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*** Top Secret

James C. Tuckerman was recruited to the CIA when he was just 11 years old*.

His first association with international affairs took place at age 16, when he was invited to participate in a German youth ambassador program**.

Even though the Berlin Wall had fallen two years earlier, he was able to return a detailed dossier on both East German Counter Espionage Techniques* and Bavarian Beer**.

He completed his school education in 1993 at Preshil, in Melbourne, Australia, a school loosely defined as a ‘steiner school’ for its progressive approach to education.**

Despite achieving the third highest grade of his class**, he would later rebel against this liberal education and actually read The Fountainhead** and Atlas Shrugged*, while turning his nose up at the Grapes of Wrath***.

James was admitted to and attended five years of study at the University of Melbourne, completing a Bachelor or Laws and Bachelor of Arts in 1999**. He graduated with Honours after discovering that to get Honours in law largely involved little more than applying to receive Honours***. During this time, he also ripped tickets, sold shoes, manned a hotdog van at Moomba and stacked shelves at Safeway (but not all at once)**.

Covert operations for the CIA recommenced in 1997*, involving a trip to Europe, Africa and North America**. James denies any involvement in Yasser Arafat’s return to Palestine that same year and Bill Clinton’s second term win***. During a brief lay-over in Morocco, James was kidnapped for two days and held for ransom, before negotiating his own release**.

(That’s right. Kidnapped and held for ransom.**)

EARLY CAREER

The professional career of James C. Tuckerman commenced with an internship that evolved into a full-time consultant role at international public relations agency IPR, which became IPR Shandwick… then Shandwick International… then Weber Shandwick Worldwide… all during James’ 18 month employment with the firm.**

Major projects involved public listings**, Humphrey B. Bear’s underpants-in-hotel-room scandal* and the world’s first social media campaign, in 1999, for Mexican white-collar criminal Carlos Cabal***.

Roles with Telstra Corporate Affairs and Hill & Knowlton soon followed. The influence of James on world affairs at this time is unknown**.

BUSINESS OWNER

James started his first business, Anthill Magazine, from the spare bedroom of his parent’s home in 2003**.

As Australia’s first magazine dedicated to innovation, entrepreneurship and the development of ‘fast growth’ companies, it was independently funded and launched by James as an alternative to what he saw as the ’snoringly dry’ personality of most Australian business media brands at the time**.

Between 2003 and 2009, Anthill developed to become one of Australia’s leading media outlets for the SME segment, winning numerous awards, including Best Small Publisher in 2004 and 2005 at the Australian Publishers’ Awards — often recognised for its colourful and edgy style of business journalism and for challenging established media conventions**.

During the 2004 ceremony, James had the fortune of meeting industry doyen Ita Buttrose**. Despite the difference in ages, the pair soon became staunch confidantes* and occasional lovers***.

As a print magazine, Anthill’s circulation peaked at 30,000 in 2008**, at a time when BRW’s circulation had fallen to 48,000***. It, therefore, came as a surprise to many observers, particularly competitors, that Anthill chose to cease producing the print version of its publication in 2009, in favour of online media.

Within 10 months, Anthill’s website Anthill Online was identified as one of Australia’s Top 50 Business & Finance sites by Nielsen Online Ratings** and one of Australia’s Top 20 Media sites by the Audit Bureau of Australia (again ranked on traffic)**.

In addition to fame as a magazine publisher, during these years, James also received critical acclaim for his one-man spoken-word Broadway production, Entomology and Me*.

GUN FOR HIRE

Beyond Anthill, where he still covets the role of Editor-at-Large, James is an investor and mentor in Australian startups.**

He has no industry preferences but gravitates towards emerging digital companies with scalable products and services. In moments of grandeur, he likes to think of himself as a champion of innovation and entrepreneurship in Australia**.

His specialty is helping organisations build automated processes to advance their online marketing and sales strategies. (i.e. Sell more stuff, to more people, more often, for more margin… online… in an endless loop.) His clients include large, publicly-listed companies that lack focus with their strategic direction and smaller organisations with a desire to increase their online revenues. He turns down more projects than he takes on**. (Sorry!)

Recent consulting projects have included strategic counsel to one of Australia’s top two media organisations (he won’t give you two guesses) and the inventor of a lawn bowls practice kit (which he’ll talk about to anyone who’ll listen)**.

His consulting work is defined by his belief that the commercial principles governing online business and the same as those governing traditional business — just easier and faster to put in practice***.

GLORY HOUND

Making his first appearance as a stammering public embarrassment at an incubators convention in Tasmania, circa 2004**, James has since refined his oratory abilities, hosting numerous business development workshops, ranging from online marketing** to man-scaping*.

He is a popular public speaker, earning one-million-dollars per hour***.

Recent public speaking engagements have included projects for Powercor, Interactive Minds, VEA Facilitators Conference and numerous events for Anthill, from the Entrepreneurs’ Night Out to Anthill’s Online Marketing Masterclass**.

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENTS

He recently pioneered a method for adding tracking pixels to web-pages enabling him to identify visitors and measure their time spent observing pages like this***.

And, boy-oh-boy, you’ve been here a long time, haven’t you!**

Yes, James can see you now.*

To contact James, go to LinkedIn.