Over 35 years of experience in media relations, editorial oversight, public outreach, and resource materials development on a wide range of topics. Significant expertise in translating complex concepts for a general audience.
- Garnering press coverage in major media outlets via dissemination of timely news releases, media advisories and maintenance of “expert” databases available to journalists online.
- Building a broad audience on social media exponentially larger than the membership of the associations represented.
- Conducting interviews with journalists and serving as a spokesperson for a wide range of organizations and causes.
- Delivering speeches on a diverse range of topics to varied audiences at conferences attended by hundreds of participants.
- Scores of invited presentations and talks
- Developing effective marketing campaigns to attract a large audience for a wide variety of events, including conferences, fundraising activities, membership recruitment, and volunteer engagement.
- Maximizing opportunities for free and low-cost exposure for association and organizational activities.
- Preparing resource guides and workshops for subject-matter experts on how to interact effectively with the news media.
- Delivering testimony and comments at legislative hearings, public meetings and related forums.
Professional experience as a journalist for an NPR affiliate, WSKG-FM, and as Assistant VP for Communications at the National Kidney Foundation. Principle spokesperson for the Linguistic Society of America, the National Postdoctoral Association, the National Committee on Pay Equity and the Maryland State Commission for Women.
“I had the pleasure of working with Alyson while I served as Chair of the LSA’s Public Relations Committee. Her experience as a former journalist and communications professional made my job that much easier. Alyson is an effective collaborator, helping linguists (including me) to translate and adapt complex theoretical research findings into everyday language that the news media can understand. But more than that, she is knowledgeable about what kinds of news stories will appeal to journalists and how to frame those stories for maximum impact.”
— John McWhorter, Columnist, The New York Times and Associate Professor of Linguistics, Columbia University
In the five years I have known Alyson, we collaborated on two grant applications to the National Endowment for the Humanities, both of which were successful. These were for seasons of the linguistics-themed podcast, Subtitle, co-produced by the Linguistic Society of America and my LLC. As director of the NEH-funded projects, Alyson oversaw their administration and budget. I was especially impressed by her indefatigable dedication to navigating federal bureaucracy and ensuring that our projects were always in compliance.
Patrick Cox, Producer, Subtitle Podcast
Alyson is a whip-smart, reliable, no-nonsense administrator—and also a very funny person. I thank my lucky stars that I got to work with her.