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President
Suzanne Fanning
Suzanne was an early believer in the power of WOM. By connecting with and empowering consumers (even before all the cool kids were talking about WOM) she was able to unleash the power of worldwide brand evangelism to drive unprecedented results for several global companies. The short list of all the excellent things that WOM helped her do included quadrupling website traffic, tripling POP and online sales, increasing blogosphere chatter by 600%, and significantly increasing net favorability--all within a one-year period. At that point she realized that consumers could market products and brands far better than the most savvy marketers. Her ultimate hobby became finding new ways to help companies embrace the love of their fans, "likes," ambassadors, evangelists (or whatever you want to call them). She even found ways to involve fans in new product development, customer service, ads, and in-store events.
Fast Company, Ad Age, Forbes, and PR Week have all featured the award-winning programs she helped develop. You may have also read about them in marketing books like How Smart Companies Get People Talking, Brains on Fire, the Secrets of Social Media Marketing , Killing Giants, and Groundswell. She has joined the WOMMA team because she is a believer in the incredible power of the brand/consumer connection. The vehicles of communication are changing, but one thing remains the same--if you love your fans, they'll love you back. If you want to know more, just call her…she'd love to connect with you.
Contact:
Suzanne@WOMMA.org
@SuzanneWOMMA |
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Chief Operating Officer
Kristen L. Smith, CAE
Her whole life, Kristen has been the beneficiary of word of mouth. Just about every job she's had came about from someone saying something about Kristen to someone else. So, it was only natural that she was lucky enough to become the executive director of the official trade organization for the word of mouth industry. Kristen comes to WOMMA with 18 years of Association experience. It is my personal goal to make the WOMMA member experience remarkable.
Speaking of word of mouth, Kristen would like to put in a plug for her alma mater (and that of her husband) – Purdue University, where she's a proud member of the John Purdue Alumni Club. Kristen resides in Northwest IN with her family which includes three children.
Contact:
Kristen@WOMMA.org
@KristenWOMMA |
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Senior Director of Strategic Development
Kristin Horstman, CMP
Kristin or K2 as she’s commonly referred to around WOMMA headquarters oversees all the educational programming, events, and strategic partnerships for the organization. Kristin has over 15+ years of management experience working in corporate and non-profit organizations. As part of the senior management team at one of the largest Association Management firms, she oversaw the strategic development, financial management and execution of over 350 meetings, tradeshows, and conferences worldwide.
Kristin achieved her B.S. degree in Hotel & Restaurant Management from Iowa State University in 1995 and obtained her professional certification as a Certified Meeting Professional in 2003 from the Convention Industry Council. When she's not at work you'll find her running, biking, playing volleyball along Chicago's lakefront or updating her blog.
Contact:
KHorstman@womma.org
@Face2FaceMeet
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Director of Member Relations
Tarah Remington Brown
Tarah brings to WOMMA an undying devotion to member services and education, along with almost 10 years of association experience. Prior to WOMMA, Tarah worked for the American Academy of Family Physicians, and was responsible for the membership recruitment and retention of 22,000 medical students as well as affinity program development. She also was the membership manager for the American Optometric Association where she was responsible for the Paraoptometric Section of membership for the organization. She developed educational programs, worked with an elected Council and several volunteer committees, increased membership benefits and services, and created sponsorship opportunities for the Section and the organization.
Tarah grew up in a small town outside of Kansas City, MO and is the youngest of three children. If she wasn't working at WOMMA, her dream job would be singing on Broadway. For now, she'll just stick to karaoke.
Contact:
Tarah@WOMMA.org
@WOMMATarah |
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Director of Marketing and Social Media
Todd Schorle
Todd comes to WOMMA with a successful track record of experience for a diverse lineup of organizations. Todd’s background combines expertise in public relations, marketing, issue advocacy, non-profits and campaign-style initiatives.
Todd spent a number of years in Washington, DC as a public relations specialist for two of the most influential groups in our nation’s capital. Todd handled all relations with the media and executed all internal and external communications programs for the organizations. Most recently he served as senior consultant for a strategic communications firm specializing in online content campaigns.
He is a graduate of DePaul University and holds a BA in Communications. When he is not at work you might find him masquerading as a tennis professional and during his real spare time he likes to fly fish, cook, and spend time with his family. He and his wife Bronwen, reside in Chicago with their daughter.
Contact:
Todd@WOMMA.org
@SchorleTodd
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Business Development Director
Jeremy Friedman
Jeremy graduated with a degree in Communications from Western Illinois University. He brings to WOMMA a background of over nine years in sales and business development experience in the electronic industry. As the Director of Business Development, Jeremy's primary goal is to grow membership throughout the organization. He also maintains relationships with new and current WOMMA members.
