Thursday June 28, 2018

Ashley Sasnett is the New Media and Social Engagement Manager at Porsche Cars North America headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. She enjoys her position as a brand storyteller immensely and uses her diverse background and communication skills to galvanize enthusiasts, energize her stakeholders and fully develop the reciprocal storytelling capabilities of social media for Porsche.

Having worked solely in social and digital content for the past decade (on both the agency and client-side), there is nothing she loves more than collaboration, building out strategies that deliver value, and the occasional moon shot.

BJ Barretta is a multi-Webby Award-winning digital video leader who has produced and/or programmed over 1 billion views. As Head of Video for Good Media Group (Upworthy and GOOD), he currently leads GMG’s brand video studio where he produces videos for GMG’s brand partners. In this role, his expertise in emotive storytelling has grown GMG social video audience and helped dozens of Fortune 500 companies win the war for attention and connect with consumers on a deep, memorable, and emotional way. Prior to GMG, BJ was a producer/editor at Discovery Communications where he developed and produced digital original content spun off of tent pole television programming including Shark Week and Whale Wars. He also produced season six of DIY network’s I Want That

Rani Mani is the Head of Global Social Influencer Enablement & Employee Advocacy at Adobe. She’s passionate about cultivating and nurturing communities and coaching others to do the same. Rani is currently working across Adobe teams to infuse influencer relations into their strategic plans in order to elevate the voice of the community. Nicknamed The Velvet Hammer, Rani’s mantra is to make the impossible seem possible through her humor, grace, and passion. When she’s not asking provocative questions and making declarative statements at work, Rani is making magical memories with her husband and four kids as they continue to visit the many wonders of the world.

After nearly a decade as an award-winning television anchor, reporter and talk show host, Kathleen changed competitive arenas.  Founding the consulting firms of Communication Concepts and Sports Media Challenge. Since 1989, she has been reputation management consultant to Fortune 500 CEO’s, media companies, Olympic gold medalists and college gridiron greats. She has counseled those in the ranks of the NBA, the PGA TOUR, EA Sports as well as celebrities ranging from P. Diddy to Peyton Manning and Derrick Jeter.

Kathleen’s social media expertise gained international acclaim with the launch of NBA great Shaquille O’Neal on Twitter in 2007. In 2015 Hessert was tapped to develop a strategy for the Vatican to better engage with the Millennials. During Pope Francis’ historic visit to the United States, Hessert led a digital street team of 60 millennial influencers to cover the Pope’s efforts and generated 4 million social media posts a day. She also conceived and spearheaded the global sensation known as “Pope Emoji which won a Shorty Award, and was profiled in the NY Times, Mashable, Huffington Post, CBS Evening News, Ad Age, Elite Daily, People Magazine, and on nearly every late-night talk show.   

In 2016, Kathleen developed WeRGenZ a teen think-tank of over 100 young people across the nation to provide thought leadership and original research  for brands on this pivotal generation.

Brad is the Creative Strategy Lead for Pinterest’s West creative team, where he works with top agencies and brands to create lighthouse ad campaigns on and off the platform. Before joining Pinterest, Brad led creative strategy at Target for Style (fashion, beauty, home and design partnerships). Prior to Target, Brad worked in publishing and content marketing for HISTORY and MLB. A Green Bay native (go Packers!), Brad is currently saving ideas about his next outdoor adventure, ideas to tire out an active toddler and container gardening how-to’s.

Brandi Boatner is the social and influencer communications lead for Global Markets in IBM corporate communications in New York City. In this newly created position, her responsibilities include developing a consistent, coordinated approach to identify top external influencers in each global market and how internal IBM influencers drive engagement around strategic narratives such as Blockchain, artificial intelligence, and quantam computing. Brandi is a true advocate for diversity and inclusion serving as a member of IBM’s Diversity and Inclusion Council and also served as the former chair of the IBM Black Network of New York business resource group.

Sean Lauer is a Marketing Lead on Twitter’s North America Business Marketing team, focusing on positioning the platform for advertisers across industries and providing partners with tools to drive marketing objectives. Prior to joining Twitter, Sean was a Brand Manager on the Budweiser brand team at Anheuser-Busch InBev where he worked on programs like Major League Baseball, World Cup, and the annual summer Red, White, and Blue campaign. Sean hails from New Jersey and has a BS in Commerce and MBA from the University of Virginia, along with an AAS in Graphic Design from Parsons School of Design.

