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SPEAKERS
For more than 15 years, Michelle Pulfrey has been a producer on the Fox morning show, Good Day LA. She landed the job as Style File Producer in 2006 and truly found her passion. Finding the hottest boutiques, spotlighting local designers, and highlighting the latest beauty treatments and trends was a dream come true. She received her bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Chapman University. In 2008, Michelle received Orange Coast Magazine's OC LOOK award for her laid back luxe style. Expanding her love of all things stylish, in 2010, she became the Contributing Editor for Riviera Magazine covering Beauty and Fashion. In her rare spare time, she plays stylist to A-listers for Hollywood’s biggest award shows. One of her clients won an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a SAG award this past season and made it on The New York Times best dressed list. It’s her personal motto: “if you do what you love, it doesn’t feel like work at all.”
Kim Dower is the author of Air Kissing on Mars published by Red Hen Press, which was described by the Los Angeles Times as “sensual and evocative… seamlessly combining humor and heartache.” Her second collection, Slice of Moon, was nominated for a Pushcart award, which honors the best poetry or short fiction. Dower was born and raised in New York City, where she studied creative writing at Emerson College and received her bachelor’s degree in fine arts. Dower is the founder of the Literary Publicity Company, Kim-From-LA.
David Allen has been a journalist for nearly 30 years in the Bay Area and Southern California, and has been chronicling the Inland Valley for the Daily Bulletin since 1997. He writes about city council meetings, culture, art, people, landmarks, food and local lore in a column three times a week and on a blog. His first book, "Pomona A to Z," was published in 2014.
Rosalie Cabison is a Los Angeles writer/editor, currently overseeing sponsored and editorial web content as Managing Editor at Live Nation, the world’s leading live entertainment company. She received her bachelor’s in journalism from Seattle University in 2013 and has various experiences in digital storytelling, including previous work at ESPN and Bleacher Report. Her greatest achievement so far is interviewing Usher without losing her cool. Follow her story on Twitter: @racabison.
Kevin Lyman, a constant innovator, is best known as the producer and creator of the extremely successful Vans Warped Tour, the longest running traveling music festival in the world today. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the tour has played to over 9 million fans. When not curating giant festivals, he sits on the Board of Directors for Saint Archer Brewery and the LA County Fairplex. He also has his hand in the record industry as co-owner of Side One Dummy. In 2005, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Kevin established the Unite The United Foundation, a 501c3 set up to encourage fans, artists and industry leaders to come together through charitable contributions, events and volunteer efforts in order to work toward a positive change. A trendsetter for youth branding, Kevin has established creative partnerships with brands such as Vans, Kia, Journeys, Fuse, Ernie Ball, and Monster Energy Drink. Kevin was an honoree at the Grammy/MusiCares MAP Fund 2011 and received the Billboard Touring Awards Humanitarian of the Year in 2009. Recently, he has founded The Entertainment Institute to revolutionize music business education, utilizing his 35 years of experience, and is thrilled to work with Creative Live to begin educating music industry professionals online. He graduated from Cal Poly Pomona with his bachelor’s in recreation administration.
Robert Taylor is a Public Relations Manager at Activision Publishing. Robert has been part of the Call of Duty team at Activision since 2007 and, as part of multiple game launches, has had the opportunity to manage PR campaigns, events, media tours, and spokesperson training in addition to daily activities that change with the battlefield. He graduated from Cal Poly Pomona with a bachelor’s degree in communication in 2003. Prior to Activision, Robert worked on the Xbox team at Edelman Public Relations and was part of the Xbox 360 launch.
Sean Grabin is a publicist for the music and entertainment television network AXS TV in downtown Los Angeles. Sean’s experience also includes freelance public relations projects with Sony Pictures Television’s new classic movie channel getTV. He graduated from Cal Poly Pomona with a bachelor’s degree in communication in 2013. While on campus he was the president of PRSSA, wrote for Collins Magazine, was a BroncoStampede Ambassador, and as an intern at Southern California Edison he launched the social media pages for their college recruiting team.
