Subject Matter Specialist

MELISSA G. SCHMIDT, “MISSY”
Subject Matter Specialist – Strategy Meets Execution

Delivering ROI. Building win-win relationships.

Focused on business development and entrepreneurship.

Breaking down sales and operational silos.

35+ years of experience in innovative leadership and organizational development, delivering on business plans through strategic planning and execution.

Motivating and managing diverse teams for greatest impact and effectiveness.

QUALIFICATIONS SUMMARY:
• Strategic Market Planning | New Business Development | Manufacturing & Distribution
• Strategic Communication | Key Performance Indicator (KPI) Data Analysis and Management
• Bleeding Edge Marketing Technologist | Brand Development | Product Development
• Customer Relationships | Key Stakeholder Management & Customer Retention
• Budgeting & Expense Control | Contract & Price Negotiation | Purchasing Management
• Government Contracting | Legislative Monitoring | Community Outreach & Public Affairs
• Manage Technology, Food Service, Automotive, Retail, Nonprofits (Trade and Human Services)

SUMMARY OF EXPERIENCE

xTuple – World's #1 Open Source ERP, February 2012 – present
xTuple.com – xTupleUniversity.com
Vice President of Marketing: Driving revenue in collaboration with sales and operations teams. Member of management team responsible for strategic planning, company vision, leadership and execution. Tightly connected to arts, economic development, startup and entrepreneurial communities – both locally in southeastern Virginia and nationally.
• Direct buyer persona (target lifecycle development), lead generation, customer conversions
• Manage company's global user conference, all inbound and outbound communication, including sales campaigns, content creation and syndication, websites and external digital properties, social media, public relations and value-added reseller/ channel partnerships
• Interface and guide user experience (UX) development with application engineers
• Influence new business management software development for key customers in manufacturing and distribution, including enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM) and business-to-business (B2B) eCommerce.

Hampton Roads Partnership, September 2008 – February 2012
(Nonprofit economic development trade association dissolved September 2013, assumed by Hampton Roads Community Foundation)
Vice President of Strategic Communication and Marketing: Moving key stakeholders and citizens to action. Pursuing competitiveness in a global economy by facilitating regional collaboration and action among business, academia, defense, nonprofit, government and citizens. Devise and implement comprehensive internal (membership) and external (public) communication strategy and outreach plan to extend the impact of regional programs. Develop regional Legislative Agenda. Develop public participation component of region’s first comprehensive economic development strategy, "Vision Hampton Roads" and create all communication for “Innovate Hampton Roads.” Archived at http://hrp.org/Site/programs/strategic-plans

Innovation Gardening, May 2007 – February 2012
Chief Innovation Officer/Marketing Ambassador: Award-winning sales and marketing, business development, communication and event planning. Networked within government, business and nonprofits supporting regional economic “gardening” efforts, i.e., economic growth from within local markets.
• Director of Communications and Marketing (contract) for CASE, LLC, part of Chenega Corporation; Develop government proposals, especially past performance reviews, all in support of Business Development
• Technology Hampton Roads “Pentagon South”: Website design and outbound communication for Defense and Homeland Security Consortium, a technology community initiative
• Grassroots video campaign: Hampton Roads Partnership’s “Beat The Gridlock” transportation initiative, including collaboration with Port of Virginia
• Hampton Roads Chapter of American Marketing Association: Website design HRAMA.org

Friendship Industries, Inc., September 2001 – June 2007
Director of Sales and Marketing: Human services organization empowering persons with disabilities with training and employment opportunities in integrated work environments. Built new position from existing base of customers.
• Coordinated feasibility and marketing studies to seek and grow new business opportunities
• Grew business from $1.5M to $4M, operating 90% of time as road warrior
• Contributed to and implemented Strategic Plan and created first Sales and Marketing Plan as part of Executive Management Team
• Managed customer relationships and trained and managed internal customer service
• Negotiated and maintained sales contracts, including estimating and pricing
• Added profitable new business divisions in Contract Manufacturing and Importing
• Achieved first government contract for U.S. Air Forc at $9M as sole source mandatory purchase with AbilityOne
• Developed and launched company's first interactive website: Friendship-Industries.com