Peter works on LinkedIn’s Brand Strategy Team, helping LinkedIn’s largest clients and their agencies develop best-in-class B2B marketing strategies.

Since joining TE Connectivity in 2014, Brynn has played a key role in managing the strategy and activation for TE’s strategic partnerships, brand campaigns, and social media program. As Social Media Lead, Brynn oversees TE’s global social media program including organic, paid, and engagement, to leave people smarter, more inspired, and better connected to TE.

James Williams is an experienced digital video storyteller working with brands like National Geographic, National Geographic Travel, Discovery Communications, Animal Planet and Revision3 on multiple platforms, including their .com, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, podcasting, and YouTube experiences. Prior to founding DVSGO, James was Vice President of Digital Video at National Geographic, where he revamped Nat Geo’s approach to digital video content resulting in a dramatic increase in output and performance across platforms. James has experience working in news, content development and production, social/video strategy, branded content, and platform optimization.

Allison is a former filmmaker who has leveraged her background in visual storytelling and passion for innovative communications into a career in social media. Prior to joining Independence Blue Cross, Allison served as Digital Marketing Manager for the Mann Center for the Performing Arts, working to increase awareness for the Mann’s arts education programs, as well as promoting performances with world-class artists such as The Philadelphia Orchestra, John Legend, Sigur Rós, Mary J. Blige, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and Diana Ross. Allison currently drives social strategy for the Independence brand channels, developing content that serves to inform about health insurance and well-being and demonstrates Independence’s commitment community service and innovation. She also works collaboratively with internal and external partners to craft campaigns designed to elevate Independence brand-recognition and major wellness-related sponsorships. In her spare time, Allison is an avid adventure planner, runner, rock climber, and yoga enthusiast.

Maureen is a pretzel-loving, Philadelphia-born suburbanite whose innate sense of adventure drove her to Alabama for college where she studied Integrated Communications. Upon her return to PA, she worked as an assistant marketing account manager for Aetna, followed by more than half a decade’s experience managing Nutrisystem’s social media presence. Maureen joined Independence Blue Cross (IBX) in 2015 as a social media content specialist. In her role, she manages the social media content, engagement and growth strategies for the IBC Foundation and IBX Medicare. She contributes to the IBX social presence by working with the IBX Public Relations team to identify opportunities to increase brand awareness and has helped build a thought leadership strategy to increase executive visibility. She also assists with the management of the company’s internal associate advocacy program, IBXInsiders. This theatre-loving, HGTV wannabe host, recently traded her world-traveling days for a far greater adventure – the beautiful journey of motherhood.

Lance Bachmann is founder, president, and CEO of ‘1SEO.com IT and Digital Marketing’, a full-service global digital marketing firm based in the Philadelphia, PA. area. As a Google Premier Partner, top 2%, a Microsoft Partner, and a Facebook Marketing Partner, Bachmann and his team of over 100 digital marketers provide end-to-end solutions for their clientele with a full suite of services like search engine optimization (SEO), pay per click (PPC), social media optimization (SMO), website design, content development and email marketing.

In just 9 short years, Lance Bachmann has become renowned for his expertise and he is regarded as one of the leaders in the digital marketing space because of the results his agency produces for their clients. Bachmann and 1SEO.com cultivate an online presence for their clients to harvest leads, closes, conversions and profits.

In fact, Bachmann and 1SEO.com have accumulated numerous awards and other accolades for their efforts;

• Inc. 5000 Award, 4 years running- 1SEO.com is recognized as one of the world’s fastest-growing private companies, 2014-2017
• Philadelphia 100 Award Winner – Hallmark of entrepreneurial achievement in the Philadelphia region
• Corporate Culture Award from SmartCEO – Award from SmartCEO that celebrates achievements of businesses and executives throughout the region
• Soaring 76 List – The Philadelphia Business Journal’s initiative to identify fastest-growing companies near Philadelphia
• AVA Digital Award – Gold Winner- Recognized excellence of creative professionals responsible for concept, planning, design, and production of digital communication

Bachmann has an extensive resume when it comes to speaking experience and has spoken at some of the best events in the digital marketing sphere, including Pubcon, the JD Power Automotive Marketing Roundtable, Affiliate Summit, and Ungagged. Bachmann often speaks to local business owners educating them on the value of optimizing conversions through integrated digital campaigns to help their business’s grow.

