Knock, Knock, Knock!

By on January 15, 2010 in FEATURED, LIFE

When you hear that bang on the door of life, it is impor­tant to check it out. Sure there are a fair share of times when you pull the door open to find nobody on the porch, but every now and again some­thing spe­cial is wait­ing on the other side of the door. Why am I talk­ing about doors? Well that is my not so sub­tle way of announc­ing that I am mak­ing a career change.

A few weeks ago, oppor­tu­nity came knock­ing — actu­ally it called my iphone. It was a call from a Wal­ter Ohlmann, Pres­i­dent and CEO of Penny / Ohlmann / Neiman, Inc. — an adver­tis­ing agency based here in Day­ton, Ohio. Turns out that Wal­ter has been look­ing for some­one to help him bring a more mod­ern approach to their ser­vice offer­ing. In par­tic­u­lar, while the firm has a great depth of tra­di­tional pub­lic rela­tions, strate­gic mar­ket­ing and cre­ative resources, they were look­ing for some­one with expe­ri­ence in devel­op­ing mar­ket­ing strate­gies that incor­po­rate the use new media and social tech­nol­ogy. He had been given my name by a mutual friend, and out of the blue, gave me a call. (Knock, Knock, Knock)

After a few con­ver­sa­tions, an offer was made, and I said yes. So, start­ing Feb­ru­ary 1st, 2010, I will take on the role of Chief Mar­ket­ing Strate­gist at Penny / Ohlmann / Neiman, inc.

There are a num­ber of rea­sons why I am excited about this oppor­tu­nity. First, I am going to get to share my cre­ativ­ity, knowl­edge of mar­ket­ing strat­egy, and pas­sion for social tech­nol­ogy with busi­nesses in Day­ton, Ohio and beyond. I have been explor­ing this area for some time now, and really look for­ward to deliv­er­ing these ser­vices with the capa­bil­i­ties of an agency behind me.

Sec­ond, the fact that this will be a new ser­vice offer­ing for Penny / Ohlmann / Neiman means that I will get to build the prac­tice from the ground up. Make no mis­take, this is going to be a big chal­lenge. I real­ize that suc­cess will involve a great deal of work both inter­nally and exter­nally, but I know that I am up to the task. It is going be very reward­ing to see this come to life over the com­ing year in the form of happy clients and a rein­vig­o­rated agency. We will prac­tice what we preach, and our results will be tes­ta­ment to our under­stand­ing of what mod­ern mar­ket­ing is all about. We will face the same chal­lenges our Clients face, and ulti­mately we will use pas­sion, time, ded­i­ca­tion and tal­ent to steadily evolve into some­thing remarkable.

Third, it is excit­ing to be a part of a com­pany with such a rich his­tory. Penny / Ohlmann / Neiman has been around for a long time. My job is to make sure the com­pany is around a long time from now. The agency has a good rep­u­ta­tion, excep­tion­ally nice peo­ple, and has worked with just about every busi­ness in the Miami Val­ley at some point in time. The pri­mary weak­ness that I heard when ask­ing peo­ple about the firm was that they really needed to update their ser­vice offer­ing. My hir­ing should send a strong sig­nal of the inten­tion to do just that. I plan to make the firm far more pro­gres­sive in what it can offer to clients, while not los­ing site of the fun­da­men­tal ser­vices that have made it suc­cess­ful. It is not about just slap­ping on some social media, but rather tak­ing a mod­ern view of what a mar­ket­ing ser­vices firm can offer to Clients. Hope­fully, my hir­ing is merely the first of many, as the agency adds Clients, ser­vices, and ulti­mately more peo­ple in the years to come.

I am also excited to be back with a com­pany based in Day­ton, Ohio. This is the place where I was born. Most of the pro­fes­sional con­nec­tions and per­sonal rela­tion­ships I have are in this com­mu­nity. While I have done my best to main­tain these rela­tion­ships since depart­ing for Cincin­nati two years ago, it will be great to once again call Day­ton my pro­fes­sional home. Cincin­nati is amaz­ing, but there is no place like home. It will be great to once again be able to get involved with projects, pro­grams, and orga­ni­za­tions that are work­ing hard to make Day­ton prosperous.

