Originally from: The Midwest – I grew up in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Indiana. I lived in St. Louis, MO, for about 10 years after college and Baltimore, MD, for 13 years before moving to New Hampshire.
Currently live in: Lebanon, New Hampshire
Job Title and Organization: Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Vermont Law and Graduate School
Work History/Background: Before joining Vermont Law and Graduate School, I served as director of communications and marketing for ABET, the global accreditor of more than 4,000 college and university programs in applied and natural science, computing, engineering, and engineering technology. Over the past 20+ years, I have developed and executed public relations plans, messaging guidelines, digital marketing initiatives, social media campaigns, and content marketing strategies for a wide range of organizations, with extensive expe
rience in the education, nonprofit, and technology sectors. I also have a background in writing and the arts. I am a frequently published freelance writer and have served as an editor of two literary journals. I have served on the board of directors for CityLit Project, a Baltimore-based literary arts organization; on fundraising and engagement committees for Baltimore Center Stage, the State Theater of Maryland; and as a juror for the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. I have been invited as a guest lecturer to speak about writing and communications for classes at Johns Hopkins University, Loyola University Maryland, Goucher College, and Morgan State University. I earned a B.A. in Communications from Purdue University, an M.A. in Writing from Johns Hopkins University, and an MBA from the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business.
Why I joined Yankee chapter: I’ve always found PRSA membership to be valuable. After moving to New Hampshire about a year ago, I am looking forward to getting involved and meeting more communications professionals in the area.
PRSA Positions I Have Held or Are Interested in:. I previously served on the board of the Mayland Chapter of PRSA, where I was co-chair of the membership committee.
Most challenging PR situation: Early in my career, I was working for a PR agency in St. Louis. One of our clients was a local school that had just undergone a renovation to become LEED certified. We coordinated with local TV and radio stations to have on-site coverage the morning of the first day of school. The night before, news broke that Senator Ted Kennedy passed away. None of the reporters we had confirmed showed up to the school. Trying not to panic, I called the producers, and they all said they were scrambling to find any connection between Senator Kennedy and St. Louis and were shuffling all their coverage plans. Ultimately, I was able to get coverage that afternoon from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch—which sent an intern to shoot some video for the paper’s website—and several radio interviews later that week, but it was definitely not what we had planned. It was a great lesson in managing client expectations, remaining flexible when working with members of the press, and continually finding creative solutions to share your organization’s stories. This was also before social media was prominent, and I truly value the opportunities we have today as communications professionals to supplement earned media with owned content.
Bucket list/trip activity. I’ve been fortunate to have had many opportunities to travel, and I look forward to many more. I’m planning a trip to Norway next year with several members of my family, and that has been a dream for several years.
Hobbies/interests: Sailing, writing, yoga, health and wellness.
Contact Information: Email: lisa_lance@sbcglobal.net or llance@vermontlaw.edu