2012-2013 AAF Omaha Board of Directors Bios

 2012-2013 Slate of Candidates

Officers and Board of Directors 

Kerry Heinrich: Integrated Marketing Director, H&A Media Group
Kerry Heinrich is the integrated marketing director for H&A Media Group, where she has worked since 2008.  Prior to joining H&A, she spent ten years as a public relations professional in the Omaha/Council Bluffs area, working in the casino industry for Bluffs Run Casino and Ameristar Casino Hotel, and in the retail arena for Pamida Stores.  A native ofMinnesota, Kerry has lived inOmahafor 16 years, having come to the area to work for KMTV as their integrated marketing manager in 1996.

At H&A, Kerry is responsible for managing the development and deployment of Integrated Media campaigns for AAA advertisers, including micro sites, email, data and mobile components. H&A is a media company owned by seven AAA clubs, which provides publishing, advertising and media services for those clubs, as well as numerous additional non-owner AAA clubs throughout the nation.

Kerry holds a master’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communication from Northwestern University in Evanston,IL.  She has served on numerous boards in the Omaha and Council Bluffs area (including previous terms with the Omaha Federation of Advertising), and is currently a board member for the Nebraska Kidney Association and Community Health Charities of Nebraska.

Michael Johnson: Senior Copywriter, Bozell
Michael Johnson just began his tenure at Bozell after spending four years as writer/producer at Swanson Russell. He has almost a decade of experience in advertising, working at agencies in Kansas City, Lincoln, and Omaha.

A passion for the industry led him to receive a Bachelor of Journalism degree in Advertising, with emphases in Marketing, English and History from UNL. He was an original member of the Lincoln’s YPG Marketing Committee, and worked with the organization over the course of four years, ending his tenure on theLincoln’s YPG Leadership Council when he moved to Omaha.

Matt Wilson:   Account Coordinator, SKAR Advertising
Matt Wilson’s primary duties are supporting the Nebraska Lottery account including coordination of all Lottery Street Team promotions.  He is a graduate of the University of Nebraska at Omaha and holds a bachelor’s degree in communications with a minor in graphic design. He also holds an associate degree in English and history from Metro Community College.  Wilson’s previous experience includes tenures with Pioneer Investments and Douglas County Environmental Services. Matt has a talent for making realistic drawings in pen-and-ink and graphite, but decided during his early collegiate years to pursue advertising rather than fine arts: “I wanted to stay in the creative field and make money as opposed to staying in the creative field and be broke my whole life.” He still enjoys drawing: “Everybody’s got their hobbies.”

Michael Goldsmith: Lincoln Financial Group
Mike joined Lincoln Financial Group in 2004. He designs print and web advertising and marketing. In the past he also assisted with planning and implementation of advertising and marketing activities for the Group Insurance division (formerly Jefferson Pilot Financial) of the corporation.

Prior to Lincoln Financial Group, Mike was with DTN Market Access, Adesta Communications and the Paralyzed Veterans of America Education Center. His responsibilities have included public relations, marketing, special event planning, web and multimedia design, tradeshows, telecom project introduction and rollout, computer lab design and assistive technology application.

He has/does volunteer for River City Roundup, Knights of Ak-sar-ben, Summer Arts Festival, Kingswood Athletic Association and Douglas, Harrison and other county fairs. Mike most recently was VP and President of AAFO. He also was OFA board director for special events. He has been active in planning OFA’s Bid The Blues fundraiser and served on the 2003 ADDYs committee. Mike also enjoys freelance work and playing drums in a band.

Patrick Stibbs:  President, On the SPOT Productions
Now celebrating over 30 years in the media and advertising field, PATRICK STIBBS began his career first as an on-air personality for KEZO Z-92 and The Mighty 1290 KOIL, and then as Account Executive for KGOR radio and Certified Radio Marketing Consultant for KQKQ/Sweet 98, at the time one of the country’s must successful Top 40 radio stations.

For nearly three decades, he has written and produced over 5,000 radio commercials and has won dozens of local, regional and national awards for his advertising campaigns, including a National CableACE Award and numerous Nebraska Broadcasting Awards.

