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Nassau Educators Federal Credi t Union (NEFCU) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Eva LaMere, Aust in & Wil l iams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Kerry Gi l l ick-Goldberg, KGG Enterpr ises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Dr. Teresa Taylor Wil l iams, NY Trend Newspaper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Jai ro Zuluaga, Long Is land Lat ino Magaz ine & TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Pat Norton, Act ive Web Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Jul ie Al legret t i , Long Is land Forum for Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Phi l Andrews, Long Is land Afr ican Amer ican

Chamber of Commerce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Kas Carey, Bra instorm Creat ive Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Vicki Colac icco, Scot to Brothers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Ji l l ian E isman, Meyer, Suozz i , Engl ish & Kle in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Jim Green, Zebra Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Jul ie Gross Gel fand, Marcum LLP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Teresa Hansen, WeizerMazars LLP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Lula Lukasiewicz , Cer in i & Associates, LLP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Sharyn O’Mara, Wisselman, Harounian & Associates, P.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Mindy Wolf le , Vishnick McGovern Mi l i z io LLP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Adelphi Univers i ty Communicat ions Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Didi t Communicat ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Groovecar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

HJMT Publ ic Relat ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Lorra ine Gregory Communicat ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

The Publ ic Relat ions and Market ing Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Mark J . Grossman, Mark Grossman Publ ic Relat ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Donna Rivera-Downey, Gi r l Scouts of Nassau County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Ji l l ian Skuza, Z immerman/Edelson, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Kevin Bonner, Town of Babylon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Patr ick Calabr ia , Farmingdale State Col lege . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Mel issa Kuehnle, St . Joseph’s Col lege . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Todd Shapi ro , Todd Shapi ro Associates Publ ic Relat ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Bi l l Corbet t , Corbet t Publ ic Relat ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Lor i Duggan Gold, Adelphi Univers i ty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Jenni fer Maize l , Grass i & Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Lindsey Meyers & Mar issa Jacobs,

WordHampton Publ ic Relat ions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Richard T. Margul is , Brookhaven Memor ia l Hospi ta l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Elena Mikoleski , Grass i & Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Kerry Young, Crown Advert is ing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

George Andr iopoulos, Media Convergence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Karen C. Green, Karen C. Green Communicat ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Don Mi l ler, West End St rategies, Ltd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Alan J. Wax, WaxWords Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

The EGC Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

UCOMM Communicat ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

This inaugural event recognizes professionals for their excellence in marketing, communications, public relations, web and graphic design. These awards gives those with big ideas, the chance to shine.

28 I LONG ISLAND BUSINESS NEWS I March 18-24, 2016 I LIBN.COM

Marketing | Public Relations | Direct Mail | Printing | Creative Design | Branded Products

Congrats!

Job Well

Done!Done!Best Best Wishes!

Kudos!Kudos!Kudos!Kudos!

Lorraine Gregory Communications

Congratulates

All of The Winners of This Year’s

Excellence in Communications

110 Schmitt Boulevard, Farmingdale, NY 11735 | 631.694.1500 | LorraineGregory.com

ADVERTISING AGENCYEva LaMereAustin & Williams

Name: Eva LaMereCurrent job and company name: President, Austin & Williams

Twitter handle: @elamereWhat are you passionate about: Working out. I get a thrill from physically pushing myself to achieve

more and it’s an awesome release to my stress-filled days.What inspires you to work in this industry: The incredible influence we have over how consumers

choose brands. I take the art (and science) of persuasion very seriously and helping brands create an emotion-al connection with their customers and gain market share (and all the other good stuff that follows) is always exhilarating to me.

What is your proudest moment in business: A great pitch, and thankfully, we’ve had a lot of them. What is your greatest strength: Leading. I love bringing teams together, encouraging collaboration

and inspiring them to achieve great things.What is your greatest weakness: I’m too much of a perfectionist.Who is your role model: My mom. She raised six children and then went back to work, achieving great

success and recognition then finally starting her own well-regarded insurance agency, in a world where most agencies were male-run. She gave meaning to the phrase “force to reckon with” and my greatest compliment in life is when someone says I’m just like her (hint hint).

What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: I am laser focused on continuing to grow our agency regionally while maintaining our fun and collaborative culture and upholding our standards of creating disruptive campaigns and providing our clients with “above and beyond” servicing. (That’s all.)

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: I am incredibly organized. You can’t have strong time management skills without very strong organization skills. I have lists that have lists and take great pleasure crossing items off those lists. Beyond that, I do have three time-management secrets:

1. Each day, get the easier things out of the way first. Not only are they less time-consuming and easier to accomplish but also the sense of satisfaction you get from crossing things off your list early in the day is very motivating to stay productive.

2. There’s nothing like multiple meetings to throw off your ability to time manage. At the very least, do not

allow yourself to be scheduled in back-to-back meetings. That will crush any ability to get things done.

3. For those meetings that are more of a status update, handle them as 15-minute “touch base” (TB) meetings and stick to that time frame. Identifying them as TBs gets everyone on board with ensuring they’re quick and efficient.

Hot topic in your business or field: Prevalence of ad block-ing software in the digital space. As more and more brands shift marketing budgets into digital and more and more consumers are “bombarded” with (annoying) marketing messages, the number of consumers downloading ad-blocking software is rising exponential-ly. Will this be the ruination of digital marketing as we know it?

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: Have a (smart) voice. Make sure you have a role in meetings you attend both in-person and on the phone. Go out on a limb and openly share your ideas. And do lots of research on the topic at hand before doing any of the above. It’s important to participate but even more important to be smart in your participation.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Driven.Do you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to brag about? My “project” has

been focusing on the growth of our agency, in true “good to great” fashion. That starts with making sure you have the right people on the bus. To that end, we have made key strategic hires in the past two years, investing in higher-end talent at senior leadership positions. We have also brought in a consultant to conduct strength assessments among all of our employees and facilitate leadership training among agency directors and VPs. The most critical piece to our growth is ensuring our team is top-notch, in-sync and firing on all cylinders. This investment is working: We’ve really honed our processes, improved our new business wins and we’re being sought after by strong brands. I’m looking forward to what we’ll continue to accomplish.

LONG ISLAND BUSINESS NEWS I March 18-24, 2016 I LIBN.COM I 29

TELEVISION AD DESIGNNassau Educators Federal Credit Union (NEFCU)

Name: Valerie Garguilo Current job and Company name: vice president of marketing and community rela-

tions, Nassau Educators Federal Credit Union (NEFCU)What would you say customers value most about your business and the ser-

vices you provide: What our members value most about who we are and what we provide is succinctly summed up in our tagline: Better banking because we’re not a bank. We feel it is that simple. Members choose us because they want a better way to bank –better rates for their savings and loans, lower fees, and many free services. They appreciate that they have a say in their banking and that we’re working directly for them, and not for tens of thousands of anonymous shareholders. They value the thought that our branches, our products and our services are all designed specifically with the members’ needs in mind. What’s also vitally important to our members is that we are local. One hundred percent of our branches are on Long Island, which is important to our members. They also know that all our community

activities, sponsorship dollars and community relations programs target the towns and villages in which we work. Long Islanders serving Long Islanders; that’s a great rela-tionship.

We received coverage for this commercial in many media outlets as it won several other prestigious awards including The Telly Award (a national advertising industry award) & the Midas Award (a global financial industry advertising award). Below is a link to an article our PR agency wrote regarding the ad.

h t t p : / / g o . e p u b l i s h 4 m e . c o m / e b o o k / e b -ook?id=10087506#/34

COMMUNITY SERVICEJairo Zuluaga

Long Island Latino Magazine & TV

Name: Jairo ZuluagaCurrent job and Company name: CEO and president

of Long Island Latino Magazine & TV / Online Marketing Solutions

Twitter handle: @lilatinotvWhat are you passionate about: I’m passionate

about making a difference. When I’m involved with a proj-ect at work I want to do my best to achieve success. I feel the same way about what I do in my personal life. One of my greatest passions is helping others. My focus on com-munity collaboration has led me to a number of volunteer opportunities and community leadership roles.

What inspires you to work in this industry: Of course it seems unusual to first ‘know’ that marketing was the best choice, and now know with equal certainty that

internet marketing is where I belong. So, I want to explain the source of inspiration for my career choices. I’m inspired by the possibilities of digital communication. Thanks to tech-nology (namely Apple, Google, and Facebook), we now have the tools to quickly and easily speak to our own audiences. Beyond global access, impact, and power, one can quickly and easily connect with pretty much any person. While what these tools offer us as individuals (in terms of self-promotion and career development) is inspiring, I’m greatly moved when we use these same tools to benefit others, uniting around individuals, causes, and move-ments. That’s when you really feel the power of the Internet. That’s when I’m most impacted and inspired.

What is your proudest moment in business: The #1 accomplishment for me was leaving my corporate job to focus on my own business full-time. It only took 2 years of planning, business-building, and working on my business part-time to finally be comfortable with the risk of leaving my comfortable salaried position to focus full-time on my passion of the Internet and new technologies to help small businesses maximize their presence on the web through online marketing strategies. I’m 5 years in, results have been fantastic, and I love what I do.

What is your greatest strength: I’m a problem solver. I pride myself on my customer service skills and my ability to resolve what could be difficult situations. With 20 years of experience as a marketing specialist, I have learned to effectively understand and resolve customer issues. I love taking a problem and looking at it from every angle. I enjoy work that challenges me and pushes me to think outside the box. I enjoy situations where I am allowed to work with other people to come up with creative solutions.

What is your greatest weakness: I feel that my greatest weakness is that I am very critical of my own work. I have always prided myself on producing excellent and error-free work. While this is beneficial to my job performance, it is possible to go to extremes. I have also found that I can easily waste time checking and rechecking. Now I am aware of what to look for in being such a stickler, so I am always making a conscious effort to trust myself and my quality focus more and not be so incredibly critical of my work. I know that there is a limit to proofreading.

Who is your role model: Ray Kroc of McDonald’s. If there’s any reason why Ray Kroc is my role model, it’s because the name “Ray Kroc” is synonymous with per-sistence. With persistence, Ray Kroc built from a single stand to become the world’s most successful small business. Most times, I use Ray Kroc’s motto “press on” to stir my spirit to action: “Press on; nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. The world is full with educated derelicts. Per-sistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” – Ray Kroc

What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: Continually explore new opportunities among our current customers to create new content and launch new magazines.

Strengthen all our platforms: Print magazine, website and online TV, discovering new opportunities for content, for this will hire more staff in different areas in order to have more subscribers in our printed magazine and more traffic on our Internet sites.

In November 2016 we will launch a magazine: “Restaurantes Long Island”, with 4 issues per year (winter, spring, summer and autumn) aimed at the Latino community of Long Island, and in the spring of 2017 we will launch a health, beauty and fashion magazine, also aimed at the Latino community.

We’re working to strengthen our events division, to increase reach by 25% and continue widely branding our company and our customers. Currently we produce “Mujeres Latinas de Éxito Awards” (Latinas leaders) and the reality show “Perder es Ganar” (Weight-Loss Challenge). We aspire to host additionally, two other events, one event per quarter for up to 300 attendees.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: I make a list. I work out what order to do things in by thinking about which tasks are urgent and how im-portant each task is. If I’m not sure what’s urgent and what isn’t, or how important different tasks are, I find out. If I have a new task I add it to the list and decide when to do it, so I adapt the order in which I do things as necessary. I am currently taking advantage of technology and implementing a CRM software.

Hot topic in your business or field: Closing the digital divide of Hispanic small busi-ness and organizations. We plan to produce and execute four Internet marketing seminars, one per quarter, to help businesses maximize their presence on the internet through online marketing strategies such as: social media optimization, email marketing, web design, mo-bile and video marketing, search engine optimization and e-commerce.

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: I promote the message that with faith, hard work, sacrifice and passion for your dreams, everything is possible.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Persistence.Do you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to brag about?

I focus on community collaboration, which has led me to a number of volunteer oppor-tunities and community leadership roles. I donate pro-bono online marketing strategies as website design, social media, email marketing and video marketing to local nonprofit organizations like: SEPA Mujer, Long Island Immigrant Students Advocates and Adelante of Suffolk County. This has allowed these organizations have a stronger presence on the work they perform in the community.



COMMUNITY SERVICEDr. Teresa Taylor WilliamsNY Trend Newspaper

Name: Dr. Teresa Taylor WilliamsCurrent job and Company name: CEO & Founder of TTW Associates, Inc, & New

York Trend PublicationWhat are you passionate about: Advocacy for those who are less fortunate, those

who have not received equal opportunity or access to education, health care and employ-ment.

What inspires you to work in this industry: To continue to provide information to the diverse ethnic communities that include the mentally disabled, women and children.

What is your proudest moment in business: As a start up watching the excitement and commitment of my mother and father to pitch in and help my business grow.

What is your greatest strength: Faith in GodWhat is your greatest weakness: Trying to save the worldWho is your role model: The generations of women who raised me.What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: To train future leaders in

the communication industries.Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: MultitaskingHot topic in your business or field: Women owning media properties

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: Know who is for you and who doesn’t care.

