My name is Lauren Beyer, and I am a young professional involved in social media, communications and PR. I am originally from Molalla, Oregon and currently live in Jacksonville, Florida. I’ve also called Flagstaff, Arizona, Limerick Ireland and Corvallis, Oregon home in the past five years.

Connect with me on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, FriendFeed, MySpace and/or Google. If I missed anything here, you can Google search ”ltbeyer” and find everywhere else I am online. Also, make sure to check out my social media/PR blog, Pass the (Social Media) Kool Aid.

(Note: this is my personal blog, and anything I say, do, and link to does not reflect the views of my employer or associations)

I moved to Jacksonville during Masters week in 2008 (April, if you don’t operate on a golf-related calendar like I do) to take a dream job opportunity with the PGA TOUR. I work with PGATOUR.COM as the Social Media & Fan Outreach Coordinator. It’s a first-of-its-kind position at the Tour, and most days I can’t figure out how I convinced them to hire me (but I’m glad they did!) I’m adjusting to the perma-vacation lifestyle that Florida offers. Outside of work, my recreational options usually fall between soccer, golf, running or kicking it at the beach, when I’m not trying to organize Social Media Club Jacksonville events or raising awareness (and money!) for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation as a 2009 “Single Greatest Night Honoree.” The people in Jax are a lot like me — young and like to work & play hard. Makes for some very good times.

Before Jacksonville, I lived in Corvallis, Oregon for about 15 months, when brass|MEDIA gave me my first real (read: salaried) job. It took a few months to get comfortable, but I jumped into the community head first. I served on the boards of Young Professionals of Corvallis and the United Way of Benton & Lincoln Counties, yelled at the masters rowers of Corvallis Rowing Club (coxing), reffed high school volleyball and volunteered with SMART.

In Dec ‘06, I graduated from Northern Arizona University with degrees in Public Relations and Electronic Media. At NAU, I was heavily invested (time & sweat, not so much financially) in NAU Live!, the student-produced newscast. I also dabbled in PRSSA and worked with NAU Athletics’ Media Relations Department. College was awesome because I took advantage of many opportunities:

• tried out for the golf team
• fulfilled my dream to be a Sports Producer/Reporter/Anchor
• saw the best concerts in the summers of 2003 & 2004 through a radio promotions internship
• found out how much fun it is to direct live news
• lived in Limerick, Ireland for 4 months while studying at UL
• found a love for pro sports as an intern with the Portland Trail Blazers
  
• lived in the best apartment in Flagstaff (and got to live in Flag for 4 years)

My goals for the future include starting a company to work with individuals who want to give back to their communities, being an advocate for the underserved, and living abroad again. I also really want to break par for 18 holes and run a really long (but not insanely long) race.