Gene Volpe is the Lead Digital Architect at GVI Media.

Gene Volpe is the founder of GVI Media (formerly Your Real Estate Concierge), speaker and national marketing expert. He has 10+ years of experience in the marketing arena. He is also well versed in the real estate field including buying, selling, renting, marketing and consulting on over 200 real estate transactions. Before becoming a Marketing Architect, he served as a decorated technology manager for a Fortune 15 company.

Gene played (and still plays) a major role in funding and designing the nation’s first and most advanced proprietary Real Estate video marketing platform. He is the founder of a company that provides a cutting edge technical marketing advantage for many businesses. He is an expert in brand establishment and subconscious marketing while remaining on the cutting edge of marketing trends. He is a social media and video expert.

Jen began working with honeygrow as an independent branding consultant in May 2013, but committed to the team full-time as Chief Brand Officer at the start of 2014. Graduating from the University of Delaware in 2000 with a BFA in Visual Communications, with concentrations in graphic design and printmaking, Jen has been building innovative and engaging brand worlds for global and national brands. She has honed her skills as a Creative Director at advertising agencies i-Frontier (acquired by Digitas), Quaker City Mercantile (formerly Gyro Worldwide) with Comcast’s in-house creative team, and most recently as an independent consultant. She
specializes in creative strategic ideation, visualization and brand development.

Specializing in brand reinvigoration and new product development, Jen’s focus has revolved around branding, packaging, traditional advertising, retail campaigns, digital and social media programs for brands both domestically and internationally including Discovery Channel, AstraZeneca, Sailor Jerry Rum, Hendrick’s Gin, Cointreau liqueur, Milagro tequila, Art In The Age Spirits (Root, Snap), Metaxa brandy, Narragansett beer, Ecco shoes, Puma, J Shoes, TYR Sport and Starr Restaurant Organization.

Jen resides in Philadelphia where she is a 250hr RYT certified vinyasa yoga teacher, avid runner + tireless traveler, exploring the rest of the globe seeking inspiration whenever she can fit a trip in between honeygrow trips.

Albert Lee is the Digital Content Manager for the Office of the City Representative focusing on highlighting the people, places, and events that make the City of Philadelphia a world-class destination. He is also the person behind the lens of @urphillypal, a popular Philly – based Instagram page. Albert lives on a diet of pho and chocolate covered pretzels.

Tom Stanley is a Public Relations / Social Media Manager for the Penn Museum, where he coordinates a variety of communications-related initiatives including social, email marketing, and photography. He works to promote the exhibitions, international collections, public programs, and groundbreaking research of this world-renowned archaeology and anthropology museum.

Previously, Tom has worked as a public relations associate for PUNCH Media, and as a contributor to local tourism publication Where Philadelphia. He holds a B.A. in Broadcasting from Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, PA, and is currently enrolled in the Master of Liberal Arts program at the University of Pennsylvania.

In his spare time, Tom serves as a Board Member-at-Large for Museum Council of Philadelphia, a volunteer-based organization dedicated to supporting arts and culture in the Philadelphia region. He is also a member of the marketing committee for Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania, a historic public garden and educational institution in Chestnut Hill. He loves running and public art, and is the unattributed eye behind the popular @phillypublicart Instagram page.

Lindsay Patton-Carson is Vice President of Customer Engagement at PiperWai Natural Deodorant. She is behind the strategy and execution of all PiperWai’s social media platforms.

With over 10 years’ experience as an editor and journalist specializing in music journalism, social media management was a very different platform for a career but one she fell into naturally. In addition to her work with PiperWai, she is also the social media manager for Animal Avengers, a nonprofit founded and run by actress Shannon Elizabeth.
Lindsay still hasn’t forgotten about her writing past, either. She manages PiperWai’s blog and enjoys freelance writing in her spare time. Her work has been published in The Huffington Post, One Green Planet, Jezebel, Girlboss, xoJane, Care2, Bust, Alloy and more.

