Adding fuel to our growing Social Business Design practice, I’m pleased to announce that we have added several new consultants and associates to our Dachis Group North American team led by Managing Director Peter Kim. We are lucky to welcome Caroline Dangson, Cynthia Pflaum, Tom Cummings, Brian Kotlyar, Kate Rush Sheehy and Amanda Johnson who not only bring thought leadership to our clients but exceptional analytical, research, and programatic development skills to our consulting and operations teams and join us from respected firms including: Forrester Research, IDC, Gerson Lehrman Group, and Goldman Sachs. These additions enable us to better service our expanding client base enabling them to move forward to become more socially calibrated, collaborative, connected organizations.
With these new additions to our Dachis Group Social Business Design team, now over 50 worldwide, we are pleased to be able to continue to offer our clients our industry’s most advanced perspectives with the depth, breadth and proven ability to deliver them.
Caroline Dangson, Consultant
Caroline Dangson joins Dachis Group with experience as a research analyst at IDC covering online advertising, digital media and social business software. In addition to forecasting opportunities and challenges for both vendors and buyers of social software, Caroline has explored the cultural and operational transformation required for companies to realize the full potential of social business initiatives.
Prior to IDC, Caroline served as a research coordinator for Harvard Medical School where she administered a battery of cognitive assessments to patients for research studies sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health. Caroline has also worked for FOX8 WGHP-TV News in North Carolina and public relations agency Ruder Finn in New York.
Caroline has been cited as an industry expert in publications including Wall Street Journal, The Economist, USA Today, Reuters, CIO.com, and VentureBeat.
Caroline graduated with highest honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communication.
Join Caroline’s conversations on Twitter @cdangson.
Cynthia Pflaum, Consultant
Cynthia joins Dachis Group from Forrester Research, where she focused on helping clients understand how consumers use social technologies through data-driven insights and research. Her reports have been quoted frequently in the press, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Advertising Age. In addition to writing research and consulting with clients across industries, Cynthia helped manage Forrester’s Social Technographics product globally. Her data analyses were featured in the award-winning business book, Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff.
Prior to Forrester, Cynthia worked as a research analyst for Knowledge Networks, where she conducted qualitative and quantitative brand research studies.
Cynthia holds a B.S in Mass Communication and a B.A in Psychology from Boston University.
Join Cynthia’s conversations on Twitter @cpflaum.
Tom Cummings, Consultant
Tom joins the Dachis Group from Forrester Research, where he focused on writing social media research for the Interactive Marketing role. Additionally, as part of Forrester’s internal social strategy team, he helped develop several companywide social guidelines, including Analyst rules for blogging and engaging on Twitter. He also served as a Community Manager for an internal employee community and worked closely with web marketing on several client facing projects.
Previously at Forrester, Tom was a client facing Market Research Data Advisor, providing on-demand insights from consumer technology data to media, marketing, and automotive clients.
Tom graduated with a Bachelor’s in Economics from the University of Vermont and studied econometrics and resource economics at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
Join Tom’s conversations on Twitter @tomcummings.
Brian Kotlyar, Associate
Brian Kotlyar is an Associate at Dachis Group. He joined the team from expert network firm Gerson Lehrman Group where he was Research Manager for a broad portfolio of financial services, professional services and corporate clients.
Prior to this, Brian was a collaboration and social media analyst at market research firm Yankee Group.
Brian graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Commonwealth College at the University of Massachusetts with degrees in History and Social Thought and Political Economy.
Join Brian’s conversations on Twitter @bkotlyar.
Kate Rush Sheehy, Associate
Kate comes from a diverse background of business development, non-profit marketing and event planning, and agency experience. Prior to joining Dachis Group, Kate directed the business development efforts for a consulting firm that specializes in Atlassian implementation. She served as the liaison between company and client for a number of enterprise-level software and technology firms. During her time at The Richards Group she worked in account service on interactive campaigns for Home Depot’s ESPN Game Day and La Madeleine.
Kate holds a B.S. in Advertising from the University of Texas at Austin.
Join Kate’s conversations on Twitter @katerushsheehy.
Amanda Johnson, Operations Associate
Amanda Johnson is a communications professional with a breadth of experience in event planning, marketing and social media systems. Amanda recently relocated to Austin from New York City, where she worked as a Senior Analyst on the event marketing teams for both Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers.
Amanda holds a Bachelors of Science in Communication from the University of Missouri and is a member of the Austin Junior League.
Follow Amanda on Twitter @akjnyc.
These are exciting times and I am often humbled in the midst of such a talented group of people and the work they do for our clients. This continues to be the case with Dachis Group’s newest additions. If you are coming to the Dachis Group Social Business Summit, make sure to track them down to say hello and please welcome Caroline, Cynthia, Tom, Brian, Kate and Amanda to our team.
