Kimberly Angell has a broad public relations background that crosses several technology industries, such as security, open source, networking, telecommunications and retail. Since joining Schwartz in 2003, her contributions have included PR strategy development, day-to-day program management and collaborating with her teams to launch creative campaigns around new and existing products and services.
Angell has played an integral role in building and strengthening Schwartz's security and open source practices. Leveraging experience with communications and security software companies, including AirTouch (now Verizon Wireless), Network ICE and Internet Security Systems, Angell has worked with emerging-growth players such as ScanSafe and Talend and worked with such companies as SpringSource, Blue Coat, CipherTrust (acquired by Secure Computing), Citadel (acquired by McAfee), PKWARE and Qualys.
Under her leadership, Angell's teams have raised their clients' profiles through speaking opportunities at respected industry events such as RSA, Interop, CSI and InfoSec, and with awards recognition with outlets such as the Inc. 5000 and the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) CODiE awards.
Angell's strong media relations experience has enabled her to identify unique story angles and secure consistent coverage across both business and trade media, including Network World, eWeek, InformationWeek, ABCNews.com, the Associated Press, Financial Times, Red Herring, New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Newsweek, Investor's Business Daily and CNET.
In her previous position as a marketing manager for ISS, Angell developed content and managed schedules for all West Coast marketing programs, including sponsorships, speaking opportunities, user groups, seminars and events. Under her management, the company enjoyed the most successful seminar program in its history, executed in 50 cities in six months with an average of 100 attendees per city. As a member of the marketing team at Network ICE (later acquired by ISS), Angell participated in all launch activities, including company branding, logo and collateral development, competitive analysis, and analyst and media relations.
Angell graduated from Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications.
Bryan Scanlon has diverse experience building visibility for the agency's enterprise technology accounts, including the network, security, database, appliances, application integration and Web services markets. Bryan has taken several little-known technology providers, including AXENT Technologies (acquired by Symantec), Red Hat, Concord Communications, Netezza and webMethods, from launch to prominence and market leadership.
Bryan has more than 10 years of communications experience and has been with Schwartz since 1997. He has a track record of placements in top-tier business and broadcast trade press, including BusinessWeek, Barron's, Investor's Business Daily, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, The Boston Globe, CNBC, CNN, MSNBC, Upside, Forbes, and Dow Jones News, Bloomberg and Reuters wire services. He has provided strategic counsel and media relations for more than two dozen initial public offerings and acquisitions and leads the agency's strategic relationship with The New England Technology Sales, Marketing & Business Development Executives Association (NETSEA).
Prior to Schwartz, Bryan was an associate at another PR agency, where he managed strategic and day-to-day media and analyst relations for $3 billion CompuCom Systems, an in-circuit emulator manufacturer, and divisions of Banyan Systems, Inc. He has produced marketing collateral for leading technology companies and ghost written more than two dozen articles for senior executives in some of the industry's most technical publications, including Network World, CNET and Electronic Design. As a freelance writer and photographer, Bryan's work has appeared in Computerworld, among other publications. He has won several top PR awards, including a Gold CIPRA and Bronze Anvil from the Public Relations Society of America.
Bryan holds a B.F.A. degree in writing from Johnson State College and an M.A. degree in English from Western Michigan University, where he also taught composition and journalism.
Twitter: @bkscanlon
With more than 20 years of high-tech marketing experience, Carol McGarry provides strategic counsel to agency clients, helping them to break through the media clutter and capture market leadership. She has worked with innovators in a broad range of technology areas, including consumer electronics, security, application management and financial technology. She leads the agency's wireless, telecommunications and networking practice group.
McGarry joined the agency in 1993 as its fifth employee and first vice president, and has helped to build the culture of excellence that has fueled the agency's growth. Over the years, she has been involved with many aspects of the agency's decision-making and management. As creative director, she established the Creativity and PR Excellence Awards, which recognize outstanding achievements and encourage the creative contributions of all staffers across the agency. She also leads agency brainstorming sessions on behalf of clients.
Past and current clients include Macromedia, Lycos, Netegrity, CheckFree Corporation, Progress Software, Wildfire Communications, AXENT Technologies, MapInfo, StreamServe and Optier. Among her accomplishments, McGarry led the team that launched Macromedia's Shockwave and Flash, creating enduring brands on the Internet.
Her award-winning work with teams at Schwartz has earned her industry accolades that include the Silver Anvil Award, Publicity Club of Boston's Bell Ringer Award, Bulldog Reporter's Award for Excellence in Media Relations and PR, the CES Marcom Award, and The Communicator Award. Her team won a 2002 Silver Anvil with client CheckFree for a nationwide campaign to evangelize electronic bill payment for consumers and a 2005 Silver Anvil for the campaign on behalf of Peppercoin, Inc.
McGarry has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal and has spoken at the Red Herring conference and the Publicity Club of Boston. She started her professional career in high-tech publishing and earned theB.A. at Harvard University.
