Susan Mernit

Susan Mernit

Get it done consultant/entrepreneur/blogger/change-maker

San Francisco Bay Area

Current
  • Cofounder at Oakland Local & Public Media Collaborative
  • Consultant, Strategist, Developer, Troublemaker at susanmernit.com
Past

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7 more...

Education
  • Bard College
  • The Ohio State University
Recommended
Susan has 23 recommendations 23 people have recommended Susan
Connections
500+ connections
Industry
Internet
Websites

Susan Mernit’s Summary

Highly skilled generalist with great understanding of business & revenue issues, user experience & customer value, and deep bench strength in technology/product development and media. Personal passions for hyperlocal & community, metrics & funnel management & mission driven organizations all play out in my work. If you want a skilled strategist & executer for a consumer focused web or social media product, or need someone to help you develop new products to fit customer segments and business goals, I have a track record and a passion for this work.

Also recognized as a highly skilled trainer, facilitator and writer/blogger. Enjoy working with both large and small companies to create new opportunities and/or add bench strength on projects.

My client list can be viewed at susanmernit.com/clients.
Email me directly at smernit@gmail.com.

Susan Mernit’s Specialties:

Executive leadership, product development, social media, RSS, blogging, user engagement, twitter, nonprofits, foundations, premium services, team building, social ventures, community, change maker, hyperlocal, online news, workshops.

Susan Mernit’s Experience

  • Cofounder

    Oakland Local & Public Media Collaborative

    (Internet industry)

    January 2009 — Present (7 months)

    Founder of Oakland Local, a hyperlocal news & community information hub for Oakland launching in fall 2009; awarded J-Lab grant. Cofounder of Public Media Collaborative, a volunteer group teaching mission-driven groups how to use social media tools effectively.

    Also consulting part-time to bootstrap above; check susanmernit. com for more details.

  • Consultant, Strategist, Developer, Troublemaker

    susanmernit.com

    (Internet industry)

    May 2008 — Present (1 year 3 months)

    Actively consulting for selected companies on a retainer and project basis with a focus on nonprofits, foundations and funnel-driven start ups. Also writing and training in social media strategy and execution. Consulting for a few companies on retainer and project basis. Most recently, Program Mgr, Knight News Challenge. Managed program, broaden reach and improve quality/diversity of applications nd international reach. Developed social media marketing program, online incubator, peer mentoring program, plus series of real time meet-ups . Radically increased awareness and application diversity--check susanmernit.com for write up on project and list of other current clients.

  • Program Manager/Consultant

    John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

    (Non-Profit; Philanthropy industry)

    May 2008 — March 2009 (11 months)

    Program Manager/Consulting responsible for the 2008--09 Knight News Challenge program administration, oversight, outreach and marketing. Developed online mentoring program, social media outreach program, manage reviewing process.

  • Co-founder, Peoples Software Company

    TechStars

    (Internet industry)

    May 2008 — August 2008 (4 months)

    One of 10 out of 400 applicants selected as a TechStars 2008 incubator company; started Peoples Software Company and developed WhozAround? a messaging and scheduling tool that makes it easier to make plans with friends. Think "twitter for calendars". TechStars rocked.

  • Senior Director, Product

    Yahoo!

    (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; YHOO; Internet industry)

    January 2006 — February 2008 (2 years 2 months)

    Drove strategy and led product, revenue optimization and customer care teams for Y! Personals, leading cross-function teams of 30+ engineers, designers and product managers. Increased revenue per user and added advertising to site to meet revenue goals; rebuilt funnel to achieve new order and conversion targets. Integrated social media experiences, optimized SEO and landing page/affiliate experience, hired and retained 95% of team during time of great upheaval. Participated in company-wide initiatives around FaceBook, content personalization, search. Shipped on time, on schedule, on budget.

  • Partner

    5ive

    (Internet industry)

    January 2003 — January 2006 (3 years 1 month)

    Founder and rainmaker for 5ive, a digital media/consumer experience consultancy focused on new product development, revenue optimization, and strategic planning for news and media. Bi-coastal clients included TV Guide, Associated Press, Consumer Reports, Hearst Magazine Group (Cosmogirl.com, Redbook.com), Pluck, Yoga Journal, Knight Ridder Digital, and several Silicon-Valley startups. Focus on planning and launching new businesses/digital products. Releases included community platform integration for TV Guide, new web site for Redbook.com, widget platform swicki (Eurekster), newsreader Rojo (Rojo), and blog syndication platform Blogburst (Pluck.).

  • Vice President, Programming & Network Strategy

    America Online Inc., AOL

    (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; TWX; Internet industry)

    July 2002 — January 2003 (7 months)

    Developed live programming to increase revenue and audience engagement, including Live@Sessions, Hot Gossip & other webcast/video blogging programs. Covered early social media for AOL, including white papers on blogging and community used for revamp of Community strategy.

  • Vice President, Products & Programming

    America Online Inc., AOL

    (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; TWX; Internet industry)

    June 2001 — June 2002 (1 year 1 month)

    Developed programs to retain major advertisers on AOL service. Saved accounts with Bertelsmann, Phillips, Sony, and eBay, Discovery, Coke and Burger King through product integration with editorial programming and AOL tool sets. Secured over $4.5 MM in new partner advertising revenue and retained $15MM in revenue. Created key editorial/sales tools, including AOLTW’s first Editorial/Revenue calendar.

