07/01 – Present
PROJECT MANAGER/PRODUCER, ClubMom, Inc., an affinity-based  membership organization whose partners include General Motors,  RadioShack, Linens'n Things, Foot Locker, Kraft, Nine West, Pier 1 Imports, Jiffy Lube, JCPenney, Pepsi, KB Toys and Frito-Lay.

• Prepare and maintain all project-related documentation, including detailed schematics, functional requirements and milestone schedules

• Determine technical feasibility, communicate next steps to business owners and manage all teams responsible for project execution

• Define and develop procedural practices with a keen eye on projected growth

• Design, test and deploy all revenue-generating outbound communications according to pre-determined calendar and member segment

• Train staff and provide ongoing support for CARDS, a Dynamo-based content aggregating system

08/00 – 07/01
DIRECTOR, APPLICATIONS MARKETING, Improv Technologies, Inc., a revolutionary middleware developer and aspiring Application Service Provider whose proprietary technology facilitates communication between disparate forms of digital content creation and distribution.

• Championed Catalyst, a high-end 3D animation and video game development tool designed to empower digital authors seeking to create sophisticated entertainment software content

• Directed core team of developers, evaluated competitive climate, addressed industry requirements, drafted business case studies including scalable pricing structure and acted as marketing advocate for an ever-evolving line of components

• Oversaw all Catalyst-related production and quality-assurance procedures and worked with technical lead to determine project goals, document progress, set schedules and assignment of appropriate creative and technical teams

• Defined all product-related marketing and publicity strategies, composed press releases, designed collateral materials and collaborated with internal and external facilitators to initiate and monitor targeted campaigns according to budget

• Determined tangible leads and applied industry background to broaden client list while maintaining strategic relationships with a partner set that included Sun Microsystems, Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc., Silicon Graphics, Discreet and New York University’s Media Research Lab

• Created presentation materials and attended frequent trade shows and sales engagements as corporate representative

04/00 – 08/00
SENIOR PRODUCT MANAGER, NEW TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS, togglethis Entertainment, LLC, a leader in interactive marketing solutions, enabling new forms of compelling content and rich media advertising to be broadcast directly to consumers via targeted email programs

• Researched emerging technologies, interpreted market trends and customer needs and applied results to the ongoing development of a unique group of marketing tools used to create stronger business-to-business/business-to-consumer relationships and generate revenue through advertising, sponsorship and commerce on- and offline

• Worked with external agencies and internal marketing and sales force to determine cost to client, outlining objectives, drafting proposals, distributing budgets, creating content and providing innovative online branding solutions to client roll that included Coca-Cola, BMW, New Line Cinema, Disney, AT&T and Spin New Media

• Established new production and quality-assurance practices, managed scheduling process and assembled necessary development and testing resources in an effort to improve product designs

07/99 – 04/00
DIRECTOR, ONLINE MARKETING/SENIOR PRODUCT MANAGER, Rockstar Games (a division of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.), an integrated developer, publisher and distributor of entertainment software and accessories.

• Employed independent contractors, managed creative and technical teams and created programs addressing online advertising and sales, brand awareness, customer identity, cross-promotional opportunities, new business development, visitor registration and retention as well as delivery of custom content

• Help build online communities dedicated to core brands and ensured that all FCC regulations regarding registrant data collection were closely followed

• Studied competitive climate, devised comprehensive marketing and publicity strategies for high-profile properties such as Earthworm Jim, Evel Knievel, Grand Theft Auto and Jim Henson’s Muppets and explored sponsorship and promotional prospects with licensors and publishers including Nintendo of America, Inc., Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. and Sega of America, Inc.

• Generated copy and acted as liaison between senior management, internal design/production team and outside agencies to develop brand logos, key art and all aspects of product packaging, print and online advertising, promotional and sales support materials

• Reviewed contracts, procured appropriate legal statements and actively participated in all practices related to the licensor-to-licensee concept-to-approval life cycle

• Identified goals, allocated budgets, evaluated proposals, constructed content and led online marketing initiative for multi-platform product line

• Solicited beta-testers, monitored focus group activities and prepared detailed documentation to substantiate findings

04/96 – 07/99
MANAGER, ONLINE MARKETING AND PROMOTIONS/PRODUCT MANAGER, GT Interactive Software Corp., a global developer, publisher and distributor of consumer software.

• Pitched developing design/functionality schematics to senior management, administered $100,000 redesign budget, supervised external resources and spearheaded the transformation and ongoing maintenance of company website from static electronic catalog to dynamic, commercially-driven, content-rich entity attracting over 250,000 unique visitors and 165,000 registrants each month

• Contributed to the overall architecture, vision and editorial direction for the GT|Network, a family of online entities dedicated to electronic commerce, marketing and corporate functions

• Integrated a content aggregating solution to better facilitate personalized communication to and from the GT|Network and fashioned innovative marketing, public relations and promotional policies in addition to list- and traffic-building/retention programs despite budgetary restrictions

• Added and monitored community features such as moderated chat to marketing arm of company sites, collaborated with internal legal team and drafted statements to address all product- (i.e., trademark) and web (i.e., privacy) -related issues in compliance with FCC regulations

• Initiated strategic alliances with media giants including MTV Networks, Maxim Magazine and E! Online as well as technology partners such as RealNetworks and Creative Technology, Ltd.

• Performed detailed business analyses, disseminated product marketing budgets ranging from $50,000 to $1,500,000 and carefully monitored execution of plans to meet profit-and-loss objectives for key franchises such as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Simon & Schuster Interactive), Beavis and Butt-head (MTV Interactive), Æon Flux and Blue’s Clues (Viacom New Media)

05/95 – 04/96
PUBLICIST/CONSULTANT, Formula Public Relations, Inc., an independent media relations firm specializing in the entertainment industry.

• Identified co-promotional opportunities and explored personally held professional relationships that led to the delivery of several video game soundtracks (i.e., Quake), sponsorship opportunities (i.e., Van’s Warped Tour) and deployment of official websites for Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails and Portishead

• Designed multi-tiered tactics and worked with talent affiliates to integrate plans into larger marketing agendas

05/94 – 04/96
PROJECT MANAGER/MEDIA PLANNER, Digital Force LLC, a leading CD, CD-ROM, DVD development and post-production studio.

• Developed initial architecture for company site and devised a broad-reaching online initiative based primarily on viral and guerilla marketing efforts

• Provided services to client roll that included MTV Networks, NFL on FOX, Coca-Cola and Rolling Stone Magazine

Proficient in MS Office Suite (including Project, Access and PowerPoint) with working knowledge of Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and various video game and web development protocols, tools and languages; strong familiarity with Vignette’s Content Aggregation Server/Software and other means of dynamic content aggregation; key experience with DART and other internet advertising, tracking and research systems

05/92 
New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business
MBA (Marketing Concentration)

05/88
St. John’s University
BS (Marketing)/AAS (Business Administration)/AAS (English)

Robert J. Ricci | 214-14 36th Avenue | Apartment 6 | Bayside, NY 11361
rricci@nyc.rr.com