Biography and Marketing Philosophy: From 1999 to 2004, I worked for a division of MRM (part of IPG), Rubin Postaer, and Genex ­ three of the leading interactive marketing firms in the country. I was fortunate to work on Fortune 100 clients General Motors and American Honda's top consumer sites: GMBuypower.com and Acura.com. My work involved managing multi-million dollar portfolios of design, online marketing and application development projects and leading interdisciplinary teams of writers, programmers and designers from concept to launch. Working for Fortune 100 companies requires that the marketing message derive from a clear understanding of the client's business objectives and the consumers' desired interaction with the brand. When an interactive project or campaign could cost tens of thousands to millions of dollars and months of development time/resources, it is vital that creative strategy is documented, tested, and evolved throughout the design process. More importantly, clients insist on measurable return on investment. Can improved site navigation help consumers find and buy more product? Do they stay longer on the site, drilling deeper to interact more fully with the brand? How can you design in other opportunities to communicate with consumers through integrated campaigns, online and off, thus developing a trusted relationship with them? Automotive manufacturers use extensive consumer testing and focus groups to validate and refine communication campaigns and to define corporate branding/identity strategies. Through my experiences with GM and Honda, I gained specific understanding into how to gather business objectives through stakeholder interviews and then I managed the evolution of the design by obtaining consumer feedback at key touch points in the development process. I have direct experience with creating information architecture, user profiles and persona/scenario development, prototyping, and consumer testing to guide interactive and traditional design development. It is vital to understand consumer behavior and then be able to adapt products and designs to it. In 2004, I moved our family from LA to a beautiful log home on 2.5 acres in Hurricane, WV. I was happy to continue working in my field at Rev Interactive, in Charleston. There, I oversaw the development of the West Virginia Division of Tourism's online marketing efforts in 2005. This work involved targeted interest-based minisites combined with online advertising, search engine optimization, email marketing, and lead acquisition. In 2006, I joined the Department of Commerce as its Marketing Director. I am passionate about the work we do to promote WV development, resources, industry and tourism inside and outside of our state, and to improve the opportunities our kids will have.