The Creative Connection

Panelist-Working with a Sponsor: What does it mean and how do you find one?

Jenny Lauck leaped headlong into blogosphere in 2004, and never looked back. She is currently the Director of the BlogHer Publishing Network, and heads up the community side of BlogHer’s popular BlogHer Reviewers programs. Jenny has been a featured speaker and moderator at several BlogHer conferences, as well as at the 2011 Reviewer’s Retreat. She has blogged professionally for BlogHer and ClubMom, and has been featured in The LA Times, Life Magazine, San Francisco Magazine and several regional parenting publications. Jenny’s posts have been published in the anthology Sleep is for the Weak. Jenny’s personal blog, Three Kid Circus, is the go-to spot for other parents who want to feel superior about their parenting. Jenny is @mizzjenny on Twitter.

Panelist-Working with a Sponsor: What does it mean and how do you find one?

Jessica Rau is currently Manager of External Communications with McDonald’s USA. In this role, Rau works on developing innovative public relations programs and strategies that support McDonald’s marketing campaigns and new product launches. She also uses new communication channels, such as Twitter, to help promote and build brand trust. She is the official “tweeter” for McDonald’s @McCafeyourday and tweets weekly for @McDonalds. Previously, Rau was Supervisor of Corporate Media Relations with McDonald’s Corporation. She was responsible for promoting and protecting brand McDonald’s by managing proactive and reactive media-based issues, and implementing strategic media relations plans, including McDonald’s International Media Days program. Rau began her career at McDonald’s in February 2004 as Coordinator for the Corporate Media Relations department. She was promoted to Media Relations Specialist in 2005, Supervisor of Corporate Media Relations in December 2006, and assumed her current position as Manager of External Communications with McDonald’s USA in March 2009. Just prior to joining McDonald’s, Rau worked in Advertising Sales for American Marketing and Publishing out of DeKalb, Illinois.

Rau is a founding member and co-chair of McDonald’s Young Professionals Network (YPN) which provides professional development and networking skills to McDonald’s future leaders. She is also a member of McDonald’s Women’s Leadership Network, and actively participates in Junior Achievement which is dedicated to educating students about workforce readiness and entrepreneurship.

Rau was the recipient of McDonald’s prestigious President’s Award in 2007, as well as McDonald’s Circle of Excellence Award in 2005 and again in 2007. In 2008, she received the Early Career Achievement Award from Illinois State University’s College of Business. Rau also received McDonald’s 2009 Outstanding National Marketing Team Award for McDonald’s U.S. Communications Team, and McDonald’s 2010 Bill Lamar Marketing Excellence Award for the McCafe Real Fruit Smoothie/Frappe Beverage team. Rau has a Bachelors Degree in Marketing from Illinois State University.

Panelist-Creating an event

Jyl Johnson Pattee is the founder of Mom It Forward, a successful and influential online community of women. She is also the co-founder of the popular Girls’ Night Out (#gno) Twitter parties, and the co-organizer of the evo Conference. Currently, she sits on the Mom Advisory Council for ONE.org and was named one of Parent Magazine’s Top 10 Power Moms. Through her Mom It Forward company, Jyl provides unique media opportunities to companies and organizations that want to reach influential moms online. She also consults regularly about using social media to extend brand reach to moms and women. Her current client roster includes brands such as Aveda, Microsoft, Universal Orlando Resort and many more. In a past life, she was an award-winning copywriter and designer of corporate training programs for Fortune 100 companies. Offline, Jyl is married to @TroyPattee; a mom to two boys; loves large amounts of cheese, dancing, and traveling; and lives in the beautiful Rocky Mountains.

Contact:
Web: momitforward.com
Facebook: facebook.com/MomItForward
Twitter: @jylmomIF

Panelist-Creating an Event

Karen Valentine is woman with her hands and  her heart in many things. She is the creator of Valentine Design, a thriving blog design business with a vintage and feminine touch, author of  the e-book Building Beautiful Blogs… A Beginners Guide to Blogger, and  the author of My Desert Cottage, a blog where Karen shares her love of cottage style, vintage decor and arts and crafts through photos and tutorials.  For the last two years Karen has hosted “Where Bloggers Create” an online blog party, held in July, where more than 300 women from all over the world shared their creative spaces, and thousands more came to soak up the inspiration. This year’s party promises to be even bigger as more and more women hear about this fun and inspiring event.

Contact:
Web: www.karenvalentinedesign.com
Web: www.mydesertcottage.blogspot.com

VIP Breakfast Panel – Women Entrepreneurs

BlogHer Panelist-Closing Session: The intersection of craft, passion and sustainability

Karen is the author of Chookooloonks, an award-winning photoblog and community dedicated to showing how beautiful the world is, one image at a time. Her fine art photography pieces and projects have been included in exhibits around the country. She is a contributor to the book Expressive Photography: A Shutter Sisters’ Guide to Shooting from the Heart, a guide for beginning and intermediate photographers for adding heart and soul to their imagery. Karen’s writing, images, and other projects have been featured on CNN.com and in the magazines Good Housekeeping and Wondertime. Karen’s new book, The Beauty of Different, is a chronicle of imagery and portraiture, combined with written essays and observations on the concept that what makes us different makes us beautiful–and may even be the source of our superpowers. It is available from Bright Sky Press, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.com. The book inspired BlogHer’s Own Your Beauty initiative, where Karen is the lead blogger, and which also appears as part of USA Today’s OwnIt campaign.