What would you say customers value most about your business and the services you provide: Customers value the quality of my publication as well as the content.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Fearless

Do you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to brag about? For nearly three decades I have worked to train future journalists through my intern-ship program. Students throughout the tri-state area and other states have passed through the doors of New York Trend who hoped to be photojour-nalists, writers and editors. I have provided an incubator that exposes interns to all aspects of production of a publication. Numerous students are working in the communications field in many capacities, some who are owners of their own media companies that were associated with New York Trend and or trained under my leadership.

BOUTIQUE PR AGENCYKerry Gillick-Goldberg

KGG Enterprises

Name: Kerry Gillick-GoldbergCurrent job and Company name: owner, kgg enter-

prises, llc.Twitter handle: @kggprWhat are you passionate about: I’m passionate

about being able to use my talents not just to build a suc-cessful company but to also do good works.

What inspires you to work in this industry: PR and marketing allows me to be creative, innovative and inquisitive.

What is your proudest moment in business: One of my favorite clients over the years has been the teen-found-

ed non-profit One Is Greater Than None from Merrick. When I heard there were lesson plans about their efforts to rescue enslaved children in Ghana, Africa being utilized in South Korea…to this day I can’t express what I felt.

What is your greatest strength: My greatest strength at times can be my greatest weakness. I’m extremely empathetic and sometimes can be caught up in the emotions of the moment. I believe most people appreciate that I truly care.

What is your greatest weakness: I might be a bit time challenged…Who is your role model: With regards to my career, I feel my dad was an excellent role

model. He worked tirelessly and most importantly, he always expected us to treat every-one-no matter their position in a company- with respect. I’ve met women –actually through networking- over the past few years who believe that they have the careers they have now

because of my father believed in them. What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: It’s important to me

that the clients I work with believe in giving back and playing a positive role in their com-munities. I believe in putting out fabulous quality work that everyone involved with can be proud of.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: Well…I do the best I can to accomplish the impossible each day both as a business owner and as a mother. I’m very grateful for the support system I have in place at home because without that, my job would be impossible.

Hot topic in your business or field: Many companies are challenged with whether to have their public relations teams or their marketing departments handle messaging via social media but since I tend to handle both, I’m fortunate that it’s not been an issue for me.

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: If you’d like a mellow, 9-5 job…this is not for the right field…

What would you say customers value most about your business and the ser-vices you provide: More than anything, I believe my clients like that I’m truly a part of their team. I try not to behave like a ‘consultant’ but a true partner with their best interests at heart. I’m also respectful that many of them built their businesses themselves and have been quite successful at it. My ideas and efforts are really meant to support them and showcase their best assets- and get them positive recognition for their work.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Enthusiastic Do you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to brag about?

Right now I am so fortunate to have a few incredible projects I’m involved with.



IN-HOUSE MARKETING PROFESSIONALJulie AllegrettiLong Island Forum for Technology

Name: Julie AllegrettiCurrent job and Company name: operations & social media coordinator

Twitter handle: @LadyJ_LIWhat are you passionate about: New technologiesWhat inspires you to work in this industry: Be able to implement new ideas and

equipment relating to social media and business operations.What is your proudest moment in business: Receiving the “30 Under 30 Award”

from the Huntington Chamber of CommerceWhat is your greatest strength: Being flexible, learning to adapt to different situa-

tions, and working collaboratively with othersWhat is your greatest weakness: Walking in the door of my new office I never real-

ized the challenges that I would face as a new employee. There is always a transition period in becoming part of an established team. I was prepared to learn from those who had been there for years before me, but I also wanted to bring some fresh new ideas.

Who is your role model: Ellen Degeneres – she’s not afraid to speak out on issues, she charitable, successful and adaptable. A quote from Ellen that I find to be very true is “Find out who you are and be that person.”

What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: I strive to use social

media to connect business associates Time management is critical – how do you man-

age your time: I make a plan and maintain a schedule using calendars and technology tools

Hot topic in your business or field: Keeping Millen-nials on Long Island

Can you give us one tip you would provide to new-bies in this industry: Always be thinking ahead

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Supportive

Do you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to brag about? Throughout my education at Farmingdale State College, I was immersed in an environment that valued innovative technology and forward thinking. As I learned the procedures of the office, I could not help but contemplate all the different ways we could implement the uses of technology and social media. This would not only allow an expedited flow of communication between colleagues and clients, but it would also create methods to complete the same tasks more effectively and efficiently.

COMMUNITY SERVICEPat Norton

Active Web Group

Name: Scott Forde, Active Web GroupCurrent job and Company name: president, Active Web GroupTwitter handle: https://twitter.com/awgWhat are you passionate about: All forms of internet marketing - helping businesses

expand their online presence through strategic planning and innovative execution.What inspires you to work in this industry: The ever-changing aspect of digital mar-

keting makes it a very exciting field to be part of. We constantly monitor trends and analyze data to make sure we’re making the best recommendations to your clients.

What is your proudest moment in business: The best moments are when we succeed in helping small business grow their business. Our clients have even been able to contend with bigger competitors based on our recommendations. We also enjoy our charity website work for Angela’s House - it is our pleasure to support this organization.

What is your greatest strength: Our top-notch team of industry experts that have years of experience in digital design & marketing.

What is your greatest weakness: We are very critical of our own work. Thankfully, our brand strategies keep us on-point when looking at results and managing expectations.

What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: Provide professional,

result-driven marketing work for Long Island businesses. Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: Software tools

& delegating work to correct department level help us keep on track with all projects.Hot topic in your business or field: Conversion Rate Optimization and Social Media

are the hottest services in business right now.Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: New

businesses trying to get online or establish a marketing campaign should consider their mar-keting plan BEFORE they have a website designed or updated. A clear strategy upfront will help you reach your online goals quicker.

What would you say customers value most about your business and the ser-vices you provide: Our dedication to supporting our customers through hands-on involve-ment on all marketing aspects of their business is what businesses most value from us. We immerse ourselves in our clients’ goals and key performance indicators and we guide all our marketing efforts to reach or exceed those goals.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Dedicated. Do you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to brag

about? One of our most successful clients is a growing Long Island based alternate financing company. When they first collaborated with us they were a thirty person company – now they employee over seventy staffers. We have working with the company on everything from web design to social media and search engine optimization. Our goal from the beginning has been to increase their website conversions and aid their business growth. Today, they have seen revenue growth of over 200 percent and are projected to keep growing.



IN-HOUSE MARKETING PROFESSIONALPhil AndrewsLong Island African American Chamber of Commerce

Name: Phil AndrewsCurrent job and Company name: President, Long Island African American Chamber

of Commerce, Inc.Twitter handle: www.twitter.com/liafricanamerch What are you passionate about: I am passionate about serving in my present posi-

tion as President of Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce, Inc.What inspires you to work in this industry: I am inspired to work in this industry

because this chamber of commerce is doing pioneering work in the area of capacity building for small business owners in the region.

What is your proudest moment in business: My proudest moment in business was finding out that my life work in the area of business development has inspired others to be successful in their own lives.

What is your greatest strength: My greatest strength is leadership.What is your greatest weakness: My great weakness is I love to help others.Who is your role model: I have had many role models such as Past Presidents of 100

Black Men of Long Island, Inc., Millionaires, Tuskegee Airman, and leading Businessman in America, as well as family members such as my Aunt Francis Virginia Young.

What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: I would like to publish a book soon chronicling my life work.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: I manage my time by keeping track of the task before me,and doing first things first which are critical for my success.

Hot topic in your business or field: Social Media, it is said that social media has leveled the playing field in the area of communications. News is delivered in many different formats today, and sometimes we get major media announcements first from social media.

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: Learn to

become a leader in whatever field you pursue, and develop superior communication skills.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: My peers would describe me a highly knowledgeable in a variety of areas, a trailblazer, visionary and a pioneer.

Do you have a specific project that comes to mind that might serve as the focus for our interview: The specific project I have in mind is to grow the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce, Inc. into one of the largest chambers of commerce in the United States.

Can you give me a quick overview of it: Currently the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce, Inc. is serving the four counties of Kings, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk. In the county of Kings African American statistic include one million African Americans. A part of our strategy is help foster trade between the counties of Kings, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk thereby creating one of the largest chambers of commerce in the coun-try. Brand Development and positioning the chamber as a leader in our field will help us achieve this goal.

Tell us about your specific role and contributions in this project: My current role is leader of In House Marketing. My contributions include getting members featured on major networks, online publication, print media, and overseeing all social media engage-ment.

What goals did you have in mind and how do you feel your project, campaign, etc: One of the goals that I have in mind is for the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce, Inc. to produce its own monthly television show more small business owners can learn about the benefits of joining the chamber.

IN-HOUSE MARKETING PROFESSIONALKas Carey

Brainstorm Creative Group

Name: Kas CareyCurrent job and Company name: senior partner,

Brainstorm Creative GroupWhat are you passionate about: My colleagues at

Brainstorm and I are passionate about great design and strong writing. Whether we are designing brochures or websites, writing copy for print and digital communications, or crafting a script or a speech. We set the bar high.

What inspires you to work in this industry: There are endless opportunities to be creative and successful in this industry if you are willing to step outside of your com-fort zone. I love getting my clients to take the step with me. The give and take of the creative process inspires me.

What is your proudest moment in business: My proudest moment was starting Brainstorm Creative Group last year with my business partner Nancy Connors. It has been an extraordinarily successful year. As women and small business owners, we hope we can inspire other young women to build businesses.

What is your greatest strength: Integrity and a sense of humor. What is your greatest weakness: Chocolate.Who is your role model: My parents were wonderful people. I have had many import-

ant mentors throughout my life but none compare to my own parents. What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: My goal is to design the

best marketing, communications and fundraising programs for my clients, to provide guid-ance for them to make informed decisions, to produce creative work of the highest quality, and to deliver complete client satisfaction. Above all, I am committed to client partnerships built on trust, communication, humor and company spirit.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: Thankfully, my management team is highly organized. Our projects are data and deadline driven so it is

important that we utilize everything available to keep the lines of communication open and the business moving forward. In order to spend the time that my clients de-serve, I have to be organized.

Hot topic in your business or field: Communications that are credible and measur-able. The audience needs to connect with your client’s mission. In return your client must be able to measure the effectiveness of their communications program. Data driven communi-cations are essential.

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: Don’t be afraid of open space and silence. Often the message gets lost in busy design and language. Trust your audience. They will hear you if you communicate clearly.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Focused.Do you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to bragabout? Brainstorm Creative Group is working with the Sisters of St. Dominic of Ami-

tyville to build recognition and support for the retired Sisters and their ministries. It has been a privilege to create a print and digital communications and a fundraising program for these extraordinary women who have served the poor and marginalized in this region and beyond for more than 163 years.

Can you give me a quick overview of it? Tell us about your specific role and contributions in this project: We designed and wrote a new website, new print and dig-ital communications, logos and collateral material for special events. We also restructured the fundraising program to include a robust fundraising section on the new website, oppor-tunities for online giving and registration, and a major gifts and planned giving program.

What goals did you have in mind and how do you feel your project, campaign, etc. has helped your client or your business: Our goal was to build recognition for the Sisters of St. Dominic in Amityville, which in turn will build financial support. The website is scheduled to launch in April; the major and planned gift program is underway. We are con-fident that we have positioned the Sisters to make a significant impact in the coming year.


Name: Jill SkuzaCurrent job and Company name: associate account execu-

tive, Zimmerman/Edelson, Inc.Twitter handle: @JillSkuzaWhat are you passionate about: People. More specifically,

I am passionate about what we can learn from relationships—how different ideas, personalities and individual passions can work together to create, improve and shape who we are as individuals.

What inspires you to work in this industry: Storytelling. When dealing with different clients and trying to communicate their divergent messages, you meet some interesting people with meaningful stories to share that might have otherwise been lost in the day-to-day scuffle. Some of my favorite moments of this job have been my ability to get those stories out there.

Sometimes it’s the lessons we can learn from the person that speaks louder than the seemingly flash-ier-on-the-surface stories we are bombarded with each day.

What is your proudest moment in business: Every time I conquer a fear. Like any rookie, certain tasks can seem daunting and frightening at times. However, it’s those moments when you let the adrenaline take over, automatically revert back to what you’ve learned and—before you even realize it—it’s over; you’ve conquered that fear. At that moment, you know you’ve succeeded and grown as a professional. For me, it started as small as pitching a reporter over the phone. After I con-quered that, I was able to handle client crises, staff a live shoot and even take the lead on planning and executing a client event.

What is your greatest strength: The ability to be my own best critic. I believe that I hold my-self to the highest standard possible, which allows me to be thorough, organized, and diligent while providing room to improve. I feel a responsibility to my client and will only give them my best work. As soon as I conquer one goal, I am already looking to that next challenge and working on accom-plishing that next achievement.

