Marketing has allowed me to use the skills I developed as a newspaper editor in new and exciting ways.

     Although there are direct parallels like my shared responsibility for the college electronic newsletter, my assignments at Collin College involve mostly project management. That means working with others to envision marketing and informational campaigns, writing or shaping the substance of the campaigns, seeing them through the graphics process and ensuring a happy "client."

     My project management role has helped further sharpen my organizational skills and continues to challenge me to make the most out of the campaigns I am a part of. It also means relying on others to help execute the client's vision, which is a departure from the one-man-band approach that I had at DuraChoice.

     There, I wrote a weekly blog about subjects I would never have considered before taking the job. I worked to engage customers through social media, much as I used to reach out to readers in my community. I used my photography skills to make art out of  industrial parts. I used my layout and writing skills to create compelling ads for my employer. I even explored the world of video editing and script writing to produce informative videos that drove potential customers to our site.

     Marketing is, in many ways, the flip side of the journalism coin. I can use my talent to inform and entertain in many of the same ways.

     I will admit that, as a reporter and editor, I didn't completely understand how closely the two are related. I feel for the people who tried to sell me on stories that I just couldn't bring myself to write. I'm sure that some of them were just trying to provide information on something they believed in.

     What is it they say about payback?

     My ultimate goal is to work for an organization that I believe makes a difference in people's lives. I believe the newspapers I worked for did just that, if only in a small way. I have to believe that some day soon I will be able to point to something I am working on and know I am doing it for the public good.

    Until then, would you like to buy a seal-welded carbon steel ball valve? I know a place you can get one at a great price.