Social media: love it or hate it, it’s a part of our daily lives today. In fact, during the height of the pandemic, it was a lifeline for many. According to an article in Vox/Recode, all major social media sites saw a bump during the pandemic and that growth trend is expected to continue.
Emily Bauernfeind is the newest member of Teak Media + Communication’s team, working to raise awareness for nonprofit and socially responsible companies. As Social Media and Marketing Manager, Emily will supplement traditional media campaigns by working closely with clients to amplify their good news and important issues through social media. A portion of her time will also be devoted to raising awareness about Teak, a B-Corp certified firm that uses all media to enhance credibility and public awareness for positive organizations.
Emily’s professional experience includes both nonprofit and corporate marketing efforts at Boston-area organizations. She cut her teeth as a news writer at CNN’s Headline News, KRON4 in San Francisco, and WHDH in Boston before transitioning to public affairs at Massachusetts General Hospital. As a marketing writer and social media strategist at the New England Aquarium, she wrote everything from feature magazine articles to multimedia blog posts to social media as Myrtle the turtle. Most recently, she handled social media and public marketing writing for Elkus Manfredi Architects.
Bauernfeind grew up in Canton, Mass., and now lives in Jamaica Plain with her husband and daughter. She earned her BS in Biology from Emory University in 1999 with a concentration in Human and Natural Ecology and a minor in French.
Here is a conversation with our new colleague who we are proud to add to our staff and whose words you’ll be reading in the Teak Talk blog.
What drew you to this position at Teak?
We are surrounded by organizations doing good in the world, but many go underfunded and unnoticed. I’m thrilled to applying my skills to promoting these worthy causes. Not only am I honored to be working alongside brilliant and passionate professionals, but I also feel deeply gratified to combine my professional experience with my commitment to environmental and social justice issues.
What do you enjoy about creating content for social media?
What I love about social media is also what makes it so challenging: there are endless opportunities for creativity, but the message must shine through clearly and concisely. I spend longer than you might think trying to wordsmith snappy captions, striking the right balance between engaging and informative messaging. But that’s just part of the fun! More and more, social media screams out for strong visual elements. Whether it’s a colorful infographic, an engaging photograph, or a short video, these assets help your content stand out in a very crowded ecosystem. I enjoy creating the visual components almost as much as the writing.
How does your news experience help you create compelling posts?
My first jobs after college were in television newsrooms writing the scripts for on-air anchors in Atlanta, San Francisco, and here in Boston. Every story had to be conversational, accurate, and often 20 seconds or shorter. These experiences – complete with crazy overnight schedules and screaming editors on deadline – allowed me to hone my writing style in a way that translates seamlessly to social media: concise text delivered in tandem with visuals on a tight timeline.
Additionally, my early newsroom career kindled in me a voracious appetite for current events. Every morning starts off with news on the radio and a quick breeze through the local headlines and trending topics. Keeping a finger on the pulse of daily news topics is crucial to delivering relevant and engaging social media.
What causes are you passionate about?
I’ve always been interested in our natural world and environmental issues, and my passion informs much of my daily choices – from biking to work and supporting local agriculture to buying renewable energy and reducing our single-use plastic consumption. We are committed to living in Boston, where we are able to drive less, so we are vested in improving our city for all its residents. With a daughter in Boston Public Schools, I am particularly interested in issues around equity and improving public education.
How do you relax outside of work?
I love to cook. With our CSA, I’m always looking for new and creative ways to serve up vegetables. And you can bet I was baking up sourdough along with the masses during the pandemic! I also love getting outside hiking, biking, snowboarding, and swimming. And there’s really nothing better than a beach day on Cape Cod with a good book.
What’s something unique about you that not everyone would know?
Back in 2009, my husband and I hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, which has grown exponentially in popularity since the release of the book Wild by Cheryl Strayed. It was five months with a singular, exhausting, and fulfilling goal of walking 2,600 miles from Mexico to Canada. I don’t think we could ever attempt such a reckless and wonderful adventure again, but I am sure glad we did it.
