University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Journalist + Editorial Consultant + Digital Strategist  -  writing, editing, marketing, social media  -  available for hire

New York, New York, United States

Domino

Managing Editor

Saveur Magazine

I am an editor, a writer, and a digital strategist working in a project capacity for a wide-ranging group of clients. My work has appeared across various websites and magazines, including Popular Mechanics, Esquire, Glamour, Learnvest, Elle Decor, Parachute Home, KonMari, Audubon magazine, Laptop magazine, <a href="http://Brokelyn.com">Brokelyn.com</a>, Adobe's 99u, and more. 

Brands I've worked with include: Parachute Home, Scott Brothers Global, Dolby, L'Oreal's Seed Phytonutrients, Field Goods, Fundera, and SimpleReach.

WRITING & REPORTING:
I cover a variety of topics and am especially interested in service content. My expertise lies in my ability to distill complex ideas and transform them into easy-to-digest content without losing the big picture. My focus straddles traditional, long form content, and social-media storytelling. 

My category expertise spans how-tos, food, chefs, food policy, agriculture, consumer tech, internet culture, personal finance, and lifestyle (such as DIY and crafting). 

EDITORIAL, SOCIAL MEDIA, & CONTENT STRATEGY:
As a digital strategist, I help non-media brands of all shapes and sizes build customized, results-driven, scaleable content strategies for web, social media, and email.

My work is always rooted in the editorial ideology that content should inform, inspire and entertain. I understand that every company is different and so are their needs, and that “content” is not a one-size-fits-all solve. I will work with your brand to map your objectives, audience, and opportunities in order to build a content operation that grows your business. Depending on your needs, I can work solo, bring in a team, or build/train a team in-house.

Prior Speaking Engagements Include:
-  Contently Content Marketing Summit, New York, NY, June 2014: "'Growth Is Not a Hack’: 7 Strategies For Building a Loyal Audience"
-  The Bold Italic's "Shift: Digital Media" Conference, San Francisco, Jan. 2015: SHIFT: Digital Media

- Incorporated as Graced Media Inc.

Graced Media, Inc

Freelance Journalist, Editor, and Content Strategist

Digital Director

BROOKWOOD COMMUNITY FARM INC

Farm Hand

As the digital director of two-time ASME award-winning Modern Farmer magazine, I work side-by-side with the editor-in-chief to create, define, and execute a digital editorial and content strategy across editorial, marketing, and ad sales. This includes:

-  Editorial Content: I scout, assign, and edit all web content and work closely with the print magazine team to repackage in-book content. 

-  Social Programing: Develop and execute a social strategy to drive engagement, traffic, and community. This includes writing and editing social content, boosting posts as-needed, and programing Modern Farmer’s signature Instagram Takeovers. 

-  Email Marketing: Manage, edit, and deploy editorial newsletter and email marketing strategies via Mailchimp. Includes opt-in strategy, A/B testing to increase conversion rates and click-thrus, analytics, program development. 

-  Digital Creative Oversight: Assign illustrations, photography, charts, gifs, and graphics for web and social. 
 
-  Audience Development: SEO optimization, syndication partnerships, social swapping relationships, e-commerce initiatives, content development partnerships, and social campaigns. 

-  Analytics & Product: Produce Google Analytics reports; investigate third-party vendors; deploy new tools and widgets to deepen our editorial experience; partner with our tech provider to optimize UX, and launch digital products and projects.

-  Advertising/Publishing/Sponsorships: Brainstorming, development, and approval of digital RFPs; executing branded content and sponsored content; contests and sweepstakes; researching and executing on-site revenue opportunities, including e-commerce, and affiliate revenue.

-  Operational Oversight: I get this all done by managing a team of freelancer writers, editors, copy editors, fact checkers, designers, illustrators and photographers; maintaining an extremely tight digital budget; and ruthlessly prioritizing the pipeline of projects and opportunities.

Modern Farmer Media

Check it out: <a href="http://mediaco.webershandwick.com/">http://mediaco.webershandwick.com/</a>

Weber Shandwick

Editorial Director, Mediaco

tl;dr: I design, operationalize, staff and oversee cross-platform content operations for brand publishers. I'm a firm believer that brands should only talk about what they have the credibility to speak to, and that all work should be done with a specific purpose and measurable goal.

