Greg Stielstra
Greg Stielstra is the author of PyroMarketing: The Four Step Strategy to Ignite Customer Evangelists and Keep Them For Life (HarperBusiness, September 2005). An innovative marketer, author, speaker and consultant, he was the marketing director for numerous best-selling books including The Purpose Driven Life, the best-selling hardcover book in history. He now works as Vice President of Marketing for Christian Books at Thomas Nelson Publishers. Greg has his BA in broadcasting and public relations from Central Michigan University and an MM in business management and marketing from The Aquinas School of Graduate Management. He lives with his wife and children in Nashville, TN.

Larry Ross
Larry Ross has more than 25 years experience in mainstream and Christian public relations, with significant involvement in both Christian and secular business. Throughout his career and personal ministry, Mr. Ross has been a strategic consultant to many organizations and individuals at both agency and corporate levels.

A graduate of Wheaton College in Illinois, Mr. Ross has diverse experience in all forms of promotion and communications. He has developed national and international images for worldwide organizations, in several cases serving as primary corporate spokesperson.

Mr. Ross has extensive radio/television training and expertise. Before his involvement with public relations agencies in New York, Philadelphia and Dallas (since 1980), he spent several years as field spokesman for the General Motors Corporation. He has also handled media positioning for baseball great Joe DiMaggio and evangelist Billy Graham.

Mr. Ross has broad experience in for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. In New York, his focus was media liaison with business press, including investor relations and financial public relations for the nation's second largest savings bank.

He has helped numerous organizations conduct issues management, corporate positioning, crisis communications and coordinate special events - influencing public opinion through an effective use of media and public relations.

 
Chris Wilson
Chris Wilson is CEO of Wilson Research Strategies, a company he founded in 1998. Since that time, WRS has done work for over 100 of the Fortune 500 and been involved in work for over 100 current members of Congress.

Widely recognized as one of the world's leading and most credible public opinion research and research-based strategic consultants, Chris specializes in market research geared toward winning campaigns (political or corporate), product challenges, public issue contests, or legislative battles. He understands that to succeed, messages and issues must burn through the clutter and reach their target audience.

Chris has built his reputation on being able to identify and overcome obstacles through focused communication based on strategically researched solutions. Understanding that research is an evolving science, he applies cutting-edge techniques to client challenges in order to stay well ahead of the competition.

Chris has conducted research for dozens of associations and has directed numerous projects ranging from membership studies to massive public communication efforts. He helped to pioneer the use of research in assisting clients involved in short-term, crisis management situations. Considered one of the country's foremost experts on employee and membership communications, Chris has designed and conducted a number of innovative and effective studies in this area.

Chris has an extensive background in campaign strategy, political media, and message development. He has been particularly involved in many successful political campaigns in the South and Midwest. In 1999, Chris was named a "Mover and Shaker" in American politics by Campaigns & Elections magazine - a respected campaign industry publication.

A frequent lecturer on research, strategy, and national trends, Chris is frequently quoted in such national publications as The Washington Post, The Washington Times, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. He is also a regular pundit on MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, and C-SPAN, as well as a contributing author to various trade magazines. Chris graduated from the University of Oklahoma and Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

 
Bob Hutchins
Bob Hutchins is an Internet marketing industry veteran and former Vice
President of marketing and development for Global Tech Resources and The Christian Interactive Network. With over 11 years experience in Internet marketing and promotion, he was on the bleeding edge of the new media revolution. His expertise extends to online media, Email marketing and wireless messaging.

BuzzPlant is a multipurpose Internet marketing agency that develops and creates awareness and demand though digital media for faith based entertainment releases and companies in the CBA industry. BuzzPlant¹s client roster includes such well known entities as Warner Bros. Records, Twentieth Century Fox, Mel Gibson's The Passion of The Christ, INO Records, Inpop Records, Rocketown Records, Integrity Media, Flicker Records, John Tesh, World Vision, Curb Records and Zondervan Publishing.

BuzzPlant's marketing partners include AOL/Time Warner, Yahoo, Beliefnet.com, Christianity.com, and many others.

