Todd Richard Resume & CV Materials
PROFILE: Energetic and thoughtful arts, media, and communication multi-professional eager to build and support community organizations, connecting great ideas to their intended audiences. Portfolio & references available.
EDUCATION: University of Hartford, Hartford, CT, BA – University Studies (projected 2025,) Presidential Honors ’23, Honors Colloquium Presenter ’23, Humanities Scholar ’23-‘24
SKILLS: Motivated project management, effective strategy and communication, staff management, targeted and incisive copywriting, vendor relations, relationship marketing, event production, board/donor/sponsor relations, sponsorship brokerage and fulfillment
TECHNICAL PROFICIENCIES: Adobe Creative Suite, WordPress, Divi DMS, WooCommerce, Logic Pro X, Google Suite for Business, Meta Business Suite, Microsoft Office Suite, Constant Contact, various proprietary database and contact management systems
SPECIALIST & EXPERT IN: Creative Direction, Transformative Operations, Relationship Engineering
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Event Producer/Engineer (various) New England 2000 – present
- Produced on-premise events for small- and medium- producer beverage brands across New England
- Engineered large-scale productions for high-end gala and private events on Nantucket Island
Web Designer Weblight Media, Glastonbury CT 2020-2021
- Designed and managed complex websites for small and medium sized business clients in CT
- Wrote SEO copy, product copy, and online review responses
Media Production Technician Flatworld, Glastonbury, CT 2019 – 2022
- Performed accessibility updates to videos in the company’s digital inventory, adding and editing close-captioned English subtitles
- Executed updates and edits to digital textbooks on proprietary company software
Interim Operations Manager Nantucket Music Center, Nantucket, MA 2019
- Managed office for busy music non-profit during period of board of directors leadership transition
- Auditioned and deployed new online scheduling and registrar platform
Web Designer & Community Manager (various) Portland, ME 2015 – 2020
- Designed websites for small business, boutique, and performing arts clients
- Launched and managed social media accounts, email management services, and online stores
Marketing Coordinator Children’s Museum & Theatre, Portland, ME 2014-2015
- Managed website and social media channels
- Launched campaigns for new exhibits, theatre productions, and special events
Marketing/Box Office Manager Franco Center, Lewiston, ME 2011-2012
- Developed and launched season programming and marketing model for cultural arts organization
- Transitioned from manual box office operations to remote, toll-free, and online ticketing options
Journalist Phoenix Media Group, Portland, ME 2006-2010
- Wrote weekly and monthly arts columns for local entertainment newspaper and related publications
Marketing & Events Manager una Wine Bar Portland, ME 2002 – 2005
- Served as talent buyer and event coordinator for high-end martini lounge
- Launched website, ad campaigns, and email newsletters
Marketing Director Center for Cultural Exchange, Portland, ME 2000-2001
- Launched first website for groundbreaking global cultural arts organization
- Managed robust program of print publications including quarterly large format calendars, season program guide magazines, and show collateral for each specific event
MUSIC, MEDIA, & CREATIVE EXPERIENCE:
Class & Private Instruction Experience:
Drum Class & Private Music Instructor, Snow Pond Arts Academy 2016-2017
Hip Hop Programs & Private Music Instructor, Maine Academy Of Modern Music 2006-2009
Private Music Instructor, Nantucket Community Music Center 1995, Nantucket, MA 2008, 2009
Jazz Ensemble Director & Music Instructor, Lexington Christian Academy, Lexington, MA 1999-2000
Workshop & Artist-in-Residence Experience:
Hip Hop Summer Camp – Boys & Girls Club Of Greater Portland, Portland, ME 2008
Hip Hop Intensive Program – Long Creek Youth Development – Casco Division, Casco, ME 2008
Percussion Playshops For Early Elementary – Parks & Rec. Department, Kennebunk, ME 2006 – 2008
Drum & Percussion Artist-In-Residence – Nantucket Public Schools, Nantucket, MA 2003
DJ HIGHLIGHTS:
Official DJ for Maine Roller Derby League, Portland, ME 2008-2011
Art Honors – 2011, 2012 – Maine College Of Art, Portland ME
Annual Commencement & Colloquium – 2011 – IDSVA, Portland ME
Commencement Reception – 2004-2010 – Maine College Of Art, Portland ME
Italia 150 Italian Food And Culture Gala – 2011 – Portland ME
Contemporaries Winter Bash – 2011 – Portland Museum Of Art, Portland ME
Private Birthday Party For NBC’s David Gregory – 2010 – Great Harbor Yacht Club, Nantucket MA
Frock And Roll Fashion Show At Space Gallery – 2009 – Portland Music Foundation, Portland ME
Fashion For Compassion Benefit, 2008, 2009 – MSPCA, Nantucket ME
MUSIC PRODUCTION & SUPERVISION:
Executive/Remix Producer “Dreaming: Remixing the Music of Andy Happel” 2013
Remix Producer “Water’s Edge” by Kate Schrock – Single Release 2010
Music Director “Into the Drink” Broadcast Television series distributed by Tuff TV 2008 – 2010
SELECT DRUM HIGHLIGHTS:
Recorded with: Jonathan Edwards, former Wailers saxophonist Glen DaCosta, Don Campbell Band, Sumner McKane Group, Miss Fairchild, Kate and the Rocket, DJ P.Nice and the Difference, Milled Pavement Records
Recordings/Broadcasts: “Right Where I Am” full-length release by legendary singer/songwriter Jonathan Edwards, Nationally-released “Kites to Fly: The Music of Dan Fogelberg,” Don Campbell Band (3 full length recordings,) featured on NPR’s “Echoes” including long-form editorial feature and on-air performance
Opened for: Carrie Underwood, Chris Young, Willie Nelson, Gretchen Wilson, Big and Rich, Toby Keith, Marshall Tucker Band, The Guess Who, Jo Dee Messina, Tanya Tucker, Chromeo, the Persuasions, the Smithereens, Michael W. Smith, P.O.D.
