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Here’s a cover feature about the new dean for the Carlson School of Management, Jamie Prenkert, at the University of Minnesota.
For this story, I worked with Steve Henneberry, whose deep knowledge of the institution and ideas for the story helped lay the groundwork for success.
In the story, I aimed to amplify Dean Prenkert’s:
• Vision
• Competence and experience
• Humanity and humor
This last bullet on the list is more important than most people realize!
Here’s what Henneberry said about the “this or that” sidebar that we used to highlight who Prenkert is off the clock.
A surprise was how well the “This or That” sidebar worked out. I planned for it to bring out a side of Jamie that I thought likely wouldn’t be brought through in the piece itself. It did that and more! With the photo choice and the annotations you had, it was an essential way for the piece to land the way it did.
I thought so, too! I asked a ton of questions that didn’t make the final cut. I also realized during the interview that his off-the-cuff commentary was worth sharing, too.
Henneberry says the overall result was what he was hoping for:
The piece has been well-received, both in the snippets on social, pageviews on the site, and anecdotally. Most importantly, the Dean loves it!
When I posted about the story on LinkedIn (connect with me if you haven’t already!), I was delighted to see the dean himself weigh in. He said:
“Thanks for making the process enjoyable and the result something I’m quite proud of”
I love leadership stories like this, because success can set the stage for huge future opportunities for a communications team and for the magazine. I’m always honored to have an opportunity to play a part in that process.