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Rivian's head of corporate communications exits

EyeOnRivian

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Michael McHale, Head of Corporate Communications at Rivian, announced via a LinkedIn post today that he is leaving Rivian.

"Hello all. I wanted to let you know that as of today I have separated from Rivian. There is no great drama here - and I am incredibly proud of the work I have done for Rivian since launch. The company has huge potential and is staffed by some awesome people - not least my friend Amy Winters Mast who will pick up any Rivian media enquiries. At this point, people usually say 'stay tuned' - but not me. The structure of working remotely (yet tied into Rivian's Michigan office) seemed possible at the start, but was incredibly tough to execute in practice. I need some time off, for sure and I want to make sure the next thing I commit to is workable from all angles. I've picked up a lot of knowledge over 2018 and 2019 from my time at Rivian - not least my belief that EV is the future - and I'll apply that learning somewhere cool, when the time is right. For now, I'd just like to walk my dog a while."

Amy Winters Mast has had a Communications Manager position with Rivian since this past April.

Should be interesting to see if this has any affect on the frequency of announcements and/or the medium used to release announcements. Perhaps none? Thoughts?
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skyote

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I didn't realize he was remote. If Amy is at one of the main facilities & closer to execs and "day to day", I'm hoping that will lead to more communications & information.

We'll have to wait & see, but looking forward to any additional details we can get.
 

jimcgov3

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Not to take away from McHale and his position at Rivian, but I have literally watched as many videos from Rivian, vlogers, and listened to podcasts about Rivian news and releases, and have only seen or listened to 2 total entries from him. I understand that at the head of the table you don't really do those lower level type duties, but 2 out of the maybe 100+ vidoes/podcasts...He definitely could've been more hands on...even remotely...
 
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EyeOnRivian

EyeOnRivian

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Not knowing how many people reported to him and what function they performed, his title implied to me he would be the one orchestrating the communications rather than being one of the mouth pieces for Rivian. On the other hand Rivian is a start up and typically people's role include wearing many hats. For example, at larger companies you typically would not find an executive's name as the media contact, but at Rivian he was. Now Amy is posted as the press contact on Rivian's website.

Can't help but wonder, though we'll never know, did he leave on his own terms or did R.J. (presumably his boss) allow him to graciously leave versus being let go. The former would be a little disconcerning IMO. Looking forward to seeing if the communication changes any with Amy at the wheel.

listened to podcasts about Rivian news and releases
Who's podcast do you listen to for Rivian news? PlayFM lists about a dozen. I don't believe Rivian has one but that would be an interesting way to help stay connected with those interested in Rivian and possibly attract more. Even if Rivian only posted a podcast once a month, it would be kind of a modern day monthly news letter in the the form of a podcast.
 

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