Tell us about your company.
Ding Communications makes great advertising. We are a pretty smart bunch, and that collective intelligence allows to quickly get to the root of the marketing or business problem. We also have a keen understanding of people, which lets us empathize closely with the audiences to whom we are making our case. Those elements are the lock and key to the great work we create. We’ve been doing it 15 years this March. You can see our work at DingThinking.com under the Work tab.
What led you to Reno/Tahoe?
Well, you see, my mom and dad had a bottle of wine and Simon and Garfunkel playing in the background … I’m a native Reno-ite. Born, raised and educated here. I moved to San Francisco about 18 years ago and worked as a copywriter in the San Francisco Chronicle/SF Examiner’s marketing department. But The City was too far away from the mountains. I’m very much into mountain biking, climbing, skiing and being in high places, and Baghdad By The Bay was too far removed from that setting. Plus, no one looks you in the eye when you pass him or her on the streets.
What is your favorite thing about the Reno/Tahoe AMA?
I’m learning here. My mission is to absorb all the information, tools, tips, tricks and tactics that impact my clients, influence their customers and help my agency excel, and AMA helps in that quest.
Tell us about your background as it relates to marketing.
I worked at Harrah’s Tahoe as publicist when I graduated from Nevada. It was the era of Harrah’s moving the brand from individual regional casino powerhouses and placing them all under a cohesive national brand umbrella. That process was fascinating to watch, although it saddened me because Tahoe was the Harrah’s flagship and I felt it was being completely genericized and depersonalized. From there I moved to the Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority, again as publicist, to hustle my hometown to editors and journalists. Soon as I had the opportunity I jumped over to the advertising/ad agency side, where I’ve been ever since. I’ve freelanced, worked for other agencies, worked in The City and upon returning to Reno opened Ding in 1998 with two others.