Cutline Speaks

Cutline Expands the Team

posted by Erin on April 16, 2008

Over the course of the past few months I've spent a lot of time thinking about culture and how incredibly important it is to the overall health of our agency. I've also recently interviewed dozens of candidates and have paid particular attention to whether or not each person would bring something unique to our team. I can never stress enough how important the environment and our culture is here at Cutline, regardless of whether I'm talking to candidates or to my fellow Cutliners. It's what shapes us and drives us. And, more importantly, it's what keeps us happy.

Seldom in the interviewing process do you meet people with whom you have an immediate connection. But here at Cutline, where we pride ourselves on being cool PR cats (of the two-legged variety), we feel really fortunate to have met two such people, Dan Wire and Mel Guse.

Dan joins Cutline from Manning Selvage & Lee as a Senior Account Executive. Dan brings to the team a great deal of experience working on consumer brands like Nike, Best Buy, Major League Baseball, Canterbury of New Zealand, and Calistoga Water. Dan will likely trounce us all in our sports pools -- not because he's a gambler, but because he's spent the last few years either playing, coaching or promoting sports and sports products. Here's the rundown: Dan began his career as a communications intern for the Portland Trailblazers because he was too short to play for the team (side note: he's the tallest guy on our team at a whopping 6'2"). After that, he landed a job in Nike's U.S. Communication Department. At Nike, Dan shot hoops with Lebron James, had lunch with Ruud Van Nistelrooy and on one occasion watched a Ducks football game with Phil Knight in his box at Autzen stadium. When he wasn't cavorting with professional athletes and billionaires, he helped launch Nike products in the U.S. market. After Nike, he joined the PR agency world at Manning Selvage & Lee. Sports isn't all that motivates our new colleague - Dan is also an avid traveler and has visited over 40 countries around the world. For his next big trip, Dan is planning a safari through sub-Saharan Africa.

Mel joins Cutline as an Account Executive. She comes to us from Ruder Finn West, and we'll to put her experience working with top consumer tech brands like TiVo and Sony to good use. How many of us can say that a client changed our life? Well, with TiVo, it's true, and even though Mel won't win a Nobel Prize for helping TiVo, she certainly learned how to catch up with her favorite TV shows, The Office and Ugly Betty, anytime she wants. Mel also helped organize and execute a mobile marketing campaign for Beringer Vineyards giving consumers a chance to enjoy California wine just as much as she does. She got in touch with her "inner" green-thumb by promoting the winning roses for the All-American Rose Selections. When Mel isn't busy communicating with the media, she can be found dancing for San Francisco's Dark Porch Theater company and in a crazy, theatrical dance-band, Borts Minorts.

Both Dan and Mel will continue to hone their PR skills and will be working with our clients to develop campaigns that net real results and they'll do so with style -- athletic, dancing, TV-watching, wine-drinking, traveling style! We're thrilled that they're here adding to our mixed bag of fun.

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