As movie critic “The Box Officer” since 1986, he can be heard every Friday morning at 8:45 on KGOR 99.9.  

Patrick is the owner of On the SPOT Productions (www.onthespotradio.com), a full service advertising and marketing firm where he continues to write & produce award winning commercial campaigns. Patrick and his wife, Monica, have been married 26 years and are the proud parents of three children – Chris, Kathleen and Nora.

Jeffrey Maciejewski:  Associate Professor, Creighton University    
Jeffrey Maciejewski is an associate professor in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at CreightonUniversity. He has taught at Creighton since 1999 and teaches classes in advertising, survey research and media ethics. Additionally, he is director of Creighton Brand Lab, a center for student/faculty collaboration on branding research and publisher of the 2011 College Brand Pulse, a report that reveals college students’ perceptions of 86 brands of consumer products.

Prior to his appointment at Creighton Jeff worked professionally for more than 10 years, working as a marketing manager and marketing communications manager.

He earned his doctorate and master’s degrees from Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and his bachelor’s of arts degree in business administration from Cardinal Stritch University, also of Milwaukee.  Jeffrey has served on the AAF Omaha board the past year as the Public Service Chair.

Nicole Steier: Sr. Communication Specialist, Woodmen of the World Life Insurance Society   
Nicole Steier is currently the Sr. Communication Specialist at Woodmen of the World Life Insurance Society. She assists with the direction, development and implementation of Woodmen of the World’s communication materials and programs within the context of Associate (both Field and Home Office) communication and Operations (day-to-day) communication. Nicole serves as the organization’s voice in social media and as the media relations representative.

Prior to her appointment at Woodmen of the World in 2012, Nicole worked for a nonprofit organization, Crossroads of Western Iowa, for two years as Development Coordinator. There she worked on increasing the company’s focus on public awareness, as well as, implementing foundation events and campaigns in order to enlist financial support from donors.

Nicole graduated from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 2009 with a Bachelor of Journalism degree in Advertising with a minor in Psychology and concentrations in English and Anthropology. In May 2011, she received her certificate in nonprofit management from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Currently she is working on her Master of Public Administration with a specialization in Aviation at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and is in the process of obtaining her private pilot’s license (PPL) at the Fremont Municipal Airport.

Nicole serves on the Boy Scouts of America, Mid-America Council Over the Edge committee. She has been active in various community organizations, including the MS Society, Human Services Advisory Council, Rotary Club and the Leadership Council Bluffs Class XXIV. She has served on the AAF Omaha board as Communication Chair in 2010 and After hours Co-chair in 2011.

Gil Cohen: Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Omaha Publications
With primary responsibilities being in sales for the 15 publications that we have including Omaha Magazine, B2B Quarterly, Encounter Magazine, HerLiving Family Spectrum and more, I am also involved in business development, business retention and new business opportunities. Although a majority of my career has been in the Hospitality Industry as a Hotel General Manager, I also have been fortunate to hold operations and marketing positions as Director of Operations for the River City Star Riverboat and Director of Marketing and Public Relations for the Omaha Symphony.  Originally from New Jersey, I have now lived in Omaha over 20 years and consider Omaha my home when people ask where I am from.  I am active in the Omaha community having served on the Omaha Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Omaha Press Club Marketing Chair, B’nai B’rith Sports Banquet Chairman, and various other non-profit organizations.  I currently serve as President of the local Skal Club of Omaha, an association of tourism professionals.  I love living and working in Omaha.

Jaylene Eilenstine:  Director of Marketing, All Makes Office Equipment Co.
As Marketing Director, Jaylene Eilenstine is in charge of all marketing, corporate communications and event planning management that strategically aligns with All Makes’ branding initiatives in the corporate headquarters of Omaha and its three branch locations.  Jaylene’s creative work and out-of-the-box thinking is well known in the office furniture industry.  Among her accomplishments, in 2009 Jaylene developed a PR campaign that received more than 1 million hits on the contest website and was mentioned in the media 24 times.

