Courtney Vander Veen Mich

COURTNEY VANDER VEEN MICH E-| P- | LinkedIn Profile Pro-active communications professional and content guru with experience leading multiple account teams through effective project management and interpersonal skills. Experience Public Relations Account Executive | Bader Rutter | Milwaukee, WI | Jan. 2020 - July 2020 • Content development lead across multiple businesses, including Case IH, Lindsay Corp. and Pioneer Seeds • Work closely with the creative team to ensure cohesive brand messaging • Ghostwrite thought-leadership articles for trade publications • Manage business and trade media relations and monitor coverage • Collaborate on client presentations • Write and edit materials including media alerts, press releases, pitches, social and web copy and brochures Public Relations & Social Media Manager | Gunpowder, Inc. | Delafield, WI | Jan. ’19 - Jan. ’20 • Operated as primary contact and project manager for Mercury Marine, NESCO and CHARD • Amplified brand narratives across owned social media platforms • Wrote, edited and executed social media content calendars for multiple clients • Crafted internal and external communications, including creative and communication briefs • Developed budgets, forecasted to manage agency profitability and monitored burn rates on multiple accounts • Wrote, edited and distributed press releases and pitches to endemic and non-endemic media • Ideated, wrote and produced video content for multiple clients • Managed the creative process for video production projects for various clients • Active role in the hiring process including vetting and interviewing potential candidates • Created and implemented successful processes agency-wide, including creative review process and new employee hire and departure procedures • Developed and directly supervised internship program • Devised and acted as administrator of the agency-wide Professional Development Program Public Relations Specialist | Gunpowder, Inc. | Delafield, WI | June ’17 - Dec. ’18 • Wrote, edited and reviewed scopes of work for various client projects • Managed client projects from conception to execution, project workflow and communications • Worked with and vetted outside vendors and freelancers for photo and video shoots and contests • Created social media content calendars including copywriting, asset gathering, content creation, provided monthly analytic reports to clients and presented quarterly reports to clients • Organized and executed experiential activations including producing social content for activations Graduate Teaching Assistant | UW-Milwaukee | Milwaukee, WI | Sept. ’14 - Dec. ’16 • Supplemented lectures with discussion sections, created and maintained lesson plans • Graded student work, kept student records for 60-100 students a semester and held conferences with students to advice on portfolios, projects and class performance Public Relations Specialist | Platypus Advertising + Design | Pewaukee, WI | May ’16 - Oct. ’16 • Increased ROI by writing, distributing and pitching brand stories for fitness and health clients • Enhanced digital content for multiple clients by writing weekly blog posts and social content calendars • Wrote, edited and distributed press releases for clients in the health and fitness categories • Managed client communication Media Relations | Caffeine Communications Co. | Milwaukee, WI | Jan. ’14 - Sept. ’14 • Successfully pitched local and national news outlets including The Today Show - Mario’s Top 3 Cool Tech List segment in April of 2014 https://vimeo.com/- • Increased social media reached by monitoring and creating fresh content for more than four clients Education UW-Milwaukee - M.A., Media Studies - Summa Cum Laude UW-Milwaukee - B.A., Journalism, Advertising & Media Studies - Magna Cum Laude UW-Milwaukee - Certificate, Digital Arts & Culture - With Honors Skills Experience with Meltwater, Cision, TrendKite, Rival IQ, Mail Chimp, Slack, Asana, Basecamp and Trello. Working knowledge of Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator. Effective communicator, storyteller, project manager, editor and leader. Understanding of agency business operations and profitability.