Sean Williams is Instructor, Media and Communication at Bowling Green State University, and coordinates its Master of Arts in Strategic Communication online program. He previously was Vice President and Practice Lead, Education and Internal Communications, for True Digital Communications, a full-service communication and marketing agency based in Greater Cleveland, where he is now Of Counsel. Clients included not-for-profit, education, Oil and Gas, Engineering, and government assignments.
For eight years, he was owner of Communication AMMO, Inc.. Focusing on research-based, strategic counsel and execution, his current and past clients include Ernst & Young (EY), the County of Kalamazoo (Mich.), Western Reserve Academy, University Liggett School, Colorado Rocky Mountain School, Reputation Leadership Group, Excelsior University, Kent State University, Ketchum Change, Avery Dennison, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, and Western Financial Group. His work centered on integrated communication AMMO planning process, and manager training, through the Face2Face Communication Learning Program.
Williams has held executive communication posts at National City Bank, KeyCorp and The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. He has earned a solid reputation for his skills in public relations measurement and evaluation, comprehensive, research-based communication consulting, and intranet strategy. He also provides managerial communication training through Face2Face Communication, which he acquired from Joe Williams Communications in 2015.
Earlier in his career, Williams was senior consultant for Williams, where he expanded the strategic planning, research and consulting practices, and led and refined the Face2Face program with companies including First Energy Corp., KeyCorp, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Merck, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Prudential and Lucent, training literally thousands of managers in the innovative and highly rated program.
He was also an adjunct professor of Public Relations at Kent State University, and created graduate classes in PR Measurement/ROI and social media measurement for Kent and another university.
Williams was vice president of Corporate Communications for National City Corporation, leading the public relations measurement and evaluation and internal communication functions during the height of the financial crisis. Previously, he was manager of Editorial Services for The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, responsible for internal communication and video production, photography and event production management. While at Goodyear, Williams lead the team rebuilding the corporate intranet, using editorial content from around the world. He also served as the primary internal communication consultant to the company’s senior leadership and produced videos and still photography for a variety of constituencies.
He was with KeyCorp for 13 years, most recently as vice president and senior communication manager for the financial services company. He directed corporate management communication and provided comprehensive, research-based communication consulting for the personal and institutional investment business, among other assignments.
Williams received his Master of Arts in Journalism/Mass Communication from Kent State University, and his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Washington. He is a member of the Institute for Public Relations’ Commission on Measurement and Evaluation, and has published three research papers analyzing the PR measurement program of a major financial company, internal communications and social media. He is the co-winner of the 2008 International Public Relations Research Conference Jackson-Sharpe Award for PR research authored by an academic and a practitioner. His Master’s thesis focuses on influence online and offline, and he presented papers on that subject at the 2015 and 2013 International PR Research Conference.
Williams is a member of the PRSA Employee Communication Section, the international and Greater Cleveland Chapters of SHRM, and the Association for Training & Development (ATD). He also is a member of the Institute for Public Relations Measurement Commission, and the advisory board of the International PR Research Conference.