Blagica Bottigliero
Manager, Emerging Media & Measurement

Blagica joined Edelman in January 2009 and is a member of the Digital team, where she focuses on social media and digital trends. Serving as a specialist, she advises teams on proper protocol and contributes to overall strategy.

With a digital background that spans 13 years, Blagica, (pronounced blah-gee-tsa), brings a deep understanding of online marketing, media planning and social media strategy to the Consumer Brands team. Prior to joining Edelman, Blagica spent three years advising clients on their Web strategies while training entrepreneurs on Web 101 basics. Most recently, Blagica partnered with the Chicago 2016 Bid Team, spreading their consumer outreach online through various social media strategies including blogging and social networks.

Before she began her consulting practice, Blagica was a Senior Online Marketing Manager at CoolSavings (Q Interactive), where she led the search engine and affiliate marketing efforts.

Prior to CoolSavings, Blagica was an eMarketing Manager at one of the most successful startup companies in Chicago, Orbitz, where she negotiated and managed multimillion dollar marketing campaigns, in addition to launching the Orbitz Affiliate Program.

Before Orbitz, Blagica worked at Giant Step (now ARC), the interactive arm of Leo Burnett. While at Giant Step, Blagica managed the Web development efforts of clients such as Maytag, Purina and Energizer.

In addition to her work at Edelman, Blagica is a member of the NBC5 Street Team, where she was awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement for Alternate Media/New Media. Blagica is also a blogger and is passionate about mentoring women through her site, Gals’ Guide. If she’s not in front of her laptop writing, you’ll find Blagica practicing her old French lessons from the time she spent in Lyon, France, at the Alliance de Française.

Blagica is a graduate of Western Michigan University and lives in Chicago with her husband and daughter.

Michael Brito
Vice President

Michael Brito brings 12 years of experience in digital marketing to his role as Vice President at Edelman Digital. His principal areas of expertise include digital marketing, social media and integrated brand marketing communications through the social web. He currently provides strategic counsel, guidance and best practices to one of Edelman’s top global accounts.

Michael joined Edelman in November 2009 after two years of working for Intel Corporation where he served as a global social media strategist focusing on the consumer segment. He was instrumental in driving social media programs, campaigns and initiatives emphasizing authenticity and long-term relationship building with influencers and consumers.

Michael has also worked for other major brands in Silicon Valley to include to Yahoo!, Hewlett Packard and Sony Electronics where his primary areas of expertise included search engine optimization, paid search, product marketing, community management and social media.

He is currently on the Interim Board of Directors for the Social Media Club, a business advisor for Izea, Inc and is the founder of Silicon Valley Tweetup. He is a frequent speaker at BlogWorld Expo, MarketingProfs Digital Mixer as well as a guest lecturer at local universities in the Bay Area to include Cal Berkeley, Stanford and Saint Mary’s College.

In his spare time, Michael enjoys watching and playing sports, online gaming (PlayStation 3 and PC gaming), and spending time with his wife and two daughters. You can find him roaming the Twitterverse or Facebook at just about all hours of the night. He is proud to have served eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Gary Goldhammer
Senior Vice President, Digital Strategy & Development

Gary Goldhammer is a senior new media communications professional with extensive experience in traditional public relations and digital marketing, journalism and social media. He currently is Senior Vice President of Digital Strategy for Edelman Digital’s western U.S. region, providing leading edge counsel to clients including eBay, Symantec, HP, Netflix, Qualcomm and Adobe.

An award-winning writer and communicator, his primary expertise is in the changing role of the news media and how journalism trends are affecting public relations, marketing and business. He conducts public and private corporate seminars on digital marketing and social media, and often publishes his ideas and commentary on Below the Fold, one of the first blogs focused on the intersection of journalism and new media.

Gary previously served as President of MarCom:Interactive, a marketing communications company he co-founded in 1999. While at MarCom, Gary helped clients take full advantage of new technologies including blogs, RSS, social networks, mobile and 3D virtual environments. He also managed business development and client service functions.

Before MarCom, Gary served as Vice President for Nelson Communications Group (now Porter-Novelli) in Orange County, CA. There, Gary managed two of their major accounts, Unocal 76 and The Walt Disney Company, and garnered two Public Relations Society of America Silver Anvil awards for the agency. He created the statewide agency’s first digital public relations practice in 1995 and was among the first in the industry to use the Internet for public affairs campaigns and corporate communications. Gary’s work on behalf of clients has earned coverage from national and regional publications and programs, including CNN, The Wall Street Journal, Time Digital, BusinessWeek and the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Gary worked as a journalist for the Associated Press, United Press International, the Ventura County Star and Thompson Newspapers, among others. He is the author of a non-fiction book on the death penalty, and his articles and commentary have been published in the Orange County Register, Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union-Tribune, and in Internet trade publications. His latest book, “The Last Newspaper: Reflections on the Future of News,” was published in January 2010.

Gary graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism in 1989, the world’s first and — if you ask him — still the best journalism school in the world. Or at least better than the University of Kansas.