ASC-Automatic Service Company, Edinburg/Lynchburg VA, Jan 1992 – Jun 2001
Divisional Company Manager, 1995-2001: Managed multi-million dollar Food Service Operation, including events, location development and design, sales/marketing, budget/forecast, personnel, purchasing, financials, cash handling; and directed staff of 90 employees and supervisors in over 50 client locations.
Virginia Sales and Marketing Manager, 1992 – 1995: Operated as sales, marketing and customer service force of one. Created and implemented sales plans, goals and objectives and designed all Business and Industrial (B&I) employee Food Services.
• Increased sales by $.5M in first year
• Added $2.0M in second year, more than doubling Edinburg Division’s size
• Created all collateral marketing materials, print and direct mail

Grubbs Chevrolet, Inc. (GrubbsChevrolet.com), Woodstock VA, Dec 1985 – Jan 1992
Sales and Marketing Manager: Developed first marketing calendar and budget, utilizing Chevrolet co-op available, emphasizing the family-ownership brand.
• Researched, established and operated first Rental/Leasing Department
• Researched, created and implemented first Credit & Collection Policies and Procedures
• Graduated Chevrolet’s Professional Sales School, earning recognition as #1 Sales Specialist


EDUCATION
• B.S. cum laude – Dept. of Home Economics – Merchandising and Marketing (now School of Business); Minor – Business Administration, James Madison University (JMU.edu), Harrisonburg VA


PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
• Tidewater Community College CED Certificate – Navigating Business with the Federal Government, Virginia Beach VA, TCC.edu/wd/govseminar.htm
• General Services Administration (GSA) Expo Certificate-Selling to the Federal Government, Advertising and Integrated Marketing Solutions with GSA/Federal Supply Service GSA.gov
• NISH Business Development Certificate and JWOD University Graduate (Now AbilityOne)


SOFTWARE/HARDWARE QUALIFICATIONS
• MS Office Power User-Access, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Publisher, industry-specific software, Adobe Creative Suite, HTML, web-publishing, xTuple Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Corporate/Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software

NOTE-confidential and proprietary materials, such as solicitations and proposals, are not archived or available for review.


PROFESSIONAL SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
• Startup Marketing or How to Market Your Venture with Little to No Money - HatchConf 2012
• American Planning Association (Virginia Chapter) Annual Conference – "Placemaking: Building a Regional Community of Communities," 2010 • Opportunity, Inc. Board of Directors – "Vision Hampton Roads, Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy," 2010
• Various city and county governments in Hampton Roads – "Presentation of the Hampton Roads Partnership Annual Impact," 2009
• Tidewater Community College’s Academy of Nonprofit Excellence – “Discovering and Navigating Niche Markets, Resources for the Nonprofit Marketer,” 2008
• Virginia Association of Community Rehabilitation Programs (vaACCSES) – “Building Brand Loyalty from the Inside Out – Creating Ambassadors Within Your Organization,” 2006
• American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) Marketing & Membership Conference – “Creating Passion is an Inside Job — The Why and How of Building a Great Staff Culture for Your Organization’s Success,” 2006
• Small Business Development Center – “Direct Mail and Me or Mailing: By the Numbers: Direct Mail 101," 2005


PROFESSIONAL AWARDS
• 2007 NISH National Community Outreach Award for creative use of print materials, press releases, and other media to educate the community NISH.org
• 2007 USPS Professional Certificates–Nonprofit Mail and Targeted Mail Marketing USPS.com
• Numerous Employee of the Month Awards


PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
• American Advertising Federation's Hampton Roads VA Chapter, past AAFHR.org
• American Marketing Association’s Hampton Roads VA Chapter, past VP-Marketing/current member HRAMA.org
• ASAE, American Society of Association Executives, past Vendor Member ASAECenter.org
• Downtown Norfolk Council, board member DowntownNorfolk.org
• DMAW, Direct Marketing Association of Washington, past DMAW.org
• Technology Hampton Roads, past – Defense and Homeland Security Consortium, Marketing Sub-Committee Head, Website Admin PentagonSouth.org (now unpublished)
• National Speakers Association of Virginia, past NSAVirginia.org
• Public Relations Society of America, Hampton Roads VA Chapter, current member PRSAHR.org
• Tidewater Association of Service Contractors, past TASC-TGIC.org
• Town Point Club, Norfolk VA Town-Point.com
• UXPA Norfolk, user experience UXPANorfolk.com
• WHRO, Public Media for Hampton Roads, Leadership Circle Member WHRO.org

My favorite Meme...what's yours?