In her free time, Lindsay enjoys wasting time on Twitter (follow her at @LindsayPatton), spending time with her husband and two dogs, running when the weather is convenient, petting dogs, slowly reading books and shopping at thrift stores.

With a focused background in advertising and branding design, Howard- Thomassen is well suited for her role overseeing the agency’s social intelligence process that drives all creative programming.

Howard-Thomassen has been with TTC for nearly ten years. Prior to joining the rm, Howard-Thomassen, a graduate of Boston University’s College of Communications and The Chicago Portfolio School, worked in the creative departments of several boutique advertising agencies.

Creating both the Visual Communications and Digital departments at TTC, she directs all activation in digital, design and experiential work, including the global trade relaunch of the Chivas Regal portfolio, a 360-degree digital campaign for Malibu Rum, and the Forage to Glass campaign for Caorunn Gin, which became the basis for their global marketing activation.

Howard-Thomassen has been honored with the American Design Award, the Communicator Award, Facebook Campaign of the Year, and most recently, the PR News Social Media Campaign of the Year, besting campaigns from Coca-Cola, Unilever, the PGA and Hyundai.

Robert is a serial entrepreneur, investor and operator.  In 2009 Robert founded CIS Ventures, LLC after the successful sale of his previous company. CIS offered a full spectrum of strategic services spanning mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, fund raising, investment management and high value business development transactions.

From 2013 to 2016, CIS served as Chief Investment Officer and Portfolio Manager for L2L Capital, LLC, a private equity vehicle working with investors and projects that spanned the US and Southeast Asia.

In 2016 Printfly Corporation, a privately held national custom apparel company headquartered in Philadelphia, hired CIS to help analyze strategic opportunities and develop a plan for expansion. That work led to Robert becoming the company’s Chief Operating Officer where he currently serves.

Robert is a Board Member and Treasurer for Compass, a non-profit organization that provides pro bono consulting services to non-profits through the active engagement of business professionals with their local nonprofits to transform communities, a US Navy Veteran and Alumni of Harvard Business School.

With over 8 years of experience in strategic communications and marketing, Chelsea Reed has developed and implemented successful communication strategies for a wide range of non-profit organizations, government agencies and local businesses. Reed joined the City of Philadelphia as the Communications Manager for the Office of Adult Education (OAE), where she has been instrumental in branding and marketing the nation’s first online cohort-based adult education courses. Reed has experience working on both local and global campaigns: Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPRIZE, Bloomberg Mayoral Challenge and Pearson’s Project Literacy. After rebranding the former Mayor’s Commission on Literacy into the Office of Adult Education (OAE) last year, Reed launched OAE’s Mind Your Language plain language initiative to improve the effectiveness of local government communication. In her free time, she loves to paint and actively volunteers throughout Philadelphia. Reed received her Bachelor’s degree in strategic communication and business from Temple University.

A communications strategist, journalist and creative consultant, Chasity Cooper believes there’s power in owning your truth, and choosing how to tell your story. Professionally, she specializes in developing content marketing strategies for small businesses, entrepreneurs and nonprofit organizations. On a personal level, she is driven to uplift and elevate the stories and initiatives of her peers who are daring, bold and relentless.

As Digital Director of Community for Her Agenda, a digital platform working to bridge the gap between ambition and achievement for millennial women, she is responsible for growing and managing the community of over 200 active subscribers. She also works to partner with brands that are dedicated to providing Her Agenda subscribers with additional tools and resources in order to approach their lives in a more holistic way.

A graduate of Syracuse University where she earned a dual degree public relations and marketing management, Chasity is a native of Chicago, Illinois and currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.

In his role as CFO of Slice Communications, Rayce Rollins provides financial leadership and strategic guidance to this fast-growing and innovative company. Rayce’s approach to business management is simple, “control your cash, stick to your core business, know your numbers.”

Throughout his career, Rayce has managed the financials of several Ad Agencies and Professional Services companies in a CFO capacity with great success.

