IABC First Coast – Jacksonville, Florida Communications Professionals

Member Spotlight - Sandy Wilson
I’m from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I have sand in my shoes and moved to Jacksonville because it was a city with promise that was located near the ocean. A single mom, I moved here in 2000 directly from Athens, Georgia where I attended grad school. My area of expertise and continuing fascination is online communication. Over the years, I’ve honed my social media skills especially and have worked with a variety of industries.

I began my company Wilson Communicates over three years ago and have never been happier. Currently, I’m a PR consultant for Environmental Services, Inc. and for Jack Allen Artist: coo! art. Working with these two companies satisfies my love for environmental issues and fine art. Among other things, I developed and manage their websites and social media channels.

What influenced you to pursue a career in communications?
I’m a poet, so I’ve always been drawn to the power inherent in words. Because I studied all aspects of online communications in grad school, it was a natural evolution to work in that field when I moved to Jacksonville. I’ve learned a great deal about the business of communication through my participation in IABC First Coast and our parent organization, IABC.

How did you become interested in and then join IABC? What committees have you been involved in?
I’ve been a member of IABC First Coast for over five years now. I continue to be impressed by the general good will of the members and the wide expanse of industries that are represented. IABC First Coast has members who are new to communications and members who have been working in communications for over 20 years. As a result, chapter members have direct access and enjoy the opportunity to network with a variety of communications professionals. I’ve served on the IABC First Coast Chapter Board as VP of Professional Development, VP of Communications and now as President. Being involved with the chapter in a leadership position is gratifying. It’s a learning opportunity whatever your level of experience.

If you could suggest one thing to our chapter members, what would you tell them?
I would suggest that our members become involved in the chapter through our Committee opportunities. It’s a great way to increase your professional skill set, add to your resume and meet new people in your field.

Do you have any big resolutions or goals for yourself or your work this year?
As the 2012 President, I hope to grow the chapter’s membership, member benefits and monthly programs. I’d really like for our members to feel that their membership provided great value to their professional lives and enhanced their personal lives.

Please add anything you’d like to share that we may not know about you:
Folks are usually surprised to learn that I write poetry. I’ve had poems published and was lucky to work with Kevin Young, a talented poet and editor, while attending UGA. I’ve been hanging on to a book of poetry that I hope to have published one day.

In many ways, Jacksonville has been good to me. I met my soul mate Michael in Atlantic Beach eight years ago. Soon after meeting, we married in St. Thomas on a cliff overlooking the Caribbean Sea. We have four beautiful children: Taylor, Chris, Trey and Brittney - and we lovingly dote on our 80-pound puppy, Flintstone, much to his chagrin and embarrassment.

Where have you lived besides Jacksonville?

I’m a Jacksonville native that never thought she’d end up back in Jacksonville. I met my husband in Charleston, S.C. where I was attending college. When my husband (then boyfriend) got a job in Jacksonville and moved here, I quickly followed about six months later. We just celebrated our five-year anniversary and purchased our first home in Riverside. I will also be celebrating my five-year anniversary of being with Harden, an insurance, employee benefits, and financial services firm in a few months. My home, work and heart are in Riverside. We love the older homes and diverse population of the area that remind us of where we fell in love.

Member Spotlight - Amelia Smith

Where you’ve lived besides Jacksonville?
Originally from Georgia, and a University of Georgia graduate, I moved to Jacksonville in 2005 with my (future) husband. My degree in journalism and love of writing helped me to land a great job at The Episcopal School of Jacksonville – one of the premier private, college-prep schools in the region – as director of communications. This job exposed me to many different areas of marketing and communications, including publishing, public relations, web development and management, graphic design, advertising and more. The foundation I gained at Episcopal was unmatched, as was the networking. But after more than four years in the role, I was ready for new challenges. In 2009, I accepted a position with a local company that partners with hospitals all over the nation to offer specialized healing solutions to chronically ill patients. This switch from B2C to B2B marketing was critical and expanded my knowledge in new ways. After a year in the position, I was alerted to an unbelievable opportunity at Crowley Maritime Corporation – an international marine solutions, transportation and logistics provider – as senior editor, managing the company’s internal and external communications. I accepted the job during the summer of 2010 and haven’t looked back.

