ARMCO 2015 PERSONAL ANNUAL REPORT:
“So tonight I’m
gonna cut it out and then restart…”
Florence and the Machine—“Shake It Out”
“It’s finally
happening to me…the thing I just had to believe”
Motopony—“June”
For several
years now, I’ve contemplated the idea of writing a regular blog but the primary
reasons for holding off were always:
-- Can I keep creating and sharing engaging
content around certain themes?
--How do you craft a unified blog around
my three passions=wine, digital media (all forms) and squash?
Then LinkedIn made it easier for me when they
opened up their platform for everyone to publish on a regular basis with their
network and get engagement and ideas. My contributions to date have centered
around professional development, content marketing, and networking because of my subject matter
expertise in each. As I mentioned in this particular post, I had the desire and
the bandwidth to do more outside of work so found meaningful outlets: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/my-job-great-andi-want-more-andrew-malkin?trk=prof-post
The idea for a professional
and personal annual report came from this piece:
Ironically, in
this booming era of content marketing, it is a piece of sponsored content from Squarespace on The Muse career website!
Big Wins:
In 2015, my
boss at RR Donnelley’s Digital Solutions
Group empowered me to take on more responsibility and expand my BD role for
two other digital businesses, Libre
Digital and Nimblefish for our
digital content management/distribution and marketing automation offerings. I
also was tapped to identify, engage, and negotiate agreements with video partners.
I brought in two stellar partners and drove these through to Master Services
Agreement with the partners’ C suite and our own legal counsel.
With LibreDigital, I tapped into my network
and engaged senior leaders at five top trade publishers—two had no interest or
need but the others were interested in both conversion services and a
cloud-based platform for distributing their eBooks. These publishers had been
in our pipeline but Libre Digital’s
leadership had been unable to get meetings until I was recruited from a
business development perspective.
With Nimblefish, I partnered with Oracle Marketing Cloud and their Eloqua sales team to pitch enterprise
targets across verticals. At the same time, I prospected on my own and
partnered with Donnelley reps to go in as an SME and drive these towards deals.
I closed a $100K+ deal with our first non-profit client at Nimblefish, American Medical Association, as part of a retention
marketing campaign with three segments of their membership tied in with a print
membership piece coordinated with our direct response team at Donnelley. This
project was to provide an interactive experience using variable video that
could be personalized and change in real time for the member depending on the
way they answered the 3-5 questions. Ultimately, the goal is to engage the
members, get to a call of action and gather data about the audience for future
communications.
On the content
marketing front, I grew CVS with
three more efforts around optimized product descriptions and SEO content.
Another significant win was with Angie’s
List. I prospected into Angie’s List,
a company that Donnelley had not done print or digital business with to date. A
friend from business school is their CFO. He introduced me to his colleague in
Corporate Development. This contact then lined up an introductory, discovery
call with the head of their News Room, who employed a large team to create
content for their 40+ market-specific publications. She was territorial about editorial content creation
so there was no interest there however I also presented our video production
capabilities and these resonated. Ultimately, it led to a trial and rollout of
video created with a video company I brought in as a partner for Donnelley. We
produced high-quality videos of Angie’s
List’s service providers. This success lead to more discussions with Angie’s List about Adobe DPS for the digital versions of their content, page
production, printing of their publications as well as talks about applying Nimblefish’s data-driven communication
prowess to retain either home owners or service providers. A classic “land and
expand” win that began with a small trial in one area, some obstacles,
perseverance with different audiences at the same company and ultimately consideration
for a large shared services undertaking that could produce $1.5-2 million
annually in new logo revenue for Donnelley as a whole.
Lastly, this
revenue generating activity among three digital offerings led me to beat my
quota by 30% with opportunities far along with likes of MetLife, Wyndham, AXA and others.
