ATG PROFILES ENCOURAGED
Scott Ahlberg COO Research Solutions / Reprints Desk 16350 Ventura Blvd., Suite D #811, Los Angeles, CA 91436 Phone: (310) 477-0354 <sahlberg@reprintsdesk.com>
How/where do I see the industry in five years: I expect to see more consolidation in scholarly publishing, but more decentralization in getting content to end users.
Deni Auclair President/CEO Media Growth Strategies LLC 42 Walpole Street Dover, MA 02030 Phone: (508) 785-8384 <dauclair56@gmail.com> www.mediagrowthstrategies.com
Born and lived: Born in Mt. Kisco, NY and, up to and including while in high school, lived in Brewster, NY; Arlington, VA; Cincinnati, OH; Woods Hole, MA; Naples, Italy; Troy, NY; Pittstown, NY; Cambridge, England. Early life: My father was a graduate biochemistry professor at University of Cincinnati and RPI, so we moved around as he changed jobs and went on sabbaticals. He also did genetics research (cloning) at the Rockefeller Institute in NYC and genetics-related marine biology at the Massachusetts Biological Laboratories in Woods Hole. We finally settled in Pittstown, NY when my family bought a 650-acre Century farm (meaning it had been in the same family for over 100 years). We started as a beef farm, raising Charolais and Herefords as well as horses, chickens, and geese. After our farm manager joined us, we went to dairy and had a herd of Holsteins until it was sold when my parents retired. I spent seven summers working on the hay wagons – long days of throwing hundreds of bales of hay. I learned a lot about hard work, discipline – and being stronger than the boys on the school bus! – during those years. I went to Albany Academy for Girls, the sister school to Albany Academy which had several notable attendees, but the most meaningful to me was Herman Melville. I did my thesis on him my senior year at Bates College, which I attended for three years, spending my junior year at University of Stirling in Scotland. Professional career and activities: I started my career working in Portland, ME for a team of industrial psychologists. I wanted to get into publishing, however, so after a summer taking the Stanford Publishing program, I moved to NYC and started as a Reader for the children’s book division at (what was then) Harper & Row, moving into the adult division after a year. After six months working as an editorial assistant, I was hired as assistant to Phyllis Grann, publisher at G. P. Putnam’s Sons. I was promoted to Senior Editor after two years – acquiring bestselling And So It Goes by Linda Ellerbee and working with notable authors like comedian George Burns, actress Elizabeth Taylor (her assistant, to be honest), Robin Cook, Dick Francis, Joe McGinnis, and many more. I decided, since I had played sports through high school and participated as much as I could in college (there were very few women’s teams at that time), that I wanted to be in the business of baseball so I interviewed with a bunch of baseball teams – and ended up as a Reporter (i.e., fact
Against the Grain / June 2020
checker and sometimes supporting the Writers on stories) for Sports Illustrated. Not really what I wanted to do, but it was a fun experience for a little over a year. I returned to Putnam for a couple of years, worked for a sports media coach for a year, then got my MBA at NYU’s Stern School of Business while working again at Sports Illustrated, before joining what is known as a “vulture fund” as a buy-side analyst. (Vulture funds invest in distressed debt.) After six years, I got a job at Wiley doing M&A and that started my career in scholarly publishing. I worked at Wiley for 12 years, then joined JBJS as CFO. I then started my consultancy, Media Growth Strategies LLC (MGS) before joining Outsell. I was VP and Senior Analyst there for two and a half years, joined Delta Think as CFO and analyst for a year and a half, then restarted MGS. I am now very happily consulting and working with the wonderful people in scholarly communications on as many projects as possible! Family: I live with my eight cats and two dogs, am a widow of 15 years, and have a brilliant 43-year old stepson who is an attorney in NYC. In my spare time: I am treasurer for USA Boxing, Metro (USA Boxing is the national governing body for amateur boxing, under the aegis of the USOPC, and Metro is the NYC chapter) and the National Golden Gloves of America. I am also Vice President of the USA Boxing Foundation. I have been involved in amateur boxing as an official and administrator (all volunteer) for 36 years – they are like family to me. I am also treasurer of The Cat Connection, based in Waltham, MA. Basically, being involved with boxing and cats, I’m a member of the two craziest groups of people you can find. Favorite books: Too many to list… I listen to audiobooks constantly, and am currently reading Michael Pollan’s How to Change Your Mind. Pet peeves: Drivers who don’t signal when they turn, malapropisms, sloppy writing in a professional setting. Also, people who create drama when it just isn’t necessary. Philosophy: Be happy. Most memorable career achievement: Working on the Blackwell acquisition while at Wiley. Goal I hope to achieve five years from now: Being ready to semi-retire. How/where do I see the industry in five years: Pretty much where it is today, while recovering from this coronavirus pandemic. With COVID-19, it seems as if life has been put on hold. Combine that with an industry that moves relatively slowly, and five years is a drop in the bucket when it comes to time.
Marshall Breeding Independent Consultant Library Technology Guides 2512 Essex Place Nashville, TN 37212 Phone: (615) 479-0392 <marshall.breeding@librarytechnology.org> https://librarytechnology.org
Short professional bio: https://librarytechnology.org/marshallbreeding/ Full c.v.: https://librarytechnology.org/marshallbreeding/cv/ continued on page 82
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