By Katie Shagman
Each month AWC Austin highlights one very special member making a difference in the communications industry in Austin, Texas. With summer drawing to a close, we sat down with Cristen James, Marketing Manager for Texas Restaurant Association, at Austin’s iconic Mozart’s Coffee. Cristen is a remarkable communicator, with over 15 years experience in the field. Her career has spanned across multiple geographic regions and given her vast wisdom about our business. Take a minute to meet Cristen and learn about what makes her tick.
Cristen James- Texas Restaurant Association
AWC Austin: How did you hear about AWC Austin? When did you become a member? Why did you initially choose to join?
CJ: I believe smart women help smart women. When I was laid off four years ago, I was looking for a professional organization to join in Austin. I went to an all women’s college so the women’s focus spoke to me. I attended an AWC luncheon and happened to sit down with some key people who encouraged me to get involved. It wasn’t necessarily a hard sell. I don’t like to just attend; I like to get involved. So, I began working on Banner Brunch. Once I started meeting more people, I realized these are women who like to work towards the same goal and have fun – and that’s what I do!
AWC Austin: Please describe your role on the Board. What drew you to a leadership role, and what benefits and experiences have driven you to continue?
CJ: My current position is co-Vice President of Professional Development, which is co-chairing Get Smart. It’s my first year in this position. Previously I spent two year as co-VP of Development, responsible for fundraising and securing sponsorships for AWC programs. I thought joining the Board would be a great way to meet people in the Austin networking scene. My first year on the board Erin Huddleston was chapter president and I really liked her direction and leadership. I like to be active and take on leadership roles in activities – I like to have a voice.
AWC Austin: Tell us about the AWC Austin projects/events coming up that you are excited about.
CJ: I’m very excited about Get Smart. My co-chair Julie Lara, is very smart in her approach to Get Smart (no pun intended). She has put a lot of thought and effort into the event this year and I’m happy to be working and learning with her. I think we have a really impressive group of high-level speakers this year. It’s going to be difficult for people to choose which sessions to attend (which is a great problem to have!). And, because I am marketing as well as planning this event, please visit www.getsmartaustin.com for details and registration! This is a great event and I promise you will meet a variety of amazing Austin Communicators.
AWC Austin: What was your career path?/How did you get there?
CJ: I graduated from college in Virginia in 1999 and two weeks later moved to Chicago. I wanted to try life in a big city. I always wanted to work in PR/Advertising; it was very much my intended path. I immediately started working on the Got Milk campaign and from there I worked a little bit in radio as a promotions/marketing director. Later I worked for a company that solely does event marketing (based in Chicago) and for one year I focused on our Walgreens client. I traveled the U.S. and lived out of hotels as their mobile manager. It was an amazing opportunity to see the country and learn about different markets and communities.
From there, I needed a change from the Windy City. I’d completely fallen in love with Austin after traveling through quite a few times. So, I moved here 6 ½ years ago. I started doing various advertising and PR jobs in town and now I’m Marketing Manager of the Texas Restaurant Association. With every single job I’ve ever had in Marketing, there’s some aspect of every job I still do today. As communicators, everything you’ve ever done in any position will be recreated at some point in your career.
AWC Austin: From what we’ve read on your LinkedIn profile, you subscribe to the notion of “strategic, experiential” marketing. Can you please elaborate on this technique and why it’s been successful in your communications roles?
CJ: To me, it is the strategy behind someone’s experience with your brand. There’s nothing accidental about advertising. If you’re passing something on your bus ride home it’s because that brand is targeting you at that time. They want you to see that advertisement, in that frame of mind, at that time of day. It’s all about reaching people where they live and how they work and play; creating an experience that helps them remember that brand. So, when they go to the store, they remember that experience and emotional connection and follow through with a purchase.
Advertising is successful only if you understand who you’re selling to. Anyone can come up and put together a plan and put a face to it, but it won’t work unless someone has an emotional connection to the product or subject. Brands like Hershey and Nike stir some memory in you, that’s how they are who they are.
AWC Austin: Where do the best ideas come from?
CJ: For me it’s 2AM in my dreams, that’s why I sleep with pen and paper next to my bed. I will literally wake up and “the answer” has snapped into my head. My subconscious says “this is the answer to what you were trying to figure out.” It can be annoying because it interrupts your sleep, but if I sleep on it, the problem always works itself out.
AWC Austin: You’ve lived and worked in several cities, including Virginia, Illinois and Texas. Do communications styles vary based on geography? Are there any unique to Austin, Texas?
CJ: Different parts of the country communicate and receive messages differently, but the fundamentals go across all markets. You have to be smart and pay attention to what’s going on around you. In some places, like New York and Miami, you have to fight for attention more than you do in other areas – that is just true with all large or fast-paced cities. You have to work harder to make an impact. I loved traveling because I was able to absorb so much about how people react to all the information around them.
