Curriculum Vitae: Eric R. Burgess

Eric isa writer

SUMMARY

  • Accomplished writer and producer with extensive experience in B2B communication including white papers, articles, PR, and original creative
  • Award-winning and prolific journalist and podcaster with a strong social media presence
  • Decades-long background in content marketing strategy and product management for the technology industry
  • Game and gamification designer who blends skills from work, play and education

VISION

My calling in life is to design, market, and produce products that will make a positive impact on the lives of customers.

I am a seasoned marketing and product leader who likes to keep my hands dirty. I’m also a devoted technologist and information junkie with a creative side; an expert in content and product strategy, content marketing and creation, and social experience design. Gamification and game design are additional areas of experience and focus. I achieve success through careful planning, deep research, innovative thinking and by building a strong, collaborative environment.

I have excelled in both startup and corporate environments because I am a naturally adaptable, hard-working team member who loves a challenge and is glad to contribute to any project. I care deeply about my company and whole team succeeding.

Specialties: Product management, content marketing strategy, digital publishing, agile and waterfall product development, multichannel marketing strategies, business development, user interface design, product strategy expert, creative content for new and traditional media, game and gamification design, technical writing and design documentation, strong user technology background, contract negotiation, demonstration and trade show experience with numerous types of products, customer service policy and training, editorial reviews for products and services.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

March 2020 – Present: Chief Product Officer, NEON ID

NEON ID is bringing color into your life! We are empowering people to better understand themselves and the world around them while also helping everyone take back control of their digital lives. By creating a NEON ID in just a few minutes, you can generate your own income and get a new perspective on the digital experiences you encounter on the Internet. A new version is launching in Q3 2020.

  • Partnered with CEO to build product and marketing plan for the business
  • Identified, hired and managed design and development teams for Phase One of the platform
  • Collaborated with CEO on patents, investment plan and decks for sales and venture capital raise

January 2020 – Present: Product Management Consultant, psyML

Working with the psyML team to bring psychometrics and machine learning to technology solutions to help individuals, companies and industries as a whole gain a deeper understanding of how personality is the way to bring people together.

July 2019 – March 2020: Chief Marketing Officer, Surefront

Lead marketing for a startup building collaboration software for the B2B retail industry.

  • Rebranded the company to Surefront and helped CEO simplify the company’s vision and messaging
  • Built out collateral library, marketing campaigns, and established connections with industry professionals
  • Advised and mentored product team to improve processes, tighten scrum methods, and provided visioning

November 2015 – May 2019: Senior Vice President, Product and Marketing, Soulmates.AI

Product management, marketing and content strategy for Soulmates.AI and other Ayzenberg Group properties.

  • Principal writer of the company’s white papers. Created thought leadership content for the company’s digital publications. Interviewed industry figures, wrote client-sponsored content and social video scripts.
  • Brought in SEO training, best practices and a documented content strategy to help the team build a larger subscription list of prospects. The publication audience has grown from 400K to over 1M MAUs.
  • Produced the Ayzenberg Earned Media Value Index. Collaborated on the methodology, wrote white paper and articles, PR campaign and copy, and shepherded AEMVI from a content marketing effort to a profit center.
    • Downloaded by over 3K companies, including Coca-Cola, (who declared us the industry leader since our competition used AEMVI), Target, and VISA. 10X increase in leads in one year.
  • Produced Social ROI Reporter, a web-based reporting app that tracks social media success, including predictive analytics and identification of paid media based on a machine-learning model.
  • Produced the Brand Trust Index by working closely with eHarmony founding scientist Dr. Galen Buckwalter. Composed the white paper in collaboration with Dr. Buckwalter.

April 2013 – October 2015: Senior Director, Marketing & Product Management, PublishThis

Responsible for a large range of primary functions in marketing and product management for a startup company that sells licenses for a SaaS-based content marketing and digital publishing platform.

  • Launched content marketing initiative that increased quality and quantity (27%) of inbound leads.
  • Ghost-wrote articles for CEO that appeared on Mashable, ClickZ, and other publications, leading to an increase in inbound leads (37%) and renewals. Expanded collateral ten-fold with case studies and articles.
  • Relaunched corporate website with a blog featuring industry professionals (referral traffic up 43%). The PublishThis website is now a model for B2B software sites and is referenced in dozens of online articles.
  • Led successful efforts to be featured in Forrester’s Content Marketing Platform Wave Report.
  • Designed content strategies for customers including web, email marketing, social, and app elements.