I am also look­ing for­ward to giv­ing my friends at Hafen­brack, the tal­ented folks at RealArt, my friend David at The Next Wave, and oth­ers around the city some friendly com­pe­ti­tion. They have set the bar pretty high, so I know I am going to need to bring my “A game” in order to suc­ceed. Ulti­mately com­pe­ti­tion helps to drive inno­va­tion, so hope­fully we all engage in what I like to call “coope­ti­tion.” I look for­ward to tak­ing part in our col­lec­tive suc­cess, and the col­lec­tive suc­cess of our clients — the busi­nesses and peo­ple of the Miami Valley.

There are a bunch of other rea­sons I could list, but you get the idea. It is a big change, and one that I am very excited about making.

As for my for­mer employer, LÛCRUM, I want to thank the com­pany for giv­ing me so many oppor­tu­ni­ties to suc­ceed. I have enjoyed my time with the firm, and was given the free­dom to explore a lot of new mar­ket­ing ter­ri­tory. I made so many friends, accom­plished some great things, and enjoyed the ride thor­oughly. With the new direc­tion of the com­pany focus­ing on deliv­er­ing Busi­ness Intel­li­gence, Data Ware­hous­ing, Data Visu­al­iza­tion, and Data Strat­egy Ser­vices, I antic­i­pate much suc­cess for the firm in the years ahead. I learned so much about the trans­for­ma­tive capa­bil­i­ties of tech­nol­ogy while at LÛCRUM, and I hope to apply that knowl­edge to drive suc­cess for Clients in my new role.

So in the com­ing days, I have a lot of loose ends to tie up, a lot of calls and emails to answer, a lot of updat­ing to do, and a lot of prepa­ra­tion work to accom­plish so that I can hit the ground run­ning. Come Feb­ru­ary 1st, if you are look­ing for an inno­v­a­tive approach to mar­ket­ing strat­egy, please con­tact me.

Finally thank you to my fam­ily and friends who have sup­ported me over the years. Life is an adven­ture. Your love, kind­ness, and gen­eros­ity have helped me to real­ize great suc­cess. With­out such sup­port this oppor­tu­nity would not be pos­si­ble. I hope to make you proud to be a part of it all.

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27 Responses to Knock, Knock, Knock!

  1. Jennifer McClure January 15, 2010 at 2:39 pm #

    Con­grat­u­la­tions on the new job David! It sounds like a great fit for you and I look for­ward to see­ing what you’re able to accom­plish in this new role!

  2. Carla Weis Hale January 15, 2010 at 2:44 pm #

    Con­grat­u­la­tions and the best of luck to you!

  3. Joe Robb January 15, 2010 at 2:57 pm #

    Con­grat­u­la­tions on the new job, David. Hope that we’ll still see you around Cincin­nati now and then.

  4. scott hull January 15, 2010 at 3:20 pm #

    Wel­come to a new adven­ture!!!! Your skills and vision will add so much to PON and the community!!

  5. davidebowman January 15, 2010 at 3:42 pm #

    Thanks Scott. I think it is going to be a great mix of old and new. Guar­an­teed to be a lot of fun.

  6. davidebowman January 15, 2010 at 3:44 pm #

    You will def­i­nitely see me in the Nati from time to time. Made a lot of friends there in the last two years and I intend to main­tain those rela­tion­ships as best as I can.

  7. davidebowman January 15, 2010 at 3:44 pm #

    Thanks Carla!

  8. davidebowman January 15, 2010 at 3:44 pm #

    Thanks Jen­nifer. It is guar­an­teed to be inter­est­ing. I am really excited about the oppor­tu­nity. Wish me luck!

  9. Linda Kahn January 15, 2010 at 3:52 pm #

    We are so excited David is join­ing us! We are look­ing for­ward to doing great things.

