William Stone

I'm William Stone, a Philadelphia-based writer & editor, marketing strategist, plain language advocate & health literacy advisor. Welcome to my profile!

William Stone's Bio:

William Stone's Experience:

• Director of Marketing at Orion Fleet Intelligence

  October 2012 - March 2014

  As Director of Client Success Services, I had a dual role managing, mentoring, and cultivating account management strategies for the Client Success team while simultaneously overseeing all marketing initiatives. I later focused solely on marketing, assuming the role of Director of Marketing. As Orion's Director of Marketing, I built and protected the Orion Fleet Intelligence brand. I also managed the creation of key constituent marketing collateral that helped prospects understand the value of program participation and enhanced our clients' ability to achieve successful telematics implementations. As early adopters of GPS-derived Business Intelligence (BI) for companies whose fleet operations are a significant part of their revenue or cost structure, Orion Fleet Intelligence has been around long enough to observe two key facts: 1) Fleet operational strategies informed by relevant GPS data has one of the greatest potentials to immediately improve productivity, strengthen safety, and boost operational savings, but 2) Most companies never realize the full promise of GPS-fueled strategies because few ever fully deploy units. For those of us in the trenches, the reason for this is clear--the process is extremely difficult with very little room for end-user error. If other GPS Telematics companies tell you something different, they're being disingenuous. With so many companies missing the opportunity that GPS offers, Orion set out to build a better program that employs data mining, customized reporting, and driver coaching to ensure success. By capturing the data generated by fleets and drivers and merging this with core operations data to produce actionable intelligence, Orion unlocks revenue opportunities, improves safety and operational efficiency, raises service delivery and enables permanent cost savings.

• Marketing / Communications Consultant at Consultancy

  2007 - 2014

  Health Literacy Consultant for Sommer Consulting - 12/2010-Present ● Evaluates healthcare text for its use of plain language composition and makes actionable recommendations to improve patient comprehension. ● Administers myriad tests to healthcare documents to determine readability. Marketing Consultant for Orion Fleet Intelligence - 10/2012-12/2012 & 3/2014-4/2014 ● Provides the communication tools (writing & graphic design for brochures, white papers, case studies, etc.) and processes that fortifies each client's ability to achieve telematics implementation success. Director of Brand Management for Finch Brands - 11/2011-8/2012 ● Oversaw all agency brand visibility initiatives, including the website's writing and re-launch, and helped cultivate new business development opportunities. ● Maintained social media calendar and wrote all blog articles & daily social media posts. ● Company's roster of clients includes iconic brands such as AstraZeneca, Everlast, Department of Defense, Philadelphia 76ers, and Lord & Taylor. Freelance SEO Content Consultant for VisionCourse - 1/2011-11/2011 ● Composed compelling search engine-optimized copy for the clients of this web development and e-commerce solutions firm. ● Ghost wrote company blog articles and marketing materials. Lead Marketing Consultant for Bigger Better Marketing International - 6/2007-11/2011 ● Worked on various client engagements, providing strategic guidance, marketing, and business solutions. ● Clients included some of the world's leading non-profits (American Chemical Society), research institutions (The Smithsonian Institute), and technology juggernauts (Honeywell International). Senior Account Executive for MediciGlobal - 7/2008-1/2009 ● Served as chief contact for key global pharmaceutical accounts with responsibility for senior-level account planning & supervision of cross functional teams. ● Developed & executed global marketing/PR activities through the course of clinical drug studies.

• Strategic Marketing Manager at Elsevier Health Sciences

  2005 - 2008

  ● Developed and implemented strategic plans for a portfolio of approximately 30 journals (20 of which were external society-owned titles) that helped the company penetrate target markets and increased market share. ● Enhanced production efficiency by simultaneously managing multiple projects, including direct mail, space advertising, telemarketing and electronic marketing, creation of budgets, and exhibition at appropriate meetings worldwide. ● Used knowledge of competitive products to determine successful sales and marketing strategies. ● Delivered marketing presentations and annual reviews that included performance forecasts and post-mortem analyses at both company and external meetings.

• Associate, Marketing & Communications Division at American College of Physicians

  2000 - 2005

  - Consulted on CME Courses, the Center for Ethics & Professionalism, Technical Exhibits for the annual meeting (approx. 7,000 attendees), & on circulation & ad sales, including those for ACP's flagship product, Annals of Internal Medicine. - Increased annual revenue for 1 area from $5.8 to more than $6.9 million. - Implemented new tactics based on extensive testing & analysis that lifted response by 1,200%, increased revenue by 10% above goal, & reduced costs by more than $150,000, resulting in revenue being at its highest levels in the last 5 years. - Undertook an in-depth analysis of ACP's programs, products & services, & wrote a detailed Customer Service script to be used for cross-selling and up-selling. - Developed a marketing poster that earned international recognition & was adopted for use by an unaffiliated organization overseas. - Undertook a campaign that was outside my documented area of responsibility, which generated more than $80,000 in revenue.

• Associate Editor at Herrin Publishing Partners LLC

  2000 - October 2000

  ● Managed the writing, photography, layout and on time production of a quality monthly medical publication in a highly-charged environment. ● Acquired manuscript submissions to the magazine, and kept current on the latest developments in the field by participating in industry meetings throughout the U.S. ● Effectively multitasked, researching and writing articles, interviewing healthcare experts and policy makers, developing news stories, coordinating photoshoots, selecting and purchasing artwork, and editing other writers' work for style and grammar, which resulted in financial profit for the publication after only four months post launch.

• Marketing Coordinator at Taylor & Francis

  1999 - 2000

  ● Managed all marketing activities for the Gerontology and Death & Dying portfolios (included both books and journals under the Psychology Press inprint).

• Director of Content Strategy at Sommer Consulting

  June 2014

  Some see us as language specialists. Others view us as experts in uncovering the buried decision strategies of key targets. The truth is, we are both...and more. Over 40 years ago our Chairman, Dr. Joseph Yeager, set out to do what the giants of psychology and linguistics had failed to accomplish -- uncover, decipher, and map the hidden grammar of decision-making. By truly hearing not just what, but how a question is asked or answered, we gather far more than the content of a response; we earn insight into the speaker's structure of thinking. By leveraging advanced persuasion and behavior change methods, we not only help clients uncover the mindset of their target audiences, but learn specifically what to do to move those minds into alignment with clients' business objectives. As Sommer Consulting's Director of Content Strategy, I create meaningful interactive experiences through the strategic interplay of words and data--from developmental editing and light ghost writing to health literacy consulting. Additionally, I conduct Lunch and Learns and other educational sessions, plus manage the report-writing style and editorial review process of our Research Analysts.

William Stone's Education:

• The Johns Hopkins University

  1994 – 1998
  BA
  Activities: ● Dean’s List ● Johns Hopkins’ Phi Epsilon Buddy Endowment Scholar - 1995–1996* ● Johns Hopkins’ Phi Epsilon Buddy Endowment Scholar - 1996-1997* ● Member of Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity ● Member of Johns Hopkins Wing Chun Kung Fu *Scholarship not affiliated with the Greek fraternity system

• Murdoch University

  1997 – 1997
  Concentration: Council of International Educational Exchange

• Woodlynde School

  1987 – 1994
  High School Diploma
  Concentration: Libral Arts

• University of Pennsylvania

  1993 – 1993
  Concentration: Pre-College Program