As an Account Executive, Clinton is an experienced public relations professional who has worked with many technology providers, including Progress Software, Schooner Information Technology, Xignite, and is a core member of the Schwartz Communications Security Practice, working with Solidcore, M86 Security, BeyondTrust, Aveksa, Vormetric and Breach Security as well as campaigns to promote Javelin Strategy and Research’s annual Identity Theft report. He has also assisted ad-hoc and pro-bono accounts, such as Families for Depression Awareness.
Clinton leads breaking news outreach for multiple accounts and has been instrumental in launching many new businesses and services. Clinton works closely with clients to produce research reports and to identify market trends to drive media coverage. He has successfully secured coverage for clients in a variety of print and broadcast outlets such as Newsweek, the Associated Press and CNN.
Prior to Schwartz, Clinton was a sales and event assistant for Cleveland’s largest convention center, where he served as both a media contact and an event manager. Clinton has also worked in communications at The Red Cross and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Clinton earned a B.S. in communication with a focus in public relations from Boston University, where he served on the board of the Public Relations Student Society of America.
Since joining Schwartz Communications in 1998, Chris Stamm has advised clients in agency's healthcare and consumer technology practice groups, helping them create and execute high impact public relations campaigns. Chris has developed PR strategies for both public and private companies during critical business milestones including startup, IPO, acquisition, divestiture and major regulatory milestones. He has counseled clients in a diverse range of healthcare industries including medical device and diagnostics (Nobel Biocare, GE Healthcare, SentiCare, Organ Recovery Systems), healthcare IT (A.D.A.M, Artromick, Catalisse), and biopharmaceuticals & life sciences (Micromet, Cepheid, Aureon Laboratories) to name a few. Complementing his healthcare sector experience Chris has helped technology companies in a variety of industries create new categories and reach consumers including DayJet, Salary.com, Lycos and others.
Chris leads account teams, develops and implements PR strategy, crafts effective messaging and articulates his clients' stories to a variety of audiences via the press and other mediums. He has considerable experience generating media coverage in top tier national media including The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Fast Company, Fortune, The New York Times, USA Today, NBC TODAY, NBC Nightly News, CNN Headline News, CNBC and network affiliate newscasts nation wide.
Over the years, his account teams have been recognized by The Publicity Club of New England with several Bell Ringer Awards including Best to Business Launch (DayJet 2008), Best National Television News Placement (DayJet 2008), Best Organizational Identity Campaign (Disabled Sports USA 2007), Best Business to Business Launch (DayJet 2006; Organ Recovery Systems 2004) and Best National Print Placement (NovaVision, 2005).
Chris holds a B.A. (cum laude) in English and political science with a minor in technical writing from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He has experience as a freelance newspaper reporter, freelance textbook editor, oversees the agency's pro-bono PR support for Disabled Sports USA and is a board member of the Publicity Club of New England.
Dana Conti has worked on a wide variety of award-winning healthcare PR campaigns. Since joining Schwartz in 2001, Conti has helped to build Schwartz’s biotech and pharmaceutical, medical devices and diagnostics, and healthcare IT practice groups. Conti also represents the healthcare practice as a member of Schwartz's new media committee. At Schwartz, Conti has provided global healthcare concerns and emerging health-technology innovators with business-impacting public relations programs.
Conti played an instrumental role in one of Schwartz's most recognized medical device campaigns, Philips Electronics. For Philips, Conti helped execute a national PR campaign to introduce the first home defibrillator, followed by the first over-the-counter clearance of a therapeutic medical device. The campaign won several prestigious industry awards, including a Communicator Crystal Award, a Silver SABRE and a Bronze Anvil. Conti also worked with Cyberonics, Inc., developing strategic corporate communication for regulatory events and executing regional PR campaigns to support sales efforts for the company's device to treat epilepsy and depression. Conti currently manages a category and brand creation program for GE Healthcare's Monitoring Solutions, a unit within GE Healthcare's $17 billion business.
Conti has played a critical role in helping to grow Schwartz's burgeoning biotech and pharmaceutical, and healthcare IT practice groups. He provides counsel on corporate, investor and scientific communication, as well as partnership management, clinical trial recruitment and issue awareness.
Conti has relationships with several of the nation's leading and most influential reporters and producers at outlets ranging from The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg, The New York Times and CNBC.
His responsibilities include managing account teams and their operations; acting as clients' day-to-day contact; developing corporate messaging and strategic PR goals; actively engaging in regular contact with top-tier media and industry analysts; and pursuing placements in the business, consumer, medical, local and trade press to secure positive coverage of his clients. Conti also leads internal training sessions on healthcare PR and business etiquette topics.
Prior to Schwartz, Conti worked at a boutique public relations and marketing firm in Chicago specializing in real estate and professional services companies. His responsibilities at Dickinson Group included public affairs projects, community and media relations, newsletter production and special events planning.
Conti received a B.S. in communication management, with a concentration in communication, politics and law, from Emerson College in Boston.
Since joining Schwartz Communications in 1999, Dara Sklar has driven communications programs for a variety of emerging-growth companies and played an active role in the growth of the security, renewable energy and consumer technology practice groups. Over the years, she has focused on helping innovative companies build brand awareness, increase demand generation and achieve their business goals.
