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Speaker Biographies 2005 Conference • 2004 Conference • 2003 Conference
Credentials
Author & Creator
Internationally Recognized
2004 Conference
Sharon Pinkenson, appointed by Mayor Edward G. Rendell to the position of Director of the Philadelphia Film Office in January 1992, was re-appointed by Mayor John Street at the beginning of his first term, eight years later. Ms. Pinkenson is responsible for all aspects of the office, founded in 1985. On July 1, 1992, she successfully spun off the municipal film office as a multi-county driving force for economic development. She currently serves as Executive Director of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, a non-profit corporation that has generated over $750 million during her tenure. Pinkenson
markets the City of Philadelphia and surrounding tri-state region
to the film, video, and television industry, attracting that lucrative
business that employs local citizens, engages local businesses,
fills hotel rooms and restaurants, and leaves without polluting
anything, while enhancing the region’s reputation internationally
on both the big and small screen. She also directs local goods
and services to productions; publishes the Greater Philadelphia
Film & Video Guide and the astoundingly popular website
www.film.org and advocates for the growth of Philadelphia’s
indigenous film community through the Greater Philadelphia Filmmakers
program.
A lifelong Philadelphian, Sharon graduated from the Philadelphia High School for Girls and Temple University. Throughout her career she has remained an important and recognizable figure in the Philadelphia community. In addition to her numerous memberships in professional organizations, she serves on Boards at Temple University School of Communications and Theater, Drexel University's Nesbitt College of Design, Film US, the African American Museum, and the Prince Music Theater, where she serves as Founding Director for Film at the Prince—The Sharon Pinkenson Film Project. Married to businessman Joseph Weiss, she has one daughter and has been a resident of Center City Philadelphia since 1964. Tracy Davison, Moderator, Anchor NBC 10 Emmy award-winning broadcast journalist Tracy Davidson anchors NBC 10 News at 5 PM. She also reports for NBC 10’s News at 10 AM and files a Consumer Alert story every weekday. Her goal with each Consumer Watch report is to inform consumers about scams and dangerous products. Davidson joined WCAU in March 1996 after spending nearly ten years anchoring and reporting for CBS affiliate, WTVH, in Syracuse, New York. In addition to her television experience, she has a very extensive background in radio. From 1981-1986, she worked for several New York radio stations. Davidson has earned several prestigious awards for her work in broadcasting; Women in Communications named her the 1995 “Communicator of the Year,” and in 1992, her dedication to community service to women and children of Vera House, a battered women's shelter, earned her the Sister Mary Vera Award. Davidson sits on the Board of Directors for CORA, an organization serving families in Northeast Philadelphia and serves on an advisory board for Laurel House, a domestic violence shelter in Norristown. She's also very active with the March of Dimes and the Salvation Army, and has been active as a Big Sister in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Delaware County. In addition, she's a member of St. Matthias Church in Bala Cynwyd where she serves as a Eucharistic Minister. Born in Oil City, located in Western Pennsylvania, Davidson attended the State University of New York at Genesco. She and her husband reside in the Philadelphia suburbs. Joy Sardinksy, Principal, Muse Consulting Group, LLC Throughout Joy Sardinsky’s 20+ year career as inventor, marketer, advertising agency executive, and branding consultant, her incisive strategies and executions have led to world-class solutions in creating and strengthening many leading brands and their businesses. In 2000 she founded Muse Consulting Group, a New York-based branding consultancy providing brand strategy, naming and brand identity design and collateral development. Ms Sardinsky's work has helped CEO's of organizations stake their positionings in the marketplace and holistically communicate their essence, ultimately leading to enhanced financial value. Clients range from those in the Standard & Poor’s 500, private companies, and premier non-profit organizations. The wide variety of business sectors is exemplified by clients such as Plum Creek, the second largest U.S. timberland owner with 8.2 million acres; The Institute of Culinary Education which offers substantial career and recreational culinary programs; and The Vaccine Fund, launched by Bill Gates with $750 million for vaccines for children in developing countries. Starting her own firm is consistent with an entrepreneurial bent recognized when she invented the first athletic bra, Runderwear. This orientation continued during years spent in positions at major corporations: first, at Young & Rubicam advertising agency with consumer goods clients such at Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson; next at Aris Isotoner, a Sara Lee Corporation subsidiary, with responsibility for 14 retail accessory brands; and lastly, at Interbrand, the global branding consultancy owned by Omnicom, where she led an innovative joint venture resulting in winning more than assignments from Procter & Gamble. Joy holds a BA from University of Pennsylvania in French and an MBA from The Wharton School in Marketing. Originally from Philadelphia, she now resides in New York. In her spare time, she most enjoys experiencing cultures abroad, hiking, and creating improvisational entertainment. Fred M. Stein, Founder, Creative Group Fred is senior partner in The Creative Group, Inc., established in Pennsylvania as a special events production and meeting planning firm. Dedicated to the creation, production, implementation and promotion of programs throughout the world, the company has successfully staged over 1,400 major special events and meetings in numerous cities throughout the United States and indeed around the world. Our client base ranges from non-profit cultural organizations to municipal, state and federal governments . . . from Fortune 500 corporations to small businesses . . . from civic associations to the media. Event production under his guidance is closely aligned with client's marketing, advertising and public relations campaigns and strategies. He directs a full-time staff of event producers, conference planners and support personnel with the ability to conceive and produce numerous long-term as well as one-time programs with a wide variety of audiences from 100 to 1,000,000 persons per event. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Fred was educated in the Philadelphia public school system and Temple University with a B.S. in Communications in 1972. As a journalism major he was a reporter for the Temple News and subsequent to graduation was named general assignment reporter and ultimately editor for a chain of community newspapers in Northwest Philadelphia. He was named to a legislative assistant post in Philadelphia City Council in 1976 and appointed assistant managing director of the City of Philadelphia in 1981 to plan and implement the 300th anniversary of the City. In 1983 he became Chief of Staff in U.S. Congress where he managed three offices in Philadelphia and Washington D.C. prior to staring his own business to produce special events. During his career in journalism and public service, Mr. Stein received numerous awards including Best News Story of 1974 from the Delta Sigma Chi journalism society and Best Editorial in 1975 from the Keystone Press Awards. He has been given twelve community service awards for his work in city and federal government. Over the course of his professional career he has been on various civic and charitable boards, including a founding member of Women Against Abuse, The Leukemia Society, the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania Marketing committee and Breast Health Institute. He also provides pro bono work as event director for the Race for the Cure ( 14 years) and Project H.O.M.E., to name a few. The following is a sampling of the hundreds of events Mr. Stein conceived and produced: Grand Openings: Paris Las Vegas Casino and Hotel, Mandeville Hall - St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia International Airport Terminal B/C, Apollo Arena - Temple University ( now Liacouras Center), Comcast SportsNet, CoreStates Entertainment Center ( now Wachovia Center), Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News Printing Plant, Philadelphia Zoo Primate Reserve. Product Launches: Comcast Metrophone Digital Service, World Cup Soccer Mascot Unveiling, American OnLine Digital City, Andersen Consulting Electronic Services. Capital Campaign Events: Lehigh University, Bryant College, Children’s Hospital, Curtis Institute of Music , St. Joseph’s University, Temple University, University of Pennsylvania, Villanova University, Villanova School of Law. Award Ceremonies : Philadelphia Liberty Medal Series, Mercy Health Courage to Come Back Series, Enterprise Technology Series, Drexel Business Leader of the Year, Musser Award of Excellence, William Penn Series, Franklin Institute Bower Series, Arthur Ashe, Philadelphia Music Foundation, All-America City.
Franne
has a passion for facilitating Significant Business Results™
with effective communication, commitment and creativity. She brings
high energy and professionalism drawing from her 20+ years as
a leader, entrepreneur and technologist. Franne has successfully
worked globally and locally with organizations to implement Significant
Business Results™. Franne
is a member of the Business Advisory Council for the West Chester
University MBA program. At Mellon Bank, she was a Systems Analyst. At FMC Corporation she was an Industrial Chemical Sales Representative covering an $8M territory in 3 states. Early in her career she was a Management Associate with SmithKline Beckman.