From Wikipedia:

A meme (ryhmes with "Tim") is a popular term for a learned thought, feeling, or behavior, including ideas, theories, practices, habits, songs, dances and moods. Memes propagate themselves and can move through popular culture in a manner similar to a virus. Examples are tunes, catch-phrases, beliefs, clothing-fashions. Meme-theorists contend that memes evolve by natural selection (think Darwin).

From the Urban Dictionary

1 : an idea, belief or belief system, or pattern of behavior that spreads throughout a culture either vertically by cultural inheritance (as by parents to children) or horizontally by cultural acquisition (as by peers, information media, and entertainment media)

2 : a pervasive thought or thought pattern that replicates itself via cultural means; a parasitic code, a virus of the mind especially contagious to children and the impressionable

3 : the fundamental unit of information, analogous to the gene in emerging evolutionary theory of culture

4 : in blogspeak, an idea that is spread from blog to blog

5 : an internet information generator, especially of random or contentless information

(Etymology : meme : derived from the Greek mimëma, 'something imitated', by Richard Dawkins in 1976)

It's my birthday...

Happy Birthday to you.
Happy Birthday to you.
Happy Birthday to me.

I received this wonderful graphic via email. Ah, it feels good to be remembered. However, just so you know, I'm not counting the years anymore, k!

Who knew I was so popular?

Evidently I, Missy Blankenship, am running for President, not as an Independent, but as a viral "write-in" candidate. I told my friends not to do this, as I am apolitical, but who am I to fight the social groundswell? Visit http://tinyurl.com/MissyForPresident or watch the video here:

Colorado Rockies, May 2008

Bert and I traveled recently to Denver to visit his brother, Mark, and his wife, Marie. We enjoyed a Rockies game, some friendly brotherly competition(s) ... actually EVERYthing is a competition to these two - throwing baseballs, who looks older, etc. LOL ..., wine and cheese in the mountains, birthday parties and good company.

Happy Holidaze from Bert and Missy

Bert and Missy (and Jillian and Bertel, too) wish you a very happy holiday season. Our annual holiday end-of-year greeting comes to you this year via pictures and video. Enjoy!

Enjoy the kids tribute to their Dad's favorite drink!
Click picture above for the video.

(Obviously, they'd been drinking some Dew.)

Click on Bert's picture above to read all about it!

... so we said good-bye to Harrisonburg VA, WVPT-Public TV and Friendship Industries and off we go to Norfolk Virginia/Hampton Roads ...

Watch Bert's videos about WHRO-Public Broadcasting HERE on WHRO's website

We lucked into a great condo in downtown Norfolk;

what a wonderful neighborhood!
City life, super neighbors, no yard care and walking distance to everything!





... Bertel and Jillian visited with us in July; we hit DC first, then on to Norfolk ...
































Click on the picture below to see our video of the explosion that occurred while on our way to the hotel ... and the aftermath!



... we all traveled to Atlanta GA in August ...








... the entire Schmidt clan got together in Atlanta GA to celebrate Doug's (Bert's youngest brother) and Dawn's vows renewal and birth of baby Parker ...







... also traveled to 1000 Islands, NY to celebrate Bertel's birthday in August ...









Check out Bertel and Jillian as they join the Syracuse Children's Circus!

CLICK HERE for the video

You can even watch a video of her talents (click on her picture above)




... we had a blast in 2008, traveling quite a bit this year, to Vegas, Minneapolis MN, Palm Desert CA, NYC ...








... and we're honored to have such a warm welcome to Hampton Roads from WHRO staff, friends and more; we've made friends with some of the best people one could ever hope to meet or know!

