Board/Contact

2011-2012 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

PRESIDENT/DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS Jill Shorter Associate/Marketing Coordinator, Ryan-Biggs Associates, P.C. 518-406-5506 . jshorter@ryanbiggs.com Jill is an Associate and Marketing Coordinator at Ryan-Biggs Associates, P.C., in Clifton Park, NY.  Founded in 1973, Ryan-Biggs specializes in structural building design; renovation; investigations, studies, reports; historic preservation and masonry restoration; bridges; contractor support services; special inspections; and nondestructive testing.  With the firm since 2000, Jill is responsible for new business development, information and data management, and coordinating public relations for the company.  She manages advertising, the development of media and promotional materials, and proposal preparation. In addition to the corporate office, she also handles marketing responsibilities for the firm’s office in Skaneateles Falls. Jill served as the Education Director for the Chapter since 2004 and was recently elected President.
PRESIDENT-ELECT/TREASURER Helen Kashtan Marketing Manager, Pathfinder Engineers & Architects LLP 585-325-6004 . hkashtan@pathfinder-ea.com Helen has been active with the Upstate New York SMPS chapter since 1993, beginning with attending programs and then serving as Rochester Metro education coordinator for many years. She is currently in the second year of her two-year term as Treasurer for the chapter. She has more than 17 years of business development experience in the E/A community as part of her more than 25 years of marketing communications experience. She joined Pathfinder at its inception in 1998, and has seen the firm grow to 30 employees. Pathfinder Engineers & Architects, a certified Women-Owned Business Enterprise, is an engineering, architecture, energy and commissioning firm located in Rochester.
SECRETARY Rebecca R. Wolff Cahill, LEED AP Marketing Director, M.J. Engineering and Land Surveying, P.C. 518-371-0799 . rcahill@mjels.com Since joining MJ in February of 2005, Rebecca has been responsible for the development of a wide range of marketing material and public relations activities to help meet MJ’s long-term business goals. Prior to joining MJ, she was a Marketing Coordinator for Tectonic Engineering in Mountainville, NY. She has been a member of SMPS for the past seven years and is beginning her second year on the board as the Educational Chair for Albany. Rebecca is a LEED Accredited Professional. She is a Big Sister in Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Region and is active in the annual Capital District Future City Competition.
MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR Elana Augustine Marketing Coordinator, Popli Design Group 585-388-2060 . eaugustine@popligroup.com Elana is the Marketing Coordinator for Popli Design Group, a multi-disciplined architectural and engineering firm with offices in Rochester, Albany, Syracuse, and Buffalo. As the Marketing Coordinator, Elana is responsible for press releases, advertisements, proposal submissions, public relations, website updates, and other related tasks.  She has eight years of marketing experience, including four in the A/E/C industry. Elana has been a member of SMPS since 2007 and was recently elected as Membership Director. She is also a member of the Association of AE Business Leaders (AEBL) and Rochester Young Professionals, is a Volunteer Consultant for the Rochester Business Ethics Award, and enjoys volunteering at Foodlink.
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR Karen Winters Principal, AEC Marketing Insights 315-440-6508 . kwwinters@gmail.com Karen is Principal of AEC Marketing Insights, a specialized marketing and management consulting practice based in Upstate NY. She has over 25 years of marketing and business development experience in our industry, is a Fellow of SMPS, a former member of the National Board, a previous National Committee Chair, and a Past President of the UNY Chapter. Karen has authored numerous articles, led seminars for marketers new to the AEC industry, and has been a guest lecturer at Syracuse University’s School of Architecture. She holds a Business Administration B.S. from Le Moyne College and a Business Administration A.S. from Onondaga Community College. See www.aecinsights.com.
SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR Erin Shannon Bullard Marketing Specialist II, Barton & Loguidice, P.C. 315-457-5200 . ebullard@bartonandloguidice.com Erin has been a Marketing Specialist at Barton & Loguidice since 2006, promoting the firm’s engineering, environmental consulting, planning, and landscape architecture services. During this time she has seen the firm grow from around 130 employees to more than 200. Also during that time the firm has added two more offices for a total of five in Syracuse, Albany, Rochester, Ellenville, and Camp Hill (PA). In addition to proposal coordination duties, Erin supports the business development efforts with strategic planning and research, and focuses the firm’s efforts in public relations, website utilization, and graphic design. She joined SMPS in 2009.

2011-2012 EDUCATION COMMITTEE

CO-CHAIR Allie Balling Marketing Director, HHL Architects 716-885-0743 . aballing@hhlarchitects.com Allie has more than 15 years of experience in marketing and public relations. She recently joined HHL Architects in 2010 and was with Bovis Lend Lease, Inc for the past 14 years in a National Marketing role. Her ability to manage multiple projects within budget and time constraints has earned her progressively increasing roles of management responsibility. Allie oversees the design and production of all marketing, branding and public relations materials including proposals, press releases, news articles, trade show booths and complementary materials. In her role as strategic planner for marketing at HHL, she also coordinates efforts between the marketing department, project personnel and senior management of both HHL Architects and its clients. Allie received a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Stetson University in Florida. She is a member of the Society of Marketing Professional Services, American Society for Healthcare Engineering and attended Columbia Business School; Strategic Thinking. She was a board member and community chair for the Florida Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties.
CO-CHAIR/CPSM CHAMPION Lisa Fingar, CPSM Marketing Manager, SWBR Architects 585-232-8300 . lfingar@swbr.com Lisa is the Marketing Manager for SWBR Architects, a 75-person Architectural practice in Rochester, NY. This is Lisa’s sixth year as a Board member of the Upstate NY chapter of SMPS. She served as Educational Co-Chair for three years and was president last year. Lisa is active in her community in addition to her SMPS duties. In 2010 she co-authored an SMPS Research paper and presented at the National Conference in Boston, is President of her Elementary School’s Family Association and is a Girl Scout Leader. Prior to her service with the SMPS board, she served on various community organizations including the Rochester Women’s Network and the Rochester International Business Council Board of Directors.
CO-CHAIR Kim Perry Marketing Manager, Passero Associates 585-760-8518 . kperry@passero.com As Marketing Manager and Webmaster for Passero Associates, an 80+ person regional full-service firm, Kim works closely with firm leadership to ensure Marketing support for each department’s goals and objectives, and for the firm as a whole. Her team is responsible for creating major proposals, presentations, advertising, brochures and marketing collateral.  Kim leads the firm’s public relations program and writes press releases and features.  She is also responsible for the firm’s web site and created Passero’s first company Intranet, increasing the effectiveness of internal communications and promoting events, projects and personnel to the entire firm. Kim has been active in SMPS since 2002, assisting with programming meetings and seminars.  She has served on the Board since 2008 as Educational Co-Chair for Rochester/Buffalo.

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