By Henry Mortimer, Editor-at-Large

When it comes to ruling the online communications realm, content is king — right?

Well, not for much longer, says Karen McCord, CEO of Breezio, a cloud-based community platform. She believes that these days, in terms of connecting with an audience and building a following, collaboration and engagement should be crowned the true royals.

“We want to disrupt the way [people] think about content,” says McCord, who joined the firm when it launched in 2015. “We want to bring content back to the people who originally developed it and create brand loyalty through the terrific content that they make themselves.”

The goal of her Rockville, Md.-based company, which she calls the “convergence of a learning management system, a content management system, [and] a social network,” is to redefine what online engagement means by shifting content to a supporting role, in order to help people solve problems together and accelerate discovery.

It’s that power-to-the-people approach to problem-solving that convinced her to join the firm, says McCord, whose background includes strategic planning and management of technical and financial projects for life sciences firms.

“I really just liked the core principle of what Breezio’s about, which is trying to find a way to help a community of people to learn and drive a mission and be able to do that [with] software really helps make a difference,” she says.

One community in particular that Breezio has begun to support is the Maryland Tech Council. The two organizations are collaborating on a way to help students in Maryland find job opportunities, she says, and help “create a very dynamic workforce” for members of the business community.

“We are building out a marketplace for companies in Maryland to be able to post their internship needs, provide some mentorship and informational interviews, and help students create a pathway for staying in Maryland,” she says. “Across Maryland, with the amount of tech, manufacturing, and biotech companies, there’s a lot of opportunity and [we] are trying to help keep that talent staying here to help Maryland do well,” she says.

Connect with Karen on LinkedIn

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We are a collaborative community that is actively engaged in building strong technology and life science industries by supporting the efforts of our individual members. On December 30, 2016, the Tech Council of Maryland and the Chesapeake Regional Tech Council merged to create the Maryland Tech Council (MTC). We are the largest technology trade association in the state of Maryland with over 600 members and we provide value by giving them a forum to learn, share, and connect. The valuable resources we provide to our members help them reach their full potential as vital members of their communities.

Edwin Warfield, CEO of citybizlist, conducts the CEO Interviews.

If you're interested in reaching CEOs, please contact edwin.warfield@citybuzz.co

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