Side Projects:
In October
2014, I volunteered to deliver the message at our church, Southport
Congregational Church, on selflessness. Far and away, the most challenging and
most rewarding presentation I have given to date. I was particularly proud of
the structure of the talk but also the fact that I used no notes except to read
a few quotations. http://sccsermons.podbean.com/e/101914-me-you-and-him-andrew-malkin/
This year, I
focused my energy for a library talk on Content Marketing for Small-Medium
Businesses as part of their programming aimed at local businesses. I have used
the study rooms at our local library MANY times when working remotely and
benefitted from their own programming so I decided to pay this forward for my
hometown and community. It also gave me an opportunity to learn even more
during my research and work on improving my public speaking at the same time.
In
addition, I formed and launched UVM’s Affinity Group for Fairfield/Westchester
County Alums with 4 events. When I
served as a Chair on the NYC Regional Board, I had long lobbied for more
activities with alums to reengage those who had been out of college for 10+
years. These events for 2015/16 included a UVM/Yale hockey tailgate and game in
New Haven; Springtime social gathering at an alum’s home; beachside mixer in
the summer at the Fairfield Beach Club; Brewery tour/tasting at Two Roads Brewery in Stratford CT https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/m?oeidk=a07ebu745o041823da9&oseq&c&ch; Ski and Ride event at Bromley Mountain in Manchester VT http://alumni.uvm.edu/skiandride/
Lastly, I
joined the Fairfield Public Speakers
that meets monthly on various topics at Town Hall. During an idle moment
waiting for the train into the city, I saw a classified there on the platform
bulletin board! Old school effective content marketing in play…
Health/Wellness:
I was fortunate
to get out to Utah and ski my favorite mountain in that state, Snowbasin (https://www.snowbasin.com/) in late March in an off season full of
warm temps and less snow than usual. We
were based at The Canyons as always
and continue to feel that resort is underrated. That said, new ownership from Vail is changing it so much so the two
mountains have combined to become Park
City and are connected and called Canyons
at Park City. (http://www.theinertia.com/news/what-to-expect-now-that-vail-resorts-linked-park-city-to-canyons/)
This was my
first year taking up yoga at The Edge
in earnest and I am so glad that I finally got around to it—my lower back and
posture are much improved plus I can feel the benefits when it comes to
balance, core and overall mindfulness. I’m even getting in some Power Yoga for
more active workouts. On those days when
I worked remotely from CT, I took in Power Fusion, Spinning, and
Kickboxing/Bootcamp classes.
Wine Education:
I organized a
terrific event as chair of Kellogg’s alumni club in Fairfield/Westchester
County at Harry’s Wine & Liquor
Market (https://www.harryswine.com/). I collaborated with the owners of the
store to bring in a representative from the amazing importer, Kermit Lynch. I also learned more about the wines of Italy
from VIAS Importers. My favorite discovery of the year hands down for Quality/Price
Ratio is this Barbera. If you look for it via Winesearcher app, you may find it
for $12/bottle in VT as I did for a $6-7/bottle savings before shipping. https://shop.kermitlynch.com/product/detail/13FVL03.html
I also started
using the Vivino app (https://www.vivino.com/) and recorded 62 wines in 2015. It’s a
terrific app to decide what to buy at a wine shop or in a restaurant simply by
scanning the label.
Lessons Learned:
“Transactional jobs are declining but relational jobs are expanding.
Empathy becomes a more important workplace skill, the ability to sense what
another human being is feeling or thinking. The ability to function in a group
also becomes more important—to know how to tell stories that convey the
important points, how to mix people together.”
--David Brooks
This really resonated with me and is inspired by Geoff Colvin’s HUMANS
ARE UNDERRATED
Second, I listened to this HBR
podcast and recognized how this applied to my own career trajectory:
Author, Whitney Johnson, explains the concept of becoming skilled at
something but then jumping to another S curve to continue one’s development and
learning. This often means “disrupting yourself” taking a risk that better
aligns with who you are and who you want to be. I have felt that I consciously
disrupted my career by applying and attending business school at Kellogg after ten years in the workforce
leaving behind a terrific sales position at Random
House. Every step of the way, I have strived to get ahead of digital trends
that were coming as it impacted content from print on demand to eBooks to
enhanced, immersive content and effective content marketing.
