- Dennis Hecht - WINNER
Dennis Hecht
Director, Business Intelligence
Farm Journal Media
If you lead the way through a practical and creative approach,
you can shape your company, your industry and your future. At
Farm Journal Media, I combine left-brain, data-driven decision
making with right-brain creativity to solve problems. That means
selling consultatively with clients to build solutions that meet
their real needs. It’s a customer-first approach backed with data
science. We’ve set up a data ecosystem to support deep level
targeting. We’re combining behavior and demographic data to
solve these complex problems. And we’re pushing the limits of
data democratization by exposing engagement KPIs across all
channels through data portals — including broadcast, print and
mobile. The end game is true campaign attribution. And beyond
shaping the company’s future, I strive to shape the future of my
industry. From farm to fork, all data driven solutions are designed
to positively impact agriculture, media and how we communicate
with both farmers and consumers.
"Dennis is leading the strategy of Business Intelligence
group at Farm Journal Media. He is a key driver fueling the
transformation of a traditional media company into a data
focused company utilizing data insights to drive revenue
growth. Now 65% of what we sell is fueled by the data that
Dennis and his team produce. Dennis is the most sought
after resource in our company for client meets. He is very
innovative on how he presents data and has been very
creative when building new data sets that match the needs
of our customers. We are expanding our data team by three
times over the next year and based on the success of Dennis
and his team."
Matt Morgan, Senior Vice President, Digital & Data, Farm Journal Media
- Christina Karabetsos - WINNER
Christina Karabetsos
Executive Vice President
QCSS, Inc.
I am helping to shape the future of my company by empowering
employees at all levels to have a voice in the direction and growth
of the company. I continue with our management team and
executive team to remove silos between departments that have
impeded cross-departmental communication. It’s a daily work in
progress, but I am confident our employees and customers will
benefit from this culture of collaboration now and into the future.
"As EVP of QCSS, Christina oversees our total operation and
has a team of directors from every department that reports to
her. She is responsible for growth and innovation as a leader
at QCSS. Christina is an advisor to our board and offers advice,
plans and executes to lead her teams in the next direction
for the company with marketing, sales, finances, processes,
technology, profitability and culture. She oversees the
overall customer experience culture and quality of customer
interactions among our client services unit. In addition,
Christina spends half of her time in business development
for the company and maintains/expands key accounts. QCSS
has benefited by expanding business relationships as clients
look to her for advice as she naturally gains trust through
honesty and transparency."
Karin Hall, CSO, QCSS, Inc.
- Jenny Ko - WINNER
Jenny Ko
VP, Specialty & Primary Care Markets
Haymarket Media, Inc.
I believe in BIG ideas. Execution of ideas is what ultimately
drives a business forward and I do execution. It is tremendously
rewarding that as a healthcare professional I have the opportunity
at Haymarket Media to bring to the table my unique multidisciplinary
perspective, my ability to foster creativity and agile
thinking among my teams, and my desire to continually raise
our standards of commercial excellence. To shape the future of
my company and to raise our standards, I have aimed to lead
by example. The greatest asset for the successful future of any
company is its people. In this dynamic digital world we live in,
I seek to be a leader who provides stability. Nurturing the right
people will likely be my greatest contribution; no matter how
quickly we need to move I always stop to listen and help my teams,
so that they know they and their career growth are important to
me. In return, my teams proudly operate with a higher level of
dedication, loyalty to the company, and execute at the higher
standards I have set.
"Jenny manages all aspects of the largest brand in the
Haymarket US portfolio, in terms of both readers and revenue,
and our digital growth platform, MPR and 2020 Initiative,
respectively. She is responsible for all aspects of these
businesses: editorial, product innovation, sales, budgets, P&L,
analytics and marketing for both digital and custom products.
She manages a team of 20 people and interacts with every
internal department. With Jenny’s strategic leadership over
the last three years, MPR’s digital revenue has grown 47%
and the 2020 Initiative (a plan to launch 20 new specialty
healthcare brands by the year 2020) launched 10 new
brands, with three more planned in the next six months,
driving several million dollars in new revenue."
James Burke, General Manager, Medical Communications Group, Haymarket Media, Inc.
- Ryan McKnight - WINNER
Ryan McKnight
Creative Director
Industry Dive
We become the things we do. It is as true for a company as it is an
individual. I think about this a lot: If we become the things we do,
what do I want to become? What do I want my team to become?
What do I want Industry Dive to become? It is what I think about
when I hire, lead my team and work with other departments. For
example, I want my coworkers to feel empowered to push the
company forward. Are you new on the design team and hesitant
to rock the boat? I’ll tell you to not hold back, and that you were
hired to teach me, too. I want my team, and the company as
a whole, to be resilient. To reduce the danger of institutional
knowledge loss, my team and I diligently document our work in a
wiki. I hire design employees with multiple, redundant skill sets
so that, when emergencies come up or someone wants to take
a vacation, projects stay on track. Realizing the importance of
retention to the company’s future, I also work to align the interests
of my employees with the projects they work on.
