Why Duke Energy Hiring Lisa Hoffmann is a Big Deal

By Scott Hepburn | Comments (18) | Trackbacks (0)

LisapicblogYesterday, my good friend and former PRstore colleague Lisa Hoffmann announced that she’s joining Duke Energy as a Social Media Specialist.

To call this a well-deserved opportunity for Lisa is a huge understatement. Lisa is the definition of social media’s mantra to help others. Those who know her recognize an indescribable “it” factor that makes you want to be a part of whatever she’s doing.

But the real winners here are Duke Energy and the city of Charlotte. Until now, Charlotte has lacked the perfect pairing of a high-profile social media ace with a high-profile business.

Brandon Uttley is doing incredible work with Wray Ward. Rich Tucker won a Shorty Award for his work with @CruiseSource and still is under-recognized. Jason Keath is everywhere (seriously…how does he do it?) and recently organized SoFresh, Charlotte’s most important social media event to-date.

But Duke Energy is the first of Charlotte’s nine Fortune 500 companies to make a splash by hiring a homegrown social media star. The move attracts attention to Charlotte’s emerging social media industry and gives Duke instant street cred.

This move is good for social media, too. By calling up one of Charlotte’s own — not to mention one of its brightest — Duke lends validation to the work of other social media pros in our city. It’s a symbolic and meaningful gesture from a respected corporate entity that maybe, just maybe, there’s something to this customer responsiveness thing.

dukeenergyGive Duke credit for finding the difference maker in a crowded candidate pool.  Among Lisa’s many strengths as a communicator, her greatest asset is her humility. She elevates others, rather than promoting herself, and is generous without prejudice toward rank or stature. She’ll probably be the first to say this hire isn’t about her.

She might be right (sorry, Lisa, I’m still posting this). Still, if Duke follows her lead, they may just change how the public thinks about utility companies and corporations in general.

And that’s a big deal.

(Editor’s Note: In classic Scott fashion, I forgot to mention that I recently served on a Charlotte Chamber of Commerce committee with Lisa’s new boss, Michelle Pearson. I don’t know Michelle very well yet, but she’s sharp — real sharp. I expect great things from this team!)

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Topics: Social Media
  • julianngrant
    Scott,
    Thanks for sharing your feelings about Lisa, I couldn't agree more. Lisa is one of the most generous souls out there, and even though I have never met her in person I feel like I've known her for years. That's her secret sauce... she pours her energy through her words and tweets and we all benefit from knowing her. Duke Energy is very lucky to have her on their team, and she will make a huge impact in developing Duke's social presence. Good luck Lisa, and thanks for taking us all along for the ride!
  • Thanks so much, Juliann! You've always been so supportive and I'm happy to see your smile in my tweet stream each day. Burn brightly, sistah friend.
  • bill_free
    As a customer, I'm glad to see Duke making a move to leverage the social web. Social media presents unique opportunities and huge challenges for a utility. Kudos, Lisa, and much success in your new role. And to Charlotte for growing and nurturing is SM community. Great news all around.
  • Thanks Bill! I hope you're ready for some more informed debate about social media in regulated industries :)
  • bill_free
    Always ready, Lisa. It will be great benefit from the experience of someone on the front lines. Congratulations and great success in your new role!
  • Congrats to Lisa first and foremost and to you Scott for being a) such a strong supporter of her and b) such a strong supporter of local social media efforts in the Charlotte area.
  • It's a treat to be able to collaborate and brainstorm with Lisa -- working with talented message strategists makes the work enjoyable. Ditto for teaming up with guys like you, Marc.
  • Thanks Marc. Scott is a great friend, and always supportive. He also does a terrific job of supporting the growth and development of the local social media community, and I'm glad to see him recognized for that.
  • well deserved. Duke has been moving in the right direction. not fast enough for some people, but at their own pace, dealing with some challenges of scale and their industry.

    Lisa will give them a tremendous resource in the space and be a great voice in continuing their social media presence.
  • Challenges indeed! I look forward to helping the team find ways around the challenges to move their corporate goals forward. And I'll get to talk to lots of people, which is what it's really all about anyway. Thanks for the kind words.
  • Fantastic news, after working with Duke Energy over the last year and seeing their social media presence grow from nothing to something over a short period of time I think Lisa will do a great job. Congrats to Lisa Hoffman to Michelle Pearson and to the city of Charlotte!
  • You make some great points here, Scott, and I couldn't agree more that there is something big happening in the corporate world. Communication is evolving at an amazing pace. Aren't we lucky to be a part of the excitement?

    Thanks for the wonderfully kind words, my friend. I am humbled and floored by all the attention. We have an incredibly positive and supportive community here, and I'm proud to be a part of it. Now let's set the world on fire!
  • Scott, I second you in congratulating Lisa on her new job. She joins a talented and growing group at Duke Energy.

    I also appreciate your mentioning me. My greatest strength is having a network of people like you and the others you noted, whom I can turn to when I need help—which is frequently. :)
  • coreycreed
    I think I'm a little late to this party. I missed the announcement yesterday...

    But a big huge congrats to Lisa.

    I agree that it is a big deal for Charlotte. Unfortunately, big companies tend to look outside the local area for the "experts" in any type of marketing job. Kudos to Lisa for being the best she can and making herself available for a position like this.

    It's well-deserved and I'm confident she'll do a great job. I just hope she remembers me and keeps in touch now that she is big-time!

    PS: Nice write-up Scott. Thanks for building a page that we can all weigh-in on.
  • austinphall
    I hope she is good enough to gloss over the fact that Duke Energy sources coal from one of the most destructive forms of mining on the planet. Good luck changing the image of a utility company that routinely defends the practice of mountaintop removal coal mining, is refusing to stop constructing climate changing coal fired power plants, is totally lax in their monitoring of toxic ash basins, is responsible for fish kills, mercury poisoning, and enormous rate hikes during a recession.

    Welcome to Duke Energy Lisa... Prepare to be disliked
  • dwiffer
    I hope Lisa will bring some focus to the area of security in social networking. Seems like companies are rushing head long into this arena without much forethought to how these applications and sensitive company informationa are going to be protected.
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