speaker biographies .

Lori Rothschild Ansaldi is an Emmy-nominated executive producer and travel journalist
for the Travel Channel, where she is responsible for the development and production of all
destination content for the network’s multiple media platforms. Ansaldi is also the executive
in charge of the Travel Channel Academy, the network’s digital film training arm where
students learn how to become freelance “TJ’s” or travel journalists. She also served as an
executive producer in the long-form content division where she received multiple Emmy
nominations for her work on the “Samantha Brown: Passport” series. Some of her other
TV credits include “Treasure Hunter: Kirsten Gum,” “Most Haunted USA,” “John
Ratzenberger’s Made in America,” “Green Getaways” and the widely popular “World
Poker Tour.” Ansaldi’s expertise ranges from the budget conscious to the super luxurious.
Her work has taken her around the globe in search of the coolest things in travel from the best hotels and
restaurants to the newest trends in eco-friendly tourism. Ansaldi’s travels can be followed on her blog,
traveltvgirl.blogspot.com. She is a member of the Academy of Television Arts
and Sciences (ATAS).
Rich Beattie is the executive editor of TravelandLeisure.com. In 2006, he helped
launch ForbesTraveler.com as deputy editor. Before that, he spent five years
freelancing for publications like The New York Times, Travel + Leisure, New
York, Ski, Boating and Popular Science, writing stories on everything from chasing
drug smugglers along the Thai-Burma border to stealing cars with repo guys at 2
a.m. in downtown Newark. He has also served as content director of the adventure
travel site GORP.com and a staff writer and editor at Travel Holiday Magazine.
However, Beattie put his literature degree to best use right out of college as a ski
bum in Colorado.
Angela Berardino is the director of emerging media at Turner Public Relations, a national
public relations firm that focuses on travel clients around the world, with offices in New
York, Denver and Los Angeles. She has been working in travel and tourism for more than
10 years, including managing public relations at Visit Denver, Vail Resorts/RockResorts and
Doral Golf Resort & Spa. Berardino spends most of her professional life trying to balance
traditional PR with the changes technology is bringing to communications. She can be
followed on Twitter @CoTravelGirl.
Mark Bernheimer is the founder and principal of MediaWorks Resource Group. He
spent 16 years as an award-winning TV journalist, wrapping up his reporting days as a
national correspondent for CNN (1995-2000). His work was seen on literally hundreds
of local affiliates around the nation, including KCAL, KTLA, KTTV, and KCOP in Los
Angeles, WABC and WWOR in New York, and WGN in Chicago, and on the pages of
the Orange County Register. He also served as a freelance correspondent for the National
Geographic Channel. He now applies that considerable journalistic background to help
clients all over the world anticipate reporter behavior, and formulate ideal media
messages.
Bernheimer covered most of the major news events of the past decade, including the Monica Lewinsky scandal
and subsequent impeachment of President Clinton, the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation, and the
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Oklahoma City bombing trials of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. He was one of only a handful of
reporters inside the courtroom when OJ Simpson took the stand during his wrongful death civil trial. During the
late ‘90s, he weathered five hurricanes on live national television. He has interviewed countless notable
politicians and newsmakers in “one on one” encounters, including Henry Kissinger, and California Governors
Pete Wilson and Gray Davis.
Bernheimer is a graduate of the University of Oregon, and a member of the Public Relations Society of America
(PRSA) and the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). He is a contributing writer to
various trade publications, including Public Relations Tactics and The Public Relations Strategist.
Melissa Biggs Bradley is the founder of Indagare Travel, a website, community, and
booking service for the world’s most sophisticated travelers. She lives in New York
City with her husband and her son and daughter, ages 8 and 10. Before launching
Indagare, she was the founding editor of Town & Country Travel, and was the
features and travel editor at Town & Country magazine for more than a decade.
Melissa regularly appears on radio and television programs, including “Good Day
New York,” CNN’s “Headline News”, and specials on the Travel and Discovery
channels. In 2001, her article “Far and Away,” about a 23-day trip around the world
by private jet, was selected as one of the Notable Travel Writing Selections in “The
Best American Travel Writing of 2000” (Houghton Mifflin).
