Mrs. Kathryn Gibbons.

The 44-year-old communications and marketing expert knows that her surname makes her job no easier.

"I think in some ways I am here in spite of being a Gibbons, and not because of being a Gibbons,'' she told The Royal Gazette . Also, "I'd like to remind people that I wasn't a Gibbons until I was 33 years old.'' The United Bermuda Party's executive officer in job description, but not in name, Mrs. Gibbons was hired as a communications consultant to succeed Mr. Joe Gibbons, who has moved to the United States to study cooking.

An American who recently became eligible to apply for status, Mrs. Gibbons said there were a couple of reasons why she did not assume Mr. Gibbons' title when she took over his job.

One of her tasks was to report on possible changes in the way the UBP office was run, and "it's possible that going forward, the official job description of the executive officer may be changed a little bit,'' she said.

Secondly, she is a newcomer to the Bermudian political scene, and "there were, I'm sure, sensitivities on the part of long-term party stalwarts about having someone in this visible a position who was still relatively unknown among the grassroots party members.

"I have all the responsibilities of the executive officer. I think, going forward, that it will become official when the people who I am responsible to feel a great degree of comfort about assigning the title to the position.'' Charged with implementing policies of the UBP caucus and central executive, Mrs. Gibbons also handles media relations and administration of the party's central office on Chancery Lane.

Her goals include improving communication between the UBP grassroots and UBP Government in both directions.

Administratively, she wants to make sure the UBP is using its computer equipment to its maximum potential and is serving party members as well as it can.

Also, "I think that the perception of the UBP is not what people within the UBP feel is accurate,'' she said. "But the perception is clearly what's important, and I think part of my job will be making sure that what the party is really doing is communicated well and accurately.'' The fact she was the first woman to hold such a position in the UBP reflected change in the party, she said. "That certainly relates to the UBP goal of increasing the number of women who are involved.'' The UBP had many new faces of both sexes, black and white, she said.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Mrs. Gibbons majored in English at Vassar College in New England and began a career as a professional writer, communicator, and marketing expert.

Beginning as an editor for a company that published reference books, she worked as a copywriter for an advertising agency before joining Cosmopolitan Magazine as copy chief in 1974.

"I was very much the New Jersey girl working in a high-profile New York job,'' she said. "I gained an awful lot of experience in magazine publishing and editing.'' However, "jobs in magazine publishing are very glamorous, but they don't pay very well.'' Mrs. Gibbons left Cosmopolitan in 1975 and joined the Public Service Electric and Gas Company in Newark as advertising manager.

There, her duties included selling the public on the benefits of nuclear energy -- probably as tough a sell as anything a UBP Government will introduce.

In 1978, Mrs. Gibbons -- Kathryn Cole at the time -- joined Squibb Pharmaceuticals in Princeton. By the time she left the company nine years later she had done stints as public affairs manager, sales communications manager, international advertising manager, and director of marketing communications.

She had also met and married her husband, Management and Technology Minister the Hon. Grant Gibbons.

In 1987, the couple moved to Bermuda with their two small children; Graham, now eight, and Andrew, now seven.

Since then, she worked as director of marketing, advertising, and communications at Gibbons Management Services Ltd. until she started her new job at the start of this month.

"I was ready for a different kind of professional challenge,'' she said. When not spending time with her children, Mrs. Gibbons has served on the board of the Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association and the marketing committee of the National Gallery.

At UBP headquarters, "I think there is no question that my communication skills can serve the party well, both in terms of internal communication within the party and external communication with the media.

"I think my marketing skills can be brought to bear in making sure that the message that the membership really wants to create ... does not get sidetracked.'' Mrs. Kathryn Gibbons.