Phil Gomes
Senior Vice President, Digital Integration

Phil Gomes’ successful career in the communications field is characterized by his passionate interest in technology, media, and emerging forms of communication.

Phil is responsible for crafting the online engagement policies and standards for the agency and its clients worldwide, as well as serving as an educator and counselor with regard to online communities. In this role, Phil challenges teams and companies to engage with these communities in ways that are compelling, persuasive, and parallel with “digital citizenship” expectations. He also leads development of Edelman’s distance learning products.

During his near-decade in Silicon Valley prior to joining Edelman, Phil worked with such innovative companies as SRI International, Adaptec, Cornice, Matrix Semi-conductor, and Hitachi Semiconductor. Phil’s work helped guide clients to win the Technology Pioneers Programme Award at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Twice.

Phil enjoys wide industry recognition as an expert on the intersection of emerging media technologies and corporate communications. As a speaker on this topic, Phil has presented to the Forbes Forum For Dynamic Mid-Sized Companies, the Association of Educators in Journalism and Mass Communications (AEJMC), Associação Brasileira de Comunicação Empresarial (ABERJE), the International Institute for Research in the Middle East (IIRME), the American Chamber of Seoul, the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA), and the New Communications Forum. Phil is also considered by most participants in the public relations profession to be the first in the field to start a blog – August 2001.

Phil is a founding fellow for the Society for New Communications Research, launched in November 2005, and was conferred an award of merit for his corporate blog work for dotMobi in November 2007.

Phil has played guitar for nearly two decades and has a particular affinity for rock, metal, and jazz styles. He is also a regular contributor to PROpenMic.Org (a network for PR students and faculty), and runs a blog dedicated to Brazilian cachaça at cachaçagora.com. Phil still occasionally misses broadcasting.

Jim Kopeny
Copywriter

Jim handles copywriting and strategy duties for a number of Edelman Digital accounts including AXE, SCJ Pledge, Fuel Up to Play 60, Jim Beam, and Kraft. Through his work at previous agencies Jim brings with him a background of writing, content development and strategy for various online and print initiatives for clients including Baxter Healthcare, George Foreman, Looney Tunes, and Farberware.

He has over twelve-years of experience communicating with and building interactions between various online communities. He believes strongly that social media is bringing everyone closer together and disagrees wholly with those that believe it’s compartmentalizing society. Instead, he believes we’re growing into a weaving web of inclusive stories connecting us all to each other like never before.

A few more interesting facts about Jim:

Dave Levy
Senior Account Executive, Digital Public Affairs

Dave Levy has worked with Edelman’s Digital Public Affairs team in Washington, DC since the fall of 2007. Over the past years, he has contributed to growing the office and network’s digital health efforts, supporting and designing online programs ranging from patient awareness to public advocacy around health safety issues. He also serves as the weekly editor of the Digital Health Check-Up.

Once referred to as ‘the Doogie Howser of Digital Media’ after he explained to a colleague how he learned to read by using DOS as a toddler, Dave has sought, developed and presented new research on the transition of the mass media world to a social media base. He has given guest lectures on the need to rethink the theory behind digital media consumption and presented on the role of mobile communication during times of emergency and crisis. He has contributed to PRWeek, as well as several other media and public advocacy blogs, on the ongoing clash between digital and traditional media as they converge.

Before coming to Edelman, Dave received a master’s degree in public relations at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication, where he was awarded the Department’s Certificate of Achievement for academic achievement and exceptional promise in the field. He also contributed to research on political messaging within local media conducted by the University’s Knight Chair of Political Reporting, Prof. Charlotte Grimes.

Dave holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston College, where he was actively involved with interactive media research while an undergraduate, He assisted, designed and wrote studies on the effects of interactive media on college students, and wrote his thesis about the ways traditional, mainstream media is affected by new forms of digital media.

Gregory Lipman
Vice President, Associate Creative Director

Greg is the VP, Associate Creative Director for Edelman Digital’s Central Region and is responsible for leading the visual conception, creative development, and the overall look and feel of our projects. This includes typography, logo/icon design as well as the selection, direction and usage of photography and illustration to address a client’s needs. With over 13 years in the design industry, Greg brings to the table a very chameleon-like design style, which adapts itself based on a single project’s requirements. From lighthearted sites for kitty litter to global agribusinesses, since 1994 Greg has worked on successful projects in nearly every industry imaginable.

Currently, one of the longest serving members of Edelman Digital, Edelman Public Relations’ online division, Greg began his journey up the Edelman ladder beginning as a Senior Designer in 1999 and ending his New York chapter as their Senior Art Director during the summer of 2007 co-managing a team of five.

In September 2007, Greg was transferred to their Chicago office with a mandate to “stabilize, fix & grow the team”. Greg built a team of 3 writers & 3 designers from an original staff of one and completely changed how the team operated.

Then with a new mandate to do nationally, what was done for Chicago, Greg was promoted again in October 2008 to VP, US Director of Creative Services with the goal to “standardize, document and streamline the national operation” with a phased timeline over at least of a year with quarterly rollouts. Covering about a dozen offices, Greg concluded this assignment with an all-office training tour at the end of March 2009 to rave reviews.