As one of the editorial leads within Mediaco, Weber Shandwick's brand publishing division, I help some of the agency's most advanced clients understand how to become brand publishers. I oversee a team of writers, editors, developers, data scientists, creatives and designers to develop measurable and scaleable brand publishing operations based in editorial (rather than advertising/commercial) ideas. 

Each client is different, but in general my work includes managing or doing: 
-  short- and long-form content creation (writing, editing, assigning)
-  website display copywriting
-  audience mapping and social research & analytics
-  brand voice and visual identity development 
-  social media campaigns (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Vine, etc) 
-  SEO/SEM campaign development, execution and optimization
-  eCRM campaigns and newsletter management
-  mobile app development for continued content distribution  
-  overseeing influencer and media partnerships that span web, social, mobile, print, TV, radio, event and shopper.

I'm also the editorial lead (and one of the few non-technical teammates) for Mediaco CoPublish (<a href="http://mediaco.webershandwick.com/article/mediaco-publish.html">http://mediaco.webershandwick.com/article/mediaco-publish.html</a>), Weber's custom content marketing CMS, which is specially designed to meet the nuanced needs of (the often messy process of) brand publishing across large organizations with a variety of stakeholders and publishing needs.

VP, Editorial Strategy, Mediaco

As one of the early hires at <a href="http://HowAboutWe.com">HowAboutWe.com</a>, I developed HowAboutWe's editorial, media and content strategy, concentrating specifically on using editorial to grow the business. I launched and oversaw the brand's daily blog, The Date Report, which included assigning, editing and writing blog posts, social content and reported features. I also oversaw the production of larger content packages and campaigns centered on data-driven narratives, member testimonials and thought leadership to drive earned media and audience growth. It was my job to tell the story of <a href="http://HowAboutWe.com">HowAboutWe.com</a> and our members in a way that earned measurable results. I also did a fair share of event planning, remarketing, copy writing, TVC scripts and more. I helped take HowAboutWe from a NYC startup to a worldwide dating & relationships brand. HowAboutWe was acquired by IAC in 2014.

HowAboutWe.com

Editorial & Content Director

My job was to build an organic community for <a href="http://Lemondrop.com">Lemondrop.com</a> — and eventually, other AOL Living properties — through editorial content in order to increase traffic and audience quality while reducing reliance on the <a href="http://AOL.com">AOL.com</a> portal. 

I did this by utilizing social media, content partnerships, savvy content and cross-promotion. This included bringing on niche guest bloggers with dedicated followings, developing our social strategy and tapping into UGC content to develop a true back-and-forth dialogue with our readers. After proving concepts on <a href="http://Lemondrop.com">Lemondrop.com</a>, I lead the effort to scale these practices across the other AOL Living properties.  Some of my duties were to: 

-  Manage the site’s presence on Facebook and Twitter and experiment with creative ways to use social networking to expand our community; quickly analyze learnings and adapt new strategies.
-  Identify and reach-out to key influencers in our target demographics.
-  Manage the creation and distribution of the Lemondrop newsletters. Monitor open-rate and click-thru and make adjustments as needed.
-  Develop and maintain traffic-swapping relationships with partner websites of all sizes and varieties to grow UVs.
-  Monitor conversation around our stories on and off site. Develop new ways to bring these conversations into the fold and inform future content.
-  Edit content to be social-news friendly for sites like Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit & Fark, without loosing our voice.
-  Monitor in-channel searches, Google trends, Twitter and reader conversations to create demand-driven content.
-  Liaise between the production and editorial teams to communicate ideas, prioritize efforts and build new tools.

The job also included traditional editorial responsibilities, including: 
-  Managing a staff of writers, including assigning and editing 10-20 posts per week.
-  Handling payroll for a team of ~55 bloggers, an art team and production staf. 
-  Creating and maintaining an editorial calendar and publishing schedule.

Editor, Lemondrop.com at Aol Living

- Responsible for the factual accuracy of all information in the print magazine; advised Web site on fact-check issues as-needed.
 •  Hired and trained a staff of three, including budgeting, hiring additional freelance help and scheduling.
 •  Vetted all stories for legal issues and worked with edit and legal teams to address any problems.
 •  Supplied supplemental reporting as needed
 •  Contributed reported pieces to the magazine, including FOB, BOB and sidebars.
 •  Prepped the editor-in-chief for on-air interviews, including appearances on CNN, NBC and NPR.
 •  Liaised between the edit and art departments to oversee the creation of illustrations, graphs and diagrams.
 •  Planned and executed the 2008 PM Breakthrough Awards, including coordinating all logistics of an awards presentation and  ‘Gallery of Winners’ honoring 20 innovators.
 •  Covered events and conventions, including filming and editing video for same-day presentation, live-blogged press events and provided multiple posts per day to <a href="http://PopularMechanics.com">PopularMechanics.com</a>.

