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SPEAKERS
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Manager of Emerging Media, Southwest Airlines 
Paula Berg is the Manager of Emerging Media for Southwest Airlines, the nation’s leading low-fare air carrier and the largest domestic airline in terms of Customers carried. Over the last two years, Paula has managed and developed the Company’s corporate blog, “Nuts About Southwest.” Since its’ launch in April 2006, “Nuts” has experienced tremendous success - building a community for its loyal Customer base, serving as a virtual focus group, and influencing several business decisions. In 2007, “Nuts” was named Best Blog by PR News and has been recognized in major publications ranging from Wired Magazine to The Wall Street Journal. In addition to managing the Company blog, Paula leads Southwest’s online communication and social media efforts. Prior to her work in social media, Paula was a spokesperson and Public Relations Specialist with emphasis on strategic communication, media relations, and reputation management. Paula also supervised on-location production for three seasons of Airline!, Southwest’s reality series for the A&E Television Network, which filmed Southwest’s daily operations in four cities. After brief stints selling beer on Phish tour and working for the Colorado and United States Senates, Paula woke up and smelled the jet fuel and began her career at Southwest Airlines in 2001. Paula is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder where she earned a bachelors degree in communication and a minor in political science.
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Vice President, BurrellesLuce
During a career spanning almost 20 years, Johna Burke has worked both as a public relations practitioner and a provider of services that are vital to the work of communication professionals. For 11 years starting in 1989, she worked for U-Haul International, ultimately becoming head of public and investor relations. Burke joined BurrellesLuce in 2000 and serves as a vice president of the company, the largest media monitoring and measurement firm in the United States. Burke is a highly rated speaker who is often invited to talk about best practices in public relations, and her commentaries on the subject have appeared in PR print and web outlets. She is chair of the Southern Region of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).
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Director of Global Public Relations & Communications
Latham & Watkins LLP 
Geoff Burt leads the law firm’s 10-person in-house team responsible for external and internal communications. Latham & Watkins is a global law firm with more than 2,100 attorneys and 28 offices worldwide. He works closely with firm, practice and committee leadership on public relations strategies, coordinating a global multi-stakeholder PR program. Prior to joining Latham & Watkins, Burt was a member of the Professional and Financial Services Practice Group in Hill & Knowlton’s London office, advising multinational clients in the financial services, investment management, venture capital, accounting, legal, and consulting sectors. While at Hill & Knowlton, he led agency teams on cross-border corporate and product communications campaigns, corporate brand positioning projects, new market entry plans, CEO/senior executive profiling campaigns, and crises communications and issues management
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Senior Vice President of Analysis Services, Cision
As Senior Vice President and Head of Cision's Analysis Services, K.C. Brown leads all aspects of Cision's Analysis business -- responsible for growing the business by directing product and service enhancements through the development of new metrics and methodologies. Previously, he led Cision's client development, managing the company's U.S. client portfolio across all lines of business. He came to the company via the acquisition of Delahaye, where he managed the Research and Advisory Services Group. While there he led many of the firm's methodological and technological innovations and founded the Delahaye Index (now known as the Cision Index).
Prior to joining the firm in 1998, K.C. worked in government and agency public relations. K.C. holds a B.A. from Brigham Young University in Public Relations, a Masters in Mass Communications Research from the University of North Carolina as well as an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
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Vice President Public Affairs & Marketing
Boston Children’s Hospital
Michelle has 30 years of health care marketing and communications professional and consulting experience. Currently, she serves as the Vice President of Marketing and Public Affairs at Children’s Hospital Boston, where she has launched a mission- and strategy-driven public affairs and marketing program. She leads a 30-member team responsible for generating national media coverage on research and clinical advances for one of the world’s top pediatric hospitals, managing the institution’s reputation through strong issues and brand management, promoting employee satisfaction and loyalty through an active internal communication campaign, and building market share through targeted promotions, including the development of a web site strategy. Previously, she has served as director of Public Affairs at both Tufts Health Plan and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Massachusetts. She was also the director of Marketing and Community Relations at Faulkner Hospital, a community hospital in Boston, and a consultant to Hospital Corporation of American, The HealthCare Marketing Group and the New England Life Flight. Over the course of her career, Michelle has been the recipient of more than 80 health care and general communications and marketing awards for her team’s creative and results-driven work.
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Vice President, Communications and Marketing
Georgia Institute of Technology
James L. Fetig has been the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Associate Vice President for Communications and Marketing since April 2006.
