Meet Christopher

Describe your educational background. Where did you study, what degrees did you receive? Undergrad in French lit, German language, and History at Rutgers. Masters in Linguistics, working on a Ph.D. at the CUNY Graduate Center.

Describe your career history. What have been your professional experiences prior to your current position? 
I’ve been with Living Language since 1995, and before then I was a Training Supervisor with Berlitz Language Centers. I’ve also taught French and English and written ESL/EFL and French courses.

What are your current roles and responsibilities? 
I oversee the editorial department of Living Language. I’m responsible for planning the publishing lists, maintaining quality and profitability for all of our titles and products, keeping on top of the competition, and managing the continual updating of our core series and the development of new series. My position has a special emphasis on digital content development, in particular our online courses. I also edit courses and series.

Describe a typical day at your job: 
That depends on what’s on my plate. I may need to do a lot of quiet, focused editing. I may need to spend the day in the studio reading over scripts as a program is recorded. I may spend my entire day running around to get together the necessary information for a new rushed proposal, or I may sit in a series of meetings with our marketing and digital marketing teams. I work very closely with everyone else in my department every day – editors, the publisher – as well as marketing, production, production editorial, and art.

What attracted you to your company and position? What is your favorite thing about your job? I was attracted both to the name Random House and to the promise of working every day with languages. Honestly, I still get excited about most of my projects, and I look forward to working on them. I like and respect the people I work with very much, and I also enjoy the fact that Random House not only allows but encourages a life outside of work – classes, reading, interests, even membership at a gym.

What has been your most memorable moment (so far) in your job? 
A basic level Arabic course that I developed and edited. It was a fast-track project, so I really had to work very closely with the writer and the reviewer and push to keep things on schedule. I was taking Arabic courses at the same time so I could better understand the issues of teaching and learning Arabic. I was steeped in a new and interesting language, which is something I really enjoy.

If you could meet anyone from history, living or dead, who would it be?
Probably Leifur Eriksson. I have a bit of an obsession with Iceland and the Icelandic language, and I like to point out on Columbus Day that the first European to "discover" North America was from a little further north.

If I were a cartoon character, I would be…
Lisa Simpson. But I have my Dr. Zoidberg days.

What qualities do you feel are necessary to be a successful employee at your company?
Knowledge and expertise in your role, but curiosity and openness to learn from others, because there are a lot of smart, talented people here. Comfort working creatively, but also being part of a system that depends on a lot of different people doing a lot of different things.

Have you had the opportunity to travel as part of your job?
A bit, mostly to conferences and a seminar.

Do you feel you have a good understanding of Bertelsmann and its corporate culture?
It's a big company, but I've had the chance to meet people from a lot of divisions and countries, so I think I have a decent idea.

My favorite book, movie and artist are…
Mostly varies, of course. Right now… Dan Simmon's Hyperion series, David Lynch's Blue Velvet, and The Cocteau Twins are playing at the moment.

Finally, please write a paragraph or two about yourself, your interests, hobbies, goals, meaningful life experiences, role models, memories, etc.:
I live with my partner and a very indulged pug on Union Square in Manhattan. Studying languages (along with traveling to places to force people to practice with me) has always been a hobby of mine, and this interest was instrumental in bringing me to Random House and Living Language. Outside of the office, I love to cook, and since I'm vegetarian I favor Asian cuisines, mostly Thai, Indonesian, and Indian. I also like to work out and run, read, see Off-Off Broadway plays, and have dinner with friends, all when I'm not involved in grad school-related activities, which take up a lot of time.