Breaking News Who?

BEYOND SIXTY
Summer 2014
Letter from the Director
Dear Alumni,
I hope you’ve had a great summer. I know it has been good for one of you in particular whose passion and
creativity made him the most epic fan at the World Cup. Thank you to Mike D’Amico (CW, 2007), also known
as Teddy Goalsevelt, for leading the charge for the USA fans in Brazil and making the US World Cup run even
more fun for the Brandcenter family.
This summer we are celebrating the close of our first year as part of the VCU School of Business, and the
Brandcenter students have already made their mark. In April, five Brandcenter student teams swept the graduate division of VCU’s Venture Creation Competition, proving the power of creativity and business. A second
year student team also won an RVA Creativity Award for creating Out RVA, a campaign to celebrate the Richmond LGBT community. It’s no surprise the Class of 2014 has already reached 80% job placement.
We’ve also been busy with our summer executive education programs: Ambidexterity 2 for account planners
and Entrepreneurial Thinking for creative directors. With Executive Education Director Caley Cantrell at the
helm, both programs brought in some amazing guest faculty to teach new tools and explore how to tackle
some of the industry’s biggest challenges.
It’s been a big Spring/Summer for our alums, too. From the Super Bowl to the
Olympics to the World Cup work, Cannes Award winners, and a Ledbury Launch
Fund finalist, we are always so proud to hear about our alumni doing great
things in the industry. It’s also fun to hear what’s going on in your personal lives
too, so please keep us updated. And as always, we love to have you back to visit
(and recruit!)
Click here to follow us.
Cheers, Helayne Spivak
Breaking News
Friday Forum and the Newest Addition to the Wall of Inspiration
The spring semester of Friday Forum brought in some fascinating speakers. The students got to hear from a
great variety of personalities and backgrounds, from the cutting edge to the legendary. Some of them include
Bill Davenport, CEO of W+K Entertainment; Jorge Calleja and John Gibson who led The Martin Agency’s OREO
team; Chloe Gottleib and Jay Zasa, ECD’s at R/GA New York; alum Kevin Proudfoot, ECD at Google Creative
Lab; Richard Fine, Managing Partner at Redscout; Tom Carroll, President and CEO of TBWA\Worldwide; recruiter David Perez from Venables Bell, and one of the industry’s most eminent directors, Joe Pytka.
One speaker holds a special place in our hearts, and now on our wall. After his Forum talk, John Adams, Chairman of the Brandcenter Board of Directors, was honored with a plaque on the Brandcenter’s Wall of Inspiration, alongside his former colleague at The Martin Agency Harry Jacobs and industry luminary Ed Ney of Y&R.
Adams, who has been a long time supporter of the Brandcenter, took over as Board Chairman last Spring when
his friend and partner Mike Hughes’ health required him to leave the position after 18 years of leadership.
Joe Pytka
John Adams
John with his wife (Bunny) and son (Cliff).
Annual Student Events – Prom and Kickball Game
Prom 2014 was held at the F.W. Sullivans downtown and the theme was “Brandcentaur.” Prom King and
Queen were second year copywriter Jimmy Burton and art director Lauren Albee. Prom Princess was Daniel
D-Dizzle Davis, and Prince was John Foust.
After several rainouts, the annual end-of-the-year Brandcenter Softball Game between first years and second
years turned into the First Annual Brandcenter Kickball Game with a live draft. Years and tracks didn’t matter;
it all came down to athletic ability. And the winner was...the team with the most Brandcenter staff members!
Alums Return to the Brandcenter to Recruit for Their Agencies/Companies
This year 220 recruiters attended the annual Brandcenter Recruiter Session, and 25 were alumni. We love having alums recruit from the Brandcenter because you guys know best what it takes to thrive in this program
and what our students and grads are capable of doing. We want to make sure you’re aware of our Resources
for Recruiters section of the website so you and your organization can take advantage and recruit some more
great talent like you!
There you’ll find information on the Recruiter Session, requesting an intern, posting jobs, our salary survey
results, searching (or joining) our freelancer directory, and recent grads’ online portfolios. You can also join
our recruiter email list so you don’t miss any opportunities. Feel free to reach out to Ashley Sommardahl at
asommardahl@vcu.edu as well!
Students Take on “Real World” Projects in Brandcenter Classes
During the spring semester, students had the opportunity to work on several real world projects for a wide
variety of clients.
2nd year Strategists and Creative Brand Managers worked with The Valentine Richmond History Center. Students were tasked with establishing the center as the “go-to” place for Richmond History.
Teams of 2nd year students were also tasked with rebranding suggestions for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
The assignment was to revitalize a mature industry and paint a picture of what newspapers will look like in 50
years.
2nd year Creative Brand Management students took on independent study projects with clients like: Southwest Airlines, Zipcar, Diamond Candles, Poler Camping Stuff, Honest Tea, O’Connor Brewing Company, Legend Brewing Company, Discovery Channel, Sleepy Jones, Trump Winery, Best Bully Sticks, Oak Grove Technologies, AT&T, The Coca-Cola Company, Lincoln Financial Group and Nestle.
Students in Professor Berwyn Hung’s Brand Engagement class, which incorporates all five tracks, took on a
slew of real world clients from the electronic and technology industries including: Alcohoot, DSD Music, Glucovation, Hand Robotics, NuHeat Flooring, Rayovac, Sensible Baby and Smart Mio.
Several teams of 2nd year students worked on a special assignment for Richmond Tourism. Their goal was to create a campaign
to make Richmond a more welcoming and attractive city for the
LGBT community. The client loved their “OutRVA” campaign and
is moving forward with producing and implementing many of their
ideas. The campaign also won an RVA Creativity Award, which recognizes businesses, governments and nonprofit organizations that
have the best examples of creativity, originality, imagination and
risk-taking. You can check out their work here.
Brandcenter Students Sweep VCU’s Venture Creation Competition
VCU hosts an annual Venture Creation Competition for VCU students to pitch their new business ideas. This year’s winner (and all
five finalist teams!) were from the Brandcenter. The students won
a total of $11K. First Place winner, Karen Hymes (CT, 2014), won
with her idea called “Tagather.” Tagather is a social shopping platform where consumers tag recent purchases in images they take
to earn rewards in the form of coupons and gift cards. Tagather
also provides businesses with a current conversation around purchased items, consumer to consumer marketing, consumer wants
and needs and more accurate consumer analytics. You can check
out all the winners and their ideas here.
Brandcenter Hosts Two Executive Education Programs This Summer
Our Executive Education programs resumed this summer, but with a new 2-day format and in collaboration
with The Center for Corporate Education, VCU School of Business Foundation.
During our June program, Ambidexterity 2, Account Planners were given content, ideas and tools to put to
immediate use in their current settings. Facilitators included: Grant McCracken, Ph.D/ Author of Chief Culture
Officer, Julian Cole/ Head of Communications Planning at BBH, John Gibson/ VP + Global Planning Director
at The Martin Agency, Jonathan Lee/ Marketing Director,
Brand Strategy at HUGE, Ken Allard/ Managing Director,
Gautam Ramdurai
Business Strategy at HUGE, Kenneth Kahn, Ph.D/ Director
of VCU da Vinci Center, Alan Feldenkris/ Director, Client
Development & Marketing Innovation at SapientNitro, and
Lance Koenig/ SVP, Director of Strategy at Mullen.
We were also excited to welcome some familiar facilitators:
Gautam Ramdurai/ Insights Lead at Google and Brandcenter alum (CS, 2011) and our very own Kelly O’Keefe/ Chief
Creative Officer at PadillaCRT and VCU Brandcenter Professor. In addition, Peter Coughter/ VCU Brandcenter Professor led a bonus session in Presentation Skills.
