BIRNBACH - Key Persons

Cheryl Walsh has spent more than two decades working in corporate communications where she gained both a corporate and an agency perspective on brand management. She has experience working for small technology start-ups to established technology firms across all global communications disciplines. She spent the last decade as a senior director of marketing, media and alliances at FIRST, a nonprofit organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Cheryl brings a total brand marketing approach to clients, which includes assisting with the integration of business & marketing programs into PR/IR/AR, advertising, tradeshows, direct mail, special events and channels to leverage the brand. She is well versed in early stage and complex technologies and their adoption cycles, based on her work on both the ARPANET while at BBN Technologies and also her exposure to the product development cycle at Arthur D. Little. Cheryl's implementation of marketing communications starts with a "financial lens" on all brand programs. On both the corporate and the client side, her exposure to the investor relation's function includes, IPOs (FTP Software, 724 Solutions and Liberate Technologies) as well as M&A activity (BBN, FTP, 724 and Platinum Technologies, Inc.). She created corporate positioning and messaging for analyst presentations, provided strategic counsel for investor kits and investor content on Web sites, wrote for annual reports, spearheaded major company announcements, and developed management briefings all Reg FD compliant. Her trade analyst relations program called, "The Wild Wild West" was converted into a successful financial analyst program for U S West (now Qwest). She subsequently developed a Financial and Trade Analyst Day in Boston for US WEST, which attracted dozens of sell and buy side investment community attendees as well as trade analysts in supply chain logistics. Previously, Cheryl served as a director at Topaz Partners, director of marketing services at The Hanover Insurance Group, a vice president at SHIFT Communications, and a senior vice president and member of the US Telecommunications Practice at Brodeur Worldwide, focusing both on the impact of emerging technologies and also launching non-US companies into the US market. Cheryl has deep experience in the business-to-business area in technologies spanning industries and countries, including multinational corporations (GE Plastics); smart cards (The Global Chipcard Association); wireless banking & financial transactions (724 Solutions); to interactive TV (Commerce TV, Liberate); insurance (ISI/CGI) and telecommunications (AT&T Broadband, USWEST, Tundo, Interactive Enterprise, Edge2Net). Her healthcare experience includes working for Phase Forward before their IPO. Cheryl has managed the international marketing communications efforts of TCP/IP software developer, FTP Software Inc. and previously held marketing positions at BBN Systems and Technologies (now Raytheon), Arthur D. Little (a global technology management consulting firm) an international training company in the Petroleum industry called IHRDC and the artificial intelligence pioneer LISP Machine Inc. As agency liaison to Canada, Cheryl worked with many international accounts on the agency side as well as coordinating international agency selection and management while on the client side. She also built the Alliances Program for FIRST with organizations such as the Girl Scouts, 4-H and the Automation Federation among others. Awarded an MBA with a concentration in Marketing from Suffolk University's Sawyer School of Management, Cheryl's undergraduate training was in Journalism. She received a BA with a double major in Journalistic Studies and English Literature and also completed a certificate program in international studies at Wroxton College, Oxfordshire, England. Cheryl holds an Executive Advisory level seat on both the United Nations of Greater Boston (UNAGB) and The Good Ideas Fund, a Boston grant organization. She has held secret security level clearances for many clients and employers.