Rayce is also faculty professor at Temple University and an expert in data analytics, accounting, finance, and business management.

Ji Hyun grew up in social media from the start of her career, working on a wide spectrum of clients including American Express, Google, and Krug Champagne. As the Social Media Account Manager, she brings her expertise in each aspect of strategy development and campaign execution. After graduating from New York University, Ji Hyun worked in agencies M Booth and MSLGroup, before moving home to San Diego to work in-house at Petco. Now she hopes to bring the same level of excellence and service in Philadephia.

Outside (and inside) the office, Ji Hyun shares her love of Harry Potter and Korean food, or as she calls it, food.

Kate is a Senior Manager of Digital Analytics at PwC where she leads measurement and reporting for firmwide social and web initiatives. With an extensive background in media analytics, digital strategy and data mining, her role at PwC perfectly combines her interests and experiences. A strong believer in the power of data, it is Kate’s quest to promote “measurement first” thinking among marketing and, more specifically, social media professionals.

Prior to PwC, Kate worked at a boutique consulting firm in DC where she analyzed media campaigns and made strategic recommendations for companies like Ben & Jerry’s, Nintendo, DuPont, Mayo Clinic, Roche Pharmaceuticals and Biogen Idec. She has also dabbled in social media management for non-profits and immediately preceding PwC, Kate worked at one of Philly’s most interesting startups: RJMetrics.

Kate resides in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia with her cats, Winnie Cooper and Kevin Arnold. When she’s not analyzing data, she is adventuring or planning her next adventure. Next up: cross-country road trip!

Whitney Little is the Associate Director of Social Media at XO Group, overseeing the social strategy for The Knot and The Bump. During her time at XO, she spearheaded the company’s first all-day Facebook Live to answer couples’ wedding planning questions and launched The Knot’s first long-term influencer program, the Most Influential Weddings of 2018. She previously worked at at DKC, specializing in digital marketing and social media strategy, and Full Picture, where she started up the social media division and worked with clients such as Victoria’s Secret, Heidi Klum, Adriana Lima and Project Runway. She also spent three years at People Magazine, where she oversaw the brand’s social media platforms. During that time, she specialized in influencer and celebrity outreach, red carpet activations and strategic growth of the brand, including People’s partnership with Snapchat Discover. Before that, she worked at MTV.com, where she helped produce the network’s digital sites and monitored social media strategy for their evening programming. Whitney graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in Journalism.

Dana Schmidt is VISIT PHILADELPHIA’S director of social media. In this role, Schmidt is responsible for continuing to grow the brand’s social media reach beyond its 1.5 million followers. As the director of social media for VISIT PHILADELPHIA, she leads the organization’s award-winning social media program by curating compelling content and using innovative tactics to keep fans and followers engaged.

Brendan Walsh’s passion lies in where the digital meets the live experience. For over a decade he’s managed strategic marketing initiatives on the client and agency side. As principal and co-founder of Mole Street, Brendan has directed experiential campaigns for lifestyle brands such as UGG to arts education pioneers like The Barnes Foundation. A Temple University alumni, Brendan is passionate about building brands and helping the City of Philadelphia move forward.

Cass (Oryl) Bailey is the president and CEO of Slice Communications, an agency in Philadelphia with fully dedicated public relations and social media teams that provides clients with actionable content and data-oriented approaches. She believes that integrated public relations and social media efforts are vital to accomplishing business goals when looking to grow and expand awareness of a company.

Cass brings a wide variety of experiences to the communications strategies she develops for the firm’s clients. With a background in international politics, economics, and philosophy, communications has become her passion and she has been tapped by various industry associations and the media to share her insights and experiences in the field.

Before founding Slice, Cass was a senior account executive at one of the top public relations agencies in the northeast region. She began her career at Ketchum Public Relations in Washington, DC, and has also held positions with the Honorable Mark Oaten, Member of Parliament for Winchester; the Tory Party in the United Kingdom; and New Economy Strategies.

She is deeply involved with her community, serving as Chair of the Board for Tree House Books, Secretary of the Board for Hopeworks ‘N Camden, and member of the Red Cross Philadelphia Leadership Council. Cass graduated from The Catholic University of America with a degree in international politics, economics and philosophy.