Never one to be humble, I’m pretty good at what I do. As a communications professional with years of experience in connecting people and information, I’ve built up quite a skill set within nonprofit communications, marketing and development since 2003, specifically in higher education. I am a member of the Advertising Club of Buffalo and IABC, the International Association of Business Communicators.

I am a proud volunteer with the Springville-Griffith Community Education Foundation.

My favorite question is “Why not try it?” followed closely by “What’s the next big thing?”

Once described by a colleague as “unapologetically pragmatic,” my most satisfying days find me taking a good idea and turning it into an effective plan with an on-message strategy. I pay attention to trends in social media and how those trends intersect with public relations and marketing.

Where others see problems, I see creative and efficient solutions.

I am a confident writer, an out-of-the-box thinker and a technophile with extensive experience designing, developing and maintaining web sites. See my full employment history at LinkedIn or contact me (karamariek@gmail.com) for a copy of my resume.

My professional loves include writing, public relations and social media. My professional dislikes include serial commas and email messages without a subject line. In a pinch, I can take decent photos, and I am fluent in HTML.

I have a master’s degree in communication from the State University of New York at Buffalo, where I focused on mass media, web communications and networks. Previous to that, I earned a bachelor of arts in political science from Le Moyne College in Syracuse, NY. Go ‘phins.

Once upon a time, I wrote a list of words that described me. My web site seems like a nice place to store them:

Kara challenges, champions and plans; Kara is creative, proactive and strategic; Kara is a writer, thinker and motivator.

Product Reviews

I would be pleased as punch to write reviews for books, web sites, blogs, movies or products. Caveat: they must be awesome.

“Signature Strengths”

In 2010, my office participated in a day-long internal training session where we identified and walked through, individually and as a team, our “signature strengths.”

Mine are:

Analytical – you search for reasons and causes. You have the ability to think about all the factors that might affect a situation. Others
see you as logical and rigorous. You do not want to destroy others’ ideas but you do insist that their theories be sound.

Discipline – You enjoy routine and structure, focusing on timelines and deadlines. You break long-term projects into a series of specific
short-term plans and you work through each plan diligently. You create order and a way to continue progress.

Input. You have a craving to know more, and often collect and archive information. You keep acquiring, compiling and filing stuff
away because it’s interesting and keeps your mind fresh, without knowing when and why you might need it.

Leader – you have a great desire to continuously improve. Learning enables you to thrive in dynamic work environments where you are asked to take on short project assignments and learn a lot about the new subject matter in a short period of time.

Strategic – You find alternative ways to proceed, sorting through clutter to find the best route. It is not a skill that can be taught.
You play out alternative scenarios, allowing you to see around the next corner. You discard paths that lead nowhere.