2017 Fellow Spotlight: Suzy Deering

This is one in a series of spotlights profiling members of the 2017 Grady Fellowship class, scheduled to be inducted during Grady Salutes: A Celebration of Achievement, Commitment and Leadership on April 28, 2017. See “2017 Fellowship Class Announced” to view a complete list of Fellows.

Registration for this event is now closed, please contact Karen Andrews, karena@uga.edu for more information.

Suzy Deering is chief marketing officer of eBay North America. She is a 1992 Family and Consumer Sciences graduate with a degree in home economics and consumer journalism.

Deering has served Grady College over the years in numerous ways including hosting workshops for students through her former company, Moxie, hosting students at eBay this past winter during the Silicon Valley tour and serving on the Grady College Board of Trust. She also served as co-speaker at the fall 2014 convocation.

Deering has been chief marketing officer of eBay North America since 2015. In this role, she leverages her background in technology, media and brand to develop strategies and executes marketing activities that reach 162 million active eBay buyers. She is responsible for all areas of eBay North American marketing, including customer product marketing, loyalty and relationship marketing, buyer and seller marketing, and social media.

Prior to joining eBay, Suzy was CEO of Moxie, the largest digital advertising agency in the Southeast, where she led the development of their digital capabilities towards technology-enabled data solutions. Her experience also includes more than a decade with Verizon where she held a variety of senior leadership roles, including Executive Director of Media, responsible for developing and implementing strategies to drive company recognition, sales, and revenues.

Deering was recognized by Advertising Age as part of their “Top 40 Under 40” list in 2007, and was instrumental in the foundation of the Drake House in Atlanta, Georgia, a crisis residential assessment center for homeless women and children.

AdPR students visit tech industry giants during trip to Silicon Valley

AdPR students looking to enhance their education were selected for a three-day immersive experience in California’s Silicon Valley over winter break.

Through the new Grady College/ AdPR partnership with eBay and with the help of UGA alumna Suzy Deering (CMO of eBay), students were connected with a number of industry giants including eBay, Facebook, Google, Pinterest, Imgur and Kiip. Students also toured the Verizon Innovation Center to see demonstrations of some of the latest technology innovations for communications. Program participants had their marketing, sales and tech industry questions answered by leading experts in the field.

Students had exclusive access to new technologies in beta testing from Verizon Innovations and Google. After experiencing facial recognition software at the Verizon Innovation Center and Tango in action at Google, senior advertising major Caroline Fowler said, “It was exciting to see the development of new technology and discuss how it is going to change the future of the advertising industry.”

The group was also introduced to the robust landscape of business in Silicon Valley and fostered connections with professionals in the field.

According to Brooke Montgomery of AOL, “The UGA students were extremely passionate about marketing and advertising. They asked extremely thoughtful industry-related questions.”

AdPR faculty also enjoyed watching their students develop a greater interest and awareness of the successes and challenges of a start-up business.

“You could tell immediately how invested the professors were in their students’ futures,” said Montgomery. “It was delightful to interact with faculty and hear about the extensive curriculum at UGA. All of the students were already so knowledgeable about virtual reality which was a pleasant surprise!”

Caroline Youngs, a senior advertising major, said her favorite aspect of the trip was learning about the new opportunities within the virtual and augmented reality space. She is specifically interested in the marketing of these new technologies.

“The networking opportunities provided by the university, and connections that were made as a result, were invaluable for us all,” said Youngs. “Hopefully there will be a future in Silicon Valley for some or all of the participants. It was an incredible educational experience and I am so thankful for the opportunity!”

The attentiveness, professionalism and enthusiasm of the students on this trip truly reflected the excellence of Grady students.