Stacey Brugeman is senior food editor at Denver Magazine. Brugeman was
raised in the agriculture industry, which brought her to the tiny towns and
tables of more than 35 countries. Seeking city life, she then ate, drank, and
lived in New York City for nearly a decade, where she held the positions of
editorial assistant for Saveur and research editor for Food & Wine. Her work
has also appeared in Travel + Leisure, Men’s Journal, Natural Health, 5280,
The Denver Post, and other titles. At Denver Magazine Brugeman manages
the title’s food and beverage content and pens a bi-monthly column called
“The Optimistic Omnivore” and a monthly page named “Taste-Trotting.”
Brugeman holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and English from the
University of Virginia, a Master of Arts in Food Studies from New York University, and an Intermediate
Certificate in Wine from the International Wine Center.
Marc Boisclair, based out of Chatham, New Jersey has been a full-time journalist for the past 20 years. He’s
covered the hospitality industry since 1993, writing and editing along the way for such meetings industry
notables as Successful Meetings, Connect, Rejuvenate!, M & C and Incentive, as well as a range of consumer
travel publications. He’s also been president of Kaleidoscope of Hope, a metro New York nonprofit group
raising awareness of and research funds for ovarian cancer.
Johna Burke, during a career spanning almost 20 years, has worked both as a public
relations practitioner and a provider of services that are vital to the work of communication
professionals. For 11 years starting in 1989, she worked for U-Haul International, ultimately
becoming head of public and investor relations. Burke joined BurrellesLuce in 2000 and
serves as a vice president of the company, the largest media monitoring and measurement
firm in the United States. She is a highly rated speaker who is often invited to talk about
best practices in public relations, and her commentaries on the subject have appeared in
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public relations print and Web outlets. Burke is chair of the Southern Region of the International Association of
Business Communicators (IABC).
For almost two decades, Keith Burton has been one of the leading industry practitioners in
employee communications and change management. As president of Insidedge, Keith leads
a global group of counselors within The Interpublic Group who are focused exclusively on
improving organizational performance by building employee trust, improving internal
communications and affecting overall change at many of the world’s leading corporations.
During his 30-year professional career, Keith has served clients including Tyson Foods,
NASA, Boston Scientific, Covidien Healthcare, American Airlines, Visa International,
FedEx, IBM Corp., Georgia-Pacific Corp. and Miller Brewing Co. Keith is nationally
recognized as an expert in employee communications, crisis communications, reengineering, change management, labor relations, corporate restructuring and litigation
support.
Early in his career, he was an award-winning business journalist covering the activities of major corporations in
the southwestern United States for Capital Cities Communications, Inc. He also served as a Dallas correspondent
to Time and was associate editor of Texas Business magazine.
Keith has been recognized as Inside PR magazine’s Employee Communications All-Star and has won countless
awards recognizing his work on behalf of clients and the communications industry. Most recently, Keith was
recognized as the 2007 Professional of the Year by the Chicago Chapter of the Public Relations Society of
America (PRSA).
He was also selected and served as chairman of PRSA’s International Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, in
2006. Keith was an Algur H. Meadows Fellow at Southern Methodist University, where he earned a Master of
Fine Arts in mass communication and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in journalism. He also served as an adjunct faculty
member at SMU, teaching courses in news reporting and public relations. Keith is married and has three
children.
Dana Dickey, senior editor at Bon Appétit magazine, oversees all travel elements of the
magazine. From the annual May travel issue to monthly articles dedicated to quick trips
around the world, Dana searches for the newsiest and most delicious culinary travel to
include in the magazine’s pages. After-hours, she delights in preparing global recipes from its
pages for get-togethers at her home in the Hollywood Hills. Prior to her West Coast life,
Dana was a senior editor at Conde Nast Traveler magazine, based in Manhattan. As a writer,
her articles have appeared in Vogue, The New York Times, and the Daily Telegraph
magazine.
