Chicago AMA's 2008-2009 Board of Directors

President George Couris Pepper Group Immediate Past President Tim Sheridan Olds Products / Fitzpatrick Bros. President-Elect Allison Summers SITE International VP Chapter Excellence/Secretary Jacine Crittenden Genworth Financial VP-Elect, Chapter Excellence/Secretary Cheryl Grandolfo Allied Solutions LLC Treasurer Michele Malo Barilla America, Inc. Treasurer-Elect Christine Redmann Crowe Chizek Vice President, Business-to-Business Marketing Scott Ablin DestinationRx, Inc. Vice President-Elect, Business-to-Business Marketing Steven Handmaker Assurance Agency Vice President, Communications Tim Lindsay Vice President-Elect, Communications Lucy Subhasiriwatana First Hospitality Group Vice President, Consumer Marketing Brian Sok Philips North America Vice President-Elect, Consumer Marketing Katie Whiting Juice Tyme Director-at-Large Mary Rownd AMA International

Director-at-Large Cindy Bond The Bond Group Director-at-Large Wellington Chu Motorola, Inc. Director-at-Large Ted Souder Google Director-at-Large Scott Tang MarketTools, Inc. Director-at-Large Sima Dahl Parlay Communications Director-at-Large Doug Davila MarketSense Director-at-Large Harvey John Morris Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau Vice President, Marketing Research Garry Rosenfeldt Midas International Vice President-Elect, Marketing Research Peter Morich CPR, Inc. Vice President, Membership Paul Stark DePaul University, MBA Vice President-Elect, Membership Brandi Blades Research International Vice President, Strategic Marketing James Heckman JAK Sales and Marketing Vice President-Elect, Strategic Marketing Ellen Raab E-T-A Circuit Breakers Executive Director (ex-officio board member) Jennifer Connelly American Marketing Association, Chicago Chapter

BIOS ON 2008-2009 BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

President

George Couris

George is executive vice president at the Pepper Group, a full-service marketing firm. He and his team work with clients ranging from startups to F500 companies to create and execute strategic marketing programs. Prior to joining the Pepper Group, he held numerous B2B sales and marketing positions within Michelin North America, eventually managing the marketing strategy for a rapidly-growing $180 million division. George holds a B.S. from the University of Illinois and an MBA from the University of Chicago. George has been a volunteer member of the B2B committee for three years. He has earned a black belt in Tea Kwon Do and Hapkido, and also enjoys boating, skiing and broomball.
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Immediate Past President

Tim Sheridan

Tim has recently assumed the role of Sales Director for Olds Products/Fitzpatrick Brothers. Prior to that, he was Business Development Manager for BRANDVISION™, part of the North American Corporation. Previously, Tim was the Vice President of Sales for Bluemack where he worked with clients to design and develop unique marketing programs using high-impact, imprinted promotional products. As a PPAI Golden Pyramid Award winner, his focus is toward creative applications of branded merchandise in order to achieve real business results.  Prior to entering the promotional products industry, Tim managed Happy Meal programming for McDonald's as a Sr. Project Manager at Perseco, and worked overseas for nine years in England, France and Australia developing continuity promotions for the supermarket industry with JMP-Newcor. Tim currently serves on the Marketing Committee of Josephinum Academy, an all-girls, college preparatory school serving underprivileged students in Wicker Park. With two teenage daughters, Tim maintains his sanity keeping active in sports and playing music. Tim joined Chicago AMA in 1998. He has volunteered on the Professional Development Committee, served as Vice President, and served two terms as Vice President of Membership.
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President-Elect
Allison Summers
Allison’s career spans eighteen years specializing in live marketing events, tradeshows and association management. Currently, Allison serves as the Managing Director for the Society of Incentive and Travel Executives (SITE), a global industry group with members in 87 countries and meetings that rotate around the world. Her experience also includes tenure with the George P. Johnson Company, Director level roles with GES Exposition Services and serving as General Manager of On Location Inc.  Allison has volunteered with the Membership Committee serving as VP of Membership for 2006-2007.  While there are great marketing resources Allison’s new web find is Vayama.com for researching international travel.

