John Gerstner ABC*, President of Communitelligence, Inc.,has career experience as a writer, photo-journalist, magazine editor, graphic designer, Internet/intranet strategist, video producer, radio announcer and book author.After a career in corporate communications with John Deere, he left in 2002 to focus on Web portals and communications consulting.In 2003, John founded www.GreenCollectors.com, a portal for rural antique collectors. In 2004, he evolved his site, www.IntranetInsider.com into www.Communitelligence.com, a member knowledge-sharing portal for communication, PR, HR and marketing professionals.And in 2005, Communitelligence, Inc. launched www.WeAreQC.com, the first and only business directory and self-publishing portal for the Iowa/Illinois Quad Cities. John began his career with Deere as an intern at The Furrow farm magazine in 1967.After graduating from Kansas State University in 1968 John returned to Deere as the magazine’s regional editor.Three years later he launched JD Journal, which he continued to edituntil 1999.In 1987 Gerstner was named manager of internal communications, began hosting the annual John Deere Communicators Conference and launched John Deere In Focus employee video program.In 1996, Gerstner was named manager of electronic communication, leading the launches of the Deere.com Web site and JD Online intranet.In 1999 he served as editor/creative director for the coffee-table book, Genuine Value: The John Deere Journey, named Best Coffee Table Book of 2001 by Independent Book Publishers Association.Upon completion of the book project, he was named manager of corporate environmental & safety communications and launched the Environment, Health & Safety Web site on JohnDeere.com.Gerstner also co-authored the book, Ragan Almanac of Top Intranets.John is a current Board Member of CCM (Council of Communication Management). He served two terms on the Executive Board of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), and was 2000-2001 Chair of the IABC Research Foundation.Gerstner is a frequent presenter and workshop leader on intranets, new media including blogs and social networking tools, information architecture, Web writing and design, internal communication, and communication ethics.He has received more than 50 communication awards, including 17 IABC Gold Quills.In 1992, he received the IABC U.S. District 4 Director's Award.In 1994 he was named IABC/Iowa Communicator of the Year.John holds two MA degrees from the University of Iowa, one in Journalism & Mass Communication earned in 1984, and one inVideo Art & Multimedia earned in 1989.His undergraduate degree is in journalism from Kansas State University, received in 1968.He can be reached at jjg@communitelligence.com or by phone at (480) 816-5550. *ABC is the Accredited Business Communicator designation of the International Association of Business Communicators