John E. DiScala (a.k.a. Johnny Jet) travels around 150,000 miles and visits over 20
countries each year. He and his website JohnnyJet.com have been featured over 2,000
times in major publications, including USA Today, Time, Fortune and The New
York Times, and he has appeared on ABC, CBS, CNBC, CNN, MSNBC, NBC,
FOX News Channel and PBS. JohnnyJet.com has been named “one of the top best
money-saving web sites for travel” by Budget Travel Magazine, while the L.A. Times
calls it “one of the top 10 essential travel resources on the internet.” Outside Magazine
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touted Johnny for having one of the world’s best “dream jobs”. Every week, Johnny hosts a “travel website of
the week” for several radio stations around the country, he writes weekly for Frommers.com and he has written
for USA Today, The Boston Herald, LAX Magazine and Coast Magazine. Sign up today for Johnny Jet’s free
weekly travel newsletter at JohnnyJet.com.
Catherine Dunkin, APR, is president and CEO, Standing Partnership (St. Louis, Mo.) and
is nationally recognized as a leader in reputation management. Before founding Standing
Partnership in 1991, she held management positions with multinational PR firms and
Fortune 500 companies in St. Louis, Chicago and Dallas. She has also served on the national
executive committee and board of the Council of Public Relations Firms.
A public relations and new media consultant, Sarah Evans has worked extensively in
the non-for-profit, higher education and healthcare sectors, focusing on media relations,
message management, coalition building, deployment strategies and organizational
change. But it’s her personal mission — to engage and employ the use of emerging
technologies in all communication — that connects her with a rapidly growing base of
more than 26,000 people.
A self-described “social media freak,” Sarah initiated and moderates #journchat, the
top-trending weekly live chat between PR professionals, journalists and bloggers on the
microblogging platform, Twitter. She is a guest writer for Mashable, one of the most popular social media blogs
in the world, runs her own blog, PRsarahevans.com and is a partner on namechk, a web tool used to identify
and secure brand names across multiple social media platforms.
She most recently worked with a local crisis center to raise more than $160,000 in three weeks with the help of
social media. A graduate of Millikin University in Decatur, Ill., she is a life-long St. Louis Cardinals fan living in
Chicago.
Chris Gray Faust is the former travel editor at USA Today, where she managed the
nation’s largest travel staff. A journalist for nearly two decades, Chris has worked as a
reporter and editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer, the New Orleans Times-Picayune and the
York (Pa.) Daily Record.
Her blog, Chris Around The World (www.caroundtheworld.com), was named one of the
“top 10 travel blogs to bookmark in 2010” by syndicated travel columnist Christopher
Elliott. In less than a year, the blog has become a major source of travel information for
sophisticated professionals and dual income/empty nester couples looking for boutique or
luxury travel experiences.
A member of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW), Chris has been published on The Huffington
Post, Cruise Critic and Mad Mariner. She recently completed an iPhone app, the Philly Essential Guide, for
Sutro Media (available on iTunes). Chris is also active in social media, with accounts on Facebook, Twitter,
StumbleUpon, LinkedIn and foursquare, and has served as a social media consultant.
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Chris currently lives in a 100-year-old rowhouse in Philadelphia’s Italian Market, with two cats and her husband,
photography enthusiast Don Faust. She’s a graduate of Brown University and the Medill School of Journalism at
Northwestern University.
Elaine Glusac, Chicago-based freelancer Elaine Glusac writes about travel and
food and can order a beer in seven languages. She currently contributes to Afar,
Budget Travel, Conde Nast Traveler, Cooking Light, Coastal Living, Everyday
with Rachael Ray, Islands, Men’s Journal, National Geographic Traveler, The
New York Times, Private Clubs, Shape and a fleet of in-flights. Elaine blogs for In
Transit, The New York Times’ travel blog, is a contributing editor at Virtuoso
Life and favors back roads.
Margie Goldsmith is a contributing editor to Elite Traveler, Trips & Tips Columnist for
Women’s Running, Adventure Spa Writer for healinglifesytles.com and Lifestyles Writer
for Campden FB’s Famlies in Business. She has written for O the Oprah Magazine, Parade,
Town & Country, Islands, National Geographic Traveler, Executive Travel, Robb Report,
Islands, Men’s Journal, MORE, AAA Magazines, Wine Enthusiast, Affluent Traveler,
Ensemble Lifestyles, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Dallas Morning News,
Miami Herald, and Christian Science Monitor, gonomad.com, worldhum.com, and
travelwithachallenge.com among others. Berkley Press published her novel, “Screw Up.”
