Drew Hammill (Keynote Speaker):
Drew Hammill serves as Press Secretary to House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House. As a top communications aide to Pelosi for nearly six years, Hammill most notably led messaging efforts around the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the passage of historic, comprehensive energy bills in 2007 and 2009, as well as message events strategy around the passage of health reform.
During Pelosi’s time as Speaker, Hammill helped lead messaging and implementation efforts around the “Green the Capitol” initiative, which dramatically lowered the carbon footprint of the institution. He served as the Speaker’s top spokesman on reform, energy and climate issues, and human rights.
As Press Secretary to the House Democratic Leader, Hammill oversees the day-to-day on-the-record press operation, strategic long-term message planning and serves as a national spokesman on a wide array of issues.
Before working for Pelosi, Hammill served as Press Secretary to Florida Congressman Kendrick Meek of Miami and began his career in the communications office of then-Congressman Rahm Emanuel of Chicago.
An Illinois native, Hammill graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with degrees in political science and communications. While at the University of Illinois, he served as Student Body President. Hammill also holds an MSc in comparative politics from the London School of Economics.
Hammill and his husband, Jason Mida, reside on Capitol Hill.
John Bell (Keynote Speaker):
John heads up Social@Ogilvy – Ogilvy’s global, social media marketing and communications practice. The world’s largest network of social media strategists, the team believes in the power and impact of truly integrated social media business solutions. He drives senior client engagements, the development of Ogilvy’s social planning framework, and a global training program for staff and clients, alike.
He has developed and executed enterprise social media strategy for the Ford Motor Company, Nestle, IBM, Coca Cola, and DuPont – including work winning a Silver Lion at Cannes. He has launched a single brand Facebook initiative in 20+ countries, helped telcos in Australia and Greece adopt social care and marketing and consulted with consumer goods marketers in Turkey.
John is a Web 1.0 graduate. As Creative Director at Discovery Communications, he transformed a single web site into 14 Web communities and services from DiscoveryKids.com to Animalplanet.com and more. In the early nineties, John headed up the digital studio for the joint ITV venture between Viacom and AT&T to invent interactive television.
John serves on the board as past president of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association. He teaches graduate studies in Digital Influence at Johns Hopkins University. He publishes a popular social media business blog The Digital Influence Mapping Project – http://johnbell.typepad.com – syndicated to Social Media Today
Anthony LaFauce:
Anthony is a digital media professional grounded in traditional public relations practices. In his role as Director, Digital Strategy, Anthony brings the latest, fully integrated communications strategies to Spectrum’s clients, incorporating a well-rounded mix of public relations, media relations and marketing technologies.
He sees new media as a unique set of tools that provides organizations with exciting methods to connect directly with their audiences. Anthony has worked with a variety of clients including non-profits, government contractors and digital media companies. Anthony has overseen a variety of online and traditional marketing programs for a range of clients from restaurants to medical service providers.
Ashley Wolos:
Assistant Account Executive
Social Marketing
Ashley is an Assistant Account Executive in Ogilvy Public Relation’s Social Marketing group.
She currently supports government agencies to develop and implement strategic campaigns to
create social change. Prior to joining Ogilvy Washington, Ashley held internships at Fleishman-
Hillard Communications, Discovery Communications, August, Lang, and Husak Advertising, and
on Capitol Hill.
Ashley holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Communication with a minor in Marketing from
American University. While attending AU she was president of AU PRSSA. Additionally, Ashley
served as Communications Director for the PRSSA’s 2010 National Conference. You can follow
her on Twitter @AshleyAW.
Dave Tamasi:
David manages Rasky Baerlein Strategic Communications’ Washington DC office. With more than 15 years of public affairs experience he specializes in developing and executing high profile integrated government and media relations campaigns that support public policy advocacy efforts.
At Rasky Baerlein, David oversees all facets of the Washington office’s government and public relations efforts, including, issues management and ally advocacy work on behalf of such clients as Eli Lilly, First Wind, Iron Mountain, Mediacom Communications, National Flea Market Association, National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association, Paine College and the Hospital of Saint Raphael.
Prior to joining Rasky Baerlein, David worked at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, where he implemented public affairs campaigns that resulted in scores of high profile media placements in the world’s leading publications on behalf of clients, such as Cambridge Energy Research Associates, CITGO, DuPont, Embassy of Pakistan, Hess Corporation, U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security and the University of Chicago.
David earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Gettysburg College and a Master of Science in journalism from Boston University. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the ALS Association DC/MD/VA Chapter. David also serves on the Congressional Blues Festival Advisory Board and Falmouth Academy Alumni Council
Elliot Brenner:
Eliot Brenner is a veteran journalist and government communicator. He started his career by spending nearly 20 years with United Press International, a global news service, covering everything from Congress, the Pentagon, presidential campaigns and the first Gulf War.