  10. davidebowman January 15, 2010 at 3:53 pm #

    Thanks Linda,

    I can’t wait to get started.

  11. Paul Lindamood January 15, 2010 at 6:47 pm #

    You don’t know me David, but I know some­thing of that shop. As you are find­ing out by now, the legacy of being one of Dayton’s stal­wart agen­cies is palat­able there. No finer busi­ness rep­u­ta­tion exists. It is and has been the home of some of the finest mar­ket­ing and cre­ative minds around for well over half a cen­tury. From your mus­ings above, I antic­i­pate a meta­mor­pho­sis may be in the off­ing. Good luck and Godspeed.

  12. Jon Brooks January 16, 2010 at 7:03 am #

    Con­grat­u­la­tions David, great to have you back in Day­ton and back in our indus­try, look for­ward to lunch a lit­tle more often.

  13. davidebowman January 16, 2010 at 7:16 am #

    Paul,

    Thanks so much for the words of encouragement.

  14. davidebowman January 16, 2010 at 7:17 am #

    Fly­ing Pizza here we come! Thanks Jon!

  15. Bethany Deines January 16, 2010 at 4:56 pm #

    They could not have found any­one bet­ter. Good luck with the new posi­tion! Hope­fully, this will mean our paths will cross more often.

  16. Nick January 17, 2010 at 5:55 pm #

    David, I’m happy for you man! Con­grat­u­la­tions and good luck… and keep on post­ing to your blog.

  17. Lara Kretler January 18, 2010 at 5:21 pm #

    David, I spent two years at PON and think the world of Wal­ter. I learned a lot from him! Please give my regards to the PON crew and I look for­ward to see­ing great things from you as you start your next chap­ter there.

  18. Noel Luhn January 18, 2010 at 5:30 pm #

    Con­grats David, I look for­ward to work­ing with you. Excit­ing times, and as I told Mr. Ohlmann, I know his firm would ben­e­fit in today’s world of mar­ket­ing by hav­ing you on their team. As well, you will ben­e­fit by work­ing for a prodi­gious firm. Bravo!!!

    Noel

  19. davidebowman January 18, 2010 at 8:40 pm #

    Thanks Bethany!

  20. davidebowman January 18, 2010 at 8:41 pm #

    Nick,

    Thanks so much. I’ll keep on post­ing to be sure. Hope­fully I can con­vince you to con­tinue reading.

  21. davidebowman January 18, 2010 at 8:43 pm #

    Lara,

    I am hon­ored to fol­low in your foot­steps. I am really look­ing for­ward to learn­ing, teach­ing, and cre­at­ing some­thing new and fresh. Thanks so much for the words of support.

  22. davidebowman January 18, 2010 at 8:45 pm #

    Noel,

    Thanks. I think it is going to be a great com­bi­na­tion of skill sets. Look­ing for­ward to get­ting some great work done for you very soon.

  23. Nancy Robie January 19, 2010 at 2:42 pm #

    Hooray David! Wel­come back! You will bring such great energy, enthu­si­asm and great ideas to PON.

  24. davidebowman January 19, 2010 at 2:46 pm #

    Thanks Nancy,

    It will be great to be back in Day­ton, and I am def­i­nitely full of energy, enthu­si­asm and ideas as Feb­ru­ary approaches. I really appre­ci­ate the words of encouragement.

  25. Kendra Long January 19, 2010 at 2:46 pm #

    David,
    Con­grat­u­la­tions! This is great news. We work closely with PON at Ket­ter­ing Health Net­work, and I look for­ward to new oppor­tu­ni­ties you will bring to the table.

  26. davidebowman January 19, 2010 at 2:49 pm #

    Thanks Kendra,

    I hope to get that chance to part­ner with you in the very near future. It would truly be an honor. Thank you so much for the note of congratulations.

  27. David Esrati January 27, 2010 at 5:23 pm #

    We wel­come the com­pe­ti­tion– but best of all, I look for­ward to break­ing bread more often with you.

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