Born and raised in Northbrook, IL and now currently resides down the street in Wheeling, IL. He lives with his wife Marcie, their son Jonah, and their dog Louie (the first child). Jeremy enjoys challenging himself by working out regularly and staying in shape. He loves spending time with his family and friends. Jeremy is a sports nut, he loves his Chicago teams.
Contact:
Jeremy@WOMMA.org
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Education & Events Manager
Michelle Scott
Though Michelle has over 10 years of formal event planning experience, her real-life experience dates back much further to her childhood when she'd organize outings, ranging from trips to the local pool to "swanky" kid-style dinner parties (hotdogs and Kool-aid), for the kids in her neighborhood. As you can imagine, word of mouth went a long way in creating these sometimes very impromptu gatherings since it was before technology caught up with her needs.
Michelle moved to Chicago in 2000 and honed her planning skills as event and programs manager with professional and trade associations. She prides herself on doing whatever it takes to ensure an eye-opening, entertaining, and educational experience for all attendees and will walk the extra mile to make it happen (sometimes literally).
In her spare time, Michelle can be found at various concert venues where she has hopes of getting an interview with one of her favorite bands. Weather permitting you may also find her at one of the regions' camping spots or biking/hiking trails.
Contact:
Michelle@WOMMA.org
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Marketing and Social Media Coordinator
Jacob Hurwith
After graduating from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Jacob began his career as a freelance journalist for various Sun-Times publications in the northern and western suburbs. He had the privilege to cover Friday night football games, government meetings and various philanthropic events. He then rejoined the real estate arena working for a prominent commercial brokerage firm in Chicago. Jacob handled all public relations, email marketing, social media and design initiatives for the organization. Intrigued by the work of WOMMA, upon hearing of an open marketing position, Jacob jumped at the opportunity to work with them.
When he is not working, Jacob loves to run along the lake, write, read, attend Chicago White Sox games and spend time with his college buddies.
Contact:
Jacob@WOMMA.org
@WOMMA
Blog: WOMMA.org/word
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Meeting & Event Coordinator
Megan Laatsch
Megan found WOMMA through a word of mouth contact at Kendall College. She studied marketing, public relations, and English at Illinois State University, before transferring to Kendall College to pursue a degree in events and meetings management.
She joined the WOMMA team upon graduation in December 2010. This followed a nine month internship with WOMMA. She has had experience with Laureate Education International, where she planned an educational conference on next and best practices in architecture. She has also had experience in helping to organize several WOMMA events.
Megan is from a western Chicago suburb where she was a dedicated competitive swimmer and was active in the ISBA Mock Trials (we won). In her free time she enjoys reading, baking, and hanging out with the kids at the SOS Children’s Village.
Contact:
Megan@WOMMA.org
@MeganWOMMA |
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Membership Coordinator
Adriana Legreid
Like some of her colleagues, Adriana found WOMMA through word of mouth networking. Adriana graduated with a degree in Hospitality and Event and Meeting Management from Kendall College. She brings to WOMMA a background in customer service, sales and event planning through different jobs in the hospitality industry. As the Membership Coordinator, Adriana’s primary goal is to support WOMMA membership growth efforts and assist all current and potential members as well as play a key role with our volunteers.
She was born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico, and although she misses the good weather, she has made Chicago her new home. Adriana is married to a huge sports fan and you can often find her catching a game during her free time. She also enjoys reading, cooking and traveling.
Contact:
Adriana@WOMMA.org
@adrianawomma
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Before you leave, make sure you see these.
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This 25-page eBook examines the valuable word of mouth marketing trends presented through case studies and Keynotes at WOMMA Summit 2011.
Download eBook
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Best Practices Guidebook: WOM in the Customer Contact Center
Read the Guidebook
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Webinar Library
Download podcasts, presentation decks, and watch SlideShares of WOMMA Webinars and Brand Council Webinars.
Visit the Library
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WOM 101
Learn the art and science of creating effective marketing programs that get customers talking.
Download PDF
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Ethics Toolkit
The WOMMA Ethics Toolkit defines best practices, baseline rules, and asks 20 questions to help you ethically comply.
Download PDF
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Learn from the brands and agencies that successfully developed and measured WOMM campaigns. Stand on the shoulders of these giants, use their lessons learned, and grow your WOMM knowledge.
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Building A Loyal Community for the Travel Channel
more..
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ABC Studios Advisory Panel: It’s Emmy Time!
more..
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