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Communications Resume

Cathy Brooks
San Francisco , CA
E-mail: Cathy@OtherThanThat.com

Experience:

Other Than That Consulting – San Francisco, CA
Independent firm providing contract business development support and strategic counsel on marketing to leading PR and branding firms.

• November 2005 – present; Founder and President: Latest incarnation of long-time consuulting firm that now focuses on helping firms clarify and strengthen business development and sales efforts by strongly integrating strategic marketing with focused new business outreach.

Porter Novelli – San Francisco, CA
Top-ranked international PR firm, delivering strategic counsel, planning and tactical execution to companies in technology, consumer, healthcare and public affairs.

• May 2003 – November 2005; Vice President – Business Development: Combined deep knowledge of PR field with extensive experience in myriad media formats and vast network of contacts to expand client portfolio for the largest West Coast office of this global communications firm. Although based in the Bay Area, the new business efforts extended to supporting other offices in the region, including Los Angeles , CA ; Irvine , CA ; Portland , OR ; Seattle , WA ; and on occasion, Austin , TX . Responsibilities of the job included the creation, development and ongoing management of central prospect database; initiation and long-term maintenance of relationships with top 50 Bay Area prospects; strategic input and integration with firm’s marketing activities, in-house education and training on new business skills for staff; driving and overseeing the process for new business pitches from inception through delivery; and supporting overall visibility for firm at industry events and conferences.

Other Than That Consulting – San Francisco, CA
Independent firm analyzing and rebuilding communications strategies for clients.

• November 2001 – April 2003; Founder and President: Used two decades of experience in field of communications to develop and restructure media strategies. Key clients included PR agencies, VC firms and independent concerns. OTTC evaluated media opportunities based on companies' business, mission and future direction, and taught teams how to create high-impact media plans with long-term benefits.

TechTV – San Francisco, CA
24-hour cable network dedicated to covering all aspects of technology – from computers and the Internet to biotech, consumer electronics, people, issues and lifestyle.

• March 2000 – November 2001; Director, Booking & Guest Relations: Hired and managed team of 15 bookers, securing more than 20 live guests daily. Personally handled bookings for industry players such as Scott McNealy, Steve Ballmer, Craig Barrett, Ann Winblad, Gordon Moore, Steve Wozniak, John Seely Brown, Nolan Bushnell, Will Wright, Jerry Yang and Jeff Bezos. Produced guest segments, including pre-interviews, questions and topics for hosts, briefing Talent and preparing guests for interviews. Did all conference and trade show bookings from scheduling through execution.

• May 1999 – May 2001; On Air Contributor - TechTV Radio & Promotions: Provided live reports for TechTV's Internet radio station from conferences (e.g. PC Expo, Red Herring NDA, Herring on Hollywood, Internet World, Western Cable, DEMO, NCTA and CES). These 1:30 to 3:00 minute news reports included live banter with anchors and interviews with speakers & attendees. Also worked as frequent in-house voice-over Talent. Did standard and character voice promotion scripts for the network.

• March 1999 – March 2000; Director, Talent & Booking: Handled two departments at the network – casting/management for on-air Talent and guest booking for all programming. Built plan to grow the overall department and ultimately split it into two groups. Increased staff from 2 people to 15 people within a year. (At which time the department was divided, and I chose to handle Booking.) Established strong relationships with all major Talent agencies in the US . Hired more than a dozen on-air staff. Managed ongoing Talent training program for on-air staff. Simultaneously expanded booking from supporting one show to supporting all network programming. Increased outreach to PR firms and extended awareness of TechTV and its shows throughout the PR community.

Antenna Group – San Francisco, CA
Boutique high-tech public relations firm delivering industry leading media liaison programs for Internet start-ups developing content or e-commerce solutions. Started as small client of Brooks Consulting, grew into anchor tenant of client base.

• Sept. 1998 – February 1999; Consulting Supervisor: Responsible for training, new business and overseeing half of agency accounts. Developed and executed media training programs for staff, and ran one-on-one media training resulting in better pitches and results. Helped identify and qualify new business prospects, developed and organized new business pitch teams, oversaw and led pitch development and presentation, worked with teams to ensure rapid ramp-up upon securing the business.

Brooks Consulting – San Francisco, CA
Independent consulting firm providing agencies and corporations high level media analysis and strategy.

• June 1998 – February 1999; Founder: Act as media sounding board for clients (companies & agencies). This involves using journalist's perspective to evaluate pitches, messaging and PR strategies. Also develop potential stories, putting together elements necessary to pitch various media. This includes executing interviews and writing copy.

2Bridge Software – San Francisco, CA
Start-up that developed browser-based enterprise applications for Fortune 100 companies.

• October 1997 – June 1998; Director-Public Relations: Developed and executed “Rolling Thunder” strategy for launch, resulting in coverage by all major trade publications, San Francisco Business Times, Dow Jones News Service, Reuters and The San Jose Mercury News. The launch also gained coverage in Fortune, Red Herring, and the Wall Street Journal.