Prior to that, he split the previous 10 years between the Raytheon Company in Waltham, Massachusetts and the Lockheed Martin Corporation in Bethesda Maryland, serving both companies as Vice President for Public Relations. Before joining Lockheed Martin, Fetig was Assistant White House Press Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Director for Public Affairs, the National Security Council. Working for the U.S. Army, Fetig has directed media strategy at the Pentagon and served as the special assistant to its Chief of Staff.
For the preceding 20 years, he was a career military public affairs officer. While in the military he took two sabbaticals, the first as an account executive with Ketchum Public Relations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the second as a visiting fellow at the RAND Corporation in Washington, D.C. where he authored a paper on the relationship between the military and the media during the first Gulf War
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Vice President Editorial Research, VMS 
Angela Jeffrey ended up in the research and measurement world by accident, but has become one of its most passionate advocates. After spending two decades in PR, advertising and marketing with JCPenney and major national agencies, she started Houston-based Jeffrey Communications. Along the way, she snagged several PRSA Silver Anvils and IABC Gold Quills.
Then, after countless nights creating measurement reports by hand, she appealed to her brother, a Silicon Valley hotshot, to build a little system called PRtrak. She then talked data giants Nielsen, Arbitron, SQAD and others, into letting her resell their data “a la carte” for the first time ever. In 2002, she sold the firm to SDI, an international analytics firm that enhanced the platform through the creation of “Share of Discussion.” Joining SDI as head of the PRtrak division, Angie worked toward the goal of standardizing PR measurement metrics, and with SDI researchers on correlating PR outputs with business outcomes.
In September 2005, Angie played a large part in the acquisition of SDI’s PRtrak Division by New York-based VMS. Angie now serves as VP Editorial Research for VMS, and speaks on measurement nationwide. She also serves as a member of the IPR Commission on PR Measurement & Evaluation.
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Founder and CMO, dna13
Chris Johnson has over 19 years experience in both the technology and communications industries. Chris is dedicated to overseeing and managing the strategic direction of dna13 and its software products. He has worked extensively in corporate communications and public relations for Fortune 1000 companies. Prior to founding dna13, Chris managed a successful technology consulting firm and has played senior management roles in both software and technology organizations.
His previous experience includes corporate strategy and communications for Canada’s largest telecommunication firm; Bell Canada. Chris has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Mass Communications from Carleton University’s School of Journalism.
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Vice President, Internal Communications
JPMorgan Chase
Tim Keefe leads Internal Communication for JPMorgan Chase’s Card Services business. Since joining the company in July 2008, his primary focus has been to decentralize internal communication, enable the dialogue between company leadership and employees, and increase employees’ sense of connection to Chase.
Prior to joining Chase, Tim served 20 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, 16 of them as a public affairs officer. During his time in the Marines, he worked in a variety of locations and positions, including running press operations for Multinational Force Iraq in Baghdad, leading Marine Corps public affairs efforts in Europe, Africa and mainland Japan, serving as news director for an award-winning Department of the Navy television news magazine, and providing broadcast internal information and entertainment programs to U.S. troops deployed in Somalia and Haiti.
Tim holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from the U.S. Naval Academy and a Master of Arts degree in Communication from the University of Oklahoma.
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Group Head-Reputation & Issues Management; MasterCard Worldwide
Linda Locke serves as group head, Reputation and Issues Management for MasterCard Worldwide. She is based in Purchase, New York, and has been with MasterCard for 12 years. For 11 years she oversaw communications for Global Technology and Operations, the largest division at MasterCard.
Ms. Locke has led the development and deployment of quantitative tools to monitor reputation and the media globally for MasterCard, and consults throughout the company to help the organization build a stronger reputation among stakeholders.
Ms. Locke joined MasterCard in 1996 after eight years heading corporate communications for Boatmen’s Bancshares, Inc., where she led advertising and public relations activities. She has also served as the creative/account director for an advertising agency; as a consultant to AT&T network systems; as communications director for HOK Computer Systems Company; in political campaigns and nonprofit organizations; and with the Peace Corps in Morocco, North Africa. There she taught in a local high school during the day, and established an adult school four evenings a week.
She has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Kansas State University, and did graduate work in sociology and journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She has served on the boards of many organizations, including on the executive boards of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Partners for Progress, Rainbow Village and Webster University.
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Senior Vice President – Digital Public Affairs, Edelman
Monte Lutz is Senior Vice President of Edelman’s Digital Public Affairs Practice, where he crafts social media and online advocacy campaigns for corporate, association and non-profit clients. Mr. Lutz is a social media pioneer who created his first political blog in 1998.
