Author
Shawn Rorick is a digital media specialist with over 16 years experience in development, advertising, internet marketing and tech-media advertising. Witnessing the boom of Las Vegas and working as Marketing Director for large corporations such as Cox Enterprises, MGM Resorts International, Wynn Las Vegas and Cirque du Soleil, he has gained the insight and experience to accurately describe our new media today and provide a road-map description of our future. He is requested to speak at a number of marketing conferences, classrooms and events. While recently launching Digital World Expo in Las Vegas, September 2011, he has been quoted by executives as being responsible for “single-handedly dragging Las Vegas interactive advertising into the 21st century” based on “early adoptive” tactics and corporate digital strategy integration methods.
With hands-on experience in web development, interactive media planning and direct marketing executions, Shawn has trained, coached and educated many “emerging marketers” today. His expertise has been sought after by companies in a variety of industries utilizing interactive media to reach their customers. Shawn is a graduate of Southern Illinois University with a double bachelor’s in Business Management and Marketing with Applied Sciences Degrees in Technology. He is also the Co-founder and Chairman of the Las Vegas Interactive Marketing Association, standing at over 1000 members today.
Shawn is the author of “EmergingMarketer” (2010) with several business units in web publishing, mobile media and tech product incubation. He currently resides in Las Vegas with his wife and two children, dedicating his career to education while fostering relationships to serve interactive media objectives for companies of all sizes.
The Real Story
In 1996, just before graduation, Shawn sought a specialization in CRM. As it was the big “buzz” acronym back then, his professor’s encouraged him to move to Las Vegas where VIP hosts were known to effectively apply CRM practices that bring big players to the casinos. After graduation, Shawn sold his custom set of golf clubs for $500 and on September 2006, alone, on US Highway 40, he embarked for Sin City.
After three weeks of applications, resumes and interviews, he quickly discovered it difficult to find employment when it came to professional marketing in Las Vegas. A “recent grad” from college didn’t translate much real-world experience on his resume. Soon he found himself with only $150 leaving him with two choices; use the money for gas to go home, or let it ride and hope for a job. Desiring a more immediate answer, Shawn opted to visit the Stratosphere at 2am on a Saturday night and put the $150 on blackjack. The cards were dealt with a Blackjack on the first hand. With over $400, he left the casino that night with afforded time for the phone to ring.
A few days later, a small business legal firm contacted Shawn for a second interview where they hired him on the spot as their new Marketing Director for their national efforts. The company fronted his first two months of rent for an apartment. Shortly after, he was joined by his college girlfriend and they were married a year later.
After working at the firm for a year, the CEO requested Shawn to create a company website. Without much developer “talent” in the valley back then, he contacted Microsoft for guidance in building an online presence. They obliged by sending a beta-test version of Front Page ’97 along with an unedited manual. Shawn learned what he needed to create the first site used to incorporate businesses on the Web. Within a few weeks of online revenue rolling in, the company offered to increase his salary. Sensing that web development and digital marketing had a future, he left and started contract development work, learning various programming languages along the way.
Two years of consulting brought him back to the corporate world as Internet Marketing Manager for Cox Interactive Media (a since closed division of Cox Communications). This position allowed him to apply both the skills he acquired from programming and development as well as his background in media. In 2002 he was picked up by MGM Resorts International where he assisted in building their internet marketing team and strategy. In 2007, Cirque du Soleil, one of the MGM Resorts partners asked him to join their company to build an integrated marketing strategy for resident shows in North America. In July 2009, he departed Cirque and published “Emerging Marketer”. However, just before the book’s promotional “tour”, he was called back to the Strip by Wynn Resort executives who desired a department structure and strategy to facilitate the next five years of interactive marketing channels.
Shawn continues to serve as a digital marketing specialist, educator and futurist for the media industry. Today he produces and manages Digital World Expo, encompassing all facets of digital formats in a variety of industries through interactive exhibits, education and futuristic, thought-leading insights from today’s top professionals.