Cathy Brooks

What began for Cathy as a career telling other people’s stories has evolved into a journey of helping others tell their own stories for themselves. A “classically trained” Journalist, Cathy’s passion for communications began with her first job ripping wire copy and has evolved to encompass nearly every platform and aspect of media – from reporting and editing to management, talent casting and guest booking. Cathy also has curated content for several leading technology industry conferences including LeWeb and several events produced by The Guidewire Group. It was after engaging as an activist for LGBT equal rights, however, that Cathy began to explore the influence of personal stories in people’s professional lives.

Through her San Francisco based consulting firm, Cathy now helps companies and individuals navigate new technologies with the purpose of leveraging these platforms to tell stories. Through workshops and consulting services, Cathy walks clients through the story-telling process and towards the deep engagement that comes from authentic communication. Every week Cathy brings these discussions to life on Social Media Hour, a live talk show on which industry leaders and average folks share their experiences and stories. The program, for which Cathy is Executive Producer and Host, puts technology in human terms, and lets the audience interact via text chat and phone.

Passionate as a writer, Cathy also takes these conversations to digital print,
contributing regularly to an array of blogs. A founding member of the recently
launched LGBT community, dot429, Cathy contributes weekly to this blog
with perspectives on social media and technology. Cathy also writes for The
Huffington Post, BrianSolis.com and Technically Women in addition to her own commentary at Other Than That.

When not steeped to her eyeballs in technology, Cathy is blissfully analog and can usually be found wandering San Francisco seeking the perfect burger.