Movers & Shakers: Clinton Forry, vice president of content strategy at Weber Shandwick

A look at the people behind the numbers in area business:

Title: Vice president of content strategy

Age: 37

Clinton Forry is working to produce online content that aligns clients' business goals with their customers' expectations as recently hired vice president of content strategy at Minneapolis-based public relations giant Weber Shandwick.

Forry, most recently a senior content strategist at Ameriprise Financial, said he is continuing to focus on financial services clients in his new role. He also has consulted on work for Weber Shandwick clients in health services and consumer products.

"I've got this weird mix of skills as a content strategist," Forry said. "It's a combination of some writing, some user experience, some information architecture and bringing all those together with a keen editorial sense. I'm hoping to bring my ideas to the table … and raising all the boats here, my own included."

Forry likened the role of a content strategist to that of a movie producer: "I'm not running the camera on a movie set and not in charge of wardrobe, but I know those things are critical to making a good movie. I know who to call upon, the people you need to make the best experience that we ­possibly can."

Forry previously worked at Brain Traffic, a Minneapolis content strategy firm, and Public Radio International. He has a communications degree from the University of Northern Iowa. He's been a fan of Allis-Chalmers tractors since he grew up on a family farm.

Q: What is content strategy?

A: It's aligning business goals and user expectations via sustainable online content. I'm taking what a business hopes to achieve and also taking into account what their users, their customers, their clients and their members want and making sure those two things are meshing well together.

Q: How has growing up on a farm influenced your work?

A: There's a definite self-reliance that comes in. If something breaks, you fix it. If you don't understand it, you learn about it. I'm always trying to learn more about [content strategy], whether it's reading books, attending conferences or reading what my peers are writing. It's just that drive to understand it, to figure it out.

Q: What appealed to you about this opportunity at Weber Shandwick?

A: I'm super happy to be involved in a role where they're taking the relatively new discipline of content strategy and applying it to things like public relations where it's not used as often and also into some of their digital marketing and communications efforts as well.

Todd Nelson