Prior to joining Edelman, Mr. Lutz was an executive speechwriter, produced Congressional events for the Public Forum Institute and worked for various news organizations, including CBS News and C-SPAN. He has developed award-winning traditional and online crisis communications campaigns for Fortune 500 companies, federal agencies and not-for-profits. Mr. Lutz also has produced original programming for CNBC and advertising campaigns for corporate and government clients, including an award-winning Super Bowl ad for Monster, ranked as one of the Top 10 ads of all time by USATODAY.
Mr. Lutz recently published The Social Pulpit: Barack Obama’s Social Media Toolkit, an examination of how companies can apply social media lessons from the Obama campaign to their own communications and advocacy programs. He has an MBA from the University of Florida and is a visiting faculty member at Johns Hopkins University. You can find him at @montelutz.
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Executive Vice President, U.S. Digital
Porter Novelli Communications
Brad B. McCormick has spent the past decade leading teams in the creation of best-in-class, award winning online communication solutions for top-tier clients in a variety of industries. He recently joined Porter Novelli as Executive Vice President of US Digital Communications at Porter Novelli in August 2008.
Prior to joining Porter Novelli, Mr. McCormick was a founding member of Ruder Finn Interactive, an award winning web boutique embedded within an independently owned global PR firm At Ruder Finn, Brad oversaw the creation of Digital components of a number of high-profile national campaigns, including Johnson & Johnson’s national "Campaign for Nursing’s Future" (discovernursing.com), the Smokey Bear "National Wildfire Prevention Campaign" for the US Department of Forestry (smokeybear.com), and the "GDA Nutrition" effort for Kellogg Cereals (kelloggnutrition.com).
Mr McCormick also oversaw the creation of the first public online presence for the US Department of Homeland Security (ready.gov), for which he was interviewed for and featured in a 2003 New York Times article.
At Ruder Finn, Brad also oversaw the Social Media outreach for BP Alternative Energy and TIVO and helped incubate the recruitment strategy for a massive online gaming community currently in development for LEGO. Mr McCormick help lead the Ruder Finn team that won a 2008 Webby For Best Activism Website (loveisrespect.org).
Other notable past clients of Mr. McCormick’s include the Smithsonian Institute, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Keebler Cookies, Perdue Farms, The Council on Foreign Relations, LEGO, and the Palo Alto Research Center (Xerox PARC).
In 2007, Mr. McCormick wrote on OP-ED on Digital’s role in the future of the Communication Industry in PR Week. In 2008, PR Week named Mr. McCormick as one of four "Creative Minds" on the Digital scene.
Mr. McCormick holds a B.S. in Creative Advertising and a B.A. in Liberal Arts / American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin.
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President and CEO, Institute for Public Relations 
Frank Ovaitt is president and CEO of the Institute for Public Relations, an independent research and education foundation dedicated to the science beneath the art of public relations. He served previously as managing director of Crossover International Inc., a communications firm that he founded; vice president-corporate affairs for MCI; international PR vice president for AT&T; and editorial services director for Monsanto.
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Founder and CEO, KDPaine & Partners LLC .jpg)
Katie Delahaye Paine is the founder and CEO of KDPaine & Partners LLC, a New Hampshire based research consultancy that provides measurement and accountability for corporations, non-profits and government agencies world wide. Her book, Measuring Public Relationships: the Data-Driven Communicator’s guide to Measuring Public Relationships was published in December 2007. Paine is the publisher of KDPaine’s Measurement Blog and The Measurement Standard, the first blog and the first newsletter for marketing and communications professionals dedicated entirely to measurement and accountability. Prior to launching KDPaine & Partners in 2002, Paine was the founder and president of The Delahaye Group, which she sold to Medialink in 1999.
For the past two decades, Paine has been providing marketers and communications professionals the tools, data and information to help them make better business decisions. She and her firms have read and analyzed millions of news articles, blogs, newsgroup postings and internal communications and have conducted hundreds of thousands of interviews in the relentless pursuit of quantitative and qualitative measures of her client’s marketing success. She works with some of the world’s most admired companies including Raytheon, Allstate, Facebook, and Southwest Airlines. Most recently, her endeavors have been focused on social media measurement as well as providing cost effective measurement programs for non-profits, small businesses and government agencies.
