Manuel Blasco Email & Phone Number

New York, New York, United States

New York, Ny

• Oversee a direct report and advise a network of over 100 regional Affiliate partners on growth practices, program standards, and community outreach, which resulted in exceeding our 2023 goal of receiving over 300,000 student entries to the Scholastic Awards nationwide--a 15% increase from the prior year, and our highest count since before the pandemic.• Cultivate new strategic partnerships with art organizations around the country, including museums, galleries, libraries, universities, and community based organizations.• Lead partners through a large-scale technology change initiative, and execute change management strategies such as new system trainings and clear, consistent communication plans to ensure buy-in.• Collaborate with partners in developing and implementing strategic and measurable Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion goals to increase student participation in the Scholastic Awards in their local communities.• Develop relationships with partners by creating various opportunities for connection through virtual Town Halls, online professional development, trainings, and an annual leadership conference.

New York, Ny

• Administer the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards program with approximately 60,000 submissions from students across the U.S. and Canada.• Coordinated year-round targeted outreach, event programming, external communications, and marketing campaigns that led to increased brand awareness and partnerships with museums, educator networks, libraries, and arts education organizations, which in turn led to an 18% increase in regional student submission numbers for the 2021 Scholastic Awards.• Organize and execute 10+ virtual events (including educational webinars and creative workshops, office hours, and scholarship info sessions) and create instructional assets throughout the program year to prepare students and educators submitting to the Awards.• Oversee and produce content for the Region-at-Large blog; in 2021, planned and executed full-yearprogrammatic blog content and schedule for the 2021 Scholastic Awards, which increased blog engagement by 300% over 2 years to over 70K viewers.• Lead a group of 15 National Award-winning high school students over the course of 4 months through National Events preparation, which includes creating schedules, lesson plans and assignments, and public speaking exercises to secure student deliverables and ensure student-spotlight events run successfully.

New York, Ny

• Support Scholastic Awards Region-at-Large and NYC adjudication, ceremony, and student exhibition events, including email communications, student artwork dropoff/pickup coordination, event preparations and day-of support.• Spearheaded the creation of master FAQ content for the Award’s public-facing submissions system which decreased customer service volume and minimized public relations risk.• Serve and connect with a community of up to 70K students and educators through the management of Region-at-Large and NYC customer service channels throughout the year, and during major programmatic events such as the National Ceremony.• Generate Awards submission reports and aggregate recipient mailing lists for regional eblast marketing campaigns.• Direct a team of 3 jurors through the national adjudication process of judging and awarding hundreds of student works.

New York, Ny

• Assisted a VP/Editorial Director and Executive Editor on roughly 25 titles a year.• Ghostwrote picture book manuscripts, including CHRISTMAS CHEER FOR THE GROUCHY LADYBUG for the Eric Carle Studio (which Publishers Weekly called "a bright and evergreen addition to a holiday library") and FROM THE WORLD OF GOODNIGHT MOON: 100 FIRST WORDS for the Margaret Wise Brown estate.• Provided valuable editorial contributions on award-winning and bestselling titles, including the New York Times bestselling book HUGS AND KISSES FOR THE GROUCHY LADYBUG by Eric Carle, SAVING WINSLOW by Sharon Creech, UNPREGNANT by Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan (now an acclaimed film on HBO Max), and A GIRL NAMED ROSITA: THE STORY OF RITA MORENO by Anika Aldamuy Denise.• Composed strategic copy for galleys, book jackets, catalog, and online retailers to maximize book sales and sell-in opportunities.• Delivered editorial and administrative support in all stages of the book production process from acquisitions, to manuscript development, to on-sale publication.• Created P&Ls and contract information sheets; collected sales data; and provided competitive title research

