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2008-2009 AMA-Richmond
Current Board Bios
President: Amy Favreau has recently joined Elevation
Advertising. She is the former Marketing Director for Dominion
Auto Group, where she oversaw marketing, advertising, and PR functions for
the nine-franchise dealer group as well as its wholesale accessory
distribution channel. Her career path has included positions in
publishing, agency, non-profit, and corporate. Prior to joining
Dominion, she was Marketing Communications Director for McKesson
Medical-Surgical. A graduate of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse
School of Public Communications, she has a B.S. in Magazine
Journalism and was a member of the Honors Program. She started her
career as a reporter for a weekly community newspaper in Kutztown,
Pa., and later was a national columnist for “Tuff Stuff” magazine.
For more than 10 years, she has also owned and operated her own
freelance writing and marketing consultation business. Amy has
served on the AMA-Richmond Board in various roles since 2002,
including Vice-President of Communications, Director, and Assistant
Vice-President of Membership. She is a volunteer and former Board
member of Henrico Humane Society.
President-Elect:
Connie Dye is owner of Headbank, a full-service staffing and
recruiting firm based in Richmond. Her background includes more
than 10 years in creative staffing in Dallas with Art Squad, a
company she helped launch. She also started and directed a holistic
health care referral service for three years. Before getting into
creative staffing, she was a graphic artist, writer, and marketing
communications manager for membership associations, corporations,
and city government in the Dallas area. An AMA-Richmond member for
three years, Connie has been the chapter’s Co-Vice-President of
Technology for the past two years, and prior to that served as a
Director. Connie has a B.A. in Journalism/Public Relations from the
University of North Texas. She actively volunteers in Henrico County
Schools and is an advocate for community and commercial recycling
programs.
Past-President: Evan Silverstein is Publisher of
“Housetrends” magazine, the premier local resource for the home and
garden industries in Richmond, and founder of SNAP! Rapid Response
Marketing, a direct marketing agency. Evan began his career working
with on-premise accounts for several Anheuser-Busch wholesalers and
was promoted to the position of Brand Manager for the O’Douls line
in the Richmond marketplace. In 1991, he switched his business focus
and began working in the direct mail and marketing arena. In 1999,
he acquired his own Valpak franchise in Vero Beach, Fla. Three years
later, Evan returned to Richmond and joined the team at Impak
Marketing as head of Key Account Development. Prior to his
AMA-Richmond presidency, Evan served as V.P. of Sponsorships. He has
been an AMA-Richmond member since 2004.
Secretary: Susan Northrop is Vice-President and co-founder of
Matrix Marketing Research Group, a primary quantitative research
provider. At Matrix, Susan designs and directs projects, as well as
manages all internal support staff functions and quality control of
all project work. Prior to co-founding Matrix, Susan was a senior
project director at Alan Newman Research and also held
marketing-related positions at several other companies. This year
Susan will celebrate her 10-year anniversary as a member of
AMA-Richmond. She has previously served on the chapter’s Membership,
Programs, and Special Events committees. She is a graduate of the
University of North Carolina at Greensboro and resides in
Mechanicsville with her husband, soon-to-be-college daughter, and
West Highland Terrier, McDuff.
Treasurer: Terry Fink is President and co-founder of Planet
Central, an advertising and marketing firm with offices in Richmond,
NYC, and Charlotte. His clients include Portrait Innovations, Tilson
Home Corporation, RSM McGladrey, Media General, The French Culinary
Institute, Ricoh USA, and others. Prior to opening Planet Central in
1999, Terry was EVP General Manger of McFarland & Drier in Miami
where he led the Carnival Cruise Lines account, Florida Lottery,
South Florida Ford Dealer Association, and others. Prior to that he
was a VP with Publicis and worked with clients like Nestle Foods and
Bob Evans Farms. Terry also worked with FCB in Chicago on Kraft
Foods and Long John Silvers, as well as Henderson Advertising in
Greenville, S.C. This year Terry will celebrate his 10-year
anniversary as a member of AMA-Richmond. He joined the AMA-Richmond
board in 2007 as a Director and Chair of the Finance Committee.
Terry is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a B.S.
in Mass Communications. Terry is married and has three daughters.
