Carl Oldberg, MBA
serves as a senior consultant and account leader for all associations, certification organizations and business enterprises based in Chicago. Carl is a skilled communicator and marketer who knows exactly how to mix both disciplines to ensure that enterprises and the customers they serve connect and stay that way.
He has spent more than 30 years refining the skills that build trust and fuel success—listening, understanding, thoughtful analysis of options, and the drive to not only succeed with the challenge of the moment, but generate excitement, pride and a sense of shared ownership among everyone involved all along the way.
It is a formula that has motivated corporations, organizations, associations and small businesses to entrust him with the asset that matters most—their reputation.
His career began before he was 10, pouring over issues of Time and other national news magazines, and watching the news unfold in real-time on programs such as the Huntley-Brinkley Report and The CBS News with Walter Cronkite. The fascination with news and a curiosity with everything happening around him has driven a communications and marketing career that has exposed him both to diverse perspectives and environments. He has worked in a communications and marketing role within a Fortune 50 corporation, led regional offices of international public relations consulting firms, owned his own communications and marketing consulting firm, and served as an association executive director.
These experiences, coupled with remarkable timing, have put him right in the middle of events many regard as defining moments for the world in which we now live.
- Personal communications—he was part of the team that introduced the first cellular telephone.
- Health care—he introduced the first over-the-counter test for HIV/AIDS.
- Education—he positioned proprietary education as a compelling option for those searching for the training they needed to pursue rewarding careers but not convinced that they wanted to go to a traditional college to get it.
- Public-safety—he introduced the first digital-driven communications platform and equipment systems that finally ensured that police, fire and EMS departments could reliably communicate with each other at any emergency scene. The technologies have become the communications backbone for Homeland Security initiatives across the United States.
- Public-safety crises—an acknowledged expert in public-safety communications, he has worked with agencies and governments at all levels to inform the public and ensure their trust during some of the most dramatic crises of the last 15 years. These include the first bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City, Hurricane Andrew that devastated Florida, the Branch Davidian stand off in Waco, Texas, and 9/11.
His work has been widely recognized. He has received the Silver Anvil Award from the Public Relations Society of America, Spectra and Award of Excellence recognitions from the International Association of Business Communicators, Golden Trumpet Awards from the Publicity Club of Chicago, and even client recognitions including “Best Ideas” awards from ITT.
He is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism where he earned a Bachelor of Journalism degree and also earned a Masters in Business Administration degree from the College of Business at the same university.