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Director, Master's Degree in Strategic PR, George Washington University
Mr. Parnell is an Associate Professor and Director of the George Washington University Master’s in Strategic PR program in Washington, DC. He also manages Bench Strength Communications, a virtual partnership of senior communications executives with expertise in corporate positioning, CSR and financial communications
Previously, over a 30-year career, Larry has held senior communications positions in consulting, on the client side and in politics. He was most recently VP and Group Leader of the Corporate Communications practice at Hill and Knowlton Canada. He came to H&K from Barrick Gold Corporation (Toronto) where he was Senior Vice President, Corporate Relations with responsibility for corporate, financial and internal communications. In New York, he served for four years as Director of Global Public Relations at Ernst & Young LLP. While at E&Y he was named PR Professional of the Year (2003) by PR Week magazine. Larry’s previous corporate experience includes senior positions at GTE Corporation; People’s Bank of Connecticut and The Stop & Shop Companies, Inc. His consulting experience includes senior roles at Ketchum Public Relations; Gavin Andersen & Co. Inc. and Manning Selvage & Lee. Early in his career, Larry served as a Speechwriter for the Mayor of Atlanta; Press Aide for the Jimmy Carter for President Campaign; Public Information Officer for Massachusetts Department of Corrections; and Speechwriter for the Attorney General of Massachusetts.
Larry holds a MBA from the University of New Haven; and a Bachelors degree in Journalism from Boston University. Larry is a frequent author/speaker on communications topics and a member of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) Senior Roundtable and the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). He is also a member of the prestigious Arthur Page Society.
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CEO
PRIME Research – North America
Mark Weiner is the CEO of PRIME Research in North America. PRIME Research is one of the world’s largest public relations and corporate communications research and consulting providers with offices in Western Europe, North and South America, Eastern Europe and the Far East. Since 1993, Mark has devoted his career to helping many of the world’s most respected organizations and brands to demonstrate and generate a positive return on their investment in corporate and brand communications. He is the author of “Unleashing the Power of PR: A Contrarian’s Guide to Marketing and Communication” which was published in 2006 by John Wiley & Sons..
Prior to PRIME, Mark Weiner was the Global Director and Senior Vice President of Ketchum Research where he led an international team of analysts. Prior to joining Ketchum, Weiner was the CEO and president of Delahaye, one of the world’s most recognizable providers of corporate communications and public relations research and consulting.
Weiner is a member of the PRSA, IABC and the Institute for Public Relations for whom he served as Trustee and Chairman of the Research and Measurement Commission. He is an editorial advisory board member of PRSA’s Strategist and PR News. A frequent provider of provocative public relations content, Weiner is a recurring conference speaker at international and domestic events, and a prolific author, having published more than one hundred articles.
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Vice President, Associate Director, Food & Nutrition Practice
Ketchum North America
Ilene Smith brings a broad background in both journalism and dietetics to Ketchum’s Food & Nutrition Practice. She joined Ketchum in the fall of 1998 to lend her nutrition expertise, scientific knowledge and strategic planning skills to food clinets, including DSM Nutritional Products (formerly Roche Vitamins Inc.), Frito-Lay, Wendy’s, Welch’s, the California Strawberry Commission and others.
Ms. Smith provides strategic counsel to clients throughout the Ketchum network on nutrition-related matters ranging from obesity to chronic disease prevention to health promotion. Ms. Smith routinely monitors developments in nutrition science and medical research and identifies opportunities for clients to leverage those developments. She also plays a key role in developing creative and effective media strategies based on nutrition messaging. She has developed professional outreach, consumer media and direct-to-consumer programs by translating nutrition and medical research into practical guidelines that consumers, the media and professionals can use.
For DSM, Ms. Smith develops and manages the execution of programs designed to create consumer, media and health professional awareness about vitamins and other specialized nutrients and is working with the California Strawberry Commission to draw attention to the nutritional benefits of strawberries and the role they play in a healthy diet. For both organizations, she works extensively with third party organizations such as the American Dietetic Association and the American Heart Association to create alliances, partnerships and sponsorships designed to communicate important consumer health messages. She has works with many key leaders in the fields of nutrition research and nutrition education at major academic centers and government organizations throughout the United States.
Prior to joining Ketchum, Ms. Smith had a private practice as a registered dietitian and nutrition consultant to various organizations throughout New York City. She became a registered dietitian in 1995 and started her education and career in nutrition after spending eight years as a trade journalist for Hearst Business Communications and Fairchild Publications.
Ms. Smith is a member of the American Dietetic Association and the Public Relations Society of America.