Karen is also a former engineer and a current (though non-practicing) attorney. She is a sought-after keynote speaker, having covered topics as varied as parenthood, social media, and women in leadership. She has been quoted in and has appeared on both local and national television shows and other news media, including CNN.com and The Oprah Winfrey Show. Karen is originally from Trinidad & Tobago, but currently lives in Houston, Texas with Marcus (her English husband), Alex (her American daughter), and Rufus the Wonderdog. She holds a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from Texas A&M University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Houston.

Contact:
Web: www.chookooloonks.com

BlogHer Panelist-Content and Community Building (Beginning)-Your Social Media Solar System and Closing Session: The intersection of craft, passion and sustainability

Kathy Cano-Murillo is a writer and artist. Since 1990, she has sold her handmade “Chicano Pop Art” crafts to hundreds of retailers including Bloomingdales, Target, and Hallmark. From 2000-2008, she wrote a weekly syndicated Arizona Republic newspaper column, and has authored seven books including Crafty Chica’s Art de la Soul and Crafty Chica’s Guide to Artful Sewing. In 2001, Kathy launched CraftyChica.com, a wildly popular web site to inspire women to brighten their lives with clever craft ideas. Her profiles include iTunes, HGTV, DIY Network, MyLifetime.com, The New York Times, USA Today, NPR and she has a Crafty Chica product line with iLoveToCreate, a Duncan Enterprises Company. When she isn’t creating or teaching, she writes novels. Her “Crafty Chica Novel” series include the critically-acclaimed Waking Up in the Land of Glitter and Miss Scarlet’s School of Patternless Sewing (Grand Central Publishing). Kathy lives in Pho enix, AZ, with her husband, two kids and five Chihuahuas. Her motto for life is “Crafts, drama and glitter!” http://thecraftychica.blogspot.com

CONTENT & COMMUNITY BUILDING (BEGINNING)-YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA SOLAR SYSTEM

Panelist-The Nuts and Bolts of Launching a Creative Business

Enthusiastically armed with an MBA, Kathy Hanson reinvigorates entrepreneurs and businesspeople with her energy and focus. Kathy specializes in developing custom strategies that save her clients time and make them money, while insuring sustainability. Fortune 100 companies such as Hewlett Packard, Georgia Pacific, Kaiser Permanent and Wells Fargo are just a few companies that sought out Kathy’s fresh and unique approach. As an entrepreneur, Kathy has been featured on the front cover of Country Home magazine, aired her own segment on HGTV, interviewed on Kare-11 and voted Best of by the top magazines in Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Kathy’s clients consider her their secret board of directors, private strategist and not-so-silent partner. “My clients are so busy running a business they often have no time to breathe let alone address common issues and spend time developing growth opportunities. I can hyper focus and devote concentrated time on a specific issue so I maximize profits and minimize wasted time for my clients.”

Contact:
Web: www.backpocket.biz

VIP Breakfast Panel – Women Entrepreneurs

Panelist-The Nuts and Bolts of Launching a Creative Business

Kelly is the author of Taking Flight: Inspiration + Techniques to Give Your Creative Spirit Wings, a bestselling book that encompasses all aspects of what it means to live the creative life. She is also the author of Flying Lessons: Tips + Tricks to Help Your Creative Biz Soar, a series of popular e-books where she shares everything she knows about how she got to where she is now. Her work has been featured in a variety of mixed media books by her peers and she’s had several articles published in various magazines, including Cloth Paper Scissors, Somerset Life, Somerset Studios (her artwork was on the 03/2010 cover!), Where Women Create, Memory Makers, and more. Much of her artwork is licensed and can be seen in stores nationwide on a variety of products, including decorative wall art, stationery products, sculptures, and so much more. (more…)

Panelist-Working with a Sponsor: What does it mean and how do you find one?

Laurie Turk is a creative soul who has a passion for embellishing life. She lives in Dallas, is a mom to 3 boys, cruise director for her family, and all around girly-girl. Her focus is to create moments that matter for herself, her man, and her children.

Laurie’s mission is to promote creative women through their fabulous ideas and products with Tip Junkie that features the best tips and tricks from everyday women. Also, to meet the need of affordable advertising for Mom-prenuers she co-founded Chic Chick Media and Buy Mom Made.com.

VIP Breakfast Panel – Women Entrepreneurs

Panelist-Agents, Publicists and Brand Consultants: Who are they and what can they do for you?

Leigh Standley is the artist, writer and owner of Curly Girl Design, Inc. In it’s seven years, Curly Girl Design and Leigh’s line of clever and colorful greeting cards and gift items have taken the industry by delightful storm. Focused on the magic of the small moments, her product peeks into the corners of life and taps into the hearts of all.Founded in 2003, the company began with just 12 greeting cards and grew steadily. Now with seven amazing full-time employees, it sells to more than 2300 shops nationwide and distributes to Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. In 2008 Leigh began the process of licensing her art. Carefully choosing some of the most renowned and artist-driven companies to work with, her brand has expanded to include calendars, napkins, larger giftware items and a full line of holiday decor.
In 2005, Leigh was the recipient of her first LOUIE award for greeting card excellence and is nominated for 3 more in 2010. Her work and studio have been featured in creative publications like Where Women Create, Stationery Trends, Boho Magazine
Leigh believes firmly in the power of a creative community and the power of that community to unlock our truest selves. She is proudly “Living imperfectly with great delight.”
For more about Leigh and Curly Girl Design visit www.curlygirldesign.com