Katrina Tracy is the Human Resources Coordinator at Barksdale Control Products, a manufacturer of controls for industrial applications, specializing in the control and measurement of fluids. She graduated from Cal Poly Pomona with a degree in communication in 2010. Since graduation, she has had a variety of experiences that include being a behavior therapist and a communications coordinator.
Jill Escoto is the corporate credit manager at Davis Wire Corporation. She earned her bachelor’s in communication from Cal Poly Pomona in 1983 which continues to serve her well as she deals with handling a portfolio of 20 million dollars a month, with over 500 customers, and Davis Wire Staff and Upper Management. She currently serves as the presidento f the Cal Poly Pomona Alumni Association, which represents more than 130,000 alumni. She serves on campus by assisting Alumni Affairs with events such as Senior Send Off, Professor for a Day, the Student Alumni Network Dinner, and more.
Natalie Gandara is currently the District HR Manager for Aki-Home a world wide retail company, specializing in home furnishings. Prior to Aki-Home, Natalie worked as a Field HR Generalist for Gala Corporation, a top leading privately own restaurant franchise and HR Dept. Supervisor for Toys "R" us. Natalie graduated from Cal Poly Pomona in 2008 and received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management with an emphasis in Human Resources.
Nancy Rodriguez Casanova is the social media community manager at Southern California Edison and manages the company's social media presence on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and the company blog. She graduated from USC with a degree in communication and media studies. Nancy is experienced in leveraging social media for crisis communication as well as in social listening, insights, community management, advertising and analytics, strategy and governance. Prior to joining SCE, Nancy worked as a journalist and editor in Los Angeles and she worked in several newsrooms such as Univision, ABC7, CBSLA and Telemundo.
Darren Naylor is the current CEO of InstaMaids.com, a company that offers a simple process to book excellent house cleaners. Darren was able to use strategic relationship building to get InstaMaids on Let's Make A Deal with CBS and is currently finalizing a new partnership deal with HGTV. InstaMaids is now servicing many major cities in California and plans to expand to several other major U.S. cities in the next year. Naylor is also in the early stages of a project in the fitness space called FYT that will look to revolutionize the fitness industry.
Cyndi Gurrola is the CEO of Creative Touch Communications, also known as CTC, in San Dimas, California. In 2007, she began offering public relations and marketing expertise to small companies and individuals on a freelance basis, then in 2009 teamed up with Lisa Araujo to found CTC. Currently, the company offers multiple services including content creation, social media management, website design, community relations and more. They currently serve more than 35 clients, with many being in the restaurant industry. With their in-depth knowledge of online search marketing, they help their clients get found online and manage their reputations. Cyndi graduated from Cal Poly Pomona with a bachelor’s degree in communication in 2008.
Jessica Airey is an assistant account executive at Edelman Public Relations. Jessica has worked with clients such as PayPal, Nestlé, HP, SAP, Flextronics and PAC-12 Athletics (ASU, Stanford, UCLA), and has gained international communications experience with a variety of organizations in San Francisco, Barcelona, Paris, Milan, Madrid and Los Angeles. She currently serves on the executive board of PRSA in the San Francisco Chapter. Jessica graduated magna cum laude from Biola University in May 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. During college, she reported via campus media and held leadership positions with PRSSA at the Chapter level, and became the vice president of advocacy for PRSSA National her senior year.
Scott Bozeck currently serves as the director of fundraising and events for Saint Bonaventure High School and also works as an operations manager and Disney University facilitator. He received his bachelor’s degree in education from Cal State Channel Islands and is currently finishing a master’s degree in digital teaching and learning. Over the past several years, Scott has had the opportunity to design learning and development workshops in communication and leadership for various groups including high schools, district workshops and the Disney University.
Olivia Ku is a “healthy lifestyle influencer,” and the face behind LoveHealthFitness! Her brand has over 1 million total reach across all social media platforms, which happened in just a little over a year! Her mission statement is to help others find a happy balanced lifestyle through "loving yourself, eating healthy, and getting fit." Her brand is bright, colorful, positive, and her fans love her signature bow in her hair and tagline of "Be everything you love!"
