Matthew Resch ’97 is the founder of Resch Strategies, a public relations and social media firm in Lansing, Mich. The former history major and political science minor spoke at the 2012 Michigan Press Association Annual Convention on how newspapers can make social media work for them. The Collegian caught up with him afterward to find out how he went from Hillsdale student to successful social media guru.Resch just finished an eight year term on the Hillsdale alumni board.
Did you have a favorite professor at Hillsdale at the time?
Dr. Kalthoff was my adviser. Dr. Conner and Dr. Wilson and Dr. Sundahl were my favorites.
Are you a Michigan native?
No, actually I’m from Indiana. I grew up in Fort Wayne. I went to Lansing after graduation and worked in the governor’s office. I’ve been here since then.
Did you marry a Michigander?
Actually, my wife is from California. But we met at Hillsdale. She transferred in and we met when I was a senior, and we got married a couple years after.
You went straight to work in the governor’s office. What did you do?
If there were 100 people in the governor’s office, I was number 100, on the bottom of the [totem] pole. I worked in the mail room answering the governor’s mail, answering the phone. I did that for about a year. And then after the governor was reelected in 1998, the new Lieutenant Governor — who was Dick Posthumus at the time — needed a communications person in the communications office. So, I was hired to be his communications person after that. So, I did that and was in the communications office until the governor left office.
It must have changed tremendously since you first started. — what has changed?
It’s incredible. It’s very, very different. When I started, email was just getting going, and the governor’s website was just this blank page, basically, with his picture and a short message. Now — just to see the difference — that’s common in politics and communications. It’s pretty amazing.
So you actually opened mail?
Yeah, paper mail. Hundreds and hundreds of pieces a day. I would sit there and I would write which department it should be referred to, and then I would put it in an envelope, and someone would come and take it there.
Since then you’ve worked in communications. It sounds like something you really love, and it’s certainly something you’re good at.
It’s been my job and I do like it a lot. I’ve done it in the legislature, I’ve done it in campaigns, I’ve done it with the governor and I’ve done it in the private sector. Three years ago I was lucky enough to be able to start my own business.
What are some differences you noticed going from the public to the private sector?
I just liked the freedom of it. I spent a lot of time working on the legislature. I was ready for a change. The constant, daily, political, partisan stuff starts to wear on you after a while. I like the fact I can still get involved in the politics. But it’s on my terms now, and I can do just as much as I want and then focus on the other stuff that I do, too.
What companies have you enjoyed working with?
I work with AT&T. I work with Pfizer. I work with a group called Campaign for Justice. I’ve always liked the fact that in my job, no day is really the same, and a lot of different issues have come up. It was true in the governor’s office. It was true in the legislature. It’s very true now, and it keeps things interesting.
Is it more difficult to work in non-political communications?
It really depends. It’s a different beast because, I think a lot of times, reporters are a little more guarded about politics in general, a little more skeptical about covering those kinds of things. But I think it’s a nice change. It’s been very interesting to watch how reporters cover different topics, how they cover politics, how they cover issues, and how personal biases and interests play into those different kinds of things.
Did you think you would be doing this 10 years ago?
I always knew I had an interest in politics. When I was at Hillsdale, I spent a semester in Washington. And I spent a good portion after graduating trying to go back to Washington. A Hillsdale alum advised me if I couldn’t go to D.C., Lansing was the next best place because it’s a full-time legislature. So, it’s kind of like a mini-Washington. And since my wife was still at Hillsdale I decided to try to get a job in Lansing. And I’m still here.
What has Hillsdale affected for you?
Everything. I never appreciated it at the time. The thing I think I took away the most was the fact that they taught me how to write and how to talk and how to communicate. Especially in the jobs where I was hiring people — in a lot of cases young people who were right out of college. Seeing some of the writing skills and the communications skills that they were lacking really made me appreciate Dr. Sundahl and Dr. Wilson and Dr. Conner, who didn’t just grade my papers because of the content or the English or the history topic, but they graded it on how well it was written — and in a lot of cases more so that way. And that really, really helped me out.
How do you think the campus has changed since you graduated under former president George Roche?
I’ve told people that the one thing I regret is that I haven’t been able to be at Hillsdale under Dr. Arnn. Not to say one [bad] thing about Dr. Roche, but I’ve had some interactions with Dr. Arnn just being on the board. And just seeing him, he’s just such a genuine, personable guy. The tone on the campus feels very different to me from when I was there. I regret not having the chance to go to school there while he was president.
Follow him on Twitter: @MattResch