Stephen Merrill

Stephen Merrill Email and Phone Number

GM and CCO, Edutopia | Digital Transformation | Content & Media Product Strategy @ Edutopia - George Lucas Educational Foundation
Stephen Merrill's Location
San Francisco Bay Area, United States, United States
About Stephen Merrill

Content strategy, editorial operations, and media product professional with over 20 years of digital leadership experience. I'm still an active editor, story developer, writer, interviewer, and video producer as well.Special expertise in editorial/creative team building and management; creating scalable editorial processes and standards to define, amplify, and safeguard brand voice and reach; creating editorial and media product road maps to find market/audience fit; generating media revenue; establishing multi-channel content distribution strategies across apps, social media, newsletters, and partnerships; and negotiating content licensing deals and media partnerships.Strong technical grounding in content management systems (CMS) and publishing technologies, including deep knowledge of open-source content management frameworks; responsive publishing across web and mobile; and integrating with social extensions like Facebook's Open Graph or Twitter's APIs.

Stephen Merrill's Current Company Details
Edutopia - George Lucas Educational Foundation

Edutopia - George Lucas Educational Foundation

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GM and CCO, Edutopia | Digital Transformation | Content & Media Product Strategy
Stephen Merrill Work Experience Details
  • Edutopia - George Lucas Educational Foundation
    Gm And Chief Content Officer
    Edutopia - George Lucas Educational Foundation May 2023 - Present
    San Rafael, Ca, Us
    Head of editorial, art, product, and marketing divisions.
  • Edutopia - George Lucas Educational Foundation
    Chief Content And Product Officer
    Edutopia - George Lucas Educational Foundation 2016 - Jun 2023
    San Rafael, Ca, Us
    Head of the editorial, media, and creative teams and also oversee media product development. Currently lead a 20+ person team—including editorial, social, art, video, newsletter, and user experience. Oversaw a reorganization/realignment of the media unit; established new editorial standards and processes; developed high-performing new content franchises and formats for video, text, and social media; expanded areas of coverage and grew staff accordingly; and oversaw the creation of both internal and external teams of professional journalists and creatives who contribute to outlets like the Atlantic, NPR, the Week, and the New York Times. Worked tightly with the UX and engineering teams on the latest site/app modernization efforts: Led the definition of editorial product needs, and consulted on responsive design efforts, new flows, voice and tone work, and the prioritization of a product road map. Continue to conceive of, edit, write and otherwise create content—my own, and others'.
  • Boastable Travel
    Founder
    Boastable Travel Aug 2014 - Sep 2018
    California, Ca, Us
    Boastable was a mobile publishing platform for travelers. I defined the product vision from the ground up with a small team. Users could publish your travel story to your private feed, or use our tools at any time to create cool trip announcements, track and share real-time travel statistics, and cross-publish your photos seamlessly to social networks like Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram. You could view your life in travel—all your memories in advanced, searchable interfaces—on any device, from anywhere, forever.
  • Aetna
    Head Of Product & Media Strategy, Wellness2.0
    Aetna Jan 2013 - Mar 2014
    Hartford, Connecticut, Us
    Owned the product and media strategy for a startup in the health and wellness space. Hired and managed a 7-person team of creatives and developers to prototype, test, and build a responsive web-to-mobile product. Identified and reached media licensing agreements with several leading publishers in health and wellness, like Time, Inc., and Meredith. Aetna’s Wellness 2.0 was part of Aetna's startup incubator—all nascent businesses were shuttered in 2014 as part of a corporate-wide strategy to focus on the core insurance business.
  • Newsweek Budget Travel
    Gm / Editor In Chief, Digital
    Newsweek Budget Travel Jun 2007 - Feb 2011
    New York, Us
    Editor in Chief and GM with digital P&L responsibility. Owned the digital product road map including feature definition, development, and UX. Also headed editorial strategy and oversaw the editorial calendar. Added head count to the editorial team and streamlined the editorial operations—with a focus on establishing a distinct, compelling voice and upgrading the pace and quality of content. Created a comprehensive digital calendar and worked with sales and marketing to integrate it into the sales cycle.Established channel strategies for distributing content to drive growth across critical KPIs, leveraging partnerships, newsletters, social channels, blogs, and SEO/SEM campaigns. Negotiated licensing deals with major partners like Yahoo!, MSN, MSNBC, and CNN. Conducted vendor searches and negotiated contracts with third-party providers, from email service providers (ESPs) to video management. Oversaw 5.5x growth of website page views from 2m/month to 11m/month, doubling of unique visitors, and dramatic improvements in time on site and other loyalty metrics over almost 4 years.
  • Primedia Digital
    Director Of Content & Media Products
    Primedia Digital Jan 2004 - Jun 2007
    Oversaw content and media product strategy/design as head of the editorial and media product teams. Identified new content opportunities, functionality upgrades, and design and UX requirements for a network of active sports websites. Managed departmental budget, establishing expense lines and cost-effective growth strategies. Vetted, signed, and managed third-party vendors for video management and newsletter management (ESPs).
  • Outside Magazine
    Executive Producer, Content And Product
    Outside Magazine 1999 - 2004
    Boulder, Colorado, Us
    Head of content strategy, editorial development, and media product design for Outside magazine, a 3-time National Magazine Award winner which was part of the Away Network (purchased by Orbitz/Cendant in 2004). Established editorial standards and processes, assigned and edited stories, and oversaw major product initiatives. Hired and managed a 15-person team of creatives, producers, writers, and editors. Evaluated the viability and costs of major product initiatives, and led a series of product upgrades. Managed the design, editorial, and production components of major company mergers and partnerships: MSN.com partnership, Outside magazine merger, Discovery.com integration, GORP.com acquisition.
  • Cnn.Com
    Editor/Producer/Writer
    Cnn.Com Apr 1998 - Aug 1999
    Atlanta, Us
    Worked with editors to select stories for publication on CNN.com. Created full asset-list for assigned stories: identified, produced, or assigned required audio, video, and photo resources. Fact-checked story elements to ensure reporting accuracy, and edited and wrote as needed.
  • Citysearch.Com
    Freelance Writer, Citysearch.Com And Others
    Citysearch.Com 1998 - 1999
    West Hollywood, Ca, Us
    Wrote cultural, hotel, travel, and event reviews for Atlanta’s CitySearch.com, and freelanced at various outlets in education curriculum and culture and news.

