Gal From Down Under Bio
www.galfromdownunder.com

VIDEO CLIP: Lynette in 60 sec | about this video
Gal for hire | Other creds

Lynette wasn't a exactly model Chinese student - she was much more excited about marketing the monthly school disco than Calculus IV. But Chinese dads are don't give up, so she dived into ...

Computers. After spending many nights on a computer science degree and many days as an ORACLE analyst/programmer, she alarmed herself by winning the top student honors at the Australian Writers and Art Directors School and kicking off a new career in ...

Advertising. Mentored by advertising guru Siimon Reynolds, she became a diligent student at last, scoring numerous Australian advertising awards, serving on local and international awards juries and winning a Cannes Advertising Festival Bronze Lion in one of its toughest judging years. Then it was time to throw it all to the headwinds and start ...

Bicycling. On the long and potholed roads from Australia to Zarcero (a town in the Costa Rican boonies) she survived as a senior copywriter at Saatchi & Saatchi (Ireland) and Creative Director for Saatchi (Costa Rica); she declined offers to climb corporate ladders in favor of work that keeps you out on a windy ledge and learning tough: waitress, trainee chef, manager of a cloudforest Costa Rican hotel and spending a freezing winter outside Windsor Castle dressed as an Edwardian Lady. Bike Friday, maker of her folding bicycle, offered her a chance to work in 'merica in ...

Customer Evangelism. First as a telephone salesperson then later, Chief Online Content Creator, she quickly filled the company's formerly static website with adventure-laden multimedia content that readers say "makes them late for work". Revenue doubled over this period and site traffic regularly surpassed that of more famous bicycle brands. Seeking to draw this cult-like community even further under the Bike Friday spell, she hit the road as the card-carrying Customer Evangelist, "taking relationship marketing to the nth degree" by homestaying under customers' roofs.

I'll know I've gone too far when someone writes me into their will.

(Someone has since bequeathed Lynette their prized bicycle bell).

Lynette's prolific social networking skills got Bike Friday topping the Saatchi & Saatchi Lovemarks.com poll and featuring in Saatchi CEO Kevin Roberts' book, The Lovemarks Effect: Winning in the Consumer Revolution. CustomerEvangelists.com listed her with renowned word of mouth mavens; she was interviewed for Forbes.com's Rugged Individualists and is an Expert Blogger for FastCompany.com as "The 24/7 Customer Evangelist". It was time to meet ...

The Handsomest Man in Cuba. Her first travel memoir, The Handsomest Man in Cuba (published Australia, USA, Germany), is an award-winning account of Lynette's solo trip across Cuba and was favorably reviewed in the New York Times Book Review. After fiddling with the video button on her digital camera Lynette started ...

Moviemaking. She creates feature-length adventure films she calls "handlebar movies" shot one-handedly from the saddle and edited on the road. 16,000 Feet on a Friday: Biking the World's Highest Paved Road (45 mins), won the Audience Choice Award at the inaugural Boston Bike Film Festival. Route 66 by Bicycle: Pedaling the Mother Road (57 mins) is a collaboration with Race Across America legend Lon Haldeman. These films have been praised by travel, cycling and digital technology and Apple Store Made On a Mac audiences from New York to LA, who also engage her for ...

Public Speaking. Lynette is a sought-after keynote speaker on customer evangelism, minimalist multimedia, travel and "the marketing you do when you're not doing marketing". Her unusual career path inspires women, seniors and minorities of all ages and stages to "Just (get on a bicycle and) Film It".

Read more about Gal talks | Gal books and movies

Contact Lynette via email: galfromdownunder at gmail dot com, phone 541-513-7711 (USA), 0420 968 967 (Australia).

