Stefany Sanders, Social Strategist

The Short Story

I’m the social media director for Jackson Spalding in Atlanta, GA. Jackson Spalding is one of the largest independent marketing communications firm in the southeast.

I keep the firm current on social media tools and trends, and I help clients integrate social media with their communications plans in ways that fit their objectives, audiences and resource capacity. I’m big on data-driven objective setting and meaningful measurement, a mindset I try to instill in everyone I work with.

I’ve worked in digital communications since the mid-90’s in all sorts of capacities - in grad school, on both the agency and client side of the business, in multiple corporate, political and academic sectors.

Most recently before Jackson Spalding I spent several years at Georgia Tech in a very integrated communications function where I was combining digital channels with traditional PR, marketing and internal communications. One advantage of that environment was working closely with one of the top social computing research groups in the world. While research is not as applied as what we do in the agency setting, I was uniquely exposed to the frontiers of digital media in ways many agency consultants are not - it was very cool.

The Longer Story

Jackson Spalding has been making careful investments to grow its digital communications business and I am currently launching expanded Social PR services.  Our clients range from non-profits to large blue chips and represent most non-technology sectors including consumer packaged goods, food and beverage, law and financial services, early childhood and higher education, entertainment and hospitality. I have been helping clients integrate social media into their communications plans, evaluate and optimize their existing programs for deeper engagement and greater effectiveness, and prioritize data-driven strategy setting and objective-driven measurement to get the most out of their investment.

After receiving a Master’s degree in Mass Communications with a specialty in New Media from the University of Georgia in 1999, I went to work for nFront, a tech start-up in the banking industry. I began my career in new media communications as an HTML coder because I loved building websites as a hobby, but it was less appealing as a full-time job and I quickly got promoted into software implementations project management for community banks around the country. I learned that I enjoyed technical project organization, planning, management and “advanced” multitasking, but missed the creative side of communications. In 2000, after Digital Insight acquired nFront and the web development group moved from Atlanta to Athens, GA, I took the opportunity to figure out how to combine a talent for management, my experience in and preference for internet technologies, and the desire to work in marketing communications into one position.

My next move was to Ketchum, a global PR agency with a new media practice called eKetchum. I began as a producer of websites and other types of digital projects such as online games, web-based training systems, multimedia presentations, and intranet development. I was ultimately promoted to interactive consultant where I helped clients develop and integrate digital strategies into their PR and communications plans. I worked with Cingular Wireless, Equifax, Heinz, Visa, BP and several smaller corporate clients and non-profits during my tenure at eKetchum.

Never one to let major change rattle me, I moved to Washington D.C. in 2001 to work at a digital agency that served mostly Democratic political organizations, trade associations and issue advocacy groups. At Mindshare (now Virillion) I was an account executive for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Business Software Alliance, as well as leader of a number of technology projects like HP’s “Vote the HP Way” activist website for the historic vote on the HP/Compaq merger. I would say online communications and technology implementations for grassroots PR, public activation and issue advocacy at Mindshare was my first foray into using the web for two-way interaction, communication and community management – basic tenets of social media today.

In 2002, after getting my fill of Washington politics but with a new appreciation for working with organizations doing socially important things, I returned to Atlanta to apply my experiences in digital communications to an unusual “industry” desperate for modern marketing thinking – higher education. I spent the next eight years at the Georgia Institute of Technology pursuing an opportunity that allowed me to broaden my web-focused communications experience, but still integrate technology and digital communications in a historically traditional sector.

I spent over five years as communications director for the College of Computing and over two years before that as a senior communicator for the Georgia Centers for Advanced Telecommunications Technology research consortium. I created The New Face of Computing brand for the college and contributed significantly to its rise from a nationally ranked Top 20 computer science program to a premier Top 10 program in U.S. News & World Report. Digital communications and media relations were the linchpins of my program and we were among the first higher ed institutions to integrate social media into our communications strategy. I also had the benefit of working with some of the world’s most renowned social computing researchers and gained early conceptual exposure to online community psychology, the future of digital media and what we called “computational journalism.”

Professionally, I am a member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and Social Media Club Atlanta.  I served on the board of the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association (AiMA) in my early career and blogged about higher ed communications for a short while in 2009. Teams I’ve led have won almost 20 industry awards over the last decade and I was honored with the recognition of 2010 Communicator of the Year at Georgia Tech.

Personally, I’ve live in the midtown area of Atlanta since 2002 and am originally from Annapolis, Md. My husband and I enjoy water sports and boating on Lake Lanier, SCUBA diving and beach travel. In my spare time I’m an avid reader and an occasionally dedicated runner. I am a member of the High Museum and I support Atlanta arts as well as charities focused on animal rescue, domestic abuse, women’s rights and choice, and gay rights.

Find me on Twitter as @StefanySays, on LinkedIn or at work.