Her essays appear in Travelers Tales, The Walker Within, In Search of Adventure, and
National Geographic’s Spiritual Places.
For the last two years in a row, she has won the Best First Person story from ASJA (American Society of
Journalists and Authors) for stories published in O the Oprah Magazine and the Washington Post). In 2010 and
2008 she won award from NATJA (North American Travel Journalists Association), and twice, has won the
Travel Classics Writers Award.
Goldsmith has hiked, biked, paddled, done marathons, triathlons, and luxuriated in 115 countries and written
about them all. (www.mgproductions.com)
Terri Hardin launched the website www.meetingsdiva.com in October 2009.
Styled as “a meetings and hospitality industry salon, where professionals discuss the
challenge of meetings today, and newbies learn, learn, learn,” Meetings Diva is the
first social community for the social industry, where meetings and event planners,
hoteliers, media, and venues, are all equal and all welcome.
Hardin, an award-winning former destinations editor at Successful Meeting and
editor in chief at MeetingNews, is an ardent proponent for the meetings and
hospitality industry and known for her social media campaigns for “Keep America
Meeting” and “Meetings Mean Business.” Now, at Meetings Diva, she is using her
more than 12 years’ reporting experience and inside knowledge of the business
travel industry to create a new platform for communication through social identity.
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Thomas Hoehn has been involved with Kodak’s Internet activities since their inception. In his 21st year at
Kodak he has held various roles in web marketing, leadership, and business development.
Tom has been involved with all aspects of Kodak’s website and online
communications, including leading social media efforts to extend Kodak
communications and engagement and working with product groups to
initiate web-based programs to meet business goals. He has also
championed compelling content activities to drive traffic to fuel online
store, relationship marketing, and product awareness, forged alliances with
other websites to secure revenue and traffic and orchestrated the creation
of the kodak.com’s “Tips & Project” educational content. He is also a
Kodak blog contributor at: http://tomhoehn.1000words.kodak.com.
Event marketing activities that promoted kodak.com and Kodak products
and services include Kodak’s online presence for the last five Olympic
Games (Sydney, Salt Lake, Athens, Torino, and Beijing), Walt Disney World, Epcot and Magic Kingdom. Other
projects include: “Celebrity Apprentice,” “Mission Impossible: 2” Premiere, PGA and LPGA tournaments,
World Series at Yankee Stadium, America’s Millennium Celebration, Kodak Birdcam, 24 Hours in Cyberspace,
Woodstock ‘99, PhotoChats: American Society of Cinematographers, Lilith Fair, Hollywood Producer’s Caucus.
Tom is a visiting lecturer at Cornell, University of Rochester, Syracuse University, Rochester Institute of
Technology, Geneseo, and American University.
Sheree Anne Kelly serves as vice president of the Public Affairs Council. In this
capacity she directs the team responsible for all training and consulting for the field of
public affairs worldwide. She works with hundreds of corporations and associations to
craft and tailor best practices for their outreach programs. Her areas of expertise on staff
include government relations, PACs, issues management, corporate social
responsibility, international public affairs and general political involvement. As a
member of the organization’s senior management team, she also works closely with the
Board of Directors. Sheree Anne has been with the organization for ten years.
Prior to joining the Council, Ms. Kelly worked in the government affairs department
of the National Association of Home Builders and at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
in their corporate relations and corporate development departments.
Ms. Kelly has spoken on best practices and ethical considerations worldwide before Boards, senior management
retreats, trade associations, universities and political groups. She is also a faculty member for the Public Affairs in
Asia Institute in Hong Kong. Sheree Anne is a member of the Board of Visitors of the Engalitcheff Institute on
Comparative Political and Economic Systems.
Ms. Kelly holds a master’s degree in Government degree from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Arts
in International Relations from Bucknell University.
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John Mariani is an author and journalist of 30 years standing, having been called by the most influential foodwine critic in the popular press. His first book, “The Dictionary of American Food & Drink” (1983) was hailed
as the “American Larousse Gastronomique.” “America Eats Out” (1991) won the International Association of
Cooking Professionals Award for Best Food Reference Book. He edited “Italian Cuisine:
Basic Cooking Techniques,” the textbook for Italian studies at the Culinary Institute of
America, and his “Dictionary of Italian Food & Drink” (Broadway Books, 1998) was
nominated for an IACP award; He and his wife Galina published “The Italian-American
Cookbook” (2001), also nominated for an IACP award in 2001.