"Ryan is directly responsible for the design and U/X of Industry
Dive’s websites, newsletters, branded content, mobile apps
and more. This includes managing a team of five front-end
developers and graphic designers. He’s led the redesign of
our websites twice, the development of two mobile apps, the
platform integration of four acquisitions, the creation of our
newsletter templates, the launch of an online training series,
the creation of our media kit, and oversees the production of
all content and materials from a brand studio that does more
than $2 million in revenue annually. He serves as point person
for all strategic product development planning and plays the
crucial role of sitting between our editorial, audience, sales
and tech teams. Ryan joined Industry Dive as an intern five
years ago. Today he is one of the most important people in
the company."
Sean Griffey, CEO, Industry Dive
- Egon Smullyan - WINNER
Egon Smullyan
Vice President, Commercial Operations
Money-Media, A Financial Times Company
I began as a temp employee at Money Media 12 year ago, and
now I am a member of the senior management team, and the VP
of commercial operations overseeing multiple teams. When I first
started at the company, there were loads of manual processes
that were time consuming and error prone. I quickly realized
operating this way was not sustainable. Using a variety of systems
and computerized applications, I was able to architect solutions
and establish processes that dramatically improved operational
efficiency. A big driver of my success is that I came from the
bottom up and was exposed to key areas of the organization. This
gave me a unique perspective on how the business operates and
helped me understand the big picture — allowing me to identify
gaps, solve problems and focus my energy where it counted in
ways that added value and shaped the organization as a whole.
As we push for continued growth in new industries, I intend to
take my experience and passion for driving efficiency and use
it to help the company break into new industries, successfully
integrate acquired companies, capture new synergies with our
parent company (FT) and reach new heights in the future.
"Egon oversees the commercial operations group and is highly
involved in every facet of the group’s work. Over the years,
Egon’s group has amassed an enormous list of responsibilities,
often described as the glue that holds together our business
operations, or the bridge between “the business side and
tech.” Egon’s most significant contributions include being
Money-Media’s data scientist and crunching data to provide
reports and analysis on user engagement/website activity;
building, maintaining and administering our CRM system;
maintaining and administering our email marketing server;
developing automated data flows and data integration
processes using the Pervasive software tool; managing the
customer service team; operating our subscriber database
reporting subscription revenue flows to finance; and querying
our prospect database to develop targeted lists for marketing
campaigns."
Daniel Fink, Managing Director,
Money-Media, A Financial Times Company
- Liz Bilash
Liz Bilash
Sales Director
Haymarket Media, Inc.
From start-ups to Fortune 500 brands, innovation is paramount
for B2B companies to succeed in today’s fast-paced world. As
the sales leader for PRWeek, one of Haymarket’s most mature
brands, I’m helping to reshape the future of the company by
spearheading innovation through process, product and people.
I’m fostering a culture of cross-team synergy across sister brands
and global borders that results in innovative ideas. The Brand
Film Festival (BFF) is a new product that has allowed PRWeek
to innovatively evolve, engaging with new audiences across
film, production and creative. Directing the commercial activity,
I increased sponsorship YOY by 70% and triumphantly confirmed
Microsoft as a sponsor! At the heart of all companies is the talent.
As a manager, I endeavor to ensure my team has the confidence
to think creatively. Weekly individual and team meetings, lunches
and random check-ins are mechanisms I utilize to educate, train
and guide them through new media trends, which has followed
in innovative sponsored programs like micro-sites, podcast series
and live panel events.
"As sales director for PRWeek, Liz is responsible for driving
commercial revenue for the entire brand across digital, print
and live event platforms. She leads the sales team in delivering
a consultative sales approach by building relationships with PR
and communications agencies, technology clients, and other
brands within the category. Liz is responsible for and delivers
accurate forecasting of all advertising and sponsorship related
revenue as well as the creation of annual sales plans and
strategy for the entire PRWeek commercial team."
Michael Medwig, Chief Revenue Officer, Haymarket Media, Inc.
- Joseph Coleman
Joseph Coleman
Vice President of Production
Coleman Report
I am changing the future of the company by continuously striving
for better content creation and production methods. I face
tough challenges getting ‘need to know’ information to more
sophisticated clients. I set an example by operating all events with
precision timing. The company and marketplace are changing
year after year rapidly so online information publishing has never
been more exciting to me. I strive to make our user experience
great, but more importantly solve problems for our customers by
utilizing a network of resources to make their companies grow
as well. This approach has led me to being in tune with industry
wide solutions. Getting my start in webinar production and on-site
event planning has giving me the tools to succeed in making a
difference in the small business lending sector. I look for better
ways the entire industry can flourish now. As an emerging leader
I look forward to the challenges that lay ahead.