Sklar's industry expertise spans broad market sectors including wireless, financial services, IT security and network infrastructure. As a member of the Consumer Technology Practice Group she is working with innovative online destination sites and services, such as CollegeNET.com and freeconferencalls.com as well as technology companies powering the next generation of digital media and interactive entertainment, such as Cryptography Research and Aspera Software.
She has managed the PR efforts of numerous acquisitions and assisted companies' communications strategies during and following IPOs. Sklar works closely with her clients to develop stellar communications strategies and tenaciously execute on plans to deliver exceptional results. Her close relationships with influential media and analysts provide her with an insider perspective into the industry, helping her teams secure a consistent track record of high-profile business, trade and broadcast placement as well as grow visibility in the blogosphere and social media channels.
Outside of work, Sklar produces and directs short independent films that screen at festivals worldwide. She graduated magna cum laude from Bowdoin College, where she focused on literary theory in her English major and minored in computer science.
Dave Bowker has been with Schwartz Communications since 1998. In is role as a director, Dave leads strategic programs that enable security companies to accomplish their PR goals as they deliver technologies to keep businesses running and consumers safe.
Before joining Schwartz, Dave participated in the production of both local and nationally-syndicated television programs at a variety of broadcast organizations in the Boston market.
Dave has a B.S. in Communications from Boston University
Dave Close has been leading communications campaigns in the technology industry since 1981. During the early 1980s, he was a writer and editor at World Information Systems, Inc. He researched and wrote stories for industry newsletter Electronics Insight and contributed sections on manufacturing, transportation, computing and energy to The Science Almanac.
In 1983, Close joined Digital Equipment Corporation and for the next 11 years he held a series of positions as a group communications manager and executive speechwriter. During his time with Digital, Close led communications teams handling advertising, PR and writing in the personal computers, workstations and UNIX organizations.
Close joined Schwartz Communications in 1994 as one of the first senior-level executives in the then-fledging agency. Throughout his career as Schwartz, he has led more than 60 client teams, created and directed the agency's "Schwartz College" training program and led the agency's new business efforts. He also serves as mentor and advisor for several agency vice presidents.
Close is one of the agency's resident experts on manufacturing technologies, energy/utilities and environmental technology, open source software, aviation and transportation, compliance and business ethics.
Close continues to lead client teams, creating PR strategies, pitching the media and helping his teams generate media results. He is known for ghostwriting bylines and "think pieces" for his clients' executives and has won several awards for this work. In his role as "brain trust" advisor, Close also provides insight and advice to a variety of clients beyond his direct assignments. As the leader of the Schwartz Communications National Multiple Sclerosis Society PR team, he directs the pro bono efforts of a large group of agency volunteers that has substantially increased MS fundraising in Massachusetts during the past four years.
A life-long avid cyclist, Close bicycles more than 5,000 miles per year and has been progressing through his goal list to ride up the highest mountains in New England. He is married with two children and lives in Sudbury, Mass.
Davida Dinerman has been a member of the Schwartz Communications team since 1996. For a majority of her tenure, she has been well entrenched in the Security, Healthcare IT and Services Practice groups. Additionally, she offers value in other technologies, from storage and networking to green tech.
Davida and her teams couple creative strategies with an aggressive, hands-on approach to power hit clients into targeted trade, technology, business and social media. In her position, Davida oversees strategic and tactical activities of her teams and interacts with clients on a daily basis. She also generates news and feature stories in media at all levels, facilitates analyst relations and handles speaking opportunities for her clients. Davida has developed content for marketing collateral and ghost-written bylines for senior executives, as well as written blog posts for the agency and her clients.
Several of Davida's teams have earned PR industry awards, including the Mercury Award for Response to Breaking News, and the Bell Ringer Award for Best Response to Breaking News and Print Feature/Commentary Placement in a Trade Publication.
For six years, Davida coordinated and managed one of Schwartz Communication's primary training programs, Schwartz College, where she not only developed curriculum, but also taught sessions. This training program, where people learn and share knowledge, is one of the reasons why Schwartz Communications remains such a strong and impactful PR agency.
Davida earned her MBA with a concentration in management from the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College and her BA degree in psychology from Dartmouth College. She lives in Ashland, Mass. with her husband and two children, and is an avid and competitive tennis player.
Doug Russell brings eighteen years of agency and corporate communications experience to the role of vice president. A Schwartz Communications veteran since 1997, Doug is a leader in the firms' Healthcare IT, Mobile, Networking and Telecom and Business Software & Services practice groups.
Doug's clients have included start-ups that rose to positions of market leadership to billion+ dollar business units of established companies such as Staples, Inc., Schneider Electric, Honeywell International and GE. His particular areas of expertise include message development, thought leadership campaigns, orchestrating company, product and service launches and high-level business media outreach. Doug's teams have won numerous industry awards, including several Publicity Club of New England Bell Ringer's, as well as ADWEEK Magazine's ICON Award for Corporate Branding Objectives.
Doug earned a B.A. in International Relations/History from the University of Virginia and an M.A. in Economics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He is married and has an eight year old son, Nathaniel.