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Director of Product Management, Vocus
Kye Strance is responsible for the overall product strategy and roadmap of Vocus’ on-demand public relations software. Additionally, he heads the company’s industry research, providing both analysis of the competitive landscape and identifying strategic opportunities for the company. Strance moderates Vocus’ monthly webinar series designed to offer PR professionals techniques on the latest industry trends.
Prior to joining Vocus, Strance was with Sharp Ideas where he was responsible for helping establish the organization’s new IT division including the development and design of multimedia, database and computer based training programs.
Strance holds a B.S. in Economics from George Mason University.
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Chief Reputation Strategist
Weber Shandwick
In her role as Chief Reputation Strategist, Dr. Leslie Gaines-Ross leads Weber Shandwick’s global reputation consulting services and proprietary thought leadership development. She is the architect of groundbreaking, award-winning research into CEO and corporate reputation, executive team reputation, leadership transitions, corporate rankings, and reputation sustainability and recovery. Dr. Gaines-Ross is a member of Weber Shandwick’s global senior management team and is based in the firm’s corporate headquarters in New York.
Dr. Gaines-Ross is one of the world’s most widely recognized experts on CEO reputation—how CEO reputations are built, enhanced and protected. She spearheaded the first comprehensive research on CEO reputation and its impact on corporate reputation and performance. She developed Weber Shandwick’s global corporate reputation study – “Safeguarding Reputation™,” which identifies strategies for sustaining and recovering corporate reputation. Dr. Gaines-Ross is the author of two books, CEO Capital: A Guide to Building CEO Reputation and Company Success (2003, John Wiley & Sons) and Corporate Reputation: 12 Steps to Safeguarding and Recovering Reputation (2008, www.corporatereputation12steps.com, John Wiley & Sons). Dr. Gaines-Ross’ newest book was chosen as one of the 30 Best Business Books of 2008 by Soundview Executive Book Summaries.
Before joining Weber Shandwick, Dr. Gaines-Ross was Chief Knowledge & Research Officer Worldwide at Burson-Marsteller and Marketing & Communications Director at Fortune.
Dr. Gaines-Ross’s work has been featured in the Financial Times, The Times (London), The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Economist, Fortune, BusinessWeek, Wired, Advertising Age, PRWeek, Forbes, The Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, Chief Executive, Business 2.0, Across the Board and in many other publications around the world. She has also appeared on Bloomberg, CNN, BBC, Good Morning America, CNBC, and NPR.
Dr. Gaines-Ross is a frequent public speaker on CEO and corporate reputation management. She ranks as one of IABC’s “all-star speakers.” She has lectured at The Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA, USC, Wharton School of Business, New York University and Columbia University. Dr. Gaines-Ross was also a speaker at the 2003 World Economic Forum Governor’s Meeting. She is a member of Ethical Corporation’s Advisory Board, serves on the Executive Advisory Panel of Corporate Reputation Review and was recently named Measurement/Research Expert of the Year by PRNews. Leslie has also been named one of the “100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics” in 2007 and 2008 by Ethisphere Magazine.
Dr. Gaines-Ross created www.reputationRx.com, the Web site devoted exclusively to reputation news and information, and her blog can be found at www.reputationXchange.com.
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Senior Vice President, Employee Engagement, TNS North America.
Kathryn is based at TNS’s Toledo office and is responsible for developing the expanding Employee Engagement practice.
Prior to joining TNS, Collins was global leader of employee research for General Motors. With a GM career spanning over three decades, Collins directed all GM brand and reputation research, global media analyses, global journalist satisfaction surveys and routine metric development and deployment. Collins is a graduate of Grand Valley State University, MI and studied for a Ph.D at Wayne State University, Detroit, MI.
“Kathy Collins adds a new dimension to TNS’ Employee Engagement practice. She knows the field and what clients need to do to be successful in measuring employee beliefs, attitudes and behaviors and then acting on the results to improve organizational performance.” said John Gilfeather , Executive Vice President, Stakeholder Management, TNS. “Kathy is an acknowledged expert in communications research, has been a keynote speaker globally on employee engagement and is a great fit with TNS.”
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Principal, Shonali Burke Consulting
Shonali Burke, ABC, is an accredited, award-winning communications consultant with more than 12 years in the field. She is also Adjunct Faculty for Johns Hopkins University’s highly-regarded M.A. in Communications program, where she teaches “Communication.org: Not-for-profits in the Digital Age.” She has worked in two continents and on both coasts of the United States, and her experience includes several verticals in the for- and non-profit industries, and with both small and large public relations agencies.
Prior to starting her consultancy in 2008, Shonali was the ASPCA’s Vice President, Media & Communications, where she was critical in re-inventing the organization’s communications function in its quest to be a leading resource on animal welfare, focusing on research-based, strategic, measurable and integrated communications. Working with measurement leaders KD Paine & Partners, she also put in place the organization’s award-winning communications measurement program, which is fast becoming known in the industry as a gold standard for non-profit communications measurement. In December 2007, Shonali was named one of the top “40 Under 40” public relations professionals in the United States by PRWeek.
Shonali has been cited several times in PRWeek and The Measurement Standard for her cutting-edge use of media communications and emphasis on measurable communications. She was recently featured on Top Rank’s Online Marketing Blog, and her effective use of Twitter as a communications tool during the 2008 Mumbai terror siege was noted by both bloggers and mainstream media.
Shonali earned her accreditation in business communications (ABC) from the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) in 2005. She is IABC/Washington’s 2008-2009 President-Elect, and she also serves on IABC International’s Accreditation Council, where she oversees Accreditation for the Asia-Pacific region and is engaged in the Council’s social media efforts.
Shonali lives in the Washington, D.C., area with her husband John and their three rescued dogs, Chuck, Suzy Q, and Lola.
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 Adam Sohn
Director of Communications, AARP
Adam Sohn currently serves as Director of Communications for AARP, managing communications strategy for AARP Services, Membership, AARP Foundation, International Affairs, AARP Global Network, AARP Events, AARP Publications and AARP Brand. Sohn joined the organization in June, 2007 with more than 12 years experience managing corporate communications and public affairs.
Sohn’s impressive tenure of public affairs work for the state of Florida coupled with his background in corporate communications and public relations has helped AARP continue to serve as a gold standard in delivering its messages to the its members, key constituents and the general public at-large.
Sohn comes to AARP from the Florida Department of Community Affairs, where he served as Communications Director. Recruited by then-Governor Jeb Bush, he directed an 11-person communications team for the $2 billion state agency. While there, Sohn created the state’s first-ever agency road show and developed public-private partnerships with MasterCard International and legendary coaches from across the state, including the Miami Heat’s Pat Riley, Miami Dolphin’s Nick Saban, Florida State’s Bobby Bowden and University of Florida’s Billy Donovan.
Prior to being recruited by Governor Bush, Sohn directed corporate communications for Home Diagnostics, Inc., a leading manufacturer and marketer of blood glucose monitoring systems in Fort Lauderdale, FL and was a communications advisor and equity trader for Worldco Financial Services in New York City.
Sohn began his career at Ruder Finn, New York’s largest public relations agency where he managed crisis communications, brand positioning and public affairs for a variety of clients, including Volkswagon, United Nations’ Secretary Kofi Annan, Toys R’ Us, Reebok, Medscape and Novartis.
Sohn lives in Maryland with his wife, Anat, and son, Michael.
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Director Communications & Marketing
Ernst & Young
Ken Kerrigan is a Director in the Americas Communications & Marketing practice of Ernst & Young, one of the world’s largest professional services firms. He oversees strategic development of internal and external communications strategies in geographies across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America and South America. He also serves as editor-in-chief for the firm’s internal online newsletter, which is read by more than 43,000 employees daily.
As the accounting profession has seen its way through unprecedented change and dramatically increased scrutiny from investors, regulators and legislators, Ken and Ernst & Young’s communications team have played a hands-on role in developing open relationships with the media and other key stakeholders.
Over his ten years with Ernst & Young, PR News has named Ken one of its finalists for Public Relations Professional of the Year, as well as one of the 15 Public Relations Professionals to Watch.
Prior to joining Ernst & Young, Ken spent close to a dozen years with some of the most respected public relations agencies in America, most notably Hill & Knowlton and Edelman.
Ken began his career representing inanimate objects - fax machines - for RICOH Corporation’s Home Office Products group. His work for RICOH was honored with the PRSA’s Big Apple award and resulted in the company being recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records for the development of the world’s smallest fax machine.
A former member of the board of directors for the New York Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, Ken will soon attain his Masters in Communications Management from the SI Newhouse School of Public Communications. The PRSA’s Universal Accreditation Board accredited him in public relations in 1998.
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Senior Vice President
Lois Paul & Partners
Ted Weismann brings 15 years of public relations and marketing experience, and has been with LP&P since 1993. As senior vice president, Ted leads LP&P’s social media practice, counseling clients and internal teams on how to best integrate new techniques and technologies into their overall communications programs. Ted also created and manages LP&P’s own blog, Beyond the Hype, ensuring the blog is valuable and engaging for LP&P’s community of clients, prospects, media, analysts, bloggers and current and former employees. Ted also devotes significant energy to coaching and mentoring LP&P’s talented PR professionals as an important underpinning not only to the agency’s top-notch service, but also its exceptional employee retention.
During his time with LP&P, Ted has worked with a wide range of large and small companies in several markets, including enterprise software (integration software, application development, database, Web services, supply chain management, BPM, systems management), outsourcing (ASP’s, globalization services, professional consulting, systems integrators) and wireless (wireless LAN networking, mobile application software, devices). Ted’s clients have included several market leaders, such as Lotus/IBM, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Kodak, Freescale Semiconductor, UPS, Wells Fargo, Sun Microsystems, Pegasystems and Lionbridge, as well as rapidly emerging companies such as Alfresco, Lucid Imagination and Curl.
Ted ran a complete media relations program for five years for Lotus Development Corp.’s Notes and Domino product lines, as well as leading the PR program for Lotus’ Worldwide Business Partner Program. During this time, Lotus increased its Notes software installed base from 1 million to 33 million users, and successfully repositioned Domino as the leading Web collaboration platform for e-business. Ted also currently leads LP&P’s Product Reviews Practice, and has run comprehensive reviews programs for Sun Microsystems and Lotus Development Corp., among other companies.
Ted holds a B.A. in economics from the University of New Hampshire and is a member of the Society for New Communications Research.
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Vice President, Corporate Practice
Michelle is a seasoned PR professional, with more than 15 years of developing award-winning, integrated public relations campaigns and communications for some of the agency’s top corporate and government clients. She is a founding member of OgilvyIMPACT, which focuses on delivering business results for clients though strategic employee communications.
In her nine year tenure with Ogilvy, Michelle has provided strategic counsel on branding, executive visibility, internal communications, third party outreach, partnership development, thought leadership, media relations and issues management for Fortune 500 companies and well known global brands, including DuPont, BP, Ford Motor Company, Conservation International and Nestle.
Michelle worked on the internal and external launch of BP’s re-branding campaign “Beyond Petroleum.” Michelle helped design employee communications programs to roll out the new brand globally through “Brand Ambassadors.” She also was integral in developing and executing the external launch of the new brand to customers and partners.
Prior to joining Ogilvy PR, Michelle served as Director of Communications Strategy for the World Resources Institute (WRI), a policy research institute focused on working with businesses to create practical solutions to protect the global environment and improve people’s lives. In this role, Michelle led a team of communications specialists in the promotion of the institute’s policy and research initiatives with opinion leaders and government officials internationally.
Michelle earned her master’s degree, magna cum laude, in international business and Latin American Studies at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor’s degree in political science and Spanish at Colby College. She has extensive international experience and speaks fluent Spanish. She lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and their 2-year old son.
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Vice-President, Global Communications Lenovo
International
One of the world's most innovative personal computing companies, with a business model built on innovation, operational excellence, customer satisfaction and a focus on investment in emerging markets. Formed by Lenovo Group's acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division, the company develops, manufactures and markets reliable, high-quality, secure, and easy-to-use technology products and services worldwide. Lenovo has major research centres in Yamato, Japan; Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China; and Raleigh, North Carolina.
Personal:A graduate of St. John's College with a degree in philosophy and mathematics, and certified as a Six Sigma quality training Green Belt. Reid Walker is vice president of global communications and sponsorships for Lenovo International, publicly traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (LNVGY). With nearly $16 billion in sales annually, Lenovo is the world’s third largest PC maker. As communications lead for the corporation, he is responsible for media relations, employee communications (25,000 employees), as well as global sponsorships and alliances such as the 2008 Beijing Olympics, NBA and Formula One partnerships. Reid has held communications leadership positions at companies such as General Electric and the NASDAQ Stock Market.
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Chief Executive Officer, Communication AMMO, Inc.
Sean Williams is the owner of Communication AMMO, Inc. He helps leaders improve their communication skills, build strategic communication plans, strengthen internal communication capabilities and effectively measure the results.
Most recently, Williams was vice president of Corporate Communications for National City Corporation, leading the internal communication, and internal and external public relations measurement and evaluation functions during the height of the financial crisis. National City is now a part of The PNC Financial Services Group, the multibillion-asset company formed in late 2008 when the two companies merged.
