SPEAKER RESOURCES
Speakers for professional development programs. Developed by AAF D6 for local club use.
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Lars Lawson | Owner | Timber Design Company
(317) 213-8509
Lars Lawson is founder and principal of Timber Design Company. Timber is a design & advertising studio specializing in print, brand identity, advertising and retail packaging. Since it’s beginning in 2006, Lars has been recognized consistently for design excellence and creativity. His broad range of work includes photography, illustration & writing. Lars has personally received over a hundred ADDY Awards on all levels. His work has been featured in national design annuals & publications including LogoLounge, How, Print and Communication Arts. He has served on various local & district AAF boards for over 5 years.
TOPIC: Creativity, the thought process, strategic thinking, client relations & creative approaches to advertising
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Christine Welsh, Owner | Kerning Advertising | Flint, MI
(989) 233-1909
Christine Welsh has worked in the advertising industry for more than 20 years, within the agency, business and non-profit realms. She has been teaching, consulting and managing social media for more than 5 years to businesses of all shapes and sizes. Christine has a bachelor's degree in Advertising, and a master's degree in Communications and Multi-Media. She is the owner of Kerning Advertising, located in mid-Michigan. Christine also sits on the AAF District 6 Executive Board and is past president of her local club AAF-Greater Flint, where she is currently an active member.
Social Media 101
Many small businesses know they need social media as part of their marketing mix. But so many don't know where to start or what to do. This 1-hour session provides a brief overview of the top social media platforms, ways to determine which is right for you, and basic how-to's on getting started. Plus, learn simple tips and tricks to grow your following and managing a successful page.
Facebook for Business (available as a 1-hour session or 3-hour workshop)
Learn the basics of Facebook for your business through this informative class. Get useful tips on how to start a page, do’s and don’ts of posting to your page and gathering useful user information. See real-time pages and their successful campaigns in this interactive session. Recommended for business owners/professionals that want to create or improve their online presence through Facebook.
Beyond the Basics: Facebook Ads Campaigns and Insights (available as a 1-hour session or 3-hour workshop)
Go beyond the basics of managing a Facebook page in this informative session. Learn about understanding your followers, creating engaging content and running various Facebook ad campaigns. See real time, successful pages for businesses of varying sizes. Recommended for business owners/professionals who have an established Facebook page, and are looking to grow their online presence.
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Kent Dean | True Colors
The True Colors® research is highly relevant for professionals of all fields, not to mention Kent's interactive and hilarious presentation style which never fails to delight crowds of all sizes and leaves them anxious for more. In an increasingly technological age with so many different ways of communicating, this information is absolutely essential for today's workplace.
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Bob Farnsworth | Hummingbird Productions | Nashville, TN
Phone: 615-385-3729
(Travel only)
Founder of Hummingbird Productions in 1976, Bob is an icon in the entertainment industry. He has been directly involved with building our library of over 7000 works. On the music side Bob has composed for numerous IMAX signature films as well as for clients such as Coke, Pepsi, McDonald’s, Budweiser and hundreds of others.
As President, he has seen Hummingbird win multiple Clio awards, including a Clio Hall of Fame Award for the original Budweiser Frogs. His life focus aligns with Hummingbird’s mission statement: “…desiring to leave the world a little better place than we found it, whether by doing a great job or by simply demonstrating kindness.”
TOPIC: Music to Your Ears. In Tune with the Ad Music Industry!
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Stephen Freitas | Chief Marketing Officer
sfreitas@oaaa.org | (202) 833‐5566 (Travel only)
Stephen Freitas joined OAAA in 1999. He is the leading industry marketing spokesman and thought leader, helping to advance and unite the out of home advertising industry through education and marketing. Before joining OAAA, Freitas spent a decade developing high profile marketing programs for Clear Channel Communications and Eller Media Company. As senior vice president of marketing, Freitas was responsible for global branding, advertising, research, public relations, and corporate communications. Prior to joining the out of home advertising industry, Freitas worked as a media planner at two San Francisco agencies. He also worked at Chevron, USA for eight years.
TOPIC: Reaching Diverse Market through Outdoor Ads
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Randy Snow | R&R Partners | Chief Strategic Officer and Principal
702.228.0222 (Travel only)
Randy is probably smarter than you. Don’t feel bad, though. He’s smarter than just about everyone. This man builds brands as easily as most men build a sandwich. His strategies beat out Apple’s “iPod” and McDonald’s “I’m Lovin’ It” campaigns to snag Brandweek’s Grand Marketer of the Year honors for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. (He was the guy who spearheaded “What Happens Here, Stays Here.”) His musings have been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Dateline NBC, and Adweek, and his work has won pretty much every major advertising award, including the Cannes Lion.
TOPIC: “What Happens in Vegas – Stays in Vegas
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Karen Haefling | VitaMix Corp | Chief Marketing Officer
Cleveland, OH
Responsible for global brand positioning and marketing strategy to increase brand engagement and deliver incremental results
- E-commerce strategy and web, direct and affiliate sales
- Public relations
- Advertising
- Product packaging
- Social media
TOPIC: "Refreshing a 96 Year Old Brand for the Global Economy"
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Blaise D’Sylva | VP of Media for Dr. Pepper Snapple Group
(972) 673-7000
Blaise has an extensive media and sponsorship background of more than 27 years spanning agency, client and media sales positions. Blaise joined Dr Pepper Snapple Group in 2014 as VP Media. He is responsible for directing the national and local media planning and buying across the entire portfolio of brands including Dr Pepper, Snapple, 7UP, Canada Dry and Mott’s. A key part of this includes the college football media sponsorships with ESPN, CBS and FOX Sports.
Before that, he was at Anheuser-Busch InBev in St. Louis where he was Vice President of Media, Sports and Entertainment Marketing. Blaise was also at ESPN for six years, where he was senior director, sales manager based in Chicago responsible for selling the multi-media assets of ESPN to clients and agencies in the Midwest. He started in the advertising business in the media department at Leo Burnett in Chicago. His tenure included four international media assignments across his 17 years at Leo Burnett and Starcom MediaVest Group. Blaise holds a bachelor's degree in communications and advertising from Washington State University, and a master's degree in communications and advertising from the University of Illinois.
TOPIC: "What Do You Stand For", 10 things (or more) that he believes in as he works in the advertising business today.
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Leah Hoppes | VisionForce Marketing
Author, “Marketing Chomp”
“Taking a Bite Out of Your Marketing”
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Kristin Runge
Lecturer
Life Sciences Communication
226 Hiram Smith Hall
University of Wisconsin - Madison
(920) 851-0213
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Jeff Schmidt | Radio Advertising Bureau | SVP, Professional Development
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JoBe Cerny
ADventures in Advertising
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Martha Carrigan | Big Shoes Network
Milwaukee, WI
“Standing Out: Skills being sought & How to standout in the search for a great job in advertising, marketing and communication”
312-810-8772
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Bob Sutter | The Escape Pod
Director of Accounts
bobsutter@theescapepodagency.com
312-929-3987
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Kylee Crull | Minnesota Timberwolves
Sports Marketing
612-673-8409 – direct
612-719-1723 – Cell
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Steve James
How to Grow a Niche Audience with Inbound Sales and Marketing and Drive Irresistible Inbound Results for even the Un-Sexiest of Industries
Partner, Stream Creative, Milwaukee
414.755.2190
steve@streamcreative.com
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Michal Lorenc | Google
mlorenc@google.com
He lives in Ann Arbor and is willing to travel to speak to clubs for no fee since outreach is part of his job description at Google.
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Mike Rowe | Creative Director at Simpson Scarborough