TouchIT

• Jonathan Nafarrete Director de Proyección Social

  Jonathan Nafarrete

  Director de Proyección Social

  Work

  As the Director of Social Outreach at TouchIT, Jonathan leads a team in ongoing social outreach and digital PR programs. Before joining TouchIT, he previously co-founded ActiveMatter, a social media agency focused on outreach. As one of the original recipients in the Ford Fiesta Movement campaign, Jonathan has proven his ability to create not only relevant content in the online social media space, but also deep and lasting connections with influential voices online, being one himself. He has spoken on a number of panels about digital influence and social outreach and has even been seen on a Hulu web series about the mobilization of social communities called The Tastemaker.

  Life

  Jonathan is a lifetime Southern California resident who is most well known for his photography. In addition to his photojournalistic approach to photography, he has spent the past year honing the craft of iphonography and has garnered quite a following on mobile communities. Many of his photos have been seen in publications such as The Guardian, LA Times, and LA Weekly.

• John Shi Analista

  John Shi

  Analista

  Work

  John Shi is an enthusiast when it comes to all digital disciplines, and he’s especially savvy about search and media. After graduating from UCLA with a B.A. in Economics, he spent a few years in the social media and public relations arena at bigMETHOD. Currently, John resides as Search Analyst at Blitz. He’s equipped with a passion for providing both paid and organic solutions and ensuring clients successfully promote their brand and content in the digital space in the most effective ways.

  Life

  No stranger to new environments, John was raised in China but grew up mostly in Texas. While he appreciated the scorching temperatures and barren landscapes of the longhorn state, John knew he could eventually adjust to the wonderful climate and bustling nature of Los Angeles. He enjoys all things serene and scenic, including kayaking, visiting national parks and reserves with his friends. John also has an obsession with learning new things and often stays up late reading Economics blogs and Search articles.

• Jose Vazquez Desarrollador de Software

  Jose Vazquez

  Desarrollador de Software

  Trabajo

  José es un desarrollador de software del equipo TouchIT. Empezó como un contratista para OCC pero pronto fue llevado a bordo a tiempo completo basado en sus habilidades de estrella de rock, el conocimiento y la experiencia. Se graduó en 2005 de la Universidad DeVry con un BS en Sistemas de Información y profesionalmente cuenta con certificaciones desde entonces. Jose programa principalmente en PHP, utilizando VIM, pero está dispuesto a echar una mano en cualquier Programación que se necesite, incluyendo en otros idiomas. Sus mayores contribuciones a La Agencia incluyen codificación / lanzamiento de sitios Web Saints Row 3 y FXM.

  Vida

  José nació en México pero se crió en Los Angeles desde la edad de 16 años. Él es el más viejo de su familia y el primero que se han graduado de la escuela secundaria y la universidad. Siempre comenta mantenerse humilde y recordar de dónde venía, José le encanta ayudar a los necesitados; si se trata de la donación de sangre, la donación de Juguetes, o incluso participar en Fundaciónes. Al ser una gran videojugador él prefiere el todo poderoso Heavy Metal junto con el video de 8/16 bits.

• Josh Esguia Director Creativo

  Josh Esguia

  Director Creativo

  Work

  As a general rule, Josh agrees that “no pleasure endures unseasoned by variety,” and in keeping with this principle began his creative career like most others in graphic design with a double engineering degree. Over the years he’s come to believe that creativity and technical ingenuity are both critical components of a successful modern agency, and he’s been lucky enough to find people who excel at both. Professionally, he’s enjoyed working with a wide range of clients and influencing project development from conception to completion. His daily activities are as eclectic as the brands he works with, ranging from hands-on and conceptual to managerial.

  Life

  Born and raised on the mean streets of Long Island, Josh Esguia spent most of his youth fishing in Manhasset Bay, stomping around outside like a dirty hippie, and learning to throw knives with fair precision (though not all at the same time). He’s relatively tall for his family (a genetic soup of Filipino, Turkish and Spanish) and was raised by parents who are far more interesting and prolific than he. When not busy reading whatever he can get his hands on or watching horror movies with his zombie-crazed wife, Josh enjoys playing the cello, eating strange and exotic foods, and visiting amoeba to feed his wildly-varied musical habit. The past 12 years in California have made him soft, weather-wise, and he makes it a point to wear shorts every Christmas to celebrate.

