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University of Richmond

Social media conference speakers and organizers

Presenters

Jon Newman is a founding partner of The Hodges Partnership, a 12-person Richmond-based public relations and communications firm.  Late last year, he started Jon’s PR 1.5 (jonnewman12.wordpress.com), a blog that chronicles his journey of learning and implementing social media as part of his agency’s marketing mix.  THP is currently helping Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance, AMF Bowling, the Virginia Community College System and National Harbor, among others, in navigating the social media waters.  Jon’s current non-profit work includes a recent appointment to the board of Henricus. Before Hodges, Newman enjoyed a 10-year career as an award-winning television journalist and newsroom director, He then became the vice president for media relations for Slay Public Relations (formerly Martin PR), where he helped to manage the day-to-day operations of a national public relations team. He holds a B.A. in English from Rutgers.

Gradon Tripp. By his own account Gradon Tripp was involved in the social media scene before the term social media was firmly defined.  He is currently in nonprofit account sales at Firstgiving, an organization that helps people raise money online for non-profit organizations and he is the founder of the Boston-based Social Media for Social Change, an organization that focuses on bringing the social media community together to raise awareness for worthy causes. Social Media for Social Change celebrates how online and offline collaboration can change the world for the greater good. The organization’s first fund raising event netted more than $20,000. He founded DesignBoston.org more than two years ago and it has since become the largest locally-oriented architecture/interior design blog. He’s also deeply involved in the Boston-area social media world, and is an enthusiastic and regular attendee of conferences and “Tweetups”. Gradon started his career at Verizon and for the past decade has worked in either sales and marketing, or customer support and operations for a number of technology companies. He was educated at The New England Institute of Art, Northeastern University and University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

Panelists

Aaron Dotson is principal and creative strategist for Elevation, an advertising and design firm dedicated to elevating the brands of its clients through creative and strategic excellence. His agency, which was recently named to Richmond's "Rising 25," has nonprofit clients include  Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Virginia Credit Union, Virginia College Savings Plan, Children's Museum of Richmond, and Venture Richmond, among others. Aaron's work has been recognized with awards from the Advertising Club of Richmond, the National Retail Merchants Association, the American Institute of Graphic Arts, the Summit National Creative Awards, and the Tellys, among others. Aaron is a graduate of the University of Virginia, with a B.A. in rhetoric and communication studies. He was named as one of Richmond's "Top 40 Under 40" in 2007, is an adjunct professor of advertising at Virginia Commonwealth University, and serves on the board of directors for Virginia Supportive Housing and the American Marketing Association-Richmond Chapter.

Conaway B. Haskins, III is deputy state director for the office of Sen. Jim Webb. In this role, Haskins assists in managing Webb’s regional offices and in coordinating constituent casework. He also focuses on economic development and special projects. He has deep understanding of the government and philanthropic sectors and previously served as a senior program officer for the Petersburg-based Cameron Foundation. Part of the new wave of citizen journalists, Haskins edited and published (2004-07)  South of the James,  an online journal that offered news, commentary, and analysis on culture, media and politics in Chesterfield County, Metro Richmond and the Commonwealth. He holds a B.A from George Mason University and a M.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Scott Pharr is the co-owner of PharrOut, a communications firm with a strong reputation for Web development and working with nonprofits and community Web sites such as richmondcrime.org and rvablogs.com. PharrOut is well respected for its work in search engine optimization, graphic design, interface and application design as well as its use of social media platforms. The owners donate 10 percent of the company's pre-tax income to the Richmond community. Nonprofit clients include: The Partnership for Nonprofit Excellence, Beth Ahabah Museum and Archives, Virginia Performs, the Visual Arts Center, University of Virginia and Union Theological Seminary.  Pharr sets up and manages social media plans and runs the RVANews.com, which incorporates the growing community of twitterers, online video and Facebook users. He holds a degree in marketing from Virginia Tech. 

Cynthia Price spent her first year as director of communications for the Richmond-based Christian Children's Fund helping to lead the organization's name change, rebranding strategy, and launch of its new Web site. On July 1 the organization became ChildFund International. Moving forward she also is overseeing the implementation of its social media strategy. As director, Cynthia has global responsibility for driving all aspects of public relations, including reputation management, policy development, media relations, and message development. Previously, she was with the Richmond Police Department where she managed crisis and day-to-day communications and worked for three chiefs. Before then, she was with the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and a newspaper reporter. She serves on the boards of Virginia Mentoring Partnership, Virginia Press Women, and National Federation of Press Women. As the expected next president of NFPW, she is launching a blog this summer. She holds a degree in English from Radford University.


* * *

Other speakers who will offer brief remarks or introductions:

  • Nancy B. Stutts, Executive Director, the Connect Network
  • Sandra J. Peart, Dean of the Jepson School of Leadership Studies
  • Ryan Smartt, Director, ConnectRichmond
  • Table top discussion leaders

* * *

Conference Planning Committee

  • Wendy Austin, ConnectSouthside/ConnectNetwork

  • Shannon Best, Jepson School of Leadership Studies

  • Jonah Holland, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden;

  • Jon Newman, the Hodges Partnership

  • Caroline Platt, Hodges Partnership and the Social Media Club

  • Sue Robinson, Jepson School

  • Holly Rodriquez, University of Richmond Communications

  • Kira Siddall, Siddall Agency

  • Ryan Smartt, ConnectRichmond/ConnectNetwork.


Posted June 22, 2009