What is your greatest weakness: I feel like anyone starting out in this business will say his or her biggest weakness is lacking confidence. When you are the youngest person in the room, you feel a great deal of pressure to rise to everyone’s level and portray yourself in a way that you won’t be looked at as the beginner. I am always conscientiously working to trust my experience despite my age to serve my clients the best way I know how.

Who is your role model: There have been too many mentors along this journey to narrow this down to one person. When you are first starting out in this industry, your best resources are your colleagues and superiors. When I was just an intern, each person in the office had something to teach me. I remember thinking, how do they always know what to do or say? How will I ever come off so professional? Will I ever earn that respect? I continue to look up to my colleagues, learn from them and aim to take on that role for someone else in the future.

What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: My goals are to build meaningful relationships and to never sit still. I hope that there is never a new occasion up to which I do not rise. I aim to keep growing, and—10, 20, 30 years down the line—I hope to still be working like a begin-ner: eager to learn, motivated to exceed expectations of myself and my superiors and achieve things I would never have believed I could when I was that intern straight out of college. This job would lack value without the people you meet and the stories they have to tell. I aim to do the best work I can, to serve my clients the best way that I can and keep the people—and the lessons I learned from them—everywhere I go.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: I’ve had a lot of practice. If you haven’t picked this up already—I’m in constant motion. In grade school, I was part of every sport and club possible; in college I was part of a division one dance team, had a job, an internship and doubled up on classes to graduate early. Even now, in addition to my work in the communica-tions field, I teach dance at a local studio, take class and even continue to perform. I think the trick to time management is being passionate about how you choose to spend your time. If you are dedicat-ed to the 10 activities you are involved in—or the 10 tasks you have for your clients—you are going to find the time to be successful in every one of them. For me it comes down to being a planner, a scheduler and prioritizing. This last part is critical. Your schedule can’t be rigid. You must be open to spending more time on certain things than others in a particular week and realize that this could change the next. Time management is not about having a routine; it’s about flexibility and making it work.

Hot topic in your business or field: I think a hot topic is the way technology is causing this industry and PR procedure to change. This isn’t a new topic—we have already seen how social media is changing the communication field—but it is certainly a topic that will never really go away. I think what it so interesting about it is the fact that the addition of alternate avenues of communi-cation does not necessarily cause the biggest impact. Sure—it creates more opportunity for content, greater interaction with the public and even has the power to make a business more vulnerable or more successful—but the greatest impact is in the way we communicate as human beings. How we communicate online, for example, affects the way we communicate face-to-face. It also affects our comprehension of messages and changes our perceptions—what we think of as positive, as negative, as interesting, as boring. New technologies and media have rewired our brains to think a certain way, process things differently and expect certain things we never have before. How do we as an industry notice this trend? And more vital than discovering how to reach this audience, with their new outlook on messaging, is finding how to reach this audience in a way that is different from the next guy. What responsibility do we have in changing the status quo ourselves?

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: Seek out a mentor. I sought out many. It is so easy to retreat behind a screen and Google “PR 101,” but the best advice is going to come from a person who was right where you are at one time and made the mistakes and learned the lessons you will need to before becoming successful. It is easy to think that any question you have is silly, but ask it. Chances are someone has had the same question before you.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Dedicated

Do you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to brag about? We have a very extensive internship program at Zimmerman/Edelson, Inc. As someone who was an intern herself and as someone who is closer in age to our interns than to most of my colleagues, I really make an effort to be a resource for our interns. I can relate to what they are going through and I realize that I might be a little less intimidating to approach with a question or concern than one of my superiors. I can say this is definitely something I am passionate about. I fell in love with public relations because of the people and I stayed in this industry because of what I learned from my peers. I strive to take on that role for others during their time at Z/E and beyond.

During our last intern semester, I was the co-creator of the interns’ semester-long project. With this role I served as an advisor for the intern class. The project was to build a website specifically for past, present and future interns. This site would paint a picture of what the internship experience is like at Z/E and build a network of budding PR professionals on which past-and-present interns could to rely. A student looking for the right internship experience could read a blog post about a day in the life of one of our “Zimmterns,” could reach out to past interns with questions, build a relationship, find a mentor and—of course—apply for the job.

Alongside a colleague, I was involved in creating the idea and served as a resource for the interns as they took on this task. I helped schedule meetings for status reports and a presentation of the complete product. We also organized a debrief for the interns to express their feedback on the project, what they learned and what they saw as the future for this website.

My goal for Z/E was to better communicate our position as a starting ground for budding profes-sionals. There really is no other internship experience like Z/E’s; interns dive into client work, pitch re-porters and have the opportunity to staff client events and live shoots. We pride ourselves in present-ing every intern with the opportunities they hope for when gaining job experience, and each account executive knows to take on two roles: PR practitioner and mentor. This website gives this program the recognition it deserves, helps provide more informed applicants while helping so many students build relationships and get their start. The future of the PR industry is the current communications students. Our goal is to help them take that first step so they can help us build our brand, exceed ex-pectations and grow with the times as future PR practitioners—and maybe even future employees.

RISING STARJillian Skuza

Zimmerman/Edelson, Inc.


IN-HOUSE MARKETING PROFESSIONALVicki Colacicco

Scotto Brothers

Name: Vicki ColaciccoCurrent job and Company name: Director of Market-

ing & Business Development at Scotto BrothersWhat are you passionate about: Having a growing

family with 3 young children, I can honestly say that my passion lies in providing a loving and caring environment for them. We live in such a fast passed, digital world and it is easy to lose track of what matters. I make it a point to spend time to discuss their day so I can understand what it is they are experiencing. Having an open forum, I believe, will encourage them to discuss the bigger issues later on in life.

What inspires you to work in this industry: My position provides me the opportunity to utilize my creative talents as well as analytical strengths. I truly enjoy what I do and I respect my employer’s vision which makes it easy to come to work every day.

What is your proudest moment in business: There are many moments in which I feel proud of my accomplishments so it is difficult to pick just one. However if I were to choose an accomplishment I would have to say that it is having the ability to support those less fortunate through creating special events that help raise awareness and resources. One event that I have spearheaded for the past 6 years is the Marines Toys for Tots Toy Drive at both Fox Hollow & Watermill Caterers. This event brings the community together for a fun night as we collect hundreds of toys for less fortunate children on Long Island.

What is your greatest strength: I am a self-starter and work to get the best results out of my marketing budgets. In this digital age, like to stay on top of advancements and

trends so that my campaigns are optimized for achieve the best results. In addi-tion, I have creative talents which allow me to generate new digital and print campaigns in house.

What is your greatest weakness: Working too much. With technology literally at our fingertips I find it difficult to ‘check-out’.

Who is your role model: My father, Albert Flower. He is 85 years old and inspires me to be the very best at whatever I do. He has taught me to be independent, not follow the crowd, and to follow my dreams no matter how uncertain the future may be.

What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: To maximize opportu-nities. I am diligent in analyzing and fine tuning campaigns to achieve the best results. My goal is to invest where there is opportunity for measured growth.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: I have found it advantageous to schedule routine tasks for the beginning of my work week leaving the later part of my work week for development. I try not to over schedule my mornings as this is when I get most of my heavy lifting done; with a clear head and less distractions.

Hot topic in your business or field: Digital trends and how to market to the Millenni-al client.

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: be pre-pared to for change and to stay on top of trends as the digital world is driving the industry.

Do you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to brag about? A recent project that I worked on was the remarketing of Watermill Caterers. I de-signed and created their new sales brochure including menu sheets, trade show collateral & booth, web site and in house marketing material. This new campaign has a clean, upscale look which coincides with the renovations made at the property.

IN-HOUSE MARKETING PROFESSIONALJillian Eisman

Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein

Name: Jillian EismanCurrent job and Company name: director of market-

ing, Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein, P.C.What are you passionate about: In addition to being

dedicated to my profession and the firm’s attorneys, I feel most fulfilled as a wife and mother to a beautiful 3 years old daughter and another one on the way.

What inspires you to work in this industry: I have always had an appreciation for the law and a love of en-trepreneurship - the marriage of those two seemed to lend well to legal marketing and business development, and I have proudly served in this industry for more than a decade.

What is your proudest moment in business: Each time I connect the dots, help bring new ideas and a fresh outlook on marketing and business development to my firm, I feel an overwhelming sense of pride and satisfaction. Often times ROI in marketing is hard to mea-sure, but when success can be tracked and my team and I are at the root of the development, implementation, etc., I know I have achieved something special.

What is your greatest strength: I’d like to think of myself as an A+ multitasker, which allows me to juggle projects in the office and at home.

What is your greatest weakness: I care too much. Often times, I have a difficult time shutting down after I leave the office for the day. I tend to check my email throughout the night and sometimes my best solutions or ideas come to me when I should be sleeping.

Who is your role model: There are numerous masterful marketers and exceptional

business people whom I could choose like Richard Branson or Steve Jobs, but in reality, my real source of inspiration is my older brother. He was tenacious, passionate and driven, and each day when I am faced with a task, difficult or easy, I ask myself if my decision would make him proud. Tragically, he was killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001, but he continues to be my role model today.

What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: After graduating from college in 3.5 years, I always knew that with dedication, I would move up quickly in my ca-reer. I began as a marketing assistant in 2004, then as a coordinator, manager, and in 2012, I became the director of marketing at Meyer Suozzi. Ultimately, each day that I am able to bring new ideas or capabilities to my firm, I feel a sense of accomplishment and I hope that continues for many years to come.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: I compartmental-ize everything. When I was younger, my mother always used to say, “a place for everything and everything in its place,” and while that mostly related to cleaning a messy room, I still practice it each morning I wake up and before I go to sleep - religiously making lists and keeping track of daily tasks and long term project deadlines.

Hot topic in your business or field: Website redesign including mobile friendly appli-cations, a more user friendly experience, and SEO.

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: For those just joining the legal marketing sphere, I would say, “stick to it.” Lawyers are smart, dynamic and exceptionally busy- an often frustrating combination. But, attorneys are also apprecia-tive for your insight and efforts, and that makes it all worth doing.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Ambitious


IN-HOUSE MARKETING PROFESSIONALJim GreenZebra Technologies

Name: Jim GreenCurrent job and Company name: global director, head of internal and external HR

communications at Zebra TechnologiesTwitter handle: @JimPRWhat are you passionate about? I’m passionate about my family and career, and I

have a growing passion for fitness and wellness.What inspires you to work in this industry? I have an opportunity to make signifi-

cant and meaningful impacts, both in the short term and ongoing, to continually strengthen communications in support of business objectives.

What is your proudest moment in business? I have several proudest moments—from my public affairs work during the hours, days, weeks and months following 9/11 to leading the team that won a Gold Quill Award of Merit from the International Association of Business Communicators. Each proud moment is when I successfully completed a communi-cations strategy to address a significant challenge or a great opportunity for an organization.

What is your greatest strength? I pride myself in being the communicator leaders want by their side. When there’s a concern keeping a leader up at night, I’ll deliver the com-munications plan to help solve the concern.

What is your greatest weakness? Hershey Kisses. I can’t eat just one, or two, or three…

Who is your role model? A former senior-level manager with emotional intelligence, business acumen, and team management through the right balance of encouragement,

constructive feedback, and public and private praise. She

continues to serve as the model for how I lead.

What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work? Ensure that everything I do is clearly aligned

to the business strategy and achieves excellent and measur-

able results.

Time management is critical – how do you man-age your time? A communications role is 24/7 and I allot

time each day to move with the business in real time glob-

ally. I devote time at night to prioritize for the next day

and reach my APAC colleagues and clients during their working hours. I also devote time

very early in the morning before I head to the gym to reach my EMEA colleagues and clients

during the first part of their day.

Hot topic in your business or field? One of many hot topics is managing your employ-

ment brand to help shape it and ensure how it’s marketed externally reflects authentically

the experience inside the organization.

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry? Always

be mindful of what’s keeping your manager or his/her manager up at night and be a mean-

ingful part of helping to address the concern.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Collaborator


IN-HOUSE MARKETING PROFESSIONALJulie Gross Gelfand

Marcum LLP

Name: Julie Gross GelfandCurrent job and Company name: director of public relations & communications,

Marcum LLPTwitter handle: @jggelfandWhat are you passionate about: I am obsessed with doing the best possible job I can

do for my company, which means I keep myself on duty 24-7. I literally cannot remember the last time I went off-line. I managed a network TV interview from the top of a ski moun-tain last week.

What inspires you to work in this industry: When I started in this business, PR was a poor cousin to advertising. It was all about press releases and press conferences, and was usually the first thing to get cut when the going got tough. Today, virtually no company can do without PR. It is the essential platform for managing your messaging and engaging with your stakeholders across almost every channel. Because PR is mission-critical, I feel like I am operating at the heart of our company’s business, which is an incredibly exciting and interesting place to be.

