{"642273":{"#nid":"642273","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Rebecca Keane, Longtime Ivan Allen College Communications Director, Retires","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen Rebecca Keane arrived\u0026nbsp;as the newly hired\u0026nbsp;communications officer\u0026nbsp;for the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts in 2008, she\u0026nbsp;set to work creating a professionalized communications program that had, until then, been handled on a part-time basis by another department.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EKeane\u0026nbsp;developed messaging, digital, and physical assets to convey the College\u0026rsquo;s identity. She developed a College-focused\u0026nbsp;reputational survey \u0026ndash; supplementing the\u0026nbsp;primary Georgia\u0026nbsp;Tech\u0026nbsp;survey \u0026ndash; and a \u0026nbsp;college alumni survey\u0026nbsp;to craft evidence-based\u0026nbsp;key messaging\u0026nbsp;that\u0026nbsp;has\u0026nbsp;served as a pillar of the College\u0026rsquo;s communications for the past decade.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The\u0026nbsp;alumni\u0026nbsp;survey\u0026nbsp;resoundingly\u0026nbsp;affirmed\u0026nbsp;that the College\u0026nbsp;was fulfilling its mission to educate\u0026nbsp;graduates who can\u0026nbsp;bridge technological and non-technological realms to address complex\u0026nbsp;problems,\u0026rdquo; Keane said. \u0026ldquo;That is one key for\u0026nbsp;telling\u0026nbsp;our story about\u0026nbsp;what defines liberal arts at\u0026nbsp;Georgia Tech,\u0026nbsp;and what defines Georgia Tech\u0026nbsp;as\u0026nbsp;a\u0026nbsp;21st-century university.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EKeane feels fortunate to have worked with two deans who \u0026ldquo;articulated clear visions and strategies for the College.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;That enabled me to do my job \u0026ndash; developing communications strategies to help achieve those goals, as well as other initiatives that I felt were critical to moving us forward.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EKeane worked for almost nine years as a one-woman department, drawing support from freelancers and a revolving cadre of graduate students to\u0026nbsp;achieve\u0026nbsp;strategic communications goals.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;What we have now, she built,\u0026rdquo; Carol Silvers, marketing and administrative coordinator in the Ivan Allen College dean\u0026rsquo;s office, said of Keane\u0026rsquo;s work.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EKeane retired as the College\u0026rsquo;s Director of Communicators on Dec. 18, having worked for three of the College\u0026rsquo;s four permanent deans.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In communications, one has to be able to adapt to different visions and needs as an organization grows and changes. Rebecca was able to do so continually,\u0026rdquo; said Dean Kaye Husbands Fealing. \u0026ldquo;Being an effective communicator means being a good diplomat and a good storyteller, and Rebecca was wonderfully at ease doing both.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERenee\u0026nbsp;Kopkowski, vice president for Institute Communications, said Keane\u0026rsquo;s communications expertise and professionalism contributed\u0026nbsp;significantly to the College and Georgia Tech.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;She has built a strong communications program in Ivan Allen and is an integral part of the entire Georgia Tech Communications community,\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;Kopkowski\u0026nbsp;said. \u0026ldquo;She set a standard for openness and collaboration with her willingness to share knowledge about Georgia Tech, Ivan Allen College, and higher education. She will be\u0026nbsp;missed\u0026nbsp;on campus. Yet, I wish her the absolute best in her next chapter.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBefore\u0026nbsp;coming to Ivan Allen College, Keane worked\u0026nbsp;as communications and marketing consultant for small businesses, and as a senior brand manager, creative services manager, and producer\/director for The Weather Channel,\u0026nbsp;including\u0026nbsp;the period when it ranked as the number one brand in the country according to\u0026nbsp;Young and Rubicam. At other points in her career, she worked\u0026nbsp;as an account services director, a journalist, and as a television news anchor.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShe was attracted\u0026nbsp;to Georgia Tech by\u0026nbsp;the opportunity to help build and\u0026nbsp;elevate\u0026nbsp;College\u0026rsquo;s communications to a level consistent with Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s reputation. That meant the daily work of turning out stories and collaborating with other communicators to more extensive projects, such as\u0026nbsp;launching the College annual impact report, partnering in mounting an extraordinary array of\u0026nbsp;high profile signature events with global dignitaries,\u0026nbsp;a value campaign to Atlanta employers highlighting the attributes of our graduates; extensive work to optimize the College\u0026rsquo;s digital footprint including several comprehensive relaunches of the College website and work optimizing the College\u0026rsquo;s digital platform for search engines that achieved a 36% increase in traffic.