Performed at: Gillette Stadium MA, Cumberland County ME Civic Center, Meadowbrook Farm NH, Country Music Association Fan Festival, Maine Jazz Festival, State Theater – Portland ME
Volunteer Board Service Includes: Maine Academy of Modern Music Board of Trustees, Portland Music Foundation Board of Trustees,
Maine Jazz Festival Advisory Committee, Portland Arts and Cultutral Alliance Marketing Committee
Portfolio of Past Work
Franco Center
(The Franco-American Heritage Center)
Lewiston, ME | Marketing Manager / Box Office Operations Manager
Background:
Small performing arts and cultural community nonprofit needed to improve and modernize many aspects of operation and public perception. It’s roots in a decommissioned cathedral and it’s service to a rapidly aging Franco-American population to confusion and perception about what happened within its walls, and what the purpose of the organization was funding needed to be diversified and increased to create a larger pool of marketing resources to draw from.
Projects & Initiatives
Box Office:
Previously, all box office operations were handled manually on site during normal business hours, using an online ticketing vending/database system that was completely outsized for how it was being used. And you ticketing vendor was selected with a greater, more flexible, slate of services at a significantly lower per event cost. Their ticketing interface was added to the centers website, and the internal phone systems were improved to allow for routing of toll-free ticket calls.
Marketing
With the streamlining of box office operations, the time/work hours saved allowed for an intense focus on improving the Center’s forward-facing image and appearance. A new logo was fully deployed, replacing all previous iterations. New boilerplate copy was written to convey the robust nature of the Center’s slate of events. The website was relaunched with all new content, as well as the debut of the Center’s social media networks. A project plan was established to move the organization to a season programming model, creating a new set of publications and collateral materials, leading to new opportunities for sponsorships. Design of all print materials, including a season program guidebook, was kept in-house.
Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine
Portland, ME | Marketing Manager
Background:
A busy and thriving educational nonprofit in downtown Portland Maine needed a marketing manager to supervise annual brand refreshing, exhibit, launches, organizational communications, and the marketing of an active children’s theater season.
Projects & Initiatives
Dormant social media networks were activated to begin regular engagement with earned media. New email templates, programs, and schedules were developed to optimize effectiveness. Website improvements included addition of a mobile – responsive version of the site, as well as the architecture and framework for a new website design using WordPress. A major indoor exhibit was launched in partnership with a local main – based timberworks Company. A major outdoor exhibit was launched featuring the art and characters of children’s author Chris VanDusen.
Maine Academy of Modern Music
Portland, ME | Launch & Branding Consultant
Background:
A Southern Maine music teacher and professional musician was looking to spin off his contemporary music program from the traditional conservatory that had hosted him (and it) up to that point. A board of advisors was formed, and an application was put forth for a 501 C3, which was granted and the Maine Academy of Modern Music was officially in operation. Initially renting a few small rooms in a rather dilapidated building outside of downtown Portland, MAMM sought to diversify operations to include large scale rock camp productions during school vacations and summer break.
Projects & Initiatives
As launch approached, it was obvious that branding was needed. Logo, design, proofing, and selection gave way quickly to offering tag lines, phrases, and imagery that would convey the excitement of this new endeavor to young middle and high school age students ready to rock. The immediate success and interest generated allowed for quick expansion of the rock camp program to include multiple sequentially- and concurrently-running weeklong camps, with further specialization into genres and age groups.
Nantucket Community Music Center
Nantucket, MA | Interim Operations Manager
Background:
Outgoing board of directors leadership of this legacy performing and educating arts nonprofit sought an operations manager to run the Center’s office during the busy summer and subsequent fall enrollment season. The organization had recently experienced a leadership vacuum with the previous operations manager leaving under duress, naturally preventing an effective handover of organizational and operational knowledge.
Projects & Initiatives:
After recognizing ineffectual and insufficient registration processes, a new registration software and program of operations was built to handle fall registration.
