Syracuse University

University of Connecticut

Speaker, author & coach building systems that unlock creativity

The Creator Kitchen is a flexible online membership program that helps busy, ambitious, experienced creators grow creatively and improve their existing content creation practice and projects.

Co-founded with Jay Acunzo, The Creator Kitchen provides a suite of fully-optional programming to support creatives however they need it most:
> Regular Masterminds teaching relevant topics and presentations by guest speakers
> Biweekly virtual Co-working sessions for accountability and to ensure progress
> Biweekly Creator Roundtables to talk shop and meet fellow members
> Weekly behind-the-scenes videos unpacking the creative process
> Weekly office hours for feedback and problem-solving
> A growing library of templates, guides, prompts, examples, and more.

Use code IMWITHMEL at creatorkitchen.com to save $100 on your membership for life.

Creator Kitchen

Co-Founder & Chief Learning Officer

We’re on a mission to help small and independently owned businesses save money, so they can invest more in themselves and their communities, and we're starting with independent dentists. 

Learn more at groupups.com

GroupUps

Co-Founder & VP of Marketing

Melanie Deziel helps individuals, teams, and organizations unlock their creative potential and organize their creative efforts, through keynote speeches, corporate workshops and training, and consulting. 

🎤 Keynote Speaking
>Melanie has spoken on hundreds of stages around the world, with audiences ranging from 15 to 5,000+. 
> She is consistently a top-rated speaker (4.9) because of how practical, inspiring, and fun her talks are. 
> Melanie has spoken at major events around the world, including SXSW, Inbound, Content Marketing World, Social Media Marketing World, and Digital Summit Europe, as well as events hosted by the Public Relations Society of America, American Marketing Association, American Advertising Federation, and Engel & Völkers.

⚙️ Workshops & Training
> Melanie is a sought-after corporate speaker and trainer, helping Fortune 100 organizations embrace creative thinking and breathe new life into their content programs and other creative initiatives. 
> Past workshop clients include Google, Phantom Fireworks, SurveyMonkey, H&R Block, Oath, Elite Daily, The Atlantic, Virtuoso Travel, and Vanguard.

💡 Consulting
> Melanie has been called on by major organizations to advise and provide strategic guidance on creative efforts of all types, from content strategy and operations to brand voice, internal messaging, and more.
> Past consulting clients include Olympic Channel, Vanguard, Columbia University, WebMD, The Washington Post, AARP, The Hartford, Confiant, Apartment Therapy, The Street, and Thrive Global. 


Learn more: melaniedeziel.com

Melanie Deziel

Speaker & Consultant

> Oversaw content created for clients, weighing in on strategy and providing a final review for content
> Managed several client accounts and pitched prospective clients on our services
> Implemented new processes for content development, and created ops documentation.
> Facilitated weekly internal brainstorms and delivered workshops and training

Foundation Marketing

Director of Content

> Developed (and subsequently taught) a course for CCNY's Branding + Integrated Communications MPS Program based on my book, "The Content Fuel Framework: How to Generate Unlimited Story Ideas"

The City College of New York

Adjunct Professor

> Developed (and subsequently taught) the M.S. course in Content Marketing for the Silberman College of Business.

Fairleigh Dickinson University Silberman College of Business

Professor

> Revised, updated, and created additional content for a complete revamp of the core course for aspiring speakers, Booked and Paid To Speak, including scripts for all course videos. 
> Created an entirely new curriculum and all course content for a new online course, Beyond The Stage, including scripts for all course videos.
> Provided coaching to students on their professional speaking messaging, audience, product/market fit, marketing, pitch process, and business model. 
> Reviewed speaker websites and demo videos and provided detailed feedback and recommendations.

The Speaker Lab

Content Director & Speaker Coach

> Managed creation and implementation of brand voice, content strategy, and marketing strategy across Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Linkedin, email, Fantasy Life blog, and more, in collaboration with social media managers and blog staffers. 
> Collaborated with the executive team on broader messaging and positioning for sales decks, marketing initiatives, and investor presentations. 
> Developed in-app native ad placements and sponsorship packages, and related ad sales collateral. 
> Provided support to development and product teams—as needed—with the implementation of ad placements, sponsor integrations, affiliate partnerships, and more. 
> Pitched, facilitated and executed a two-week cross-platform brand partnership with Disney for the debut of the Safety film.

