About The Authors
Merry K. Elrick
A 30-year public relations and marketing communications veteran, Merry founded one of the first integrated marketing communications agencies, Elrick Business Communications Inc. (EBC) in 1990.
She recently sold EBC and now focuses her attention on DataDriven MarCom Inc., a company she founded in 2003. DataDriven MarCom provides B2B marketers with full-service metric management of the data they need to determine the ROI of their communications.
An Addy, Tower, Pro-Comm, Tranny, Spectra and Silver Quill award winner, Elrick created the first nationwide broadcast and print campaigns for Wendy’s Old-Fashioned Hamburgers.
Elrick is a former member of the board of directors of District 4 of IABC, a past president of the Chicago chapter of IABC, and a member of the Business Marketing Association.
Rolf Fehlmann
Rolf has 25 years of professional experience in communication, including as owner of an advertising agency and as a journalist. Currently, his responsibilities include corporate communication, corporate identity and public relations for the Swiss Regional Organization of Siemens VDO Automotive, a leading international supplier to both the automotive industry and public transport authorities.
Rolf received the degree of Executive Master of Science in Communications Management from the University of Lugano. He co-developed a strategic framework for reputation management for the Principality of Liechtenstein.
Rolf has delivered presentations on nation branding and country reputation management at several international conferences hosted by IABC and the Reputation Institute. His publication record is composed of conference papers and journal articles. He won a 2005 Gold Quill Award, as well as a 2004 Silver Ruler of Measurement Award from the Institute for Public Relations.
Anders Gronstedt
Anders is president of the Gronstedt Group, a firm specializing in improving front line performance and integrating communications with simulation-based training, podcasts, blogs, research and consulting. From offices in Denver, Colorado, and Stockholm, Sweden, Gronstedt Group has an international roster of clients, including Accenture, Avaya, FedEx Kinko’s, Ericsson, Sprint, TD Waterhouse and Volvo. A former member of the graduate Integrated Marketing Communications faculty at the University of Colorado, Dr. Gronstedt is a world-renowned management consultant, speaker and author of the book The Customer Century: Lessons from world-class companies in integrated communications.
Paul Mlodzik, ABC
Paul is vice president of marketing and sales for The Co-operators, the largest Canadian-owned multi-line insurance company. His responsibilities include strategic planning, brand management, product development, sales training and customer service. He has over 20 years of senior management experience, mainly in the financial services sector.
Paul is a frequent presenter at industry and professional association events on the topics of brand management and strategic communications planning. His work has been recognized with over 50 regional, national and international awards.
Paul was presented with the 2004 Master Communicator Award by IABC Canada for his professional achievements, service to IABC and thought leadership. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and a master’s degree in Communication Studies.
Suzanne Salvo
For the past 21 years, Suzanne Salvo and her husband/partner, Chris, have made their friends jealous with exciting worldwide assignments-but being constantly on the road means they have no pets and all their houseplants are plastic. Their clients are giant international companies that everybody has heard of. Salvo Photography keeps getting work because they are good at turning boring, ugly stuff into amazing award-winning photos. With homes in Houston, Texas, and now outside Milan, Italy, Suzanne has gone from an espresso drinker to an espresso user. Suzanne can parla Italiano, Español and four words of Russian. She is a past IABC executive board member, conducts action-packed workshops on photo topics and writes the “Visually Speaking” column for CW Bulletin. For more fun: www.salvoatlarge.blogspot.com.
Sam Smith
Sam is a founding principal in RazzberrySync, a Boston-based mobility content and services provider, where he directs content development and marketing activities.
A marketing and communications strategist with an extremely diverse background, Sam has devoted the last two decades to online program development, internal communication, consulting, PR, advertising, journalism, broadcasting, research, teaching and training.
Sam earned his Ph.D. in mass communication from the University of Colorado, where his research focused on Internet use, adoption, policy and culture. In March 1994 he branded and launched Lullaby Pit at a time when there were fewer than 2,000 web sites in the world. He’s been blogging since early 2002, and was doing all the cool online things that eventually grew into blogging as early as 1993.