What is your proudest moment in business: Hopefully, my proudest moment is yet to come. But so far, I’ve had two: (1) Marcum honored me by creating a national leadership position in order to bring me on board as the Firm’s first Director of Public Relations & Com-munications. It’s been a great adventure thus far, and I certainly hope it will continue for the foreseeable future. (2) I ran PR for the world’s first residential green building developer and the world’s first biodiesel producer – simultaneously. I had the great personal joy and professional privilege of having a hand in educating the media and the public about these two seminal technologies well before anyone knew what “sustainability” meant. These were both clients that any global agency would have gladly “disappeared” me to have for themselves – a real career high for me.

What is your greatest strength: Personal drive.What is your greatest weakness: Impatience.

Who is your role model: An amalgam of my mother, past and present colleagues, and people I read about in the news.

What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: I am a do-er by nature, and that means I not only take my responsibilities to heart, I also often stick my neck out (or poke my nose in – choose your metaphor) where it has not always been invited. I like to be involved. I like to contribute in as many ways as possible to the mission. At the end of the day, my goal is to help move the needle forward and to be fully engaged as a valued contributor to that process.

Time management is critical – how do you man-age your time: I am ultra-organized. I never leave the office until my desk is cleared, my reading piles are arranged, my to-do lists for the next day are done, and the used coffee cups are tossed. I am relentless about flagging and deleting email 24-7 in order to stay ahead of the deluge and avoid drowning. I also use the Outlook calendar to track my deadlines, send myself reminders and stay on top of my meetings (including agendas as well as names/phone numbers/addresses) and travel schedule.

Hot topic in your business or field: Integration of communication platforms. This has always been a hot topic, but the speedway that is social media has accelerated the challenge while creating wildly valuable and efficient new possibilities.

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: Start out working for a global agency if you can, in order to get as wide a perspective on the business of public relations as possible.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Smart.

IN-HOUSE MARKETING PROFESSIONALTeresa HansenWeizerMazars LLP

Name: Teresa L. HansenCurrent job and Company name: Long Island Marketing Lead, WeiserMazars LLP

Twitter handle: @msteresalynnWhat are you passionate about: I’m passionate about living a happy, healthy and

balanced life. What inspires you to work in this industry: I enjoy the interaction with the partners

I work with and the level of professionalism in the accounting industry. What is your proudest moment in business: My proudest moment is when I realized

that hard work does pay off and that I am valued within my company.What is your greatest strength: I think my greatest strength is my honesty and com-

mitment to myself. I never leave work feeling like I didn’t give it 110 percent that day.What is your greatest weakness: I am very hard on myself.Who is your role model: Walt Disney.What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: I want to keep growing

my career and continue building and enhancing my skillset.Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: I wake up early

and have “me” time in the morning. This allows me to clear my head and focus on the day ahead. I also take a look at my calendar the night before the next day so I can properly plan for what’s in store.

Hot topic in your business or field: Personal brand-ing

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: Don’t get inside your own head. Communicate, communicate, communicate.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Driven

Do you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to brag about? My personal development since joining WeiserMazars is unbelievable. I entered this firm as a senior associate and in less than two years I am in charge of an entire office and market segment. I am proud of my accomplishments and I am thankful for those who have seen something in me and have given me this opportunity.


MARKETING TEAMHJMT Public Relations

Current job and Company name: HJMT Public Relations Inc. Twitter handle: @HJMTWhat are you passionate about: We’re passionate about our clients. When we take

on a new client, they become a part of our family so it drives us to want to help them even more.

What inspires you to work in this industry: We’re inspired by the businesses we work for. They all have a story to tell that needs to be heard and it motivates us to keep at it every day.

What is your proudest moment in business: Our proudest moments in business occur when our clients are happy and when we get them great placements to help their business grow.

What is your greatest strength: Our greatest strength is the ability to listen to our

clients, to understand their needs and to help them achieve their goals.What is your greatest weakness: We often go beyond the call of duty. What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: With every project we

take on, our ultimate goal is to generate attention for that business or organization- wheth-er it’s through traditional media, an online presence or printed materials.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: We have a great team who work really hard to get the best results possible for our clients.

Hot topic in your business or field: Big Data and PR.Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: Be a

team player. Every employee brings something to the table- whether it’s a new or tradition-al way to go about things. It’s important to work with your colleagues so that your campaign can stand out and generate as much attention as possible.

What would you say customers value most about your business and the ser-vices you provide: Our clients would agree that we are 100% committed to them and that we go above and beyond. We get them excellent media placements and we help them with their integrated marketing so that they can receive a return on their investment.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Creative.


IN-HOUSE MARKETING PROFESSIONALLula Lukasiewicz

Cerini & Associates, LLP

Name: Lula LukasiewiczCurrent job and Company name: marketing coordi-

nator, Cerini & Associates, LLPTwitter handle: @CeriniandAssocWhat are you passionate about: I am very passion-

ate about marketing, yoga and helping others achieve their personal and professional goals.

What inspires you to work in this industry: Having an artistic background, marketing allows me to explore my creative abilities in the corporate landscape. Thinking differ-ently is the strength that has opened up many doors for me when challenged with certain obstacles. Our firm has a very elaborate marketing culture and this encourages everyone to be a well rounded professional.

What is your proudest moment in business: The day I was offered the Marketing Coordinator position. I

knew it was a huge challenge to transition into this leadership role and I was extremely hon-ored to just even be considered. It’s not every day someone believes in you. Working with my amazing team has been very rewarding personally and professionally.

What is your greatest strength: Resilience. I had to overcome some challenges in my new role, especially in the public speaking area. I knew I had to overcome it quickly because my team depended on me. I went through an intense yoga instructor certification to deepen my knowledge of yoga, overcome my fears of speaking and increase self-confidence.

What is your greatest weakness: Resilience. As they say, one’s strength is also one’s weakness. When I’m passionate about something I fully immerse myself.

Who is your role model: My husband Andrew is a natural born leader and always encouraged me to reach higher, speak louder, travel further. His willingness, commitment, and courage inspires me and others around him to release their full potential. I am eternally grateful to him for always supporting and believing in me.

What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: Our team is extremely dedicated to helping businesses, schools and nonprofit organizations reach their goals. My ultimate goal would be continuing to effectively promote the talented pro-fessionals I work closely with. They truly deserve recognition as experienced advisors in the industries they serve.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: Don’t take on the world. I learned quickly to plan accordingly by considering the time and resources required for every project to run smoothly. Communicate to your team the support required to meet each goal.

Hot topic in your business or field: Our 4th Annual Long Island Imagine Awards is on May 3rd and we are all very excited for this year’s talented pool of nonprofits. We are all working tirelessly to get businesses and nonprofits in the room.

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: Figure out what you hate doing and do it the more. For example, if you have a fear of public speak-ing, become better at active listening. Actively listen to other speakers that inspire you. Once you’re ready to go to the next level, learn some breathing techniques or other tips that work well with you and test it out. Don’t give up.

Please answer if you are receiving the award as an individual/team: Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Dedicated

Do you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to brag about? I am very proud to have a sincere role in our firm-wide content marketing strategy. My first project as marketing Coordinator, was to get our new mobile friendly, search engine optimized website launched and we had to learn rapidly how to conquer new challenges to outperform our competition. We went full force by integrating this firm-wide marketing strategy and enhanced our website on Google’s first page VIP arena organically. This strategy is not only driving new business, but it is undoubtedly empowering us firm-wide to share ac-countability and ideas. Most marketing teams are “company focused”, having a management hierarchy that hardly encourages experimentation. Top- down decision making causes delays that a company cannot afford when our competition is a Google search query away.

WEB DESIGN TEAMUCOMM Communications

Name: Kris LaGrangeCurrent job and Company name: president, UCOMM

CommunicationTwitter handle: @UCOMMBlogWhat are you passionate about: The theory and

concept of organized labor, justice, equality, parody and fairness for the average working person.

What inspires you to work in this industry: We always tell our clients and target clients that if you did something great, but no one ever heard about it, then it never happened. UCOMM Communications dedicates itself to making sure that people know about the great work that unions do.

What is your proudest moment in business: When we heard we were officially blacklisted from being pub-lished in the Newsday opinion pages.

What is your greatest strength: We get to the point quickly; we understand our clients and their challenges and have worked out a method to roll out effective internal and external communications in such a way that keeps the leaders in control, the members en-gaged with the public constantly in mind.

What is your greatest weakness: We distrust the wealthy. Who is your role model: Being that we are the first do to this type of work exclusively

for organized labor, there aren’t many but when it comes to labor leaders who lead by exam-ple, we admire Roger Clayman, the executive director of the Long Island Federation of Labor and Chris Erikson, the business manager of Local 3 IBEW NYC. All of our 29 clients have a special place in our hearts and all bring something strong and unique to the table.

What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: We want all unions to communicate better, faster and stronger and fire the shots first, instead of reacting to a shot fired on them. We also want the public to realize that when a union advocates for an issue, it is for the greater good and to always look behind the curtain if collective bargaining rights are threatened.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: We work hard, but play hard too and since the bad guys never stop working, we can’t either. Greed, apathy, intolerance and bigotry never take a day off so neither do we. In order to succeed for our union clients, we often set the standards and manage our own internal com-pany expectations and manage those of our clients as well.

Hot topic in your business or field: Of course the election of the next president. The function of the National Labor Relations Board; the development of renewable energy jobs; how the public views cops and teachers and the defense of collective bargaining.

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: We have the power to make the world a better place and the power to make it suck. If you don’t know the difference then maybe this isn’t the field for you.

What would you say customers value most about your business and the ser-vices you provide: We are responsive, efficient and effective.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: AggressiveDo you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to brag

about? I know we are being recognized for NassauPBA.org, but LongIslandFed.org is that site on steroids. The program and method we incorporate to help clients build or improve their communications structures ares practiced across our entire footprint.

Tell us about your specific role and contributions in this project: When the Nas-sau PBA made it official, Ryan Birch, UCOMM’s graphic and web designer – spent countless hours on the project. We work as a team but most of the accolades on design, functionality and layout on NassauPBA.org are all Ryan’s. The site has grown over the years in both style and content. The initial text and imagery we used over time has melded into an internal responsibility taken on by Police Officer Joe Nocella. NassauPBA.org is maintained by a team.

What goals did you have in mind and how do you feel your project, campaign, etc. has helped your client or your business? During the wage freeze years and NIFA occupation, the war on cops led by Cablevision Corporation forced us to develop platforms to promote and defend those who protect our communities every day. UCOMM was retained, work and time was invested and NassauPBA.org and the Behind the Badge public e-news-letter was born.


IN-HOUSE MARKETING PROFESSIONALMindy Wolfle

Vishnick McGovern Milizio LLP

Name: Mindy WolfleCurrent job and company name: chief marketing officer, Vishnick McGovern

Milizio LLP; president, Neptune Marketing LLC; instructor, Hofstra University Continuing Education

Twitter handle: @neptunemindyWhat are you passionate about: Doing good for the people and communities in

which we live and work; my friendships; my work and the creativity it involves; the written word; crossword puzzles; music, from Sinatra to the Beatles to Elvis Costello and beyond.

What inspires you to work in this industry: The chance to express myself in words and images; the camaraderie among my marketing colleagues; the relationships I have built over the years in the Long Island business, not-for-profit, education and other communities.

What is your proudest moment in business: Booking and then developing a warm friendship with the late, great radio personality Pete Fornatele to present his program “The Story of Woodstock: Back to the Garden” in the theater at the Elmont Memorial Library in 2011. I treasure the photo of Pete and me.

What is your greatest strength: Determination.What is your greatest weakness: Emotional when I need to be pragmatic.Who is your role model: My late nana, Blanche Stettin, who went to business when it

wasn’t the norm for women of her generation. She lived to be 101½ and displayed an innate strength throughout her life.

What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: Continue to grow and improve my skills; have a positive impact on the people for whom I work; be a leader in thought and actions.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: Sometimes very well – I wouldn’t miss a deadline – and sometimes I need to give myself that extra push and focus on the work at hand.

Hot topic in your business or field: Social media, of course!Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: Take

initiative. Make yourself valuable, as an intern or as an entry level employee…and network,

network, network.Choose one word your peers would use to de-

scribe you: Inspired.Do you have a specific project that comes to

mind that you want to brag about? Two projects were tied together: a completely new website and total rebranding of Vishnick McGovern Milizio. The website project was really soup to nuts: creating an RFP, inter-viewing web developers, in-depth research into what each company could deliver and ultimately making a decision. The actual development of the site took many months and the entire project was mine to bring to fruition. I not only represented the firm in the process, I handled image se-lection, writing and editing, photo shoot, many revisions and everything that goes into launching a contemporary, user-friendly and content-driven site. Immediately following the launch of the site, I set out to rebrand the firm with new collateral marketing materials, email blasts and other print and digital tools to tie into the look and feel of the website. I also changed the color palate of the firm…it was another soup-to-nuts project.

