Presenters
Presenters Quick List
Michelle Bauer, Common Language, Inc.
Presentation: Marketing and PR in a Socially-Connected World: How Technology has Changed the Way We Interact
Michelle is the Founder and Chief Strategist of Common Language, Inc., a public relations and strategic communications practice located in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Michelle’s marketing communications career spans over twenty years and includes business to consumer, business to business, and nonprofit expertise. A native of New York, she began her career there in a boutique public relations firm whose roster included several prestige art and fashion industry clients such as The Winter Antiques Show and Escada. Since moving to Florida in the 1980s, she has led marketing, communications, and public relations initiatives with organizations such as the Tampa Bay Technology Forum, University of South Florida, Ringling College of Art and Design, Bisk Education, Skyway Capital Partners, Digital Hands, and Catalina Marketing.
Prior to founding Common Language, Michelle was a partner with Sextant Marketing Group, a St. Petersburg-based marketing, public relations, and event management firm. She directed the firm’s strategic communications practice as well as conferences and events. In the early 2000s, she served as the founding Executive Director of the Tampa Bay Technology Forum, a professional association dedicated to growing Tampa Bay’s technology businesses and promoting the region as a major center of entrepreneurship and innovation. During her tenure, the organization grew to nearly 300 member companies serving thousands of professionals in the region’s technology and business communities.
Among the other events Michelle has co-developed and launched are The Florida Tech Transfer Conference, an annual showcase of Florida university and research institute technologies available for licensing and commercialization, and the Sarasota International Design Summit which explores design’s transformational impact on people, places and products and shows how leading organizations are using design as a strategic approach for differentiation and competitive advantage. Her latest conference project is the Florida Boomer Lifestyle Conference taking place in May 2009 in Tampa.
Michelle holds Master of Arts and Bachelor of Arts degrees in English from the University of South Florida. She lives and works in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida.