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Shachar Oren with Neurotic Media, Rene Godefroy with The Godefroy Group, T.J. Callaway with ONWARD RESERVE, and Eddie Brumbaugh with Jackson Charles Home

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Shachar Oren / Neurotic Media Linkedin Facebook Twitter 

Since founding Neurotic Media in 2001, Shachar has been responsible for the management and development of the company’s business strategy and operations. Neurotic Media creates products and services that allow people to access and enjoy digital media on the devices and platforms they choose – an “iTunes in a box.” Customers include retailers, mobile carriers, consumer brands, and record companies.

Previously, Shachar served as SVP, International Business Development, Amplified Holdings; A&R manager and radio marketing representative, Ichiban Records; owner, Shoestring Records; produced and engineered several albums; graduated in 1995 from GSU with a B.S. in Music Industry and Music Production.

Rene Godefroy / The Godefroy Group Linkedin Twitter

T.J. Callaway / ONWARD RESERVE instagram TwitterFacebook

TJ Callaway, Co-Founder and CEO of ONWARD RESERVE From: Thomasville, GA and is our Co-Founder and CEO. Additional information: TJ was an SAE at the University of Georgia and was an investment banker in Atlanta before co-founding our company in 2011.

Eddie Brumbaugh / Jackson Charles Home Twitter instagram 

 

Special Edition: Business Marketing Association Atlanta

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Business Marketing Association (BMA) Atlanta Linkedin Facebook Twitter

Mark Semmelmayer  is the 2014 President of BMA’s Atlanta Chapter and the Chief Idea Officer of Pen & Inc. Marketing Communications, a marketing consultancy he founded in 2013. Mark has over 40 years of broadcast, ad agency and corporate communications experience and retired from corporate life last year after 32 years with Kimberly-Clark. Linkedin

Moira Vetter is the Founder of Modo Modo Agency, an award-winning full-service B2B Atlanta agency. She adores entrepreneurs and specializes in B2B branding, sales and marketing effectiveness and aligning brands internally and externally. Her 25 years experience includes client-side positions in technology and healthcare, and nearly every position on an agency org chart. She is the author of AdVenture: An Outsider’s Inside View of Getting an Entrepreneur to Market (a finalist for the Benjamin Franklin 2014 Indpendent Book Publisher’s Award), she is the AMA 2014 Agency Marketer of the Year, sits on the Georgia DOE Marketing Cluster, sits on the AMA Executive Advisory Board and is a graduate of the 2013 Class of Leadership Atlanta.

Aubriana Alvarez Lopez with Location Based Marketing Association, Faye Sykes with Peachtree Financial Group, and Steve and Leila Karp with Endurance House

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Aubriana Alvarez Lopez / Location Based Marketing Association Linkedin Twitter

Aubriana Alvarez Lopez is the Lead Strategist for Wireless, Hyperlocal and Mobile at Digital Element, the leader in the IP geolocation space, where she leads all mobile initiatives. As Lead Strategist, she oversees all things mobile- business, partnership and product development.As the world-leader in IP geolocation, Digital Element’s customers include Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo!, ESPN, eBay, DoubleClick/Google’s ad network, Microsoft, Apple, Cars.com, Lowes, The New York Times and more.Prior to Digital Element, Aubriana worked with Proximus Mobility, a leader in location-based proximity marketing. At Proximus, Aubriana worked with clients such as General Growth Properties, Cousins Properties and the Ace Golf Classic. During Aubriana’s tenure, Proximus Mobility was named One of 25 Hottest Georgia Companies and a TAG Top 10 Innovative Technology Company.

Aubriana also serves as President to the Atlanta chapter of the Location Based Marketing Association (LBMA) guiding the efforts to educate, share best practices and establish guidelines for growth and to promote the services of member companies to brands and other content-related providers. The LBMA is an international group dedicated to fostering research, education and collaborative innovation at the intersection of people, places and media, where she works with retailers, agencies, advertisers, media buyers, software and services providers, as well as wireless companies.