Remedy Corporation – Mountain View, CA
Remedy (NASDAQ: RMDY) develops and markets enterprise applications that streamline key internal business processes from help desk to sales/marketing and customer service.

• October 1995 – October 1997; Manager-Public Relations: Created, developed, implemented and directed worldwide public relations program at the company ranked in 1996 as #1 Hot Growth Company in the US. This included creation of product/corporate messaging and identity. Initiated, fostered and maintained relationships with press and industry analysts. Planned and executed product launch tours and trade show activities. Built relationships with customers to gain reference sites for tours and other public relations projects. Ensured all external materials reflected cohesive positioning and messaging. Built and managed international public relations program, with internal staff and four external agencies.

Blanc & Otus Public Relations – San Francisco, CA
Full service public relations agency providing strategic and tactical services to high-tech companies. Now part of Hill & Knowlton technology practice.

• October 1994 - October 1995; Account Executive II: Oversaw and executed media and analyst liaison for several major accounts including Xerox Desktop Document Systems (DDS). Introduced to a new market, the home office market, with the Xerox Document WorkCenter 250. Created media plan, initiated relationships with new target press/analyst list, and evolved old Xerox corporate messaging.

• October 1993 - October 1994; Account Executive I: Implemented day-to-day media liaison activities for three accounts including Caere Corporation. This included writing all press releases, setting up and participating in ongoing press meetings, executing press tours. Developed image campaign for Aurum Software, and positioned company as leading sales automation vendor (pre-Siebel Systems).

S&S Public Relations – San Francisco, CA
Public relations agency specializing in media liaison for start-up software and hardware companies.

• October 1992 - October 1993; Account Supervisor: First employee hired for West Coast office of Chicago, IL-based agency. Targeted potential clients, pitched business and created/ implemented comprehensive public relations campaigns. Placed clients in PC Week, PC Magazine, and Businessweek , New York Times and on CNN, CNBC, and NBC's Today Show.

Metro Traffic Control – San Francisco, CA
Broadcasting service providing 90 percent of Bay broadcast stations with traffic and breaking news.

• September 1990 - September 1992; News and Traffic Reporter: Provided daily news reports on K101 and KFRC, major Bay Area music stations. Did occasional traffic and news reports for Bay Area's largest all-news station, KCBS. Leveraged extensive writing and communications skills to provide high quality, comprehensive reports during key “drive time” segments. Also worked as part-time news reporter for K101, covering Rodney King riots, Desert Storm protests, Oakland Hills Firestorm and 100 th Anniversary of Golden Gate Park Bison herd.

Peninsula Times-Tribune – Palo Alto, CA
Local newspaper (now defunct) covering municipalities from Mountain View to Redwood City.

• May 1990 – September 1990; General Assignment Reporter: Covered local police beat and communities of Mountain View and East Palo Alto . Wrote several front-page stories including visit by Jack Kemp to East Palo Alto , and five part cover series on the state of public education in the Bay Area. Wrote numerous movie reviews and feature articles as well.

WMAQ-AM – Chicago , IL
24-hour news station delivering domestic and international news to the #3 US media market.

• March 1988 – May 1990; Senior Production Assistant/Writer: First employee to build “all news” station in Chicago . Trained editorial and production staff on computer system, helped train writing staff. Also was Senior Production Assistant and writer, responsible for gathering audio on breaking news, editing tape, writing copy and producing for on-air use. Later provided freelance news reports from Bay Area for Rodney King riots, Desert Storm protests and Oakland Hills Firestorm.

Fort Lauderdale News-Sun Sentinel – Fort Lauderdale, FL
Leading US newspaper providing domestic and international news and feature coverage.

• November 1987 – March 1988; Reporter/Copy Editor/Intern: Worked as staff reporter and copy editor during five-month internship. Wrote movie reviews and feature stories published on the cover of the paper's weekend section.

KYW Newsradio – Philadelphia, PA
One of leading “all news all the time” stations delivering breaking news to Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

• August 1984 – September 1987; Senior Production Assistant/Writer/Reporter: Researched, wrote and produced breaking news for on-air use, worked with field reporters to gather news and produce deadline stories for “drive time” news show, fill-in street reporter, providing additional on-air reports for major breaking news. Later provided freelance news reports from Bay Area for Rodney King riots, Desert Storm protests and Oakland Hills Firestorm.

• June 1982 – August 1984; Desk Assistant/Junior Production Assistant: Gathered, collated and distributed wire reports from UPI, AP, Reuters, and other services for writing staff. Developed news “morgue” for future use. Worked as “runner” delivering deadline materials to on-air staff.

Education:
Northwestern University , Evanston , IL
BSJ - Medill School of Journalism; double minor-English literature/American History

References:
Available upon request