Blogger Spotlight: Christina Duren of CyberPRUrban.com

I read a great blog post today on the Cyber PR Urban blog, “Learning How to Blog”, and was once again reminded of the other powerhouse maven at Ariel Publicity, Christina Duren. Christina is the General Manager of Ariel Publicity and Cyber PR, and somehow she keeps Ariel Hyatt, myself, and the rest of the team running smoothly.

The Amazing Christina Duren

Since joining the Ariel Publicity team in 2006, Christina Duren has risen up the through the ranks very rapidly from Account Executive to Director of Publicity to General Manager. Christina now manages the architecture of Cyber PR® campaigns, as well as the day-to-day dealings with artists, bloggers, podcasters and Internet radio station DJs. During her four years with the company Christina has had a hand in guiding over 1,200 Cyber PR® campaigns.

The St. Johns University graduate began her career in music as an intern at Island Def Jam where she spent a year in the Radio and Promotions/Publicity department. At IDJ she worked with music legends Mariah Carey, Rihanna and Ne-Yo. From there she landed her first real job at Shore Fire Media working on Publicity campaigns for The Roots, Norah Jones, Bruce Springsteen and The Heineken Red Star Soul Tour.

Having paid her dues at Island Def Jam and Shore Fire Media, Christina learned the ins and outs of the music business from the urban perspective, which helped her in co-founding Cyber PR® Urban, her own division of Ariel Publicity. Cyber PR® Urban, which includes full online PR outreach to hundreds of urban outlets including blogs, Internet radio stations, podcasts,video sites, and tastemaker portals and have helped bolster the careers of Outasight, American Idol Finalist Michael Lynche, and Alice Smith to name a few.

In addition to assisting in the strategy and implementation of each Cyber PR® campaign as General Manager, Christina also pens The Urban Plug a bi-monthly newsletter which gives tips, news, plus marketing and promotion advice to urban musicians and music industry professionals. Christina thinks the most rewarding part of her job is helping artists understand the importance of social media and being able to educate them on how to help themselves confidently take the reigns of their music careers and personal brands.

If you’re an urban artist wanting to take your career to the next level, check out Christina’s Cyber PR Urban Blog.