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETwo recent projects\u0026nbsp;stand out for Keane: her\u0026nbsp;ambitious College History Project, which involved conducting interviews with more than 40 faculty and staff; originating or enlarging on timelines for the College and its six schools; building histories; and document tracing three critical junctures of liberal arts at Georgia Tech since 1888.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA second project makes prominent the legacy of College namesake Ivan Allen Jr. (Commerce 1933) through a new exhibit mounted in 2020 in the dean\u0026rsquo;s offices\u0026nbsp;in the Savant Building.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I view these as legacy projects for the College. Each was multifaceted and took about two years to complete,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;My hope is that they ensure that the story of this extraordinary College and Mayor Allen\u0026rsquo;s story are there to inspire and inform our students, to support future leadership and College communicators, and the campus. Georgia Tech is naturally focused on the future, what\u0026rsquo;s next. But these projects serve those moments when we pause to look at what\u0026rsquo;s been achieved, how far we\u0026rsquo;ve come.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe dedication of the Allen Exhibit was postponed due to the campus closure in March. Keane hopes it will take place in the spring if donors Col. Steve Hall and Mrs. Pamela Hall can be present.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EKeane\u0026nbsp;credited the faculty and her coworkers in helping accomplish the mission of raising the College\u0026rsquo;s profile on campus and beyond.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne of those partners, Marilyn Brown,\u0026nbsp;Regents Professor and\u0026nbsp;interim chair of the School of\u0026nbsp;Public Policy,\u0026nbsp;said it\u0026nbsp;was\u0026nbsp;a joy working with Keane.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I\u0026rsquo;ve enjoyed watching\u202fRebecca\u202fchampion the effort to make communications\u202fhappen\u202ffor\u202fthe Ivan Allen College,\u0026rdquo; Brown said. \u0026ldquo;Such coverage doesn\u0026rsquo;t just rise out of thin air.\u202fFor\u202fyears, she has worked to orchestrate school campaigns, engage with stakeholders, uncover noteworthy stories, pull together the school communicators, craft social media, and promote our\u0026nbsp;College.\u0026nbsp;Her savvy and always upbeat personality, her networking, and her understanding of the\u0026nbsp;College and schools will be tough to replace. I\u0026rsquo;m going to miss her.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;What a great place this is,\u0026rdquo; said Keane. \u0026ldquo;Always something new happening \u0026ndash; a variety-lovers dream. Now Dean Husbands Fealing is aboard, bringing a new horizon.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I am so grateful for the relationships I\u0026rsquo;ve had here \u0026ndash; with our inspiring deans, school chairs, fabulous faculty and staff, my colleagues in the dean\u0026rsquo;s office, and my Communications team including writer Michael Pearson, and the delightful graduate students\u0026nbsp;from places all over the world who have worked with me\u0026nbsp;through the years. We have worked so hard, but we laughed a lot too. What a gift.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut now, she is looking forward to new challenges, starting with some time to rest \u0026ndash; a commodity often in short supply for communications directors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I\u0026rsquo;d like to experience life for a while totally free of obligations. Then, I\u0026rsquo;ll get into a new rhythm \u0026ndash;taking care of my husband, doing charitable work,\u0026nbsp;drawing and painting,\u0026nbsp;upping my home repair skills, and taking classes at USG colleges under\u0026nbsp;Amendment\u0026nbsp;23. Two thumbs up on that!\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EKeane worked for three of the Ivan Allen College\u0026#39;s four deans and helped professionalize the College\u0026#39;s communications program.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Keane worked for three of the Ivan Allen College\u0027s four deans and helped professionalize the College\u0027s communications program."}],"uid":"34600","created_gmt":"2020-12-18 18:23:42","changed_gmt":"2020-12-19 15:36:27","author":"mpearson34","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-12-18T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2020-12-18T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"62827":{"id":"62827","type":"image","title":"Rebecca Keane","body":null,"created":"1449176394","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:59:54","changed":"1475894547","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:27","alt":"Rebecca Keane","file":{"fid":"191586","name":"Rebecca_Keane_200x200.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Rebecca_Keane_200x200_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Rebecca_Keane_200x200_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":27664,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Rebecca_Keane_200x200_0.jpg?itok=4PZPpYCq"}}},"media_ids":["62827"],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMichael Pearson\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nmichael.pearson@iac.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["michael.pearson@iac.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}