Stephen Pia founded COACH MEdia in 1999. He works with media sales teams and individuals to strengthen their sales skills, develop an effective sales process, and enhance their communication and negotiation skills in support of Integrated Selling. In addition to scheduled training, coaching and assessment programs, Stephen provides customized on-demand coaching to reinforce the concepts he has taught and provide support in specific sales situations.  Companies like Time Inc.'s Business & Finance Network, Google, eBay, Gartner, CMP Media, CNET and IDG have utilized Stephen Pia to help them achieve their sales goals. Prior to founding COACH MEdia, Stephen spent 16 years in media sales as both a sales professional and a sales leader, including 10 years at Ziff-Davis Media in numerous positions including Senior Vice President of Sales.  Throughout his career, Stephen has excelled at selling, managing sales teams, creating sales organizations, and coaching sales professionals to higher levels of performance. In addition to his corporate sessions, Stephen is a frequent presenter at industry events and association meetings.  He has delivered presentations at events like IAEM's Expo! Expo! and several IAEM Chapter meetings, SISO, MAGS Southeast, Florida Magazine Association, Folio Show, and Folio Summit. He consistently receives high scores from attendees, as measured by the event organizers, on his delivery skills and session content.

Paul Curci is the publisher of Philadelphia City Paper and the chairperson of this year's convention. He is a member of the AAN Marketing Committee and serves as a board member at Philadelphia's University of the Arts, where he chairs the marketing committee. Paul is also a member of the Institute of Contemporary Art's Leadership Circle, and an advisory board member of the Philadelphia Film Society.

Marty Griswold in a career spanning some 18+ years in the publishing world, has worked at The Rocket magazine, SF Weekly and currently serves as the sales & marketing director for Seattle's The Stranger and as regional sales director for Index Publishing. Marty's contributions to the business have been marked by great strides in increased revenue, high profile event planning, and the launch of innovative ideas that have garnered both fiscal and creative success within the industry. In recent years, his efforts have contributed to the unparalleled online achievements of The Stranger and sister publication, The Portland Mercury, that have set new standards within the alternative weekly digital world. Marty is also known to be somewhat of a whore when it comes to generating untapped revenues through non-traditional means, which means he is quite at home at The Stranger.

Sandy Stein is advertising director at the Gambit Weekly and is a member of AAN's Advertising Committee.

Carol Flagg is a managing partner in HITECH Answers and founder of Pivotal Solution Group. Before going out on her own in 2008, Carol was the advertising director for many years for The Austin Chronicle. She resides outside of Phoenix, Ariz.

Jeff Guaracino is vice president of communications for the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC), a position he assumed in 2006.  Guaracino manages national and regional communications, the visiting tourist program, content development and corporate communications.  He joined GPTMC in 2001 as director of communications and is part of a team at GPTMC that created the internationally recognized gay tourism campaign, Philadelphia - Get Your History Straight and Your Nightlife Gay.  Guaracino wrote the first book on gay tourism marketing called Gay and Lesbian Tourism: The Essential Guide for Marketers.  A Philadelphia region native, he was appointed by Mayor John F. Street to serve on the Mayor's Commission on Children and serves as vice president of the Philadelphia Gay Tourism Caucus, an organization he co-founded in 2002.

Neal Stewart is a marketer. His marketing career includes both agency and client side experience in a variety of industries including retail, non-profit and consumer package goods. From 2000-2006, Neal worked at Pabst Brewing Company as the Brand Manager and eventually, Marketing Director for the Pabst Blue Ribbon brand. At Pabst, Neal's marketing strategy focused on initiating word of mouth and loyalty with influential consumers by supporting grass-roots and subculture events, resulting in increased volume of 45% from 2002-2006. Neal also managed several other brands within the Pabst portfolio, including Rainier Beer which was recognized with several advertising and marketing industry awards for its RainierVision branded entertainment campaign. In 2006, Neal moved over to the Craft Beer side and is now the Director of Marketing for Flying Dog Brewery in Denver, CO. In just over a year, Flying Dog has been recognized within the beer industry as a brewer who has embraced Web 2.0 technology and leveraged it for increased exposure.

Blair Barna has worked in the world of alt-weeklies for 20 years and is the advertising director of the Charleston City Paper in Charleston, S. C. He founded and co-owns the paper -- now in its sixteenth year -- with his two business partners, publisher Noel Mermer and editor Stephanie Barna. One of them is also his life partner -- he'll leave it up to you to guess which. Barna has two children, three cats, two dogs, and no time to himself. Prior to blazing trails in Chucktown, he worked for Creative Loafing in Savannah and Atlanta.

Scott Michaud is general manager of MindComet's Southeast Region and director of strategic accounts. He is responsible for business development, market & competitive analysis, customer acquisition strategies, consultative/solution selling and management of cross-functional teams for the Southeast Region. Scott uses his ten years of interactive experience to build strong client relations and creative initiatives for marquee clients such as FOX Television, Cunard Lines, APM Terminals and the Walt Disney Company. Previously he was senior strategic account manager and interactive media director with Hemisphere Creative. Scott has recently been named Web Chair for the inaugural year of the Charlotte Interactive Marketing Association.