Our July program, Entrepreneurial Thinking, was geared towards Creative Direction and focused on sharing
best practices and considering new ones. Facilitators included: Doug McCracken/ Director of Marketing at Riot
Games, Iain Lanivich/ Group Digital Creative Director at Lowe Campbell Ewald, Kim Getty/ Partner and Chief
Operating Officer at Deutsch LA, Chris Shumaker/ Chief Marketing Officer at FCB North America, Dave Knox/
Chief Marketing Officer at Rockfish, Co-Founder of The Brandery and VCU Brandcenter Board Member, Phil
Golub/ Associate Creative Director, Experience Design at SapientNitro, Chris Dickey/ Chief Data Strategy Officer, FutureCast, Cliff Sorah/ SVP, Group Creative Director of The Martin Agency, Kelly O’Keefe/ Chief Creative
Office at PadillaCRT and VCU Brandcenter Professor and Kenneth Kahn, Ph.D./ Director of the VCU da Vinci
Center.
If you would like to be added to our interest list for upcoming Executive Education programs, please click here
or contact Caley Cantrell, cscantrell@vcu.edu, with questions.
Welcome to The Class of 2016!
We are excited to welcome 107 new students to the Brandcenter. Our incoming class comes to us from all
over the world- places like Germany, China, India, Vietnam, London, Texas, Florida, New York, North Carolina,
Rhode Island, California and Ohio. Undergraduate majors were equally diverse and ranged from History and
Anthropology, to Sculpture and Commerce. Here are the stats for the Class of 2016:
Average Age: 25
49% in state
51% out-of state, and of these 7% International 74% had a year or more of prior work experience
26% joined straight from undergrad
49% Female
51% Male 28% Minority
Cooper Berlin Berndt
The most popular undergrad majors were: Communications and Psychology
The average GPA: 3.26
VCU Brandcenter Class of 2016
Behind the Scenes
Andrew LeVasseur is the Brandcenter’s newest full-time faculty member. Andrew will lead the Creative Technology track and teach multiple courses within the school. Andrew has 20+ years experience working for
leading companies and global brands at agencies like Razorfish, The Martin Agency, and Create Digital. In
addition, Andrew has been an adjunct professor at the Brandcenter for the past five years, and he is one of
the founding faculty members of the Creative Technology track.
PJ Sykes is the Brandcenter’s new Administrative Assistant. As the Brandcenter’s gate keeper, PJ keeps
things organized and filters out the riffraff. You’ll find him naturally at the front desk sipping coffee and digesting eight full hours of CNN daily. Before the Brandcenter, PJ worked for VCU’s Office of Research.
Emily Hale is the Brandcenter’s new Director of Development. Prior to joining us, she spent the past 3+ years
at Virginia Tech as a Regional Major Gift Officer. Emily’s experience in higher education fundraising dates
back a decade, and we know she will accomplish great things in terms of development for the Brandcenter.
Andrew LeVasseur
PJ Sykes
Emily Hale
Kelly O’Keefe was inducted into the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame on April 10, 2014. Former inductees include David Baldacci, Willard Scott, Harry Jacobs, and Mike Hughes.
Scott Witthaus worked with The Martin Agency and Big River to complete editing projects for clients like
TIAA-CREF and Performance Food Services. He also worked with Griffith Films on awareness and funding
videos for Elk Hill Farms School.
Dogs Do NOT Love Holiday Cards! reunites readers with the family
from You’re Bringing Me a Baby?! for a humorous take on holiday
card photo-ops, from the dog’s-eye view.
Caley Cantrell’s second children’s book, Dogs Do NOT
Love Holiday Cards, will be out this Christmas.
Dogs Do NOT Love Holiday Cards!
he holidays are coming! It’s that time of year.
Time to send cards full of tidings and cheer.
We’ll need a family photo. Everyone gather ’round.
Now, wait just a minute, we’re missing the hound!
The family’s all ready to be in the shot,
except for the four-legged star . . .
. . . who is NOT.
Cantrell & Berkheimer
Cabell Harris has decided to resign from teaching at
the Brandcenter so he can fully focus on WORK Labs.
