About Rick Clancy

As noted in the initial post, I have the good fortune to serve as the senior vice president for Corporate Communications at Sony Electronics Inc., which, as the name implies, is the electronics arm of Sony Corporation primarily marketing products in the U.S.

I originally joined Sony as a director on the Corporate Communications team about 18 years ago when the U.S. electronics operation was located in Park Ridge, N. J. As I recall, we were about a $4 billion company back in 1990 and in many respects it was a relatively simpler time with less products, fewer markets and a smaller group of distribution channels. Today, beyond our strong network of consumer retail partners with thousands of store fronts and their own online commerce sites, along with our long-standing broadcast industry customers, Sony Electronics is a $12 billion-plus company with more than 40 retail outlets across the country, an e-commerce site, an emerging b2b channel, and inroads in government, education and even the house-of-worship markets.

In my current position, my team and I are responsible for a wide variety of communications and public relations activities for the U.S. electronics business that range from supporting product launches and new technology developments to brand building events and corporate initiatives of all kinds. Our activities for the company encompass both internal employee communications, as well as external communications working closely with the news media and leading industry analysts. More recently, they have extended to the online community of journalists, analysts, web-casters and, yes, even bloggers.

As part of my role at Sony, I also am an active member and past-chairman of the Consumer Electronics Association's Communications Committee.

Prior to joining Sony, I was in various communications roles at two, now infamous Wall Street firms that are no longer with us -- Drexel Burnham, Lambert and E.F. Hutton. I also worked with a public relations firm by the name of Creamer Dickson Basford for several years both in New York and Pittsburgh after having started my career out of college in the PR department of the J. Walter Thomson advertising agency in New York. I am also an accredited member (which is no small feat) of the Public Relations Society of America.

I graduated from "a small liberal arts college of distinction," Bethany College, located in the northern panhandle of West Virginia between Wheeling to the south and Weirton to the north, with Pittsburgh about an hour and change to the northeast. That's where I met my wife of 29 years, who is a special education teacher in the process of getting recertified to teach in the state of California. We have a teenage daughter now in her drama-filled high school years, along with a 19-year old son who is advancing in the workplace as we eagerly await what may come next in his future.

Since I retain my New York/New Jersey professional sports loyalties, I have the high-definition satellite package at our home in Southern California. Basically, I root for all the "ets" - Mets, Jets and Nets. (That said, I've probably seen more Mets and Jets games in-person here in San Diego during the three years I've lived here than during twice that many years back in New Jersey.) And when not paying attention to professional sports, I enjoy walking a few miles in the mornings, swimming, exploring this part of the country on the weekends, hanging out along the ocean, and doing a bit of wine tasting from time to time.

Lately, my reading has taken me from Vince Flynn political adventures to the real political adventures of our forefathers like Washington, Franklin, Hamilton, Adams and Jefferson.

The Sony Blog is my latest adventure and I appreciate you being a part it.