BuzzPlant and it's employees have been featured in Wired Magazine, MarketingVOX, American City Business Journals, The Dallas Morning News, The Tennessean, as well as numerous local television news interviews.

 
Beth Cathey
Beth Cathey is President of Renegade Idea Group, Inc. and has owned her own company since of March of 1999 when she began a media buying (including list brokerage) and new donor/customer acquisition company. The simple mission of that organization was to serve both Christian non-profit and for profit clients who made a difference in the world. This was accomplished by helping organizations acquire new donors for their cause and customers for their products through strategic direct mail acquisition and other strategically-applied media efforts.

Prior to this, Beth worked for a full service, direct marketing, fundraising, and marketing firm - KMA the agency -- for almost 15 years. In June of 1993 Beth created a new division within the agency - a media services group. This group was responsible for all print media buys for the more than 20 non-profit clients of the agency. Beth also organized a list brokerage group which managed all aspects of new donor acquisition programs, from strategic development, list purchasing, merge/purge management, and results analysis. This group was responsible for the development of a proprietary list analysis database that provided list by list performance analysis based on five years of multi-cause data.

Prior to the media services group, Beth served as a senior consultant, managing the multi-million dollar marketing/fundraising budgets of such national organizations as Prison Fellowship, American Bible Society, Moody Magazine, and many others.

A member of the Direct Marketing Association for more than a decade, Beth has also served on the List/Database Council and the Non-Profit Council of the DMA, and the List Leaders Group.

Beth is a summa cum laude graduate of Hardin-Simmons University, majoring in mass communications. She lives in Rockwall, Texas with husband, Dean and her three sons: Joshua, Caleb and Micah. As a part of the local community, Beth serves as Vice President of the Board of Trustees of Heritage Christian Academy, serves on the local Chamber of Commerce board of directors, and attends church at Lake Pointe Baptist Church where she is active in ministry to grade-schoolers.

 
Honnie Korngold
Honnie Korngold has nearly 20 years of leadership experience developing marketing programs for ministries and luxury resorts. An accomplished creative marketer, her vision and expertise have driven notable growth in the church, parachurch and hospitality segments. She has authored articles and lectured on the topics of ministry marketing and communications and is the recipient of an Adrian Golden Bell Award for excellence in Advertising.

Offering a rare blend of creative and operational strengths, Honnie has achieved exciting organizational and product turnarounds and is recognized for her success in marketing Christian events.

As Director of Marketing for Campus Crusade for Christ’s conference ministry for nearly 10 years, Honnie was involved in developing, marketing and overseeing nearly 6000 Christian events during her tenure. Her strategic approach to building a business is reflected in her work as Founder and President of Christian Travel Finder, a unique and innovative California based travel and event company specializing in Christian cruises and events.

 
Kobey Nicholson
Prior to joining Renegade Idea Group, Kobey worked for a full service, direct marketing, fundraising, and marketing firm - KMA the agency -- for 10 years. The beginning seven years of her career she served in an account service capacity. As an associate consultant she was responsible for the day to day details of her clients as well as managing their project budgets and managing very strict timelines for such organizations as International Bible Society, World Vision, Trans World Radio, Prison Fellowship, SIM USA and Childhelp USA. Kobey is a very personable person and was well respected by all her client contacts-many clients voiced their regret to see her leave the account service role.

Kobey joined the Media Services group at KMA the Agency in 1995 as the Associate Media Manager. Kobey was in part responsible for all print media buys for the more than 20 non-profit clients of the agency. She also helped to manage and run a list brokerage group that managed all aspects of new donor acquisition programs, from strategic development, list purchasing, merge/purge management, and results analysis.

Kobey is now a part of Renegade Idea Group. She manages the list brokerage and list management business for Renegade Lists. Over the last 6 years she has worked with a diversified array of clients and projects targeting the Faith-based market. These have given her the opportunity to be very creative in marketing to and reaching the faith-based market. Projects worth noting are: The Billy Graham Metroplex Mission in Dallas, The Passion of the Christ movie, Beth Moore Conference event planning, The Benji Returns Movie, and most recently, Coral Ridge Ministries' "One Nation Under God" TV special.