Jaylene has more than 13 years of advertising and marketing experience and holds a BA in communications from the University of Nebraska where she studied marketing and public relations.  In addition to AAF, Jaylene is also a member of the American Marketing Association and Nebraska Press Women’s Club.  Outside of work, Jaylene enjoys spending time with her husband, 3-year-old daughter and newborn son.  

Lori Shields:  Director of Marketing and Communications, Council Bluffs Area Chamber of Commerce
Lori Shields has been the Director of Marketing and Communications for the Council Bluffs Area Chamber of Commerce for 4 years.  Shields has over 15 years of experience in marketing, advertising, communications and public relations.  She has previously worked for General Growth Properties, Pamida, DurhamMuseum, and Omaha-World Herald.  She has a degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing from theUniversity of Nebraska at Kearney.  She has been an active member of AAF Omaha since 1998 and held several different board positions throughout her involvement. 

Carrie Kentch: Local Sales Manager, Omaha World-Herald
Carrie returned to the Omaha World-Herald in February 2011 after a 10 year hiatus. She is working in the Custom Publishing and Events division and manages a team of dynamic account executives. She enjoys helping business with creative and effective marketing plans and working with her team to help them do the same.

 A previous board member, Carrie is looking forward to serve AAF in Programs. Previously she was involved in Events and worked on theBattleof the Bands, Bowl-o-Rama and other annual AAF events.  Carrie currently serves on committees with Women in Media and Marketing and The Women’s Fund of Omaha and has served on several boards and committees for such organizations as The Omaha Restaurant Association, the Heartland Latino Leadership Conference and Girls Incorporated.

Paula Steenson:  President, Paula Presents!
Celebrating 31 years in the advertising/event planning field.  Paula started her company in 1980 as Typesetting Etcetera – a graphic design and typesetting company.  As the years went by and the industry changed her company went to Paula & Friends in 1985 finally to Paula Presents! in 1996.
 
The company does everything from designing print collateral for an international fruitcake company out of Corsicana, Texas to being the primary planner for the Nebraska Kennel Club show at Century Link, Nebraska Wind Conference in Lincoln, Nebraska Safari Club Conference at Strategic Air and Space Museum and everything in between.  Paula still truly loves what she does and is glad she has had the opportunity to keep learning and growing.
 
Paula was on the Board of AAF Omaha for 10 years serving in a number of positions including President.  She was happy to return to the serve as co-chair for the 2012 ADDYs, a position she first filled in 1984 that got her started in the event side of her business.

Laura Spaulding:  Manager Corporate Communications, Bozell
Laura joined Bozell in 2006 as a business development coordinator and was promoted to manager in 2007. In 2010, Laura was named Manager of Corporate Communications, where she coordinates all internal projects, including new business, Bozell materials, press releases, website content management and Thinking, Bozell’s quarterly publication. Laura is also the account lead for multiple clients, including College World Series of Omaha, Inc., and the Strategic Air and Space Museum. Prior to joining Bozell, Laura worked as an executive for Creighton’s Student Union, managing a $200,000 budget and supervising a board of students that planned campus events. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Creighton University, majoring in Journalism, and recently received her MBA, also fromCreighton University. She is currently a volunteer for the Nebraska Make-A-Wish chapter and serves on the board of the Creighton Young Alumni Association.

Bethany Ragan:  Media Coordinator/Associate Product Manager, Sojern
Bethany Raganis currently a Media Coordinator in transition to becoming an Associate Product Manager. She received this promotion last week and will be finishing wrapping up the fine details of her current role as Media Coordinator. Bethany enjoyed all aspects of the Media Coordinator position – from the dynamic responsibilities of driving revenue for not only her client’s, but for Sojern, in addition to implementing and optimizing campaigns from start to finish for clients such as Disney, MGM and AEG. In her new role as Associate Product Manager, she will create and collaborate new ideas for the boarding pass product, as well as optimizing content for new products directly related to the travel industry. She enjoys the fast-paced, goal-driven work environment!

