Jeffrey Scott is a Vice President at Van Prooyen Greenfield LLP.  He brings more than 16 years of communications and marketing expertise, having developed campaigns for many of the world’s most innovative and influential companies, including Adobe Systems, Choice Hotels, First American Corp., Hewlett-Packard, Visa USA and VMware. 

Prior to joining VPG, Jeffrey Scott was the founder and president of Split Rock Communications, a full-service marketing and public relations agency that he ran for 10 years. 

Mr. Scott has helped lead many high-profile communications campaigns, including Visa’s widely covered introduction of a fraud-prevention service known as ”Verified by Visa.”  Today, some 400 million cardholders worldwide use the service to protect themselves against identity theft.  Mr. Scott also helped lead the naming, positioning and launch of a groundbreaking software suite from HP that was instrumental in establishing the company as a leading IT solutions provider in the SMB sector.

Mr. Scott has developed expertise in several key areas of communications, including message development and positioning, media relations and social networking.  He specializes in crafting compelling messages that resonate with target audiences and helping clients distinguish themselves in crowded marketplaces.  He is a media relations professional who knows how to promote his clients by helping journalists and bloggers deliver relevant, timely content to their readers.  And he has been quick to embrace new communication channels to help large and small clients alike bypass traditional media gatekeepers and talk directly to customers and stakeholders.

Prior to starting Split Rock, Mr. Scott spent four years at Cunningham Communication, which was then one of the largest independently owned public relations agencies in the United States.  While at Cunningham, Mr. Scott helped manage two multi-million-dollar client accounts -- HP and KPMG Consulting.  Earlier in his career, Mr. Scott worked as an associate at Sterling Communications, a boutique public relations agency in Silicon Valley.  Prior to that, Mr. Scott was a project manager at Stanford University.  He began his career as a staff researcher for the San Jose Mercury News.  

Mr. Scott has been a featured speaker at national conferences hosted by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC). He has also written extensively on behalf of his clients.  His articles, op-ed pieces and cover stories have appeared in numerous trade journals, daily newspapers and magazines as well as on popular websites, such as CNN.com, MSNBC.com and USAToday.com.  He has written on topics as diverse as green construction, next-generation datacenters, the future of e-commerce, temporary employment law, and the use of tax credits to fund affordable housing.

                                           

Mr. Scott earned a bachelor’s degree in political science, graduating with honors from the University of California, Santa Barbara.  He holds a master’s degree in mass communications from San Jose State University.

Education

• M.S., Mass Communications, San Jose State University
• B.S., honors, Political Science, University of California, Santa Barbara