He is listed in the James Beard Foundation’s “Who’s Who in American Cooking,” and
was winner of the prestigious Barbi-Colombini Journalism award for outstanding wine
writing. Mariani is currently food & travel columnist for Esquire; wine columnist,
radio/TV reporter for Bloomberg News; food columnist for Diversion; wine columnist
for Culinary Concierge, and publishes the weekly Mariani’s Virtual Gourmet Newsletter.
He is a member of the Chevalier des Coteux de Champagne, the Bregata Spendereccia, and the Corporation des
Vignerons de Champagne. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in English literature.
Tim Marklein is an accomplished public relations leader with 18 years of experience
helping clients launch businesses, create market categories, build reputations, win proxy
fights and grow revenues. As an agency and in-house manager, Tim has worked closely
with innovators and leaders across technology, healthcare, consumer and B2B industries.
Tim is a frequent speaker and writer about strategy, positioning, measurement and social
media, and is an elected member of the Institute for Public Relations Commission on PR
Measurement and Evaluation.
Tim currently leads the global measurement & strategy practice for Weber Shandwick,
which helps clients measure ROI across online and offline campaigns. Tim’s team has
developed several breakthrough systems to improve the value, focus and precision of communications, including
an integrated ARROW Measurement Suite that delivers regular insights and smart metrics on markets, audiences
and competitors.
Tim previously led Weber Shandwick’s Northern California business, representing top global clients including
BEA, Cisco, Genentech, Gilead, Hitachi, Nortel and VeriSign.
Tim joined Weber Shandwick from Hewlett-Packard, where he led global public relations for HP’s $30 billion
enterprise business and launched HP’s “Adaptive Enterprise” initiative. Prior to that, Tim was director of
corporate PR and led campaigns to communicate the “new HP” strategy, merger integration progress, CSR
initiatives and day-to-day competitive engagement with IBM, Dell and Sun. Tim also led development of HP’s
first-ever global PR dashboard.
Tim started his career as a general assignment reporter at the Milwaukee Sentinel and editor in chief of The
Stanford Daily.
Tim holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Stanford University.
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Scott Mayerowitz is a travel producer with ABC News based in New York City,
and oversees the network’s travel coverage on the web and assists various shows
with travel segments. He is always looking for offbeat, whacky stories as well as the
latest trends. Prior to covering travel, Scott followed Wall Street and the rest of the
business beat. Travel is a lot more fun. Before joining ABC News in March 2007,
he worked at the Providence Journal in Rhode Island, covering the statehouse and
politics. Scott graduated from Wesleyan University, in Connecticut, with a
bachelor’s degree in government. Some of his favorite stories include visiting
FedEx’s massive operations right before the Christmas rush, visiting a private island for in the Bahamas,
interviewing one airline’s top frequent flier and attempting to eat a 50-pound hamburger as part of a story on
competitive eating competitions. And in case you were wondering, he always picks the window seat.
Mike McDougall, APR, is vice president, corporate communications and public affairs,
for Bausch + Lomb (Rochester, N.Y.). In addition to leading the company’s outreach to
business, financial and health care media, as well as government and community affairs and
corporate philanthropy, Mike is responsible for establishing an ongoing dialogue with the
company’s 11,000 employees on six continents. Prior to Bausch + Lomb, Mike was
worldwide director of products and services public relations for Eastman Kodak Company,
where he developed communications strategies for consumer digital photography products
and services.
Everett Potter, writer/editor/publisher of Everett Potter’s Travel Report
(www.everettpotter.com), is a contributing editor for Ski and a frequent contributor to
National Geographic Traveler, Town & Country, New York, Endless Vacation,
Sherman’s Travel, Virtuoso Life, Forbes Life and Travel & Leisure Online. He has
received four Lowell Thomas Awards for his work. He is a former columnist for The
New York Times Syndicate, USA Weekend and Smart Money.