"As vice president of production, 100% of Coleman
Publishing’s revenue is touched by Joseph – from the front
end order taking to back end fulfillment. Joseph has three
job responsibilities: customer service, account manager and
production. He manages all training programs, is responsible
for four accounts that generate $100k in revenue a year —
15% of the gross revenues of the company — and annually
produces 40 webinars, 50 live one-hour shows, and five onsite
events plus all new websites. Among his many innovations,
Joseph launched a new product — SBA1Answer Desk —
exceeding year-end goals in one month and will contribute
20% of 2018 company revenues."
Bob Coleman, Founder & Publisher, Coleman Report
- Lauren Fitzgerald
Lauren Fitzgerald
Executive Director of Marketing
Hanley Wood
Digital marketing is all about making the right connection with the
right person at the right time in the right way. I am a people person
through and though and marketing in this digital world allows me
to play around and experiment with how human behavior can be
influenced by different experiences shaped by data. Every day
I use my love of human interaction and social skills to digitally
connect with people, whether it be customers, clients, or our sales
team, I am able to use the tools and data of this “digital” world
to tap into the mind of that person at the other end and provide
them with the experience, instrument or need they are looking for.
I am helping shape the future of my company by being a change
agent who is using data to disrupt the status quo of marketing in
an effort to deliver a digital experience that provides a solution for
both my company and the person at the other end.
"Lauren designs, develops and implements all strategic
marketing of major brand platforms to create greater
awareness of Hanley Wood’s breadth of services in the
marketplace. This includes the education of current and
prospective customers on capabilities and services, and
acquiring new customers through lead generation efforts—
driving revenue growth opportunities. She has contributed to
major launches in the company and her digital acumen has
helped the marketing department transform to a digital first
mentality during a company-wide transition. She continues
to improve the culture of our team and our company by
coming up with innovative ways to go to market and leads
by example."
Matthew Carollo, Vice President of Marketing, Hanley Wood
- Patrick Lynch
Patrick Lynch
Director, ContentStream &
ContactStream,
CFE Technology
The future of CFE Media & CFE Technology is predicated on our
ability to market our company as not just a media company, but
as an integrated solutions provider for industrial companies who
wish to target engineers with their sales and marketing channels.
With that challenge, we must continue to market our company in
ways that differentiate CFE Media & CFE Technology from our two
sets of competitors; traditional (publishing companies) and nontraditional
(SaaS and technology providers). I’m shaping the future
of the company with two primary tactics: content and challenges.
For content, I believe the front line of marketing starts with a sales
staff and the presentations they give to their customers, which is
why I insist on making my customer presentations with the Prezi
presenter tool format. For challenges, I believe the effective sales
representative understands their customer’s business model well
enough to challenge basic assumptions, educate the customer
and recommend solutions. The future starts with people like
myself who are marketing and selling to customers with content
and challenges on a daily basis.
"Patrick is responsible for the design, marketing, selling,
training and servicing of CFE Technologies new product
offerings including both ContentStream and ContactStream.
He oversees and manages the development of everything
from the initial product marketing requirements documents
to the sales and customer support process. On the marketing
side, Patrick is responsible for all marketing collateral
including the messaging, pricing, packaging, promotional
and training materials. On the sales side Patrick manages all
key sales activities and opportunities along with overseeing
direct sales personnel. Patrick has also successfully licensed
this innovative technology platform to other publishers who
are now using it to better service their customers needs and
driving new revenue."
Steve Rourke, CEO, CFE Media
- Rachel Mastandrea
Rachel Mastandrea
Event Marketing Director
Hanley Wood
Connections are strengthened through face-to-face events.
Nothing can replace that tangible, live-in-person interaction. I am
shaping the future of the company by increasing the attendance
and registration revenue generated by these events, and helping
to expand the events business by creating and executing the
marketing strategy for new events. In a world where seemly
everything is going digital, executive events at Hanley Wood are
stronger than ever—bringing in over $1.5 million annually in
registration revenue alone. It is my goal to not just maintain this
level of success, but to continuously raise the bar and achieve
new heights that the company has never seen before.
"Rachel is responsible for event marketing strategy and
execution of all Hanley Wood branded conferences and
custom events. This includes the development, management
and execution of all multi-channel marketing strategy and
tactics to achieve attendee goals — both in revenue and inseat
expectations. Rachel is also responsible for attendee
acquisition and support registrant communication. Rachel has
changed the game for Hanley Wood when it comes to event
marketing for our branded and custom/corporate events.
She has quickly become the go-to for all event marketing
needs within Hanley Wood. This year, she has managed and
executed on 30 branded and custom events. She has had
real business impact in 2017 increasing overall registrations
by 25% and registration revenue by 11%."
Matthew Carollo, Vice President of Marketing, Hanley Wood