Best books I
read this year included DISRUPT YOURSELF
http://www.amazon.com/Disrupt-Yourself-Putting-Disruptive-Innovation/dp/1629560529,
HUMANS ARE UNDERRATED http://www.amazon.com/Humans-Are-Underrated-Achievers-Brilliant/dp/1591847206/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1452024843&sr=1-1&keywords=humans+are+underrated, the newly revised edition of Karen
MacNeil’s WINE BIBLE
http://www.amazon.com/Wine-Bible-Karen-MacNeil/dp/0761180834/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1452024932&sr=1-1&keywords=wine+bible
and HOW MUSIC GOT FREE http://www.amazon.com/How-Music-Got-Free-Industry/dp/0525426612/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1452024881&sr=1-1&keywords=how+music+got+free.
Favorite music/discoveries:
I didn’t think
it was an exemplary year for new releases in terms of albums by my favorite
artists but there were loads of terrific singles across genres. They range from
Chemical Brothers “Go”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO2RPDZkY88 to Joanna Newsom’s “Sapokanikan” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky9Ro9pP2gc to Courtney
Barnett’s “Pedestrian at Best” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-nr1nNC3ds. I look forward to new releases from The National and Vampire Weekend. I had high hopes for the last Wilco and Beirut albums, neither of
which wowed me.
Top 10 Songs of
2015 (No particular order):
Hot Chip, “Huarache Lights”
Chemical Brothers, “Go”
My Morning Jacket, “Spring (Among The Living)”
Dan Deacon, “Feel The Lighting”
Leon Bridges, “Smooth Sailin’”
Sufjan Stevens, “Should Have Known Better”
Unknown Mortal Orchestra, “Multi-Love”
Florence + The Machine, “Ship To Wreck”
Torres, “Sprinter”
Joanna Newsom, “Sapokinakan”
Also, after
being an early adopter to Songza, Rdio,
Pandora and Spotify, I prefer
discovering music via DJs on KEXP
(http://feeds.kexp.org/kexp/musicthatmatters),WFUV(http://www.wfuv.org/the-alternate-side), KCRW (http://www.wfuv.org/the-alternate-side)or Indie Shuffle, a music site that
aggregates songs via Soundcloud http://www.indieshuffle.com/
Goals for 2016:
--Deliver a
Networking and Interviewing Workshop on campus at my alma mater, UVM, in February to benefit undergrad
arts & science, business school students and MBAs. My plan is to include
role playing so seniors can practice actual situations they will encounter
soon. I will cover do/don’ts from my and
others experience but also share with them a Personal Marketing Plan, Sample
emails you wish to network with, how to write a thank you note, among other
topics.
--Land a new BD/partnerships or sales role with a technology company in NYC surrounded by smart, talented
people. Target co’s include Google,
Facebook, LinkedIn among others. I’ve taken a campaign approach by picking
the 10 companies that I really want to work for and admire and finding ways to
burrow into the company with as many influential contacts as possible who could
help with my candidacy. I am also applying the “Strength of Weak Ties” approach
to networking popularized by author Malcolm Gladwell in THE TIPPING POINT but
initially by sociologist Mark Granovetter (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Granovetter). I decided to exercise it in a much
deeper way than in the past by reaching out to people who don’t know me as well
and may have contacts outside my immediate circle or industry. In the past I have found it is such an
audience that will often go further for you and also be more open-minded about
your skills than your closest friends. Diversity and breadth are key to help
you have the flexibility to pivot. Friends will often reinforce or preserve the
old identities that we wish to shed.
--Listen to
more podcasts. My faves include DINNER PARTY DOWNLOAD, KEXP MUSIC THAT MATTERS,
ALL SONGS CONSIDERED, I’LL DRINK TO THAT, GRAPE RADIO, SEX DEATH & MONEY,
and WTF but I have NERDIST, 99% INVISIBLE, and STORY IN A BOTTLE as new ones in
my growing queue.