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VP Chapter Excellence/Secretary
Jacine Crittenden
Jacine brings with her a wealth of media and communications experience from her native England where she obtained an undergraduate degree from the University of Birmingham and holds a diploma in Marketing, Public Relations & Advertising.  Jacine currently drives branding and marketing communication campaigns for Genworth Financial's wealth management portfolio. In her previous roles as Marketing and Business Development Manager with London-based consultancy firms, Jacine excelled at strategic planning and project innovation. Prior to this, Jacine enjoyed a fast-paced career with the BBC's television sport department, as a member of award winning production teams that broadcasted a range of world-wide sporting events (including the Olympics and World Skiing Championships). Jacine enjoys globe-trotting with her husband, portrait painting and supporting community arts and heritage initiatives.

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Vice President-Elect, Chapter Excellence/Secretary
Cheryl Grandolfo
Cheryl is a sales consultant with Allied Solutions, LLC, a leading provider of insurance, lending and marketing products to 3,000 financial institutions nationwide. Previously, she was a product manager supporting sales through field marketing and managing product providers. Prior to joining Allied, Cheryl was at a 24/7 call center in the financial services industry for seven years where she started in the marketing department and then moved to managing alliance distribution business development initiatives. She has been involved in AMA since joining as a collegiate member and has been active on numerous committees with the Chicago professional chapter. Since 2004, Cheryl has served on the Chicago AMA’s Board of Directors, most recently as Vice President of Strategic Marketing. She earned her BBA in Marketing from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and completed international studies in The Netherlands. Besides a love for chocolate and good eats, Cheryl is passionate about traveling internationally and exploring Chicago.
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Treasurer
Michele Malo
Michele Malo has been associated with the American Marketing Association for over 13 years, beginning as a collegiate member at the University of Nebraska and after graduation has continued as a member of the Chicago AMA for over eleven years. Michele has been on numerous committees within the Chicago AMA, such as Professional Development, Consumer Marketing, and Membership. Professionally, Michele has just recently taken over the Senior Brand Manager role at Barilla America overseeing their Foodservice marketing efforts.  Prior to taking on this new role Michele was the Business Unit Manager for the Kellogg Company managing their foodservice cookie and cracker business. Michele has also held other various marketing roles within Kraft Foods and Dunkin Brands. Michele holds a BA in advertising from University of Nebraska-Lincoln and an MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.  Other affiliations include the Women’s Food Service Forum and Alpha Sigma Alpha’s Windy City Alumnae Chapter.
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Treasurer-Elect
Christine Redmann
Christine Redmann is currently a marketing executive with Crowe Chizek and Company LLC, one of the top 10 accounting and consulting firms in the United States.  Her responsibilities include overseeing the development of the firm's marketing strategies, the annual planning process, and providing thought leadership to the marketing team. Prior to Crowe, Christine was KPMG's Midwest Marketing Director. In addition, Christine has over 20 years of strategic marketing experience, including a brand management position with Nestle, several years as director of market expansion at Citibank, and a variety of agency experiences serving clients such as General Mills, Abbott Labs, Whirlpool, National City and CitiFinancial. She is a published author and frequent speaker on a variety of direct marketing topics.  She received her MBA from the University of Chicago in 1993 and an undergraduate degree in English Literature from Ripon College in Wisconsin.

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Vice President, B2B Marketing
Scott Ablin
Scott Ablin, PCM, is Senior Director, Commercial Marketing for DestinationRx, a leading developer of health plan and prescription drug comparison applications. Prior to DestinationRx, Mr. Ablin served as Director of Marketing for CIGNA HealthCare and is responsible for marketing and communications in the company’s Central and Great Lakes Regions. Before joining CIGNA in 2003, Mr. Ablin was Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Chicago, Illinois-based I-DEP, a leading provider of Internet-based technology solutions to the legal industry.  Prior to that, Mr. Ablin held a variety of senior level marketing positions at Nextel Communications and Boise Cascade Corporation. Mr. Ablin holds a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Communications Studies from The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, and a Master of Science in Marketing Communications degree with Highest Distinction from Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois.  Mr. Ablin has also received designation as a Professional Certified Marketer (PCM) through the American Marketing Association, and as a Certified Business Communicator (CBC) through the Business Marketing Association.[back to the top]