Member Spotlight - Marcia King

I was born and raised in Jackson, Michigan. I began my professional work career at the age of 18, as a dental assistant. When a latex allergy ended my dental career 13 years later, I was at a loss as to what I could do with my dental experience. I was very fortunate to join Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, working in the Dental Claims area.

Although my family briefly moved back to Michigan, we found that you can’t beat the Florida weather, so we hiked it right back: I subsequently joined Aetna Inc., where I held several different positions during my 11 years there, including that of a Website Coordinator in Provider Relations.

That experience led me to Citizens Property Insurance Corporation three years ago, where I now work as a Communications Project Management Specialist.

What influenced you to pursue a career in communications?
I enjoy all of the different facets of communication: writing copy, graphic design, Web content development, social networking, public relations and event planning. You never have a chance to get bored. I like being around people and being involved in whatever is going on.

Member Spotlight - Scott Saunders

I moved from Washington, DC to Jacksonville in 1997. I was working in a communications-related position for a defense contractor in the foreign military sales arena. There, I gained a great appreciation for international business, working closely with military liaisons from Kuwait, Finland, Switzerland, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Greece. That company then offered me a position to help launch a project at NAS Jacksonville, and in 1997, my wife and I – married for all of one week! – and our Golden Retriever moved to Jacksonville. I returned to school and earned my MBA in 2000, and soon after went to work for Fidelity National Information Services in 2004, where I was a marketing copywriter and later Corporate Communications Manager. After a company spin-off in 2008, I went to work for Lender Processing Services (LPS) and now serve as a Marketing Account Manager, directing and managing the marketing strategy for LPS’ Default Solutions business lines. I’m a graduate of the University of South Carolina, where I majored in Public Relations and Government & International Studies.

Member Spotlight - Lauren Clarke

I love my family – husband, Jonathan (an ER physician at NAS JAX); and 11-year-old daughter, Marin.

Summer often means “vacation time.” I have long dreamed of going to India. In the meantime, I travel there in my kitchen by cooking mostly Indian food at home!

I joined IABC in Dallas, TX, back in 2009 and transferred my membership to the First Coast chapter when I moved to Jacksonville.

How did you become interested in and then join IABC? What committees have you been involved in?

After graduating with an undergrad degree in violin performance, I moved to NYC hoping to work in non-profit management. I applied for various grad school programs in business and organizational psychology and was blessed to be accepted into a new grad program at Columbia University for Strategic Communications. Studying all of the communications disciplines in a global city with classmates across the industry spectrum opened up a whole new world to me.

What influenced you to pursue a career in communications?

I’ve been fortunate to work in a variety of communications roles in NYC, Plano and Singapore. Prior to Jacksonville, I was marketing director of Insight for Living in Plano, TX. In NYC, I worked for three years at American Express in global advertising, charge card product management, and regional marketing for the SE Asia region. I also spent some time in the arts community in New York, as associate director of national advancement at The Juilliard School, and at a talent agency called IMG Artists.

Jeff McDowell

I was raised in Palm Beach County, Florida. I finished my degree at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton in the mid-1980s and started looking for something interesting to do after kicking around south Florida for a number of years. My school had no curriculum relating to broadcasting, so when I heard that the military had a great school dedicated to training radio and television skills I wanted to find out more. In 1991, at 28 years old, and about two weeks after Desert Storm 1 kicked off in Iraq (brilliant timing, right?), I reported to boot camp for the Navy. Recruiters wanted to me to go to Officer Candidate School by benefit of my degree but it was the call of broadcasting and journalism that attracted me to the military so I went the enlisted route.

