Ariel Oltean

Experience

• 

  Central Michigan Life

  Aug 2009 - May 2012

  Managing Editor

  I previously worked as a staff reporter and senior reporter at the paper beginning in 2009. As Managing Editor, I was responsible for organizing the content of the paper by working with the Metro Editor, Student Life Editor and University Editor, as well as collaborating with the Photo Editor and designers. I determined the placement of each story in the paper, which published three times a week and was constantly updated at cm-life.com, as well as promoted our stories through social media. I also developed story ideas and packages and planned the layout of the paper in advance. Show less

• 

  Midland Daily News

  May 2011 - Aug 2011

  Intern

  I covered a variety of stories while interning during the summer; Dow Chemical, local meeting coverages, business, features, as well as pitched several business packages that ran in Sunday sections together with photo.

• 

  Midland Daily News

  May 2012 - May 2013

  Freelance Reporter

  I covered a variety of stories on a freelance basis, such as features, local politics, campus event coverages and in-depth pieces while completing my senior year at Central Michigan University.

• 

  Carbon Media Group

  May 2013 - Dec 2014

  As Managing Editor, I helped lead a team of writers and edited all content before it was published, as well as retained my responsibilities as Staff Writer. The company focuses on outdoor sports, and I wrote, edited, and planned content for the action sports vertical, which centered on hiking, kayaking, biking, camping and other nature-focused activities. Two standout projects: gear reviews that ranged from hiking boots to kayaks (those were always fun and frequently took me to Northern Michigan), and an in-depth feature where I interviewed 26 people who hiked the Appalachian Trail. Most people who hike the AT are not only passionate about hiking, but a major life event is what tends to drive their passion to commit in the first place. It was an incredible experience getting to know people on such a deep level about why they decided to do the hike, and it was a defining moment for me in learning how to connect with and understand others — it's helped me in work to this day. In addition to my daily writing and content management duties, I attended Outdoor Retailer twice each year, developing content about the latest and greatest products in the outdoor space while networking with clients and prospective clients within the industry. Show less This was my first role after completing my undergraduate degree, building on my background in journalism as I wrote a variety of stories daily for the action sports vertical. I focused on outdoor sports such as kayaking, hiking, mountain biking, snowboarding, and beyond, writing aggregated and original news content as the site's lead writer. I reported to and collaborated with our managing editor, helped streamline the content workflow, dove into analytics for future planning, and represented our company as well as reported at national outdoor industry events such as Outdoor Retailer. I also launched a daily newswire that was sent to several thousand subscribers, which featured our latest stories and drove website traffic. Show less

  • Associate Managing Editor of ActionHub

    Jun 2014 - Dec 2014

  • Staff Writer

    May 2013 - Dec 2014
• 

  Crain's Detroit Business

  Dec 2014 - May 2016

  Marketing Coordinator

  This was a hybrid role that pulled on my journalism and editing background, as well as my skills in project management, design, presentation building, and allowed me to get comfortable in a leadership role. I co-led the coordination of the brand's ad schedule, which included both client and house ads across all print and digital platforms, and co-led marketing efforts for Detroit Homecoming, an initiative that works to bring successful expats back to Detroit to reinvest in their hometown. I helped pitch new expats, connecting with them and delivering reports on the impact of the initiative to increase attendance. I also provided support to the sales team through data entry and ad scheduling, the creation of pitch decks, as well as email marketing and project management — including onsite coordination day of — for our 10+ events per year. I collaborated constantly with clients, account executives, the creative team and production department to ensure all ad campaigns were carried out successfully. I also helped revamp the content and design of all sales materials coinciding with 2015 rebranding. Show less

• 

  Crain Communications

  May 2016 - now

  I manage all corporate communications for Crain, a media company with 20+ B2B brands within its portfolio. I originally joined the company in 2014 working at one of our regional business brands and now lead corporate communications, managing a small team along with our annual department budget. I serve on the leadership team, working directly with key executives to help determine strategy and define all communication efforts. We manage all corporate messaging and assist many of the the 20+ brands in the Crain portfolio with the creation of ads, press releases, and other custom design and content projects, partnering with all teams across the company, as well as standardizing branding and messaging. I measure areas of engagement from internal communication via our intranet and Sailthru, web analytics, and social media analytics via Hootsuite to make data-informed decisions that help refine our strategy over time. I also analyze our annual employee engagement survey data to determine key areas of improvement, helping to create strategies around new goals and communicate those as needed. I'm skilled at tailoring information to key audiences, developing strong working relationships with team members and executives, and bringing consistency through strong project management and influential content creation and distribution. My skillset is rooted in journalism, research and editing but also spreads into areas of design (Adobe Creative Cloud, namely InDesign and Photoshop, and presentations), event planning (10+ annual brand and corporate events during my time at Crain), and I'm accustomed to working with internal and external audiences around the world. Show less I first joined the Corporate Communications team at Crain as Content Manager in 2016, eventually leading the department as Corporate Communications and Events Manager, also serving as interim director. I held much of the same responsibilities as my current role, with responsibility for leading the team and overseeing overall strategy growing over time. Our team was and is responsible for all internal and external content, including our intranet and employee communications and events, the website, social media, and public relations efforts. I was responsible for working with the team to create branding and ensure the brand guide was implemented across all touch points. I was also tasked with overhauling our communications strategy, bringing consistency and a feedback loop to our internal communications, and streamlined branding and messaging to our external strategy. We saw a 15% increase in employee engagement after one year of our re-launched strategy. Show less

  • Director of Corporate Communications

    Dec 2021 - now

  • Corporate Communications & Events Manager

    May 2019 - Dec 2021

  • Content Manager

    May 2016 - May 2019