Vice President-Elect, B2B Marketing
Steven Handmaker
Steven Handmaker is Vice President, Marketing and Communications for Assurance Agency, one of the largest, independent insurance brokerage operations in the Midwest.  In this role, Mr. Handmaker is responsible for Assurance’s marketing, communications and branding efforts.  As the company’s top creative professional, he provides counsel on strategic marketing communication initiatives and acts as the primary writer and editor of key company messages.  Mr. Handmaker has 15 years of professional marketing experience, with a heavy concentration on the insurance sector having previously worked for ISMIE Mutual Insurance Company and Near North Insurance Brokerage.  In addition, he has consulted for a variety of businesses as principal of Handmaker Communications Consulting.  He is a graduate of Illinois State University, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Public Relations, with a minor concentration in Political Science.  Well known for an uncanny ability to quote movie lines and obscure song lyrics, he spends what little free time he has traveling, jogging while listening to his iPod, worshipping Bruce Springsteen and helplessly following his Chicago Cubs.

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Vice President, Consumer Marketing
Brian Sok
Brian is transitioning into the strategic marketing group at Philips Lighting as the Manager of Marketing Research.  While at Philips, Brian has spent time working in pricing, creating multi-channel sales promotions, evaluating new market expansion strategies and contributing in the development of segmentation strategies.  Prior to joining Philips, Brian worked as a Marketing Manager for a large industrial distributor.  He also spent some time working in the field for Pepsi Americas.  Brian has his undergraduate degree in Marketing from DePaul University and an MBA from the University of Illinois.  In his free time Brian enjoys golfing, playing tennis and traveling.
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Vice President-Elect, Consumer Marketing
Katie Whiting
Katie is the marketing manager for Juice Tyme, a concentrated juice and beverage manufacturer for the foodservice industry on Chicago’s Southside. She works with a variety of distributors nationally whose customers include universities, national restuarant chains, casinos and healthcare facilities. Prior to joining Juice Tyme, Katie worked in the marketing department for Aquent, a global creative and marketing staffing company. Katie has a B.A. from Indiana University and has been a volunteer of the Membership committee for three years. She is an avid White Sox fan and enjoys playing softball and cycling on the lakeshore path. 
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Director-At-Large
Wellington Chu
Wellington is a global brand manager at Motorola, Inc. He moved to Chicago in 2006, but has been an AMA member since 1996. Wellington has 18 years experience spanning Global Marketing, Telecommunication, Automotive, and Consumer Goods. Specifically, he has 9 years experience at Ford Motor Company, and 7 years of consumer goods marketing at Unilever and AC Nielsen. Wellington's functional skills are in product strategy, brand value, retail marketing, and marketing research. His international service assignments include China, Japan, and Thailand. Leadership behaviors include communication/facilitation and drive for results. Outside work, Wellington loves to eat and travel globally. He is a tournament tennis player.
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Director-At-Large
Ted Souder
Since joining Google in 2001, Ted has overseen the creation of account management teams in the Chicago, Detroit and Dallas offices.  Currently he runs the travel vertical in the Midwest, where his team manages all aspects of the Google experience for several of the world’s largest travel companies.  Prior to joining Google, Ted was the Director of Advertising at Echo Networks, an award winning online music company.  Earlier he held numerous ground-breaking client service, sales and marketing roles with Excite, AOL and the Denver Business Journal.  In 2006, he was named one of the “25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales and Marketing” by HSMAI.  He is an avid traveler though he says the best trip is traveling with his wife and two kids to Harbor Island, Bahamas where he and his wife Lori were married.  Ted has a business degree from the University of Denver.
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Director-At-Large
Scott Tang
Scott has a passion for brand strategy, understanding consumer behavior and increasing marketing knowledge across organizations. He currently works as Research Manager for MarketTools, Inc. with the Procter and Gamble team. Prior to that, he was in Brand Marketing at ConAgra Foods, where he worked on Hebrew National, the nation’s #1 premium line of hot dogs.  Before ConAgra, Scott served as acting Brand Manager for Waterman, the luxury pen brand at a leading global writing instrument company.  In addition, he worked at Ford Motor Company where he held various business positions through their leadership development program. As a holder of two US patents and having worked in 4 continents, Scott has also worked in brand management at Kellogg’s on the Eggo’s brand as well as conducting marketing consulting projects for Borders Bookstores and BellSouth International. He obtained a BS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and an MBA in marketing and corporate strategy from the University of Michigan. Living along the shores of Lake Michigan in the Gold Coast with his wife, Scott enjoys ethnic cuisine, volunteering, volleyball, guitar and travel of all kinds.
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Director-At-Large
Sima Dahl
Sima is president of Parlay Communications, Ltd., a boutique agency providing marketing communications and public relations to entrepreneurs, small businesses and divisions of large corporations. She is a veteran marketer with nearly 20 years of B2B experience whose hallmark is her knowledge of integrated marketing strategy, guiding clients from “Message to Mindshare™.” Prior to founding Parlay, Sima worked for giant SAP. She has an undergraduate degree in Communications from the University of Illinois and an MBA with distinction from DePaul University. She is a long-time volunteer who most recently led the B2B Division to record-breaking performance. She resides in West Bucktown with her husband David, her cat Ginger and her dog Schatzi. She enjoys spending free time dining with friends and cycling.[back to the top]

