At BLOX Digital, we believe success starts with finding the right people. The work we do here is changing the local media industry, and these are the people who are making it happen. Today we shine a light on Aaron Gillette, Director of Marketing.
What is your background?
I've been with BLOX Digital for almost 11 years! Before that, I worked for my parents' family business where I learned to wear a lot of hats—marketing, programming, web development, building maintenance . . . you name it. This experience was amazing, and I can't thank my folks enough for teaching me the value of flexibility and hard work.
I attended art school at the Columbus College of Art & Design and followed that up with a BA in English and an MBA (marketing emphasis) from the University of Iowa.
It's been a long and winding road, but as marketing director I'm able to put my diverse background to good use.
What do you love most about your job?
At BLOX Digital, we're right at the epicenter of the quantum leap that's happening in the news industry. I love being part of a team that empowers our clients to grow their audiences, boost efficiencies, and transform their business models to thrive in an ever-changing digital environment.
What are you currently working on that you'd like everyone to know more about?
Is "everything" an appropriate answer? We're in the process of revamping and modernizing how BLOX Digital presents itself in the market. While I can't officially announce anything just yet, I can say that you'll see some massive, exciting changes from BLOX Digital in the near future. Stay tuned!
What are you most excited about for the future of the news industry?
Change is always scary, but it's thrilling to watch as the industry reimagines itself in real time. I'm excited to see what news consumption will look like in five or ten years from the consumers' perspective. What devices will consumers use most? How will they pay for news? Who will they rely on for critical, hyper-local content? These are all fascinating questions, and I'm eager to see how they're answered.
What's something people don't know about you?
I've always been a bit of a CMS geek. Long before coming to BLOX Digital, I coded my own CMS in Visual Basic with a Microsoft Access (yikes!) backend to run the website for my family's business. It was a rudimentary setup—nothing like the amazing work the BLOX Digital dev team cranks out—but we realized the amazing benefits of separating our content from our design.
Aaron and his family enjoy tea time during a recent trip to London.
