Bakke to head Wick new media
Peter Bakke, a software developer and veteran of newspaper online operations, has been named director of new media for Wick Communications Company effective March 7.
He replaces Sean Fitzpatrick, who has resigned to become director of special projects for the University of Arizona Science Center.
Bakke joined Wick in August as a Web developer. "Naming Pete to this position was a no-brainer," said Tom Lee, group manager. "Pete quickly proved to us that he has the skills to take on this new role."
Fitzpatrick led several content and design improvements for Wick since he was hired in September 2008. His work positioned the company to increase revenue as well.
Bakke has been working with Fitzpatrick on the transition. “I met many Wick publishers and staff in 2007, particularly at the New Media Conference in Phoenix in September," he said. "As New Media Director, I look forward to meeting and working with all the Wick Communications team members as we move forward together in our online efforts. Generating Web revenue and continuing the redesign of remaining Web sites will be my primary goals for 2008."
Bakke's professional background is that of a software engineer. He joined IBM's Federal Systems Division in upstate New York right out of college and worked on military projects for eight years. He and his wife, Cheryl, then moved to New Hampshire and helped run her parents' family-owned retail business.
He was hired in 1997 as the online manager for the Concord Monitor, a 20,000-circulation daily newspaper in Concord, New Hampshire. The Monitor is the flagship property of Newspapers of New England, a family-owned business that owns seven newspapers in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
As the Monitor's online manager, Bakke created the Monitor's Web site from scratch and helped it win several AP awards as Best Newspaper Web site in New England (for its circulation) and grew its page views to more than one million a year. He was instrumental in converting the Monitor’s Web site to the latest hosting technology, powered by Publicus software, utilizing the increasingly important concept of taxonomy.
Since joining Wick Communications in August 2007 as Web developer, Peter has successfully helped redesign or upgrade six Web sites on the TownNews platform and has helped create several ad hoc projects including user registration at Montrose, Trim to Win at the Frontiersman and southazpolitics.com for the Green Valley News.
Bakke holds a bachelor's degree in computer systems applications from American University and a masters degree in international relations with a minor in management from Troy University.