Throughout her eight years at Schwartz Communications, Erin Del Llano has helped technology companies differentiate themselves and succeed in competitive markets through targeted and aggressive public relations programs. Del Llano has experience working with a variety of enterprise software and hardware companies and is also a member of the agency's expanding renewable energy and green practice.
Del Llano's IT expertise spans a range of technologies including networking, storage, information security, supply chain and mobile infrastructure. Del Llano's efforts have achieved demonstrable results for her clients, which have included early-stage companies such as VirtualLogix, Vormetric, Enkata and Aldata as well as established public companies such as Fujitsu, Xyratex, Honeywell and Pitney Bowes MapInfo. Del Llano managed Schwartz's PR program for MapInfo leading up to and following Pitney Bowes' acquisition of the company for $408 million.
Whether it's through educating the market on emerging virtualization software or new developments in disk drive products, Del Llano has secured coverage for her clients in Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Reuters, Time and USA Today. In addition to reaching general and investor audiences through business press, Del Llano and the teams she leads consistently secure client coverage in tier one IT outlets and key vertical publications including those in the retail, banking, insurance and government industries.
Through her leadership of Global Solar Energy's public relations program, Del Llano has helped the solar cell maker stand out from its competitors by highlighting the company's long-standing success, unique technology and superior manufacturing process. Within 30 days of starting the account, Del Llano and the Schwartz team secured stories in Associated Press, Reuters, WSJ.com, CNET, NYTimes.com, Scientific American CleanTech, Earth2Tech and EETimes.
Del Llano holds a B.A. in English with a minor in Women's Studies from Boston College.
Helen Shik joined Schwartz Communications in 1996. She has more than 15 years of experience in public relations helping emerging-growth companies launch new therapies with high-impact media coverage.
At Schwartz, Shik has worked with many of the agency's medical device, biotechnology and healthcare IT clients, including Heartstream (now Philips Medical), Northstar Neuroscience, Hologic, Haemonetics, Cyberonics, Proxima Therapeutics (now Hologic), Neuromonics, Home Diagnostics, EnteroMedics, Calypso Medical, Wright Medical, C. R. Bard Urology, Sanarus Medical, Pheromone Sciences, Agencourt, PHT Corp., PerkinElmer Life Sciences and Phase Forward. In addition to developing positioning that resonates with the media and mentoring junior staff on media relations tactics, Helen works directly with senior reporters and producers and has secured coverage of her clients in outlets such as the CBS Evening News, Dateline NBC, the Today Show, CNN, CNBC, TIME, The Wall Street Journal, Parade, Reader's Digest, The Associated Press, The Dow Jones, Forbes, Fortune, BusinessWeek, The Boston Globe and Fast Company.
Helen has extensive experience working with the broadcast media, and has helped many clients launch newly FDA-approved therapies. Helen and her teams have won a long list of industry awards, including several Bell Ringer, Communicator and Bulldog Awards.
Prior to joining Schwartz, Helen worked in the PR group of Lehman Millet, a medical marketing agency, where she launched the first diagnostic tests for Alzheimer's disease and worked with a local biotech company developing oral vaccines. At Cudaback Strategic Communications, she worked with a wide range of clients, including a medical device company with the first robotic solution for hip replacement surgery, The Smithsonian Institution, Computerworld, PCWorld and Arthur D. Little, Inc.
She earned a B.A. in political science from Boston University in 1987. She served for several years on the board ofthe Publicity Club of New England. She is a current member ofthe Healthcare Communication & Marketing Association and a member of the board of directors of Congregation Beth El of the Sudbury River Valley. She can be found on soccer field sidelines every weekend, rooting for her sons.
Twitter: @HelenShik
Jason Morris has a diverse background working with emerging-growth companies in the cleantech and green, consumer and enterprise markets, as well as with organizations that service the technology industry, including venture capital, legal services and financial services. In more than a decade with Schwartz, he has worked with a number of companies in solar integration, thin-film, green-event production, green products and services, information security, application development, consumer products and services, integration and search.
Morris has helped take a number of companies, including Borrego Solar, Qualys, Vivisimo, Netezza, RetailMeNot.com and webMethods, from innovators to leadership positions within their respective markets. Other current and past clients with whom Morris has worked include Other current and past clients with whom Morris has worked include Oerlikon Solar, AlwaysOn GoingGreen, FoodServiceWarehouse.com, Talend, Charles River Ventures, Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, Wikipedia, IONA Technologies and CMGi. Today, he is one of the leaders of Schwartz Communications Cleantech and Green PR Practice.
Morris' teams captured the Publicity Club of New England's Bell Ringer or Merit Awards for "Best Response to Breaking News" three times. His clients have appeared in a wide range of top-tier media and blogs, including CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, Mashable, TechCrunch, Consumerist, LifeHacker, Earth2Tech, TreeHugger, CNET's Green Blog, Webware,Bloomberg TV, Associated Press, BusinessWeek, The Economist, Forbes, Fortune, The New York Times, Reuters and the San Jose Mercury News.
Morris is an active contributor to Schwartz's Green blog, Crossroads, which explores the news, public policy and market developments that impact the role of Cleantech and Green marketing.
Prior to Schwartz, Morris worked at The Weber Group on the Bacardi and TJX accounts and at Fox Sports New England. He holds a B.S. in marketing from Bentley College.
Twitter: @jasonmorris
Jim joined Schwartz Communications in 1998. As a leader of the Schwartz healthcare practice, Jim counsels clients on strategy and messaging for corporate and product communications campaigns as well as crisis and issues management across a broad range of industry sectors, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, molecular medicine and medical devices.
Jim is also an accomplished media relations professional, and has placed client medical breakthroughs and trend developments in dozens of high-level consumer, business and professional outlets, including Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, ABC World News Tonight, the BBC, CNN, Newsweek, USA Today and The New York Times.
During his tenure at Schwartz, Jim has represented companies and organizations such as PowderMed Vaccines (Pfizer), West Pharmaceutical Services, Micromet, BioMS Medical, Biogen-IDEC, NxStage Medical, Bayer HealthCare, WL Gore & Associates, Proxima Therapeutics and the Institute for International Research.
Jim has led award-winning national and global campaigns to condition markets for medical advances still in development, infuse mature product lines with renewed excitement, and launch new innovations that build sales, valuation and market leadership. Campaigns that Jim has led at Schwartz include the launch of a novel five-day radiation treatment for breast cancer, positioning DNA-based vaccines as a viable solution for a Bird Flu pandemic, building visibility for pre-clinical research in antiangiogenesis for metastatic cancer, accelerating clinical trial enrollment for a potentially breakthrough multiple sclerosis drug, introducing a new therapy for the treatment of abnormal uterine bleeding and raising awareness of emerging diagnostics for Parkinson's Disease and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
The four-year-long touring exhibition of headache pain-inspired artwork that Jim previously orchestrated for Sandoz Pharmaceuticals (Novartis), designed to expand the population of migraine sufferers who seek professional treatment, is a healthcare public relations textbook study.
Jim is also a co-founder of the government relations practice at Schwartz, and spearheaded a successful, two-year-long crisis communications and disaster recovery response to an accidental factory explosion that cost lives and destroyed a client's medical product manufacturing factory.
Account teams and campaigns led by Jim have won many of the PR industry's most prestigious awards, including an unprecedented three "Best of Show" Super Bell Awards.
Prior to Schwartz, Weinrebe was a senior vice president at a healthcare marketing boutique, for whom he developed a thriving public relations practice and launched a business unit that accelerates recruitment of patients for global clinical research studies.
A graduate of Cornell University, Jim is the father of two daughters and a long-time resident of Newton, MA.
John Moran, director and executive media coaching specialist
Since joining Schwartz in 2000, John has represented technology companies in a variety of market sectors, including application development & integration, open source, software security, semiconductors and peer-to-peer (P2P).
He also serves as Schwartz Communications' media coaching specialist, working closely with top executives on message development, preparation and presentation skills.
Prior to joining Schwartz, John spent 14 years as a radio talk show host, producer and writer.
Twitter: @jfmoran
During her tenure as an account executive at the agency, Kristin has worked with a number of security, cleantech, biotech and other technology companies, both public and private. For each of her clients, Kristin specifically works with media, bloggers and analysts to increase visibility of the client, as well as to create and further enhance relationships. Kristin has secured coverage for her clients in top business press and trade publications, including the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, CFO magazine, CRN, TechTarget and CNET, among others.
Kristin graduated magna cum laude from Bentley University (Mass.) with a Bachelor of Science in Information Design and Corporate Communication and a minor in Psychology.
Twitter: @KFortz.
Kristina Ebenius joined the Agency's Boston office in 1999 and has worked with a number of its medical device, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, consumer and technology clients. In 2006, she started Schwartz's European headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden.
As Managing Director of Europe, Ebenius' responsibilities include the Agency's overall European growth strategy, management and direction of the Stockholm and London offices, as well as management of her accounts, including development and implementation of strategy, messaging and media relations activities.
At Schwartz, Ebenius' clients have included companies like Medtronic, Molnlycke Health Care, MAQUET Critical Care, BenQ, ResMed, Studentmedia, SharpView, Abbot Medical Optics, EuroSecure, Panacos Pharmaceuticals, SynCardia Systems, Honeywell Specialty Materials, Philips Medical Systems, and CYTYC. In the U.S, Ebenius' teams won the Publicity Club of New England's Bell Ringer and Merit Awards several times.
Ebenius has previously worked at Edelman in Los Angeles and at Andreasson Public Relations in Stockholm.
Ebenius graduated summa cum laude from Hawaii Pacific University with a B.A. in communication/public relations and a minor in literature. She also has completed graduate studies in marketing. While attending the university, Ebenius received several academic honors and awards, including valedictorian and female scholar-athlete of the year.
Laura Kempke has been with Schwartz Communications since 1994. During that time, she has worked with companies in industries ranging from application development and middleware, to manufacturing and chemicals, to open source, to biotechnology.
Her responsibilities include providing strategic and tactical PR guidance to her clients, working with her teams to generate a broad range of analyst and media coverage, and ensuring that clients consistently receive top-quality service from her teams. Laura particularly enjoys helping companies with complex technologies create easy-to-understand messaging that will resonate with business media. Her clients have appeared in a wide array of media, including Barron's, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, CNBC, Newsweek, Forbes, The Financial Times, Investor's Business Daily and top information technology and biotechnology publications. Within Schwartz, Laura runs the agency's writing program.
Laura holds a B.A. in political science from the University of Wisconsin and an M.A. in government from Georgetown University.
Twitter: @laurakempke
Lauren Arnold brings more than 12 years of communications experience to her position of vice president. Since joining the agency in 1997, Arnold has helped clients in both the healthcare and technology sectors realize their business objectives through high-quality and high-impact public relations programs. Arnold provides strategic counsel as well as consistently secures media coverage in the national press for clients in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical, medical devices and diagnostics, business software and consumer industries.
During her tenure at Schwartz, Arnold has worked with companies in early-stage development as well as large, established public corporations. Representative clients include Agencourt Bioscience, AmpliMed, Boston Scientific, Cyberonics, InnoCentive, MapInfo (recently purchased by Pitney Bowes), Proxima Therapeutics, SONIC innovations, Syncardia Systems and Vasomedical. Pitney Bowes MapInfo is the agency's oldest account, having been a client for almost 17 years. This account tenure is virtually unheard of in the PR world and Arnold has been on the account since she started at Schwartz.
Arnold particularly enjoys working with the media, securing coverage for her clients in leading business, consumer and professional publications. Coverage highlights include articles in Parade, The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, The New York Times, TIME, Newsweek, The Boston Globe, cover stories in Genome Technologyand LIFE, ABC's "The View," CNN, CNBC as well as local affiliates across the country. For one client, Arnold secured three in-depth articles as well as inclusion in BusinessWeek's coveted Web-Smart 50 award in one year. Arnold also represented the client at a scientific conference in Moscow,securing interest and interviews from national reporters.
In addition to mentoring her teams on media relations, Arnold runs the agency's business press pitching class, providing guidance to junior account staff on how to successfully place national business stories.
Arnold has led several successful product and FDA-approval national launches and awareness campaigns. Under her guidance, Arnold's teams have won numerous industry awards, including the Communicator Awards of Excellence and Publicity Club of New England's Bell Ringer Awards for the launch of a five-day radiation treatment for breast cancer, the national launch of a digital hearing aid and FDA approval of the first total artificial heart.
Prior to Schwartz, Arnold served as a communications correspondent for a mutual fund company. She graduated cum laude from Colby College with honors in English.
Lloyd Benson has a long and distinguished career in public relations and strategic marketing and has been a key member of the Schwartz Communications senior management team since 1995. Benson currently oversees the agency's award-winning healthcare practice and throughout his career at Schwartz has been involved in some of the most prominent healthcare campaigns of the past decade. These include work for clients who have developed innovative technologies to treat sudden cardiac arrest, uterine bleeding disorders, epilepsy and heart disorders. He has also spearheaded launches of next-generation digital hearing aids, diagnostic tests for cervical cancer and the first total artificial heart ever to be considered for approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Benson also has extensive experience in developing and executing high-impact campaigns for technology clients. His expertise includes work in the customer relationship management, telephony, instant messaging, enterprise software and consumer technology arenas.
Schwartz account teams and campaigns architected by Benson have consistently won many of the public relations industry's most prominent awards. From 1996 through 2003, his teams received more than 50 awards from organizations like the New England Publicity Club, Bulldog Reporter, the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), the International Association of Business Communicators, the Medical Marketing Association and the Healthcare PR and Marketing newsletter. In 1996, Benson's campaign on behalf of Gynecare won the PR industry's most prestigious award, The Silver Anvil from the PRSA.
Benson has relationships with many of the nation's leading and most influential reporters and editors at outlets ranging from The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek and the Associated Press to ABC's Good Morning America. He is considered among Schwartz's leading resources in public company communications and has guided many clients though the Initial Public Offering process.
Benson has many years of senior management experience in the PR agency business and, at Schwartz, is heavily involved in agency-wide training. Prior to joining Schwartz, he was a vice president at a boutique high-tech agency. He previously was director of strategic planning for NYNEX Business Information Systems, helping to guide the company into deregulated markets following the break-up of AT&T in the early 1980s. Benson is a graduate of Colby College and a resident of Salem, Mass.
McClennan combines strategic communications counsel with a relentless drive for excellence to help Schwartz's clients succeed in leveraging public relations to realize their business objectives.
In his more than eleven years at Schwartz, he has led teams in a variety of industries, including financial services, semiconductor manufacturing, consumer technology and gaming. He has worked with companies ranging from venture-funded start-up to large public companies, including CheckFree, Peppercoin, I4 Commerce, AmberWave, PRI Automation, Connected, Imaging Automation, NECX and Trellix.
McClennan's teams have been recognized with more than 35 awards for excellence in public relations, including four Silver Anvils (The PR Industry Oscars) in four years for Marketing Consumer Services and Financial Services for his teams work on behalf of CheckFree, I4 Commerce and Peppercoin. Working with CheckFree, his team helped raise consumer awareness of the benefits to paying bills online to 99 percent, and followed up with a campaigns focused on increasing the number of women who paid their bills online and reducing consumer fears of ID Theft.
