Project Manager Account Executive

Dear Sir or Madam,

I came across the Account Executive opening with the Halo Group on the

Indeed website and was immediately excited by the description of the

position. The position is appealing to me because it appears to be

extremely multifaceted, with a broad scope of writing and communications

responsibilities. I think that my combination of skills, previous work

experience, and the desire to work in a challenging environment make me an

ideal candidate for this position.

In my current job with the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, I need to

reach a diverse group of stakeholders including, among others, a Board of

Directors, small business owners, community partners and government

officials. To accomplish this, I utilize a variety of tools. To promote the

organization within and beyond the neighborhoods of Upper Manhattan, I put

together newsletters that show how our work benefits those communities, I

help coordinate events to publicize notable loans and grants, I write press

releases, and I am heavily involved in producing our annual report. I help

select and edit case studies, create the layout and design, work with the

printer, and manage its distribution.

To enhance my job skills, I have pursued my interest in graphic/web design

by taking continuing education classes at the School of Visual Arts in

graphic design and digital media. I utilize these skills extensively --

both for my organization and with outside companies, including CVISION

Technologies, as a freelancer. I recently began a part time Masters in

Corporate Communication at Baruch College, which I believe will provide me

with the knowledge to become a better communications professional.

I am an effective communicator, excellent project manager, a persuasive

writer, and I have a collaborative attitude. These attributes give me the

capacity to contribute and excel in many areas, and I think they would be

especially applicable to the role of Account Executive. I thank you for

considering me for this position and I look forward to scheduling an

interview in the near future.

Sincerely,

Ben Samuels

Benjamin Samuels

Phone: 646-***-**** Address: 68-63 108th Street, Apt. 3L, Forest Hills, NY

11375

Email: **********@*****.***

Work Experience

Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Corporation, Marketing Communications

Associate, New York, NY, April 2007- Present

. Assist in the design and implementation of strategy to enhance

visibility of UMEZ and BRISC

. Write and copy edit press releases, website content, newsletters,

annual reports, and other collateral

. Manage and update UMEZ website

. Handle graphic design and photography for annual reports, newsletters

and marketing collateral

. Maintain UMEZ mailing and media contact lists

. Coordinate special events, receptions and meetings for UMEZ and BRISC

. Compile and disseminate media reports

CVISION Technologies, Graphic Designer (Freelance), New York, NY, October

2009-Present

. Design and layout for marketing collateral

. Created logo and branding for the soon to be launched eFiler software

. Design and code landing pages for website and pages for email blasts

ABC News Radio Desk Assistant, New York, NY Jan. 2006- Oct. 2006

Responsible for producing hourly Newscall and disseminating top news

stories to affiliates through the satellite feed, the ABC News Wire,

and the ABC News Website

. Updated status lead story on ABC wire at bottom and top of every

hour, along with briefing correspondents and offsite management

. Acted as liaison to public relations firms and listeners

. Archived and recovered audio files from ABC tape library

. Answered and relayed phone calls for the entire newsroom

Created Power Point presentations

. Prepared correspondence, arranged schedule/meetings, handled expense

reports

Wall to Wall Inc. Production Assistant, New York, NY Oct. 2005- Jan. 2006

Researched and wrote extensively for preliminary stages of projects in

development

. Tape logged and transcribed hours of rough footage

. Coordinated travel, prepared correspondence, arranged schedule and

meetings, and handled expense reports

Executive English Language Institute Teacher/Translator, Buenos Aires, AR.

Sept. 2004- Sept. 2005

. Taught conversational English classes to individuals and groups at

multinational corporations,

including; Accenture Consulting, Pirelli, and YPF Repsol.

. Translated business related texts from Spanish to English for

publication on the website of the

language institute

Education

Baruch College, New York, NY

. M.S. Corporate Communication, Spring 2012

School of Visual Arts, New York, NY

. Continuing studies in Graphic Design and Digital Media

Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY

. Graduated with double major in History and Political Science in May,

2004

Language/Computer Skills

. Fluent in written and spoken Spanish

. Proficient in Microsoft Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel, Word, and Project

. Proficient in Adobe CS4 Creative Suite ( Photoshop, Illustrator,

InDesign, Dreamweaver, and Flash)

. Hand-coding in HTML and CSS

Newsletter Article

When many major U.S. companies need insights on the urban market, they turn

to Nu America Agency, Inc. And Nu America turns to the vibrant urban

culture in Upper Manhattan for inspiration.

It's no coincidence that Nu America Agency chose 125th Street as its home.

The successful advertising and marketing boutique-which has done TV

commercials for companies like Tommy Hilfiger, Sprite, AND 1, Wu Tang, and

the Apollo Theater-specializes in marketing to consumers involved in the

"urban experience." Given the company's prominence in its field, UMEZ's

Business Resource and Investment Service Center (BRISC) awarded the company

a $250,000 loan.

The BRISC loan will be used as working capital to support growth, as well

as to improve infrastructure items such as networking equipment, furniture,

and fixtures.

According to company executives, Nu America was founded in 2001 to capture

some of the energy of the diverse youth culture. In essence, the company

based its business model on helping companies and organizations understand

how to better reach the unique urban culture that so defines Upper

Manhattan.

