Charles Dean Connor is president and CEO of the DC-based American Lung Association. Prior to being named president and CEO, Connor served as EVP and COO for the association. In this position, he oversaw all corporate functions including communication, marketing, and feld support, among others. Before joining the American Lung Association, he was SVP of communication and marketing for the American Red Cross. There, he participated in major events such as Hurricane Katrina, the Tsunami, and the overhaul of the organization's governance structure. Connor has also served as director of public affairs for the Federal Judiciary, and United States Navy public affairs officer.

Gordon Crovitz is the founder of Journalism Online, and he currently writes the weekly "Information Age" column in The Wall Street Journal. Formerly, Crovitz was publisher of The Wall Street Journal and EVP of Dow Jones, where he launched the company's Consumer Media Group. He founded the online news service Factiva and is a member of the board of directors of the news and information provider ProQuest. He led the acquisition of MarketWatch as well as specialist services Private Equity Analyst, VentureOne and VentureWire, London-based news franchise eFinancial News, and Frankfurt-based newswire VWD. Earlier in his career at Dow Jones, he served as the corporate VP for planning and strategy. He was editor and publisher of the Far Eastern Economic Review in Hong Kong and founding editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal Europe in Brussels.

Christi Day specializes in Emerging Media and web 2.0. In addition to her online media relations duties, Christi works as the "voice" behind the Southwest Airlines Twitter account (@Southwestair) and as a moderator and blogger on Nuts About Southwest (www.blogsouthwest.com).

Kelly Groehler joined the corporate public relations team of Best Buy in 2005, tasked with building and sustaining its reputation management program. She is responsible for public relations support of litigation, issues management, crises, government relations, environmental affairs, supply chain, corporate social responsibility, community relations, and the Best Buy Children's Foundation. Prior to joining Best Buy, Kelly served in the b-to-b and employee communication practice areas at Padilla Speer Beardsley Inc. (PSB). Kelly was also the 2004 president of Minnesota PRSA.

Mary Henige has held a variety of communications positions in her 23 years with General Motors. Currently she is director, social media, broadcast and technology communications. In this position, she works with marketing and leads GM's social media efforts including external blogs, the www.gmreinvention Web site, senior leader Web and Twitter chats, Facebook fan pages, and other social Web activities. Prior to that, she was director, strategic and executive communications since April 2008.

Kelly Howard currently serves as director of Firmwide Public Relations for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. He is responsible for representing the firm before major business media, advising other PwC executives in their dealings with the news media, and creating unique communications programs that differentiate the PwC brand. He leads development of the firm's social media recruiting strategy and support for the firm's corporate responsibility, sustainability and climate change, and recruiting efforts. Prior to joining PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Howard served as the EVP at ABI, a global public relations firm. Before his career in business, he served as the field coordinator in southern New Jersey for the '96 Clinton/Gore presidential campaign.

Bill Hughes is a corporate SVP of global communications at CA. Hughes is responsible for media relations, employee communications, industry analyst relations, and corporate philanthropy. He also oversees CA's corporate branding and identity, managing the company's look, feel, and sound of CA to clients around the world, and he works closely with investor relations and government affairs. Prior to joining CA, Hughes was SVP of communications and public affairs at IMS Corporation.

Jim Issokson joined MasterCard in 2006. He counsels senior executives on reputational risks and challenges. Additionally, he is responsible for outreach to third-party stakeholders including the Industry Analyst community and is leading the company's social media outreach. Prior to joining MasterCard, Issokson held senior positions at several PR firms, including Shift Communications in Boston where he worked with technology companies, and Edelman Worldwide in New York and Washington, DC, where he focused on government and corporate clients ranging from the American Automobile Manufacturers Associations and Nissan to the governments of Portugal and Chile.

Ray Kerins is VP, worldwide communications of Pfizer, overseeing PR and media relations. He is Pfizer's chief global spokesperson. Prior to joining Pfizer, Kerins was executive director of public affairs at Merck. Before that, he spent nine years at GCI as EVP/MD of corporate communications and media relations.

Tom Kunz was appointed president and CEO of Century 21 Real Estate LLC in June 2004. Since joining the CENTURY 21 System in 1982, Kunz has been responsible for everything from field communication, franchise sales, systems implementation, system-wide recruiting, broker automation, and regional development. Prior to entering the real estate field, Kunz owned his own employment agency and served as president of a software company.

Sarah Molinari is a corporate communications manager at The Home Depot, providing public relations support for various functional areas of the business, including real estate, store operations, and supply chain. She also monitors and participates in social media for the company. Prior to joining The Home Depot, Molinari worked at several public relations agencies, including Fleishman Hillard, Golin Harris, and Burson-Marsteller. She also worked at Novient, an Atlanta-based enterprise software provider, and served on the 2002 campaign for Governor of the State of New York.

Marian Salzman is president of Euro RSCG Worldwide PR, North America, and a member of the Euro RSCG Executive Committee with brand reputation oversight for the company and key executives globally. She was formerly a partner and CMO, and member of the Worldwide Executive Committee, at Porter Novelli. Prior to joining Porter Novelli, Salzman served as CMO at JWT Worldwide, chief strategy officer at Euro RSCG Worldwide, and worldwide director of TBWA's Department of the Future. She was director of consumer insights and emerging media at Chiat\Day and co-founded online market research company Cyberdialogue in 1992 with partner Jay Chiat.