Faye Sykes / Peachtree Financial Group Linkedin 

Faye Sykes is a Wealth Manager at Peachtree Financial Group, Certified Long Term Care Specialist and author. She has a special commitment to assisting retirees navigate options, a traditionally underserved group in financial advisory service market. With an extensive design background, Faye now focuses on designing workable long-term financial solutions for closely held businesses, families and individuals.

Steve & Leila Karp / Endurance House Linkedin Twitter Facebook

Steve and Lee Karp are co-owners of Endurance House Atlanta, a specialty retail store catering to triathletes, marathoners, IRONMAN competitors and runners and walkers of all abilities. Endurance House focuses on building relationships with people to help them “Redefine Their Possible,” providing the knowledge, gear and motivation to meet and exceed their personal performance goals. Both Steve and Lee are themselves endurance athletes, having competed in multiple triathlons and IRON-distance events. In addition to his role in running the business, Steve is a project director at McCarthy Building Companies, overseeing multimillion-dollar commercial construction projects. Lee recently left a full-time career with Guess!, where she most recently was a retail recruiting manager, The Karps plan to open three locations in the Greater Atlanta market over the next few years. Their first store opened in May in Alpharetta.

Andrew Dietz with Creative Growth Group

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Andrew Dietz / Creative Growth Group Linkedin

I’m a marketing, client development and business services growth expert with over 25 years experience. I launched Creative Growth Group (CGG) in 2003 to support the revenue growth and client relationship efforts of progressive-thinking, action-oriented professional services firms locally, nationally and globally. We help firms stake their unique claims-to- fame, attract their clients-of-choice, activate the business development skills of their expert professionals and we also take a hands-on role in running business development and revenue generating campaigns. We also founded the nationally recognized Client Advisor Awards program.

CGG developed our unique “The Opening Playbook” approach over ten years driving growth for a range of elite firms from law, accounting, management and operations consulting to business advisory services, public relations, marketing, human resources, IT services, architecture, engineering, commercial banking, investment banking, commercial insurance and real estate service firms. While our clients include some of the world’s best known professional services brands, we are just as often engaged by “challenger” brand firms that are highly motivated to unseat the front-runner. The Opening Playbook: The Professionals Guide To Building Business Relationships That Grow Revenue is the new book I’ve written based on CGG’s proven methodology which will be published by McGraw-Hill in May 2014. Order it: http://amzn.to/18pDmTC

In my spare time, I’m involved with programs that spark and celebrate creativity and innovation. I’ve served on the Board of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, VOX Teen Communications, IMAGE Film & Video, and the Atlanta College of Art. I’m a contributor to The Art Section blog and I’m the author of the book, The Last Folk Hero which is about outsider artists and the inside world of high art. I love to bring what I learn about innovation and creativity to my work with professional services firms.

Special Edition: “Speaking Insights” with the National Speakers Association Georgia

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NSA Georgia is the leading source in Georgia for community, education and entrepreneurial business knowledge needed to be successful in the speaking profession. Our members include professional speakers, aspiring speakers, authors, consultants, salespeople, trainers and vendors for the speaking industry. We meet in the Atlanta area the third Saturday morning each month. You can learn more at www.nsageorgia.org.

“Speaking Insights” is a quarterly program of the Georgia chapter of the National Speakers Association. Each show will feature professional speakers who share their insights on how to succeed in the speaking business.

Our Co-Hosts:

NSA Georgia president (2013-14) Desmond “Dez” Thornton is an idea enthusiast with a natural ability to transform complex ideas into simple, sequential steps. His passion for words and commitment to service led him to discover his labor of love, professional speaking. He spreads this love by dedicating himself to the advancement of professional and beginner speakers who strive to articulate their vision with the clarity and enthusiasm necessary to inspire action. Dez can be reached at dez@desmondthornton.com.