Rebecca Matthias is the President and Founder of Mothers Work, Inc., a publicly traded $500 million public company that manufactures and sells maternity apparel through 935 stores around the country. She is on the Board of Trustees of both Drexel University, and Hahnemann MCP Medical University. She is also on the Board of Overseers of the School of Arts and Science of the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, Ms. Matthias is a Director of CSS Industries, a New York Stock Exchange company engaged in the manufacture and sale of seasonal products, including gift wrap, greeting cards, and ribbons and bows. She is a graduate of M.I.T (ME, Civil), Columbia University (M Arch), and The University of Pennsylvania (BA). A frequent speaker to small business and entrepreneurial audiences, Ms. Matthias is the author of Mothers Work (Double Day), a book about her experiences starting up a business. Tracy Davidson Emmy award-winning broadcast journalist Tracy Davidson anchors NBC 10 News at 5 PM. She also reports for NBC 10’s News at 10 AM and files a Consumer Alert story every weekday. Her goal with each Consumer Watch report is to inform consumers about scams and dangerous products. Davidson joined WCAU in March 1996 after spending nearly ten years anchoring and reporting for CBS affiliate, WTVH, in Syracuse, New York. In addition to her television experience, she has a very extensive background in radio. From 1981-1986, she worked for several New York radio stations. Davidson has earned several prestigious awards for her work in broadcasting; Women in Communications named her the 1995 “Communicator of the Year,” and in1992, her dedication to community service to women and children of Vera House, a battered women's shelter, earned her the Sister Mary Vera Award. Davidson sits on the Board of Directors for CORA, an organization serving families in Northeast Philadelphia and serves on an advisory board for Laurel House, a domestic violence shelter in Norristown. She's also very active with the March of Dimes and the Salvation Army, and has been active as a Big Sister in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Delaware County. In addition, she's a member of St. Matthias Church in Bala Cynwyd where she serves as a Eucharistic Minister. Born in Oil City, located in Western Pennsylvania, Davidson attended the State University of New York at Genesco. She and her husband reside in the Philadelphia suburbs. Ellen Yin Ellen Yin is Co-Owner of Fork Restaurant and Bar, the acclaimed stylish American Bistro in Old City, Philadelphia. Since opening Fork in 1997, Yin and her partner Roberto Sella have received much credit for kindling the rebirth of Old City, which now plays host to the city’s most vibrant scene for dining and nightlife. Fork has won many accolades including being named one of the “Best New Restaurants” by Philadelphia Magazine. U.S.A. Today and the Philadelphia Inquirer have also raved about the new spot. The restaurant was featured in Wine Spectator and was named one of Philadelphia’s “Top Tables” by Gourmet Magazine. The restaurant has also received mention in national publications such as Bon Appetit, Food and Wine as well as Travel and Leisure. Yin also edited the restaurant’s cookbook From Our Restaurant’s Kitchen, which benefits the Fork Scholarship Fund for inner city students from the School District of Philadelphia who are interested in pursuing a career in the culinary arts. To date, Fork has awarded in excess of $16,000 in local scholarships for students to attend schools such as the Culinary Institute of America, the Swiss Hospitality Institute, Johnson & Wales, the Restaurant School of Philadelphia and the Art Institute of Philadelphia. Yin conceived Fork as a restaurant where guests dine in a comfortable atmosphere with a reasonably priced menu. The New American Bistro style cuisine that focuses on the freshest, highest quality products including organic ingredients and local farm produce. Yin hired Designer, Marguerite Rodgers, to create the restaurant’s design concept to reflect the area’s long history as an artist’s community. She enlisted local artists to assist in the restaurant’s unpretentious décor. Fork was rehabilitated from a vacant shell, in an historically certified building with 15’ high ceilings, exposed duct work and natural cast iron columns. Yin’s background in the restaurant business dates back to her school days when she worked as a server, bartender and in the kitchens of Philadelphia restaurants such as LaTerrasse and the White Dog Café while attending Penn during the day. After she earned her MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, Yin worked as a management consultant to the health care industry as well as