New York, Ny

• Supported the Children’s Marketing department (primarily the VP) for maximum productivity of a 30+ member team.• Researched and presented new models for house-led consumer-facing book clubs, one of which was adopted as the blueprint for HarperCollins’ annual YA book club event, Epic Reads Day.• Orchestrated HarperCollins Children's Books' (HCCB) presence at the Oklahoma Teen Book Con, which included acting as the sole liaison and negotiator, and coordinating booth setup, volunteer sign-ups, travel plans, giveaways, and ad design in program booklets.• Spearheaded the HCCB monthly marketing newsletter, showcasing the department’s latest accomplishments and upcoming projects to over 300 in-house employees.• Wrote early reader and middle grade blog content for the Digital Marketing team (examples attached).• Coordinated company-wide book drops to increase buzz for heavy-hitting titles, including New York Times #1 bestsellers like Veronica Roth’s CARVE THE MARK and Angie Thomas’s THE HATE U GIVE.• Typical responsibilities included maintaining the VP's and wider department's marketing calendar, conducting market research, booking travel, preparing monthly expense reports and filing invoices, taking on role of production assistant for video shoots, and aiding with all administrative needs.

New York, Ny

• Assisted the editorial, managing editorial, and design departments on projects related to all stages of the editorial process, from acquisition to publication.• Wrote reader’s reports and marketing materials (including selling copy, flap copy, and back matter) for early childhood, middle-grade, and YA books.• Evaluated manuscript submissions for publication and composed detailed editorial notes for acquired manuscripts to strengthen stories and ensure sell-through.• Produced interior spot art ideas for Greenwillow titles which appeared in final production.

Princeton, Nj

• Utilize Collection-Master®, Commercial Legal Software (CLS) to:• Assist medical clients collect their outstanding receivables through recovery programs.• Collect accident and worker’s compensation bills by serving as a correspondent between multiple patients, their insurance companies, and hospital clientele.• Manage the Insurance Follow-Up and Denial/Appeal programs to expedite the claims process.• Train interns on the bill collecting procedure.

Lake Buena Vista, Fl

• Delivered exceptional guest service in a Fortune 100 company at the 5th largest resort in the world.• Assisted hundreds of families per day by maintaining the high level of Disney guest service qualities: Safety, Courtesy, Show, and Efficiency.• Multi-tasked and prioritized various duties under pressure in a timely and professional manner, including: • Planning comprehensive and cost-effective vacation itineraries, maximizing the guest experience • Selling ticket packages and booking reservations • Conflict managementDisney College Program Fall 2015

New Brunswick, Nj

• Planned, led, and executed 30 large and small-scale on-campus events for students and the local community, including the annual Homecoming and State Theatre Comedy Shows featuring internationally known artists such as College Humor, John Oliver, and the Wayans Brothers.• Programmed movie and TV showings, outdoor screenings, and informational media-related lectures.• Allocated an $85,000 budget for the school year.• Advertised and communicated RUPA’s brand and events to the Rutgers community through creative social media and marketing, as well as served as a point-person for informational inquiries.The Rutgers University Programming Association (RUPA), a department of Rutgers Student Life, is the student programming council that serves the Rutgers community of over 40,000 undergraduates by providing a variety of events and out-of-classroom experiences appealing to the diverse student body on all five campuses.

New Brunswick, Nj

• Co-wrote grant proposals that secured programmatic funds for events at the theater, including its Artist-in-Residence Program featuring nationally-renowned poet Glenis Redmond, that provided arts education for over 3,000 underserved members of the community.

Windsor, Nj

• Awarded Five-Star Lifeguard status - chosen by area supervisors as lifeguard who goes above and beyond their daily life-guarding duties and are recognized as role models among their peers.• Performed life-saving tactics for swimmers in danger and administered first aid.• Certified in American Red Cross Lifeguard Training

Master Of Public Administration - Mpa, Management & Leadership

Bachelor Of Arts (Ba), English Language And Literature, Business & Technical Writing, And Creative Writing, Cum Laude

Activities and Societies: Rutgers University Programming Association (RUPA), Rutgers University Dance Marathon (RUDM), Phi Beta Kappa