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Carol O’Kelley with Salesfusion and Jerry Stone with Big Green Egg

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Carol O’Kelley / Salesfusion
CEO

Carol joined Salesfusion as Chief Executive Officer in 2015. Carol has more than 20 years of technology marketing and operations experience, ranging from startups to multi-hundred million dollar global businesses.

Previously, Carol was Chief Marketing Officer of RedPrairie, now operated as JDA . She led global strategy and marketing during a time of rapid growth for the company. Before RedPrairie, Carol was Vice President and Chief of Staff of Oracle’s global business unit for retail, which acquired and successfully integrated numerous leading retail technology companies. Prior to that Carol was Director of Corporate and Americas Marketing at Manhattan Associates, the world’s leading provider of supply chain management solutions. Carol graduated from Washington and Lee University with a Bachelor of Arts in English, where she serves on the university’s board for the Connolly Center for Entrepreneurship.

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Jerry Stone / Big Green Egg

Life is short. Let’s EAT. Jerry Stone is the business development manager for the world largest producer and distributor of ceramic grills, the Big Green Egg.

Jerry grew up with a love of food passed along by his grandfather and uncle who were the kings of the grill. The flavors produced, and taste of the food, always drove him to enjoy grilling himself. He has over 30 years in the retail and grill business and has found the Ultimate place to match up both passions.

Today Jerry is helping grow the dealer/distributor network and supports the development of new products for the Ultimate Cooking Experience, The Big Green Egg.

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Bob Bartels with Siemens and Samuel Katz with Boxer Property

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Bob Bartels / Siemens
Director of Communications

Creative and results-oriented corporate communications professional with the demonstrated ability to manage projects and programs, budgets, staff, vendors and processes with an entrepreneurial spirit.

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Samuel A. Katz / Boxer Property
Workstyle Product Manager

As the Workstyle Product Manager, Samuel Katz oversees the end-to-end delivery and management of Boxer Property’s proprietary collaborative spaces, Boxer Workstyle. These duties include involvement in all aspects of the business’ development; from concept, design, and planning, to construction and delivery, through leasing and operations of the workspaces. Since taking the Product Manager role in 2015, Samuel has overseen the rapid expansion and development of the Workstyle product, growing to over 650,000 square feet across 70 locations nationwide.

In addition to managing the Workstyle product, Samuel also sits on the A.C.E. (Analytic Center of Excellence) and Data Governance committees, both dedicated to integrating and maintaining high quality data and analytics within the organization.  Before joining Boxer, Samuel had extensive experience in service-based sales, business development, entrepreneurship, and residential real estate. He holds a B.A. from the University of New Orleans.

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Jay Ferro with Earthlink and Matthew May with Acuity

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Jay Ferro / Earthlink
EVP, Chief Information and Product Officer

Mr. Ferro has served as our Executive Vice President, Chief Information Officer and Products since July 2016. From January 2012 to July 2016, Mr. Ferro served as the Chief Information Officer for the American Cancer Society, a volunteer health organization. From August 2011 to January 2012, he served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for AdCare Health Systems, a health care facility management company. Prior to joining AdCare Health Systems, Mr. Ferro spent seven years at American International Group (AIG), including as Vice President and Chief Information Officer for AIG Aerospace, an aerospace insurer. Prior to that, he served as Chief Financial Officer for Operations and Systems for AIG Aerospace.

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Matthew May / Acuity
Managing Partner

I have experience adding value to companies by helping navigate tax and accounting rules. Prior to coming to Atlanta, I was a part of the Austin technology community both as an advisor and as a part of a start-up that had a successful $100 million exit in November 2000.

I am an active leader in the Georgia technology community and serve on the selection committees for Venture Atlanta, the Technology Association of Georgia’s Top 40 Innovators, and the Association for Corporate Growth’s Georgia FAST 40. I have also taken community leadership roles with Georgia Aquarium’s Next Wave Society, New American Pathways, and Venture Atlanta.

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Grant Wainscott with the Metro Atlanta Chamber and Lara O’Connor Hodgson with NOW Corp

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Money20/20 is the world’s biggest, boldest and best event covering payments and financial services innovation for connected commerce at the intersection of mobile, retail, marketing services, data and technology. 

