Leslie Forde of Communispace Corporation
Leslie is a member of Communispace’s Management Team and is responsible for developing strategic partnerships with customer-focused organizations including marketing consultancies, advertising and public relations firms. She helps Communispace’s partner companies to effectively leverage customers by bringing them into the marketing conversation. Partners such as Ogilvy & Mather, Edelman and Digitas are using communities to deliver more value to their clients: to differentiate their brands, drive greater advocacy, foster loyalty, and overall, to improve marketing effectiveness. Leslie is a frequent speaker on hot topics such as: creating online customer communities, customer engagement, Web 2.0, social networking, and word of mouth. She sits on the Word of Mouth Marketing Association’s leadership committee.
Leslie is no stranger to creating effective partner alliances. Prior to Communispace, she was the Corporate Sales Director for Cook’s Illustrated and managed channel sales and marketing efforts across all products including: retail book distribution, sponsorship for the public television show ‘America’s Test Kitchen’, and alternate circulation programs for multiple publications.
Prior to Cook’s, Leslie was a Vice President at Northern Light Technology where she managed sales, marketing, and business development efforts in the US and abroad. She moved to London to launch the company’s International Division, where she lived for over two years and grew enterprise clients and alliances by over 300% within the first six months. Previously, she held marketing and brand management positions with Xerox, Bausch & Lomb, and Allstate Insurance.
Leslie also has a culinary degree, and loves everything associated with food and wine. In her spare time she is usually cooking, running, reading, or spending time with her family.