He has obtained placements for his clients in a wide variety of business and trade publications, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Fast Company, Forbes, U.S. News and World Report, and Newsweek He once convinced a CNBC crew to follow the vice president of technology of a small start-up company around COMDEX for an entire day as a Day in the Life feature.
McClennan has a B.A. in public relations/political science from the S.I. Newhouse School at Syracuse University. McClennan is president-elect of the Public Relations Society of America's Boston Chapter, one of the largest in the nation.
Twitter: @mcclennan
Mercedes Fereck, an account director at Schwartz Communications, has worked with a variety of public and private technology and healthcare technology clients. She has experience supporting PR initiatives in security, enterprise software and healthcare IT markets both domestically and internationally through Schwartz U.K. and Sweden offices.
Mercedes manages account teams and their daily operations. She also leads the development of corporate messaging and strategic PR goals; oversees analyst and customer programs; and generates news and feature stories in a variety of high-level publications.
Over her nearly six year tenure at Schwartz, Mercedes has worked with several technology companies, spanning the security landscape, from email encryption to web security and internal hardware, software and network security. By implementing thought leadership campaigns and creative PR programs, Mercedes has helped companies of various sizes increase exposure among targeted audiences – customer prospects, analysts and investors. For the past five years Mercedes has represented ScriptLogic Corporation and oversaw its acquisition by Quest Software, a leading IT company with more than 100,000 customers, 3,400 employees and 60 offices worldwide. Most recently, Mercedes worked with Purewire, Inc., a SaaS-based Web security company that was acquired by Barracuda Networks in late-2009.
Mercedes graduated from Syracuse University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the Martin J. Whitman School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.
A native of Scranton, Pennsylvania, Mercedes now lives in the heart of Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood and enjoys the dining, shopping and entertainment the city has to offer.
Twitter: @mfereck
Merrill Freund has more than 15 years experience in high-tech public relations and has represented clients in various tech industries. In addition to formulating strategy, messaging and managing day-to-day activities on his clients' accounts, he works with his peers to stimulate high-profile placements in leading media outlets, including BusinessWeek, Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, CNN and CNBC, as well as in the top computer trade publications.
Freund has led a number of successful campaigns for open source companies that supported their overall business objectives. He managed the Gluecode account, repositioning the company from a proprietary portal company to an open source application development challenger to Oracle, IBM and BEA, which ultimately led to the company's acquisition by IBM. He currently runs the Qlusters account, helping to increase by 10x the number of downloads of its open source systems management software and supporting its series B financing, and Terracotta, an open source network attached memory company, for which Schwartz has helped pioneer a brand new category through results-based PR.
Freund also has deep expertise representing companies with data center-focused technologies, including server, storage and virtualization software. For the last four years, he has managed the Rackable Systems (Nasdaq:RACK) account, positioning the company as a legitimate competitor to Dell, IBM and HP, supporting Rackable Systems' successful 2005 IPO and communicating the company's leadership on green issues. He currently leads the Xyratex (Nasdaq: XRTX) account, a $1 billion plus storage OEM, and Virtugo, a provider of management solutions for virtualization platforms. He previously helped execute the successful launch of Panasas, an innovator in parallel storage solutions.
Previously, Freund was with Marinex Communications, a New York-based PR firm specializing in healthcare and high-tech clients. Freund holds a B.A. in political science from Union College and an M.S. in telecommunications from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Twitter: @merrillfr
Risa Burgess has 12 years of healthcare communications experience and joined Schwartz Communications in 1998.
Risa has executed award-winning product and company launches for breakthrough medical devices and diagnostics in depression, orthopedics, oncology, epilepsy, cosmetics and has extensive experience working with biotechnology, health technology and life science companies. She has designed and implemented PR campaigns to support regional sales efforts, regulatory milestones, scientific communications, M&A activity, pre-launch market conditioning, issue awareness, celebrity-driven consumer awareness, corporate communications, clinical trial recruitment and special events. Her client portfolio includes emerging growth companies such as Leerink Swann, Southern Research Institute, Cyberonics, Wright Medical, Artes Medical, etrials, High Throughput Genomics, Verdezyne, SONIC innovations and Oridion and market leaders including West Pharmaceutical Services, PerkinElmer Life Sciences and CMGi.
Risa has secured innumerable high impact placements for her clients in media including The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Investor's Business Daily, BusinessWeek, Fortune, Dow Jones, Reuters, Financial Times, Boston Globe, Nature Review, BioITWorld, Pharmaceutical Executive and Drug Discovery and Development. She also has a solid track record of broadcast coverage on CNBC, CBS, NBC, FOX and ABC.
Under her guidance, Risa's teams have been recognized for PR excellence by the Publicity Club of New England with top honors including best product/service publicity business-to-business campaign for Leerink Swann in 2009; best news release: regional for Cyberonics in 2006 and best investor relations/financial campaign for Cyberonics in 2005.
She is on the Board of Directors as immediate past president for the Publicity Club of New England and she manages the Agency's submissions for the annual awards competition. She also leads training and professional development programs for the healthcare practice and is actively involved in recruiting and interviewing new hire candidates.
