About Me

I’m a prolific writer with a journalism background, and I thrive on finding the heartbeat in every story.

I’m a strategic marketing communications expert with 10+ years of experience in crafting stories, content, and campaigns.

I earn high-level media placements that boost coverage and highlight every facet of a brand.

Areas of focus: Travel & Tourism, Hospitality, Arts & Culture, Wine & Culinary, Health & Fitness.

 

Highlights of Expertise

Brand Awareness | Media Relations

Marketing | Journalism

Publicity Campaigns & Launches

Reactive & Crisis Communications

Content Creation | Writing | Editing

Collaboration | Project Management

Executive & Internal Communications

Company Objectives | Growth Efforts

Education

  • Integrated Marketing & Strategic Hospitality Marketing

    Cornell University
    Certificate Program
    Completed January 2022

  • Bachelors of Arts in Journalism

    The College at Brockport, State University of New York
    Focus: Political Science
    Graduated: January 2011

  • Semester Abroad

    Lorenzo de’ Medici School | The Italian International Institute
    Florence, Italy
    Fall 2010

Work Experience

  • Quinn PR

    Senior Account Executive
    Travel/Lifestyle
    May 2022-Present

  • The Corning Museum of Glass

    Manager, Public Relations & Special Media Projects
    PR Manager
    Public Relations Specialist
    June 2014-May 2022

  • Corning & the Southern Finger Lakes CVB

    Communications Manager
    June 2011-June 2014

  • Freelance Writer

    Rand McNally
    Life in the Finger Lakes Magazine
    The Star-Gazette/The Leader
    2007-2015

Public Relations & Brand Partnerships

 

Netflix Original Series

Arguably Netflix’s hottest show, Blown Away is a competition series about molten glass and the artists who work with it. I manage the partnership between the production company (marblemedia) and The Corning Museum of Glass. A creative partner to the series, the Museum is prominently featured on-screen in the finale of Seasons 1, 2, and 3, and offers the prize package, the Blown Away Residency.

The collaboration resulted in a 900% increase to web traffic and 25% of visitors citing Blown Away as a source of awareness and reason for visiting.

Blown Away Exhibitions

I had the pleasure of organizing museum exhibitions for Seasons 1, 2, and 3 of Netflix’s Blown Away. One object from each of the 10 contestants is loaned to the Museum from the production company.

It was covered in Architectural Digest among other publications.

Photo: Red Bull/Brian Nevins

Red Bull: Bull in a China Shop

I managed a partnership with Red Bull Motorsports to create a “Bike Builds” episode where a stunt motorcyclist custom built an e-bike to ride through the Museum’s galleries and hot shop. With 2.5 million minutes of watch time, this was the most popular Bike Builds episode of 2021.
Read my blog post about the collaboration.

 

Blown Away Behind-the-Scenes Content

I was involved in the production of bonus content for Museum audiences. This is a documentary that we filmed on set during Season 1. I scripted and storyboarded the video and conducted all interviews. I also created a 21-video series with the hosts of Blown Away, and wrote a number of blog posts.

GlassBarge

The Corning Museum of Glass is the leader in mobile glassmaking, blowing glass around the world by land and sea. In 2018, GlassBarge brought glassmaking to the waterways of New York State, stopping in 30 cities between Brooklyn and Buffalo. A collaboration between the Museum, the South Street Seaport Museum, the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, and I LOVE NY, GlassBarge celebrated 150 years of glassmaking in Corning and the Erie Canal Bicentennial.

I placed more than 400 stories along the way in regional and national outlets, including the New York Times, during the 3-month tour.

TBEX Comes to the Finger Lakes

I brought the TBEX (Travel Blog Exchange) 2018 North American conference to The Corning Museum of Glass. Nearly 700 international travel influencers and brands spent a week at the Museum and surrounding region, visiting attractions and gathering content to share. Several hundred stories have been published to date.

Innovative Ideas

 

Penguin Pierre: Social Media Campaign

When COVID closed the Museum in March 2020, attractions got creative online. Inspired by the Shedd Aquarium’s penguins wandering around the empty space, I took pictures of our glass penguin, Pierre, in the empty Museum. Followers requested more. It turned into a social media series that ran throughout 2020, and Pierre became our safety mascot when the Museum reopened, reminding people to maintain a safe social wingspan. Read Pierre’s story in a blog post I wrote.

The Penguin Pierre campaign won several awards:

Connected by Glass Video Podcast Series

I generated this series during the Museum’s COVID closure in spring 2020. It continued throughout 2021. I fully scripted and organized participants for 12 of the 19 episodes we produced. Guests included the executive producer of PBS NOVA, host of Mysteries at the Museum on the Travel Channel, a NASCAR driver, and the winner of Blown Away.

See the full list of Connected by Glass episodes.

Shattering the Glass Ceiling

To commemorate Inauguration Day when the first woman vice president took office, we created a visual representation of the phrase “shattering the glass ceiling.” I storyboarded and scripted this video.

It was covered in The Art Newspaper.

Recent Major Placements & Influencer Engagements

 

PBS NOVA: Beyond the Elements

Glass so strong you can jump on it, a rubber-like coating tough enough to absorb a bomb blast, endless varieties of plastic. Host David Pogue explores the fantastic chemistry behind the everyday materials we depend on.
Watch segment from 3:50-16:00.

I was involved in fact-checking the content and organizing filming.

YouTube & TikTok Star: Nick Uhas

Nick Uhas is a prominent science influencer and the host of Netflix’s Blown Away. We have collaborated extensively, creating content that shows the versatility of glass. From the unbreakable glass egg (above) to this TikTok with glow-in-the-dark glass, Nick reveals the surprising things glass can do.

Extensive Work with Travel Influencers

I have hosted hundreds of travel bloggers over the years. A recent collaboration was with A Dangerous Business to create a guide and do an IG takeover of the Museum’s channel.

 

Professional Writing Samples
*Additional writing from my travel blog below.

 

Gather Members’ Magazine

  • Winter 2019: “Hundreds of Travel Bloggers Flock to The Corning Museum of Glass,” P. 14; “GlassBarge By the Numbers” details media coverage of mobile glassmaking program, P. 16.

  • Winter 2017: I managed this publication for a number of years and was credited as the chief writer and editor. I wrote the vast majority of copy for this issue. See the feature story “On the Road Again,” P. 4.

Travel Writing from my blog: Byte-Size Travel

Although this site is badly neglected, there are a few writing samples worth including. I became so inspired by my work with travel bloggers and influencers that I started my own travel blog in 2013. Travel is a personal passion that blossomed out of my study abroad experience in Italy (2010). I have been to 33 countries on 5 continents.

“We travel because we need to, because distance and difference are the secret tonic of creativity. When we get home, home is still the same. But something in our mind has changed, and that changes everything.”
— Jonah Lehrer