He’s Back!

Wait a minute — there was one thing that I wanted to blog: the return of Michael O’Connor Clarke to blogging. Luckily, Michael’s initials and circumstances lend themselves very well to an AC/DC-inspired “welcome back” graphic:

Michael’s posting entries in his blog again, and he’s also looking for work. He writes:

After four terrific years flacking my brains out as a senior exec. with some of Canada’s foremost public relations companies, I’ve decided to explore options to re-enter the technology sector, where my career began. I’m certainly not averse to agency gigs, of course – the priority is to find the right fit with a creative, growing organization. Right now, it’s all about finding a job where the sanity level exceeds the craziness.

His qualifications:

• Managed 45-person global marketing organization for Canada’s third-largest software company, with total accountability for US$4.5 million budget.
• Grew market share of global software company’s principal product to 42% (by independent estimates), through focused and intensive marketing campaigns.
• Created and grew new Technology Practice for Canadian arm of large international PR agency, generating $1.2 million in new revenue in first year.
• Developed and presented compelling new business pitches resulting in significant key account wins against very strong competition (including winning business with Accenture, eBay.ca, Agilent, MDS Inc., AOL Canada, H&R Block, and others).
• Led the communications plan for one of the largest and most successful technology sector mergers in Canadian history — Hummingbird’s $300 million acquisition of PC DOCS Group.
• Successfully managed the integration of two international marketing organizations into one with minimal disruption to clients, staff and business partners.
• Co-designed and executed long-term PR strategy for Compaq Canada that led to national media coverage increasing by 64 per cent in first 12 months.
• Co-founded successful UK-based software company; negotiated acquisition by Canadian technology firm; relaunched in North America and helped manage through $36 million Initial Public Offering.

He’s smart, funny, knows a helluva lot about both the PR and software fields. He keeps the company of far brighter lights than I, including Suw Charman, AKMA, and Doc Searls.

For more info, see Michael’s blog entry, Gizza Job.