 

 

Grant Wainscott / Metro Atlanta Chamber
Director of Technology

Helping build and globally promote metro Atlanta’s technology ecosystem within the clusters of FinTech, Cyber Security, Software, and Digital Media/Entertainment Tech.

Seasoned global executive with extensive experience in economic and community development, chamber of commerce and organizational development. Significant international trade mission knowledge, including planning and executing successful cross-border initiatives and partnerships.

Excellent background in business and entrepreneur development, project management, and commercial real estate site selection.

Detailed film industry experience, specializing in community film office management, location scouting, pre and post production assistance, production recruiting and sound stage leasing.

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Lara O’Connor Hodgson / NOWaccount Network Corporation
Founder, President and CEO

Lara has launched product and service businesses, raised capital, and served in executive management roles with Nourish (a patented consumer product for children), Insomnia Consulting LLC (an infrastructure development company), Dewberry Capital Corporation, DCH (a $400M private equity firm in which she was a founding principal), Dunk (a performance footwear and apparel brand), and iXL, an Internet development company. Lara has extensive experience in brand development, corporate strategy, business development, marketing, and operations, Lara has worked with companies such as Nike, Coca-Cola, The Home Depot, Keds, and others.

 

 

Women In Technology (WIT) Special Episode

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The work of Women in Technology has an incredible impact.

Since 1992, Women in Technology has had a mission dedicated to promoting the advancement of women in Georgia’s technology community. Through the WIT COMMUNITY, WIT Also educates and encourages girls and young women to pursue careers in STEM.

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Sandy Welfare /  WIT 

Sandy D. Welfare is the Executive Director of Women In Technology (WIT). Prior to that, she was the Executive Director of Cool Girls Inc, an award-winning early intervention after-school program dedicated to the empowerment of girls (2009-2015).

Sandy’s career began in 1989 in Greenwich, Connecticut where she joined Rand Insurance as the Controller. Six years later, she accepted a position with Lucent Technologies, an international telecommunications leader, holding a number of positions including serving as Accounting and Treasury Manager in Singapore (1999-2000) and then as Senior Manager in Australia and New Zealand (2000-2002). Sandy returned to Atlanta in 2002 as Senior Manager of Global Financial Services.

In 2003, Sandy accepted a position as Director of Operations for Xchanging, a business processing outsourcing company. In 2006, her career took her to London, England as Managing Director for professional services, where she managed global business processing services for bank financial transactions, insurance and retail.

Sandy received her undergraduate degree from St. John’s University in New York, and a Master of Business Administration from Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. She serves on the board of several non-profits, including Kiwanis Club of Atlanta. Sandy resides in Marietta, Georgia with her husband, Cliff and son, Soloman.

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Featured on this program:

Lindsay Hawkins / It Staffing Consultant and WIT Connect Event Chair

Joye Nettles / Consultant Developer with ThoughtWorks

Duvall Smith / CTO with Event Tent 

 

 

Independent We Stand Special Episode

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Andy Darnell / Howard Brothers Hardware
Director of Marketing and Communications

I am the Director of Marketing for Howard Brothers, a locally owned and independently run True Value Hardware store and Outdoor Power Equipment company with several locations in the Atlanta area. I’ve also had the opportunity to help develop and implement web content strategy with some of the largest hospitals and healthcare systems in the country.

On a personal level, I help small businesses develop and implement best practice web presence strategy. This involves architecture, design, content creation, web development, SEO, SEM, social media integration… Basically tell the story of who they are and why they are passionate about their business.

I live in Peachtree Corners, Georgia with my incredible wife and two amazing daughters.

 

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Digital Marketing Series Episode 03

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Spencer Pumpelly / SpencerPumpelly.com

Spencer Pumpelly was introduced to racing at a young age while watching his father contest the IMSA GTP Championship in a Ford Prototype during the late 1980’s. In 1995 he enrolled in the Skip Barber Racing School and has since raced in many classes of cars successfully. Spencer’s completed his eighteenth season of professional racing in 2015 driving for Park Place Racing in the Tudor United Sportscar Championship and Rennsport One in the Continental Tire ST class. When not racing, Spencer enjoys spending time with his wife Lindsay, son Ryder, daughter Parker, running, ice hockey, Jiu Jitsu, and flying helicopters.