He’s currently working on several projects for WORK
as well as freelancing for agencies. If you have any
projects you’d like to collaborate on, please contact
him at cabell@worklabs.com.
Belle Isle Books
www.belleislebooks . com
Below are the adjunct professors for Fall semester. We’re excited to have many of our alums back
as professors.
• Cliff Adams (CS, 2007) is a VP/ Planning Director at The Martin Agency. He’ll be
teaching Research Methodologies.
• Jay Adams (AD, 2009) is a Freelance Art Director and Professor in VCU’s undergrad
advertising program. He’ll be teaching Portfolio Development.
• Wade Alger is SVP/ Group Creative Director at The Martin Agency. He’ll be teaching
Portfolio Development.
• Robin Bidwell Six (CW, 2009) is a Freelancer Copywriter. She’ll be teaching Portfolio Development.
• Michael Chapman (CS, 2001) is SVP/ Group Planning Director at The Martin Agency. He’ll
be teaching Research Methodologies.
• Chris Dickey is Chief Data Strategy Officer at FutureCast. He’ll be teaching Brand Analytics.
• Bob Kelley is President and Founder at Pure Culture Consulting. He’ll be teaching Advanced
Brand Management. He’s also Katie Kelley’s (CBM, 2008) dad.
• Jeff MacDonald (CT, 2012) is a Creative Technologist at The Martin Agency. He’ll be
teaching Mobility.
• Noel Ritter is a Freelance Art Director/Creative Director. He’ll be teaching Portfolio Development.
• David Vogeleer is VP/ACD Technology at The Martin Agency. He’ll be teaching Data Cultivation.
Hotline
• If you change jobs or addresses and need to update your contact information, please fill out this update
form and help us keep in touch! You can also ask Ashley Sommardahl, asommardahl@vcu.edu., to join
our closed alumni Facebook group to see job postings and keep up with other alums.
• If your agency has any real world projects for the school, please e-mail hspivak@vcu.edu or asommardahl@vcu.edu. The students have recently worked on real world projects for The Boy Scouts
of America, HBO, Barnes & Noble, Google, Coke, Lexus, Microsoft, Audi, Venture Richmond, Hamilton
Beach and new business pitches for agencies. If you’re looking for some strategic and creative firepower,
please let us know.
• Caley Cantrell, Head of the Communications Strategy track, has been working with her Communications
Strategy students on conducting research to help agencies with new business pitches. The students have
worked on pitches for Team One and Cramer-Krasselt. If your agency could use the help of Brandcenter
Communications Strategy students, please contact Caley Cantrell at cscantrell@vcu.edu.
• Please Help us Promote the Brandcenter at Your Alma Mater
- Undergraduate students LOVE
hearing from our grads about their lives in the “real world” of advertising. If you are interested
in recruiting for the Brandcenter at a nearby university or at your alma mater, please let us know.
If you have a contact, that’s great. If not, we can help you connect with an advertising/marketing
professor or an ad club. We’ll also ship recruiting materials (SIXTYs, keynote, etc.) to the school
in preparation for your arrival. Contact Katherine Keogh (kakeogh@vcu.edu) if you are interested.
Thanks to all of the alums who have already been promoting the school with their alma maters.
• Alumni Work on Brandcenter Website
- We are featuring some of our best alumni work in the Alumni
Showcase on the Brandcenter website. If you have some great work that you would like us to feature on
the site, please send it via youtube or vimeo link or a .mov file to Katherine Keogh at kakeogh@vcu.edu.
• We want to thank all of our alums that have made donations to the Brandcenter. Donations can help support a wide variety of things to include:
- VCU Brandcenter Scholarships: as you know, scholarship support to our students is so important as
it helps offset the cost of tuition and other costs associated with attending a full-time graduate program.
- Brandcenter Annual Fund: This is a powerful way to give because we can use your gift immediately wherever the strategic need is greatest (recruiting materials, mailings, special events, etc.)
Unrestricted gifts allow us to seize opportunities and move with the pace of business. Your gift,
no matter how small, can go a long way.
