Interview with a Professional: Irma Damhuis
By: Ashleigh Woodall
While today New York City is a vibrant city known for its historic sites, in 1977 the city was in a severe financial crisis. Crime dramatically escalated as the city began experiencing blackouts. However, that same year the city made a 180, cleaning up the streets and increasing tourism. What caused this dramatic shift? The work of Irma Damhuis, the current director of external communications at the Cardiovascular Research Foundation in New
York City.
While today New York City is a vibrant city known for its historic sites, in 1977 the city was in a severe financial crisis. Crime dramatically escalated as the city began experiencing blackouts. However, that same year the city made a 180, cleaning up the streets and increasing tourism. What caused this dramatic shift? The work of Irma Damhuis, the current director of external communications at the Cardiovascular Research Foundation in New
York City.
Career
Damhuis graduated college with a degree in English. Having always wanted to be a lawyer, Damhuis began looking for jobs that required similar skills – writing, research, planning and communications. She landed her first job at Wells, Rich, Greene, a revolutionary advertising agency headed by the pioneer Mary Wells. It was here she landed her first big account with the State of New York and created the 1977 “I Love New York” campaign. The campaign was designed to attract more businesses and thus alleviated the above mentioned financial crisis through increasing tourism. The campaign was a huge success, transforming the city and pulling it out of the crisis. The campaign remains popular today, with the I <3 New York shirts as one of the most popular selling items in the city.
Damhuis was then convinced to pioneer healthcare public relations on the east coast, a trend that was only popular on the west coast at the time. She worked at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, creating the “Mount Sinai. Take good care of yourself” campaign that was nationally recognized and put the medical center in a prominent position in the New York market. Finally, in 2001 Damhuis took a job as the Director of External Communications at the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) in New York City, where she currently works.
Daily Life
CRF puts on several events throughout the year, including the Pulse of the City Gala, the Innovation Symposium, and the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics Conference (TCT). While her day to day activities vary based on which event is occurring, she says the main components to her job are outreach phone/meetings/networking) to increase awareness of CRF and helping individual business units (Skirball, Clinical Trials Center, Meetings and Education Department) meet their business goals by garnering greater recognition for their programs, meetings and services.
Damhuis’ work is also continually changing with the advent of social media. She now helps manage CRF’s Facebook and Twitter accounts and is finding new innovative ways to use social media to CRf’s advantage. For example, during the 2011 TCT Conference she would “tweet” the key messages of various speakers and the schedule to encourage people to go to different symposiums.
Rewards and Pitfalls
Damhuis says that her biggest reward comes from seeing the positive outcomes from campaigning. For example, the TCT conference was known as a “trade show” when she started working at CRF. Through campaigning, TCT is now one of the premiere cardiovascular symposiums and is being referred to as “TCT” in most cardiovascular publications. Damhuis states the downside to working in public relations is the amount of patience necessary. Campaigns do not take overnight – they require time and effort.
Words of Wisdom
Damhuis encourages students about to graduate to be sure to hone their writing skills. Written communications are essential in securing - and then keeping - a position. She recommends writing, “…as much as you can, whatever kind of writing you enjoy, whether it be poetry, short stories, press releases, letters, and so on. It's a skill that, sadly, is not in great supply. But it will continue to be valued, and will never go out of style - even in the age of "Tweets"!” Also, she reminds students to, “BE YOURSELF! Don't try to be something you are not - people can see through that. Come to a task with an open mind and willingness to learn. It will always serve
you well.”
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/15/us/blackout-2003-past-blackouts-65-77-became-defining-moments-city-s-history.html
http://www.crf.org/
http://www.tctconference.com/
http://www.mountsinai.org/
http://www.iloveny.com/
Damhuis graduated college with a degree in English. Having always wanted to be a lawyer, Damhuis began looking for jobs that required similar skills – writing, research, planning and communications. She landed her first job at Wells, Rich, Greene, a revolutionary advertising agency headed by the pioneer Mary Wells. It was here she landed her first big account with the State of New York and created the 1977 “I Love New York” campaign. The campaign was designed to attract more businesses and thus alleviated the above mentioned financial crisis through increasing tourism. The campaign was a huge success, transforming the city and pulling it out of the crisis. The campaign remains popular today, with the I <3 New York shirts as one of the most popular selling items in the city.
Damhuis was then convinced to pioneer healthcare public relations on the east coast, a trend that was only popular on the west coast at the time. She worked at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, creating the “Mount Sinai. Take good care of yourself” campaign that was nationally recognized and put the medical center in a prominent position in the New York market. Finally, in 2001 Damhuis took a job as the Director of External Communications at the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) in New York City, where she currently works.
Daily Life
CRF puts on several events throughout the year, including the Pulse of the City Gala, the Innovation Symposium, and the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics Conference (TCT). While her day to day activities vary based on which event is occurring, she says the main components to her job are outreach phone/meetings/networking) to increase awareness of CRF and helping individual business units (Skirball, Clinical Trials Center, Meetings and Education Department) meet their business goals by garnering greater recognition for their programs, meetings and services.
Damhuis’ work is also continually changing with the advent of social media. She now helps manage CRF’s Facebook and Twitter accounts and is finding new innovative ways to use social media to CRf’s advantage. For example, during the 2011 TCT Conference she would “tweet” the key messages of various speakers and the schedule to encourage people to go to different symposiums.
Rewards and Pitfalls
Damhuis says that her biggest reward comes from seeing the positive outcomes from campaigning. For example, the TCT conference was known as a “trade show” when she started working at CRF. Through campaigning, TCT is now one of the premiere cardiovascular symposiums and is being referred to as “TCT” in most cardiovascular publications. Damhuis states the downside to working in public relations is the amount of patience necessary. Campaigns do not take overnight – they require time and effort.
Words of Wisdom
Damhuis encourages students about to graduate to be sure to hone their writing skills. Written communications are essential in securing - and then keeping - a position. She recommends writing, “…as much as you can, whatever kind of writing you enjoy, whether it be poetry, short stories, press releases, letters, and so on. It's a skill that, sadly, is not in great supply. But it will continue to be valued, and will never go out of style - even in the age of "Tweets"!” Also, she reminds students to, “BE YOURSELF! Don't try to be something you are not - people can see through that. Come to a task with an open mind and willingness to learn. It will always serve
you well.”
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/15/us/blackout-2003-past-blackouts-65-77-became-defining-moments-city-s-history.html
http://www.crf.org/
http://www.tctconference.com/
http://www.mountsinai.org/
http://www.iloveny.com/