at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in hospital administration. Her career also includes stints in advertising, marketing and special events management. Knowing all along that her real passion was to create her own restaurant, Yin left her career to start Fork in October 1996. The thirty-six year old owner partnered with wine director and Wharton classmate Roberto Sella to build and create the 68-seat restaurant. Fork is one of several new restaurants located in Old City that has become Philadelphia’s hippest place for a night out. Yin picked Old City when she noticed that the newly reconstructed Market Street did not offer a casual, inexpensive restaurant that would appeal to the wide range of area residents, business people and tourists who frequent the area. Yin serves on the Board of Directors of the Arden Theatre Company, the Old City District, the Friends of High Tech High Advisory Board and Communities in Schools of Philadelphia C-CAP Advisory Committee. Julie D. Lanzillo Julie Lanzillo is the CEO and President of InfoSport, Inc., the company she founded in 1994, with a borrowed FAX machine, used computer and less than $4,000 in cash. She is responsible for the daily operations of InfoSport, from the main office in Brookhaven, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. Her
entrepreneurial spirit and interest in the sports business began
at the age of 14, when she began promoting sports memorabilia
shows in North Carolina in 1983, handling all negotiations with
facilities, exhibitors and sports personalities. Lanzillo was recruited back to Florida to work for the Baseball Bluebook in 1992 as the Executive Editor, overseeing the introduction of new products and revamping existing ones, including the Basketball Red Book. After two years in that role, she moved to the Philadelphia area to be near family, and start her own sports publishing and marketing venture in 1994. Over the past eight years, InfoSport has grown into an internationally-recognized entity in the sports business community. Through the development of the comprehensive sports combine, Lanzillo and the InfoSport staff have assisted countless aspiring professional athletes in receiving the exposure needed to acquire playing offers with professional teams around the globe in a variety of sports. She has served as the NASCAR brand manager for The Scoreboard and handled licensing negotiations for other trading card companies. Currently in the process of obtaining her M. Ed. in Sports Administration from Temple University, she has taught undergraduate Sports Marketing as well as developed community college classes on college scholarships for the parents of student-athletes. Irene Hannan Irene Hannan serves as the director for Women’s Business Services for the Small Business Segment of the General Bank of First Union. As its director, Hannan is responsible to execute the company’s strategy for increasing business with women throughout the company’s markets. First Union/Wachovia is the nation’s fourth largest financial institution serving customers from Florida to Connecticut with 84,000 employees and earnings in 2001 of $2.8 billion.
Irene Hannan came to First Union’s predecessor institution,
CoreStates Financial Corp., following a varied professional career
in government and private industry. She is the former Chief Financial
Officer of the National Center for Urban Ethnic Affairs in Washington,
D.C. and vice president of Hannan Associates with offices in Washington
and Philadelphia. Irene has also taken an active role in her community. She has served as board chair at the Crossroads School, and a trustee of the Vanguard School, and Country Day School of the Sacred Heart. She is a permanent board member of St. Francis Nursing Home who granted her the Mundy Award for outstanding service. She is a past president of the Philadelphia Chapter of Trinity College Alumnae Association. She is the recipient of the Woman of Distinction Award 2000 from the Philadelphia Business Journal, the 2002 Small Business Administration’s Women’s Business Advocate of the Year award and the first recipient of the Iris Newman Award given by Ben Franklin Technology Center for commitment to women’s entrepreneurship. Irene was named by the Governor of Pennsylvania as one of the 50 Best Women in Business in spring 2002. Irene was recently recognized by the Dean of Temple University’s Fox School of Business as its Executive in Residence for 2002-2003. A graduate of Trinity College, she completed graduate studies at Temple University and the University of Wisconsin. Irene lives in Devon, Pa. with her four children. Nicholas M. Lovecchio Nick is Executive Vice President for Willis of Pennsylvania, Inc. He is a member of Willis of Pennsylvania’s