I work at IBM as a communications and social media manager.  I have 15 + years of experience in sales, strategic marketing and organizational communications. I help business lines plan and implement communications that build the brand, drive sales and increase awareness and engagement.

I also enjoy helping professionals and students define their personal brands and learn how to use social media to achieve career and business goals. I teach social media classes locally and worked on an NSF funded project to define a social media curriculum that will be integrated into professional training programs at community colleges.

I have an MBA in Marketing from the Isenberg School of Management, University of Massachusetts-Amherst and a Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. I am also an ASCP certified Medical Technologist.

Follow me on Twitter @laurapnicholas.

[Masthead photo: Lorenzo Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise, East doors of the Florence Baptistery, Italy- March 2009]