The strategy seems to be working. In just seven years of existence, the

small company has attracted the attention of a number of world-famous

corporations. Nu America has made television commercials for Sprite, Foot

Action, Boost Mobile, Wu Tang, and Oster's promotional tour. It has also

done a number of commercials for Tommy Hilfiger, featuring Fonzworth

Bentley, Christina Milian, Fe Fe Dobson, and Robin Thicke, to name a few.

The company brought together a number of prominent figures in the

entertainment and business world to its office in Harlem. Brett Wright, a

co-founder of Nu America and its current Chief Executive Officer, has

extensive experience in the "urban marketplace," serving as Creative

Director for over 300 music videos, 75 commercials, and 100 print ads with

such A-list celebrities as Mary J Blige, Jodeci, Heavy D, Tyrese, and

ENYCE. He was also an original member of The Source Magazine and Senior

Director of Marketing at Uptown Records. Andre Harrell, the other co-

founder of the company, ran Motown Records and was the man who gave Sean

"Diddy" Combs his first job in the record business. David Watkins,

currently Executive Vice President and Managing Partner of the company, is

one of the nation's leading voices on the topic of understanding urban

consumers. He was named to Crain's New York 40 under 40 and has been

featured in publications like VIBE, Black Enterprise, Newsweek, and the

Wall Street Journal. In his twelve year long career, he was worked with a

number of clients, including Lincoln/Mercury, Budweiser, Budweiser, ENYCE,

Sean John, Phat Farm, Reebok, and others.

Newsletter Article

Harlem is the capital of African-American culture, and few institutions are

more important in preserving and promoting that culture than the National

Black Theatre (NBT). Located on 125th Street, NBT has won 35 AUDELCO

awards in the past several years, and former President Ronald Reagan named

it "one of the sixty-three most important Arts Institutions in America."

For nearly four decades, the National Black Theatre has been working on a

number of fronts to address important questions, such as "What comes after

and beyond integration?" explains the NBT's influential founder, Dr.

Barbara Ann Teer.

In March, UMEZ announced it was awarding a $300,000 grant to the National

Black Theatre to improve this mainstay of Harlem's cultural scene.

UMEZ was particularly drawn to the NBT because it has long demonstrated a

unique understanding of Harlem, both economically and culturally. Business

and the arts are often perceived as separate, if not antagonistic, but the

NBT has shown an impressive ability to play a part in developing Harlem in

both respects at the same time. The NBT, under Dr. Teer's leadership,

managed to create a unique form of performance-embracing Pentecostal

traditions and Yoruban rituals-while simultaneously creating the first

revenue-generating black arts complex in the country.

It's all part of what Dr. Teer calls "culturnomics," the idea that material

and spiritual concepts can-and should-go together. The NBT's success on

this front is inspiring. The Theatre not only provides a boost to the

economy of Upper Manhattan, but also helps the community in less tangible

ways: supporting and shaping African-American cultural identity and

promoting self-improvement with a number of public workshops.

UMEZ, like Dr. Teer, works to support both art and business in Upper

Manhattan and has been a strong supporter of the NBT. In March of 2005, a

UMEZ grant allowed the Theatre to undergo an organizational assessment to

find ways to improve its operations. This most recent grant will allow the

NBT to carry out many of the recommendations of that assessment. Among

those is the reactivation of the Theatre's signature Communication Arts

Program, a workshop that teaches people of all ages the skills needed to

become more active and vocal members of the community. From literacy, to

spoken word, to public speaking, the program seems to fill that much-needed

niche of supporting Harlem's "head and heart."

Newsletter Article

East Harlem will soon be home to a state-of-the-art Community Media and

Broadcast center providing a new forum for residents to express themselves

and give voice to issues that directly affect their community. The

Manhattan Neighborhood Network, founded in 1992 by the Manhattan Borough

President's Office, is working with local community groups to restore and

renovate a previously vacant historic firehouse on 104th Street that will

house the facility. The new media center will offer live broadcast and

production studios, a multi-purpose meeting, exhibition and performance

space, new media training and mentoring for adults and youth, editing,

camera and studio facilities and broadband access and training; open to all

community residents on a free and equal basis.

A key component of the new Firehouse will be a stand-alone Youth Media

Center, offering new economy skills and job training to young people

between the ages of 12-25. The Youth Media Center will also produce 20-

hours a week of programming made by youth, for youth, that will air on

MNN's four cablecast channels to more than 600,000 subscribers in

Manhattan.

In June, UMEZ announced that it was awarding MNN a $500,000 Cultural

Industry Investment Fund grant for the project, which will be used to

purchase broadcast and editing equipment for the facility. UMEZ was

particularly attracted to the project because of MNN's emphasis on training

in new media skills and workforce development for the film and video

production and media industries, which continue to play an increasingly

important role in the city economy. The project will create 85 temporary

jobs during the construction phase and a total of 16 permanent full-time

jobs once the facility opens.

This won't be the first time that MNN involves itself in Upper Manhattan.

MNN has long been supportive of bringing direct media services closer to

Upper Manhattan residents. Since 2004, the organization has operated a

small media training center on East 106th Street, enabling East Harlem

residents to have immediate access to its resources. Additionally, MNN has

awarded 1,954 media-based grants to non-profit organizations in the Upper

Manhattan community since 1992.

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