DANTE Public Relations and User Support
DANTE's Public Relations and User Support activities are handled by:
Public Relations Managers
Dale Robertson
Melanie Pankhurst
Public Relations Team
Helen Martindale
Paul Hasleham
Public Relations Manager – Dale Robertson and Melanie Pankhurst
Dale Robertson and Melanie Pankhurst jointly hold the role of Public Relations Manager, in a job share arrangement (Dale works Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays; Melanie works Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays).
The Public Relations Manager role is responsible for raising awareness about and promoting DANTE's services, projects and activities. This includes a range of activities such as participation in exhibitions and conferences, user research and information, and press relations, as well as editorial responsibility for DANTE's web site, literature and other information and promotion materials.
Dale joined DANTE in May 2002. She has a Mathematics degree from the University of Cambridge and a Postgraduate Diploma in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University (SAIS). Dale lived in Brussels for six years, working initially inside the European Commission and European Parliament, and then in the External Relations department of Sony Europe. She joined the British Broadcasting Corporation, working as European Affairs Manager before returning to London to work in BBC Broadcast.
Dale has extensive knowledge of EU institutional workings, and of European public policy in the area of "converging" technologies and the Information Society. She has also spent spells living and working in France and Italy.
Prior to joining DANTE, Dale worked for several years as an IT systems implementation consultant.
Melanie Pankhurst joined DANTE in September 2007. She has a Business degree from the Polytechnic of Wales and the CIM Diploma. She is an experienced marketing communications specialist and has been involved with networking technology since the early days of commercial Internet: with PIPEX, UUNET and software distributor Unipalm. She went on to manage international marketing communications for ANT plc, developer of client solutions for IPTV and digital television, followed by two years of consultancy.
Prior to working in technology, Melanie worked for the Thai Trade Centre, British Gas and in contract roles in Hong Kong and Australia.
Helen Martindale joined DANTE in November 2007 as Public Relations Officer and is responsible for publicising DANTE and the GÉANT2 project and activities.
Prior to joining the technology sector, Helen worked for a number of years in the pharmaceutical field. Most recently, she worked as Communications Officer at Cambridge Antibody Technology, the UK’s largest biotechnology company, recently acquired by AstraZeneca, and other positions have included an Account Management role at Cambridge Medical Communication and a Production Editor role at Ashley Publications.
Helen has a Biomedical Sciences Bachelor degree and Biotechnology Law and Ethics Masters degree, both from the University of Sheffield. She is also a member of the CIPR (Chartered Institute of Public Relations).
Paul Hasleham
Paul Hasleham joined DANTE in December 2007 as Web Manager and is responsible for maintaining and developing the DANTE, GÉANT2 and global project websites.
Prior to joining DANTE, Paul worked for a number of years as leading and managing a number of design teams in creative design agencies that produced print and web media for local, national and international clients. Most recently, he worked as New Media Manager at Cambridge Newspapers where he headed a team of editorial and web develpoment staff that designed, built and maintained the media groups' web presence.
Paul has a BA Hons degree in Graphic Arts from Anglia University, Cambridge.