AWC Austin: What has been your most proud professional accomplishment?
CJ: Electric Monkey because of a couple of reasons: 1. It survived 3 years and still has life to it (not as prominent in my life as it once was, but it’s still thriving) and I didn’t have to sell my house or call my parents for money and 2. Because I was able to work with amazing people like past AWC board member, and EM partner, Christy Agnes. To me, starting your own business and being able to survive for 3+ years is amazing. It taught me a lot. You just become fearless.
AWC Austin: Describe a day in the life of TRA:
CJ: As marketing manager I work closely with the VP of Communications who is also an AWC Member, Wendy Saari, to develop the strategy of how to market an association. There are a lot of moving parts within this association. We consider customer service products, membership, awareness of the association as a whole, and more, and all of these moving parts need strategy. We consistently work as a team to make sure we are meeting the needs of TRA members across Texas. I also manage the social media for TRA. Social media is an amazing communications tool that has been fun to play with the last few years. This is not something I studied in college!
AWC Austin: What communications trends do you see for the future?
CJ: We’re going to turn back to grassroots and face-to-face efforts as larger portions of plans. It’s more economical to run grassroots than larger, broadcast plans. You have to take time to figure out what your customer wants. All of us, no matter if we choose to admit it or not, sit on social media throughout portions of the day. This means there is tons of opportunity for businesses to have face-to-face interaction with their customers and leave behind email and social media. You have to return to personal relationship building.
It’s possible to do this with other outlets, like webinars, but moving forward it’s going to be increasingly important to interact with people on a more personal basis. It’s not exciting, new or profound, but people need to stop focusing on the “latest technology.” You have to realize most people are still playing catch up and new platforms are only reaching a portion of the world.
I have been working in advertising over 15 years. It still comes down to being smart and talking to people. That is your constant key to success.
AWC Austin: Tell us, what’s your favorite ad campaign?
CJ: I’ve always been a fan of the Target campaign. It’s so hard to completely change the perspective of a brand. They changed their whole attitude. People forget it’s discount shopping. Their image building is just genius.
AWC Austin: What is your favorite live music venue/theater/etc in Austin?
CJ: The hole in the wall live music venue would have to be The Mean Eyed Cat. My go-to established ticketed venue is Stubbs. It’s so cool to watch the sun go down, listen to music and forget you’re in the middle of the city.
AWC Austin: Do you have a favorite lunch spot?
CJ: I’m a huge fan of Kerbey Lane. Talk about a good social ad campaign. They always make me hungry because they post pictures of their pancakes every day on their social media channels.
AWC Austin: Personal motto?
CJ: For starters, the “Don’t Worry Be Happy” song. It’s silly but it works. Whenever I’m overwhelmed or frustrated during a project, I take a moment to say, “Okay I’m smarter than this problem, what can we do?”
AWC Austin: What is the best piece of advice you ever received?
CJ: It was from my Mom (who borrowed it from other sources): “Always choose to be a Tigger, don’t let the Eeyores keep you down.”
AWC Austin: What inspires you? A movie? Someone you know?
CJ: Passionate people, music, and Austin. Those are three big things that keep me here!
AWC Austin: Describe your perfect “staycation” in Austin.
CJ: I would sleep in until at least 10:30, probably go get some pancakes at Kerbey Lane, take a walk on the hike and bike trail, and I would end with dinner and drinks at Moonshine. If I had a break I’d go home and watch 90210 (90s version!).
AWC Austin: Any words of wisdom for new or seasoned communicators starting (or restarting) a career?
CJ: Flip through your Rolodex… it’s a safe bet you’ve probably forgotten who you’ve actually met along the way. Your Rolodex can be a stack of business cards, your LinkedIn connections or your Friends list on Facebook. If there’s anything about Austin that’s very unique is that Austinites genuinely want to help each other. They want to learn about what you want to do and do what they can to make that happen.
AWC Austin: Any parting words you’d like to share with the readers about AWC Austin?
CJ: There are a lot of professional associations in Austin and this is one I never see myself leaving. The typical Austin communicator (many members of this group!) has some sort of project on the side, because even if we wanted to be just one job people, we can’t. We have too many creative ideas for just one outlet.
It’s amazing to sit in a group of women who are mothers, work full time, have creative/artistic side projects, who are so intelligent and driven. And this list describes everyone at AWC. I look forward to meetings and luncheons and get-togethers because after 3 ½ years, I’m still learning about people. There are not a lot of professional organizations where you consider your professional connections your friends. This is one of them.
Cristen James’ Resource Rundown:
CNN
Austin Chronicle
Austin Business Journal
Do512
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