I. Darlene A Susco: Brand Portfolio. . .

. . . and Logo Design

II. Darlene A Susco: Articles

STEM gets an A

There’s an urgency in our country to prepare students for a competitive, technology-fueled future by focusing on STEM learning. But technology without imagination, science without wonder, engineering without curiosity, and math without real-life connections, won’t even solve part of the problem.
-read-

4 Steps to Confident Networking

Getting yourself out the door, asking interesting questions, and answering questions with stories, these tips are for introverted architects uncomfortable with building professional relationships. 
Architype Magazine, American Institute of Architects/CT, June 2018

How to Win American Idol, Get Rescued, and Network Easily

How storytelling works to emotionally connect and differentiate brands in a memorable way. -read-

Debunking 5 Myths of Business Innovation

Business Innovation – a term so broad and misunderstood as to be meaningless, and yet, it is the single most important focus for companies intending to stick around. -read-

The 3-Act Story Model: Discovering True Consumer Behavior

More useful than a generational time-of-birth approach to marketing (like Millennial) is a time-of-life, life milestone approach. It’s about what we’re doing, not age. (The Trevive brand is based on this post-demographic philosophy) -read-

5 Myths Unmasked: The Sky Mural Restoration at Grand Central Terminal

While the constellations depicted in the mural are mythical, the stories about the restoration of them shouldn’t be. (written for John Canning Co.) -read-

The Cosmos Club: Splendor Restored

An outlying area of Washington shanties and slaughterhouses, Dupont Circle in the 1870s became the city’s most fashionable address. (written for John Canning Co.) -read-

III. Summary

Darlene A Susco

m: 860-930-9074  talk/text  |  email
31 Woodland Street 7-T, Hartford, CT 06105

If it’s business,
it’s personal

Creative entrepreneur, creative service provider, co-pilot of dreams

Human connection determines business success because businesses don’t buy things, people do. Working with diverse stakeholders, I develop multi-channel marketing strategies and use my creative writing and design experience to produce the work, or hire and manage teams to create empathetic and storytelling-based campaigns that achieve defined business goals. My process – listen; ask questions; define objectives & goals; build trust; research; imagine; evaluate; produce; deploy; measure.

Partner at Digital Surgeons (DS), New Haven CT
Former Director of Account Services

• Initiated Account Services procedures for start-up digital agency and helped grow the company from under $1M to over $6M revenue in 3 years

• Defined jobs, interviewed, hired, and managed account managers

• Modeled management standard for agency leadership – be kind, teach, listen, support, challenge, give credit, take responsibility, and improve together

• Created standards for writing proposals with scope of work, timeline, and budgets; creative briefs; client reporting; and internal, post-delivery project evaluation

• Edited agency documents to reinforce goals of jargon-free writing, and clear definitions of technical terms

• Researched, selected, and negotiated contract for project management (PM) software

• Developed PM training for agency staff, monitored, reinforced, dealt privately with resisters, and rewarded staff when 3 weeks of 90%+ participation was achieved (roughly 7 weeks)

• Modeled communication and relationship building for all staff, emphasizing the fine line between friendly and familiar

Brand Building at iDsusco, and as former VP, Brand Development at Digital Surgeons

• Work directly with start-ups and established businesses to create or refresh brand identity for B2B, B2C, and government agencies:
  - renamed & positioned Borderfree (international ecommerce PaaS) for IPO, $400M merger
  - refined business-partner brand for EMC2 (big-data, cloud tech, hardware), acquired for $67B
  - created campaign for New Haven’s home-buyer program, increased conversion 233%
  - built brand, with naming, for award-winning start-up, Arccos Golf, passive tech app

• Use primary source customer data, create surveys, & conduct interviews to define markets

• Develop brand strategies for integrated digital and conventional marketing plans to introduce and deploy brand consistently across all channels

• Develop content strategies with defined themes, style, and calendar for omni-channel publishing of original articles, social media posts, videos, and advertising

• Humanize brands with storytelling & relatable language focused on helping, solving, entertaining, and connecting

