Meet the Speaker: One of our Rock Star Presenters at the upcoming Social Media for Utilities Conference in Las Vegas.
Q: Name, title, company?
A: Priscilla Akuoko, Social Media Analyst, Baltimore Gas & Electric
Q: Family, hometown, where you live?
A: I am from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and moved to Maryland seven years ago this month.
Q: What is your Utility experience?
A: Upon completing grad school, I got my current job at BGE in March 2013. I am also a member of AABE (American Association of Blacks in Energy).
Q: What do you like to do when you’re not working? Hobbies?
A: I have one hobby: trying new things. In the past year, I’ve learned some social dance styles (Kizomba, Salsa, and Bachata), skiing, I went scuba diving and plan to get a scuba diving license in Thailand next year. I also enjoy traveling to new places. In the past year, I have visited Paris, Cameroon, The Bahamas, and Jamaica.
Q: Notable achievements?
A: Learning English by watching American television.
Q: Where do you see Social Media in utilities in two years?
A: Social Media will take the utility world by storm (no pun), if it hasn’t already. There will be more social media analysts solely dedicated to managing the company’s social media strategy.
Q: What is your biggest challenge?
A: Continuously producing fresh innovative content, without stepping out of the company’s “comfort zone.”
Q: What did you do prior to working in your utility?
A: I was pursuing a Master’s degree in Social Media (it was actually Corporate Communications/Public Relations, but I took a couple of social media classes). On the side, I worked as a virtual Social Media Manager for a start-up non-profit located in Washington, DC.
Q: Who are a couple of your role models (and why)?
A: My parents. They are both major go-getters and hard workers. Before retirement, my mom owned a hair salon for as long as I can remember. She traveled to gain inspiration for fresh hair styles and participated in an annual hair show in London. My dad is a workaholic celebrity fashion designer who started off as a poor tailor from Ghana. He left home when he was 17-years-old and took a leap of faith to emigrate to Amsterdam, all designing clothing from the basement of the house he was renting. Once he got on his feet, he opened a store in Riverdale, MD where many big names have passed through.
Q: What is one of your big goals?
A: To enjoy all of this short life and see the world.
Q: What is the biggest misconception you run into in your role?
A: That the web and social media are all the same.