V.P. Collegiate: Tim Asimos is Marketing Manager for
Richmond-based Timmons Group, an ENR 500 multi-disciplined civil
engineering and design firm. Tim is responsible for managing the
marketing function of the firm and directs all corporate
communications and public relations activities, advertising, web
development, and creative initiatives as well as CRM and proposal
preparation. Prior to joining Timmons Group, Tim held various
marketing roles with The Roanoke Times encompassing creative design,
media planning, competitive analysis, market share measurement, and
market research. Additionally, Tim does freelance work involving
strategy, corporate identity, graphic design, and web development.
Tim holds an M.B.A. and a B.S. in Communication Studies from Liberty
University. He has been an AMA-Richmond member for almost two years.
Tim and his
wife, Heather, live in Midlothian.
V.P. Communications: Aaron Dotson is Principal and Creative
Strategist for Elevation, an advertising and design firm dedicated
to elevating the brands of its clients through creative and
strategic excellence. His agency, which was recently named to
Richmond’s “Rising 25,” has clients that include MeadWestvaco, Lewis
Ginter Botanical Garden, McKesson, Performance Food Group, Virginia
Credit Union, Virginia College Savings Plan, Children’s Museum of
Richmond, and Venture Richmond, among others. Aaron’s work has been
recognized with awards from the Advertising Club of Richmond, the
National Retail Merchants Association, the American Institute of
Graphic Arts, the Summit National Creative Awards, and the Tellys,
among others. Aaron is a graduate of the University of Virginia,
with a B.A. in Rhetoric and Communication Studies. He has been an
AMA-Richmond member since 2004, and V.P. of Communications for the
past two years. He is married to Beth Givens and has two daughters:
Kate, 7, and Abby, 4.
Co-V.P. Membership: Ron Fink is Managing Partner of Strategic
Marketing Solutions, LLC, a Richmond-based integrated marketing
solutions company, which he co-founded in 2001. The company’s
“virtual agency” organizational structure provides senior-level
marketing expertise without the expense of large-agency overhead.
Ron has three decades of new product development, brand management,
market research, and strategic planning experience working in and
with such companies as: Capital One, Circuit City, Pfizer Consumer
Healthcare, Johnson & Johnson, Brann Worldwide, BBDO, and Reynolds
Metals. In addition to receiving an undergraduate degree in Business
from the University of Richmond and a graduate degree in Marketing
from VCU, he has also earned the designation of Certified Direct
Marketer via VCU’s Interactive Marketing Institute. Ron joined the
AMA-Richmond board as a Director in 2006 and has been a member since
2004.
Co-V.P. Membership: Peter Larsen is a Large Format Product
Specialist for Cobb Technologies—a locally owned print technology
integrator. Prior to joining Cobb Technologies earlier this year,
Peter was an Account Manager with GBC. Prior to GBC, Peter was an Outsourcing Business Analyst for
IKON Management Services for nearly four years, where he worked with
a number of Finishing Solutions vendors providing project
management, onsite analysis, and marketing for the managed services
sites throughout Virginia. Prior to IKON, he was a six-year
professional sales representative for Xerox Corporation and earned
numerous sales achievement awards. Peter’s background also includes
a three-year stint as salesperson and Finance Manager for
Haywood-Clarke Porche-Audi-Range-Rover-Saab in Richmond; five years
as manager of a small carpet, furniture, and onsite drapery cleaning
company; and sales professional for Unisys Corporation. He was a
member of the Virginia Chapter of the Legal Marketing Association,
where he served as Membership Chair and was the Greeter at all LMA
luncheons. Peter is an Ambassador with the Greater Richmond Chamber,
a group with which he has been active for nearly three years. An
avid tennis player, Peter has been married for 25 years (this
April!) to Cindy, and they have two sons: Adam, 21, and Andrew, 17.
They live in the Short Pump area and attend Grove Avenue Baptist
Church where Peter sings tenor in the choir.
Co-V.P. Programs: Peter Kaufman Peter Kaufman began his
career as a copywriter for Kobs & Draft (part of Saatchi & Saatchi)
in New York. He moved to Richmond in 1994 following years spent in
Boston creating a nationally-prominent campaign for The Great
American Meatloaf Contest Cookbook. (William Morrow & Co.). Peter
has contributed his talents to Richmond ad agencies on both creative
and business development teams. Peter joined Wachovia Securities in
2006 and left to start The Hoople Group in July, 2008. The Hoople
Group works with Financial Advisors and several other national
clients including The Gallo Institute, Best Movies by Farr, and
Foxhill Motocross in England. Peter and his wife, Jennifer, have
four children.