Hearst Magazines

Research Editor

Popular Mechanics, Hearst magazines

Researcher

- Produced news, features, reviews and all content for <a href="http://Laptopmag.com">Laptopmag.com</a>
- Optimized stories for searching and viewing online.
- Edited images.
- Worked with editorial team to create Web-friendly content.
- Used Omniture to monitor Web site traffic.

Bedford Communications - LAPTOP Magazine

Web Editor

- Solely responsible for factual accuracy of all print and web content.
- Edited "Arrivlas" section in Front of Book, a look at the newest gadgets on the market.
- Wrote On the Radar, a monthly column about the future of technology, focusing on trends and products.
- Managed freelance fact-checkers.

Laptop magazine

Assistant Editor

- Pitched and wrote “Field Notes” articles for front of book.
- Fact-checked features and news stories.
- Researched and wrote “Call to Action” notices for Web site to inform readers of important environmental issues.
- Wrote book reviews.

Audubon magazine

Reporter (part-time)

- Wrote bylined pieces on topics such as home improvement, electric turbines and exploding batteries. 
- Frequently wrote stories for the Web site,  covering NASA, breaking news, gadgets and other topics.
- Fact-checked “My Job” column and a feature story about potato guns, trebuchets and kite photography.
- Compiled illustration reference and memos for features and Web site.
- Tested products to review in magazine, wrote contributor biographies, pitched cover lines.

Popular Mechanics

ASME Intern

- Oversaw editorial process, including creating editorial calendar, writing coverlines, headlines and deks, and coordinating with production and advertising.
- Wrote a weekly column introducing the issue to the readers and tieing it in with a timely newspeg.
- Produced a 56-page “Best of CU” issue: Designed a multimedia voting campaign that earned more than 7 times as many reader votes as last year’s Best Of issue. I also chose categories, edited and art directed issue.
- Planned and executed the “CU Local Music Awards” with the student radio station, Web, advertising and production departments. Show included live performances and presented more than 10 awards.
- Dummy and shell pages, respond to reader’s and advertiser’s concerns.
- Introduces maestro sessions to the editorial staff to ensure each story was told in the best medium available. This made for better photographs, better layout and better stories in general.
- Hired, trained and managed payroll for more than 50 employees.

Illini Media Company

Editor in Chief, Buzz magazine

- Wrote a feature-length three-part series on a wireless community networks and municipal Internet service providers. Each part was accompanied by sidebars.
- Planned supplements and special issues.
- Worked with graphic designers to create charts to explain the concept of wireless networking.

The Daily Illini

Contributing reporter

ASME

Intern

- Secured funding, found a printer and hired a staff to revive the only campus environmental publication.
- Circulation quadrupled with our first redesigned issue.
- Used Adobe InDesign to create a template with style sheets and basic design concept of the magazine, including typography and images.
- Trained and supervised art team on the basics of design and on how to use InDesign.

Green Observer (GO!) environmental magazine

Art Director

- Ran all front of house operations including food and beverage running, greeting, bussing and serving.
- Managed dishwashing and some food prep positions. 
- Hired, trained and supervised a staff of more than 50 student cafeteria workers.
- Responsible for smooth operation of a dorm cafeteria that served more than 800 students per meal.

University Dining Services

Student Coordinator

Designed broadsheet and tablet newspaper spreads.

Illini Media (The Daily Illini)

Page designer

2000-2002: Worked 15-30 hours per week during school, 40+ during summer and school breaks.
2002-2006: Worked 40+ hours per week during most school breaks and summer vacations. 
- Opened and closed store: counted drawers, worked customer service, managed staff on hand.
- Created window and store displays, merchandised store for shopability and to maximize sales.
- Selected head-to-toe wardrobes for a diverse array of clients each season.
- Frequently made company’s nationwide top ten sellers list; made regional list almost weekly. 
- 5x employee of the month.

Erin Grace Scottberg