Communication News

Congratulations and welcome back to the region to BizComm alum Tara Shishmanian, who has accepted a job as a meetings project manager at Paralyzed Veterans of America in Washington, D.C. Tara left her position as the coordinator of volunteers at the St. Bernard Project in New Orleans to travel back to the Metro area. The Paralyzed Veterans of America is a congressionally chartered veterans service organization founded in 1946 that advocates on behalf of veterans of the armed forces who have experienced spinal cord injury or dysfunction.

Here she is during her internship at Grow & Fortify. Congratulations, Tara!

The department of Business Communication is thrilled to announce that this year's Shapiro-Rouse lecture on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016, will feature James (Jim) Dale, author, owner of RichlinDale, LLC, and former president of W.B. Doner & Co., a premier global advertising agency. Here's his bio from the RichlinDale website:

"Jim’s career has been about marketing from day one. Before forming Richlin/Dale LLC with Gar Richlin in August of 2005, from 1995 to 2005, Jim had his own marketing consultancy, working with a variety of businesses including automotive aftermarket, internet commerce and marketing, law firms, banks, magazines, telecommunications, and venture capital companies.

Prior to his marketing consultancy, Jim was in the advertising agency business, having risen from copywriter to President and CEO of W.B.Doner & Company. In the time Jim was with the company, W.B.Doner grew from a regional agency with two offices, Detroit and Baltimore, to a global agency with offices throughout the U.S. and Europe, billing over $500,000,000, representing clients such as BP, Chiquita, Klondike Ice Cream, Arby’s Restaurants, Ford, Coca-Cola, and Fila.

Jim also created an internationally distributed line of humorous greeting cards and has written or co-written several books, including The Power of Nice – Negotiating So Everyone Wins, Especially You; Tiger Woods Made Me Look Like a Genius; Palmer & Weaver – Together We Were Eleven Foot Nine; Bullies, Tyrants, and Impossible People; The Obvious – All You Need to Know in Business. Period.; Alpha Docs – The Making of a Johns Hopkins Cardiologist; Illegal Procedure – A Sports Agent Comes Clean About the Dirty Business of College and Pro Football."

Please join us on Nov. 15 for this exciting (and free) lecture at 7 p.m. in the Rockland Banquet Room.

Senior Business Communication major Taylor Cunha (left) is getting the experience of her lifetime interning under the CEO of Route One Apparel, Ali Von Paris. Taylor is working primarily in social media marketing for the five-year-old company that is "an e-commerce platform that specializes in making trendy, affordable state pride apparel and accessories." In five years the company has launched nearly 700 products, with a goal of releasing at least 15 new designs a month. Taylor's exciting work includes everything from social media to customer service to brainstorming for new products.

Congratulations to Business Communication major Eddie Bennett, whose spoken word performance at the annual Stevenson University Founder's Day Talent Show on Oct. 3 won him first place! Eddie's moving performance stunned the audience and brought down the house. Fans might recall that Eddie's public speaking abilities also earned him a prize in the 2016 Oratorical Contest as well. Way to go, Eddie! (Photo from MAP Facebook page)

Word reached us from 2016 grad Conrad Ellis that he has relocated to Chicago, Illinois, and started a job at Lakeshore Sport and Fitness in the children’s programming department. His blog tells us a little more about his work that will rely heavily on his communication skills and background in athletics, as a former member of Stevenson's NCAA Div. III tennis team. While he was a student, he served as the departmental intern, and has since used those planning skills in his new position.

Congratulations, Conrad! The department looks forward to hearing more about your new career.