Ragan & PR Daily
At Ragan Communications and PR Daily, I serve as content director, managing the two editorial teams and producing events that attract 600+ attendees. I moderate on-stage sessions and act as emcee and host at these events.
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- Comms Etymology: The finer points of punctuation
- Comms Anonymous: Communicators share the lessons they’ve learned the hard way
- The future of video storytelling in an AI-driven world
- How TikTok has redefined news, community and humanity
- How communicators can rethink workflows and creativity with AI
- Why social media personalities are acting like publishers – and how brands can join in
- What a potential U.S. TikTok ban means for your social media strategy
- How university communicators are preparing for a heated election season
- The best and worst PR moments from Super Bowl LVIII
- Pick your brand battle: How to decide which social platforms to use
- How a Disney Parks cast member experience boosted retention and reputation
- Weathering a crisis: Lessons in emergency preparedness from The Weather Company
Adweek
Articles
- What Marketers Need to Consider for 2023 While Weathering Twitter’s Maelstrom
- The 17 Most Spellbinding Halloween Ad Campaigns, Products and Brand Stunts of 2022
- Marketing Morsels: A BDSM Horror Story, Black Garlic Mayo in Transylvania and More
- The Most Mind-Blowing Brand Activations at New York Comic Con 2022
- Why RadioShack and LimeWire Clambered From the Grave to Bring NFTs to Nostalgic Fans (print and digital)
- Mountain Dew Flamin’ Hot Ignites a Star-Studded Rager in Hell, Michigan
- Fools Rush In: The Funniest, Weirdest and Wildest Brand Stunts of April Fools’ Day 2022
- To Find Growth on TikTok, Marketers Need to Think Granular and Niche
- How Mondelēz International Built TikTok’s Biggest Snack Brands
- How Jonathan Hyla Inspires and Equips Neurodiverse Creatives via Clubhouse (magazine-first profile)
- How Billie’s Reimagined Pride Fairy Tales Support LGBTQ+ Youth
- Fasten Your Meatbelts: How Lyft and Oscar Mayer Teamed Up to Offer Wienermobile Rides
- Fools Rush In: The Funniest, Weirdest and Wildest Brand Stunts of April Fools’ Day 2022
- ‘Every Little Bit of Laughter Helps’: Rhys Darby and Terminix Unite for a Charming Campaign
Video Series & Multimedia
- 5 Steps Anyone Can Take to Improve Inclusion in the Workplace (Part of a 5-part series featuring women leaders in marketing)
- Social Confidential: How Sour Patch Kids’ ‘No-Rules’ Approach Hypnotizes and Delights Fans
- Adweek’s Marketing Morsels column every week
- Ran Adweek’s March Adness bracket, which garnered more than 2 million impressions and hundreds of thousands of participants each year (3 years in a row)
- How Heineken Scored Big on Nonalcoholic Beer Sales (presenter, writer, editor)
- How the Washington Post Instagram Reached 1.6 Million Followers (writer, editor)
Useless Etymology
Highlights from my blog, UselessEtymology.com.
- The Tragic Etymology of “Nostalgia”
- Avast! 6 Swashbuckling Word Origins for International Talk Like a Pirate Day
- The Word “Outrage” Technically Doesn’t Include “Out” or “Rage”
- The Shocking Origin of the Word “Electric”
- How 12-year-old Gloria Lockerman taught us the word “disestablishmentarianism”
- A Brief, Etymological History of Christmas Elves
- ‘Words From Hell’ Emerges from the UnderWord, Exposing Etymology Horrors for All to See
Writer’s Digest
Online Articles
- Don’t Panic: 14 Underappreciated Douglas Adams Quotes for Writers, the Universe, and Everyone
- Quotes on Writing: 19 Classic and Contemporary Lessons from Black American Writers
- 200 Years Later: Things You Might Not Know About Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
- 4 Authors Share Their Best Tips for Writing Fantasy & Science-Fiction
- Writer’s Digest Selected as Two-Time Finalist in the 2018 Eddie and Ozzie Awards
- Getting Started in Freelance Writing: Key Tips from Marketing Mentor Ilise Benun
- What Is (and Isn’t) High Concept Fiction, and How Do You Pitch It?
- NaNoWriMo Begins! 30 Tips for Conquering Your 30-Day Writing Challenge
- Blessed Are the Legend-Makers: 11 J.R.R. Tolkien Quotes for Writers
- Stan Lee’s 1947 Guide to Writing and Selling Comics
- 6 Lessons Writers Can Learn from Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’
- 30 Gifts for Writers: The 2018 Writer’s Digest Holiday Gift Guide
- 4 Writing Techniques to Borrow from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol
- Top Websites for Writers: 10 Sites with Literary Agent Advice & Resources
- Reddit for Writers: 47 Writing Subreddits to Explore
- 15 Motivational Tips to Help You Achieve Your Writing Resolutions in 2018
- 6 Fiction Writing Exercises to Try When You’re Traveling
- For the Love of Writing: 25 Wordsmiths Explain Why They Write
- Clowns to the Left, Jokers to the Right: What to Do When You’re Stuck in the Middle of Your Novel
- The Writer’s Digest Holiday Gift Guide: 30+ Gifts for Writers
- 14 Reputable Charities for Writing & Literacy
- 10 Great Lines from 2017 NaNoWriMo Novels
- NaNoWriMo Inspiration: 10 First Lines from Recent Bestsellers
Magazine Features
- “101 Best Websites for Writers,” 2019
- “Mastering High Concept,” September 2019
Columns & Puzzles
Writer’s Digest 2020 Daily Calendar
I created 52 writing-themed word puzzles and games for the 2020 Writer’s Digest page-a-day calendar.
Writing Prompts
Scotts/Tomcat
In October 2019, I served as managing editor on a unique social media project for the Scotts company, curating 24 stories released on the Twitter accounts of eight horror authors with the hashtag #ScaryStories throughout the month of October. The stories each generated thousands of likes and retweets, with one topping 60K and generating widespread press coverage. I also contributed three fictional horror stories to the project myself.
MM&M Magazine
I wrote four profiles of medical marketing agencies for the 2019 Agency 100 feature in MM&M magazine.
- Agency 100 2019: Patient Experience Project
- Agency 100 2019: Minds + Assembly
- Agency 100 2019: JPA Health
- Agency 100 2019: Invivo Communications
ResumeHelp
In early 2018, I revamped, rewrote and optimized more than 150 evergreen articles on ResumeHelp.com.
HOW Magazine
I served as online content director of HOWdesign.com from 2014 to 2017, and as Editor-in-Chief of HOW‘s print magazine from 2016–2017, during which time I produced hundreds of online articles and five issues of the print magazine.
PRINT Magazine
I served as online content director of PRINT magazine from 2014–2017, during which time I produced hundreds of online articles and contributed to the print magazine.
Jess Zafarris 