Building Community for Startup Distribution

Besides being smart and easygoing, Doug has three qualities that made him a valuable asset at Microsoft – he’s a comprehensive thinker and strategist on digital and social marketing matters; quick to execute and iterate on ideas and thoughtful on matters of impact and measurement. In a company of Microsoft's size, it's important that you have all three.

During Doug's time in the DX (Microsoft’s developer evangelism organization), he was first responsible for managing social media campaigns for startup outreach, then later managed local subsidiary social leads who executed our social media campaigns in 13 regions around the world.

Doug was astute at handling the various cultural and business-specific nuances of each region and was able to explain in clear language exactly what success looked like, how to achieve that success and ultimately put the leads in each of the regions on a path to achieve that success.

Doug and I worked on executing top-level strategic marketing campaigns that blended marketing with communications and executive PR at the CEO level and with managing directors. He was responsible for making sure that Microsoft's business critical marketing didn't just make it out into the social feeds in the right format and in the right cadence, but that it also hit the right influencers, and got a reaction that drove business metrics.

He generated a marketing strategy brief for the developer evangelism organization, enabling people of different experience levels to work closely with agency support, as well as enabling local teams to develop broad social marketing programs. Heady, complicated work, but well considered and well executed.

I would recommend Doug for any marketing management position in a tech company seeking growth, resurgence or gains in developed and developing markets. He’s been a strong contributor, a valued colleague and would welcome an opportunity to work with him again in the future.

Social media is the buzz, gotta have it, what is it, do you know it when you see it? Douglas Crets gets it. He understands that it starts with a deep understanding of your audience, their investment in the topic and building meaningful, authentic relationships with that audience. Douglas is fully invested in his work, he lives it, breathes it and is very skilled across a number of disciplines that add up to a powerful social media driver, BUT it is his understanding the social and psychological quality of the conversations and the needs of the audience that make his so accomplished. I have learned much from working with him and greatly appreciate his passion for his work and his natural talent in virtual and in-person engagements with his audiences. He is a talented professional.

Working with Doug is a pleasure. His vast experience with social media, along with his time spent advising and following online trends in Asia, has given him the ability to bring to light new social mediums that will permeate the current social landscape. Doug's talent as an editor is rivaled only by his passion for improving education through technology. Doug's skills in digital journalism, his experience with social media, and the passion he has for his field has made him one of the most knowledgeable editors around today.

I work with Michael and Clay Christensen (At HBS) at the Innosight Institute doing research and design for the education, health Care and CPG industries. I have worked with Clay (author of Disrupting Class) for more than 15 years and am one of the architects of the "Jobs-to-be done" framework.

I came to know about Douglas through his work in Social Media while he served as the founding executive editor at edReformer.com. I have also been working with Douglas to frame a new set of marketing principles for my think tank, The Re-Wired Group. He's been outstanding. He is well-organzed, thoughtful, always on point.

He is the first consultant we have worked with who can articulate nearly everything we are working on in a way that is not only consistent with our practice, but incredibly new in the way it is expressed. And to boot, he can permeate the social media layer with that content. His strategies for social media use and community organizing are not easily matched.

As I say - "Simplicity on the right side of complexity" – and this is Douglas, a rare find. I would without reservation recommend Douglas for any role as a social media consultant or as a business writing professional. He can listen. He can execute. And he's a team leader. I am sure that you would benefit from his involvement with your work.

Doug is quite analytical and has strong understanding of the media landscape in Asia. He has strong intuitive understanding of the future direction in which this sector is headed.He will be a asset to consultants and analysts looking at advising clients entering this market, especially in Asia.

Doug Crets is intelligent, highly motivated and a strong self starter. As a deputy editor of content and research services at MPA and a senior associate at our company, he worked well within tight deadlines on a variety of projects focussing on publishing, research and consulting services. Results were largely successful and this exposure allowed him to develop a good understanding of most major media industries especially advertising and marketing, and a specialized interest in the online media space where I think he would be most suited and should be able to capitalize on his emerging expertise in that area.