Sheri Berkery
Account Manager The first sign of Sheri’s fascination with words came when she was a kid and read a book: It was the dictionary. She went on to hold every journalism job from A to Z as a reporter, editor and social media producer. She now leverages her extensive communications skills to help clients convey strong, effective messaging. Sheri genuinely enjoys getting to know people. She believes careful listening is the most important step in telling stories and creating content. And she takes pride in being a “go-to” person who’s able to help others. Sheri not only navigated, but led, the transformation from print to digital journalism during her 15 years at the Courier-Post in South Jersey. She has the same comfort level writing tweets as she does with crafting 2,000-word presentations. At a time when every beep, ring and ding competes for people’s attention, Sheri believes the need for clear communication is more important than ever. How Sheri got here Sheri started her journalism career at her hometown weekly newspaper in Northeast Philadelphia. She covered business and development, human-interest stories and breaking news. But she also was involved behind the scenes in the production process, designing pages and writing headlines. The opportunity for a leadership position took Sheri to the colorful community of South Philadelphia, where she became managing editor for a pair of community weeklies and news websites. She supervised a staff of several writers while keeping on her reporter hat. While working in South Philly, she wrote about everything from the death of icon Frank Sinatra to the Eagles’ 2004-season Super Bowl appearance. To achieve her goal of breaking into a daily newspaper, Sheri worked as a part-time copy editor at the Bucks County Courier Times while maintaining her full-time job in South Philly. The experience helped her land a job as a copy editor across the river at the Courier-Post in South Jersey. |
Sheri entered daily journalism at the most challenging, rapidly changing time in the industry’s history. As digital delivery of news became the priority, Sheri adapted by learning the best practices for web content and social media. As a digital producer – one of several positions she eventually held at the Courier-Post – she trained colleagues on maximizing the online impact of their stories.
As Sheri worked in the social-media space, she discovered her natural ability for marketing and branding. Facebook posts and tweets presented the perfect opportunity to connect with audiences in a few pithy words. Plus, when business owners or other members of the public called the paper to pitch story ideas, Sheri often gave them advice on finding the right “hook.” Sheri received some of the best story ideas from the public relations pros at Laura Bishop Communications! Now, as a proud member of the LBC crew, Sheri enjoys applying her communications chops to helping clients shape and share their messages. Community connections Sheri has always included outreach in her work. She’s visited both elementary schools and colleges to speak to students about journalism. One of her most rewarding outings was to Politz Day School in Cherry Hill, where she helped prepare 8th-graders to interview Holocaust survivors. She’s also volunteered at community events such as the Cherry Hill Earth Fair. Off hours Sheri lives in Cherry Hill with her husband, Joe, an award-winning Daily News headline writer who also should win awards for his cooking, along with their awesome kids Matt and Jess. The family enjoys exploring the South Jersey region, and local nature havens like Palmyra Cove are among their favorite places. Getting to the occasional Phillies game is also a blast. After plenty of thinking all week, Sheri enjoys decompressing with effortless activities like watching reality TV and taking neighborhood walks. Education Sheri graduated from Temple University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Connect with Sherri
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