Melissa is an evangelist for data-driven digital audience strategies. In the past 10 years, she's built three innovative Content, Audience and Marketing teams — first at Cox Media Group's Fans 1st Media, then for CMG's TV and radio stations, and most recently at American City Business Journals. Each of these endeavors included creating new standards, best practices, curriculum, training, workflows and roadmaps.  

Melissa has also traveled around the country to speak about social distribution, digital-first newsrooms, content, teamwork, redesigns, newsrooms of the future, design thinking and innovation.
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She has been an active member of the Society for News Design since 2005, helping to organize the 2006 annual workshop in Orlando and enduring the cold in Syracuse as a facilitator and judge for the organization's annual international design contest. She now serves as SND's Foundation President. 

Previously, Melissa was a senior member of SND's Competition Committee. In 2012, she was competition coordinator for the 34th annual Best of News Design Creative Competition, bringing together a judging group of 27 professionals from around the world to evaluate more than 10,000 entries.

Melissa was the SND Region 3 director for several years and Education and Training Director, in charge of organizing training events and courses around the world. 
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What is digital audience growth?