Rob Hickernell

Rob Hickernell brings over 20 years of website development and maintenance, digital marketing and reporting, data analytics, and conversion attribution experience to the OPEN MINDS team. Mr. Hickernell currently serves as an Executive Vice President & Senior Associate, leading projects related to website development and maintenance, digital marketing, website reporting, data analytics and conversion attribution, website optimization, and user acquisition and retention. During his tenure with OPEN MINDS, Mr. Hickernell led the development and management of two online communities. He also provided marketing consultation and search engine optimization strategy engagements for a number of OPEN MINDS customers. Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Hickernell served as Vice President, Search at AOL, Inc in the Washington DC area. In this role, Mr. Hickernell was responsible for strategic partnership management (Google, Bing), business development, revenue growth and data analytics of AOL’s search business, which incorporates website search and content distribution across global web and mobile properties. Before his role as head of search, Mr. Hickernell had a series of responsibilities within AOL. As the Director / Sr. Director Of Product Management he served as the product marketing leader of AOL Search with a focus on marketing partnerships, analytics and site optimization to drive revenue and traffic growth. He also held the positions Principal Business Planning Manager, Program Director, and Sr. Program Director at AOL. After his departure from AOL, Mr. Hickernell was the Digital Marketing & Strategy Consultant for Live Oak Associates, LLC. In this role, Mr. Hickernell served as a consultant and advisor to digital B2B and B2C companies, creating and executing digital marketing strategies (search, social, mobile) by using data insights and analysis to solve business challenges. Mr. Hickernell received his Master of Business Administration, with a concentration in marketing, from the University of Baltimore, Merrick School of Business in Baltimore, Maryland. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with a concentration in management, from Towson State University in Baltimore, Maryland.