Speakers
Nick Cavarra
CEO / Founder, Social Punch Marketing
Nick Cavarra is an Authorized Local Expert for Constant Contact and owner of Social Punch Marketing. With over 25 years of experience in Marketing and Entertainment, Nick travels up and down the Central Coast and the San Fernando Valley presenting hundreds of “how to” seminars on engagement marketing, social media and mobile marketing. He partners with Chambers of Commerce, Small Business Development Centers, SCOREs, Business Organizations, Nonprofits and Small Businesses. He is passionate about helping all these organizations achieve their goals!
Nick has worked on water conservation campaigns with the Lower Colorado River Authority, Metropolitan Water District and the California Department of Water Resources, as well as energy conservation campaigns for Flex Your Power in California. He has developed campaigns to improve children’s education and nutrition (First 5 California); emergency preparedness (Office of the Los Angeles Mayor – Homeland Security Department), campaigns to discourage bullying and gang violence (Los Angeles Human Relations Commission Zerohour Program), as well as social media campaigns for educational institutions (USC Sol Price School of Public Policy) and education leaders (UCLA Extension).
Nick was an 82nd Airborne Division Paratrooper; USC Trojan; Broadway Performer and Producer as well as a Cause Marketing Expert and Techie Nerd.
Merri Jill Finstrom
Co-Founder HudDogs, Marketing & Creative Services Wizard
MJ Finstrom owns a creative services business called HUTdogs with her brother David. They are award-winning, master-certified, Authorized Local Experts for Constant Contact.
In addition to creating traditional print marketing collateral, HUTdogs specializes in developing unique Constant Contact and Facebook campaigns. Their clients are diverse. They have worked with spas, gyms, community health organizations, small businesses, downtown improvement associations, universities, senior living facilities, on-line travel businesses, several local small businesses and a variety of non-profits. They manage social media channels for their customers and they also offer coaching and workshops. They have taught thousands of business people how to use social media and email marketing. Their real world experience, and the fact they are small business owners themselves, is key to their effectiveness in teaching others.
Chase Baldwin
Digital Marketing/ Agency Solutions Sales Supervisor, Web.com
Chase Baldwin has been the Digital Marketing/ Agency Solutions Sales Supervisor for Web.com for the past 3 years, helping small business owners with their online strategy. Web.com provides a wide suite of products and solutions to help small business owners succeed online. Chase first started with the company as a Sales Rep for entry level products, and over the years worked his way up to a Sales Manager for a wide array of products. Chase also heads up the Agency Solutions team that helps other online marketing companies deliver results to their end clients. Every day we strive to consult and educate small business owners how online marketing can help them grow their businesses and take them to the next level. Chase’s session will cover a broad overview of how online marketing works and what Web.com can do to help.
Ariana Rubio
Corporate Relationships, GoToMeeting/GoToWebinar
Ariana Rubio has been a successful revenue generator and brand story teller since entering the sales and advertising industry more than a decade ago. Her passion for consulting and marketing led her through developing strategies and solutions for the markets’ ABC & FOX television stations, leading as the President of the local American Advertising Federation chapter to her current position as a Corporate Relationship Manager for Citrix’s GoTo suite of collaboration business tools. She loves reading, sharing ideas with a fun audience, helping small businesses achieve their goals and traveling. When choosing a travel destination, a deciding factor is access to water activities. She loves swimming, snorkeling and recently took her first surfing lesson. Ariana’s Chiweenie, Chewy, is almost always by her side unless she is dominating at the local Bingo hall.
Jess Armstrong
Business Development Specialist at WordStream
Jess has been a member of the WordStream team since 2014. She started off in Customer Success where she Onboarded over 1,000 SMBs to the paid search platform. Now she has joined the Business Development Team, where she is responsible for training and supporting WordStream partners. In addition, she is an active blog contributor and featured webinar presenter for the Customer Marketing team. In her spare time, Jess enjoys cake decorating, attending Boston sports games, and traveling to craft breweries.
Mark Mikelat
Founder, Building Aspirations
Mark Mikelat, a business growth expert, speaker, consultant, and author, has extensive experience in marketing and sales strategy. He has successfully consulted with corporations all throughout the world in sales channel development, sales systems implementation, marketing strategy, social media marketing and email marketing. Some of his clients have included Microsoft, Coach Luxury Brands, Hewlett Packard, the Los Angeles School District and many others. His humorous programs are jam-packed with actionable and practical advice that business leaders can put into action immediately to increase their sales, win more clients, and grow their businesses. He is the author of multiple books and you can learn more about him by visiting www.BuildingAspirations.com
Raj Nijjer
VP, Partner Services and Community
As VP of Community Relations, Raj oversees community development at Yext, a global Digital Location Management (DLM) leader based in New York. Prior to joining Yext, Raj managed GoDaddy’s Online Presence and Commerce division growing it into a $100m+ business. While at GoDaddy for nine years, Raj held multiple leadership roles launching new and innovative products resulting in over 20 patents filed and three issued.
Prior to joining GoDaddy, Raj’s experience spanned Fortune 500 companies such as McKesson, Fiserv, Sage Software, inclusive of startups like NeoPlanet. A startup fan and digital marketing zealot, Raj is an angel investor and advisor to multiple founders. Raj received his Bachelors in International Management and MBA from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.