Executive Committee, Chairman of Willis of Pennsylvania’s Executive Production Committee and Co-Director of Willis of Pennsylvania’s Risk Solutions division. Nick’s corporate responsibilities include financial and corporate planning, client service and new business development. He joined Willis in March 1992. Nick began his career in 1980 as a National Accounts underwriter for Travelers Insurance Company in Hartford, CT. His responsibilities included casualty, property and employee benefits underwriting and sales for Fortune 1000 accounts. While with Travelers, Nick received his National Association of Securities’ Dealers Series Seven license to handle pension, annuity and life products. In 1985, Nick joined Johnson & Higgins in Philadelphia as a senior account executive and later became an officer in their national accounts department. His responsibilities included managing a diverse book of Fortune 1000 business and brokerage responsibility for Management Professional Liability (e.g. Director’s & Officer’s Liability, SEC Liability, ERISA Responsibility Liability, Employment Practices Liability and Fidelity Insurance) and Alternative Funding Programs (e.g. captives, finite risk, derivatives, self insurance and deductibles). Nick’s undergraduate work was completed at Colgate University, with a Bachelor of Arts in History. He earned a Masters in Business Administration with honors at the College of William and Mary and graduated from Travelers Insurance Company’s Commercial Lines School of Underwriting. Nick is currently a faculty member of the Insurance Society of Philadelphia, and has been a guest lecturer at Temple University, School of Insurance and Risk Management, and has addressed various audiences at seminars and conferences on risk management, alternative funding programs and management professional liability. LORI
F. REINER, CPA CERTIFICATIONS:
AREAS
OF EMPHASIS: UP
CLOSE: In May 2001, Lori was named one of Pennsylvania’s “Best 50 Women in Business”. In April 2001, she was awarded the “Woman in Business Advocate” by the Small Business Administration. Lori also received 2001 Young Leadership Award from the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. Lori was selected to the Philadelphia Business Journal’s “Women of Distinction” for 2001 and “Forty under Forty” in February 1998, for her outstanding contributions both professionally and personally. Lori is very active in community organizations and was recently named President of the Forum of Executive Women, a membership organization of approximately 300 of the area’s most influential women. The Forum’s mission is to advance women leaders in the Greater Philadelphia region. She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Temple University. PROFESSIONAL
MEMBERSHIPS: CIVIC
& CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES: Jane Storero Jane Storero is a securities partner in Blank Rome LLP’s Business Department involved in the representation of publicly-traded and private companies in private and public offerings of debt and equity securities and mergers and acquisitions. These companies include financial institutions and related companies, financial services companies, insurance and manufacturing companies, as well as e-commerce and software companies. Ms. Storero is also involved in representing public companies in connection with the preparation of quarterly and annual reports, proxy statements and other disclosure documents as well as state securities law compliance and NASDAQ and Exchange requirements. Ms. Storero also represents underwriters in connection with initial public and secondary offerings. She regularly counsels boards of directors and audit committees of public companies in connection with corporate governance issues, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, the Section 16 requirements and disclosure requirements under the Federal securities laws, including Regulation FD. Ms. Storero is a member of the Pennsylvania Securities Commission’s Attorney Advisory Board, the Forum of Executive Women, the Women’s Investment Network and The Philadelphia Bar Association’s Women in the Profession Committee. Ms. Storero is also on the Board of the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce, the Temple University League of Women Entrepreneurs and an Advisory Board Member for the Women’s Business Development Center. Prior to joining Blank Rome, Ms. Storero was a partner at a Washington, DC law firm specializing in securities and merger and acquisition matters.
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Marjorie
Brody
Sharon
Pinkenson, Executive Director, Philadelphia Film Office
Franne
McNeal, Founder, HR Energy 
Rebecca
C. Matthias, President and COO, Mothers Work, Inc.