Derek Gordon

Current

Vice President, Marketing at Yield Software

Past

Social Marketing & Brand Strategist at MacKay Miley LLC
Interim President & CEO; Vice President of Product & Marketing at Engage Corp.
Vice President of Marketing at Technorati

Sr. Marketing Communications Director at Thomson NETg
Strategist & Business Partner at Independent Consultant
Corporate Communications Director at DigitalThink, Inc. (acquired by Convergys)
Marketing & Communications Director at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Communications Director at San Francisco AIDS Foundation

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Education

California State University-Hayward

Recommended

54 people have recommended Derek

Connections

500+ connections

Industry

Marketing and Advertising

Websites

My Blog

Derek Gordon’s Summary

Results-oriented marketing leader with 20 years experience serving extraordinary organizations. Expert across all disciplines, including PR and the field of social, conversational and viral marketing. Strategic product marketing expert skilled in competitive and creative go-to-market execution. Proven leader, respected advisor and excellent communicator

Derek Gordon’s Specialties:

Social Media
Viral Marketing
Product Development / Improvement
Marketing Communications
Product Marketing
Public Relations
Investor Relations

Derek Gordon’s Experience

Vice President, Marketing

Yield Software

(Marketing and Advertising industry)

January 2009 — Present (7 months)

Lead the marketing and communications strategies for this innovating start-up focused on the automation of search engine marketing and optimization, and conversion optimization.
Social Marketing & Brand Strategist

MacKay Miley LLC

(Marketing and Advertising industry)

May 2008 — December 2008 (8 months)

Provide social media, marketing / brand management, and change integration strategy as a consultant and business partner to both innovative start-ups and the world's leading brands.
Interim President & CEO; Vice President of Product & Marketing

Engage Corp.

(Internet industry)

November 2007 — September 2008 (11 months)

Acquired by Spark Networks, led the integrated marketing and product strategies for this disruptive start-up bringing together the best of the social Web with the proven business model of online personals, resulting in rapid growth and positive buzz.

> Oversaw new member acquisition / conversion strategies, including SEO / SEM, affiliate, and CPC / CPM / CPA advertising. Managed the execution of viral marketing / distributed app strategies.

> Implemented corporate branding, messaging and positioning strategies; strategic events, speaking engagements and gorilla marketing efforts; social marketing initiatives, including blogging, microblogging and social network integration; and all PR and outbound communications.

> Directed product marketing and development efforts, including competitive research, product roadmap management, PRD development, release management and go-to-market strategies. Managed product managers, visual designers, and development resources.
Vice President of Marketing

Technorati

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

October 2005 — November 2007 (2 years 2 months)

Responsible for marketing programs, social Web / viral strategies, and product marketing for this renowned Web 2.0 start-up, the authority on the blogosphere and the exploding array of social media on the Web. Served as interim co-President throughout a CEO search.

> Introduced an integrated marketing program, including public / community relations, direct marketing, strategic events, thought leadership programs, virality and SEO initiatives, resulting in 100x increases in page views and unique visitors over more than two years.

> Led the development / execution of the product roadmap with the engineering team, including the consumer Web site, B2B syndication services and enterprise conversational marketing products.

> Built first sales team, introduced display advertising, and grew ad revenues by 10x in one year, while also introducing enterprise products and services that produced new fee-for-service revenues that scaled to more than $1 million in the first year.
Sr. Marketing Communications Director

Thomson NETg

(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; TOC; E-Learning industry)

June 2003 — October 2005 (2 years 5 months)

Provided marketing communications leadership for NETg, an enterprise e-learning software, content and services business of Thomson Reuters.

> Responsible for overall branding and positioning strategies; advertising and direct marketing; industry, client and sales incentive events; corporate communications; and field marketing activities. Managed a team of eight professionals, third-party agency relationships and a budget in the millions of dollars.

> Contributed to double-digit revenue growth over two years while introducing multiple new products and services to the market in coordination with product marketing/product development teams. Developed marketing strategies targeting enterprise, small/medium business and channel markets.

> Led all PR strategies, and developed communications plans and provided integration leadership throughout multiple acquisitions.
Strategist & Business Partner

Independent Consultant

(Internet industry)

January 2002 — June 2003 (1 year 6 months)

Developed and executed public relations and marketing strategies for multiple clients including:

> Thomson / NETg (now Thomson Reuters), Naperville, IL. Served as interim director for marcom for this Fortune 200 digital media and services company; transitioned to employed status.

> VaxGen, Inc., Brisbane, CA. Provided strategic communications counsel, planning and execution for this renowned biotechnology company specializing in vaccines development, leading to the announcement of results for the world’s only HIV/AIDS vaccine candidate to complete Phase III clinical trials. Executed a large-scale community and government relations plan targeting world health leaders, U.S. policy-makers and community-based organizations globally.

> Convene, Inc., San Francisco, CA. Wrote the company prospectus. Built the PR plan and customer testimonial program. Developed new messaging for the company and reworked all collateral and Website content to ensure consistency of messaging.
Corporate Communications Director

DigitalThink, Inc. (acquired by Convergys)

(Internet industry)

August 1999 — November 2001 (2 years 4 months)

Directed the communications effort for this industry-leading e-learning company. Developed overall messaging strategies in support of brand and sales objectives, leading to the creation of a new market category, e-learning, and contributing to a quadrupling of revenues.

> Directed all media relations, industry analyst relations and employee communications, and managed a team of four communications professionals. Managed relationships with PR agencies in the U.S., Europe and India, generating broad media coverage.

> Developed the communications plan and road show messaging for the company’s successful IPO, generating comprehensive press and analyst coverage. Prepared and staffed all executive communications, including quarterly investor calls and conferences.

> Initiated and built the market analyst relations program resulting in broad coverage from Gartner, Gartner/Dataquest, IDC, Forrester, Brandon Hall.com and others.
Marketing & Communications Director

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

(Non-Profit; 11-50 employees; Museums and Institutions industry)

July 1998 — August 1999 (1 year 2 months)

Provided marketing and public relations leadership for this world-class, $6 million multi-disciplinary contemporary arts center. Led a staff of four marketing communications professionals while overseeing the work of public relations, collateral design and advertising agency services.
Communications Director

San Francisco AIDS Foundation

(Non-Profit; 51-200 employees; Non-Profit Organization Management industry)

May 1993 — June 1998 (5 years 2 months)

Directed public relations, social marketing/advertising, Web site development, promotions, collateral and publications for this $25 million non-profit AIDS service organization. Implemented strategies that contributed to fund-raising growth of more than 20% and service delivery increases of 350%.

Derek Gordon’s Education

California State University-Hayward

Mass Communications 1982 — 1986

Activities and Societies:

President of the Student Body, 1985-86
Reporter on school paper 1983-85