• Content creation: write and design website content, articles, email campaigns, landing pages, social media posts, advertising, videos

Experience:

Leadership and management, mentoring, account services, project management, creative writing, graphic design, public speaking, webinar/distance learning creation, video & still photography, video & photo editing, design-education curriculum development, non- profit orgs founder & board member, international travel, West Hartford Plan & Zoning Commission

Education

MFA, Syracuse University, Newhouse School: Advertising Design
BFA, University of Connecticut, Dramatic Arts: Playwrighting

Volunteer

Architecture Resource Center (ARC) Est. 1992 – Founding board director of national award-winning design education non-profit organization. ARC uses elements from architecture and engineering to create design activities that reinforce students' math and science learning. Currently, I am responsible for maintaining brand standards across all digital and print communications, creating marketing and website content, fundraising campaigns, and our board of directors expansion plan.

Teen Cultures Connect (TCC), Co-founder and board director – In April, 2016, TCC made it possible for 72 people (14-year-old baseball players – 18 boys – and their families) to travel to Holguin, Cuba for a week of playing baseball with local Cuban teams. April 2018 marked a third trip to Cuba with the weeklong program expanded to include baseball, ballet, and other cultural experiences for boys and girls, with their families, in Havana & Matanzas.

Connecticut Architecture Foundation (CAF), Past president (2 of 9 years) & board director – AIA/CT’s non-profit organization dedicated to funding architecture education programs, and scholarships for exceptional students attending either Yale or the University of Hartford Architecture Schools. CAF's stewardship of the endowment includes growing the funds through investing and fundraising activities.

West Hartford, CT Plan & Zoning Commission – Served as an alternate commissioner 2010-2011

IV. Darlene A Susco: SKILLS 

Management

Account Services Oversight; Presentation, Proposal, Scope, and Creative Brief Standards; Project Tracking Tools and Agency Compliance; Mentor Junior Staff; Teach Brand Creation Process; Campaign Measurement Analytics and Reporting

Brand

Name, Definition, Strategy, Voice, Tagline, Brand Standards

Design

Logo, Website (Wordpress & Squarespace templates), Social Media, Powerpoint & Keynote, Advertising, Documents & Publications for digital and print production, Trade Show Display (8x10 booths to 20x30 environments)

Communications

Public Speaking, Design-Education Program Development, Social Media & Blog content strategy & schedule, Webinars, Email Campaigns with Landing Page, Digital Advertising, Chatbot design & content, Direct Mail

Video & Still Photography

Scriptwriter, Storyboards, Director, Casting, Production, Editing

Research & Data

Behavioral Science & Consumer Behavior (primary source research), Quantitative & Qualitative Study Design, Competitor Marketing Analysis (site optimization review, organic & paid search ranking, and term/phrase optimization; owned, earned, & paid media analysis) 

 Tools

EXPERT: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat, Spark, Microsoft Office, Keynote, Pages, iMovie, UI & UX best practices, Squarespace (site build/host SaaS)

PROFICIENT: Facebook/Instagram Advertising, Adwords, Youtube, SEO-SER-SEM research & planning, Google Analytics, WordPress, Email CopyPro, Hubspot, Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Zoom, Hubspot, Quickbooks

FAMILIAR: Adobe After Effects & Premiere, Survey Tools, Chatbot design/content, Adobe CC all apps

IV. Darlene A Susco: References

Rob Kurfehs
Group Creative Director, Organic Inc.
rkurfehs@gmail.com
203-240-5907 

Christina Jackson
Director of Corporate Partnerships, AIGA (national)
jackson.christina@gmail.com
612-709-7001

Anna Sanko
Exec. Director, Architecture Resource Center annasanko@arcdesigned.org
860-604-1074

COL. Vincent A. Zike, USA retired
Owner, Challenge Coin Company
vinzike@gmail.com
914-850-0095

Kermit D. Thompson, FAIA
Lead Architect, State of CT
School Construction Grants & Review
thompsonedwards@snet.net
203-430-0008