Team

President: Mike D. Merrill

Mike D. Merrill is Director of  Marketing for ReachLocal and is Chief Bacon Maker and Marketing Strategist for his own firm, Bacon Marketing. Mike has held positions in sales, marketing and operations management at NetApp, Dell, Intel and two venture-backed software startups. He speaks regularly on social media and personal branding and helps organize Ignite Dallas. Mike pursued his MBA at the Ross School of Business at University of Michigan.

You can catch up with Mike on his blog at http://www.mikemerrill.com or follow him on twitter @mikedmerrill.

VP of Promotions: Colin Alsheimer

VP of Partners: Jessica Nunez

Jessica Nuñez is the founder of Nuñez PR Group, a Dallas-basedPR and marketing firm known for its creative campaigns that generate successful results.

From traditional media relations to e-PR, Nuñez PR Group helps companies of all sizes connect with media and consumers and improve their brand visibility.

VP of Events: Kendall Shiffler

Kendall serves as Marketing Communications Director for PegasusAblon, a local real estate development company. She markets the company’s Lower Oak Lawn in the Dallas Design District project via her blog, LowerOakLawn.com and social media.

As a side business, Kendall operates her own website design and consulting company, Design by Kendall, helping small businesses, bloggers and entrepreneurs build strategic, well designed web presence.

You can also find Kendall writing on her personal blog, Kendall’s Entertaining Life, which details her adventures in party planning, cooking and home decor. Keep up with Kendall on twitter by following @KendallAnne and @LowerOakLawn.

VP of Creative: Elysa Rice

Elysa Rice is a self-proclaimed blonde computer nerd.

Her background in design and marketing led to her current position as Community Manager for Bizzy. Bizzy is provides personalized recommendations for great places to eat, shop and play.

Elysa is also very involved in the online Gen Y community. You can find her blogging about twenty-something life in her pink corner of the web - GenPink or @elysa on twitter.

VP of Membership: Cameron Gawley

 

Known as “Dot Com” to a few people, Cameron Gawley has founded 3 Marketing and Technology Startups since he was 16. Currently Cameron is the Co-Founder and CEO of BuzzShift Digital Strategy Agency as well as the Co-Founder of CherryPick, a Content Curation tool for brands.

For the past 12 years Cameron has worked with the  National Breast Cancer Foundation in which he leads cause marketing initiatives and is NBCF’s acting Chief Technology Officer. Catch him tweeting it up @cgawley

VP of Branding: Alyssa Gardina

Alyssa Gardina is the Marketing Associate at The Women’s Museum: An Institute for the Future, a national women’s history museum.

She graduated from Ithaca College with a B.S. in Integrated Marketing Communications and a minor in American History. She maintains a blog which discusses social media trends and controversies, particularly those affecting non-profits. Alyssa drives a purple Vespa and is still experiencing culture shock as a Jersey Girl in Texas.

Member At Large: Cynthia Smoot

Cynthia is a very busy girl. She spends her days developing social media and marketing strategies for clients with Gangway Advertising.

In her free time (ha!) Smoot is an in-demand blogger who writes, Oh So Cynthia: a lifestyle blog about Dallas and what makes it a fabulous place to live. From food to fashion, stage shows to family outings, cultural events to reality TV; this city is happening and Cynthia brings readers inside Dallas’ hottest events and introduce them to the people who are making things happen in Big D!  You can follow her on Twitter @OhSoCynthia and @GangwayAdv.