Chapter Awards 2010-2011
New Member of the Year
Member of the Year
Board Member of the Year
Proud Award Winner
Previous Proud Award Winners
New Member of the Year
Kathryn Neal Odell, CEO, Sales Onsite
Our new member of the year joined BMA in April 2010. Right away, she got active and involved. In October, she moderated our breakfast seminar on “All Things B2B Client and Agency” and didn’t stop there. She also joined the membership committee focusing on retention. In fact, you may have received a reminder call from her staff regarding a lapsed membership; an effort that has helped boosted the number of members we had renewed this Spring. She has a 20-year background in sales, operations and HR for Fortune 500 companies like Moore/Wallace (now RR Donnelley), Quest Diagnostics and Manpower; and for a California technology start up.
Member of the Year
Sima Dahl, President, Parlay Communications
She does it all...Marketing Consultant, Social Media Strategist, Social Networking Coach, Speaker, Trainer, Author and LinkedIn Expert and with all that she still found the time to co-chair our Social Media committee and moderat the 5-part Social Media Breakfast Seminars on Creating the Blueprint to Bring Social Media into Your Organization. She is a co-author of "Make Your Connections Count" and also writes for Marketing News Magazine and Social Media Marketing Magazine. She serves on the Chicago boards of the American Marketing Assn. and Business Marketing Assn. (effective July 2011) and enjoys skiing, cycling and live music.
Board Member of the Year
George Rafeedie, Founder, Tell Your Story Brand Communications
Our board member of the year joined BMA in 2004 shortly after coming to Chicago from Cinncinati to open the Chicago office of HSR Business to Business (now gyro). In five years, he developed the office from zero billings to serving the needs of clients including USG Corporation, Motorola, United Stationers, Zebra Technologies, LaSalle Bank and SIRVA. His energetic and contagious personality caught the attention of other board members in 2007 after his agency developed the Tower Awards campaign. Following that introduction, he was asked to join the board of directors. He has led the membership committee for several years and this year, also took on the co-chair role for the social media committee. Earlier this year, he founded Tell Your Story, a story-driven brand and marketing communications agency that uses independent creative, communications and marketing resources to build virtual agency teams for clients who don’t want the overhead of a big agency.
Proud Award Recipient
Mary Uhrina, President, Clearly Write
- She’s a fantastic writer and editor, passionate about clear and consistent messages, and driven by her own high standards of excellence.
- She turns complex technical information into powerful, persuasive English in a wide range of industries. When you need words, she can string them together powerfully.
- She’s worked on the agency side at Bozell and on the corporate side at Nalco Chemical. Today, she’s president of her own marketing communications firm.
- She invented the virtual press release writer.
- She joined BMA in 1989, and in 2003 she joined the BMA Chicago board as a director – a role she continues to serve in.
- At the time, BMA Chicago needed to generate more income to fund the growth of our chapter. At the time, I was president, so I asked her to step up and help. She said yes.
- She chaired our 3rd annual Windy City Biz Bash in 2004, and not only staging a fun event, but also generating more income than we ever had before. Then she amazed us by doing it again in 2005. She blew away our expectations for what was possible.
- BMA Chicago has recognized her twice as the board member of the year, in 2003 and in 2004.
- Since 2007, she has chaired our Breakfast Seminar series. That year, 229 people attended the breakfasts. Over time, she has more than tripled attendance to about 700 people last year.
- In 2006 her alma mater, Mount Mary College, recognized her with the Madonna Award for Professional Excellence.
Previous Proud Award Recipients
2011 - Mary Uhrina
2010 - George Stenitzer, CBC
2009 - Gary Slack, CBC
2008 - Gordon Hochhalter
2007 - William Creighton, CBC
2006 - Larry Zar
2005 - Robert Goranson, CBC
2004 - Ken Crowhurst
2003 - William Pohlman, CBC
2002 - Stanton J. Bond, CBC
2001 - Nancy Creighton
2000 - Paul Lesher, CBC
1999 - Gan Avery, CBC
1998 - Sari Lipschultz
1997 - Frank W. Callahan
1996 - Lorrie Grime, CBC
1995 - Robert W. Moore, CBC
1994 - Robert E. Campbell, CBC
1993 - Richard C. Christian
1992 - William J. Fick, CBC
1991 - Charles A. Goding, CBC
1990 - Tak Matsui
1989 - Daniel B. Kennedy, CBC
1988 - Rick Kean, CBC
1987 - Alan I. Hurd, CBC
1986 - Arthur F. Ceckowski, CBC
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