Previously, he was manager of Editorial Services for The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, responsible for internal communication and video production, photography and event production management. While at Goodyear, Williams lead the team rebuilding the corporate intranet, using editorial content from around the world. He also served as the primary internal communication consultant to the company’s senior leadership and produced videos and still photography for a variety of external and internal constituencies.
Prior to joining Goodyear, he was senior consultant for Joe Williams Communications, Inc., expanding the company’s face-to-face communication learning program and the strategic planning, research and consulting practices with global companies including healthcare’s Merck, Quintiles, and Millennium Pharmaceuticals; Prudential, John Deere, and Lucent, among others, training literally thousands of managers on communication effectiveness.
Williams was with KeyCorp for 13 years, most recently as vice president and senior communication manager for the financial services company. Williams directed corporate management communication and provided comprehensive, research-based communication consulting for the personal and institutional investment business. Prior to that, he was Key’s corporate communication manager, responsible for Government Relations and Community Relations communications, among other assignments. A former bank branch manager, he graduated from the company’s management associate training program.
A University of Washington graduate, Williams is currently a member of the Institute for Public Relations’ Commission on Measurement and Evaluation. He served four years on the International Association of Business Communicators Cleveland Chapter board of directors, including a term as Chapter President.
Williams is twice-published in the Journal of Employee Communication Management, and the Institute for Public Relations’ Conversations online publication. He is the co-winner of the 2008 International Public Relations Research Conference Jackson-Sharpe Award for PR research authored by an academic and a practitioner, and presented the paper at the Conference.
Other speaking engagements include the 2008 Bulldog Media Summit and a panel discussion for IABC Cleveland, both on communication measurement and evaluation. For the 2007 Ragan Corporate Communications Conference and the Institute for PR’s inaugural Summit on Corporate Communication in 2006, Williams presented on internal communication best practices.
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Gagen Macdonald
Matt joined Gagen MacDonald in 2006 after a nearly-30-year career with major global corporations – the past 20 leading the function of communications and marketing for four Fortune 500 companies. His corporate experience spans manufacturing, professional services, airlines, healthcare and environmental organizations. He is widely published and recognized as a global leader in marketing integration, internal, organizational and external communications.
At Gagen MacDonald Matt leads teams to serve clients in a variety of industries, from financial services, pharmaceuticals and automotive to consumer products and manufacturing. His consulting expertise includes a broad range of internal applications including functional operations and structure, change management, leadership communications, employee engagement, channel application and utilization, messaging, and organizational alignment. Until 2006, Gonring was VP Global Marketing and Communications at Rockwell Automation where he was managed the corporation’s global marketing, internal, external and Web communications, advertising, issues management and brand development. At Rockwell he nurtured and developed an integrated global team reflecting the company’s matrix structure, led the brand repositioning, set up a customer experience center and measurement process, established fact-based internal programming and implemented substantial technology investments resulting in significantly enhanced marketing and communications programming.
Before joining Rockwell, Matt was vice president, Corporate Communications for Baxter International where he led internal and external communications, Web and business unit communications and global brand development. Under his leadership Baxter adopted a master brand model and developed a centralized Web management team. Before Baxter, he spent three years as Managing Partner, Communications and Integrated Marketing, for Arthur Andersen. As the firm’s top marketing and communications executive he oversaw development and implementation of a new firm-wide business brand strategy. Additionally, he managed communications surrounding the Andersen/Accenture arbitration. Before his Andersen career he spent ten years at USG Corporation where he was vice president, Corporate Communications, leading communications and marketing at the corporate and business unit levels. Some notable accomplishments at USG: Managing communications during a prepackaged bankruptcy, a leveraged recapitalization and hostile takeover. Gonring also spent eight years in the airline industry holding key headquarters communications assignments with United Airlines and Northwest Airlines. Additionally, he served in state and federal government environmental protection agencies early in his career.
Gonring has been a member of the graduate faculty at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Integrated Marketing Communications program where he taught marketing and internal communications courses. He has written extensively for professional and business periodicals and is a frequent speaker in top-level communications and marketing forums. He has authored a chapter on news media relations in the Integrated Marketing Communications Handbook, among other business books. A board member of The Arthur W. Page Society and co-chair of The Institute for Public Relations, Matt has served on Boards and as an advisor for 10 different consulting, not-for-profit and professional associations.
Education: American University, Washington D.C, MS Public
Relations, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, BS Communications and Political Science
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