Greg Poschman is an EMMY-award winning documentary filmmaker, cameraman and photographer, based in
Aspen, Colo. He is a neo-luddite, or reluctant techie, which may uniquely qualify him to teach nonprofessionals photographers and new photographers how to tell a story with their camera.
Greg Poschman has 30 years of production experience on five continents. Recent projects include director of
photography on a documentary series about social and humanitarian issues filmed in the U.S. and Asia;
producer/director of a short historical film about the foundation of the Aspen Institute commissioned for its 60th
anniversary. He is currently working on films about forest health and water resource issues.
Poschman travelled for many years making adventure, wildlife and cultural film television programs for National
Geographic, BBC, Audobon Society, ESPN, and all major networks. Poschman shot one of the first programs
for the Travel Channel. Along the way he received three national Emmy awards for directing and
cinematography. His photographs have appeared in The New York Times, London Express on Saturday, The
Mail on Sunday, Wine Spectator magazine, USA Today, Ski magazine and many other publications.
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As the director of social media at CRT-tanaka, Priya Ramesh has experience in
formulating integrated marketing and public relations campaigns that leverage new
media platforms (YouTube, Blogs, Facebook, Twitter) to build awareness,
increase brand visibility in social networks and ultimately result in lead generation.
Some of her work includes the execution of a YouTube campaign that generated
national recognition for best innovative campaign by the American Marketing
Association, a Wall Street Journal front page article featuring the viral campaign
related to the SOX 5th anniversary and a feature profile in World Wide Rave
(March, 2009) by David Meerman Scott, the author of “New Rules of PR and Marketing.”
Ed Schipul, CEO of Schipul - The Web Marketing Company (www.schipul.com), is an
entrepreneur and Internet veteran who enjoys keeping up with online conversations. His
company developed the Tendenci software (www.tendenci.com) which powers more than
400 web sites and over 500,000 interactive users worldwide. Schipul blogs at
www.eschipul.com, reads extensively and has more than 20 years of experience in
marketing and software programming.
With more than 20 years of experience in travel publishing, Elaine Srnka has summered
in Singapore, jetted to Paris for the weekend, and sipped champagne at Catherine’s
Palace, all in the name of journalistic research. Formerly the editor of American Airlines’
inflight publications, American Way and Celebrated Living, she is now at the helm of
Virtuoso Life, the luxury publication of Virtuoso, a travel network of high-end travel
agents and suppliers. Based in Fort Worth, Texas, the magazine journeys to destinations
from Antarctica to Zimbabwe and everything in between.
An 18 year veteran of the newswire and content distribution businesses, Sarah Skerik is
currently PR Newswire’s vice president of social media. In this role, Sarah is charged with
developing new products and services that enable communicators take advantage of
emerging media and to cultivate their
social media presence. She previously managed PR Newswire’s core wire product, SEO,
content syndication, audience development, customer reporting and targeted distribution
products. Sarah is a frequent and well-received speaker on the subjects of social media,
search engine optimization and PR measurement.
Prior to joining PR Newswire in 1995, Sarah was the director of marketing for the City
News Bureau of Chicago’s commercial newswire subsidiary, PR News Service. PR News
Service was acquired by PR Newswire in 1998.
A graduate of Miami University in Oxford Ohio, Sarah also earned an MBA from Notre Dame.
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Sree Sreenivasan is a journalism educator at Columbia University and a technology evangelist and skeptic (feel
free to ask him how it’s possible to be both) who works to help journalists and consumers use technology in
smarter ways (after eight years of doing tech reporting on TV, he’s now doing so at DNAinfo.com).
In January 2008, he was appointed to a newly created position at the Columbia
Graduate School of Journalism, Dean of Student Affairs, overseeing all aspects of
student affairs for the school’s 400 students from 35+ countries and 35+ states:
Admissions and Financial Aid, Student Services/Acitivites, Career Services. In his
17th year of teaching he continues to teach in the school’s digital journalism
program. In July 2007, he was promoted to Professor of Professional Practice. He
also teaches workshops in “Smarter Surfing: Better Use of Your Web Time”,
“Figuring Out Blogs & Whatever’s Next,” along with other topics, in newsrooms
and educational institutions around the US and abroad. In the fall of 2009, along
with adjunct professor Adam Glenn, Sree created a five-week course on Socialmedia Skills for Journalists - how reporters and editors can use Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn, etc, to better connect with audiences and bring attention to their own
work. See the syllabus and notes from the course at http://bit.ly/socmediaskills. In the same semester, he cotaught, with Jeremy Kagan and Doug Herman, a Master Class for second-year MBA students on “Creating,
Distributing and Marketing Digital Content” at Columbia Business School.