Director-At-Large
Harvey John Morris
With more than 20 years of marketing, sales and business development experience in the technology, publishing and media industries, Harvey John Morris is the Director of Marketing for the Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau (CCTB). CCTB is the sales and marketing organization that promotes Chicago’s world-class assets to global leisure travel and convention business to ensure the economic vitality of the City and its member business community. Prior to joining the CCTB in 2007, Harvey spent four years in Houston, TX and Peoria, IL as Director of Consumer Marketing for Questia Media and Director of Global Marketing at Jupiterimages, respectively.  He was one of the original 10 employees that helped launch Yesmail, the permission email marketing industry leader.  As Director of Brand Marketing at Yesmail, he was responsible for strategic brand marketing, including the launch of Yesmail, which won two Direct Marketing Association ECHO awards for Best Integrated Marketing Campaign and Best Print Campaign. Harvey is actively involved in many industry and community organizations, including American Marketing Association and the Direct Marketing Association.  During his term as president (2000-2003), Chicago American Marketing Association became the largest professional chapter among AMA’s global network.[back to the top]

Director-At-Large

Mary Rownd

Mary is marketing director for the American Marketing Association, the most comprehensive professional association for marketers with nearly 40,000 members and 72 professional chapters throughout North America.  She is responsible for managing the AMA brand positioning and strategy; the development of the association’s annual marketing plan, membership retention and acquisition and event marketing.  Prior to joining the AMA, Mary owned and operated Jigsaw Marketing, a consultancy specializing in strategic planning and program development.  Her background includes working for Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, Host Marriott Services and Arby’s, Inc.  Mary resides in the City, is a culinary enthusiast and patiently waits for the Cubs to win the World Series.    
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Vice President, Marketing Research
Garry Rosenfeldt
Garry is the Director of Marketing Research for Midas International in Itasca, IL, the world's largest provider of automotive services. He began his career about 15 years ago in the financial services industry where he provided expertise in database marketing and model building for such companies as USAA in San Antonio, Texas, and  Allstate Insurance in Chicago. Prior to his current position at Midas International, he was a Senior Research Analyst at Harris Bank in Chicago where he oversaw the development and implementation of a variety of customer focused initiatives ranging from segmentation algorithms to profitability models to customer retention programs. At Midas, Garry’s responsibilities include advertising effectiveness tracking, brand health measurement, customer satisfaction, as well as moderating the occasional focus group. He received his undergraduate degree in marketing from the University of Missouri-Columbia and later his master's degree in marketing research from DePaul University. Garry is married with 2 children and in his very infrequent free time enjoys playing the piano and composing his own music. [back to the top]


