Allison Babka Email & Phone Number

Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

Through our print and digital publications, we covered news, arts and culture, dining, events, local characters and all the goodness that Cincinnati had to offer – all with limited resources. Since being retained as full-time managing editor after a two-month contract as editor pro tempore, I increased the quantity and depth of both our news and sports coverage while ushering both longform cover stories and daily digital pieces through all stages of development. Regional awareness, deep research, meticulous fact-checking and writer coaching were all big skills in my bag.I also made terrible drawings that amazing designers managed to turn into beautiful cover art for our print issues. Yes, it's a skill.

Remote

I develop​ ​longform and short-form print and digital​ ​content​ ​for​ ​media, agencies, organizations and schools. Sure, I plan and write everything from strategy docs to blog posts to social copy to scripts, but putting together narrative packages that include stories, art and video and that advance meaningful ideas really makes me happy. Ask me to create an editorial/communications calendar, and I'll do the work while high-fiving *and* singing. That's your bonus for hiring a karaoke host. B2B and B2C subjects I've tackled include higher education, tech, entrepreneurship/startups, health/wellness, pet, agriculture, packaged foods, interior design, automotive, hospitality/travel, entertainment, telecom, manufacturing, government, safety supplies, lighting, marketing principles and more.Special for 2018: Via a long-term contract, I worked with Venture Café Global Institute to develop a new annual magazine that showcases innovators and resources in VC's locations around the world. As the editorial director, I worked with my favorite art director and led client coordination, publication planning, interviews and writing, all to encourage entrepreneurs who are in growth mode, foster collaboration among innovators and demonstrate to investors that they can support cities that are building something sustainable and meaningful in the tech, science, social justice, civics, education, arts and business spaces. This was pretty much a dream storytelling project, and I'm honored that so many innovators have shared their spark with me. We publicly launched "Happen" magazine at Venture Café St. Louis in October 2018, and it's made its way to every Venture Café location and partner around the world. Read the digital version: https://bit.ly/abhappen.

St Louis, Missouri, United States

By leading theSTL.com, a new regional storytelling platform, I supported and celebrated St. Louis' collaborative, inclusive economic growth. Our mission: raise St. Louis' economic profile, attract and retain talent, and highlight regional wins.The STLMade movement is a region-wide civic effort to rebrand St. Louis, influence local and national attitudes, attract and retain talent, and foster inclusive economic development. With a team of creatives, I built theSTL, a storytelling platform highlighting the STLMade people, businesses and ideas driving St. Louis forward through work, community and culture. I oversaw all journalistic website content, including copy, photography and cinematography, set the editorial direction, content strategy and processes, arranged interviews/shoot logistics and hired/managed contributors. I also engaged STLMade stakeholders and cultivated ambassadors through media appearances and panel presentations. Agency collaboration: community sentiment research, media pitches, website development, social platforms, newsletters and placemaking.My title at Arch to Park was senior content editor, but most folks knew me publicly as the editor-in-chief of theSTL.I loved this job. I loved this work. I loved economic development. I only left because the pandemic was beginning and I needed to be closer to family in another state. But man, it was a dream to serve my city through storytelling.

Greater St. Louis

Cohesive, resonant, authentic storytelling is essential if a metropolitan region wants to build local pride, attract and retain talent, lure new companies and fuel equitable economic growth. It cements a collective identity that residents can internalize and weaves a narrative atop the individual, group and corporate work that's already being done. Until recently, that was missing from the St. Louis landscape. But the new STLMade movement and the commitment to "start up, stand out and stay" now is being shared across the MSA through visual identity, corporate buy-in, media buys, events, digital channels, swag and more.theSTL is the hub for those STLMade stories. I established the site's tone and style, developed editorial ideas, assigned stories to an incredible network of contributors, guided production, reviewed and edited all content, and collaborated with our agency and community partners, all to bring our stories of amazing St. Louisans to life. Since launching with the STLMade movement on March 14, 2019 ("314 Day," named for the dominant St. Louis area code), our collection of longform, photography and mini-films earned us a high number of repeat visitors, significant time on individual pages, top-percentage video views and low bounce (all compared to benchmarks, with stats as of March 2020).From the site:Nowhere does the spirit of being STLMade shine brighter than in the stories of the people who live in St. Louis. Being STLMade is about being part of our region in ways that make it grow and make it stronger. Our mission on theSTL: to showcase the individuals and accomplishments found in every corner of the region that are moving the area forward, creating opportunities for all and addressing our challenges. Our storytelling is personal, creating a unique voice that fills in the gaps of traditional news coverage to offer readers a deeper understanding of the great things being done in our own backyard.

St Louis, Missouri, United States

Independent storyteller of things that make you say, "Huh. Neat." I wrote cover stories, interviews/profiles, blog posts, reviews and listicles around news, local personalities, social justice/identity issues, entertainment, general nerd stuff and things that are "so St. Louis." I was published in L.A. Weekly and Minneapolis' City Pages back when Voice Media still owned the RFT and its sister papers, plus I had a karaoke column for a while, so that was all pretty swell!

St Louis, Missouri, United States

Let's develop some kick-ass communications strategy and social media tactics while writing cool stuff and putting together gorgeous click-bait slideshows, shall we?I headed up digital duties while serving as assignment editor for the newspaper's freelance photographer pool. Our mission was to document all of the breaking news, concerts, community events, regional beauty and wacky highjinks our budget could handle.This is where my love and appreciation for alt-weekly newspapers was cemented.In 2024, the paper was sold and the website slowly has been turning into an AI testing ground -- strange and disappointing to watch.