What goals did you have in mind and how do you feel your project, campaign, etc. has helped your client or your business? The new website and marketing materials were long overdue. We are proud of how Vishnick McGovern Milizio presents itself in print, on the web and across the spectrum of social media platforms. My goals in this respect are to continue to utilize all available means to bring greater name recognition to the firm; to broadcast the accomplishments, articles written and presentations made by our attorneys. We have just launched VMM Academy, an informative legal seminar series, “from those in the know for those who need to know.” VMM Academy is another offshoot of the firm’s rebrand-ing.


MARKETING TEAMAdelphi University Marketing Team

Name: Lori Duggan GoldCurrent job and Company name: vice president for communications, Adelphi Uni-

versity.Twitter handle: ldg19What inspires you to work in this industry: Our students.What is your proudest moment in business: Each year I get to sit on the stage at

graduation and see our students walk across the platform and shake our President’s hand. Knowing my team played a role in attracting them to Adelphi and mentoring so many while they were students is a point of great pride.

What is your greatest strength: Dedication.What is your greatest weakness: Dedication.

Who is your role model: What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: To be recognized for my commitment and to build an extraordinary team.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: No always so well! Hot topic in your business or field: Affordability.Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: Be tena-

cious and always, always be honest.Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Determined.

MARKETING TEAMDidit Communications

Name: Liz Burke, Ana Raynes, Hakan Sinar, Josephine Acampora, Carinna Gano, Maggie Murphy, Aaron Kupferberg, Victor Weng

Current job and Company name (title, company): Integrated Marketing Team at the “Didit” agency in Mineola, NY

Twitter handle: @DiditMarketingWhat are you passionate about: Our team is passionate about collaboration. On a

daily basis, we bring together the distinct knowledge, experience and skills of each team member to contribute to the development of new projects for our clients. We have a dy-namic group that has an appetite to brainstorm ideas and develop creative concepts, in order to deliver positive results to our customers.

What inspires you to work in this industry: Each of us is a “creator” at heart, wheth-er it be creating a company website, a public relations story, or an online brand presence. It is that art of creating that truly inspires us.

What is your proudest moment in business: Our proudest moment in business was the culmination of a set of company acquisitions, in 2015, which allowed our agency to pro-vide a full and integrated suite of marketing, public relations and digital offerings.

What is your greatest strength: Our team’s greatest strength is the ability to effec-tively problem solve and strategize to help our clients meet their goals. Every company has a set of pain points to overcome and we look at them from a very strategic point of view, identifying specific marketing and PR approaches to address these problems. As problem solvers, we see a situation from different perspectives and make astute recommendations, many times raising elements that have never even crossed the client’s mind

What is your greatest weakness: At times, we over-communicate to clients. While we aim to keep our clients informed of every step of the process, certain clients don’t have the time to read all of our communication. So, we work to find the right balance based on the specific client’s schedule and availability.

Who is your role model: This is an incidental question for us as our team project for this award focused on recognizing inspirational role models through an Aer Lingus Business Class brand awareness campaign and online video contest. We respectfully choose the grand prize winner of this contest, Eric Blandford, as our role model. Mr. Blandford, a deputy sheriff in New Orleans for more than 15 years, has carried out many heroic acts during his tenure. This is a noble individual in our society who has helped citizens in a variety of ways and we congratulate him. If we were to choose a role model in our industry, it would be the co-founders of Didit, Dave Pasternack and Kevin Lee, who helped shape the search engine marketing field. As pioneers in the industry, with an approachable leadership style, they are individuals who encourage us to strive for greatness and work to our fullest potential.

What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: Our primary goal is to further showcase our expertise in Digital PR within our client and prospect base.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: Our team

identifies a specific focus for each meeting and limits the meetings to a half hour. We also log our daily client work time, which is tracked on a monthly basis. Overall, time manage-ment is a daily mindset for us.

Hot topic in your business or field: Digital Public Relations – creating online cam-paigns that engage the right people, in the right place, at the right time.

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: Learn all that you can about analytics. More and more, we see how data is the driving force behind maximizing any marketing project and meeting a client’s goals.

What would you say customers value most about your business and the ser-vices you provide: Our customers value our level of expertise in the most complex and challenging areas within the field of marketing. We continuously keep our finger on the pulse of the latest news and developments in our industry, and see how to leverage these trends most effectively. New techniques and technologies emerge almost on a weekly basis, so it is critical to keep our knowledge base up-to-date and, in some cases, ahead of the curve.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: One word to describe our team — DEDICATED

Do you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to bragabout? With Didit’s guidance, execution, support and promotions, Aer Lingus Business

Class conducted a role model video contest that kicked off during National Inspirational Role Models Month (November).The public was able to nominate a role model for the chance for the role model and a guest to win a round trip Aer Lingus Business Class flight to Dublin and a vacation in Ireland. Participants were asked to create a short video explaining why they believe their nominee is a true role model who deserves the prize. Aer Lingus Business Class held a Role Model Video Facebook Vote featuring the three semi-finalist video nominations. At the end of the public voting period, one grand prize winner was selected. The number of votes and video views was impressive.

Hakan Sinar, Victor Weng, Josephine Acampo-ra, Carinna Gano, Liz Burke, Aaron Kupferberg,

Maggie Murphy (not present: Ana Raynes)


IN-HOUSE MARKETING PROFESSIONALSharyn O’Mara

Wisselman, Harounian & Associates, P.C.

Name: Sharyn O’MaraCurrent job and company name: communications director, Wis-

selman, Harounian & Associates, P.C.Twitter handle: SOLongIslandWhat are you passionate about: I am passionate about my

family and the benefits Long Island offers its residents. From a work perspective, I am passionate about the importance of our generation of professionals helping the younger generation to have rewarding and successful careers and not have to learn everything the hard way. I am also passionate about embracing the ever-changing technology and the new opportunities that this new technology world affords us.

What inspires you to work in this industry: I think this industry offers so many twists and turns in career path options that there is something amazing and enjoyable for everyone. I find this to be a fas-cinating area to work in and love that it is constantly changing. There are always new things to try and I continue to learn and grow. I don’t think there are many careers where that would be true at this stage of

the game. I love the field of legal marketing specifically. What is your proudest moment in business: My proudest moments in business have been

when clients, bosses and co-workers have also become true friends. The Long Island communications world is small and my proudest moments have been when the “six degrees of separation” have become two or three and a good reputation has helped me with everything from a new consulting assignment to a teaching opportunity and even to the job I have now.

What is your greatest strength: I think my greatest strength is being able to come up with a “wow” idea while also excelling at completing every small detail to make a large project a big success.

What is your greatest weakness: I still am a pen and paper person. I have to review things on a piece of paper and write down my lists. I also have to admit to a hard time letting go of that paper!

Who is your role model: My first role models were my parents – my mom worked because she loved her job, not because she had to and I am grateful to also love my job. My parents didn’t have a traditional family structure and that helped me to work without guilt when my children were young.

My work role model is Linda Wisselman who introduced me to the world of legal marketing which has been such a perfect fit for me. She has been an amazing teaching, my biggest cheerleader and my support.

What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: I have dedicated much of my time and efforts to supporting the fields of public relations and marketing on Long Island. As co-president of Social Media Association and a former board member of Public Relations Professionals of Long Island, I continue to help these organizations to thrive and to grow and that is an important goal as I believe it helps our entire industry to have groups like these available locally. I think my next goal is to raise the awareness about legal marketing specifically or even professional services marketing and all that it offers.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: Work-life balance and time management outside of the office is always challenging. It is wonderful to have conveniences like being able to check emails on the phone whenever necessary but when I am waking up to check them, I know I have shifted too far over and I need a “reset” or at least a rest.

Hot topic in your business or field: As co-president of the Social Media Association, I am seeing cutting-edge events from behind the scenes. The March program is a live demonstration of Blab called “Harnessing the Power of Video and Live Streaming.”

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: There are a lot of entry level social media coordinator-type positions available because older people tend to be less com-fortable with the tactic. The tip I have is to use this opportunity to learn how to convey a message, how to tell a story, build a brand and be especially careful with the personal posting if you are also represent-ing a company at the same time with social media.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: BusyDo you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to brag about? I am

starting to teach social media classes next week and will be continuing through the spring. I taught an “Introduction to Public Relations” class at Adelphi University and was bitten by the teaching bug. Since then, I have guest lectured at classes, participated in panels and have been the guest speaker to a large group of communications students at Stony Brook University and even guided communications students on the phone there.


MARKETING TEAMGroovecar

Team name: Karen Duane Johnson, vp of marketing; Denise Stieve, creative director; Eric Budzinski, marketing coordinator; Dylan Jacobson, video marketing; Tasha Riddle, client relations coordinator

Twitter handle: www.twitter.com/groovecar What are you passionate about:

Karen: writingDenise: FamilyEric: simple design, incredible storytelling and cool artworkDylan: Family, friends, traveling, sports, musicTasha: Family, photography

What inspires you to work in this industry:Karen: I am passionate about witnessing our company achieve its success through its full market-ing potential and as a result is able to expand and grow because of the work we do.Denise: Being able to use my creativity and come up with some new and fresh all the time.Eric: Innovative ways to accomplish the same thing.Dylan: Learning more and more each day. Using my expertise to help create the best possible auto buying platform for our customers.Tasha: Never a dull moment, always changing.

What is your proudest moment in business: Karen: When marketing programs work and generate increased business for our clients. Hearing back from a client who has utilized our collateral support materials to their success is a wonderful indeed.Denise: When I see my designs in the real world.Eric: Seeing my hard work pay-off in the real world.Dylan: Learning and implementing the fundamentals of video advertising in our marketing program.Tasha: When a client sent over a box of Shari’s Berries to thank me for all my help.

What is your greatest strength: Karen: Writing and pitching our company story to the press.Denise: Multi-tasking.Eric: Keeping calm under pressure.Dylan: Being creative and thinking outside the box.Tasha: Multi-tasking.

What is your greatest weakness: Karen: too focused on the deadline.Denise: writing.Eric: stubbornness.Dylan: procrastination.Tasha: too hard on myself.

Who is your role model: Karen: Richard Branson, Entrepreneur .Denise: My Dad.Dylan: My parents.

What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: Karen: Creating a full spectrum, multi-channel marketing and communications program for GrooveCar credit unions so they can take advantage of changing market conditions and compete like a bank for auto loan growth.Denise: Inspiring others.Eric: Clear accomplishment of objectives.Dylan: Learning new ways to reach credit union members effectively.Tasha: Coming up with new goals to reach helps me to keep me on track.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: Karen: Our team meets daily to review short and long-term projects so that we stay on track with each other and so that we don’t miss an opportunity. We also use project management tracking software.Denise: Keeping lists and constantly prioritizing.Eric: Constant re-evaluation of priorities.Dylan: I plan ahead of time. I like to set goals for the day, then review what I have accomplished and what still needs to be worked on before leaving work.Tasha: Daily plan of action and multi-task along the way.

Hot topic in your business or field: Karen: reaching millennials.Denise: retargeting.Eric: advancing technologies.Dylan: millennials and how they affect the auto market.

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry:

Karen: Be willing to be very flexible and open to learning other ways of doing things. Don’t be shy about your ideas and remember you are part of a team. Denise: Keep up with the latest programs and technology.Eric: Despite all the different channels of information that we are bombarding our senses, mar-keting is still a simple give and take. Give your customers a reason to care, and they will take the offer.Dylan: Work hard, stay focused and be passionate about what you are doing. Be creative and always think of unique ways to reach customers.Tasha: Always keep learning. I learn something almost every day that can make my day better and easier.

What would you say customers value most about your business and the services you pro-vide:

Karen: Customers value our customer and marketing support. We introduced customized video marketing which has made a huge difference in propelling the credit union to the next level of messaging to the member. The GrooveCar marketing team is a credit union’s brand partner with full public relations, marketing, customized video messaging and creative department support. This is not the norm in the business field GrooveCar serves. As a team we are looking for niche areas to provide support where un-tapped opportunity exists.Denise: Saving time and moneyDylan: GrooveCar provides unmatched user friendly auto buying resource to our members. We pooled together years of experience to provide customers with a more convenient way to shop for autos.Tasha: Saving time and money

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Karen: for our group: killer brand strategists, personally: team player.Denise: Helpful.Eric: Helpful.Tasha: Awesome.

Do you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to brag about? All our projects incorporate multiple areas of marketing to influence credit union members on Long Island and nationwide who are looking to research, purchase and finance a vehicle. Our team creates 4 Do-It-Yourself marketing events a year for credit unions to participate in. Our team creates all the collateral marketing materials and handles details for launching an event to generate buzz. Our goals are to spark the conver-sation and penetrate all areas where a member may be receiving or looking for information. For instance, our July Road Trip Event will involve road trip photos by members to post on social media with the hashtag #mygroovyroadtrip to win prizes throughout the month of July. The GrooveCar marketing team will create banners, ads, digital advertising, videos, newsletters, and social media posts for the credit unions to mes-sage to their members about the event. We will also have an email quiz on “What is Your Ultimate Road-trip Car” this quiz will cover the vehicles that make a great road trip car which tie-in our dealerships across Long Island. Our events not only message to the members but we also need to drive interest to our over 100 of our exclusive dealerships on Long Island and in several Boroughs. We will do this through our credit unions and help them to message to over a million collective members on Long Island.

