Columbus, Ohio USA
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New Marketing Manager at Short North Alliance
Dana Cox steps in to fill shoes of Courtney Winnen
By Margaret Marten
January/February 2014 Issue

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Dana Cox Photo | Darren Carlson

The Short North Alliance, a non-profit organization serving the business and property owners in the Short North arts district, recently hired Dana Cox as their new marketing and communications manager after Courtney Winnen resigned from that position last August to take a job with the Arthritis Foundation in Cleveland.

Cox, 29, started her new position at the SNA in November. Raised in Cincinnati and now living in Grandview, Cox studied philosophy at the Ohio State University, pursued a career in marketing and communications, and most recently worked as a social media director at Village Academy, a preparatory school in Powell. She currently serves on the board of Wild Goose Creative, a community arts space, and helped develop their annual holiday fair, Crafts Gone Wild, a big hit over the past four years.

“I’m a crafter,” said Cox. “I knit and crochet. I sew. I do a number of different crafts depending on the time of year and my interests.” Her love of crafting started early on, influenced by her mother who taught her to sew. Later, she learned to crochet and knit. While attending Wild Goose Creative’s weekly “Stitch n Bitch” meetings, Cox put her marketing skills into play, helping to start the craft fair. Helping to promote events, including the Gallery Hop, will be among her main responsibilities at the SNA. Cox is grateful to be a part of it. “It’s just begun for me here,” she said. “It’s been wonderful getting to know all the businesses, to connect with them on a deeper level rather than just passively observing or participating in the events.” Helping to encourage the outside community to visit the Short North and to realize that it’s a place for fun and cultural events as well as shopping and dining will be her focus, along with establishing relationships with business owners.

Meanwhile, Courtney Winnen, 28, is enjoying her new job in Cleveland as a community development manager for the Arthritis Foundation Great Lakes Region after holding the SNA position for just under three years, at a time when major changes occurred within that organization, including a partnership with the Short North Special Improvement District, a name change, as well as changes in staff and directorship, but she said it was an opportunity to learn and grow. “It was a very unique experience being part of an organization going through a merger,” said Winnen. Former SNA director John Angelo, who left in 2013, praised Winnen’s accomplishments. “I think she became passionate about the role that the Alliance played and its impact on the community,” he said. “Whether it was improving sales, or increasing tourism or impacting quality of life on the streets.”

The move to Cleveland, where Winnen grew up, was a welcome return to family and friends, but her bond with the Short North remains. “Nothing was more satisfying than cultivating those relationships with the business owners and the people of the district,” she said. “People are what really makes it what it is, and that’s what I do miss. I feel like I’m building relationships in a different way here. I can’t thank the Short North enough for giving me that.”

© 2014 Short North Gazette, Columbus, Ohio. All rights reserved.

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