  • Vice President, Programming, Design & Production

    Netscape

    (Internet industry)

    December 1999 — June 2001 (1 year 7 months)

    Join six months after acquisition and three weeks before merger. Transformed Netscape.com into the #1 daytime work/home content destination on the Net. Tripled advertising and commerce revenue through site redesign, toll and partner integration, and marketing programs. Managed $150 MM P&L, staff of 80. Brought Netscape to position as highest profit margin of all AOL online brands. Built new programming, production and design team (60 people) within 40 days of hire, redid portal site to maximize page views, engagement. Oversaw first Overture paid search deal for AOLTW; retained $18MM in search revenue for company.

  • Director/GM, New Media

    Parade Magazine

    (Privately Held; 501-1000 employees; Newspapers industry)

    August 1997 — December 1999 (2 years 5 months)

    Parade Magazine needed to develop a viable online media business for react, a teen magazine, and launch a web site for their main property, Parade Magazine (80MM readers weekly). Oversaw the relaunch of react.com, the first print/online combination start-up. Negotiated strategic partnerships with America Online, Yahoo!, Lycos, DoubleClick. Developed consumer and educator marketing programs with 100+ newspaper partners.

  • Editorial Director

    New Jersey Online, Advance Internet

    (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Online Media industry)

    September 1995 — August 1997 (2 years)

    Founding editor and editorial director for Advance Internet newspaper and local community sites. Co-founded and created New Jersey Online (NJO) – www.nj.com, the award winning news and information Web site for New Jersey.

    Developed a programming strategy and marketing program that generated over 750,000 unique monthly users & over 600 advertising relationships, ranging from national to local retailers. Built 4 new platforms used across network.

    --NJO’s awards include Best Online Newspaper by the Newspaper Association of America (1996); Top Ten News Site by The American Journalism Review (1997) and Best Community Publishing Effort by Editor & Publisher Magazine (1999).

    --Created and managed development of Advance community tool (see community.nj.com), winner of E&P and NAA awards for best community product.

    --Created and spun out The Yuckiest Site on the Internet (www.yucky.com), a science entertainment site for children and teens ages 8-15.

  • Director, Digital Media

    Scholastic, Scholastic Network

    (Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; Online Media industry)

    August 1992 — June 1995 (2 years 11 months)

    Developed concepts for, built and ran Scholastic’s first online products—Scholastic Network, a premium online service for K-12 teachers and students, run on America Online; and Scholastic Central, Scholastic’s first web site.
    Launched first online version of The Magic School Bus. Built digital libraries and online store.

Susan Mernit’s Education

  • Bard College

    BA , English, writing , 1976 — 1979

  • The Ohio State University

    MA , English Literature

    Teaching Fellow. kept 3.6 average while working full-time and actively publishing poetry, essays, book reviews, fiction in The New York Times, Washington Post, Newsday, Virginia Quarterly Review, American Book Review, The Feminist Review of Books, and other journals.

    Activities and Societies:
    First introduction to OCLC and computerized library data.

Additional Information

Susan Mernit’s Websites:

Susan Mernit’s Interests:

Product development, social media, metadata, blogging, Web 2.0, feminism, speaking & facilitation, urban homesteading, permaculture, social ventures, local community empowerment, writing, poetry, hiking, saving the world. My dog.

Susan Mernit’s Groups:

EIR, Ifocos.org; advisor, Blogher; Member, Online News Association, Trustee,Ourmedia.org,, Member, Media Bloggers Association. Co-organizer, Shes Geeky,speaker, 2008 We Media, Country Living Women Entrepreneurs conference, O'Reilly Web 2.0 Summit, Arse Electronika, Women Who Tech

  •    BlogOn
  •    ContentNext
  •    ExMozilla
  •    AOLAlumni
  •    Online News Association
  •    We Media
  •    Women 2.0
  •    Tech Policy Summit
  •    NetSquared
  •    BlogHer
  •    Internet Dating Executive Alliance
  •    Coworking
  •    Yahoo!
  •    Yahoo Alums
  •    She's Geeky
  •    Women Tech Council
  •    Yahoo Employees
  •    Bard College Alumni/ae Association
  •    Yahoo Employees and Alumni Group
  •    TechStars
  •    AOL CONNECTIONS
  •    Scholastic Employees & Alumni Network
  •    Startup Mastermind
  •    Knight Digital Media Center
  •    Tools of Change for Publishing
  •    Girl Geek Dinners
  •    Mavin Digital Mashup
  •    Spot.us
  •    Public Media Collaborative

Susan Mernit’s Honors:

Products I've worked on have received the following awards:
Bloggies finalist, Susan Mernit's blog; Netscape.com: Deloitte & Touche, Fast Award, 2001.
New Jersey Online: Best Online Newspaper by the Newspaper Association of America (1996); Top Ten News Site by The American Journalism Review (1997) and Best Community Publishing Effort by Editor & Publisher Magazine (1999).
Community Connection: Winner of E&P and NAA awards for best community product,1999.
Yucky.com: Webby finalist, 1999, Best Online Site for Families; Family PC (1998), Nomination for Webby Award, (1990), Top Ten Family Web Sites, Parents Magazine (1998).
Scholastic Network: SIIA, Codie Award.

Susan Mernit’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

  • consulting offers
  • new ventures
  • job inquiries
  • expertise requests
  • business deals
  • reference requests
  • getting back in touch

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