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Eric Burch / P1 Groupe, Inc.

Eric Burch has been catering to clients within the motor sports industry since 1998. In 2006 Mr. Burch formed P1 Groupe to put a more dedicated focus on marketing, media and branding within the industry; which has since branched out to include a number of other industries aside from just motor sports. To date, P1 Groupe has placed literally hundreds of professional drivers with race teams, and generated millions of dollars of revenue back into the sport. As well, P1 Groupe has been successful working with it’s corporate clients to generate millions of dollars back in traced return on investment of various marketing initiatives.

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Thomas Harpointner (Co Host) / AIS Media

Thomas Harpointner is founder & CEO of AIS Media, Inc., an Atlanta-based, award-winning digital marketing firm. Thomas is a recognized subject matter expert on digital marketing strategy development and execution.

Thomas has served as a keynote speaker at trade organizations, conferences, and corporate events. He has appeared on Fox Business, Bloomberg Television, CNN Radio, CNBC, The Advertising Show, The Today Show and many other TV and radio programs. He’s been featured in publications such as Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Forbes, CFO, AJC, Fortune, and Wired.

At AIS Media, Thomas consults executives at leading companies on digital strategy. He’s led hundreds of digital marketing initiatives for clients ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 corporations such as AT&T, Synovus Financial, Emory Healthcare, Wake Forest Innovations, Pfizer, and Maui Jim Sunglasses. Under his leadership, AIS Media has been recognized with dozens of prestigious industry awards.

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Scott Cannon with Skanska, Jeremy Sharp with Rocket Software and Dr. Dionne Colbert with Great Expressions Dental Centers,

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Scott Cannon / Skanska
Executive Vice President/General Manager Georgia & South Carolina

Scott has 19 years’ experience in construction with Skanska in various leadership roles. As General Manager of Georgia and South Carolina, Scott oversees all office functions, with specific emphasis on implementation of all management control systems, overseeing the preparation of value management studies and cost estimates, as well as field activities, and for the continued development of project management responsibilities. While Scott has most recently served as Account Manager in San Antonio, TX, he is originally from Georgia and has thorough understanding of the market as well as a diverse market background in healthcare, corporate commercial, higher education, K-12, government, and light industrial.

Scott’s project experience includes the $168 million, 600,000-SF replacement hospital Ambulatory Care Center at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio; the $70 million, 181,200-SF Tri-Service Research Laboratory in San Antonio; the $51.9 million, new 215,000-SF building for Alamo Colleges in San Antonio; the $41.3 million 144,000-SF HCA Pearland Medical Center in Houston; and the $40 million, 142,000-SF HCA Alliance Alliance Medical Center in Ft. Worth, TX. Scott has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

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Jeremy Sharp / Rocket Software

With more than 16 years of Software Sales and Management experience, I am a skilled sales, marketing, business development, and information technology executive with extensive experience in solution selling, channel sales experience, divisional management, program management, systems planning, strategic planning, and services delivery. I have managed sales organizations, as well as regional consulting teams, closed a variety of major software transactions and software service agreements, created personnel training programs, and developed strategic marketing plans.
Throughout my career, I have consistently overachieved quota, increased revenues, enhanced customer relations, and developed valuable staff members.

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Dr. Dionne Colbert / Great Expressions Dental Centers

Dr. Dionne Colbert has been a practicing dentist for 23 years and has been at the Eagles Landing location for the past 6. She is a graduate of Meharry Medical College in Nashville. She also is one of the clinical partners for Great Expressions Dental Centers, overseeing GEDC dental practices in Atlanta.

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Atlanta’s Most Trusted Advisors Features Sarah Assalti

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Atlanta’s Most Trusted Advisors interviews industry experts from in and around the Metro Atlanta Area. Our goal is to provide valuable information that all business owners and managers can use in their day-to-day work to help them succeed.