GAL FOR HIRE: Writing Samples and Customer Evangelism

REFERENCES | RESUME | STORE
VIDEO sample - my 60-second application for the Best Job in the World

Blogging and ghost blogging: Lively and opinionated posting and paraphrasing, any topic. Bullet points and preferred angle are all I need.
Is the New York Times Tone Deaf? Fastcompany.com
Barack Obama and the Power of Positive Discrimination Fastcompany.com
On Not Biting the Feedback that Feeds You Fastcompany.com
A Little Wheel Goes a Long Way BicycleTouringPro.com
The Desert Diamond Casino: a tragic travel tale Personal blog post

Copywriting and Advertising: Say it straight, then say it great
Advertising and Design Portfolio

Multimedia Event Coverage: I'm the cat among the pigeons, filming, interviewing, catching people off guard. The goal: make readers late for work.
Little People of America Annual Convention
Australian Bike Friday Club Annual Gathering with 120 clients
Round*Up Philadelphia Annual Alternative Transport event
Bike Across Italy Just words and pictures
Best Gal Movies on YouTube

Community Building: Using social media tools, new and old, to create sprited, loyal community. Facebook and Twitter aside, content is still king.
The Gal according to CustomerEvangelist.com
Saatchi & Saatchi Lovemarks Win
Bike Friday Clubs a community of citizen marketers

What's wrong with my Business? I nail the niggling things that get in the way of making money. Your friends won't tell you what you're doing wrong; I'm not your friend (yet), I'm also Australian, so I will.
Honesty vs Oversharing: The fine copyline Fastcompany.com
When bright, young things can endanger your business Fastcompany.com
Lazy Advertising Hard at Work Fastcompany.com
Turbotax: Crunching words as important as crunching numbers Fastcompany.com

Letter writing/email campaigning: Did I mention, say it straight, then say it great?
Letter that attracted a global investor
Call for registration Event 1
Call for Registration Event 2
(both events filled to capacity in a couple of days)

Advocacy, PR stunts and B2B Collaborations Multimedia coverage to inform, inspire - the right kind of attention-seeking behavior
3-way Marketing partnership between a manufacturer, a grocer, a bike shop
A tikit to ride the buses Collaboration with transit authority
Threads 'n' Treads NY Fashion Week collaboration with young designer Telfar Clemens
Profile of nostalgic e-tailer REMO on FastCompany.com
The tikitTM on Trial Testing bicycles and building security Advocacy experiment
Burn Carbs Not Hydrocarbs Symposium Advocacy for sustainable transportation options. In 2008 The Harvard University included her advocacy multimedia in its Public Health and Design curriculums.
Aloha, but not in my Backyard Advocacy for Beach Access in Hawaii

Reviewing: A love of design, technology and creativity inspires my informative and entertaining critiques of everyday events and technology.
Wilammette Writers Conference - Op Ed for the Eugene Register-Guard
Angela's Flying Bed Theatrical Review
United First Class Airline review

OTHER CREDENTIALS AND CLIPS

Lynette Chiang on Travel and Writing
Interviewed by Matador Travel, May 2009
Interviewed by Dumbo Feather 2008, Australia
Interviewed by Forbes.com, "Rugged Individualists"
The Handsomest Man in Cuba in the New York Times Book Review

On Customer Evangelism, Advertising and Design
Prifiled by CustomerEvangelists.com
Interviewed by AdNews, "Pedaling Bikes"
Advertising and Design Portfolio
Quoted in MyBusinessMag.com
TV/Radio interviews

On Minimalist multimedia:
Handlebar moviemaking
Best Gal Movies on YouTube
Road Warrior gear

Talks, Books, DVDs:
Made on a Mac Multimedia presentations at Mac Store Theaters
The Handsomest Man in Cuba Award-winning travel memoir favorably reviewed in the New York Times, 2007.

Blogs:
The 24/7 Customer Evangelist for Fastcompany.com
Galfromdownunder Uncut Personal blog
Cheap'n'Choosy Affordable abundance under $5

Galfromdownunder Movies:
Best Gal Movies on YouTube
Route 66 by Bicycle Pedaling the Mother Road
16,000 Feet on a Friday Biking the World's Highest Paved Road


Permalink to this page: www.galfromdownunder.com/bio
Last updated: April 2009