Q: What did you want to be when you grew up?
I grew up in Schenectady and went to Schenectady schools. Once great thing about Schenectady school district is their fine arts program and it’s still something today that is really flourishing. I really found community there so ‘high school Becky Daniels’ was really into theater, I took a television production class, there was a film festival that students put on with teacher. I really wanted to get into entertainment. Something behind the scenes like production, music industry was my minor in college, I really liked all things entertainment related and wanted to get into that. But in college, I learned that I really liked being a fan more than learning how the magic worked. So I switched to public relations and marketing so I could really have a broad experience and give myself a lot of options after graduation.
Q: What did you think you would do once you graduated from college?
That’s a tough question. I minored in music industry, I majored in public relations, and a double major in English, I’ve always loved to write, and have that creative side to me too. I had this great internship in radio in NYC the summer before my senior year of college and that was the exclamation mark moment of “Wow! This is really cool, but I’d rather be a fan.”
I was really spoiled. This internship was part internship part leadership program. It was 6 students from all different schools and different internships. We would get together- kinda like the real world, scholar edition- we lived together. There were leadership dinners and things to help us explore the city. And because i was part of that program at the internship at WPLJ – it had actually just shut its doors, it was one of the oldest stations in the area, it had been around since the 70s- it was a great experience. I got to do a rotation, so unlike most of the interns who were either morning show or just production, or just sales or just promotions, I got to do a little bit of everything.
I got to meet Rascal Flatts that summer, that’s was the height of my obsession with them. It was the summer of 2006. At the end, I was exhausted. NYC was great but it was that summer I realized the city was great to visit but I didn’t want to live there. Another big realization was though the radio station piece was really fun, and I got to so many cool things but was I willing to sacrifice years of my life doing the really grunt work that I didn’t have to do that summer but saw other young professionals doing. I didn’t want to do 5 years of sales before I could get into production. I didn’t feel I could make a huge impact in my work going that direction.
So when I graduated, honestly Maggie, I had no real clear picture which is really very scary. School was easy, I would be a student still if I could afford it. You have your syllabus and you know what you have to do. So I did some soul searching and not long after graduation an opening came up to work for the university. I was never an RA but I had work with the office of residence life the whole 4 years, I was really involved in Greek life, I’m still very much attached to my sorority experience and volunteer which was a huge part of my college career.
This opening came up and was encouraged to apply so I ended up a couple months after graduation back at Syracuse. I worked as an assistant hall director and then transitioned there into coordinator for communications so I actually helped launch a new website and get all of residents halls in that office into social media. Facebook for anything other than a personal account was still very new at that time.
I was at the university for 5 years, got my Master’s in higher education, stayed at the university and loved it but ultimately decided that I wanted to come home.
Q: What brought you back to Schenectady?
I had always loved Schenectady and kind of had a chip on my shoulder since I’ve loved Schenectady since there was a lot less here to love. I’d talk about the Electric City and all the history that happened here and the television production history and all of that.
The driving factor behind moving back to Schenectady was a family tragedy- my sister passed away after a lifelong battle with kidney disease in 2008. Something like that calls on your priorities and what’s most important. I didn’t move home for another couple of years, but after that I’d come to visit and it kept getting harder and harder to leave. Part of it was the family and part of it was to see this growth in the Capital Region, Schenectady included in that.
I thought maybe I’d come back for a couple of years and find myself again, reprioritize but once I settled here and really made a home, put effort into building a network, why would I leave? There are so many great things. We’re within driving distance of some wonderful bigger cities, we’ve got mountains, we’ve got nature… there’s a little bit of everything. Cost of living is great here, so many fun things to do, so much good food, Schenectady in particular has Proctors which is a big passion of mine. I couldn’t imagine at this point living anywhere else.
Q: It’s cool to hear you say that- someone from Schenectady, lived outside of Schenectady and has come home saying you wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.
My mom remembers working at Carl Co. which was downtown when GE was at its max for employees and remembers the bustle at lunchtime in is hay day. The sad part is for our generation its not really cool to like where you’re from. A lot of us, especially those in broadcast and entertainment go to college and then have to move to a big city because that’s what’s cool and that’s what people do. A lot of my friends from Syracuse moved to NY and I have friends in LA and they’re living these glamorous lives. I had a tough conversation with myself about what I wanted.
I do think the tide is changing though especially working to promote a somewhat smaller city. I think there is a new appreciation for a smaller city, loving where you live, shopping local, ‘smaller town vibes.’ I hope this trend continues because it is really nice to have a “Cheers moment” when you go to a restaurant or at bar and you know the bartender or the waiter knows what my favorite dish is- I have a couple of those places.
Q: In my research I couldn’t find when Discovery Schenectady was started- 2014ish?
It was actually a little bit after that. Long story short, every county in NY state has a designated tourism promotion agency. I’m not sure how long that format has been in existence but it’s been a long time. Prior to Discover Schenectady, that TPA changed hands a bit. There was a particular Chamber for Schenectady and when that no longer made sense, Proctors Theater took over. In 2016, a ton of new hotels were coming online, we won the bid for the casino, Proctors continued to grow and attract bigger productions the county legislature created an entity that was focused on the tourism promotion. We knew we were getting new assets where e could potentially house more conferences and events. So in 2016 the county legislature created the Schenectady County Tourism and Convention Bureau. There are 19 representatives from businesses large and small across the county. I was hired may 1 2017.
