Walter Thompson

Current

• Marketing/Community Consultant at Independent Consulting (Self-employed)

Past

• Marketing Director at Salon Media Group, Inc.
• Manager, Content/Customer Service at Tribe.net
• Product Manager/Online Marketing Consultant at Independent Consultant (Self-employed)

• Director, Beatnik Productions at Beatnik, Inc.
• Entertainment Producer at Excite
• Editor-in-Chief at FreeLoader, Inc.
• Webmaster/Copywriter at American Entertainment

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Education

• Oberlin College

Recommended

14 people have recommended Walter

Connections

79 connections

Industry

Internet

Websites

• My Blog

Walter Thompson’s Summary

Veteran content producer and community expert with proven talent for product development and managing successful partnerships. Deep experience in developing online marketing tools and strategies that build traffic and awareness for content and registration-based services. Creative, energetic manager/contributor who's comfortable rolling up his sleeves, simultaneously wearing hats for marketing, content and community and mixing metaphors.

Walter Thompson’s Specialties:

Writing, Editing, Community Management, Social Networking, Social Media, Blogging, Word of Mouth Marketing, Product Management, A/B Testing, Multivariate Testing, Competitive Analysis, SEO, SEM, Email Marketing, Guerrilla Marketing, Viral Marketing, Usability Testing, Event Management, Focus Group Management, Photoshop, Video Editing

Walter Thompson’s Experience

• Marketing/Community Consultant

  Independent Consulting (Self-employed)

  (Self-Employed; Myself Only; Internet industry)

  October 2007 — Present (10 months)

  Providing consulting services related to online marketing, Web traffic growth and analysis, online community management, content distribution, SEO and social media.

• Marketing Director

  Salon Media Group, Inc.

  (Public Company; 51-200 employees; Publishing industry)

  February 2006 — October 2007 (1 year 9 months)

  Directed all marketing for online magazine Salon.com, including email, print and online advertising and promotions, local events and incentive programs. Managed Web analytics, test marketing and customer surveys in addition to leading search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. Collaborated with Sales to create new revenue streams, advised executive staff regarding strategic partnerships for social networking and user-generated content. Launched initiative to exchange advertising on Salon.com for ad credits with print, broadcast and online partners. Oversaw customer service staff and reprint/syndication service, validated ROI for marketing programs, facilitated media appearances for Salon contributors.

• Manager, Content/Customer Service

  Tribe.net

  (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Internet industry)

  June 2003 — November 2004 (1 year 6 months)

  Acted as community manager and copywriter for social networking service with more than 400,000 members. Wrote copy for Web site, including FAQ, mission statements and email newsletters. Managed customer service operations via email and internal message boards, responding to more than 100 queries per day. Defined and developed new site features in concert with product management team. Conducted focus groups with members; correlated feedback with site statistics that were used to refine product offerings.

• Product Manager/Online Marketing Consultant

  Independent Consultant (Self-employed)

  (Self-Employed; Myself Only; Internet industry)

  September 1998 — May 2003 (4 years 9 months)

  Worked as a consulting content producer, product manager and copywriter for a number of Internet firms, including Looksmart.com, Xoom.com, NBCi.com, Willowside Investments, HomeGain.com and ModernHumorist.com. Also advised several small businesses in the San Francisco Bay area to help them establish Web presences.

• Director, Beatnik Productions

  Beatnik, Inc.

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Computer Software industry)

  March 2000 — November 2000 (9 months)

  Managed workflow, budgeting, scheduling and personnel of Beatnik Productions, a consulting arm of Beatnik.com, a music technology company. Managed external client accounts and worked with Sales and Marketing teams to cultivate new relationships. Directed virtual teams of engineers and musicians, identified new business opportunities, tracked department's P&L and oversaw development of ongoing projects.

• Entertainment Producer

  Excite

  (Public Company; 501-1000 employees; XCIT; Internet industry)

  August 1997 — August 1998 (1 year 1 month)

  Aggregated music, movie, television and other entertainment content for the Entertainment Channel of the Excite Network. Fostered new relationships with best-of-breed content providers and managed virtual teams of designers and engineers to develop and launch products and content areas. Worked closely with the Marketing and Sales departments to develop new revenue streams around promotions and sponsorships.

• Editor-in-Chief

  FreeLoader, Inc.

  (Public Company; 11-50 employees; Internet industry)

  March 1996 — June 1997 (1 year 4 months)

  Wrote and edited copy in HTML for FreeLoader, an offline web browser. Supervised five-person staff that created original content for daily deadline. Worked with graphic artists to develop complementary graphics; also helped designed corporate Web site and user interface for FreeLoader software. Wrote "FreeLoader Daily," a web magazine that supplemented FreeLoader's software/service. Assisted Marketing and Sales with pitches to potential content partners and advertisers.

• Webmaster/Copywriter

  American Entertainment

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Consumer Goods industry)

  July 1995 — January 1996 (7 months)

  Created Web presence for world's then-largest mail-order retailer of comic books and science fiction memorabilia. Wrote and edited articles for science fiction magazine; supervised staff and freelance writers. Cultivated media contacts, interviewed artists, writers and industry leaders for publication. Handled several marketing responsibilities, including buying ads in major magazines, coordinating promotional events and writing catalog copy.

Walter Thompson’s Education

• Oberlin College

  English, Creative Writing 1987 — 1991

  Activities and Societies:

  Oberlin Review (writer and editor), Literary Magazine, Playwriting, Video

Additional Information

Walter Thompson’s Websites:

• My Blog

Walter Thompson’s Interests:

screenwriting, travel, video editing, cooking

Walter Thompson’s Groups:

•    Excite@Home Alumni member
•    Social Media Today member
•    Film Financing Forum member
•    Community 2.0 member
•    Social Network Professionals member

Walter Thompson’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• expertise requests
• business deals
• reference requests
• getting back in touch