Now back doing what he loves, Greg returned to lead the Chicago Creative Team in July 2009.

Prior to joining Edelman, Greg did double-duty as both a Print and Web Designer for Ruder-Finn PR in New York. There he developed various print and interactive projects for a wide range of clients including Novartis, American Heart Association, Dairy Management Association, Bush Beans, HP, Symantec, Amtrak, First Brands, Glad, Barbados Tourism and SmithKline Beecham.

Greg was introduced to the design industry at an early age from his father, a printer and his uncle, in the advertising industry. He earned a BFA from the Tyler School of Art, Temple University’s arts campus, and now lives in Chicago, IL.

Amanda Mooney
Senior Social Media Strategist

As senior social media strategist for Edelman Digital, Amanda helps clients and account teams understand key trends and insights related to audience technographics and community cultures online. In this role, she has worked with clients like Microsoft, AXE, Dove and Ben & Jerry’s.

In addition to her role as senior social media strategist, Amanda is a co-lead of Edelman’s global youth marketing group, 8095, and is a digital lead for Edelman’s goodpurpose team.

As a blogger and avid social network user, Amanda’s perspective on millennials and the digital space is regularly featured on Ruby Pseudo Wants a Word and We Are The Digital Kids and she writes
a regular column, WWWe Could Be Next, for Paper Magazine’s Word Up! blog. She has been cited in articles for GigaOM, ReadWriteWeb, BusinessWeek, The Boston Globe, Newsweek, Mashable and TIME and has served as a contributor for Adrants and ad:tech and judge for WOMMA’s annual Wommy Awards.

Amanda graduated from Emerson College in May 2008 with a BA in Integrated Marketing. Prior to graduation, she served as Emerson’s PRSSA president, a special agent for Undercurrent and the lead social media advisor for Schneider Associates, United Nations Youth and Student Association of Austria: Sustainable Future Campaign, i5invest and Josef Mantl Communications.

You can find and connect with Amanda on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr… or check out Flavors.me.

Danielle Wiley
Senior Vice President, Consumer Brands

Danielle joined Edelman in January 2007 as Vice President of the Chicago Interactive Solutions office. In this role, she oversaw many of the division’s major accounts, including Barilla US, Dairy Management Inc. and Wrigley. In August 2007, Danielle transferred to the Consumer division of Edelman to advise clients on all aspects of social media, including blogging and social networks. Two years later, she returned to Digital where she now manages all consumer brands projects and relationships, including both social media and web development.

With a background encompassing copywriting, information architecture and social media strategy, Danielle’s experience is both varied and deep. Prior to joining Edelman, Danielle was Associate Director of Content Strategy at Hanson Inc., an interactive agency located in Toledo, Ohio. There, she was the lead content developer for multiple award winning sites including merillat.com, the winner of the 2006 WebAward for Best Consumer Goods Website

Prior to Hanson, Danielle was a Senior Media Strategist at Fry Multimedia, working on consumer goods sites such as Nestle and large-scale e-commerce sites such as illuminations.com and Crate and Barrel.

Danielle was one of the earliest members of the Food Network staff in New York, and was instrumental in the creation of their first online store. She was also contributing editor to their monthly newsletter and trained their television ad staff on the ins and outs of early online advertising.

In addition to her work at Edelman, Danielle also maintains a foodie/mom blog at www.foodmomiac.com and serves on the board of the Healthy Schools Campaign. She is a graduate of Vassar College and currently lives in the Roscoe Village neighborhood of Chicago with her husband and two young children.

Kasia Wyser Pratte
Vice President, Associate Creative Director

As a Vice President, Associate Creative Director Kasia currently serves as a creative lead for West Coast region for Edelman Digital. Her main focus is on defining creative strategy and translating it into successful online client engagements. Always working towards most elegant user experience, she gets involved in all parts of the process, from ideation to product concepts. Client list includes eBay, Levis, HP, Palm, Adobe, Amtrak, Harman- Kardon, Zogenics, and more.

Kasia has served at Edelman Digital for almost two years now and was recently transferred from Chicago office to join the team in San Francisco. While in Chicago, Kasia worked as a creative lead on Dairy Council Inc, Dove, Axe and supported new business initiatives for Disney, eBay, and more.

Kasia brings to Edelman over ten years of experience and consistent success in the conceptualization, refinement, and execution of high-profile, creatively distinctive, and complex communication initiatives. She previously served as an Executive Creative Director at Hamilton Communications where she managed a group of 15 creatives. Prior to Hamilton, Kasia worked as a Sr. Art Director at Siren Interactive, an integrated marketing agency with focus on healthcare and pharmaceutical clients.

Her freelance client list includes Baxter Pharmaceuticals, Abbott Molecular, Sammy Sosa, The Chicago Fire, Frank Mayweather, Institute for Diversity, and Abt Electronics.

In her free time, Kasia enjoys traveling, reading, and exploring culinary gems of San Francisco. She lives in Soma with her jazz musician husband Greg (www.gregdrums.com) and twittering cat, Lola
(http://twitter.com/LolaTheKot)