Vice President, Membership
Paul Stark
Paul helps companies market and develop emerging businesses. He has worked for start-ups in the high tech and insurance industries as well as market leaders such as Siemens Communications and Zurich Insurance.  He earned his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from Northwestern University. He is currently pursuing his MBA at DePaul. He volunteers with the Cub Scouts and various professional organizations. Paul tries to stay one step ahead of his very active grade-school son and daughter by running triathlons and marathons.
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Vice President-Elect, Membership
Brandi Blades
Brandi is an integrated marketing communications professional with several years experience in the B2B space. Currently, she serves as Sr. Marketing Manager at Research International, a global marketing research agency.  Her experience ranges from marketing strategy to PR to online marketing. One of her many passions is helping marketers connect the dots between the traditional ways of marketing and the burgeoning possibilities of new technology.  Prior to joining Research International, she worked in marketing communications and business devolvement capacities for architectural and engineering firms throughout the Midwest. Brandi has been involved in AMA for 7 years and held previous positions on the marketing research committee.  She is originally from Kalamazoo, Michigan and holds a B.A. in Marketing from Western Michigan University. Brandi is inspired by meeting new people and enjoys warm weather, the beach, travel, good wine, family, friends, and trying out new Chicago hot spots.

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Vice President, Strategic Marketing
James Heckman
James is the president of JAK Sales & Marketing, Inc., a Naperville, Illinois-based marketing and sales consulting firm. He works in business development for a number of clients dealing with online and email marketing, brand identity, peer-marketing and technology development. Previously, he was vice president of sales and marketing at Mir Internet Marketing, Inc., an Oak Park, Illinois-based Internet marketing consulting firm. James joined Mir in August 2006 from the American Marketing Association (AMA), where he served as director, Internet communications.  He came to the marketing sector with a journalism background, having worked as the Chicago editor for LocalBusiness.com, an Internet startup focusing on emerging new technology companies in the U.S.  Prior, James was the senior staff writer for the AMA’s Marketing News magazine, and later the online editor for the association, where he developed Marketing Matters, an email newsletter that has since become a key AMA member benefit. James earned an MBA from the University of Chicago, with concentrations in Marketing, Finance and Entrepreneurship, and received a Bachelor of Arts in English with full university honors from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Ill. He is married with three children and in rare moments of free time enjoys reading and science fiction. [back to the top]

Vice President-Elect, Strategic Marketing
Ellen Raab
Ellen is the Communications Manager for E-T-A Circuit Breakers, a German manufacturer of electrical components for equipment.  There, she manages E-T-A's North American segment of the global branding strategy through advertising, editorial and on-line initiatives.  Ellen graduated with a Bachelors of Business Administration from the University of Iowa and has been a volunteer of the Strategic Marketing committee for two years.  She enjoys to reading and taking advantage of all that Chicago has to offer - from restaurants to entertainment - whenever she can. [back to the top]

Executive Director, Chicago AMA
Jennifer Connelly
Jennifer is the executive director for the Chicago chapter of the AMA. Previously she owned her own business managing marketing and public relations initiatives for the manufacturing, professional services and food industries. Prior to that, she was the marketing director for Carolyn Grisko & Associates where she managed CG&A’s award-winning branding and marketing campaign and assisted clients with PR strategies and legislative support initiatives. Previously, she managed all aspects of marketing communications for two subsidiaries of NiSource Inc., a Fortune 500 energy holding company. Jennifer graduated with a BA degree from Miami University. She studied throughout Latin America and speaks Spanish and Portuguese. Jennifer serves as a volunteer on the marketing committee for the Chicago Sinfonietta. She has been a volunteer for the Chicago AMA since 2001 and has served on the Board of Directors as Vice President, Professional Development. She is passionate about marketing, her family, finding a cure for breast cancer, and the power of community.
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