What goals did you have in mind and how do you feel your project, campaign, etc. has helped your client or your business? All our projects need to encompass both traditional and digital forms of marketing as the message being pushed out has to accommodate a multi-generational audi-ence. The marketing team at GrooveCar is an incredible resource to credit unions who may not be able to react as quickly to changing market conditions and opportunities. We position ourselves as brand partners to assist them with all the heavy lifting it takes to fully deploy a marketing program with teeth.

From Left to right, Dylan Jacobson, Denise Sti-eve, Eric Budzinski, Karen Johnson, Tasha Riddle.


MARKETING TEAMLorraine Gregory Communications

Name: Gregory DemetriouCurrent job and Company name: president, Lorraine Gregory Communications.Twitter handle: @lorrgregcommWhat are you passionate about: Watching the LGC Team impress clients by exceed-

ing their expectations.What inspires you to work in this industry: The mix of theory, strategy, design and

execution that varies from one client to another.What is your proudest moment in business: Being recognized by our peers, clients

and business community as a top-shelf agency.What is your greatest strength: The ability to listen, translate and meet our clients’

needs efficiently and effectively.Who is your role model: My Father.

What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: Continue to add to the LGC family of clients. Continue to create campaigns of all types that are of the highest caliber. Earn the respect, confidence and friendship of our clients.

Hot topic in your business or field: Managing and setting the standard for Social Media, Search Engines and Mobile Marketing.

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: Do your research!

What would you say customers value most about your business and the ser-vices you provide: Clients’ highest praise always goes to the LGC team members and how they interact with them on a daily basis.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: ResultsDo you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to brag

about? The Boy Scouts of America – Suffolk County Council came to LGC in need of raising $15,000 for repairs and improvements at their summer camp. LGC designed a crowd-funding campaign supported by social media outreaches and other methodologies that achieved the monetary goal in half the time that was allotted.


MENTORMark J. Grossman

Mark Grossman Public Relations

Name: Mark J. GrossmanCurrent job and Company name: owner/princi-

pal, Mark Grossman Public Relations; Adjunct Professor of Communications at Suffolk Community College, Nassau Community College, Hofstra University, and Farmingdale State College.

Twitter handle: @markgrossmanprWhat are you passionate about: I think it’s dis-

graceful that Richie Havens, the opening act at Woodstock, has yet to be voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. So, six years ago I founded and maintain a Facebook page dedicated to that effort called, “Induct Richie Havens into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.” www.facebook.com/In-ductRichieHavens This advocacy effort is, by far, one of my greatest passions.

What inspires you to work in this industry: Every once in a while you get the opportunity to do a “mitzvah,”

as we say in my culture. It’s part of the long-held Jewish concept of “Tikkun Olam,” which means we are required, as stewards of the earth, to take actions to help “repair the world,” no matter how insignificant our small efforts may seem. It’s all part of the work I do not only with non-profits and with my students, but also with my private sector clients because I will only take on a business or organization that I personally believe in. That’s why much of my work now-a-days is with the renewable energy industry.

What is your proudest moment in business: Greater than any single moment is the mere fact that I’m in the communications business, because up until my mid-20s, I was a stutterer. You can sort of say I’ve come full-circle because I now teach a course in Public Speaking at the college level.

What is your greatest strength: My hair. (Full disclosure: I’ve used Rogaine for the past 26 years.)

What is your greatest weakness: My inability to manage the daily onslaught of email.

Who is your role model: This is not an easy answer because our lives are impacted by so many people. On a personal level, I would say that my father was my role model. He had a unique combination of kindness, curiosity, and intelligence, with a great sense of humor. On the professional level, former President Jimmy Carter is certainly a role model. After rising politically to be elected the leader of the free world, he then dedicated his life to serving those in-need, all the while staying true to his convictions and his faith.

What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: I’ve been fortunate to have an exciting, interesting, and diverse career without ever setting goals beyond the short-term deliverables of wherever I’ve worked. The result is that great opportunities have found me. So, at 58 years old, I don’t see a reason to change.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: There’s actually a way to manage time?

Hot topic in your business or field: When it comes to using digital and social media, we’re at the same timeline point that TV was in the 1940s. The exception is that change is happening much more rapidly now-a-days and the technology is much more accessible to the average person. Nevertheless, we’re still in the very early stages of learning how, as a society, to best use this new media as we (quite clumsily) try to develop the accepted rules of use. We’re getting there. It’s a work-in-progress.

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: Learn how to properly use an apostrophe.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: ResourcefulDo you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to brag about?

After 9/11, it was clear that the World Trade Center tragedy would impact more than just those who were in lower Manhattan that day. As a result, Project Liberty, funded primarily by FEMA, was established to deal with the aftermath of the tragedy and help the many thousands of people in the New York Metropolitan Area manage their post-9/11 anxiety and fears. Because of the high-quality work my firm and I had been doing with mental health not-for-profits, we were chosen to lead the marketing and publicity effort in Nassau and Suffolk counties. This was pre-social media so the tools we used were more traditional: radio, television, newspapers, signs, brochures, etc.

MENTORDonna Rivera-Downey

Girl Scouts of Nassau County

Name: Donna River-DowneyCurrent job and Company name: chief marketing and communication officer, Girl

Scouts of Nassau CountyTwitter handle: @drd45What are you passionate about: I am passionate about providing opportunities for

girls and young women.What inspires you to work in this industry: I am inspired by an organization that has

a mission. What is your proudest moment in business: My proudest moment in business was

when girls from my Council were chosen to appear on the Girl Scout Cookie Boxes in 2011.What is your greatest strength: My greatest strength is my ability to work with

people.What is your greatest weakness: My greatest weakness is shyness.Who is your role model: My role model is my boss, Donna Ceravolo. She is the CEO of

Girl Scouts of Nassau County. She has grace under fire, is a strong leader, knows how to get things done while making everyone feel like a part of the team.

What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: Look for new and inno-vative ways to showcase the work of Girl Scouts in Nassau County.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: I am a planner. I make lists, I try to finish thing one thing at a time.

Hot topic in your business or field: The integration of social media into the work we

do and how to measure its success.Can you give us one tip you would provide to new-

bies in this industry: My advice to a newbie would be to join a professional development organization.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Compassionate

Do you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to brag about? The establishment and continuing direction of Girl Scouts of Nassau County’s “Girl Messenger Units,” which include the Girl Scouts of Nassau County Chorus, the Ceremonial Unit, and our Media Girls is the project I would focus on for the interview. It showcases the mentoring aspect of my award. Each of the Media Girls in this program -- over 150 girls each year, ages 5 to 18 -- receive group training as well as individual coaching on how to work with the media in a variety of situations

This program was originally designed to train girls to be spokespersons for our organi-zation. It has done so much more. I have watched girls develop the confidence to try new things. They are not afraid to take on new challenges. Their parents tell me that the work they do for us has translated into bigger and better things for them in every aspect of their lives…school, sports and their interactions with others.


Congratulates Donna Rivera-Downey

on her EXCELLENCE IN

COMMUNICATION AWARD


NOT-FOR-PROFIT MARKETING PROFESSIONALPatrick Calabria

Farmingdale State College

Name: Patrick CalabriaCurrent job and Company name: vice president for institutional advancement and

enrollment management, Farmingdale State CollegeTwitter handle: [email protected] are you passionate about: Providing the best experience possible for students.

After that, writing and baseball.What inspires you to work in this industry: Being around really smart people.What is your proudest moment in business: Any day a student says, “Thank you for

helping me.”What is your greatest strength: My work ethic.What is your greatest weakness: Impatience.Who is your role model: My dad.What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: Improving the institu-

tion and giving staff the opportunity to develop and grow.Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: I try very hard to

have dinner with my family every night, and I work around that.Hot topic in your business or field: Millennials

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: When the boss says, “I need someone to come in and work on this project this week-end,” be the first one to raise your hand.

Choose one word your peers would use to de-scribe you: Honest.

Do you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to brag about? Admissions is one of several offices I supervise. We have a very fine Admissions staff, but they needed support in putting our best foot forward. So we created a Tour Room to host prospective students and their parents, to provide a more comfortable and professional setting. We implemented technology so that our Admissions process is now paperless. We improved our Open Houses so that now we get great feedback from students and parents. And we are more data-driven, to better inform our decisions. I’m very proud of how we have worked together to make our Admissions Office the excellent operation it is, and how we have demonstrated that we value the staff.

MARKETING TEAMThe Public Relations and Marketing Group

Name: Vanessa Bishop - Senior Account Executive, Raymond Medina – Web Developer, Candice Votke – Communications Assistant, Laura Larson – Creative Director and

Hannah Perez – Web Development Director.Company name: The Public Relations and Marketing Group (PRMG)Twitter handle: @ThePRMG What are you passionate about: The success of our clients.What inspires you to work in this industry: Constant change and a diverse set of duties.What is your proudest moment in business: Anytime a client is successful or does well

as a result of our work and contributions.What is your greatest strength: Working as a team. Contributing collectively to achieve

a common goal.What is your greatest weakness: The biggest challenges are always going to come from

keeping up with the latest technologies. We recognize that it is important to filter out the good ones from the bad and in an effort to always stay ahead of the curve.

Who is your role model: Any fierce competitor who has dedication and drive. What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: Our goal, first and

foremost, is always to increase the visibility of all of our clients in an effort to increase their profitability or, in the case of non-profits, their viability. In doing so, we also achieve our sec-ondary goal which is to increase the awareness of our own brand in an effort to help grow the company.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: We use a technology that tracks and manages all client projects, as well as a time tracking system that allows us to ensure our time is evenly distributed across our accounts.

Hot topic in your business or field: The constant evolution of standards for Website design and development and social media management. A good example of this would be Facebook, which has just recently changed its “like” functionality and is constantly changing its security features.

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: Digital marketing (Web development, social media management, digital advertising and everything in between) is ever-changing. What was a “best practice” yesterday can easily become “tired” tomorrow. Use your start in the industry to learn from those who have been living it every day, but also never be afraid to offer a new perspective or solution to a problem. You can’t date the

industry you have to “marry” it and dedi-cate yourself as a lifelong learner.

What would you say customers value most about your business and the services you provide: We have an earnest interest in the success of our clients and seek to provide transparency in doing so by offering measurable results. This offers a level of accountability that you may not get with other firms.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Client-focused About PRMG: We each provide very different services within the scope of PRMG. As Senior

Account Executive, Vanessa Bishop is tasked with managing the day-to-day contact with each of the agency’s professional, hospitality and non-profit clients in addition to content creation for newsletters, social media, press releases and more. Web Developer Raymond Medina not only assists with implementing and updating Websites and digital advertising, but also oversees our SEO services and the development of the clients’ email marketing. As a Communications Assis-tant, Candice Votke’s primary role was to assist the senior staff members with the various tasks of the team – especially in areas such as social media, newsletter development and blogging. She is now an Account Executive, in charge of the firm’s legal clients. Hannah Perez oversees the agency’s Web Development staff and is charged with developing and implementing new Websites (for new and existing clients alike), in addition to assigning projects, fielding technical inquires and helping with email marketing. In her role as Creative Director, Laura Larson is charged with every graphic design request – from standard printed items, such as business cards and letterhead, to full-on digital creations such as Website and E-Newsletter templates.

One of the clients that reaches into many entities of our business is Ben’s Kosher Delica-tessen, Restaurant & Caterers, for which we provide public relations, Web development, social media management and digital advertising support, among many other things. In the past year alone, we’ve set out to take support the brand’s marketing team with an increased number of digital marketing objectives – we’ve accomplished this and have subsequently helped increase the visibility of the brand. Our relationship with Ben’s has also increased our credibility in the hospitality arena, which has enabled us to land several prominent clients.


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NOT-FOR-PROFIT MARKETING PROFESSIONALMelissa Kuehnle

St. Joseph’s College

Name: Melissa KuehnleCurrent job and Company name: director of communications

and external relations at St. Joseph’s CollegeTwitter handle: @Melissa KueWhat are you passionate about: I am passionate about creativity

and connecting. I love being creative, whether it is with my writing or while brainstorming with my coworkers. I also enjoy connecting people to others and creating mutually beneficial relationships. It is personally rewarding to see the partnerships that I helped create.

What inspires you to work in this industry: Public relations and communications are always changing and the new tools, tactics or techniques at my disposal inspire me to learn more and do more. Also, helping others get what they need motivates me. Whether it’s informa-tion, story ideas, volunteer work or professional assistance, I want to be the one who is able to provide them with the help or the answers that they require.

What is your proudest moment in business: This is it! To be honored for the work I do on a daily basis is so gratifying.

What is your greatest strength: My thirst for knowledge because like Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” I am always eager to learn or experience new things and that desire keeps me inspired in my career and my life.

What is your greatest weakness: Cupcakes … no, honestly everyone is a work in prog-ress and I think that my weaknesses make me a harder worker.

