Digital Trends, a Portland-based media publication with 30MM unique monthly visitors, hires three key employees amid media hiring slump.
April 19, 2018 – Portland, Oregon – Digital Trends announced today three key hires in the month of April. Chris Carlson joins the organization as chief operating officer. The digital media company also welcomes Lynda Mann as senior director of commerce and Ray Philip as director of SEO.
“We’re excited to welcome these talented individuals to our team,” says Ian Bell, CEO of Digital Trends. “This expansion is in line with our effort to provide quality content to our audiences and partners.”
Chris Carlson brings 20 years of experience across finance, technology, and operations as the company’s new COO. After graduating cum laude from Vanderbilt University, Carlson began his career in 1998 as a portfolio manager with UBS O’Connor, running the U.S. $1 billion European Risk Arbitrage and Special Situations Fund. In 2003, he moved to Deutsche Bank as vice president, where he co-managed the proprietary operations of the equity division in Europe. He parlayed his experience into his own alternative asset investment business, Caesium Capital, which he founded in 2006. In 2009, Carlson went on to co-found MusicQubed, a micropayment-based digital music service. As COO for MusicQubed, he was responsible for building a global team of more than 100 people and overseeing the development, delivery and rollout of MusicQubed’s products for key partners such as MTV, Vodafone, and Telefonica.
“Ian, Dan, and the team at Digital Trends have done an incredible job in positioning the publication for success,” says Carlson. “I’m excited to leverage my experience and skill set for the continued growth of the company.”
Lynda Mann joins Digital Trends as the senior director of commerce. Formerly the business development director at Wirecutter, a New York Times company, Mann will oversee the growth of Digital Trends’ e-commerce partnerships and affiliate marketing ventures.
The team welcomes Ray Philip as the director of SEO. The former director of search and analytics at Complex Media, which was acquired by Verizon Hearst Media Partners in 2016, Philip brings experience with natural search optimization to oversee web traffic and analytics efforts.
Digital Trends, which has remained profitable despite a tumultuous media landscape, hired 44 new employees in 2017. These three additions make eight new hires so far in 2018. In addition to the new hires, Pete Jacobs was promoted to VP, integrated and content marketing and Brad Read has been promoted to director, content marketing.