June 2005 – April 2013: Senior Director, Product Management, Ebix, Inc. (formerly E-Z Data, Inc.)

Lead the company’s web-based SaaS products, used by Fortune 500 companies including MetLife, Ameriprise, and over 10,000 independent financial advisors. Management of a team of 12 direct reports/40 offshore reports.

  • Wrote all product marketing and product development documentation for our platform.
  • Managed user interface redesign of SaaS CRM product to rave reviews and a 20% annual increase in sales.
  • Key contact for analyst briefings with Gartner and speaker at conferences/webinars.

June 2002 – June 2005: Senior Product Manager, Windows Applications, E-Z Data, Inc.

Managed product development and wrote all documentation/marketing copy for the company’s legacy product.

  • Redesigned a 10-year-old user interface at minimal cost, leading to major corporate investment.
  • Established style guide and created online help system.

October 1995 – January 2002: Associate Producer, The Walt Disney Company (Disney Interactive)

Managed product and creative vision from concept to final product.

  • Produced the “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” line to sales of 4 million plus copies. Credited on more than twenty console and CD-ROM games. Wrote all game dialogue for Regis Philbin and other characters.
  • Devised a successful online strategy to allow the product to generate additional revenue.
  • Managed the documentation team and composed technical and marketing documentation.

EDUCATION

  • University of California, Santa Cruz – Bachelor of Arts, Literature
  • University of California, Los Angeles – Writing Courses
  • HubSpot and Inbound Certified 2015-2020

SKILLS AND NOTES

  • Published tabletop game designer and rules editor
  • Tabletop game journalist with over 100 podcast episodes and many more articles
  • Longtime reviewer for Bestmark and other mystery shop services
  • Lifetime learner and Coursera/MasterClass subscriber
  • Advisor to startups: Content marketing, product strategy and investor decks

PROFESSIONAL OUTPUT

Articles

Research White Papers

  • Ayzenberg Earned Media Value Index Report – Q2 2016 (Primary Author and Researcher)
  • Ayzenberg Earned Media Value Index Report – Q4 2016 (Primary Author and Researcher)
  • a.network Earned Media Value Index Report – Q2 2017 (Primary Author)
  • a.network Earned Media Value Index Report – Q4 2017 (Primary Author and Researcher)
  • a.network Earned Media Value Index Report – Q3 2018 (Primary Author and Researcher)
  • a.network Earned Media Value Index Report – Q1 2019 (Primary Author and Researcher)
  • a.network Brand Trust Index – Automotive Industry Report – 2017 (Primary Author)
  • a.network Brand Trust Index – Retail Industry Report – 2018 (Co-Author)

Games – Digital

Games – Tabletop

  • Art Decko (formerly Promenade) – 2019 – Rio Grande (Sunrise Tornado Game Studio) (Designed Expansion and Rulebook Editor)
  • The Battle of Red Cliffs  – 2012 – Sunrise Tornado Game Studio (Co-designer and Rulebook Editor)
  • Cat Rescue – 2018 – Sunrise Tornado Game Studio and Chronicle Books (Designed Expansions and Rulebook Editing)
  • Di Renjie – 2012 – Sunrise Tornado Game Studio (Rulebook Editing)
  • Pack O Game Series 1 – 2015 – Perplext Games (Playtester and Rulebook Editing)
  • Roll For the Galaxy – 2014 – Playtester and Rulebook Editing)
  • Suburbia  – 2012 – Bezier Games (Playtester and Rules Review)
  • Wiz-War – Various Editions – Jolly Games/Chessex – (Expansion Cards Design and Rulebook Editing)
  • Playtester on hundreds of tabletop board games and iOS app adaptations.
  • Consultant on Pandemic Tournament Rules, Terraforming Mars iOS, Charterstone iOS, Evolution iOS, Roll Through The Ages: The Iron Age, 7 Wonders: Armada, Strozzi, etc.

Podcasts

Video

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