In an attention-deficient, entertain-me-now, wait-while-I-post-that-on-my-Facebook kind of world, the typical business presentation doesn’t measure up. NSA Georgia president (2014-15) Kelly Vandever works with organizations and individuals whose presentations need to get results. An award-winning speaker herself, Kelly helps clients improve their presentations using old school and hi-tech techniques, all while annihilating bullet points and making this world a better place for business audiences everywhere. You can reach Kelly at SpeakingPractically.com, at 770-597- 1108, tweet @KellyVandever, or www.facebook.com/speakingpractically.

 

Our Guests:

Jennifer B. Kahnweiler, Ph.D., is a professional speaker and author who helps introverts lead with quiet confidence. Her bestselling books, The Introverted Leader: Building on Your Quiet Strength and Quiet Influence: The Introvert’s Guide to Making a Difference have sold over 60,000 copies and been translated into eleven languages.

Jennifer has spoken at hundreds of organizations including GE, AT&T, NASA, Freddie Mac, Boeing, Turner Broadcasting, the CDC and the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam. She is a fourteen-year faculty member of the American Management Association and was the “Madrina” (Godmother) speaker at the Universidad Americana’s

Commencement in Paraguay. Jennifer has also been featured in Forbes, Bloomberg Business Week and the Wall Street Journal and was featured in a cover story of Time Magazine.

A member of the Georgia chapter of the National Speakers Association, she is a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), granted to only 8% of NSA members. She heads up the Global Task Force of the Berrett-Koehler Author’s Co-op.

Jennifer attended her first National Speakers Association convention in San Diego seven years ago and has been hooked on NSA ever since. Please visit her site for a free introvert quiz and downloads of her book and audio excerpts at www.jenniferkahnweiler.com. She is active on Twitter at jennkahnweiler and she promises to follow you back.

Elliott Miller and Monroe Thrower III with Georgia Banking Company, Mark Donnolo with SalesGlobe, and Mark Castriota with Loews Atlanta Hotel

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Elliott Miller /  Georgia Banking Company Linkedin 

Monroe Thrower III / Georgia Banking Company Linkedin

Monroe Thrower is a twelve year veteran of the mortgage and banking industry and is an expert in mortgage marketing, product development, origination, operations and secondary markets. He has spent his last 10 years at Georgia Banking Company leading the retail mortgage Division and most recently as Director of Client Relations for GBC Funding. He thrives helping small businesses find liquidity solutions through GBC’s niche funding services. He has a BS in Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Mark Donnolo / SalesGlobe Linkedin Twitter

Mark Donnolo is managing partner with SalesGlobe, a sales effectiveness consulting and services firm that works with leading companies in the areas of sales innovation, sales strategy, sales team coaching and training, and sales compensation. He is the author of “The Innovative Sale” and “What Your CEO Needs to Know About Sales Compensation” and founder of the SalesGlobe Forum, a thought leadership and research group that works with leading business schools.

Mark holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a BFA from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. He serves on the Board of Trustees of The University of the Arts and the Ludwig Symphony Orchestra.

Mark Castriota / Loews Atlanta Hotel  Linkedin Twitter Facebook

Mark Castriota is the General Manager of the Loews Atlanta Hotel, a 414-room, AAA Four Diamond luxury hotel located in the vibrant Midtown district of Atlanta.

A veteran of the hospitality industry, Castriota joined the Loews Atlanta Hotel team in December 2013 following a 27-year career with Marriott Hotels & Resorts.

His extensive leadership experience includes serving as a general manager of the Renaissance Atlanta Midtown, the Atlanta Marriott Marquis and the Atlanta Marriott Century Center, and as director of operations at the JW Marriott Hotel Buckhead Atlanta. Prior to leading hotel operations, he led the food and beverage divisions of several hotels in Atlanta, Chicago and Charleston.

Castriota’s impressive operations and management track record has resulted in several hospitality industry accolades including 2012 General Manager of the Year from the Georgia Hotel & Lodging Assocation, 2009 Marriott General Manager of the Year, and 2009 Marriott Hotel of the Year.

