This article was published on May 2, 2012

Edelman hires former Rocketboom host Joanne Colan as senior content specialist


Edelman hires former Rocketboom host Joanne Colan as senior content specialist

One of the largest public relations firms in the world, Edelman, has over 4,200 employees globally. The company shared a new hire exclusively with The Next Web and it’s an interesting hire for a brand new position.

Former Rocketboom host and writer Joanne Colan is joining the firm as senior vice president and senior content specialist. You might remember Colan from her hosting duties on Rocketboom, one of the longest running episodic web series, for three years.

Colan’s duties at Edelman will include overseeing the “development of shareable short-form video capabilities” and bringing her experience from both Rocketboom and a stint on the Discovery channel to assist its clients.

Here’s what Chief Innovation Officer Nancy Ruscheinski had to say about Colan’s hiring:

Joanne’s capabilities add a new complementary dimension to the video work that we are already doing at Edelman. Marketers are demanding more high-impact, visual storytelling in their campaigns, and what Joanne brings is the ability to create videos that act like “heat seeking missiles” that find the appropriate audiences without having to be sought out.

Basically, Colan is a hired gun to help Edelman’s portfolio create viral videos and spearhead visual storytelling to drive attention to their brand. It’s no short order and Colan definitely has her work ahead of her.

In addition to hosting Rocketboom, Colan has served as a correspondent on networks like MTV, Discovery Communications, the BBC, Fine Living Network, Euronews and the M6 Network.

Here’s some of Colan’s work on the daily Web show Rocketboom:

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