Tim Bete

Timothy P. Bete is an American author, copywriter and former newspaper columnist.^[1] Currently, he is president of Energized Copy & Design,^[2] a copywriting and marketing consulting company, and also communication director for St. Mary Development Corporation.^[3]

Bete is author of two award-winning humor books, In The Beginning...There Were No Diapers (2005) and Guide to Pirate Parenting (2009).^[4][5] His humor column appeared in five U.S. newspaper and CatholicExchange.com^[6] for several years before he gave it up to spend time on his books.

Bete is the former director of the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop at the University of Dayton, which featured prominent authors including Dave Barry, Garrison Keillor, Craig Wilson, Jill Conner Browne, Nancy Cartwright and Bruce Cameron. During his time with the workshop, he set the record for creating the world's longest Mad Lib.^[7]

Bete also create the Erma Bombeck Online Museum^[8] with the help of the Bombeck family. Bete was a consultant and is featured in the public television documentary, A Legacy of Laughter, which is about the life of Erma Bombeck. The program has aired on more than 300 public TV stations across the country. Bete has been quoted as a humor expert in USA Today, BBC radio and the Associated Press.

In addition to humor writing, Bete has had a long career in the direct marketing and fundraising fields. He's written copy, directed art and project-managed national direct-marketing promotions for IBM, World Book, Rayovac and General Mills. Bete also created fundraising letters, brochures and advertisements for the University of Dayton's $150 million Call to Lead fundraising campaign. He has been quoted as a marketing expert in Interactive Public Relations, Web Content Report, PR News and 1-to-1 Direct, to name a few.

During his 25+ year career Bete has won more than a dozen national awards for communications excellence, including an Educational Press Association Editorial Achievement Award and a Gold Apple from the National Educational Film Festival. He has been a speaker at many conferences and workshops including the Phone/Mail 101, EDUCAUSE, Dayton Association of Fundraising Professionals, Cincinnati Fundraising Conference and the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. Bete also served as chair of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati's Communication Advisory Board.

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