1. May 24, 2002
To Whom It May Concern:
Bruce Smith and I worked together at Millikin University. Bruce was in charge of the
University’s Marketing and Communications department. I ran the Millikin Institute,
which housed the University’s corporate and individual training programs and ran
summer programs such as camps and conferences.
Bruce hits the ground running and has strong interpersonal and leadership skills. He
worked with me to transform the relationship between the Institute and the Marketing
and Communications office. It was dysfunctional but rapidly became effective.
Bruce offered sound strategic counsel on our marketing plan and market research, and
had good advice, e.g., about involving the business community in developing our
offerings. He and his team were responsive whenever we requested assistance with
promotional campaigns including the Web, publications, ads and especially media.
Bruce knows how to increase name recognition and get key messages into the media. We
often got positive and informative coverage of various kinds for our programs.
The night and day difference that Bruce’s leadership made to the quality, timeliness and
professionalism of the Marketing and Communications department extended throughout
the University. I saw the improvements he and his department made in all areas,
particularly Admission and Alumni & Development. He has a good – and well-deserved –
reputation with the University’s trustees and others for making progress despite the
challenges of marketing in an academic environment.
Bruce is a change agent whenever appropriate, proactively looking for ways to add value
and make a strong contribution to achieve the organization’s goals. The University’s
media coverage, publications, ads, web site and market research all improved quickly and
significantly during his tenure.
He is creative, bright, organized, a good listener and gets results while building
relationships. I recommend Bruce Smith highly if you want to increase your net revenue,
donations, market share and/or visibility.
Sincerely,
Anthony Bertauski