Bethany has been a member of AAFO since her senior year of college when she attended the Meet the Pros conference. The passion exuded by everyone involved in AAFO was contagious! She continued to look for avenues to become more involved with this organization. Bethany is thoroughly looking forward to the opportunity to serve as Chair of the board during the 2013 year on the Public Service Committee. It’s wonderful to be able to continue giving back to the community, as well as the organization. While serving in this position, she hopes to continue the great collaborative efforts and push towards driving more successes for non-profit organizations. 

Lisa Conklin:  Media Buyer, Envoy, Inc.
Lisa Conklin has just joined Envoy, Inc. as a media buyer. Lisa has a combined 8 years of advertising sales support and media buying experience. Most recently, Lisa served as Media Sales Services Specialist 1 for Cox Media, and prior to that gained experience working for Morningfire, Inc., Bozell, and Omaha World-Herald.

While earning a journalism degree, Lisa developed a passion for all things media and pop-culture, and advertising became a natural fit. Lisa enjoys building media plans that help her broad range of clients see results while optimizing their budgets, and she enjoys learning about new mediums as they become relevant and bring new opportunities to the table. 

Lisa has been an AAF member off and on since 2005 and has volunteered with the communications committee since 2011. Lisa has also been a volunteer with Make-A-Wish since 2008.

Jess Simons: Account Coordinator, Swanson Russell
As an Account Coordinator at Swanson Russell, Jess is responsible for managing project schedules and workflow and planning and coordinating various events and tradeshows. She is a team player with a passion for creativity, and loves being a part of the execution of great ideas. Jess graduated from University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with a focus on Marketing.  Jess has been attending AAF Omaha events the past year and a half and is looking forward to serving on the AAF Omaha Board of Directors.

Annie Grace: Account Executive, Bailey Lauerman
Annie started her advertising adventures back in 2003 when she began as an intern at Ervin & Smith, Omaha. That dogged determination was evident as she drove back and forth between Nebraska’s biggest cities while working to complete an advertising degree at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Upon graduation, she went full-time at Ervin & Smith, working with clients Ameritrade and Allstate, before moving to the E&S, Chicago office to work in business development.

Seeing the opportunity to work with some world-class brands, Annie moved to DDB, Chicago, one of the premier agencies in the country. While there, Annie worked some big campaigns for the likes of Dell and Anheuser-Busch. But, most of her time was spent on the State Farm Insurance account, managing sports sponsorships, including the development and execution of NCAA, MLB and NFL campaigns.

And since being recruited away from DDB to return home to Nebraska and Bailey Lauerman, she’s quickly moved into account leadership roles on accounts like Union Pacific and Exmark. All told, her expertise spans the insurance, technology, financial and retail industries.

Sarah Tucker:  Director of Sales & Marketing, Jelecos
As Director of Sales & Marketing for Jelecos, Sarah leads the marketing and sales strategy for the company.  She heads up many special events, public relations outreach, social media, direct mail marketing, and many other avenues to expand the overall brand, lead generation and revenue growth for Jelecos.

Sarah is active with the Greater Omaha Young Professionals most recently serving as a chair on the YP Summit Planning Committee. Sarah also works for the University of Nebraska at Omahaas an adjunct professor in the Communications department and is the mother of 5 children.

Amy Jacobberger: Account Coordinator, Redstone
Amy Jacobberger is an account coordinator at Redstone with a primary focus in retail marketing. Amy is responsible for managing and coordinating the day-to-day details for projects that go through the agency. She enjoys being involved in all parts of a promotion from start-to-finish. The fast-pace work environment is her favorite part of the job.

Amy has been an active member of AAF Omaha for nearly two years. She has assisted on the Special Events committee helping plan the Heal a Heart event, Bowl-a-rama and Ad Wars.

Shannon Johnson:  Creative Director, Ervin & Smith
Shannon Johnsonis Creative Director at Ervin & Smith. In that role she oversees the creative and production teams and provides creative strategy, art direction and design for client projects.

Prior to joining Ervin & Smith, Shannon racked up a decade of experience working in the creative departments of Snitily Carr and Swanson Russell. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Creighton University and was Meet the Pros co-chair in 2011-2012.