Contact info:
peter@hooplegroup.com
(804) 447-4032
hooplegroup.com
Co-V.P. Programs: Fonda Lang is Marketing Manager for Keiter,
Stephens, Hurst, Gary & Shreaves, a Richmond-based CPA firm. She is
responsible for advertising, brochure and website creation, proposal
development, event planning, and staff networking training. Fonda
has more than 10 years of professional services marketing experience
in the accounting and technology industries. She holds a B.S. in
Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing Management
from Virginia Tech. She has been a member of the AMA for more than
seven years, and has served as a committee volunteer. She is a
member of the Association for Accounting Marketing and serves on the
Greater Richmond Technology Council gala committee. Fonda is an
active volunteer with Junior Achievement of Central Virginia and
Families of the China Moon. She is married to Andrew Lang and has a
2-year-old daughter, Natalie.
V.P. Special Events: Melissa Young is Owner and Idea
Generator for Theme Queen, LLC, a promotional marketing company
specializing in promotional products and direct mail. Melissa’s
husband was impressed with her abilities to spend money on items
that made an impact, but felt the impact was too much for the family
budget, so she recently ventured back out into the working world
after a brief hiatus to focus on her family. Prior to her
promotional entrepreneurship she worked in the printing and mailing
businesses. Melissa loves to brainstorm for ideas that become
creative memorable imprinted products, but she will take a big-old’
boring pen order, too. She lives in beautiful Hanover County with
her husband and daughters, Millie and Ruby. She is a Girl Scout
leader, Vestry member, and holds too many volunteer positions at her
kids’ school to name. She attended VCU in the theater department and
credits her love for the theatrical and creative side of life to
VCU. Melissa has been an AMA-Richmond member for three years and is
a past V.P. of Membership.
Co-V.P. Sponsorship: Neal Lappe is President of
WSI-WebStrategies, a website development and internet marketing
company based in Richmond, which he started in 2004. Prior to WSI,
Neal was an executive at Circuit City where he spent 18 years in
various human resources and division management roles, finishing his
career there as VP of all aftermarket product services. Prior to
Circuit City, Neal spent time with May Co., Boeing, and Federated
Department Stores. He is active in the Richmond Venture Forum and
Retail Merchants Association, and is Chairman of the Chesterfield
Chamber of Commerce. Neal earned a B.S. in Business from the
University of Missouri. He moved to Richmond in 1986, has been
married to the same woman for 31 years and has two grown daughters,
both of whom he is proud to say graduated from Virginia Tech. Neal
has been an AMA-Richmond member since 2005 and joined the board as
Vice-President of Sponsorship in 2007.
Co-V.P. Sponsorship: Todd Wilcox is Regional Account
Executive with Comcast Spotlight in Richmond, the advertising sales
division of Comcast Cable. Todd joined Comcast in 1993 after
graduating the same year from the University of Richmond with a B.S.
in Business Administration. He is a former Vice-President of
Sponsorship with AMA-Richmond and has been an active member since
2004. In 2007, Todd was presented with AMA-Richmond’s Golden
Candlestick Award recognizing exceptional volunteerism. Todd was
honored for his dedication to sustaining the chapter and its
endowment fund through sponsorships. He and his wife live in the
city, in the Museum District.
V.P. Technology: Cliff Sleeman is President of Communication
Strategies and has been helping companies develop and integrate
their internet strategies with their business strategies over the
past decade. He focuses on businesses that need assistance with
their websites in the areas of strategic planning, design and
development, marketing, site management, and evaluation. Cliff has
worked with clients in 11 states and five countries while reaching
web visitors in three languages. He holds a B.S. in Advertising and
a Masters in Education Technology from Virginia Commonwealth
University. Prior to his current role, Cliff worked with Bon Secours
Richmond Health System in the areas of marketing, education, and
media production. For fun, he taught photography in the evenings for
10 years at VCU,
J. Sargeant Reynolds, and in the Henrico County
Adult Education Program. He has previously served as President of
the International Television Association (ITVA) Richmond chapter. In
addition to serving as the AMA-Richmond chapter’s Webmaster for the
past nine years, Cliff could be heard for several years as the
voice of the AMA-Richmond Hotline. He recently celebrated his
11-year anniversary as an AMA-Richmond member.