Stephen Merrill Skills

Content Strategy Social Media Digital Strategy Digital Media Product Development User Experience Team Leadership Editorial Publishing Advertising Strategy Editing Marketing Management Integrated Marketing Newsletters Seo Team Building Coaching Project Management Non Profits Volunteer Management Higher Education Adobe Creative Suite Nonprofits Start Ups Social Services Microsoft Word Community Outreach Training Microsoft Excel Case Managment Resume Writing Customer Service Program Development Teaching Public Speaking Change Management Microsoft Office Career Counseling Leadership Development Mental Health

Stephen Merrill Education Details

  • Middlebury College
    Middlebury College
    English

Frequently Asked Questions about Stephen Merrill

What company does Stephen Merrill work for?

Stephen Merrill works for Edutopia - George Lucas Educational Foundation

What is Stephen Merrill's role at the current company?

Stephen Merrill's current role is GM and CCO, Edutopia | Digital Transformation | Content & Media Product Strategy.

What is Stephen Merrill's email address?

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What is Stephen Merrill's direct phone number?

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What schools did Stephen Merrill attend?

Stephen Merrill attended Middlebury College.

What are some of Stephen Merrill's interests?

Stephen Merrill has interest in Human Rights, Education, Arts And Culture, Environment.

What skills is Stephen Merrill known for?

Stephen Merrill has skills like Content Strategy, Social Media, Digital Strategy, Digital Media, Product Development, User Experience, Team Leadership, Editorial, Publishing, Advertising, Strategy, Editing.

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