- Faculty Excellence Fund: We are very proud of our accomplished faculty and the leadership they
provide. Gifts of support to the Faculty Excellence fund, help us establish endowed chairs, fund
research opportunities, provide faculty stipends, reward faculty achievement and enable us to
continue attracting professors who will prepare our students to change the world.
- If you have any questions about giving, you can contact Emily Hale at ehale3@vcu.edu. Checks can
be mailed to the VCU Brandcenter (103 S. Jefferson Street Richmond, VA 23284) or donations can be
made online at: www.support.vcu.edu/give/brandcenter.
Who? What? When?
•Luke Behrends (CW, 2007) is an ACD at Anomaly in NYC.
•Kendall Beveridge (CBM, 2010) is a Vertical Marketing Manager focused on the gaming vertical within
the Global Business Marketing Group at Facebook in San Francisco.
•Abbey Birsch (CBM, 2013) is a New Business Supervisor at The Martin Agency in Richmond.
•Senesi Blake (CS, 2011) is a Strategist at Bartle Bogle Hegarty in NYC.
•Ted Burdett (CBM, 2008) is an Account Supervisor at Venables Bell & Partners in San Francisco.
•Daniel Burke (AD, 2006) is a Creative at Bartle Bogle Hegarty in NYC.
•David Canavan (CW, 2010) is a Copywriter at BBDO NY.
•Christina Chern (CT, 2013) is an Art Director at Duncan/Channon in San Francisco.
•Kim Frazier Childs (CBM, 2009) is Owner, Retailer and Blogger at Rare & Worthy. You can find her curated collection of eclectic and vintage home décor and furniture at sites like One Kings Lane, Hunters
Alley, and Etsy.
•Jordan Childs (CBM, 2009) is Founder/Owner of Eastern Land Collective in Richmond. It’s a creatively
led, collaborative workspace that creates brands, products, art, platforms and objects for clients,
audiences and members. He is also owner of Shine Craft Vessel Co., which creates premium, well-designed barware.
•Catherine Dailey (CBM, 2012) is a Strategist at AKQA DC.
•Paul Davis (CBM, 2012) is a Brand Manager at Diamond Candles in Durham.
•Lauren Simon Donahoe (CW, 2011) and William
Donahoe (CW, 2011) were married February 1, 2014.
•Ryan Dowling (CT, 2013) is an Art Director at CP+B in Boulder.
•Matt Garcia (CW, 2012) is a Copywriter at GSD&M
in Austin, TX.
•Quintina Barnett Gallion (CS, 2008) married
William Gallion on January 1, 2014 in Cozumel.
Lauren & William Donahoe
•Kevin Groat (AD, 2009) is an Art Director at Graphic Solutions Advertising in Kitty Hawk, NC.
•Charlie Gschwend (CW, 2003) is a Copywriter at Wieden + Kennedy Toyko.
•Amit Gurnani (CS, 2011) is an Associate Creative Director at Octagon in Norwalk, CT.
•AJ Hickcox (CS, 2013) is a Strategist at McGarrah Jessee in Austin, TX.
•Brandon Hill (CS, 2006) and his wife, Rebekah,
welcomed a son, Grey Matthan Hill, on November,
15, 2013.
Grey Matthan Hill
•Faye Ibars (CW, 2013) is a Copywriter at
SapientNitro in Miami.
•Hope Jordan (AD, 2010) is an Art Director at BBDO
New York.
•Alina Karabaich (CW, 2012) is a Copywriter at M&C
Saatchi in Los Angeles.
•Justin Kohut (CBM, 2008) is Director, Digital
Insights at Spectrum in Washington, DC.
•Jenny Lee (AD, 2005) is a Creative Manager for Starbucks in their in-house creative studio in Seattle.
•Kyle Lin (AD, 2009) is a Creative Specialist at Twitter in San Francisco.
•Whitney Martinez (CBM, 2010) is a Strategist at Team One in LA.