Greater St. Louis

I frequently was tapped to contribute feature stories and interviews to the Ladue News, highlighting amazing people and businesses in the greater St. Louis area for an audience of high-income readers. My 800-1000-word pieces focused on local celebrities, fashion, wellness, general lifestyle and community initiatives.

St Louis, Missouri, United States

I was brought in as a Swiss Army knife editor and consultant for ALIVE Media Group's flagship print and digital properties, which focus on makers/artisans in nearly 10 Midwestern cities. In addition to pitching, writing and editing print feature stories, I oversaw daily content strategy and production on AliveMag.com, including blog and interview assignments, writer development, editing, social media management and promotions. In addition, I worked with other teams on digital content strategy and deployment for the company's sponsored content arm, plus I offered overall recommendations for refining processes and efficiencies and adding more journalistic value both to stories and the general business.Alive morphed into other publications after I left in the late 2010s and then closed permanently. I don't believe the archives are available any longer.

Greater St. Louis

Addicted to blog posts, listicles, slideshows and quizzes about "Star Wars," nature's quirks, adorable puppies and world trivia? Great, then we should be friends, because that's the kind of stuff my writing team and I brought you on Brainjet.com and Yespets.com, Gateway Media's two biggest content marketing verticals. They were data-driven entertainment sites that gave both readers and advertisers exactly what they were looking for (viral hits!). You won't believe the 17 hilarious things that actually happen next.Oh, here's what happened next: the company was forced to downsize, and I was one of many casualties. Womp womp.Subjects I've written about or assigned include science, animals, geography, industry confessions, pop culture, tech/apps, dating/sex, history, world culture, food, personality traits, "fails," weird things and general trivia.The company is now known as Quillt after a stint as Gateway Blend.

St Louis, Missouri, United States

I ferreted out content gold while making sure we maintained a consistent brand voice across channels -- or something awesome like that. Traditional copywriting, social media planning, blog ghostwriting, video coordination and everything else you'd imagine from an agency editor. Journalism-based brain + fingers in all the pies = happy Allison.I oversaw a variety of agriculture topics and brands, including seed (cotton, soybean, corn), distribution partners and yield products.

Greater St. Louis Area

After serving as an in-house producer during previous positions, I made the switch to business-side producer to shape and share even more brand stories. With Spot Creative Media, Steward Media, Tomko Bomb Co., Parabolic Media and more, I led pre-production (story goals and scope, location scouting, logistics, client discussions, story scripts), production (interviews, set styling, directing) and post-production (video brand management, video logging, footage scripts, b-roll scripts, client relations) on a freelance/contract basis. Ask me to interview your talent or round up an excellent video crew. Seriously, I make good video happen.Topics I've covered as a freelance producer include higher education, marketing and entertainment.

Greater St. Louis Area

Music. Playlists. Crowd involvement. Party planning. Communications strategy. Happy people. These are a few of my favorite things, and I combined them into my position as an energetic karaoke duchess. I was the house karaoke DJ at Frailey's Southtown on Friday nights (and helped increase the bar's attendance and revenue), and I regularly hosted karaoke at other bars, events and parties throughout the St. Louis area. When appropriate, I offered event planning and communications consultations, and my marketing background and social media expertise helped increase event awareness, interest and attendance. My karaoke success even led to writing a weekly karaoke advice column for the Riverfront Times.

Greater St. Louis Area

Stealing from Joan Jett, "I love rock and roll," so it was a no-brainer to attend shows and swoon over my favorite bands for ReviewSTL.com, one of St. Louis' most trafficked entertainment websites. I wrote show previews/reviews, conducted interviews, composed "how-to" posts and reported on random nerd news. In addition, I reviewed films, helped raise ReviewSTL's local profile via social networking and represented the site at community events - sometimes in a superhero costume.

St Louis, Missouri, United States

Oversaw multi-channel marketing campaigns and served as the voice for the university’s highly successful undergraduate student recruitment brand “Be a Billiken,” SLU’s first cohesive institutional storytelling effort. The brand experienced steady growth since its introduction in 2008, and my efforts directly helped the university welcome its then-largest freshman class in history in 2011. Key responsibilities: Collaborated with stakeholder (executive, admission, student life, alumni, financial aid, provost and marketing) teams to develop messaging for all channels, ensuring consistency with established strategy and goals to attract college-bound 14- to 17-year-olds. Conducted focus groups in current and growth markets, reviewing data for new messaging concepts. Served as brand guardian and project manager for digital recruitment portal, coordinating all aspects of development, design and content. Directed strategic video production and casting for website, movie theater and television spots. Established social media accounts, standards and training.

Grew internal communications and brand journalism efforts from a no-frills email update into a full-service news website, daily newsletter and bimonthly newspaper for 20,000 faculty, staff, students and university connections. Led a reimagining of the faculty/staff newspaper in 2006, its first in a decade. Interviewed top leaders, physicians and associates for features. Wrote/edited messaging for major university publications, including the alumni magazine, university fact book, annual report, brochures, presentations and style guide. Created and maintained websites for the marketing department, publications and creative resources. Promoted to editor from media relations assistant and media relations associate.

Remote

I researched and wrote longform and listicle blog posts about news from the video game, comic book and pop culture worlds. In addition, I edited other writers'' posts and provided style and voice guidelines. Specialties: Nintendo (especially Legend of Zelda games) Star Wars, Marvel (X-Men, Spider-Man) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, because of course.

Greater St. Louis

Wheeling, West Virginia, United States