Writing & Essays
Media Creation & Production
DJ Mixtapes
Bootlegs & Remixes
Art Direction, Print Layout, & Graphic Design
Gene Speaks:
Celebrating the life and work of the Left Rev. McD,
the inimitable
Gene McDaniels
Keep the Faith
"So, who's the greatest pop singer?" The answer tumbled out of my mouth so quickly, with a smile that turned to embarrassment when I considered my own confidence allowing me to forget who I was speaking with. This was obviously a test. "Sam Cooke." Gene gave me a look...
Maine Public’s “Music That Moves Me” Story About Gene McDaniels
Every June, Maine Public Radio produces a fantastic series that they air on their stations called "Music That Moves ME." This premise is joyously simple, Mainers of all stripes tell their stories of their favorite songs. I am so fortunate to have such a dense nucleus...
Musicology Studies & Scholarship
Todd is presently a student in the University Studies program at the University of Hartford in Hartford Connecticut. He is pursuing a self designed musicology and humanities degree, focusing on the Arts and Media in Communities and Cultures. He hopes to complete his bachelors degree studies in 2025.
During his time thus far at the University, Todd has been a presidents list scholar, a humanities seminar fellow and scholarship recipient, a colloquium presenter, and and in – class guest lecturer.
Previously, Todd has studied music and fine arts at Gordon College, University of Maine at Augusta, University of Southern Maine, and the Maine College of Art, where he was the first applicant and accepted student to the Bob Crewe Program of Art in Music.
He has studied music privately with Gary Spellissey, Manny Wise, and Steve Grover.
Happy 50th Anniversary, Hip Hop!
Civil Rights Mixtape
Songs at the beginning of the Civil Rights struggle in the United States were mostly messages of hope, faith, and steadfastness to the cause of justice. Many of these songs were motivated by and influenced by songs in the spiritual and gospel traditions. The idea was simple; even then, people knew that the struggle was just beginning and would be long, and even though the civil rights movement was, among other things, an expression of exhaustion by people of color, that they needed to remain active in the cause.
Many of these songs are not only iconic and emblematic of the music of the era from our present today’s view, but they were also popular and often repeated in that day. Many of these titles such as “We Shall Overcome,” “I Shall Be Released,” and “A Change is Gonna Come” were covered by many popular artists of the day.
As the Civil Rights era grows into the hippie movement and the “Summer of Love,” a greater momentum has been built behind these causes, a greater audience paying attention to these musical themes, and a hotter fire propelling the engine. Songs like “Compared to What,” “Stand!” and “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud” define a newly-articulated era of Black power and excellence amidst the civil brutality of the late 60s and early 70s.
Jazz, Soul Jazz, R&B, and classic Funk all had a re-convergence and renaissance in the late 80s and early 90s during what is known as the Golden Era of hip-hop. During this time, hip-hop producers, artists, and DJs sought to dig beyond the canon of classic hip-hop samples and breaks that had been established in the decade and a half prior. Thus, they reached deeper into more rare cuts for source material, especially those from influential and forward thinking black artists.
This era is notable and meaningful for me personally, as it was concurrent with my high school and coming of age years. The music of this era, particularly that of Public Enemy, influenced my worldview just as much as any class or book or magazine did.
Songs from this era of hip-hop like “Stop the Violence” and Brothers Gonna Work It Out” are exhortations from the artists to their communities of color to not be incited to violence by the sensationalist and largely – white media, but inspired to action by their conscience and culture.
19A0s &
Gen X:
19A0s and Generation X: What, When, and Where Are/Were We?
A parafictional hypothesis about the struggle of generation X to find their footing in their present time and days.
Download and view PDF.
The Art & Academia of Sampling
These are the breaks: Sampling in the pop era
Pop culture, by design, is built directly from raw materials of the generations and iterations that came before it. Pop music, for its part in and of this, demonstrates this with the use of sampled music and recycled elements, borrowed bits and “breaks” of old records, strange digital instruments, and analog artifacts that are sometimes uniquely, sometimes universally, borrowed, re-contextualized, and made new.
As a career drummer, DJ, and producer growing up during 80s pop, 90s dance hits, and the first generation of Hip-Hop, my work has been tracing the roots and branches of drum breaks; isolated moments in recorded music when drums and accompanying rhythm tracks are laid bare, and thus can be borrowed easily for use and interpretation by other artists. This action of sampling is not just crucial, but essential to the survival of art in general, and specifically for modern art.
From the opening strains of 1980’s “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang, one cannot help but hear the prominently displayed rhythm of the dance-pop hit “Good Times,” the disco anthem by the band Chic. It represents one of many points of intersection in pop culture sampling, which include issues of intellectual property, legality, license, cultural appropriation, and exploitation.
Download a PDF of These are the breaks
Nantucket | Hartford | New England
Camps, Classes, Music Programs
Todd the Rocket instructs private drum and percussion lessons, instructs classes on music technology, directs musical ensembles, and is a speaker and presenter about modern music history and culture.
Your Event in 2025
Todd the Rocket is presently booking private DJ dance parties, galas, and other events for 2025. Email Todd to inquire about availability for your event.
Drums & Percussion Sessions
Todd the Rocket is available for in-person & remote studio sessions, as well as live dates. He. resides in New England and records in his project studio in Central CT.