Allan Schoenberg is director of communications at financial marketplace CME Group, which owns and operates CME, CBOT, and NYMEX. At the exchange, he plays a key role in the areas of media relations, social media, crisis communication, and overall strategic messaging. He earned his MS in Communication Management from Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y. and a BS/BA in economics from Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, Mich.

Mark Snyder is responsible for all aspects of marketing for the Kmart retail stores including strategy, planning, program development, and creative. Since joining Kmart in 2008, he has led the development and launch of the Kmart "Smart" value proposition and several successful campaigns around holiday, layaway, and the Protégé footwear launch. He joined Kmart from the Holiday Inn Family of Brands, where he served as SVP, worldwide brand management.

Sree Sreenivasan is the dean of students affairs at Columbia Journalism School and contributing editor of DNAinfo.com. Sree teaches in the digital media program (this fall, he is also teaching an MBA Master Class at Columbia Business School). For more than eight years, he served as technology reporter for WABC-TV and WNBC-TV in NYC. He is co-founder and former president of the South Asian Journalists Association. In March 2004, Newsweek magazine named him one of the nation's 20 most influential South Asians. In 2009, he was named one of AdAge's 25 media people to follow on Twitter.

Jamie Stein is director of communications for Tropicana, a division of PepsiCo. In her role, Stein is responsible for brand public relations and professional/influencer marketing with a focus on Tropicana Pure Premium and innovation. She also oversees social media efforts in collaboration with the Tropicana marketing team; serves as corporate spokesperson; and is responsible for division communications, executive media relations, and issues/crisis management. Prior to her role on Tropicana, she was the director of PR for Quaker Foods and Snacks.

Brian Stelter joined The New York Times in 2007 as a Business Day reporter covering media for the newspaper and NYTimes.com. He covers television and digital media and is a lead contributor to the Media Decoder blog. Stelter graduated in 2007 with a B.A. degree in mass communication from Towson University, where he was editor of the student newspaper, The Towerlight, for two years. While a student, he launched a media industry blog, CableNewser.com, in 2004. The blog, later renamed TVNewser.com, was purchased by Mediabistro.com later that year. Stelter continued as editor through 2007.

Mark Stouse leads BMC Software's worldwide analyst, press, and executive communications organization. Stouse joined BMC from HP, where he spent five years as a senior communications executive.

Lou Thompson joined Beacon Advisors as a partner in January 2009. He served as president and CEO of the National Investor Relations Institute for nearly a quarter of a century. Following his retirement from NIRI in 2006, Thompson served simultaneously as a partner for Genesis, Inc. in Denver and as MD for Kalorama Partners. He served as an advisor to the SEC and is in his second term on the NYSE's Individual Investor Advisor Committee. He is a charter member of the PR Newswire Disclosure Advisory Board and is a monthly columnist for Compliance Week magazine. Thompson was also assistant White House press secretary to President Gerald R. Ford and held executive communications positions with the American Enterprise Institute and the National Association of Home Builders. In April 2009, he completes a three-year term as Chairman of the Advisory Council for Iowa State University's Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication.

As a member of the Raytheon Leadership Team, Wickham is responsible for the company's media relations, public relations and brand management, internal communications, executive communications, corporate contributions, and special events. Wickham is also a member of Raytheon's Executive Diversity Leadership Team. Prior to her current position, Wickham was VP of corporate communications for Hewlett Packard (HP). She came to HP in 2004 from General Electric (GE), where she was EVP, global communications for GE Healthcare, headquartered in the United Kingdom.

Neil Hershberg was named SVP, global media, in 2005. He is responsible for building strategic distribution relationships worldwide. Hershberg began his career as a newsman with United Press International in April 1970. He joined Newsweek in January 1977, and spent the next decade in a variety of editorial and executive positions, including Periscope editor and manager of the magazine's editorial publicity operation. He joined PR Newswire in March 1988, heading up the company's media relations and international services during his 10-year tenure. He joined Business Wire in January 1998 as VP, global media.

For 15 years, Jennifer Houston has managed various tech accounts from startups to Microsoft. She joined Waggener Edstrom in 1999 and currently heads up the digital team of 65 at WE Studio D, which she also helped create. Prior to her work with WE Studio D, Houston was responsible for running the Microsoft Windows account and helped to launch Microsoft's initial People Ready Business campaign in 2007. prweekus.com/next09

As leader of Weber Shandwick's digital practice, Chris Perry's work involves oversight of the firm's digital strategic initiatives and operations, as well as hands-on consulting and program execution for clients that include PepsiCo, Verizon, American Airlines, Standup2Cancer, and CKE Restaurants, among others. Perry has led a number of new media campaigns as client relationship leader for General Motors, including Chevy Aveo Livin Large, and GMnext. He has also worked across an array of other business sectors for companies including AT&T Wireless, Clear Channel Communications, Compuware, Cincinnati Bell, Convergys, Entertainment Industry Foundation, Korn Ferry, Honeywell, ICG Communications, and Pinkberry.

Michael Pranikoff is responsible for educating PR Newswire staff and customers about the role emerging media in marketing and communications. Pranikoff is also involved in the development of products and services for PR Newswire in the area of emerging media. He joined PR Newswire in 1998. In 2003, Michael was named the National Technology Markets Specialist, and eventually was named PR Newswire's first director of emerging media. He's also the creator and facilitator of PR Newswire's Seminar Series entitled "PR in a Web 2.0 World." Prior to joining PR Newswire, he worked for MacNeil/Lehrer Productions which produces the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. He maintains a blog linking to sites and conversations that pertain to the intersection of technology and public relations. prweekus.com/next09