My first assignment after completing training at the Defense Information School was being a radio personality in Tokyo for the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service. What a blast! Barely two years after dreaming about getting into radio and TV, I had my very own radio show. I had an audience of 250,000 military and more than 4 MILLION Japanese listeners for three hours each day. From there, I’ve lived/served in the Middle East, Hawaii and the Indian Ocean with lots of time in Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia). In Nov. 2000, I was selected to serve as President Clinton’s photographer while he traveled around Vietnam--quite a thrill and an honor.

Each assignment that followed, up to Sept. 11, 2001, continued to challenge me professionally. After the horrendous attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, my career took a different, more serious, direction. From there, it was mostly aircraft carriers and deployments to the Persian Gulf and the coast off Afghanistan, managing media departments and working in Public Affairs. On Feb. 28, 2011, I hung up my uniform and am currently re-assessing my career goals, while enjoying lots of time with my wife, Susan; step-daughter, Allison; and a sleepy dog named Lucy.

Donia Crime

I grew up just south of Jacksonville, attended Nease High School (before anyone had ever heard of it) and wentto college here at the University of North Florida. Upon graduation, I couldn’t wait to move away! So, I moved to Atlanta to start graduate school at Georgia State University and my career in public relations. I landed my first job at a boutique public relations agency and stayed there for five years. Then, I worked at the Atlanta office of the global public relations firm Weber Shandwick Worldwide for 10 years. My husband and I loved Atlanta and loved our friends, but as new parents decided to look for opportunities back home in Jacksonville where many of our relatives still reside. On a trip to Jacksonville to help family friends, I decided to submit my resume to some communications firms in town. I received a phone call from Karen Burdette, founder of Burdette Ketchum, the next day. Two weeks later, I started work as public relations director for Burdette Ketchum.

Cynthia R. Nelson

I’m a native of Maryland, but went to Flagler College in St. Augustine, Fla. I landed my first professional position at the Financial News & Daily Record in downtown Jacksonville shortly after graduating with a Bachelor’s in Communications. After a year, I moved back to Maryland with aspirations of running up courthouse steps shoving a microphone in someone’s face asking for a comment. Instead, I went to work as the local business and technology reporter for The Washington Post Company and served as the lead writer for one of its community papers. I also helped launch a tech magazine before moving into the non-profit realm as an operations manager for the state technology group. But alas, my roots as a writer called and I turned back to a magazine – this time in the Foodservice and hospitality industry. But then PR came calling and I landed at a high tech-focused agency in Maryland. In the late ‘90s, I completed a stint as a marketing manager and tradeshow coordinator with Hughes Network Systems (the original makers of DirecTV) and then moved to Philadelphia to help launch a new firm. I headed up the communications group and stayed for almost 10 years working with clients in various industries and managing a cadre of employees and consultants. After being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2004, I took a leave of absence and began freelancing, chronically my journey for a NJ-based magazine. I continued to write for them and other media, as I do today. In 2006, after my health issues ended, I took a vacation in Jacksonville to visit friends for Mother’s Day and never left. I freelanced with several organizations in town including Promo Depot, Mayo Clinic and Jacksonville Times Union. In 2007, I joined Mayo Clinic full-time as a marketing communications manager. Today, I continue in that role, supporting various departments including Neurology and Neurosurgery, Executive Health, Contracting/Insurance and GI. I’m responsible for internal, external and patient communications including advertising, direct marketing, collateral and other communications including patient stories for Sharing Mayo Clinic and social media.

Susan McDowell

After 15 years, Jacksonville sure feels like home. I grew up in Rockville, MD and graduated from the University of Virginia with a chemistry degree. Luckily, I filled my college vacations with clerical jobs for an international construction firm (Bechtel), so I had job connections when I realized I NEVER wanted to work in chemistry!

A career in the architecture/engineering/construction (AEC) industry was an accident, but it ended up being a great fit for me. After six years doing project controls work for Bechtel, I moved to Florida and was hired by Haskell.

Tonisha Landry-Gaines

With the exception of one full calendar year, I’ve lived in Florida my entire life. I was born and raised in Panama City, educated in Tallahassee, worked in Naples and been a Jacksonville resident for 10 years. While living on the first coast, I have planned events, worked in marketing with a couple non-profit organizations, and even studied to become a Chartered Financial Analyst. Clearly, that test was not the highlight of my professional career! Now, I am happy to help clients plan and implement online strategies that complement offline tactics, and create marketing plans as Digital Media Strategist for BroadBased Communications.