Who is your role model: John Lasseter, the chief creative officer for Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios. He brings stories and characters to life in ways that make them memorable and life-changing. To really affect people in such a positive and enjoyable way is admirable.

What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: My goal is to use my cre-ative and technical skills to expand SJC’s brand recognition across Long Island. By strengthening the brand, there will be more of an affinity for the College through our alumni and our part-

nerships throughout Patchogue. For example, I would love it if Patchogue became a college town. I went to Penn State and the town and gown aspect was prevalent in State College. St. Joseph’s College students should feel like Patchogue is their community, and we are moving toward that with dorms coming to SJC Long Island in the next couple years.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: I make a lot of lists and I have a planner, a journal and a Google calendar that run my life. If it’s not in the planner, it won’t happen.

Hot topic in your business or field: Right now, storytelling is very popular in commu-nication. People want to be entertained while they are consuming constant content. There is a story behind every choice we make and who we are. How we tell that story or the stories of the places or people we work for through words, images or video is how we get the buy-in from a reporter or a reader.

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: The best advice that I received when I was starting a career in PR was from one of my grad school pro-fessors at NYIT. He said, “If you want to be a good writer, read good writing.” Now, I can tell the difference between good writing that paints a visual picture for the reader and words that are strung together to create a sentence.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Enthusiastic.Do you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to brag about? I

constantly work to connect SJC to the community and then cross promote our efforts. Recently, as a result of my role as a vice president within the Greater Patchogue Chamber of Commerce and director of communications and external relations at St. Joseph’s College, I put together a list of local discounts on our website for SJC Long Island students. A local creperie, Sweet ‘n’ Savory, had the idea to name a crepe after our mascot, Hot Wyngz and donate $1 from every Hot Wyngz crepe back to the College. In an effort to take advantage of the opportunity and use the resources we have at the College, we were able to get the mascot over to the restaurant and video him ordering his signature dish. We used the video to launch the discount list and to announce Sweet ‘n’ Savory’s support. My coworkers in social media and multimedia were able to bring the idea to fruition and share it over the College’s social media accounts. It was a lot of fun, and it benefited the entire SJC community and supported a local business.


PR AGENCYTodd Shapiro

Todd Shapiro Associates Public Relations

Name: Todd S. ShapiroCurrent job and Company name: president, Todd S. Shapiro Associates, Inc. Public

RelationsWhat are you passionate about: Gaining positive, major media coverage for clients,

building and executing successful campaigns for their businesses and associations.What inspires you to work in this industry: Developing and maintaining relation-

ships, meeting and exceeding expectations in an increasingly competitive marketplace.What is your proudest moment in business: No proudest moment but I am most

proud of building the exemplary reputation we have earned over the 20-plus years since the company was established.

What is your greatest strength: The ability to learn and grow with our clients and the media as well as with the staff I have had the pleasure of working with and multi-tasking.

What is your greatest weakness: Impatience – PR is a game of timing and working very quickly and sometimes clients and media don’t react or respond as fast as I’d prefer them to.

Who is your role model: Theodore Roosevelt.What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: To continue building

and growing the firm by adding talented staff with varying strengths and abilities and by working with our diverse roster of clients, all who have interesting stories to tell.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: It’s always a challenge but staying focused is key and I find that the more energy you bring to a task or project, the better your time is managed.

Hot topic in your business or field: The business has changed very much since we

started the company but the biggest shift without ques-tion is how technology and social media has created the 24/7 news cycle, literally right before our eyes.

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: Learn to write clean, clear copy and one other would be that listening is more im-portant than speaking.

What would you say customers value most about your business and the services you provide: ROI – It’s hard evaluate that and not all clients understand it but those who do would say so and that’s why our client retention is so high.

Choose one word your peers would use to de-scribe you: Persistent.

Do you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to brag about? We have had many successful projects and served in a variety of capacities depending on the needs of clients but one recent effort stands out. We organized and executed the first major Long Island Heroin Educational Summit hosted by Nassau County and sponsored by the Nassau PBA. It was a convergence of health officials, law enforcement and dependency and treatment experts to promote better education and advocacy for the growing heroin problem in our region. To bring this message to the public, we secured a very strong media presence at the event and invited families and friends of local residents who lost their lives due to substance addiction and abuse.

PR CAMPAIGNBill Corbett

Corbett Public Relations

Name: Bill Corbett, Jr.Current job and Company name: president, Corbett Public Relations

What are you passionate about: Every day I focus on promoting and building businesses. I work with my clients, who are business owners and entrepreneurs, to position them as leaders and experts in the media. I prepare them for TV and other media interviews so they communicate their messages effectively. When my clients’ businesses thrive and their leaders become recognized experts in the media through our efforts, I am thrilled.

What inspires you to work in this industry? The media relations sector is exciting and fast paced. I like being in the middle of the action, part of large stories and involved in business trends. Having my clients interviewed by the media where they can tell their stories inspires me every day. There are many great businesspeople and their stories need to be told. We work with clients and the media everyday to tell these stories and this motivates me.

What is your proudest moment in business: In 2008 I worked with News 12 Long Island on a special morning broadcast. News 12 Long Island brought their entire morning show and on-air team to the Metro New York Balloon and Music Festival. We did an unbelievable 55 live segments between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. This was unprecedented in terms of live media coverage in the Long Island market and it has never been repeated.

What is your greatest strength: I am able to rapidly assess and understand the competitive ad-vantages my clients possess and how they relate to trends. This allows me to quickly develop newsworthy pitches that the media finds interesting. Having been on TV and the host of my own award winning show I am able to train clients to effectively present their messages on TV and with the media.

What is your greatest weakness? I have trouble saying “no” to entrepreneurs, business owners and not-for-profits that need assistance.

Who is your role model? My parents by far: They are the hardest working and most com-mitted and caring people I know. My father is a seasoned public relations leader and my mother, a former mayor, is also a leader and has an unmatched work ethic.

What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: My goal is to continue to use my skills to provide businesses from Long Island and across the nation with effective media relations and PR services. By positioning clients as leaders and experts I am building my reputation as a leading PR professional. My firm is growing strong and our goal is to expand beyond the New York-area market in the next few years.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: I recognize that it is important to manage my time and stay focused. I get up at 5 a.m. I schedule specific time to work on projects. I set aside time to manage the unpredictable events of the day. Complaining about not having enough time is something I never do anymore because if something is important, I make the time. I set aside all the time I need for important business as well as family activities.

The secret: I create an environment where I can be hyper focused with no interruptions. My schedule and focused time is sacred to me and my staff knows this.

Hot topic in your business or field: Live streaming video is on fire today. Businesses and people who want to be leaders and stand out must use video and must start using live streaming video now. Facebook recently launched live streaming. I was prepared for it and to introduce it to those that I work with. The media relations professionals at my firm are well prepared to be ahead of the curve on this trend, we have been training people for TV and video for decades.

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: PR and media relations is not a 9 to 5 business or job. You have to be willing to get up sometimes at 3 or 4 a.m. and work well into the eve-ning. You need to stay up-to-date on all marketing trends and be a student of the media. Professionals have to walk the walk, so you can talk the talk, this means that media relations pros need to be in the media themselves and in front of the camera. If you don’t, you can’t honestly prepare clients for what to expect and how to be successful interacting with the media.

What would you say customers value most about your business and the services you provide: Clients value the competitive advantage we give to them. Nothing is more valuable than quality and consistent media coverage. Our services position clients as experts and leaders in the media – something that they can’t get from other forms of marketing.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Focused. I am focused on achieving my client’s goals and growing my firm.

Do you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to bragabout? The Long Island Fight for Charity is one of Long Island’s largest and most successful

not-for-profit networking events. Our firm began managing and promoting the Fight for Charity in 2013 its 10th year. The event was successful, but over the past three years the organization has given away over $350,000 in donations to those in need. Part of the success of this effort has been the focus on media coverage. We secure significant TV, radio, online and print coverage for this event each year. The boxers are all featured in media coverage and this gets the word out. The focus on the media coverage, I believe is the key. Each boxer has a story to tell and we to tell it. Combined with special events, blogs, social media marketing and videos the event has set records two out of the three years in which we have been involved. Being focused and having a comprehensive knowledge of marketing, event promotion and event management allows us to achieve success each year.


PR CAMPAIGNLori Duggan Gold

Adelphi University

Name: Lori Duggan GoldCurrent job and Company name (title, company): vice president for communica-

tions, Adelphi University.Twitter handle: ldg19What inspires you to work in this industry: Our students.What is your proudest moment in business: Each year I get to sit on the stage at

graduation and see our students walk across the platform and shake our President’s hand.

Knowing my team played a role in attracting them to Adelphi and mentoring so many while they were students is a point of great pride.

What is your greatest strength: Dedication.What is your greatest weakness: Dedication.What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: To be recognized for my

commitment and to build an extraordinary team.Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: No always so well! Hot topic in your business or field: Affordability.Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: Be tena-

cious and always, always be honest.Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Determined.Do you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to brag

about? Our recent presidential transition


PR CAMPAIGNJennifer Maizel

Grassi & Co.

Name: Jennifer MaizelCurrent job and Company name: marketing communications manager, Grassi &

Co.What are you passionate about: Providing service to others through my communica-

tion talentsWhat inspires you to work in this industry: I love the creativity involved in putting

together a piece that reaches people and helps them to better perform their jobs.What is your proudest moment in business: The publishing of my book, “When I

Looked Up”What is your greatest strength: My ability to relate with others.What is your greatest weakness: Having to wait.Who is your role model: My motherWhat are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: I want to continue to

top the person I was yesterday and continue to outdo myself. I set new goals for myself every day and my latest goal is to get the CEO of my company a cover story with Forbes magazine.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: I am excellent with time management-I have to be as a working mother.

Hot topic in your business or field: Finding new ways to reach people with diminish-ing attention spans and limited time frames.

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: Be fast to be first.

Please answer if your business is receiving the award: What would you say cus-tomers value most about your business and the services you provide:

Please answer if you are receiving the award as an individual/team: Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Fast.

Do you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to brag about? I was recently able to get the CEO of my company, Lou Grassi, the cover story of Money Magazine. Being a smaller company than some of our com-petitors, and being featured in the story along with these larger competitors, was a great accomplishment for myself as a PR professional, and for the organization I work for. For months I worked on building a solid relationship with the reporter and asked her if there were any opportunities, such as this one, that I could be considered for. Even though I won the opportunity to provide them with an interview from my CEO, we still had to pass the next round of challenges, which was to make the cut into the printed publication. I spent some time coaching Lou on how to handle the interview, which was a little over an hour long, and helped him to under-stand the type of content the reporter needed in order to be able to include his quotes within the story—which was ultimately out of her control. It was a proud moment when the print-ed publication ended up on my desk and I opened up to the cover story to find Lou quoted several times throughout the article.

Being featured in a publication with this kind of caliber helps to position the profession-als within my firm as top information-providers within their industry, and I am proud to be a part of driving that position.

PR CAMPAIGNLindsey Meyers & Marissa Jacobs

WordHampton Public Relations

Name: Marissa JacobsCurrent job and company name: account executive of WordHampton PR and Metro

Restaurant MarketingTwitter handle: @mjeannnWhat are you passionate about: Life. Love. Family. Food.What inspires you to work in this industry: You’re always learning because every-

thing is constantly changing. You have to be on your toes. It’s a challenge. I love a good challenge.

What is your greatest weakness: Reese’s Pieces.Who is your role model: My mother. Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: It’s important

to be flexible. No day is the same and your to-do list will never be finished. Prioritize by

deadline and level of importance, and remember, some things can wait until tomorrow.

Hot topic in your business or field: Eliminating tipping.Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: Be

patient. The skill comes with time. Don’t be afraid to ask questions!What would you say customers value most about your business and the

services you provide: As a company we are accountable, imaginative, affordable and accessible.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Dedicated.Do you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to brag

about? The Writing Instruments Manufacturers Association is an international association composed of the ‘voices’ of the writing instrument industries. WIMA approached WordHamp-ton with the mission to establish a stronger media and social media presence with a specific focus on National Handwriting Day. We collaborate to develop monthly Facebook campaigns surrounding a theme that has proven to been engaging and interactive. Using traditional media relations we have reached a new audience who support WIMA’s mission – encourag-ing people to write [not type] – and have shared their story.


PRINT CAMPAIGNRichard Margulis

Brookhaven Memorial Hospital

Name: Richard T. MargulisCurrent job and company name: president and CEO, Brookhaven Memorial Hospi-

tal Medical CenterWhat are you passionate about: Servicing our community and providing quality

healthcare.What inspires you to work in this industry: The opportunity to provide healthcare

and impact the very community I live in, as well as work closely with local and state legisla-tors to improve healthcare for generations to come.

What is your proudest moment in business: Providing advanced interventional cardiology services to a large community of close to 370,000 people who previously had no access.

What is your greatest strength: Understanding people’s greatest strengths and pro-viding them the opportunity to excel.