He switched over to government work in 1991, starting out as a speechwriter to then-Defense Secretary and later Vice President Dick Cheney. After the 1992 election, he was a speechwriter to two Clinton era Treasury Secretaries. Then his exposure to crisis communications began.
He took a position as the spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration just as aviation went through a period of repeated high profile crashes – ValuJet, TWA 800, Swiss Air, Egypt Air, JFK Junior. After a stint with the Boeing Company, in 2004 Mr. Brenner became the spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Last March 11th an earthquake struck Japan and a subsequent tidal wave destroyed the reactor complex at Fukushima. That started weeks of around-the-clock work communicating with the American public about nuclear issues.
Fred Whiting: Professor at the University of Maryland
Jess Noonan: TBA
Mollie O’Dell:
Mollie O’Dell has public affairs experience in both the public and private sectors. Prior to joining Story Partners, Mollie served as the Communications Director for the Sugar Association and as the Deputy Press Secretary at the U.S. Department of Transportation under Secretary Mary Peters.
Mollie has a background in opposition research and the ability to clearly communicate complex messages. She has executed successful public affairs campaigns in a variety of industries, including telecommunications, energy, and agriculture.
Mollie is a graduate of Rhodes College and holds a master’s degree in Political Management from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Monica Karkhanis: TBA
Sam Eskenazi:
In February, 2007, Sam began work on a formal proposal to build the National Museum of the American People. At the beginning of 2009, he began to form a formal coalition of ethnic, minority and national groups in support of a bi-partisan Presidential Commission to study establishment of the Museum. The Coalition is now seeking bi-partisan support for the commission from Congress.
In 2003, Sam retired from a career in the federal government that included serving as the director of public information of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum for eight years, including for six years before it opened and for two years afterwards. His first federal job was as the first director of public affairs for the Institute of Museum Services.
He also served at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, two Treasury Department agencies and in the U.S. Army, including a year in Vietnam where he led a 75-man platoon.
Melanie Batenchuk:
Director, Beekeeper Group
Melanie is a savvy social and digital media professional and a corporate branding expert. She combines her education, experience, and passion to deliver effective campaigns to a diverse portfolio of clients as Director at Beekeeper Group in Washington, D.C. – a boutique public affairs firm. Melanie is an emerging leader in the field of social media whose insight and advice are highly sought after.
Melanie attributes her professional success to her personal accomplishments through her work in the automotive industry. In 2009, she combined her unbridled passion for cars and social media and launched an automotive industry centric blog, called Be Car Chic. Through this she has built extensive relationships and is recognized as a subject matter expert within the automotive community. Recently, her writings have been covered by Mashable.com and AutoWeek.com; leading authorities for digital media and automotive news.
LaRhonda Lombardi:
She is currently the manager of programs and administration for Monumental Sports and Entertainment. With a focus on Washington Wizards/Mystics business operations, she supports sponsorship efforts and oversees internal programming within the organization. Lombardi earned a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and business from the University of Maryland, College Park and received a master’s in sports industry management from Georgetown University in 2010 where she serves a capstone project advisor.
Lombardi has worked Maret School in Washington, D.C. where she oversaw all administrative and facility operations, coached lacrosse and served as assistant program director of Horizons (an initiative providing academic support for underserved youth in D.C.). Since transitioning into the sports industry, she has worked with Paragon Marketing Group for the ESPN Rise National High School Invitational, Washington Bayhawks (MLL) and the Tiger Woods Foundation.
Jenna Romanoff:
Monumental Sports & Entertainment
Manager, Partnership Marketing
Jenna has 2 years of experience working for Monumental Sports and Entertainment. She began as an Account Executive in the Inside Sales Department for the Washington Wizards & Mystics where she sold a full menu of ticket options including season tickets, VIP seats, and group tickets. After 9 months as a sales rep, Jenna was promoted to the corporate partnerships department. As a manager in the Corporate Partnerships department, Jenna is responsible for overseeing roughly 25-30 of their corporate partnerships delivering unique value through the business management and implementation of all contractual assets.
Prior to Monumental Sports and Entertainment, Jenna received her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Ohio University. After college, Jenna worked for Team Express, a sports apparel company, where she specialized in selling cheerleading uniforms to youth groups all the way up to college teams. She was also involved in their catalog and website development. After working for two years in selling sports apparel, Jenna went back to school to receive her masters in Sports Management from Georgetown University. While attending Georgetown, Jenna was able to gain significant experience through internships with the Eagle Bank Bowl (currently the Military Bowl) as well as the Washington Freedom. Jenna is originally from Montgomery County, Maryland and currently resides in Bethesda.