ.com. I developed and was growing the database for this newsletter, which quickly reached nearly 300 email addresses representing many of the Birmingham metro area's movers and shakers. More recently, the database had been fast growing with requests to be added to the mail list.​​​

 

 

 

 

                         

                                  Nonprofit awards ad - This is a sample of the concepts and copy I provided for ads to promote

                                  award programs. I also developed the award program themes and collaborated with production on the look

                                  and icons for the campaigns.​

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Blast email schedule sample - I developed this blast mail schedule for the following year. I coordinated these dates with special section run dates to ensure they were promoted early enough to provide needec content for each section, whether it was an awards program, corporate partnership project or special BBJ project.

 

Promo schedule: An example of interdepartmental relations,  I provided this schedule to advertising every two months to help executives improve selling. Providing this schedule meant keeping sections planned and assigned six to eight weeks in advance of publication.

 

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BBJ Promotional collateral

 

The Houma Daily Courier

The Monroe Journal
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