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Getting to know Dan Miles

OSU Ecampus marketing manager

Dan Miles on the Oregon State campus. He wears a button-up shirt and a quarter-zip sweater.
An avid outdoorsman, the endless activities of the Oregon landscape were the perfect fit for OSU Ecampus Marketing Manager Dan Miles. Dan moved across the country to Oregon from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he worked various jobs over the years for JPL Integrated Communications. Dan brings with him a wide variety of professional experience, ranging from a senior account manager to senior video producer and post production manager. He earned a Bachelor of Communications degree with a focus on radio/TV/Film and a minor in business and marketing from North Texas State University. You’ll often find Dan pretending that it doesn’t rain in Oregon while he bikes to and from work on almost a daily basis.


By Heather Doherty  
March 13, 2017

Hometown:

“Fort Worth, Texas”         

When did you begin working at Oregon State Ecampus?

“November 2013”

What excited you about the opportunity to work for OSU Ecampus?

“I was excited to work in higher education. I had several higher education clients in my previous position with a strategic integrated communications company on the East Coast. Higher ed is a socially redeeming offering that I can get behind. It’s much more fulfilling to promote education than say, flooring, chocolate or military hardware­­.” 

Describe what you do in your role. 

“I work with colleges to market specific degree programs to specific audiences. We refer to this as targeted marketing. I manage program website development, digital advertising campaigns and creating other supporting marketing collateral. I work with the OSU colleges of Education; Agriculture; Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences; and Forestry.

What do you like most about your job?

“I like connecting our programs with prospective students who can really benefit from them. We make it possible for people to pursue their dreams and aspirations through education. Most of these folks are place bound or working full time and they wouldn’t be able to further their education otherwise.”

What do you wish others knew about your job?

“I think of marketing as solving a puzzle. I like the process of figuring out what’s unique about a program, who the audience is and what motivates them, and what kind of messaging will resonate with them and motivate them to consider Oregon State.” 

“We make it possible for people to pursue their dreams and aspirations through education. Most of these folks are place bound or working full time and they wouldn’t be able to further their education otherwise.”

What made you decide to get into this field?

“I’ve always been a storyteller. I started out as a film and video producer/director. It’s a great medium for connecting with an audience on an emotional level. While my role has significantly changed, I still look at marketing as way of telling a brand’s story in a meaningful and compelling way.”

What do you believe is your greatest accomplishment in this position? 

“This is not my personal accomplishment, but I am most proud of our work when we host our graduation reception every year. Seeing the smiling faces of Ecampus graduates and their families brings me great joy. All the excitement, hope and happiness that fills the room affirms what we do is so worthwhile.”

What advice would you like to give to students, staff, faculty?

“For staff and faculty, it’s not about us or our programs, it’s about the students we serve. For students, we’re here for you.” 

What is one surprising thing about you that not many people know?

“A friend and I rode bicycles across the United States, from Florence, Oregon, to Bar Harbor, Maine, totally unsupported. We were a couple of bicycling nomads.”

What are your favorite activities outside of work?

“Spending time with our children and grandson, and enjoying an active lifestyle of bicycle touring, backpacking, cross-country skiing and hiking with our four-legged friend, Rio.”

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