This is the first in a series of posts by EOT co-founder and contributor Scott Gulbransen about his trip to the USS Abraham Lincoln this coming weekend. Scott will fly out and land on the carrier and spend 24 hours with the men and women on the USS Lincoln. He’ll share with us his experience and those of fathers away at sea.
USS Lincoln CVN-72. Photo: US Navy
Less than 48 hours and counting, and I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve.
As a blogger, PR and social media professional, this opportunity is one of the most exciting and anticipated I’ve ever had. To be able to actually fly and land on an aircraft carrier at sea is something not many people on this planet get to experience. Add to the that spending some quality time with the men and women of the United States Navy, and I am truly honored.
Why exactly am I being afforded this opportunity and why should you care?
The Navy has done an outstanding job of using both public relations and social media to share with Americans what it does on a daily basis and the extraordinary hard work the men and women in our armed forces do on a daily basis. They’re on the front lines of protecting our country every day and do so at sea, away from their families and loved ones.
In order for Americans back home to see just how amazing these sailors are, the Navy allows a number of dignitaries, journalists, bloggers and professionals to take part in these trips and write about them. Not only write but snap pictures, take videos and live like the sailors live for just over 24 hours. By “walking in their shoes” we can tell the folks back home just how amazing and dedicated our men and women are.
Being an aviation buff as a kid, this trip is going to be exciting to me personally. I’ve always admired the crews on these floating cities and their experience is a unique one. I am looking forward to chronicling that and sharing with you the sites, sounds and people of the USS Lincoln.
Stay tuned for some great content, photos, videos and interviews coming here on Every Other Thursday.com next week.
Don’t think we’ll be able to Tweet or update our Facebook status while we’re out there, but in case, follow me @sdgully.
A special thanks again to Andy Sernovitz from the Social Media Business Council for arranging this trip for me and my fellow participants.
As the Director of Social Media at tax giant H&R Block, Scott Gulbransen recently returned to the tax business after previously spending 1o years at rival Intuit working on the TurboTax & Quicken brands. He brings 16 years as a marketing communications professional, and 11 tax seasons, with him to H&R Block and was responsible for the launch of many key social initiatives at Intuit before leaving in 2010. A strategic thinker and business problem solver, Gulbransen has worked for some of the world’s top brands including TurboTax, Sony Online Entertainment, and Applebee’s.
In 2010, Gulbransen became the first Director of Social Media & Digital Content for Applebee’s, creating the first-ever social media strategy for the world’s largest casual dining chain. While at Applebee’s, Gulbransen lead a small but nimble team responsible for creating a robust and far-reaching social engagement channel for Applebee’s and its franchise community.
In addition to his professional accomplishments at the corporate level, Gulbransen is also a prolific blogger recently named as one of the Top 50 Daddy Bloggers in the US by Cision. Gulbransen was ranked #21.
As a member of the TurboTax communications and social media team for 10 years, Scott helped the TurboTax team launch and sustain the brand’s social media platform. He also drove and was responsible for the launch of TurboTax’s successful content strategy, including the launch of the TurboTax Blog. Recently, he launched one of the most significant social media campaigns in the brand’s history with the @TeamTurboTax Twitter project.
Gulbransen was instrumental in reinvigorating the Quicken brand almost entirely through the use of social media and, particularly, Twitter. By engaging with customers and influencers who talk about personal finance on Twitter, he and his team helped Quicken Online grow from just 200,000 users in October 2008 to over 1.4 Million in just 10 months. This led to a more focused look at the personal finance space for Intuit and, ultimately, the acquisition of Mint.com.
A former print journalist, who, after realizing his paychecks from the newspaper industry weren’t going to get much bigger, turned to the Dark Side – public relations. After working in both college athletics and inside mid-size agencies, he joined Intuit in 2000 and Applebee’s in 2010. He is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and is the married father of five kids.
Despite his busy personal and professional life, Scott is a digital native who never strays far from social networking. To hassle Scott, or to tell him how great you think he is (or not!), email him at scott@scottgulbransen.com, add him to your Circles on Google+, or ping him on Twitter at @sdgully. Scott also is an editor and writer for Technorati.com.
