Melissa (Barciniak) Dobson

Current

Finger Lakes Chapter Director at Academy of Wine Communications
Owner at Melissa Dobson PR & Marketing

Past

Freelance PR Consultant at Percepture
Press and Events Coordinator at Deutsch Advertising
Advertising Group Account Assistant at Deutsch Advertising

Communications Intern at Buffalo Spree Publishing
Travel Consultant at Liberty Travel

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Education

State University of New York at Buffalo
State University of New York College at Geneseo

Recommended

5 people have recommended Melissa

Connections

101 connections

Industry

Public Relations and Communications

Melissa (Barciniak) Dobson’s Summary

Solo entrepreneur specializing in public relations, branding, social media mentoring for wineries and small businesses. I can help you understand and leverage Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms in an interactive workshop setting or one-on-one.

Highlights:
• Social Media Mentoring: Conducted the first Social Media Basics Workshop for wineries in the Finger Lakes region
• Spearheaded first Finger Lakes Wine "Tweetup"
• Relationship building: Engages in conversation with wine industry thought leaders on social networks including Open Wine Consortium, Facebook and Twitter
• Passionate about humanizing brands by showcasing the faces behind them
• Regional Branding Event Co-Organizer: First PALATE showcase in Finger Lakes Wine Country
Solicited educators for seminars
Initiated movie screening of Merlove
Secured attendance by NY wine bloggers
Secured PALATE listings and press coverage
• Wine Blogger: Established Family, Love, Wine Blog to speak directly to winery principals about creative marketing ideas to promote their wineries. Contributes to The New York Cork Report blog

Clients: Vin 65, Finger Lakes Wine Alliance, Finger Lakes Wine Country Tourism Marketing Association, Wark Communications, Illinois Wine Consumer Coalition, Haber Family Vineyards, Keuka College ASAP, Yates County Chamber of Commerce

Past experience: Samuel Adams Beer, Snapple and 7UP PLUS while working for a top Manhattan marketing communications agency.

Seeking new clients and projects in the Wine Communications space.

Email: Melissa.Dobson(at)avantguild.com

PR courses, events & conferences:

Bulldog Reporter's "Pitching Food and Beverage Media"
Multiple Marketing Prof's webinars including Social Media Summer Series
Master Class with Kevin Zraly
Consumer Judge at 2008 Golden Nose Awards
North American Wine Bloggers Conference-2008 & 2009
TasteCamp East 2009

Melissa (Barciniak) Dobson’s Specialties:

Social Media Education and Strategy...Humanizing Brands...Public Relations…Media Relations…Relationship Building...Copy Writing…Editing…Event Management...Marketing Communications…Brainstorming...Project Management

Melissa (Barciniak) Dobson’s Experience

Finger Lakes Chapter Director

Academy of Wine Communications

(Public Relations and Communications industry)

September 2009 — Present (3 months)
Owner

Melissa Dobson PR & Marketing

(Public Relations and Communications industry)

January 2008 — Present (1 year 11 months)

Wine public relations
Social media education and strategy development
Branding and awareness
Develop strong relationships with customers and experts in the wine industry
Provide journalists, bloggers with valuable content
Creative marketing ideas to establish micro-communities that drive sales
Freelance PR Consultant

Percepture

(Public Relations and Communications industry)

April 2007 — April 2008 (1 year 1 month)

Freelance PR Consultant to Percepture on various clients
Press and Events Coordinator

Deutsch Advertising

(Public Company; 201-500 employees; Public Relations and Communications industry)

August 2005 — November 2006 (1 year 4 months)
Advertising Group Account Assistant

Deutsch Advertising

(Public Company; 201-500 employees; Marketing and Advertising industry)

2004 — 2005 (1 year )
Communications Intern

Buffalo Spree Publishing

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

January 2003 — April 2003 (4 months)
Travel Consultant

Liberty Travel

(Privately Held; 1001-5000 employees; Leisure, Travel & Tourism industry)

April 1999 — September 2001 (2 years 6 months)

Melissa (Barciniak) Dobson’s Education

State University of New York at Buffalo

BA , Communications-PR & Advertising , 2002 — 2003

Activities and Societies:

Honors: Golden Key International Honor Society
State University of New York College at Geneseo

Business Administration 1986 — 1988

Activities and Societies:

Phi Lambda Chi, Flag Football

Additional Information

Melissa (Barciniak) Dobson’s Interests:

Learning about trends in the wine, culinary and travel industries and all things related to public relations. Yoga, exploring wineries, entertaining, international cooking, NFL football, family get-togethers, Food Network, social networking.