About The Authors
Bill Boyd, ABC
Bill started in the communications business when he was five, broadcasting music to the neighborhood from his bedroom window. Later, he spent a decade in broadcast journalism-at two all-news radio stations in Washington, D.C., during the Watergate era, and at radio and TV stations in Seattle as a reporter and assignment editor.
In the corporate communications world, Bill published the company newspaper at Weyerhaeuser, served as employee communications manager for the Western Region of AT&T Wireless, kept information flowing to employees in REI stores in the U.S. and Japan, and managed internal and marketing communications at Terabeam, a high-tech startup.
Now he’s a partner in Outsource Marketing, a group of marketing and communications professionals based in Bellevue, Washington, where he specializes in internal communications.
Bill recently served as president of IABC/Seattle. He’s also won eight Gold Quill awards.
Nick Durutta, ABC
Nick is manager of internal publications at The Capital Group Companies, a global investment management firm based in Los Angeles that is the parent company of The American Funds, one of the three largest mutual fund firms in the United States. Nick is responsible for producing a suite of print and web publications for the firm’s approximately 8,000 employees worldwide. He has been involved with IABC for more than 25 years, serving in leadership positions on the local and international level, including chair of the Gold Quill program. He is currently director of portfolios on the IABC Accreditation Council. Nick holds a bachelor’s degree in
journalism from California State University at Fullerton, and is an accredited business communicator.
Mark Schumann, ABC
Mark, a managing principal for Towers Perrin, is the former Global Communication Practice Leader for the firm. He is the winner of 13 Gold Quill Awards from IABC, as well as 10 awards for employee communication from Business Insurance Magazine and two Best Picture of the Year awards at the U.S. International Film Festival. He was named IABC Communicator of the Year of Houston (1988) and Dallas (1990). He is an Accredited Business Communicator of IABC and a member of the IABC Executive Board of Directors. Mark holds a bachelor’s degree from Austin College, Sherman, Texas, and a master’s degree from the University of Denver. He is the coauthor of Brand from the Inside.
Brad Whitworth, ABC
Brad is director of enterprise communication for the California State Automobile Association, responsible for internal communication programs for CSAA’s 7,000 employees.
Brad’s research, writings and presentations at more than 250 conferences have earned him recognition as a thought leader in internal communications. His work has won six IABC Gold Quills. He served as IABC chairman in 1989-90 and was named a Fellow of the association in 1996.
Before joining CSAA, Brad was director of internal communications for PeopleSoft during one of the longest hostile takeovers in U.S. business history. For 23 years before that, he led communication teams at Hewlett-Packard. He holds bachelor’s degrees in journalism and speech from the University of Missouri and an MBA from Santa Clara University.
Patricia Valdata
Patricia Valdata is president of the consulting firm Cloudstreet Communications, Inc. With 25 years of experience in corporate communication and public relations, Ms. Valdata helps clients achieve their strategic communication goals in a variety of industries, including aviation, biotech, data processing, health care and pharmaceuticals. She is a contributing writer for Diverse magazine (formerly Black Issues in Higher Education) and teaches business writing for the University College division of the University of Maryland. Ms. Valdata is a member and past president of the Delaware chapter of IABC.