Robert DeRocker
Background
Rob joined Development Counsellors International in 1990, after three years of aggressively pursuing DCI founder and chairman, Ted Levine, for a position at the marketing firm. Rob came to the company with an impressive background. He had a degree in political science from New York University, leadership skills honed by serving as the founding executive director of Habitat for Humanity’s New York City chapter (where he successfully recruited Jimmy Carter for a weeklong volunteer “work party,” which instantly made Habitat a household name), and years of experience in the communications field, including a brief stint as a speechwriter for New York City’s deputy mayor for finance and economic development. His persistence and passion for place marketing paid off; Rob was promoted to partner in 1996.
Rob’s Passion for Places
An inveterate Gothamphile, Rob has a fondness for New York City that borders on idolatry. But from a very young age, he has also loved to explore other places, whether exotic or prosaic. This desire to travel even transcended materialism; Rob used to tell his family he would go anywhere dressed in a burlap bag, as long as he could just go. The intervening years have brought sartorial improvement but no less a passion for visiting new places – and now, with DCI, for learning and telling their stories.
Notable Results
- Rob shepherded media relations in the aftermath of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which happened just 19 days after DCI began work for the city’s chamber of commerce; later, he recommended and managed media relations for a coast-to-coast “Thank You America Tour,” during which the Oklahoma governor and Oklahoma City mayor recognized search and rescue teams that had flocked to the city from across the United States.
- On behalf of his clients, Rob has landed feature stories or guest appearances in media ranging from TIME and The Economist to CNBC and “The Charlie Rose Show.”
- Rob manages DCI’s media relations activities, and is frequently quoted on economic development matters by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today and other major print outlets. He has also appeared on CNN, FOX News and National Public Radio, commenting on similar issues.
Up Close
Rob was born and raised in Gloversville, New York, a lower Adirondack town with a population about equal to that of the Empire State Building during its business hours. In 1978, he enrolled in New York University, because this was the most legitimate rationale he could muster for his real desire: moving to New York City. After graduating from college, he wrote for neighborhood weekly newspapers in Manhattan and Brooklyn, garnering a top award for feature writing by the New York State Press Association.
Where You’ll Find Rob on a Sunny Day in October
Running in the Rockefeller Nature Preserve in Tarrytown, New York.
Where You’ll Find Rob on a Sunny Day in February
Relaxing in St. Croix with his wife Melinda near the condo purchased from Rob’s grandfather in 1990.
Places that Rob has Called Home
Gloversville, New York
Manhattan, New York
Queens, New York
Brooklyn, New York
Tarrytown, New York
Surprising Facts about Rob
Watch Out Michael Phelps
As a teenager, Rob swam competitively, with designs on the Olympics. Thirty years later those prospects have been somewhat dimmed, but hope – and 2,000 meters a day – springs eternal.
Taxi Driver’s Travis Bickle…?
Not quite, but Rob was a New York City taxi driver shortly after graduating from New York University (assume what you will). The cabbie career, which lasted all of six weeks and was interrupted by a job in journalism, allowed Rob to develop the, um, “driving skills” – if you can call them such – that he continues to use behind the wheel to this day.
Damn Yankee Weds Southern Belle
In 1989, Rob wed a lovely and talented singer and actress named Melinda Pope, a Mississippian who came from a family of devout Southerners. They accepted the union upon proof that Rob was “a Northerner, but not a Yankee.” Many years later, the distinction remains a mystery to Rob, but it was good enough to fit under the wire and the marriage has survived its Mason-Dixon elixir.
