Working on the Content Team at Bospar
Meet Paula Bernier, Bospar Content Director.
What’s your title?
I am coming up on my one-year anniversary as Bospar’s Content Director. In this role, I write and edit client articles, blogs, ebooks, press releases, white papers, and more. And I provide client counsel on what kinds of stories and headlines will resonate the most strongly with media, customers, investors, and other stakeholders.
What’s your favorite thing about working in PR?
I really enjoy learning about new companies and technologies. And I like working with executives and other experts to better understand and help communicate the benefits of new business models, effective digital transformation approaches and innovative technologies.
What role(s) did you start in at Bospar, and how have you migrated into different roles?
I recently expanded my role at Bospar to include new prospect research. That helps me and the rest of the Bospar team gain a more complete understanding of our prospects, their challenges and opportunities, and the markets in which they operate.
What’s your favorite aspect of working at Bospar?
There are so many things I like about working with Bospar. My teammates and our clients are creative, hard-working, passionate and smart. I have always loved learning about what’s next and writing about tech companies and solutions. The ability to work from my home in beautiful Scottsdale, Arizona, makes this a pretty great gig, too.
What was an interesting job you worked at before working at Bospar?
My first job was at a Victorian-style ice cream parlor called the Last Straw in Rockford, Illinois. When customers ordered the Fire Wagon Special – a giant bowl with a scoop of every one of our flavors and toppings – I got to run around the restaurant tooting a horn and yelling, “Here comes the fire wagon.” It was a great way to work off calories from my ice cream-fueled breaks.
Working as a senior writer for Inter@active Week also was extremely invigorating. I worked alongside an amazing group of journalists just as the internet was taking off. And it was the first time I worked from home full time, setting the stage for my long career of telecommuting.
What is your favorite place in the world?
I love to travel, so choosing just one favorite place is tough.
I really love Germany, especially Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Zugspitze – the country’s highest peak – above it. Germany has it all: natural beauty, fantastic beer and sour cream gravy.
Here in the U.S., Washington state is a favorite vacation spot. When I was newly married, my husband and I camped by the driftwood and sea stacks on the shore in Olympic National Park. It was a wonderful and memorable experience.
And this summer I went to the National Mustard Museum in Middleton, Wisconsin, with my daughter. That was pretty fun, too.
What are you always in search of?
One of my favorite things to do is hike, whether I’m out in nature or tooling around a city. After I hike, I like to find the perfect place to sit down, do some people watching and enjoy some great food.
What’s your superpower?
My superpower is the ability to digest new concepts and complex technology descriptions and quickly and accurately transform them into compelling copy.
What books are you reading?
I’m reading “Leaders Eat Last” and “How Remarkable Women Lead,” which my sister and daughter recommended. And I recently finished “The Summer Demands” by Deborah Shapiro.
From a pure entertainment standpoint, David Sedaris is probably my favorite author. He’s hilarious. On a more serious note, I really liked “The Sixth Extinction” by Elizabeth Kolbert. And I found “The Goldfinch” engrossing, so I am tempted to see the movie. But I’m on the fence about that, as Rotten Tomatoes says the movie is “mostly inert.”
What’s the biggest PR lesson you have ever learned?
I have been a tech journalist for nearly three decades. But I am relatively new to PR, so I continue to learn new PR lessons every day. It’s been an exciting and challenging journey so far, and I look forward to learning more in the days and years ahead.