Seana Mulcahy is founder of Brand Truth, a digital media and marketing consultancy. She has 18 years experience in advertising, public relations, and marketing communications with the past 14 primarily focused in the digital space. Prior, she was vice president, director of interactive media at Mullen and Carat Interactive. Mulcahy has been creating online brands since before the first banner was sold.  Her expertise includes online and traditional media planning and buying, strategy, branding, public relations, email marketing, mobile, viral marketing, tracking and analytics, promotions, social media, search engine marketing and sales/media/marketing training. She's built online media services divisions for three companies and has worked with clients spanning financial, telecom, tech, healthcare, government, publishers, media, travel and retail.  Clients include VW, McDonald's, Deutsche Bank, Lendingtree.com, Nextel, US Department of Defense, Symantec, The Four Seasons, British Airways, Sesame Street, Pfizer, Smith Kline Beecham, Genuity, Electronic Arts and Radio Shack.  She has taught, lectured and written about the industry for numerous trade associations, publications and blogs and currently has a weekly column on Mediapost's Online SPIN.  Mulcahy is on the boards of Dollars for Scholars and NetElixir, a search engine marketing firm. She formerly held board posts with the Boston Interactive Media Association (BIMA) and the Business Marketing Association.  She is a professor in Marketing Communications at Emerson College in Boston.  She has a degree in advertising, public relations and speech.  She works out of Boston.

John Heaston became seriously afflicted with the alternative media compulsion in 1992, starting a free, student-run monthly from late nights in a hijacked journalism lab. He was publishing editor of Sound News & Arts, editor of The Reader (Omaha), editor/publisher/salesman of the Omaha Weekly and publisher/editor of The Reader since 2002, the bilingual community weekly El Perico since 2004 and OmahaJobs.com since 2005. He just discovered that providing his advertising clients with digital services (websites, social media, SEO, video, content marketing, etc.) is like exchanging nickels for $5 bills mostly utilizing existing talent and relationships.

Blair Barna has worked in the world of alt-weeklies for 20 years and is the advertising director of the Charleston City Paper in Charleston, S. C. He founded and co-owns the paper -- now in its sixteenth year -- with his two business partners, publisher Noel Mermer and editor Stephanie Barna. One of them is also his life partner -- he'll leave it up to you to guess which. Barna has two children, three cats, two dogs, and no time to himself. Prior to blazing trails in Chucktown, he worked for Creative Loafing in Savannah and Atlanta.

Jody Colley is the publisher of the East Bay Express and an at-large board member of AAN. Jody has served on the AAN marketing and classified sales committees and was an executive committee member of the Alternative Weekly Network (AWN). Over the past decade, Jody has been actively involved with local and national organizations that promote sustainable economies and independent business alliances, as well as serving on the boards of merchant associations and business groups.

Cassidy Frazier has been the classified director of The Austin Chronicle for the last seven years. Having started in the industry as an account executive during the classifieds boom and seen the rise of Craigslist and various other online competitors, she has since developed a chin as solid as legendary Toronto boxer George "The judges voted for Ali, but he had to be taken to the hospital afterwards while I went dancing with my wife." Chuvalo.

Colin Murray has been with Isthmus Publishing since 2003, currently holding the position of advertising manager. He began his media career at the Madison Times, a small, weekly, multi-cultural newspaper, where he concentrated on and grew classified advertising sales. He later worked at Erickson Publishing as a sales representative, contributing to such publications as Anew (now Brava) Magazine, Dane County Kids, Now Hiring and Badgerland Sports for Kids. Colin has an extensive business background in Madison. He is currently a member of American Advertising Federation - Madison Chapter, the Board of Directors for Dane Buy Local and the planning committee for Madison Business Alliance (a local LGBT business group).

Roxanne Cooper is the associate publisher of Alternet.org.

Heidi Dangelmaier is a proven and patented innovator in everything from game technologies to cell phones to tampons. After being the only female robotics student in Princeton's doctorate program, she left robotics to pioneer girl-focused media and marketing. Heidi led Sega's first initiatives to make video games for girls, and her entrepreneurial drive has centered on making more profitable products and more effective advertising for the female audience. Three years ago, Dangelmaier launched 3iying, an all-girl innovation think tank, working with major brands to give them the creative concepts and strategies they need to succeed with future generations of females. She has contributed to four books, published 24 articles and been the subject of more than 30 press pieces and news shows on Bravo and CNN. 