--Listen to
more classical music. MOZART IN THE JUNGLE may be responsible for that but I
have always loved classical piano especially Schubert, Beethoven and Chopin.
Brahms Symphonies all deserve revisiting. I want to fight the urge to just
listen to appealing tracks and find an entire album to enjoy from start to
finish.
--Get to those
great contemporary classics you have always heard about but never
read…Including Donna Tartt, Jeffrey Eugenides and Jonathan Franzen.
--Join Men’s
Discussion Group at Southport Congregational Church to discuss
thought-provoking topics and taking in other’s views.
Wellness:
--Focus on
strength more than endurance for a change. I can do cardio all day but need to
work on upper body and core.
--Pick squash
back up again and get on a competitive ladder (though that game is heavy cardio
but mentally intense too).
--Try to rejoin
my gym The Edge’s Strong program that
includes classes including TRX and Kettlebell even if intermittently. Don’t
think I am up for Crossfit at this
point.
Wine Education:
--Travel to one
new domestic and one new international wine producing region. Could be Finger
Lakes and Argentina but who knows! I’ve taken 2-3 classes a year at my local
wine shop, Harry’s in Fairfield CT
but armchair travel and tasting only goes so far to truly understand the
geography, terroir, food pairings and varietals. I plan to leverage this useful wine app, Vivino https://www.vivino.com/, to
catalogue and score wines I have tried. I use it often along with Cellartracker and Winesearcher to assess pricing in a given state or how wine
consumers are scoring a particular bottle of wine.
Three Closing Thoughts to Wrap Up 2015:
--Staying
Connected. I am so fortunate to still stay in touch by phone and in person with
friends from childhood, high school, college and beyond, many of whom I have
been close to for 35+ years now. It only gets harder with geography, children,
demanding jobs etc. but is a priority for me and my happiness. I’ve personally
seen a lack of such friendships with guys as they get into retirement and can
lead to a lonely existence. That said,
it is never too late. I refreshed my friendships with two friends/roommates
from my London study abroad trip who I hadn’t seen in at least a dozen years…We
now go on an annual overnight sailing trip and try to meet for dinner in the
city once or more a year.
Here’s a link to a TED talk that emphasizes why
maintaining relationships are so important and valuable to your health
especially as you get older. This from the Harvard study conducted over 75
years with one group of men. They found that good relationships are key to
making us happier and healthier. Quality of relationships matter. They even
protect our brains!
https://www.ted.com/talks/robert_waldinger_what_makes_a_good_life_lessons_from_the_longest_study_on_happiness
--Gratitude
Exercise, I call "Get to 10". I try every day to do this and even to reach 12 or 15 in count—it can come very easily and be
empowering. For instance, “Had breakfast with my children” “Was able to work
from home today” or “Grateful the sun is out”. Highly recommended.
--Appreciate THIS moment. I have a card in my money clip with positive
mantras on it such as “Focus on what you can control”. I am adding this one
after reading some poetry by William Stafford. Lines such as this made me stop
and think:
“Are you waiting for time to show you some
better thoughts?...When you turn around, starting here, lift this new
glimpse that you found; carry into evening all that you want from this day. What
can anyone give you greater than now, starting here, right in this room,
when you turn around?
A shout out of recognition and thanks to my “Personal Board of Directors” who continue to support me and
provide valuable counsel and guidance through successes and setbacks—Ellery
Malkin, Rich Maggiotto, Kate Stanford, Je Carr, Don Burton, Brian Bodell, Larry
Kirshbaum, David Schoenberger, Pete Roper, Charlotte Lee, David Geithner, Drew
Schutte, Matt Shatz, David Ricciardi, Kevin Rethore, Stephen Paster, Mike
Zilligen, Elizabeth Christensen, Jim Lally.
