Washington native numbers among ECU’s Incredible Women

Published 8:58 pm Tuesday, October 1, 2013

TRACY TUTEN | CONTRIBUTED Dr. Tracy Tuten, author and winner of national awards in the field of social media, has been named one of East Carolina’s University’s Incredible Women by the Women’s Roundtable.

TRACY TUTEN | CONTRIBUTED
Dr. Tracy Tuten, author and winner of national awards in the field of social media, has been named one of East Carolina’s University’s Incredible Women by the Women’s Roundtable.

 

Think social media and it’s not likely that the name Tracy Tuten will be first to pop up. But it should, because the Washington native has authored five books on the subject and won national awards for her work.

Now Tuten will be recognized, along with nine others, as Incredible ECU Women — East Carolina University graduates who have gone on to make a distinct mark in their given fields. Their induction into a long list of influential and inspiring women recognized by the Women’s Roundtable takes place at the day-long of Women Empowered: Service and Leadership from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10.

“It’s sort of like a hall of fame for women who attended ECU,” Tuten explained. “I’m very honored. I can’t quite believe I got picked to do that.”

Tuten teaches marketing at ECU, but she’s spent a good deal of time traveling, sharing her social media know-how at speaking engagements around the world.

“Most of my recognition in the industry is about social media,” Tuten said. “That’s where I’ve had the easiest success to quantify.”

That success has come in the form of a 2010 O’Hara Leadership Award, a national award for direct and interactive marketing education. At the Women’s Roundtable event, Tuten will be recognized for her contribution to education before the floor is opened to keynote speakers and an alumnae panel discussion on service and leadership. Keynote speakers include bestselling cookbook authors and founders of Georgetown Cupcakes, Katherine Kallinis Berman and Sophie Kallinis LaMontagne, and Paralympic athlete Bonnie St. John.

“The speakers are going to be really motivational,” Tuten said. “It’s going to be a great opportunity for personal and professional development.”

According to Marcy Romary, the director of ECU’s Women’s Roundtable, the Roundtable organization itself, and next week’s event, is a way to get more East Carolina grads involved in school leadership — as volunteers, serving on boards in leadership roles that address community concerns impacting the university, Tuten said.

And for  the women involved in the ECU Women’s Roundtable, the event is an opportunity to make connections with each other, with the school and to help  fund scholarships for academically gifted students who have great financial needs, according to Romary.

Registration for the ECU Women’s Roundtable conference ends Oct. 3. For more information, visit www.ecu.edu/cs-admin/mktg/womensroundtable/.