Sree has also been a fixture on NYC-area television for more than eight years, and now occasionally appears on
various TV shows (on CNN, NBC’s “Today Show,” CNBC and elsewhere) to talk about technology, the
media and more.
As a freelance journalist, he has written for The New York Times, Business Week, Popular Science, Time
Digital, National Journal, India Today, Newsday, Bloomberg, Forbes.com, Sesame Street Parents, and Rolling
Stone.
Sree is a frequent commentator and speaker on various issues, including trends affecting journalism; technology
& convergence; the Internet; writing for the Web; and South Asia & South Asians in America. He especially
enjoys speaking at schools and colleges about the charms and challenges of working in the media (see more on
these talks and see OJR article, “Meet Columbia’s New Media Guru”).
Muffy Steinhoff is a co-executive producer at High Noon Entertainment,
one of America’s leading suppliers of unscripted/reality
television, including “TLC’s Cake Boss,” VH1’s “Tough Love,” Food
Network’s “Challenge” and “Unwrapped,” and HGTV’s “My First Place.”
At High Noon, Muffy has launched several cable TV series for Scripps
Networks, including two in current production for The DIY Network,
“Cool Tools” and “Deconstruction.” She is now producing a star-up
challenge series, “DIY Dominator” hosted by Chris Grundy, which awards a $10,000 prize to the top
competitor in a specific trade. She has produced several other programs for the Food Network (“Sugar Rush,”
“Food Network Caters Your Wedding”) and HGTV (“Hey Remember,” “Dream Drives,” “Secret Gardens,”
“If Walls Could Talk,” “That 70’s Home” hosted by Maureen McCormack, and “That 50’s Home” hosted by
Frankie Avalon.) Prior to her work in cable TV, she produced TV and radio news.
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Veronica Stoddart is USA Today’s deputy managing editor for Travel, where she sets policy and oversees a staff
of reporters, editors and freelance columnists who produce travel content for the nation’s largest newspaper and
its travel website.
Previously she was the founding editor of Caribbean Travel & Life magazine,
which she edited for 10 years. She has worked as a contract editor for the
National Geographic Society, as travel editor of Americas magazine and has
contributed to National Geographic Traveler, Islands, the Boston Globe, and
numerous other publications during more than 25 years in travel journalism. She
is also on the faculty of the SATW Institute for Travel Writing & Photography.
A travel addict, she has visited some 90 countries, reporting from many of them.
Veronica has received the Marcia Vickery-Wallace Award for Excellence in
Travel Journalism, the Westin Award from the North American Travel Journalists
Association and seven Lowell Thomas Awards from the Society of American
Travel Writers. She is a graduate of Wellesley College.
Kara Williams is an award-winning freelance writer who has covered topics ranging
from business and babies to skiing and spas in her 19-year editorial career. Kara has been
employed as a newspaper reporter, magazine editor and corporate copyeditor. She’s
freelanced since 1999, and in the past few years travel writing has been the main focus of
her work.
Her travel articles have been published in national magazines, regional publications, and
local newspapers, as well as online. Find recent examples of her work in The Denver
Post, Every Day with Rachael Ray, and US Airways magazine. Kara’s copywriting and
custom-publication clients include AffordableTours.com, Phoenix International
Publishing, PEAKS magazine and the Colorado Tourism Office’s Official State Vacation
Guide.
On the web, Kara writes regularly for Fodors.com, FamilyVacationCritic.com, and HybridMom.com. A socialmedia junkie, Kara is active on Twitter (@karasw) and blogs at Uptake.com, SuiteTrip.com,
PracticalTravelGear.com, and TheVacationGals.com, which she co-owns with two other travel writers.
A graduate of Dartmouth College and member of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW), Kara makes
her home in the Rocky Mountains with her husband and two children. Learn more about Kara at
KaraSWilliams.com.
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