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Allyson Cannon
Experienced Communications Professional - Relationship Builder - Organization and Membership Cultivator
Professional Background
Allyson Cannon is a highly skilled and experienced Director of Marketing and Communications who has made significant contributions across various roles throughout her career. With a robust background in relationship building and organizational development, she has a proven track record of enhancing engagement and promoting brand awareness. Her experience spans several prestigious organizations, positioning her as a prominent figure in the marketing and communications landscape.
Throughout her career, Allyson has demonstrated her commitment to excellence in strategic communication and marketing initiatives. Currently, she serves as the Director of Alumni Relations at The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, where she has been instrumental in fostering relationships with alumni and enhancing engagement within the law school community. This role highlights her strengths in building relationships and leveraging her marketing expertise to bridge gaps between the institution and its alumni.
Prior to her current position, Allyson held several key roles at West Virginia University, where she honed her strategic marketing skills. As the Director of Marketing and Communications, she successfully led numerous outreach campaigns and promotional strategies to enhance the university's visibility. Furthermore, in her role as the Director of the Old Gold, New Blue Program, she played a pivotal role in organizing events that engaged students, alumni, and stakeholders, fostering a sense of community and pride in the university's heritage.
Formerly, Allyson served as the Executive Assistant at Social Driver, demonstrating her versatility and ability to manage multiple projects effectively. Additionally, her experience at the National Press Club as Recruitment Manager and Assistant to the President allowed her to leverage her communication skills in a high-stakes environment, focusing on talent acquisition and social media management. Her marketing career began at Nassau Broadcasting, where she gained valuable experience as a Sales and Marketing Assistant and Programming/Promotions Intern.
Education and Achievements
Allyson Cannon’s educational background laid a solid foundation for her career. She obtained a Master of Science in Integrated Marketing & Communications from West Virginia University, equipping her with the advanced skills needed to navigate the intricate world of marketing and media communication effectively. Her time at the university also included earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Broadcast News/Communications, which provided her with an in-depth understanding of communication strategies and media production.
Her academic achievements have complemented her practical experiences, enabling her to apply theoretical knowledge to the real-world challenges faced in the marketing and communications field. Allyson’s ability to comprehend and adapt to evolving marketing trends demonstrates her commitment to continuous learning and professional growth.
Notable Achievements
Throughout her multifaceted career, Allyson Cannon has amassed a wealth of experience and accomplishments. Some of her notable achievements include leading innovative marketing campaigns that significantly improved engagement metrics at West Virginia University. Her strategic vision and ability to foster collaboration among diverse stakeholders have been integral to the success of these initiatives.
At The Catholic University of America, she has successfully strengthened alumni relations through dynamic programming and communication efforts, showcasing her adeptness at building lasting connections. Allyson continues to refine her skills and expand her expertise in the fast-paced world of marketing and communications, demonstrating adaptability and a forward-thinking mindset that are essential in today's networked environment.
Keywords
- Marketing Professional
- Communications Director
- Alumni Relations
- Integrated Marketing
- Relationship Building
- Organizational Development
- Engagement Strategies
- West Virginia University
- Professional Experience
- Strategic Communication
- Brand Awareness
- Event Management
Location
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Clay makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Clay's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.