Elmo even visited us this year ...




... and while Bert worked side by side with his amazing staff...

... Missy is still looking for just the right "next position" along her career path ...

... we're blessed to be living in such a vibrant area; Hampton Roads is fantastic and full of history, arts and culture ...

... and we've taken time to enjoy a good party now and then, too ...

... hic-cup ...

not sure how to top 2007, but we know 2008 will be even better!

Why I'm Good in Sales...

Here are some snippets of an interesting article re: why some people thought they were good in sales during an interview.

When the sales applicant was asked, “Why do you think you’d be good in sales?” he/she replied:
“Because I like to talk.”
“Because I like people.”
One of my favorites is when one applicant said they'd be a good real estate salesperson was because they liked to look in people’s homes.

Their answers aren't wrong, but they never got that second interview. In sales, we know how to interview because every sales call we make is an interview. How we do determines if we’re invited back or not.

When former President Bill Clinton was asked in an interview why he thought his wife would be a good president, he had a reply salespeople should give: “She listens to the problem, she comes up with a plan – and then she delivers.”

How many business owners and sales managers wish they had a team of salespeople who would do the same? Listen. Identify the problem. Develop a plan. Deliver.

A sales manager said when he runs an ad for a new salesperson, he gives the candidates a number to call for an appointment. When applicants call they hear this message. “Thanks for calling. After hearing the rest of this message, I want you to hang up, get yourself together, and then call back and leave me a 30-second message of why I should invite you in for an interview.”

That sales manager eliminated countless salespeople wannabe’s while stocking his sales staff with excellent salespeople who know what sales is about.


In interviewing for a new salesperson, throw out a real problem every company has and listen to the response. “We need new customers. What’s your plan for finding them?” The second interview rides on the response.

If a sales manager asked me why I’d be a good salesperson for the company and why I should be invited back for a second interview, I’d reply something like this:

“You need to find new customers. I have a referral plan that I’ve worked for years with tremendous success. And, I developed a cold-calling schedule to find new leads and get in front of decision-makers. Here’s my proven plan to position myself to be the next salesperson my propsects call when they're ready to change vendors, i.e. to stay top-of-mind (insert here). I always say, if you can't be #1, then be #2. And, here are several creative techniques I’ve developed in solving problems for my past customers (insert here)."

But, the bottom line response from every salesperson should be, NOT that they like to talk, like people or like to look in other people's houses, but:

I like to help people discover their problems, learn about them, develop a plan to provide solutions and then deliver results. For them and for my company, today and in the future. Win-win. Period.

Email me!

Are you LinkedIn?

I rec'vd the funniest email from a friend and former business acquaintnance the other day after finding her on LinkedIn and sending a request to add her to my Contact List. Let me share it with you:


Yes, you have a profile on LinkedIn. You set it up at some point, but YOU are your only connection. How sad.

LinkedIn is a social networking site. Think of it as a business-to-business (B2B) cocktail party that you attend online (no drinking and driving!). When someone asks to "connect" with you, it's like exchanging business cards and letting everyone else at the party know with whom you exchanged cards.


LinkedIn is a great way to exchange leads, share referrals, make recommendations, create connections, develop or expand relationships, generate introductions...all without leaving your office or couch, whatever the case may be.

I'd like to stay in touch with you, so I can easily find you (and you can find me) if the need arises in the future to renew our business relationship. It may be as innocuous as you having an interest in a school I attended to share this info with the friend of a friend's child. I say never "burn" bridges; you never know when you'll need to cross that bridge again, or even make a hasty retreat some day!

I can send you another request, if you like; just in case you deleted my first one. Or try to find me on your own. Just use "Name Search" and type in "Missy Blankenship". And, feel free to ask anytime if you're not sure how something works. It really is easy to navigate and fairly self-explanatory. And, you can always click on "Help & FAQ", if you're stumped. Don't tell me you're not tech-savvy! You don't need to be.

Try it! Type in a search for former schools you attended or companies where you worked or the name of a long, lost love. You may be surprised but what you find, albeit pleasantly, I hope.