Brandi Milloy is POPSUGAR’s Lifestyle TV Host and Food Reporter/Producer. As host of Daily Obsession, Brandi has the inside scoop on all of the editor’s must have products so you can shop the things you love and stay on trend all of the time. When she’s not your go-to-gal for the best deals to shop, she’s the queen of buttercream. From tempting our sweet tooth with the most decadent desserts on Just Add Sugar, to re-creating the latest food trends on “Eat the Trend,“ to cooking with some of the world’s greatest chefs including Curtis Stone, Fabio Viviani and Iron Chef Cat Cora on Get the Dish, Brandi reports on all things delicious.
Allison McNamara is a TV host and personality, writer, producer, and fashion designer based in Los Angeles. Allison co-hosts POPSUGAR Now on TVGN weeknights at 6pm. She is also the host of Midnight Style on FYI Network. Before joining POPSUGAR, Allison hosted online videos for Who What Wear and held various writing and production positions at E! Online, Hollywood Life and E! Live Events. She studied at the University of Southern California, where she earned her bachelor’s in journalism and now calls the Hollywood Hills her home. Allison is a leading content-creator in the digital space, with over 12 million views on popsugar.com alone. She hosts, writes, and produces a comedic, trend-driven half hour style talk show We Spy Style every week. She also created a wildly successful DIY show with views as high as 500k per video.
Claire Ayoub is an upbeat comedy writer, director, producer, and actor from Los Angeles. She writes for Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls, hosts The In Too Steep Tea Party, and is the creator of A Series of Comebacks. Claire trained and performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and worked for the Late Show with David Letterman. She was also named one of the 18 funniest women on Twitter by the Huffington Post. She delivered the student commencement speech at Wellesley College when she graduated with a degree in middle eastern studies in 2011, and later went to Columbia University for a summer television writing intensive.
Gil Moegerle is a 40-year veteran of the communications field. He served as a senior media relations project manager for Southern California Edison for 18 years where his responsibilities included being a spokesperson for the company’s nuclear power plant. He studied communications at the graduate level at Cal State Fullerton, and earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Asbury University. He has held a broad range of communications positions, including being both a radio broadcast producer and on-air talent, an advertising agency executive and a marketing communications manager for several retail operations. He currently teaches communications at several Southern California universities.
Uyen Mai is the director of marketing and communications at Mt. San Antonio College. She earned her master’s degree in communication from Cal State Fullerton, and her bachelor’s at Cal Poly Pomona. Her previous experience includes being the Executive Director of Public Affairs at Cal Poly Pomona where she led the university's strategic communication efforts, developed the PR Roundtable, bringing together communicators from across campus, and oversaw the 75th anniversary celebration.
Ed Hume is the manager of creative services in the Corporate Communications department of Edison International, parent company of Southern California Edison. He graduated with a bachelor’s in fine arts from James Madison University in 1982. After graduation, he worked in the video game industry on the first generation of interactive arcade games. After a short stint at SEGA, he joined the digital graphics department at General Dynamics’ missile defense business, producing computer animations for weapons systems. Ed has worked at Southern California Edison for 26 years in a variety of jobs, all of them associated with visual arts and communications. He currently provides graphics consulting for digital, print and in-person communications, brand management, and manages the company’s historical artifact collection.
Todd Pruyn is the senior manager of Art Services at Activision Publishing, the no. 1 video game publisher in the country. He graduated from Cal Poly Pomona with a bachelor’s in communication in 2003. Since beginning at Activision in 2007, he started the Art Services department, a full-service internal creative team responsible for graphic design, screenshots, video production and photography. He has grown the team to 35 artists, and delivers approximately $9 million in equivalent cost savings annually. Prior to Activision, he began his career at ASG Renaissance, a boutique communications agency in Orange County, working with Jaguar and Land Rover accounts and eventually became the agency’s art director.
Namarial "Pro" Hurd: Pro's business background stems from his early career as a Manager and Field Training Supervisor for Fatburger. He later became an independent Franchise Consultant for the brand. He is currently the Managing Partner of IE Photo Rentals, a photography equipment rental shop located in Pomona. At the same time, Pro is also co-owner of Mastermind Headquarters Recording Studios and his latest venture is an online organic goods E-commerce store called "Get It Organic".
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