Jennifer McNeil provides clients with a wide range of communications expertise from media relations and executive and employee communications … to global planning, branding, messaging and positioning. Blending strategic thinking with hands-on program management and execution, Jennifer creates the results clients want. With over 14 years of experience in communications, she knows what makes the media tick, how to build a winning corporate or product story, and how to project an integrated and compelling image across key audiences including influencers, employees, investors, and customers. Jennifer works with companies across the consumer, technology, healthcare, and distance learning industries, including Timberland, Luxoft, Joslin Diabetes Center, DiscoverUniversity, VistaScape and others with programs ranging from local and consumer media outreach, to positioning and message development, brand promotion and jump-start marketing. A recent program with software provider VistaScape and Logan International Airport resulted in coverage in over 20 local and national media outlets including The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, WCVB, WFXT, Fox National, Business Week, USA Today, AP, UPI and others. Jennifer has also provided PR counsel to nonprofit organizations including the Young Entrepreneurs Alliance, Wayside Youth and Family Support Network and the Sherborn Historical Society. Previously, Jennifer was Vice President at Brodeur Worldwide where she headed global accounts with Corning and IBM Software and also helped smaller companies like Brooktrout Software and WRQ gain traction in a crowded marketplace. Her work with Corning Incorporated focused on reinventing their image from a consumer goods company to a technology leader. Program accomplishments included: a 60% increase in national business coverage across key outlets like Fortune, Forbes, Business Week, CNBC, Financial Times, New York Times, Fast Company, USA Today and others; launching new branding and corporate advertising programs; providing strategy and program execution for over $10B in acquisitions; introducing a new CEO; and helping the company celebrate its 150th anniversary on a national and community level. This image-changing work was recognized with a Bell Ringer Award from the Publicity Club of New England in 2001 in the Organizational Identity Campaign category. Perhaps most importantly, despite recent tough market conditions, Jennifer and her team helped Corning maintain its new image rooted in stable leadership, world-class innovation and business credibility. For clients like IBM Software, Brooktrout, and FirePond, Jennifer developed a deep understanding of the software arena - who the players are at any given time (competitors, partners and influencers), what makes the industry tick in terms of trends and shifts, and what elements create a credible and unique story in the software and e-business spaces. She has strong application experience in workflow automation, supply chain management, business intelligence and CRM. Other areas of expertise include data management, transaction processing, security, networking and optical technologies. She is experienced in working with vertical industry influencers and customer/partner programs. Jennifer has determined the current power level of client's image/product offerings with the analyst community, pinpointed where they want and need to take the company next with this audience, and helped them devise and implement strategies and tactics to increase and sustain a stronger presence. Combining good old fashioned care and feeding of analyst relationships with an eye to uncovering and nurturing win-win opportunities, she has worked closely with clients help move the needle. On IBM, Jennifer and her team were instrumental in moving the persona of IBM Software from a quiet, "glass house" player to an aggressive e-business leader. Through extensive work with trade media, analyst and business partner communities around the globe, coverage consistently portrayed IBM Software and its products favorably vs. tough rivals like Microsoft and Oracle, and Lou Gerstner was dubbed Software Executive of the Year by Software Magazine. In addition to her client work at Brodeur, Jennifer was also involved in many agency initiatives including developing and hosting client service training sessions, spearheading the agency's first account quality assurance program, and providing employee and financial management skills coaching. Prior to Brodeur, Jennifer did PR for Kendall Square Research where her work focused on crisis management with the media and investor communities. She started in communications at Digital Equipment Corporation where her PR programs gained unprecedented coverage for several of the company's vertical industry units including Chemical, Oil & Gas and Pharmaceutical. Jennifer graduated summa cum laude from Boston College, and is a Board member of the Women's Advisory Committee of the Boston Chamber of Commerce. She has also been a guest lecturer for PR and IR classes at Boston University.

Steve Webster brings a unique blend of technology, communications and public relations expertise to product reviews, trade media relations, and analyst relations, providing both direct account work and general consultation to clients like Whitebirch Software, Vericept Corp., Nexense, Luxoft, Q1 Labs, Sandstorm Enterprises and others. He has helped generate positive coverage for clients in key publications, including eWeek, PC Magazine, Computerworld, Network World Fusion, Small Business Computing, SC Magazine, Information Security, and Venture Reporter. A former Reviews Editor at PC Week, Steve spent seven years at Brodeur Worldwide, most recently as Director of its Product Reviews team, developing an industry-leading product reviews and awards practice. He provides the best possible service for product-oriented technology clients by combining access to his contacts at such publications as eWeek, InfoWorld, PC Magazine, Network Computing, and CRN with his insider's knowledge of what it takes to garner win reviews. Steve's clients at Brodeur included IBM Software, IBM Personal Systems Group, Internet Security Systems, Novell, Phillips Electronics, BioLink, Eastman Software, and WRQ. For IBM Software, Steve's helped launch IBM's VisualAge brand (VisualAge C++, VisualAge Cobol, and VisualAge Smalltalk) by generating positive product reviews. He also supported the release of VisualAge Java and WebSphere tools. Previously, as Reviews Editor at PC Week, Steve developed lasting relationships with many reviewers who are now key industry influencers. Before PC Week, he spent three years at a consumer software start-up, where Steve's responsibilities included nearly all phases of operations: distribution, marketing communications, product design, technical support, manufacturing, and PR. In addition, Steve has worked for Soft-letter examining the software distribution channel and as a general assignment reporter and photographer.