Hi, I’m Ben Guttmann.

I'm Executive Director of the Queens Economic Development Corporation, where we’re in the business of making Queens thrive. I also wrote a book, teach at Baruch College, and used to run a marketing agency.

What’s this Queens thing?

Since 1977, the Queens Economic Development Corporation (QEDC) has been supporting and growing the economy of Queens – New York City’s most diverse, most exciting, and just overall best borough.
Learn more about how we do that on our website, and reach out if you want to be a part of this mission. Stay tuned for more here.
QEDC's Website

And tell me more about this book.

I wrote a book called Simply Put: Why Clear Messages Win – and How to Design Them, published by Berrett-Koehler in 2023.
It’s won some awards, been translated into half a dozen languages, and readers generally seem to like it. Here are some of the nice things people have said about the book:
“An excellent read. Buy it. Learn from it. Adopt it. It’s that simple.”
Martin Lindstrom • New York Times Best-Selling Author of Buyology and Small Data
“Every entrepreneur and brand leader should read this book.”
Alexandra Watkins • Author of Hello, My Name Is Awesome and Founder of Eat My Words
“If you need to communicate your work more effectively, this is your book.”
Michael Ventura • Author of Applied Empathy and Former Founder & CEO of Sub Rosa
Go get the book

What else you got?

Beyond that book, I’ve written a bunch of marketing, technology, psychology, and other stuff over the years. Some of it can be found in publications like ADWEEK, Publisher’s Weekly, and Crain’s New York Business, but most of it can be found in my blog archives.
I’ve been teaching at Baruch College since 2014, and it’s genuinely one of my favorite things. Go enroll in my course if you’re a student there.
Together with a couple of friends, I’ve organized the irregular-but-popular Queens Tech Night since 2019, and we've had a really great roster of speakers over the years. We're bringing this program into QEDC, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it here.
If you want to get in touch, email me here or connect on LinkedIn.