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Summary

Accomplished executive in guiding talented, cross-functional multi-media teams in the creation and production of accurate, compelling, and timely news broadcasts. Expert writer, digital media specialist, and speaker; able to forge solid business relationships with community partners and coworkers at all levels.

Work experience

Director of Communications

August 2022Present
The Salvation Army

Create programs to inform the public about The Salvation Army’s brand promises of “Doing the Most Good” and “Love Beyond.”

Member of the Salvation Army National Christmas Steering Committee. Developed Christmas strategy and messaging for national use.

Serve as PIO for The Salvation Army in:
- Crisis communications (2022 migrant arrival and the weather’s effect on the homeless).
- Corporate partner events (Jewel-Osco/Chicago Bears Coat Drive and Toyota Walk in my Boots).

Wrote and produced television commercials and radio PSAs to increase event (Radiothon, Sounds of the Season Concert, Jewel-Osco February Register Donation Event) exposure.

Work with advertising agencies (TrueSense, Merkle) to develop and implement year-long marketing strategies.

Increased earned media coverage on multiple media platforms, including pieces in major Chicago, regional, national, and international outlets.

Plan and execute donation presentations, including messaging, day-of activities, and media exposure.

Address crisis communications concerns such as the migrant arrival and Harbor Light PPP loan inquiry.

Create creative that helps drive donor engagement (quarterly impact reports, greeting cards, brochures).

Member of the team that secured partnerships with Jewel-Osco, the Chicago Bears, WGN Radio, Toyota, Dunkin’, NBC 5, Fox 32, and the Chicago Wolves.

Position Salvation Army officers and staff as experts in numerous social service fields for broadcast and print interviews.

Create engaging content, including copy, photos, and videos for Salvation Army social media and website.

Communicate critical information to multiple city departments, including the Mayor’s Office, the Office of Emergency Management and Communication, the Department of Family & Support Services, and the Chicago Department of Public Health.

Design and conduct a media training program for officers and cadets.

Senior Producer / News Operations Manager

January 2018 August 2022
Fox Television

Provide executive-level leadership and produce editorial content for Fox 32’s morning show, Good Day Chicago, while managing, training, and motivating 23 media professionals and 17 content creators.

Hold concurrent responsibility for station’s strategic direction, and planning, along with management of editing systems, cellular providers, technology, and various service providers.

  • With in-person staffing at an all-time low, created new techniques to increase overall news content.
  • Developed coronavirus-specific programing – a complete reversal of the show’s previous structure.
  • Improved procedures so talent, producers, writers, and editors could work remotely.
  • Build and execute communication plans that have achieved 300% ratings, and 30% advertising sales increases (2018-2019), with Good Day Chicago receiving its highest ratings in its 29-year history (2021).
  • Expand social media content, resulting in 6,000% increase in Facebook reach since 2017 (2.2M followers and 1.8M likes).
  • Oversee internal communications for all levels of employees, and draft employee guidelines related to new media and digital communications strategies and platforms.

Supervising Producer

February 1998 January 2018
Fox Television

Established Good Day Chicago news content, monitored show rundowns, evaluated producer and reporter workflow, and supervised editors and photographers. Coordinated stories with all stakeholders while seeking new content and ensuring our station was first on-air with breaking news.

  • Inspired and fostered a more-productive environment across teams and functions, which led to a 55% production increase in programming.
  • Spearheaded overhaul of media infrastructure, allowing team to move content more quickly to broadcast and archive an additional 57% of video content.
  • Kept station on the cutting edge of technology through extensive research into the latest trends for media storage and archives and production systems.

President

20172020
Duewel Digital Marketing

Direct content creation, SEO and website development, social media management, PR statements, paid search, social media advertising, and digital marketing for clients.

  • Increased one HVAC client’s customer contacts by 150% from January 2019 to February 2019.
  • Grew a towing client’s customer call-to-action by over 100%.
  • Improved client ROI by, on average, 200%.

Owner/Director of Communications

20002010
Duewel Fitness, Inc.

Administered all business operations inclusive of development, budgeting, marketing, and communications. Promoted the business through advertising campaigns, press releases, website content, and blog posts.

  • Grew company from negative income to grossing $10K+.
  • Attained positive local and national coverage through writing and distributing two to three press releases and media advisories each week.

Pro Bono Electronic Communications Manager

20162017
Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter
  • Directed all business operations, from marketing and communications to budgeting and development; in the process, grew the company from a negative income flow firm to one that grossed tens of thousands of dollars at maturity.
  • Managed all PR, securing hundreds of articles in support of the company. Wrote, edited and distributed 2-3 press releases and media advisories per week to national and local media outlets, attaining positive coverage in multiple publications.
  • Created all marketing content to guarantee the highest quality promotion while coordinating advertising campaigns for compatibility with public relations efforts.
  • Wrote original content for the official company blog, as well as community blogs.

Pro Bono Marketing Communications Manager

20152016
Friends of DuPage County Animal Care & Control Foundation

  • Responsible for crafting both a short range communications forecast and the long-term outlook.
  • Work mainstream and other media channels to garner positive coverage for the foundation.
  • Establish relationships with government officials and media representatives. These connections include established relations with local, state and national politicians and influential journalists at FOX, ABC, NBC, CBS, WGN, WDCB Radio, WBBM Radio, WGN Radio, The Daily Herald, The Chicago Sun-Times and The Chicago Tribune.

Nationally Syndicated Columnist

20112017
Healthy Living with Brian Duewel
  • Author of "Healthy Living," a weekly health and fitness column geared toward helping readers get the most out of their daily routine. Published by newspapers in New Jersey, Indiana, California, Hawaii, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Minnesota and Alabama. Also carried as a blog post on 400+ websites.

Author

20092013
The Art of the Political Campaign
  • Best selling author of the self-help book, "The Art of the Political Campaign: How to run for elected office with no money, name recognition or political connections." Began documenting campaign strategies while running for elected office in 2009 and compiled them with the help of nearly one hundred, already-elected public officials.
  • The book was self-published in July of 2013 and hit Amazon's best-selling list in August of that same year.

Broadcast Journalism Professor

20072012
Columbia College
  • Taught the basics of the communications business. 
  • Executive Producer of "Metro Minutes," Columbia College's news program.

Media Professor

20092011
Tribeca Flashpoint Academy
  • Responsible for teaching media communications.

Candidate

20092010
Committee to elect Brian Duewel
  • Designed a campaign plan to win a seat on the DuPage County Board. Received 40% of the vote against a popular incumbent.
  • With thousands of “Duewel for DuPage” followers, the process was developed with a target-specific marketing campaign presenting the candidate to the public via multiple formats. The campaign relied heavily on interpersonal communication skill, including public speaking, strong speech writing techniques, high-energy fundraising and accurate budgeting.

Committees and Board positions

Governor’s Council on Health and Physical Fitness                                                           2011-2015

Board of Directors - Steeple Run Community Council                                                      2009-2013

Director of Publicity Steeple Run Elementary School                                                    2010-2014

Education

MBA

20142017
University of Massachusetts - Lowell

Marketing 

Graduate Certificate in Foundations of Business

20142015
University of Massachusetts - Lowell

Bachelor of Arts

19911993
Columbia College Chicago

Communications