About Dad2Three

Dad2Three

Dad2Three (aka Rick Laney) is a husband and father raising three freaks in East Tennessee. I write brilliant, witty and insightful entries every day on this blog that make your life better … but sometimes they are invisible.

When not being a husband and dad, Rick writes and works as a marketing and public relations professional.

I started this blog in 2004, but moved it to this address and transferred everything from three different locations to this site.  My older posts show their original dates.

Dad2Three Family

The Dad2Three Family consists of Dad2Three, Wife2Me, OldestSon2Me (college freshman), Daughter2Me (high school senior) and YoungestSon2Me(high school sophomore).

Born and raised in Akron, OH (actually Green, OH – a suburb of Akron), I have worked in Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Knoxville.  In 1995, we moved to Knoxville for a two-year assignment, but never left – which had me commuting to work via United Airlines and USAirways for more than a decade.  It’s a long story.

When not being a husband and dad, Rick works as a hyperactive marketing and public relations professional, earning a living doing something he would be doing regardless of his career – talking non-stop.  He also writes.

Nothing I achieve or obtain compares to the pride I have in my wife and kids.

If you are so inclined, you can follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Vimeo, etc. or, if you like things simple, just go to my About.Me page where you can find links to all of these on a single page.

Dad2Three Work

With nearly two decades of senior-level marketing management experience combined with a background in print journalism and television news, Rick has both a clear understanding of marketing strategy and communications expertise.

As director of marketing for two Chicago-based holding companies, Laney worked in the transportation, utility, industrial manufacturing, petrochemical and commercial trucking markets.  He has managed all aspects of marketing and marketing communications for privately held and publicly traded companies ranging in size from $80 million to $550 million in annual sales.  For more than a decade, Rick Laney successfully directed corporate marketing and branding strategies across multiple, independent business units operating under a single holding company.

Rick Laney understands the critical role communication plays in the implementation of a successful marketing program, and is known for increasing sales and profitability through new market development and increased market penetration,.  He has helped launch new companies, managed dynamic national marketing campaigns during significant acquisitions and mergers, and engineered a successful marketing and investor relations strategy for an initial public offering on NASDAQ.  Some of the major companies and agencies Laney has worked with include FedEx, UPS, General Motors, the United States Postal Service, the General Services Administration (GSA), Frito-Lay, Michelin, the New York City Transit Authority, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WAMATA), the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), and countless local, state and federal government agencies.

Rick Laney’s marketing and advertising programs have garnered nearly 20 ADDY Awards since the 1990s.  The recipient of numerous regional and statewide journalism awards in Ohio and Tennessee, Laney continues to writes regularly for national trade journals and special interest magazines.

Rick Laney served as Vice President of a “Top 100” public relations firm (one of only two in the state of Tennessee according to PR Week Magazine).  He works nationally with clients in travel and tourism, telecommunications, nonprofit agencies, manufacturing and sports.  He has also managed local and statewide political campaigns in Ohio and Tennessee.  He is a regular guest on local, regional and national radio and television shows where he provides commentary on tourism, marketing, public relations and his clients.

He appears on Sirius-XM Radio and has served as a production consultant for National Geographic Television, Channel Four Television Corporation (United Kingdom), Travel Channel, MTV Productions, The Walt Disney Studios and produced a live concert DVD.

Throughout his professional career, Laney has been active in many civic, professional and philanthropic organizations.  He has served on a variety of professional, charity and educational boards in Ohio and Tennessee and served as co-director of a Tennessee outreach program that organized and sponsored concerts and special events across the country to raise tens of thousands of dollars for needy families in the Southeast U.S.

Feed Your Faith

Feed Your Faith was started five years ago by one of my best friends, Mike Williams.  His concept was simple:  Bring in the best and brightest Christian speakers, authors and musicians to spiritually feed believers while raising money to physically feed those in need.  Four years ago, Williams was joined by Rick Laney, co-director of Feed Your Faith and the ministry was  a two-man operation for four years.  Feed Your Faith has worked with nationally known writers and music groups including Kirk Cameron, Warren Barfield, Lee Strobel (former legal editor of the Chicago Tribune and author of The Case for Christ), author Mark Middleberg, DecembeRadio, Decyfer Down and Sanctus Real (Dove Award winning Christian Rock and Alternative band), needtobreathe, Dr. Voddie Baucham and Sarah Reeves.  To date, Feed Your Faith has raised tens of thousands of dollars for charities throughout the Southeast United States.

In 2011, Rick could no longer maintain his work schedule and the growing responsibilities of Feed Your Faith.  In his absence, Feed Your Faith continues to do amazing work across the country and still raises money for those in need.  Watch the amazing Feed Your Faith promotional video from a number of events below.

 

For more information about Feed Your Faith, visit Feed Your Faith’s web site.