Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Where Are They Now? - Connie Dieken

Connie Dieken
This month, we asked Connie Dieken to share with us some exclusive information on our Director's Cut Blog about what she has been up since leaving the WKYC family in our "Where Are They Now Feature?" We have video of Connie anchoring the 11 pm news at the end of the story.

Connie spent 16 years broadcasting the news to Cleveland television viewers, beginning at Channel 3 in 1984. Her first duties at the station were as weekend anchor and consumer reporter. She quickly moved up and joined co-anchor Tom Sweeney on the anchor desk for the 5 PM broadcast...and became a main anchor of Channel 3 News at 6 & 11 PM.

Her work garnered numerous high profile communication awards including Emmys, Tellys and being named Best TV Host by Cleveland Magazine. Viewers always loved Connie for her friendly & warm approach to bringing them the news of the day.

Also during her stay at Channel 3, she married former Browns offensive lineman Doug Dieken.

Her quiet departure from the airwaves in 2000 left many Clevelanders scratching their heads, "Where did Connie go? Why did she walk away from the spotlight?"

Turns out, Connie reversed the spotlight. She launched a communication coaching and consulting firm to help business leaders deliver powerful, high profile messages. Her firm, onPoint Communication, helps leaders develop and deliver high profile communications for mergers and acquisitions, annual meetings, product launches, sales presentations and media relations.

Connie has also been busy co-authoring 4 business books and is the author of the upcoming communication book, "You Lost Me at Hello: How to Talk to a World of Short Attention Spans."

Recently, Connie was honored with the 2007 Leadership Think Tank Award for small business in Ohio. Other awards include being one of the Top Ten Women Business Owners of 2006 and being honored by the National Speakers Association (the CSP) - an award given to less than 7% of speakers worldwide.

Connie still lives in Greater Cleveland with her two children, ages 18 and 14. Her oldest child is heading to college this fall. Her career change from the evening news to entrepreneur allowed her to balance her dual commitments to career and family, and gain both personal and professional success.

To Email Connie: connie@conniedieken.com