•Dylan Meagher (CW, 2010) is a Copywriter at McKinney in Durham, NC.
•Rachel Mercer (CT, 2012) is a Senior Product Strategist at Made by Many in London.
•Charles Merritt (CT, 2013) is Chief Marketing Officer at Knox Payments. He’ll continue working with
80amps as an Operating Partner, helping their portfolio companies think through positioning, early
customer acquisition and brand strategy.
•Matt Norton (AD, 2008) is a Senior Art Director at Barber Martin in Richmond.
•Allyson Otis (AD, 2011) is an Art Director at Ikon3 in NYC.
•Hayden Pasco (AD, 1999) and David Williams
(CW, 1998) welcomed a son, Grey Daniel Williams.
He joins big brother, Sawyer.
Grey Williams
•Brandon Poole (CW, 2012) is a Copywriter at
Innocean in Long Beach.
•Lacy Quarles (CBM, 2013) is a Strategist at Redscout in NYC.
•Joe Quattrone (CBM, 2008) is Vice President at
VaynerMedia in NYC.
•Jerry Roback (CBM, 2012) is currently a Strategist at Sterling Rice Group in Boulder. He and his
fiancé started a Kickstarter campaign for a project
they’ve been working on called “Anti-Grain Flour:
Vibrant Flour for Vibrant Kitchens.” They’re close
to meeting their funding goals. Check it out here.
•Jim Robbins (CW, 2007) is a Senior Creative at
Clemenger BBDO in Melbourne.
•William Roberts-Foster (CBM, 2012) is a Supervisor, New Business at Carat in New York City.
•Thomas “Scott” Scott (AD, 2012), Charles Merritt (CT, 2013), Tyler Wriston (AD, 2013) , and Jameson
Young (CT, 2011) created the AC Greebs Smoking Steel. They’ve already sold over 1000 units. AC
Greebs is offering a Brandcenter alumni discount of 15%. Enter “SIXTY” code at check out.
•Christina Semak (CW, 2013) is a Copywriter at 180LA.
•Chris Sheldon (CW, 2012) is a Copywriter at BBDO NY.
•Burks Spencer (CW, 2004) recently published two new books. BREAKING IN: Product Design and a
new, second edition of BREAKING IN: Advertising. Not to mention a new website. Check them out here.
Levi JJ Stern
•Danielle Baukh Stern (CBM, 2008) and her husband, Dan, welcomed a son, Levi JJ Stern, born July 7, 2014.
•Beth Stone (CS, 2008) is Director, Consumer Insights at RadioShack in Austin, TX.
•Jennifer Stopka (CW, 2011) is a Copywriter at Cramer-Krasselt in Chicago.
•Stephanie Summers (AD, 2006) and Tim Bunker
(CW, 2006) welcomed a daughter, Daphne Iris
Summers-Bunker, on May 12, 2014.
Daphne Iris Summers-Bunker
•Raj Swaminathan (CBM, 2009) is Managing Trustee of Sasi Creative School of Business and Sasi
School of Architecture in Coimbatore, India.
•Brian Swann (CBM, 2010) is a Communications
and Business Associate at The Frontier Project
in Richmond.
•Karen Walker (CW, 2001) is a Creative Director at BBDO Dusseldorf.
•Brandon Willingham (CW, 2007) is a Senior Copywriter at The Martin Agency in Richmond.
•Congrats to Erica Pressly (CW, 2009) and Karen Land Short (AD, 2008) for being named two of the
“Most Creative Women in Advertising” by Business Insider.
•Congrats to the following alums for being named “The 30 Most Creative People in Advertising
Under 30.”
Markia Wiggan (CS, 2010), Strategist at Argonaut
Ross Fletcher (AD, 2012), Art Director at BFG 9000
Rachel Mercer (CT, 2012), Senior Product Specialist at Made by Many in London
Lauren Perlow (AD, 2010), Art Director at TBWA/Media Arts Lab
Richard Langhorne (CW, 2011), Copywriter at Mother New York