Director of Media Relations
Tim Boivin is the Director of Media Relations at Tech Image, Chicago’s leading independent high-tech public relations firm. A 31-year public relations and media veteran, Boivin has been with the agency since 1999, leading Tech Image’s award-winning staff of media relations professionals. He has extensive expertise designing media relations campaigns promoting the thought leadership of clients in the following technology areas: supply chain, retail, manufacturing, government, homeland defense, business intelligence, security, virtualization, managed services and cloud computing. Boivin’s client portfolio includes RedPrairie, CSDC Systems, Laurus Technologies, the Society for Information Management, SHARE (an IBM enterprise IT user group), MPOWR (Microsoft Partners for One World of Results), and the Cisco Channel Partners Program.
Boivin is a former Army Public Relations Manager who has worked in military public affairs offices and on military publications around the world. His final military assignment was at the European Stars & Stripes, where he was the Wuerzburg, Germany Bureau Chief. He also is a former journalist who has worked as a columnist and business writer for publications covering the defense and retail industries. In addition, he has worked in strategic marketing as a consultant for Fortune 500 companies in the medical and information systems markets.
Boivin is a 1996 graduate of Roosevelt University and a 2008 graduate of the Society for Information Management’s Regional Leadership Program. He is the Director of Cary Pride Day, a beautification program that in 2007 received the Governor’s Home Town Award for Excellence through Volunteerism. He serves on the Boy Scout Troop 657 Committee, and was a founding board member of CHARACTER COUNTS! in Cary and the first President of the Cary-Grove High School Cross Country and Track & Field Association. In 2007, Boivin was the first recipient of the Village of Cary’s Pride Award for service to the community.
What is Your Favorite Success Story?
I have two - one personal, and one agency-related. My favorite personal success story was getting five customers of one of my clients listed in the InfoWorld 100 awards, which annually honors end-user companies that best leverage IT to their advantage. My client's two major competitors, both much larger and more well-known companies, had only one customer make the list - combined! Our client's sales team was able to take this list to its prospects to demonstrate the real-world benefits of its supply chain solutions. My favorite agency success story is my media relations team. They have been named the most influential PR team two years running by technology journalists in an independent survey conducted by PRSourceCode. They deliver results, both for the clients and for the media. It's great that they are recognized for their ability to deliver.
What Are Your Hobbies and Interests?
I am a founding member of CHARACTER COUNTS! in Cary, a character development program focused on developing ethical behavior among youths and adults in our community. I also am the founder of Cary Pride Day, a community-wide beautification program held around Earth Week each year. In 2007, Cary Pride Day was recognized by the State of Illinois with the Governor's Home Town Award for Excellence through Volunteerism. I have worked in Scouting for the past 15 years, running a Cub Scout Pack of more than 100 Scouts and a Boy Scout Troop of more than 80 Scouts. In addition, I was the founder of the Cary-Grove Cross Country and Track and Field Association, a parents group at Cary-Grove High School. I am a graduate of the Society for Information Management’s Regional Leadership Forum, which has been a life-changing experience. I would recommend SIM’s RLF to anyone in the IT field interested in becoming a more effective leader.
What is the Title of the Last Good Book You Read?
Two Old Women: An Alaskan Legend of Betrayal, Courage, and Survival by Velma Wallis. This version of an old Athabascan Indian legend that has been passed along from mothers to daughters over several generations demonstrates why we as a society should do a better job of appreciating and leveraging the wisdom and experience of the older generation.
What are your favorite TV shows?
Chicago Cubs games, the longest running unsuccessful program in sports history. Also any news, but especially Chicago Tonight, a local Public Broadcasting System roundtable discussion about local and national events. I also watch Frontline on PBS to get the story behind the story that everyone else is reporting, and Keith Olberman’s Countdown on MSNBC.
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?
Van Morrison’s Tupelo Honey, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Call Me the Breeze, Janis Joplin’s Cry Baby.
Why Are You a Good Fit at Tech Image?
I have been able to put all of the leadership, management, journalism, and technology background that I have acquired over the past three decades to work in leading a great media relations team at Tech Image that secures fantastic coverage for its clients. Also, I've been at Tech Image for nine years, and I've been told by other members of the staff that I'm not going anywhere. It's probably because, as one account manager noted, "I am evil in an endearing way."