Fantasy Life

Director of Marketing & Communications

> Educated Master's students on the history, best practices, and trends in digital communications helping to prepare them for careers in journalism, PR, marketing, and advertising. 
> "Introduction to Digital Communication"  (Fall 2016)
> "Social Media" (Spring 2017)

> Wrote the New Media Navigator column for Inc.com

Inc. Magazine

Columnist

(Note: BRaVe was acquired by Turner in November 2016)
> Provided branded content insights and education to advisory clients, including Turner (CNN, TBS, Turner Social), Viacom, Brightcove and more.
> Provided branded content insights and education to portfolio clients, including Didit, Affinio and TVRev.
> Assisted with content strategy for other projects and initiatives.

BRaVe Ventures

Expert In Residence

> First full-time hire for the combination editorial innovation team that became The Foundry. 
> Worked closely with corporate sales, marketing, social, and ad product teams to develop and launch content-based programs and products that opened new revenue streams across our portfolio of 35+ print and digital brands. 
> Designed brand content programs that ranged from $350K-$16M, creating cohesive cross-brand content campaigns that included text, video, visuals, interactive storytelling, user-generated content, social media campaigns, events, retail opportunities and more. 
> Advised the editorial and leadership teams of Time, Sports Illustrated, People, EW, Instyle, Health and MyRecipes with ongoing innovation in their sponsored product offerings and operations.

Time Inc.

Director of Creative Strategy

> NYT's first-ever editor of branded content, and helped establish operational best practices 
> Executed 50+ campaigns ranging from $50K to $1M with T Brand Studio in 2014
> Worked on $18M+ of branded content, which led to an 11% increase in overall NYT digital ad revenue. 
> Developed, pitched, created, and launched branded content campaigns
> Managed all paid and organic social media activity for T Brand Studio across multiple platforms

🏆 Authored a piece that was in the top 2% of all NYT content (2014, for Netflix's OITNB)
🏆 Best Native Advertising Execution, OMMA (2014, for Netflix's OITNB)
🏆 Best Branded Video, Digiday (2014, for Netflix's OITNB)
🏆 Best Native Advertising Execution, OMMA (2015, for Cole Haan)

The New York Times

Editor of Digital Branded Content

As one of the first content strategists at Huffington Post, I played an integral role in the branding and growth of HuffPost Partner Studio, facilitating the team's expansion from three staffers to more than 10. 

> Developed, pitched, created, and launched sponsored content pieces and campaigns 
> Created documentation that defined team processes, products, pricing, best practices, and guidelines
> Conducted onboarding training for new hires, interns, and fellows
> Worked with major clients, including Amex, Citi, Goldman Sachs, General Mills, Verizon, Netflix, IBM, Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate, Sony, Travel Channel and HGTV.
> Managed all paid and organic social media for HPPS, after designing best practices & brand voice.

The Huffington Post

Native Ad Products Manager/Content Strategist

As an online editorial intern for Rolling Stone, I wrote exclusive web premieres for music videos, songs and albums, helped monitor online trends, moderated website comments, helped create social media content and assisted editorial staff with other special projects, as needed.

Rolling Stone

Online Editorial Intern

Skills: Editing · Headline Writing · Writing · Copy Editing

The Daily Dot

Editorial Intern

> Led editorial operations for TheNewshouse.com and managed the staff of graduate and undergraduate content producers
🏆 SPJ's Mark of Excellence Award for Best (Large) Independent Online Publication in the US
🏆  National Finalist in the Associated Collegiate Press' Online Pacemaker Award.

TheNewsHouse.com

Assistant Executive Producer

Created and graded exams, held office hours for student assistance, and supported the dean during lectures for Communications Law (Spring 2013) and Introduction to Communications (Fall 2012).

S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University

Instructional Associate/TA

> Designed pages, formatted photos, wrote headlines, and chose page placement for content.
> Edited the pages of staff designers for AP Style, grammar, spelling, consistency, and house style.

The Day

Copy Desk Intern

As EIC, I oversaw a staff of nearly 200 student writers, copy editors, page designers, circulation drivers, section editors, business managers, comics artists, ad reps, graphics designers and more who worked together to produce a paper with an 8,000 per day circulation. I worked to increase our online presence, increase the number of student-produced stories each day, create a more unified staff and help combat large deficits that had amassed over the past several years. I also helped reduce our deficits by coding a donations page for our website in HTML that earned several hundred dollars in donations, running a successful #savetheDC campaign through social media, cutting unnecessary spending and personally negotiating more than $7,000 in new advertising contracts.