What’s Next.
Friends,
As many of you know, I recently returned from a whirlwind international trip with Lindy and XY that saw us in four cities across two continents in nine days. Now that we’re caught up on sleep and laundry, I’m thrilled to share news of my next career adventure.
It’s an irresistible blend of the novel and the familiar. A move that is at once a new direction and a professional homecoming.
On August 24, I am returning to DC Water as the agency’s first-ever Chief Marketing Officer. My second act will center around developing new markets for the services and expertise the utility offers, in an effort to improve the national water sector and reduce pressure on local ratepayers.
In the 2–1/2 years since I left DC Water, I’ve remained in close contact with General Manager and CEO George Hawkins, who has been a mentor and friend for the better part of the past decade. When the possibility of rejoining his executive team ripened into an actual opportunity, I jumped at the chance. Here’s George’s broad overview of what the work may someday become.
Among other things, I’ll be teaching other utility executives how to use branding to better connect with their customers, an effort I spearheaded at DC Water under George’s direction. I also get to work closely again with my former external affairs staff that is now so ably led by my friend John Lisle, and will have a shorter, Metro-based commute most days I’m in the office.
Themes have a tendency to re-assert themselves regularly in my life, and the world of water is perhaps the best example. Even on vacation just the week before last, my family and I watched as a crew worked around the clock for two days of emergency water main repair outside our hotel in Haifa, and heard the particulars of the maniacal but forward-thinking King Herod’s investment in water infrastructure for a growing Jerusalem millennia ago.
Our planet’s water challenges are only growing more significant and complicated by the day. I’m so ready to do my part once again.
Yours, Alan