Kobey is a graduate of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communications focusing on Advertising and Marketing with a Minor in English. She and her husband, Bill, live in San Antonio, Texas. They are the proud parents of their three sons-Jacob, Joel and William III. They are active members of Northeast Bible Church.

 
Eric Wright
Eric Wright is a project manager with both The BuzzPlant and Ground Force Network, based out of Franklin, TN. He and his team drive marketing ideas and direction for numerous music, film and literary clients utilizing viral elements such as ecards, websites, and eblasts in conjunction with street team initiatives. Eric manages the overall process and is the key liaison between the client and the in-house designers. He is currently managing campaigns for INO records, S/R/E records, INPOP records, Charlie Peacock's new label The Runway Network, and the New York Times best selling book, The Maker's Diet.

Before joining The BuzzPlant and GFN, Eric worked primarily as an artist manager in the music business both with corporate firms and his own management company, WRIGHT management. In this capacity, he developed marketing campaigns, over saw photo shoots, gave A&R direction, and handled all tour management aspects. While at these companies, he worked with major label artists such as Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Cindy Morgan, Rachael Lampa, Jill Phillips, and All Together Separate. Additionally he has done marketing consulting and career development for many independent artists who rely solely on grassroots and word of mouth marketing.

Eric has also started his own hockey "grassroots" campaign aimed at his two young sons, which includes many trips to the practice rink and lots of nhl.com.

 
Christine Bailey
Christine Bailey helped launch Ground Force Network in September 2004. As the "Ground War Leader" for Ground Force Network, she has had the opportunity to mobilize and manage nationwide street team volunteers to promote a variety of films, music releases, products, and events in the faith & family market, including the Jim Caviezel film, Madison, and presently, The Maker's Diet. Prior to joining Ground Force, Christine managed the Nashville, TN office of Grassroots Music, Inc./StreetLaunch.com, where she conducted viral marketing campaigns for new album releases in Christian music and online marketing/retail sales for hundreds of Christian artists on GrassrootsMusic.com, an online retail site with approximately 250,000 unique visitors a month. While at Grassroots Music, Christine worked on projects for artists such as Third Day, Caedmon's Call, Jars of Clay, Switchfoot, and the Mel Gibson film, The Passion Of The Christ. Christine has also served in project management for one of the top graphic design companies in Nashville, Pixelgrazer, whose clients include Sparrow Records, Essential Records, and Word Label Group. Christine is also a victim of word-of-mouth marketing herself, as she has an extensive collection of CDs and movies that she bought solely on a friend's recommendation. Why else would she own something by a band named Frou Frou??
 
Sissy Toney
Sissy Toney began her career after college when she joined Bright Banc in its secondary marketing group in 1982. Additional education through Southern Methodist University’s Graduate Finance Program along with certifications from the Bank Administration Institute and Treasury Management Association positioned Toney to become a leading payment systems expert and bank operations consultant for 10 years with Dallas-based Carreker Corporation.

Toney’s core competencies in finance, marketing, and strategic planning landed her in investor relations during the late 1990’s IPO frenzy; and in 1998, Toney led the $150 million Carreker Corporation IPO. With that experience under her belt, Toney joined a telecommunications startup where she helped raise $4 million in investor capital and worked to position the company for its 2003 acquisition by Cisco Systems.

Desiring to work in the faith-based market, Toney entered the Master’s of Divinity - Theology program at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. LifeWay Christian Resources plucked Toney from the Seminary to develop new knowledge and channel management initiatives for the $500 million non-profit corporation. Leveraging best practices from the corporate world, Toney implemented three new channel programs that resulted in $6 million revenue growth and $1 million in marketing expense savings over 18 months.

InService America hired Toney in late 2004 to lead business development and implementation of strategic growth initiatives for the company.

Click here to hear all of these speakers live and unedited, along with the transcripts and powerpoint presentation materials from the Faith Based Marketing Summit!