 

 

Sarah Assalti / Sage

Sarah Assalti has been a member of the marketing services community for almost 20 years. Her experience has run the gamut from nonprofit giants like American Cancer Society, to small startups, to Fortune 500 companies such as Sage. After leaving the nonprofit arena in 2008, Sarah dove into the world of marketing automation, exploring how technology can be a friend, not a foe, to marketing and sales teams. As the Manager for Marketing Automation at Sage, she has enjoyed creating processes where none existed and removing roadblocks so strategies can move forward effectively.

Outside of the marketing world, Sarah enjoys traveling, writing, and spending time with her husband, her young son and their three dogs. Sarah volunteers and raises money for several nonprofits throughout the year including Relay For Life and various humane charities. She hopes that someday soon she will finally understand string theory and master the Rubik’s cube.

 

 

Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk (Host) / bbr Marketing
President

Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk has been a member of the creative and marketing services community for over 20 years and does not appear to be leaving it anytime soon. As president of bbr marketing, she has relished the challenges of entrepreneurship as she worked to grow and nurture a new business. Since the firm’s inception in 2009, Bonnie has led the young company to become widely recognized and respected within the professional services marketing niche, with award-winning client websites and an outstanding history of business success having worked with clients in 23 states and 2 Canadian provinces.

 

 

Jeffrey Keppen with CBRE, Dyron Dinsmore with Bank of America Plaza, Kevin Bray with Deputy and Bryan Stillwagon with Sherman and Howard

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Jeffrey Keppen / CBRE
Senior VP

As a Senior Vice President for CBRE’s Atlanta Brokerage Group, Jeff Keppen, oversees the marketing and leasing for a number of office projects located throughout the metro area including Piedmont Center 5-8, Wildwood Center, University Office Park, 201 17th Street, 271 17th Street, Royal Ridge and Peachtree Center.

Since joining Asset Services in 2005, he and his team have completed more than 3.5 million rentable square feet of office leasing consisting of more than 600 transactions. Clients include CBRE Global Investors – Strategic Partners (CBREGI), Parkway Properties, KBS Realty Advisors, Granite Properties and DRA Advisors.

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Dyron Dinsmore / Shorenstein Properties
General Manager Bank of America Plaza

Dyron’s career in the real estate industry spans almost three decades. He began his career just out of College in 1985, with Noble Properties-Aplomb; the firm that developed Lenox Square Mall in 1956. Shortly thereafter, Dyron joined Cadillac Fairview – now Prentiss Properties – in the development and opening of what was then referred to as the IBM Tower; known officially as One Atlantic Center. Still with Prentiss, he relocated to Irvine-Newport Beach, CA to join the Prentiss team in fee management for a portfolio of office properties run by The Irvine Co. Dyron’s next move brought him to Dallas, TX where he joined the management team for what was then First City Center, now 1700 Pacific. In 1990, he returned to Atlanta and joined Cousins Properties in the opening of 191 Peachtree Tower and what was then called C&S Plaza, now Bank of America Plaza. After a few years’ hiatus working in land brokerage, Dyron has returned to his former profession at Bank of America Plaza, some 20 years after having opened the project in 1992.

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Kevin Bray / Deputy
Director of Customer Success

Talented sales professional with a strong background in mobile Internet, telecommunications and information systems. Proven track record in developing high profile customer relationships and delivering creative solutions to complex business problems that result in positive ROI. Strong problem-solving, project management, communication, and negotiation skills.

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Bryan Stillwagon / Sherman & Howard
Labor & Employment Partner

Bryan Stillwagon is a partner in the Labor and Employment Department at Sherman & Howard. He is based in Atlanta. His experience covers a broad spectrum of issues affecting the employer-employee relationship. In addition to defending against numerous claims brought by plaintiffs and the EEOC under Title VII, the ADEA, and the ADA, Bryan has spent significant time advising and defending clients in exempt status and independent contractor matters under the FLSA on both an individual and collective action basis. His litigation experience also includes representation of companies and high-level executives in lawsuits involving the enforcement of employment agreements and restrictive covenants.

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