In addition to his leadership at the hotel, he is actively involved in the community serving as an executive committee member of the Atlanta Hotel Council, a corporate fundraising board member of the Woodruff Arts Center, and committee member and co-chairperson of the Children’s Miracle Network Charity Golf Tournament.

A graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Castriota earned a Bachelor of Science degree in hospitality management.

 

Rebecca Harrell with Randstad US, Pegge Riley and Angela Wacht with Sage Center, Kelly Riedinger and Rusty Willis with Real Living Capital City

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Rebecca Harrell / Randstad US

Rebecca Harrell is Regional Vice President of Randstad Staffing, Office and Administration division. She is responsible for the sales strategy, operations and market growth for Office and Administration in the Atlanta market. She brings over 20 years of sales, recruitment and operational leadership and has had a proven track record of delivering strong financial results while developing and implementing strategies and programs that enhance, evolve and strengthen a high performance culture.

Pegge Riley & Angela Wacht / Sage Center

Licensed Counselors & Directors

 Kelly Riedinger / Real Living Capital City

Realtor

Rusty Willis / Real Living Capital City

Broker

 

Special Edition: Business Marketing Association (BMA) Atlanta

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Business Marketing Association (BMA) Atlanta  Linkedin  Facebook

Mark Semmelmayer  is the 2014 President of BMA’s Atlanta Chapter and the Chief Idea Officer of Pen & Inc. Marketing Communications, a marketing consultancy he founded in 2013. Mark has over 40 years of broadcast, ad agency and corporate communications experience and retired from corporate life last year after 32 years with Kimberly-Clark.

Natalie McNulty is VP of BMA Atlanta — Young Professionals.

Jennifer Sabel with InterContinental Hotels Group, Hank Picken with Beaumont Products, Inc., and Keehln Wheeler with MaxMedia

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Jennifer Sabel / InterContinental Hotels Group Linkedin

Jennifer Sabel is a Business Development Manager, with InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) the world's largest global hotel company. She is responsible for the groups and meetings market of IHG's Business Development Group. In this role, Jennifer is responsible for prospecting, analyzing, and creating new business opportunities for IHG. She provides an enthusiastic vibe to her position by bringing an innovative perspective to building the company's account profile. Jennifer assists Key Account Managers and Key Account Directors to increase segment revenue and account portfolios.

Prior to joining IHG, Jennifer served as Catering Representative for Hyatt Regency Atlanta. She was responsible for both internal and external meetings, client and associate communications, and event execution. She developed keen relationship skills in the hospitality industry.

Specialties: Business Development; Client Relationship Building; Cold Calling; Networking; Prospecting, Time Management

Hank Picken / Beaumont Products, Inc. 

Mr. Picken has been in the Consumer Products business since the early 1970’s and has held various management positions at Colgate-Palmolive, Lever Brothers and Pfizer’s Consumer Products Division.

Prior to beginning his career in Consumer Products, he worked for Price Waterhouse where he earned his CPA from New York State.

He founded Beaumont Products in 1991, and has built a consumer product business in Kennesaw, GA with Nationally Advertised brands of Citrus Magic, Clearly Natural Soaps, Veggie Wash, Trewax and Farmers’ Market Body Care Products.

Mr. Picken has an AB in Government & Law from Lafayette College and an MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College.

He also served in the United States Army as an Infantry Captain with a tour of duty in Viet Nam.

He is currently a member of the Kennesaw State University Advisory Board to the School of Marketing and Professional Sales and is a past Director of the Tommy Nobis Rehab Center in Marietta

Keehln Wheeler / MaxMedia 

Founded by Keehln Wheeler in 1997, MaxMedia helps clients, such as AT&T, The Home Depot, Cox Enterprises, NCR and LexisNexis, shape their digital ecosystem to create long-term value and entice users to interact with their content.

The firm’s digital services extend across five disciplines: Customer Experience Strategy, Creative Design, Motion & Display, Data Science and Technology. To accomplish its unified approach, the team leverages its diverse capabilities in brainstorming, planning and delivering a unique experience for its clients and their customers.