Who is your role model: I’ve been fortunate to have several mentors throughout my career, but on a personal level, I would say my mother.

What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: Nurturing and empow-ering promising leaders to take on leadership roles to be prepared for this ever-changing healthcare environment in which we live.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: Understanding and enjoying my work and prioritizing accordingly.

Hot topic in your business or field: The patient experience.

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: To be successful in healthcare, it should be your calling.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Intuitive

Do you have a specific project that comes to mind that might serve as the focus for our interview? Knapp Cardiac Care Center. In September 2016, we will open a 60,000-square-foot building with capacity to have four cardiac catheterization suites and four state-of-the-art operating rooms.

Tell us about your specific role and contributions in this project: Led the project from its conception several years ago and worked closely with a generous donor, architects, regulatory agencies, our community, construction man-agement and clinical leaders to bring this project to fruition.

Do you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to brag about? This project holds a special place in my heart, providing life saving cardiac services to a com-munity that previously had no access. Further, this project will change the landscape of our hospital and our community for many years to come.

PRINT CAMPAIGNElena Mikoleski

Grassi & Co.

Name: Elena MikoleskiCurrent job and Company name: marketing man-

agerWhat are you passionate about: A job well done.

(And my dogs.)What inspires you to work in this industry: With

regards to marketing/communications, the opportunity to celebrate creativity attracted me to this field and continues to motivate me. As far as working within the professional services industry, I have found marketing for an accounting and consulting firm to be more challenging than product marketing. My experience has proven that it is more diffi-cult to position a service based on knowledge and relation-ships in the marketplace, rather than selling an item. This

challenge is what inspires me to continue in this industry.What is your proudest moment in business: I’m very proud of the team I work with

and the work they produce. Whenever a member of the team is recognized for their contri-bution, this makes all efforts worthwhile.

What is your greatest strength: Thoroughness (it’s ALL in the detail.)What is your greatest weakness: Patience.Who is your role model: I don’t really have one role model. I have many. Numerous

people have influenced me over the years, and have shaped the way I approach both life and business. To pick one would not be a good representation. I was raised by a village.

What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: To be able to look back at the work I produced and recognize a true connection to improved brand awareness and visibility, resulting in increased client engagement. Getting the message out is not the same as getting it through. I want to know that I got through.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: Prioritize, use resources, and know how long it takes to complete any given task.

Since I handle a diversified range of marketing and communications responsibilities for the Firm, I prioritize each request as it comes in and fit it into my schedule of existing proj-ects. Having worked in Marketing for more than 20 years, I know very well how much time it takes me to complete any given task. I use this experience to help monitor workload in order

to ensure all projects get delivered on a timely basis. Another key element… use your existing resources. I work with a great team, and utilize their skills when the oppor-tunity presents itself.

Hot topic in your business or field: New regulations that impact client/prospect operations relative to financial reporting and tax incentives that can improve cash flow. Communicating these ever-changing regulations is one of the strategic focuses for our com-munications team.

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: Don’t hold back. If you have a concept that you believe in, pitch it and fight for it.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: ResourcefulDo you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to brag

about? Since I am being honored for Print Campaign I think it best to focus on the brochure piece that my team submitted for consideration: International | Italian Firm Overview Bro-chure

My Firm has embarked on an initiative to increase brand visibility in the Italian market. The project included building a relationship with partner Firms in the Italy regions we want-ed to expand and then tie the NYC | Italy regions together in a single brochure piece that the Italian counterparts could use in promotion of the partnership services.

A tag line was created (contemporary solutions for traditional concepts), and translation of service offerings established. Once content and messaging was completed, I had to decide on a direction for the brochure that would demonstrate the collaboration of our 2 cultures. Using images of both American and Italian versions of the same things, I tried to illustrate this concept of bridging the 2 cultures. I started right on the cover with the Italian flag colors on the Empire State Building as a display of solidarity, then followed with the inside front cover of NYC’s tourist hub – Times Square, and the back inside cover with Rome’s tourist hub, the Coliseum. The body of the brochure contains dueling images of cultural fusion – Statue of David | Statue of Liberty, Pasta | hamburger, dollar | Euro, etc.

The brochure concept was approved by both the Italian firms and Grassi & Co.,and brochures were printed and distributed in each location. Distribution of the brochure and following campaign led to increased engagement with Italy based clients doing business in NYC, and increased relationships with the Italy-American Chamber of Commerce, where we have embarked in a series of educational seminars for their members.


PRINT CAMPAIGNKerry Young

Crown Advertising

Name: Kerry YoungCurrent job and Company name: vice president

Crown Advertising and MarketingTwitter handle: #crownadvWhat are you passionate about: Knowledge.What inspires you to work in this industry: Creative

People.What is your proudest moment in business: When

a client described us as “The most user-friendly agency they had ever worked with.”

What is your greatest strength: Imagination.What is your greatest weakness: ImaginationWhat are the goals you want to accomplish in

your work: Higher goals everyday.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: With my IPhone.

Hot topic in your business or field: High-level-thinking.Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: Be

thoughtful.What would you say customers value most about your business and the ser-

vices you provide: Accountability and transparency.Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: HonestDo you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to brag

about? Reputation building Campaign for Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center. I supervised and assisted in the development of this campaign, which won the LIBN “Excel-lence in Communication Award.” We conducted a survey a little over a hear into the campaign and the results proved a negative reputation had become a positive reputation on the gener-al sentiment scale.

SOCIAL MEDIA PROFESSIONALGeorge Andriopoulos

Media Convergence

Name: George AndriopoulosCurrent job and Company name: managing partner/creative director, media con-

vergence and managing director/owner, Launchpad Five One SixTwitter handle: @therealmediacon, @therealgeorge5What are you passionate about: I’m passionate about building my businesses to their

full potential using my skills, knowledge and creativity.What inspires you to work in this industry: Helping businesses succeed. No matter

which one of my businesses a client uses, I know that we’re doing our best to help them grow.

What is your proudest moment in business: It’s hard to pin down one moment, but when my marketing company landed our first Fortune 500 client, it was a real turning point for us. We knew that we were heading to the next level.

What is your greatest strength: My creative process has always been a strength of mine. I have a checklist in my head when brainstorming and the goal is always to form a cre-ative idea that’s outside the box, attainable and most importantly, brings back a significant ROI to my client.

What is your greatest weakness: I don’t believe in the concept of “weakness.” My business philosophy has always been to welcome (non-careless) mistakes and learn from them. We cannot build unless we break.

Who is your role model: I have always admired people like Steve Jobs who fought tooth and nail to make their goals a reality, and as a by-product of their efforts, changed the world.

What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: Media Convergence, the marketing agency that my business partner Charles Apeler and I own, is one piece of a group of businesses that we own and have aligned together to form a sort of “business think tank.”

I hope to grow this group into a real player in the industry that becomes known for changing the face of modern business.

Time management is critical – how do you man-age your time: Very efficiently. As a business consultant, it’s critical to exemplify the principles that I strive to teach my clients. As a business owner, I can’t reach my goals tomorrow if I’m late today.

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: Stay educated. The market-ing and communications world changes on a daily basis.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Strategery (and no, that’s not misspelled)

Do you have a specific project that comes to mind that you want to brag about? We have quite a few clients these days, each with its own story and success record. What stands out in my mind is our very first social media client. They were a start up frozen yogurt business opening up in Farmingdale Village. At the time, Farmingdale had begun an aggressive revitalization of their downtown village and they were doing a phenomenal job of bringing new businesses in. I decided to design and launch a campaign called #Re-memberTheDays where we posted then and now shots of vintage Farmingdale, on all the social platforms. The target demographic, which was 25-40 year old female residents of Farmingdale with families, were yearning for the “old days” of Farmingdale and we wanted this campaign to be the common thread between yesterday and today. The campaign was a huge success and the business owners attributed the initial social launch as the springboard for their local outreach and brand awareness.


SOLE PRACTITIONERKaren C. Green

Karen C. Green Communications

Name: Karen C. GreenCurrent job and Company name: principal, Karen C. Green Communications

Twitter handle: @kcgreen326What are you passionate about: My homeland, Brooklyn.What inspires you to work in this industry: The ability to utilize my skill set to ad-

vance my clients’ agenda.What is your proudest moment in business: Assisted a school for special needs

children by making an introduction to the monsignor of a local parish regarding their vacant property. Meeting resulted in the sale of a building and the new home of a special needs school.

What is your greatest strength: Perseverance What is your greatest weakness: Lack of patience at times Who is your role model: My mother, who by example, taught me how to make lemonade.What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: Achieving successful

results for my clientsTime management is critical – how do you man-

age your time: Lots of “to do” lists and setting hard dead-lines for myself like at the newspaper.

Hot topic in your business or field: Should Public relations be considered the new lobbying?

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: Always be honest. Be true to who you are.

What would you say customers value most about your business and the services you provide: I have acute attention to detail, and I provide personal attention to their needs.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Individual /Genuine

SOLE PRACTITIONERDon Miller

West End Strategies

Name: Don MillerCurrent job and Company name: President, West

End Strategies, Ltd.Twitter handle: @dm_donmillerWhat are you passionate about: Entrepreneurship,

creativity and maintaining a great work-life balance.What inspires you to work in this industry: The

daily challenges and diversity in the PR industry and the satisfaction gained from successfully advocating on behalf of my clients.

What is your proudest moment in business: Start-ing my own PR consultancy.

What is your greatest strength: Following through on my word.

What is your greatest weakness: Not learning how to say “NO.”

Who is your role model: Howard Blankman for showing me the PR ropes and how to conduct yourself in an honorable and ethical manner.

What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: To continue to provide superior service and expert communications counsel to my clients.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: PR is not a 9-to-5 job. Time management is about prioritizing and spending whatever time necessary to get the job done.

Hot topic in your business or field: New York’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics’ recent decision to expand the definition of lobbying to include communications between public relations professionals and journalists, which in my opinion, dangerously borders on breaching Constitutional rights to free speech and a free press.

Can you give us one tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: Spelling and grammar count! Always strive to improve your written and verbal communications skills and stay on top of the news.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Assiduous.


SOLE PRACTITIONERAlan J. Wax

WaxWords Inc.

Name: Alan J. WaxCurrent job and Company name: president, WaxWords Incorporated Public Rela-

tionsTwitter handle: @realPRproWhat are you passionate about: Fine wine, craft beer and good writing.What inspires you to work in this industry: Putting my experience as a former jour-

nalist to use in getting clients into the media.What is your proudest moment in business: Creating four successful press events

during an eight-month period, each of which drew print and broadcast media attention from outlets throughout the New York region, to promote Veteran’s Way, a housing subdivision built exclusively for veterans.

What is your greatest strength: The ability to find my client’s stories and getting them told by the media.

What is your greatest weakness: Keeping my desk from becoming a mess.

Who is your role model: n/aWhat are the goals you want to accomplish in

your work: To successfully represent a broad array of cli-ents and to place their stories in top media outlets.

Time management is critical – how do you man-age your time: Keeping to a written schedule as often as possible.

Hot topic in your business or field: Effective use of social media

Can you give us one tip you would provide to new-bies in this industry: Build relationships with the media.

Choose one word your peers would use to describe you: Knowledgeable

WEB DESIGN TEAMThe EGC Group

Name: The EGC GroupCurrent job and Company name: The EGC Group TeamTwitter handle: @egcgroupWhat are you passionate about: Finding new opportunities for our clients, helping

them navigate an ever changing economy What inspires you to work in this industry: Free Beer and Pizza! (and working with

a terrific team)

What is your proudest moment in business: CreateAthonWhat is your greatest strength: CollaborationWhat is your greatest weakness: Too much collaborationWho is your role model: Don DraperWhat are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: Being responsible for

increasing our clients ROI and brand awareness Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: Staying focused Hot topic in your business or field: Virtual Reality and Digital StorytellingOne tip you would provide to newbies in this industry: Be passionate. What would you say customers value most about your business and the ser-

vices you provide: We find customer insights they didn’t know existed, and great work flows from there. And we hold ourselves accountable to great results.

NOT-FOR-PROFIT MARKETING PROFESSIONALKevin Bonner

Town of Babylon

Name: Kevin BonnerCurrent job and Company name: Director of Com-

munications, Town of BabylonTwitter handle: @kevintbonnerWhat are you passionate about: Being out on the

Great South Bay as a captain at the Fire Island Ferries.What inspires you to work in this industry: Consis-

tent challenges and a fast-paced environment.What is your proudest moment in business: Being

a part of the Town of Babylon’s response to Superstorm Sandy, leading the door-to-door outreach efforts.

What is your greatest strength: Understanding what motivates people.

What is your greatest weakness: I’m pretty controlling, so delegating work out to

others is not my strong suit.

Who is your role model: My son Bear, he’s one year old and I strive to be more like him

every day.

What are the goals you want to accomplish in your work: Using new technology

to modernize how government communicates with residents.

Time management is critical – how do you manage your time: Efficiently (but

also making tons of lists and timelines).

Hot topic in your business or field: Social media and rapid-response communication.


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