Q: How were you introduced to Discover Schenectady ?
At the time I worked for General Electric in the renewable energy business as a Digital Storyteller which everyone always thinks that’s such a funny title. I do miss telling people that because the looks I would get were always funny. Essentially I was doing digital marketing and that is really where my career has sort of evolved.
I love social media, I love small nimble staff. We actually have an intern we just hired entering his second career which is interesting because will shift the dynamic a little. He was in engineering previously so he brings another wealth of knowledge and experience that we can learn from. As much as I’m executive director, I’m supervising staff, managing and coaching, there’s always something to learn from each other and I’m really trying to foster that environment.
No one ever really teaches you how to be a supervisor but I will say my background in higher education and working with college students has helped because at least I had some theory grounding in my training from back then. It’s a lot of learning all the time.
Q: Tell me what you do on a daily basis for Discover Schenectady.
It sounds so like a very trite answer, but there is no “typical” day. There’s a lot of fun elements to it. I’ve given a lot of the social media pieces to our marketing assistance and I’ll admit it’s something I miss. I’ve been trying to make the time to work on the business rather than in the business. That was a coaching lesson from one of our strategic planning consultants we work with at Mahoney Performance Institute, Bruce Parsons, has been a wonderful partner since I started and we have conversations that I really love getting in the weeds. But as a growing business we need to be meeting with people to potentially partner on things and relationship building.
For someone who’s a list maker and to do person, sometimes it’s hard for me to wrap my mind around those bigger picture things. So I’ve been spending a lot of time strategizing and vision of the next 3-5 years as opposed to the day to day pieces. We still do the videos and events- that part is fun but it can get exhausting.
Q: Whats it like growing up in Schenectady vs Schenectady today? How much do you think Discover Schenectady plays a role in Schenectady becoming. a tourism destination?
It’s magic to see what’s happened. I tell this story often, my interview for this job. There was a weekly publication called Metroland, it was kind of like an alternative newspaper that came out. They had this best of issue one year that they had the “Best View” in the capital region. Albany’s view was from the top of some building and the best view of Schenectady was in your rear view mirror, as you’re driving out of town. That has stuck with me for years, I had this chip on my shoulder because people told me for years i was from this crappy place.
At that point, my frame of reference was school and I loved school. I had great teachers, my creativity was fostered, I’m still involved in the school district. Today, Schenectady School District gets a bad rap that’s largely undeserved. So with that in many head during my interview, I talked a lot about changing the narrative and storytelling.
I see Discover Schenectady’s role not as economic development but as marketing the county. If that means we’re helping with bids and proposals, people starting businesses here that’s part of it but i see us really as the web site, social media, ad campaigns, really telling the story of what’s happening and i think that makes people who live here proud to live here and tell stories about what they love about Schenectady. We’ve really focused on the local stories and now we’re getting ready to focus on larger audiences.
Q: What do you love most about your job?
On a very surface level, I love to eat so this is a great excuse to try new things and get to know the people behind my favorite restaurants and dishes so that’s the really fun part. Kind of going back to what I was lacking in my job at GE, feeling like I have a hands on impact to the work. I feel like I’m helping create this tide of positivity and that’s really special.
Q: Imagine is someone listening to the podcast and has never heard of Schenectady, what do you want them to know about this city?
This is going to be a nerd answer- the history is one of the most important things. It sort of sets the stage off why what’s happening today is so special here. Rich history of innovation with GE, acknowledge that there was a downturn and that there was a point in time when people would joke about tumbleweeds blowing down state street. Understanding the highs and lows of where we’ve been that’s what makes us special and you can appreciate when you walk down at lunch time and you streets full of people. If there was one thing, it would be that.
There are really cool tours that the historical society does, MySci has the backlog of GE innovation, there’s a lot of ways to appreciate that history, it’s very accessible. And to go out to a great restaurant and craft beer. You won’t find a chain restaurant in downtown, unless its a local chain.
Q: Besides Schenectady what are some other causes you are passionate about?
Many of them are tied to Schenectady. I was recently able to join the board for Schenectady City Schools Education Foundation. That’s been really rewarding and its a great way to give back. I credit so much of who I am to that school district and the education I received.
Syracuse was awesome but Schenectady really set me up for success. I found out about that through Capital Region Sponsor a Scholar that education piece is great. They are another cause I love to promote, they are always looking for mentors for high school students from their sophomore year to their freshman year of college.
There are other things I fundraise for, St Jude, cancer research, I ran for Woman of the Year for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and I’ve stayed in touch with those guys, I think that’s really important because being tied to different community organizations breaks you out of your comfort zone and it really helps me get outside of Schenectady. In order for us to be the best we can be it helps to see what folks are doing and events outside of here so we can constantly have that spirit of improvement.
Q: When you’re not promoting a restaurant, what do you do for lunch?
I actually I started intermittent fasting this year. I eat so much for this job I gained 20 pounds in my first year in this role, I kid you not. So I take it day by day. If it’s going to be a big working lunch, then I’ll go really light on dinner. If I’m having dinner out then I’ll have a Lara bar and some fruit. It’s always one extreme or the other.
How can people get in touch with whats going on in Schenectady?
Discover Schenectady Website | Becky Daniels Instagram |Discover Schenectady Instagram
