EMU Today

YPSILANTI – Michal Lorenc, a longtime executive with Google, who heads up the Internet giant’s ticketing and live events category, is serving as the second annual Executive in Residence for the recently established Center for Digital Engagement in the College of Business at Eastern Michigan University.

Lorenc will be available for the next year as a resource to EMU students and staff seeking to understand the rapidly evolving realm of social media and interactive marketing. 

Michal Lorenc

EMU professor Bud Gibson, chair for the center, said that Lorenc brings a wealth of connections and insight in the emerging areas of social media and digital marketing and promotion to the College of Business.

Pathways to good digital careers

“Those connections, along with Mike’s personality and insight, will help build pathways to high-value careers for our students,” Gibson said.

With Google, Lorenc works with key ticketing, music, sports and live events clients covering sports leagues, music/concert promoters and Broadway advertisers. Prior to that, he led Google’s online sales and management team servicing Canada while working out of the Ann Arbor Google office. He also built Google’s sales and operations team in Ann Arbor.

He has served as an adjunct Professor in Michigan State University's Advertising Department, where he’s developed and taught various social media, online media planning and buying and digital video (YouTube) courses.

Lorenc, a native of Poland, set up and opened a Google sales office in that country, where he oversaw strategy and implementation of the advertising sales, business development, and marketing operations.

He’s a frequent speaker and panelist in area and industry events and is well known in the local digital community. He earned his BBA in marketing and international business in 1999 from Loyola University in Chicago.

Lorenc is also co-owner of a local minor league soccer team. AFC Ann Arbor was founded in 2014 to bring minor league soccer to the city and the surrounding community.

The Center for Digital Engagement, which launched in January, 2015, builds on the EMU College of Business’s seven-year partnership with Google, Ann Arbor, as well as the school’s popular digital marketing conference, which this year was held Friday, Nov. 11.

“These two endeavors have given our students the unique opportunity, shared by no other university in the nation, to engage in training in digital strategies with more than 100 client organizations,” Gibson said.

'Digital is everywhere'

The center provides a connection and rallying point in the college’s efforts to promote and grow its digital engagement academic programs that integrate marketing, information systems, and management, Gibson said.

“Digital is everywhere now, and it has changed substantially from even five years ago,” Gibson said. “Mobile has grown from under 10 percent to account for a majority of web access on major websites, and Facebook has quintupled its advertising revenue to become a significant factor in digital efforts.

“Further, real-time data on web visitor intentions has dramatically increased, affecting all phases of service and product delivery, from design to execution. The center provides faculty an opportunity to connect with practitioners such as Mike, who can enrich our course offerings.”

 The center's services include:

• A guest lecturer series.
• A student-staffed digital engagement clinic.
• A central website for organizing interaction with the community.

For more information, visit the center’s website.

You can also contact Bud Gibson at fgibson@emich.edu, 734–926–9560.

Lorenc succeeds Chad Wiebesick, the inaugural executive in residence at the center, who now works as VP of Integrated Marketing and Communications at the Washtenaw County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

About Eastern Michigan University

Founded in 1849, Eastern is the second oldest university in Michigan. It currently serves 22,000 students pursuing undergraduate, graduate, specialist, doctoral and certificate degrees in the arts, sciences and professions. In all, more than 300 majors, minors and concentrations are delivered through the University's Colleges of Arts and Sciences; Business; Education; Health and Human Services; Technology, and its graduate school. EMU is regularly recognized by national publications for its excellence, diversity, and commitment to applied education. For more information about Eastern Michigan University, visit the University's website.

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