Tayyib Smith is COO/co-founder of LittleGiant Media, Inc., a unique consultancy that connects young adults with brands interested in targeting the youth market.  He has worked with some of the world's leading trendsetters, including JazzyJeff, King Britt, ?uestlove, Mr. Lif, Jill Scott, The Roots and John Legend.  One of Tayyib's most recent successes includes the 2007 launch of two.one.five magazine, a quarterly lifestyle publication dedicated to Philadelphia's music, fashion and arts scenes.  Prior to that, he helped introduce the Scion brand to the Philadelphia market by producing a series of 25 clandestine marketing initiatives to create an overwhelmingly positive impression for Toyota's newest brand.

Patrick Walsh is vice president of marketing for Sneaker Villa, a Philadelphia-based retailer of urban-inspired apparel and footwear products. Sneaker Villa is considered the top urban fashion retailer in this highly competitive market because it provides the best of fashion in a high-energy environment and is guided by a mission to change and enhance the way business is done in inner cities.

Jon Grabelle Herrmann is the executive director of Campus Philly, a non-profit organization fueling economic growth by encouraging college students to study, live and work in the Greater Philadelphia tri-state region. A New Jersey transplant, Jon has served as Campus Philly’s founding executive director since 2001, following a position as the marketing manager at philly2nite.com. As head of Campus Philly, Jon has been recognized by regional organizations for outstanding leadership: Philadelphia Business Journal’s 40 under 40 (2005), Leadership Philadelphia’s 101 Top Connectors (2006), and the Philadelphia Eagles' 75 Greatest Living Philadelphians (2007).

Meegan Denenberg is currently an account manager at Little Giant Media. Prior to joining Little Giant, she built PhillyCarShare's first full marketing department and increased membership four-fold during her tenure. Before that she developed and executed programs for a Manhattan-based guerilla marketing firm, conducted public relations for a variety of clients, and also served as a press secretary and legislative aide for a city councilperson in New York.

Alan Leveritt is the publisher of the Arkansas Times.

Alisa Cromer is group publisher for Metro Newspapers.

Jeffri-Lynn Dyer found her passion at age 15 with her first byline.  She moved from Maine to attend Oklahoma City University where she earned both a bachelor's degree in Mass Communication and an MBA, and uses all that she learned there working for the Oklahoma Gazette (since 1990!) and OKCBusiness newspapers in central Oklahoma.  Jeffri-Lynn also consults with newspapers nationwide, facilitating retreats and providing analysis and solution possibilities.  In her free time, she coaches soccer and tee ball for her childrens' teams, plays soccer and softball, is a tutor/mentor for Oklahoma City schools, is active in PTA and is past president and chair of Oklahoma City Advertising Club.

Kenneth Neill is the CEO of Contemporary Media, Inc., and publisher of Memphis Flyer, Memphis Magazine, Memphis Parent, the Memphis Business Quarterly, and Midsouth Bride, among other publications. He graduated from Yale University in 1970 and from Trinity University, Dublin, in 1972. He served as president of AAN from 2005 to 2007.

Michael Newquist is the associate publisher at the Fort Worth Weekly.

Nancy Spittle is the advertising director at the Boise Weekly.

Adam Gordon is the chief revenue officer at WorldNow where he oversees all aspects of their national and regional sales efforts.  WorldNow is the premier platform for TV station web sites leveraging the power of local media brands with efficiency of deep national reach.  Previously Adam started the interactive sales division for Thomson Corporation and created their first-ever cross-vertical media organization.  He also built the national sales division for Internet Broadcasting Systems introducing that brand to the national marketplace.  Adam has also held positions at About.com, Women.com and the TV Food Network, where he developed many innovative sponsorship solutions, including cross media programs for advertisers such as P&G, Sara Lee, and Kellogg's.

Richard Huff is one of the most senior analysts in Microsoft's Advertising Solutions unit.  Prior to arriving at Microsoft, Richard was managing member at Geckowerx, LLC, a creative technologies services company in Seattle.  He also has been president and CEO/Director, Hosting Services at Media Access Internet Solutions, Inc./Peak Internet, Inc. and president and CEO/general manager at Pacific Rim Network, Inc./Verio, Inc.    He is a graduate of the University of Washington.

Katie Risch manages Centro's strategic, ongoing relationships with more than 6,000 local, regional and national publishers in the company's platform. Centro manages more than half of all national and regional advertising that reaches these local sites across the US. Katie is one of Centro's longest-tenured professionals, having worked as a media planner for automotive accounts and movie studios with Centro Parent Integrent. Like many working with digital newspapers today, Katie started in print as a sales account executive for the Cincinnati Enquirer. She holds a BA in English from Indiana University.

Robert Wilson is a full-time professional speaker and marketing consultant who has entertained audiences in 32 states and Canada. He works with companies which want to be more competitive and with people who want to be more creative. Over the past 20 years, he has assisted hundreds of businesses with their advertising efforts. He served as senior copywriter for Target Market Team, one of the nation's top direct response advertising agencies. His advertising efforts have earned eight SouthStar awards from the American Marketing Association. The many companies and advertising agencies Wilson has served include Federated Department Stores, Morrison's Cafeterias, Prudential, St. Joseph's Hospital and Wachovia Bank.