Director (2007-2009): Mark Cipolletti is Vice President of
Marketing Communications for World Access, a large specialty
insurance company best known for its Access America® brand of travel
insurance. Mark is responsible for all aspects of the company’s
marketing, advertising, and public relations. Mark has held similar
positions in Richmond, including Director of Marketing at Sheltering
Arms Physical Rehabilitation Centers and Director of Marketing at
the JCC of Richmond. A graduate of James Madison University, Mark
has a B.S. in Mass Communications. He began his career as a reporter
at WHSV TV3 in Harrisonburg and a news producer at WTVR TV6 in
Richmond. He previously served on the AMA-Richmond board as
Vice-President of Communications and has been a member since 2000.
Director (2008-2009): Lloyd Leitstein is President of Market
This, LLC a company he started in 2002 to serve the publishing and
marketing needs of local and national companies. He began his career
by launching a boating magazine and then branched out into political
campaign management and fundraising in the New York area. Moving on,
he became a business development consultant for NYNEX and Ameritech
yellow page publishers and national newspaper publishers—most
notable of which were the Reporter Group and Newhouse Newspapers. In
the Richmond market he has represented several media organizations
including Datanational and the Herald Progress. Prior to starting
Market This, he was a sales manager for Cendant Corp., Welcome
Wagon, and Homestore.com. As President of Market This, Lloyd
represents publishing/marketing efforts for International Speedway
Corp. (NASCAR), Hearst Magazines, and McKesson Medical-Surgical.
Lloyd has been a member of AMA-Richmond since 2001 and served five
years as V.P. of Membership.
Director (2008-2009): Barbara Dodd is founder of Print
Solutions, Inc. and Barb Dodd Marketing. Her clients include
non-profit associations, small businesses, and some publicly traded
corporations she can't discuss due to confidentiality agreements.
Her work runs the gamut from graphic design, writing, project
management, and strategic planning to marketing consulting. A
graduate of Leadership Metro Richmond (2005), past president of the
Brandermill Rotary Club (2002-03), and a Top 40 Under 40 winner
(2000), she enjoys being a part of the Richmond community. She has
been her own boss for 15 years, and when she's not working, she
enjoys great food and wine, gardening, and reading. Barb has been an
AMA-Richmond member since 2006 and has been a Director for two
years.
Director (2008-2010): Tara Lloyd is Brand Strategy Director at
EdgeMark Partners, a full-service communications agency established
in 1990. Tara is passionate about showing businesses the importance
of protecting and enhancing their brand. Intrigued by human behavior
in the marketplace, Tara draws on over 10 years experience impacting
several national brands to craft innovating marketing strategies. An
honors graduate from Virginia Commonwealth University, her career
path has included: graphic artist, marketing manager, account
executive, and brand manager. Her latest accolade was given in 1997
when she won the Capital One Holism award for providing exceptional
service. Tara joined AMA-Richmond in 2007. She and her little dog,
Joey, are often seen buzzing around town visiting Starbucks, Target,
and PetSmart, of course. Tara also loves tropical getaways and
flip-flops.
Director (2008-2010): Kathleen Hall is Owner of Marathon
Marketing, a marketing consulting firm she started in 1998. She
provides marketing strategy and communications support to
organizations in a variety of B2B and B2C industries. She is also a
freelance writer and writes copy for brochures, websites,
newsletters, award entries, booklets, and advertorials, as well as
articles for business and consumer audiences. Marathon Marketing’s
recent clients have included Rainbow Station, Graphics Gallery, the
Virginia Council of CEOs, PeakLogix, Washington Private Duty
Association, and Party Perfect. Kathy has an M.B.A. from Virginia
Commonwealth University and an undergraduate degree from the
University of Maryland. She has been a member of AMA-Richmond since
1991, has been a Director for the past two years, and has served on
various chapter committees.
Director (2008-2010): Matt May is Strategic Planner at Barber
Martin Advertising, where he looks for unique ways to carve up
markets and position products in order to drive unchallenged sales.
Matt started his agency career more than 15 years ago at Sharon
Brooks & Associates as an account guy who sometimes wrote things and
also planned and placed a whole lot of print media. He then joined
the Virginia Economic Development Partnership in 1998 where he led
the charge that took the Commonwealth of Virginia’s business
favorability rating from 6th place to 2nd. He left VEDP to found
Good Thunder Advertising in 2001 and achieved great success branding
and marketing a variety of government and business organizations.
Highlights of his career include many “Best in Class” and “Best in
Show” awards, creating the “7th Best Economic Development Web Site
in the World,” and positioning a professional services firm for a
30% increase in profits. Matt is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth
University with a B.S. in Mass Communications. He is a new member of
AMA-Richmond.
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