Tim Boivin
Media Relations Manager

Tim's 24-year career in media relations, journalism, and strategic marketing communications has taken him around the world. Tim spent nine years as a manager in Army media relations offices in Georgia, Korea and Arizona. During his Army career, he was also a sports columnist, bureau chief and copy editor at the European Stars and Stripes newspaper in Germany. Later, Tim worked as a business reporter for trade publications covering the defense and retail industries. In the early 1990s, Tim first began reporting on how technology was transforming the retail industry through Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Just-In-Time Delivery, Category Management and Planograms. He also wrote market reports analyzing product categories, including consumer electronics, home office and software. Tim has also been a senior project administrator for a strategic marketing consulting firm that helps Fortune 500 companies position their medical and information systems products.

What is Your Favorite Success Story?
In 1987, I had the misfortune to cover the worst disaster of my journalism career. Journalists are accused of always accenting the bad news, but this was a case where I was able to turn a devastating news story into a positive triumph of the human spirit. A sergeant in a combat engineering unit was training his platoon on how to place a cratering device in a road. Inexplicably, he used a live round in the device and it exploded. Three soldiers, including the sergeant, were killed, and more than a dozen were seriously injured -- some maimed for life. After initially reporting this tragedy, I started to track the response of the local post where the soldiers were stationed. What started out as a tragedy became a heroic story about strangers in the German and American communities helping neighbors they hardly knew and soldiers overcoming overwhelming odds to win an elite engineering competition and a team marathon. I wrote a special supplement for Stars and Stripes reflecting the triumph and spirit of this heroic unit and the communities that supported them. I keep this in mind whenever a colleague or friend talks about the "negative media. " Given the chance and a great story hook, I believe the media will provide favorable publicity, even under the worst of circumstances.

What Are Your Hobbies and Interests?
I currently serve as the volunteer marketing director for Character Counts! In Cary, a community-based initiative to integrate character education throughout the school district and sports, youth, business and community organizations in the village of Cary, IL. My hobbies mostly revolve around Boy Scouts and coaching my son's sports teams. As a senior member of Cub Scout and Boy Scout committees for the past seven years, I have been responsible for coordinating Scouting activities for more than 80 boys each year. I have also coached baseball, basketball and soccer. Despite never playing the game, after six years as a youth soccer coach I am proud to say I almost understand the difference between a direct and indirect kick! Just don't ask me to explain it.

What is the Title of the Last Good Book You Read?
Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone, by J.K. Rowling

What are your favorite TV shows?
Having worked as a reporter in Washington D.C., I find The West Wing to be quite intriguing. I watch it with my 12-year-old son and it provides excellent civics lessons for him. Try explaining how a filibuster works to a 12-year-old. I also like to watch CNN Presents and Chicago Tonight, a local Public Broadcasting System news program.

What is the last good movie you saw?
Cool Hand Luke - What… we... have… here is a failure to communicate. I watch it every time it comes on. George Kennedy, an old Army vet, received an Academy Award for best supporting actor. He was good, but I thought it was Paul Newman's best role ever. It pretty much defined his career as far as I was concerned.

What music are you listening to?
Kermit Unpigged -- The Muppets, One More From the Road -- Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Human Clay - Creed … just because my son plays it over and over and over again.

Why Are You a Good Fit at Tech Image?
From my work in strategic marketing, I have personally experienced how technology helps medical professionals realize the future faster than ever before. As a business reporter, I have been in on the ground floor of breaking technologies that radically transformed the response time and service level of the mass merchant retail industry in the early 1990s. In the military, I saw how technology that was new in the 1980s (tank simulators) helped soldiers train in the most cost–effective ways ever. I want to help our clients communicate those kinds of benefits about their technologies to current and potential customers.