Prior to joining Schwartz, Risa worked as a research associate at RAMS-FIE in Gaithersburg, MD. She also dipped her toes in culinary PR at Blue Plate Communications, a Newton, Mass. public relations agency focused on the food service industry. Risa holds a B.A. in journalism from the University of Maryland with a specialty in public relations and writing. When she isn't at the office, she is spending time with her husband chasing after her toddler.
Since 1997, Ross Levanto has raised the visibility of a broad range technology companies in several industries, including application development and open source, application integration, security, storage, Web communities, Web acceleration and Web search technologies. During his tenure at the Agency, he has led teams creating new markets and market categories, from Web shopping and online people searching to Web services and open source integrated developer environments.
Ross also enjoys placing clients in the media. He has successfully placed strategic features in a variety of print and broadcast outlets, including Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Fortune, CNN and the Associated Press.
Ross graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications, summa cum laude, from Boston University. Prior to joining Schwartz, Ross was the webmaster at WHDH-TV Channel 7, an NBC affiliate in Boston. In the Fall of 1996, he worked in Vice President Al Gore's Communications Office in Washington, where among other duties he performed background research for the Clinton administration's export encryption policies.
Ross is also an active volunteer in the local technology scene. He has served as vice president, press and public affairs for the New England Business and Technology Association, which later merged with the Massachusetts Software Council. He is the originator of the Association's annual awards ceremony, which is still in existence today.
Twitter: @rosslevanto
Over the years, Sherry has cultivated relationships with some of the top health reporters, resulting in coverage for her clients in outlets such as the Associated Press, USA Today, Time, Family Circle, CNBC, CBS, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, Chicago Sun-Times and Newsday.
When Sherry's not busy running her accounts, you can find her at the gym, catching up on her favorite prime-time dramas, including Mad Men, Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice, or chasing after her daughter.
Tiffany is an Account Supervisor at Schwartz Communications and during her tenure with the agency, she has worked with a variety of emerging growth security, consumer, clean tech and other high tech companies to implement and manage comprehensive public relations campaigns on their behalf. In particular, Tiffany works to help guide clients as they move deeper into the world of social media—including blogs, podcasts, forums, wikis and any other technology that crops up—through training, strategy and implementation.
Tiffany has leveraged strong media relationships to secure favorable client coverage in an array of top business and consumer media outlets including, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, BusinessWeek, Investor’s Business Daily, Associated Press, National Public Radio, and CBS Television and Radio, among others.
Prior to joining Schwartz, Tiffany worked as a PR strategist for Boston-based technology public relations agency, ink Communications. She also served as a marketing and communications representative for Sunday River Ski Resort in Maine. Tiffany received a B.S. in Public Relations from Boston University’s College of Communication.
In her spare time, you can find Tiffany hitting the links or the slopes depending on the season.
Twitter: @ynaffit
Tim Whitman brings nearly 15 years of public relations, strategic marketing and communications experience to the Director of Media Strategy role for the Schwartz Communications Security Practice.
Since joining Schwartz in 2005, Tim has put his vast experience in managing and implementing comprehensive media campaigns to work as he has helped provide emerging innovators in the security software, hardware and services fields with strategic public relations counsel and unprecedented levels of high impact media exposure, which is some cases was considered integral in leading to prominent acquisitions.
Prior to joining Schwartz, Tim worked at Computer Associates International in New York (now known as CA) for nearly five years, developing and managing PR programs for its various software business units. During his tenure, Tim created and executed an aggressive media relations campaign on behalf of CA, helping take the eTrust security product portfolio and its management team from near zero visibility to being recognized as a major player by garnering frequent and substantial media coverage throughout the IT trade press and national business press alike.
Tim graduated summa cum laude from St. John's University (New York) with a Bachelor of Science degree in Athletic Administration and Business Management.
In his time away from the office, Tim is a veteran of the Schwartz softball team, The Force, is a die-hard New York Yankees fan and is an avid poker player. Tim currently resides in Boston with his wife (and Schwartz colleague) Lauren and their dog, Piper.
Twitter: @prman
Whitney Phaneuf is a seasoned writer and public relations practitioner with expertise in the communications strategies of both established and emerging-growth technology companies. Her diverse background has exposed her to a broad range of markets, including renewable energy, consumer, Web 2.0, mobile and enterprise.
Phaneuf's work on behalf of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) earned her a Public Relations Association "Cappie" for Excellence in an Individual Public Relation Tool (Press Release), and an International Association of Business Communicators Crystal Communications Award for Top News Article. Her clients have appeared in a wide range of top-tier media and blogs, including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, BusinessWeek, Associated Press, Reuters, Popular Mechanics, CNET, Real Simple and Continental (Airlines) Magazine, among others.
Prior to joining Schwartz Communications, Phaneuf developed strategic media, analyst and government relations for cleantech and green lifestyle clients. Phaneuf's writing has appeared in the Desert Sun, the Tribune, the Chicago Tribune, Butter magazine and the Block. Phaneuf holds a BS in Journalism from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and an MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College, where she received the Ardellla Mills Prize for Literary Composition.