Stacie Bucher

Ron Hess

I’ve lived numerous places like Cincinnati (mmm, Graeters’s ice cream), Southbury, CT (Southford Pizza), Cleveland (veal parmesan) and Philadelphia (cheese steaks). See a pattern here in my thinking? After nearly three decades managing corporate communications programs at companies like GE and Watson Wyatt, I set up my own business in 2002 - Motiv8 Communications, a full service employee communications firm. I moved From Gaithersburg, MD to Port Orange, near Daytona Beach, in 2005 (mmm, Boston’s Fish House). Best food in all the places I lived: Cincinnati. As for my career, I’ve worked mostly in employee communications but I’ve also managed media relations, community relations and public affairs over the course of my career.

Tom Helm

Tom Helm, a Jacksonville native, is the director of marketing and business development at Rogers Towers, where he manages the firm’s communication, marketing and public relations strategies. Prior to joining Rogers Towers in 2001, Tom served as district director with the local chapter of the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Justin McCahill

Though I was born in Norwalk, Connecticut — and lived briefly in Cincinnati, Ohio — I have called Jacksonville my home for almost my entire life.

While earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of North Florida, I began an internship with Convergys Corporation which eventually led to a full-time position. Since then I have spent more than six years with Convergys in various communications capacities, ranging from trade media relations to employee communications and recognition. Today, I support global communications and change management for more than 75,000 employees worldwide.

Debbie Jones

Since arriving in the world in Corpus Christi, Texas, I have had the privilege of living in Virginia, Arkansas and Panama, Canal Zone, before moving to Jacksonville in 1988. After being a full-time mom and home-schooler of our only child, I obtained a Bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 1997. Upon deciding teaching was not the career for me after all, I worked at a financial planning firm before joining the Jacksonville Aviation Authority in 1999. In an ironic turn of events, I became the training manager at JAA and obtained my Masters in Human Resource Development in 2004 to become better adept at training adults.

Lynn Mora

I’ve moved 27 times and attended 13 schools. Besides Florida, I have lived in: New Jersey, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Wisconsin and Mississippi-all before the age of eighteen. Milwaukee is my heart home.

We moved from Milwaukee to St. Augustine when I was thirteen. We rented an author/artist’s home for the summer. The top floor was one large finished attic room filled with hundred’s of first edition books. It was heavenly.

Jessica Sloan

I grew up in Punta Gorda, Fla. and moved to Jacksonville after completing my undergraduate education at the University of Florida. I have bachelor’s degrees in public relations and political science.

My first job was working for a public relations agency. It was through my coworkers there that I was first introduced to IABC and I joined the organization in 2008. For the last two years, I have served on the Membership Committee.

It was through an IABC event that I met the marketing director for Rogers Towers, P.A. and found out that there was an open position in the law firm’s marketing department. The role was a perfect fit, and I have now been the firm’s marketing coordinator for nearly two years.

Danny Murphy

I work in communications for River Region Human Services, a non-profit provider of prevention, intervention and treatment services for substance abuse, HIV/AIDS and mental illness. I take care of media relations, literature and updates for the agency website, and manage the phone systems for more than 200 employees. I'm also a freelance writer and photographer with hundreds of items published. My first communications job was editing policies and procedures at the JEA.

Kathy Lussier

As an IBM brat, I moved around a bit as a kid. I was born in New York, moved to Pompano Beach, FL, when I was three, then at 10, I moved to Rochester, MN. I went to college for a year in Wisconsin, and then transferred to the University of Texas in Austin where my family had moved. My first job out of college was as a TV news producer at a station in Austin where I had interned. I’ve been fortunate to have held some exciting positions, including working for Texas Governor Ann Richards. I’ve been through mergers and acquisitions, lay-offs and bankruptcies—none were particularly fun, but all were great learning experiences.