Walter Thompson

Current

Community Management/Marketing consultant at Independent Contractor (Self-employed)

Past

Community Manager at StumbleUpon
Marketing/Community Consultant at Independent Consulting
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

see less...

6 more...

Education

Oberlin College

Recommended

21 people have recommended Walter

Connections

143 connections

Industry

Internet

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, Experiential Marketing, Usability Testing, Event Management, Focus Group Management, Photoshop, Video Editing

Walter Thompson’s Experience

Community Management/Marketing consultant
Independent Contractor (Self-employed)

(Self-Employed; Management Consulting industry)

April 2009 — Present (8 months)

After several years developing, marketing and managing online communities, I'm sharing my knowledge and insight with firms seeking to understand social media and community management.

Communicating directly with your users and customers produces major benefits, as well as the potential for easily-avoided pitfalls . As a community expert with deep marketing experience, I'm helping startups and established firms understand and adopt optimal practices for communication and fostering positive user/group behavior.
Community Manager

StumbleUpon

(Public Company; ebay; Internet industry)

June 2008 — April 2009 (11 months)

Manage community for StumbleUpon, a service that enables individuals to discover and share Web sites that are keyed to their interests. Hired to promote user retention, engagement, education and understanding for a community with more than 7 million members. Work closely with Marketing team to shape internal and external messaging, in addition to overseeing customer service operations for our consumer app as well as our advertising platform.

Effectively communicate with users via blogs, newsletters and daily reviews, monitor discussion groups, member feedback and answer support emails. Seek to understand user trends and opinions to champion community concerns internally. Monitor site activity to prevent spam and respond to user disputes and breaches of Terms of Service. Design and implement engaging outreach programs, Community events and advertiser education materials.
Marketing/Community Consultant

Independent Consulting

(Internet industry)

October 2007 — May 2008 (8 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