Al Tepper

Current

• Head of Marketing (+ Chief Evangelist @ ooffoo.com) at NaturalCollection.com

Past

• Head of Online Development at Caspian Publishing
• Founding editor at CityHippy.net Blog (Self-employed)
• Blog Editor at The Ecologist Magazine

• Marketing Executive at Caspian Publishing
• Publishing Assistant at The Confederation of British Industry

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2 more...

Education

• The University of Stirling
• St. Francis Xavier University

Recommended

11 people have recommended Al

Connections

232 connections

Industry

Online Media

Websites

• My Employer

Al Tepper’s Summary

I am a senior management, new media, get-it-done, good guy with a hybrid of commercial, editorial and technical skills within the community, retail and publishing sectors.

Additionally I have written for a variety of green lifestyle blogs (founded cityhippy.net, contributed to theecologist.org/blog.asp and hippyshopper.com) and have had a couple of articles published by media (NewMediaAge) and business (RealBusiness) magazines.

I now work in ethical retail for the UKs leading eco department store, naturalcollection.com

Al Tepper’s Specialties:

Publishing, digital/new media strategy, marketing, content development and maximising the potential of the social web (blogging, networks etc) for business. Additionally I have blogging and writing experience on green lifestyle and web strategy issues. Finally I am one to definitely include for fire-starting & brain-storming sessions.

Al Tepper’s Experience

• Head of Marketing (+ Chief Evangelist @ ooffoo.com)

  NaturalCollection.com

  (Retail industry)

  October 2006 — Present (2 years 10 months)

  A new position working for this market-leading and standard-setting ethical retailer. I will be responsible for web strategy, marketing/pr and business/joint venture development.
  
  + have just launched a community marketplace for Natural Collection called ooffoo.com

• Head of Online Development

  Caspian Publishing

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Publishing industry)

  January 2001 — October 2006 (5 years 10 months)

  This role started as Web Manager in 2001 and gave me the chance to create a space within Caspian Publishing for a New Media Division. Not an easy task given the old-school publishing reality.
  
  I learnt an incredible amount in this role including a variety of technical, marketing, management, strategy, design, editorial and commercial skills.
  
  After four years of hard work Caspian Online evolved from a one man unit into a proper team and it grew from there. I now have four technical staff reporting directly to me.
  
  Highlights include re-launching www.realbusiness.co.uk (launched end Oct 06) and launching a micro-site for IBM (www.realbusinessinsights.co.uk).
  
  I have been published in New Media Age (http://tinyurl.com/n3cur) and in Real Business (http://tinyurl.com/megpz) in relation to this role.

• Founding editor

  CityHippy.net Blog (Self-employed)

  (Self-Employed; 1-10 employees; Online Media industry)

  February 2005 — October 2006 (1 year 9 months)

  Started this blog back in Feb 05 as an attempt to a) understand blogging and b) green my life. It has achieved both of those goals. Additionally I have also learned much about e-marketing and the social web. The blog has now expanded to include City Editors from a number of UK cities and even one in San Francisco. Key achievements include:
  
  THE STARBUCKS CHALLENGE
  I worked with www.greenLAgirl.com to create the Starbucks Challenge, a Web 2.0 consumer activism project that achieved international success including coverage in the Guardian & BusinessWeek to name a key few. More info: http://tinyurl.com/g7wzm
  
  THE CARNIVAL OF THE GREEN
  I launched, with Nick Aster of www.triplepundit.com , the Carnival of the Green - a roving digest of the green blogosphere. More info: http://tinyurl.com/gmjx6
  
  Most importantly though starting CityHippy has connected me to a fantastic group of people who both care about the planet we all share and understand the realities of change.

• Blog Editor

  The Ecologist Magazine

  (Non-Profit; 11-50 employees; Online Media industry)

  August 2006 — October 2006 (3 months)

  Brought my green blogging development and marketing experience to bear for this most prestigious of environmental magazines. Have led on the blog's functional development (still in progress) and am assisting with various marketing mechanisms to spread the word. Am also writing for the blog and coordinating with other bloggers.

• Marketing Executive

  Caspian Publishing

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Publishing industry)

  November 1999 — January 2001 (1 year 3 months)

  A fantastic role dealing with subscriptions and circulation marketing and management.

• Publishing Assistant

  The Confederation of British Industry

  (Non-Profit; 201-500 employees; Political Organization industry)

  August 1998 — October 1999 (1 year 3 months)

  First role straight out of University and here I was working for the largest most prestigious business organisation in the UK. A varied role with involvement in many areas including subscriptions, marketing and production.

Al Tepper’s Education

• The University of Stirling

  MPhil , Publishing Studies , 1997 — 1998

  The course covered editorial, design, sales, production, legal, marketing and online publishing.
  
  My dissertation 'Go Forth & Inform: The role of the publisher in the Post-Information Age', looked at the works of Neil Postman, Joseph Campbell, Marshall McLuhan etc to examine the role of publishers in an online world.
  
  I argued that publishers would find it harder to succeed in the 'Post-Information Age' due to a shifting of ground underneath them. I theorised that the 'Information Age' started with Gutenberg and ended with Berners-Lee and that we are now in the 'Post Information Age' due to the ubiquity of information lowering its value. Publishers were traditionally used to functioning in a controlled space where limited access to information equalled value.
  
  In contrast, value is now defined by accessibility and delivery. Publishers add value through context, editing and analysis. Those that do, win. Those that don't will be forgotten.

• St. Francis Xavier University

  BA (Adv Maj) , Political Science , 1991 — 1997

  Enjoyed this degree and Nova Scotia in general. A beautiful part of the planet with extremely friendly people. A real education coming from London, one of the world's largest cities.
  
  Great university and ranked #1 in MacLeans (http://tinyurl.com/lmupv) again! Wahoo!!

  Activities and Societies:

  X Debate, Survival X, Committee of Love, CFXU

Additional Information

Al Tepper’s Websites:

• My Employer

Al Tepper’s Interests:

Media, Online, Blogging, New Media, Social Networks, Chess, Football, Spurs, Eco, Nature, Comedy, Ideas, Innovation, Entrepreneurs

Al Tepper’s Honors:

Nothing to shout about but I did graduate Deans List with an Advanced Major (a high 2:1 equivalent in the UK) and I also won the 'Individual Debator' Award at the 'Atlantic Canada Debate Tournament' held at St. Thomas University (Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada) in 1994.

Al Tepper’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• career opportunities
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