• Kaitlin Gasenica Analista de Perspectivas Sociales

  Kaitlin Gasenica

  >Analista de Perspectivas Sociales

  Work

  Kaitlin Gasenica is a member of the social media strategy team at TouchIT. She graduated from UCLA with honors and holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Economics and Classical Civilizations. As a recent college grad, she brings organization, wit and a long list of synonyms to the team. Specializing in research and community management, Kaitlin helps develop, implement and manage social media platforms for clients from strategic development to program execution. Before TouchIT, she worked her way through college saving every penny from her multiple jobs for tuition and shoes.

  Life

  Kaitlin was born in middle-of-no-where Idaho and grew up in the outdoors enjoying four different seasons of activities and an endless supply of potatoes.   After 18 years of small town simplicity, cold winters and starch overloads, Kaitlin moved to L.A. ready to devote her weekends to the beach and meet new people who hadn’t been in her kindergarten class. Although soccer has always been her athletic activity of choice she can be found shredding on her snowboard, camping with friends and running on the beach. A Bruin to the core, Kaitlin still regularly attends UCLA sporting events and when not chanting the eight-clap, she’s known for indulging in a giant bag of cotton candy. Despite her small stature, Kaitlin lives life by the motto “Go Big or Go Home” and never settles for less than the best.

• John Liu Director de Búsqueda

  John Liu

  Director de Búsqueda

  Work

  John Liu leads Search at TouchIT, helping to ensure that users discover the brand experiences we create.  An experienced SEO and Paid Search analyst, John has designed and implemented successful campaigns for Fortune 500 companies across multiple verticals, from EMC (Tech B2B) to Harley-Davidson (Automotive).  His online marketing philosophy is rooted in driving real, measurable success for campaigns with any objective - brand awareness, targeted site traffic, leads, or sales. An experienced trainer, John has a passion for sharing his understanding of search and online marketing, helping to bring a better experience to the web for users and websites alike.

  Life

  John has been ahead of the curve since the day he arrived in the USA at 4 years old. After graduating college with a degree in Molecular Biology at 15, he realized that he was more interested in understanding how the internet was changing the world we lived in than how DNA dictated the way bovine kidney cells replicated.  When not engrossed in online, John is obsessed with baseball (Go Red Sox!) and is always looking for a new craft beer to try.  A transplant from New England, he's amazed by the weather in Southern California and can often be found enjoying the Santa Monica beach.

• Jod Kaftan Director de Diseño de Experiencia y UX

  Jod Kaftan

  Director de Diseño de Experiencia y UX

  Work

  Dangerously close to being a cultural dilettante, Jod Kaftan’s career has spanned from writing about architecture for the Los Angeles Times to designing Facebook applications for HBO. As an experienced designer, Jod earned his stripes at Razorfish where he worked as both an Information Architect and content strategist and, in his spare time, created an early prototype for a location-aware app (the app's use cases turned out to be perfect for dating). Later, at Schematic (now Possible Worldwide), Jod worked as a Senior UX Designer where he led design efforts for everything from touchscreen OS concepts for Microsoft to imagineering for Target. A graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, where he studied with Allen Ginsberg, Jod finds experience design to be a great way to pay off student loans for two fine arts degrees.

  Life

  In his spare time, Jod likes to drive around the city to find the best meal in the most aesthetically unappealing place. Photographing trees at night is a close second. Lately though, because of his 18 month old son, Dashiell, Jod finds himself with only enough time to sip a Vienna-style lager while watching another rerun of Locked up Abroad on National Geographic (a show he can relate to on a personal level).

• Adam Venturella Sr. Arquitecto de Soluciones

  Adam Venturella

  Sr. Arquitecto de Soluciones

  Trabajo

  Adam ha estado participando activamente en la comunidad interactiva / desarrollo durante los últimos 12 años. En ese tiempo muchas cosas han cambiado, y sigue cambiando. Este progreso hacia adelante ha dado a Adán una apreciación de los pilares tecnológicos del pasado, mientras que continúan buscando a los pilares del futuro. "Es la combinación perfecta de viejas y nuevas que realmente pueden hacer cosas interesantes."

  Además, la educación de Adán en las artes, especialmente la fotografía y el cine, informa a su opinión de que mientras que la sintaxis de un desarrollador elige es importante, "la mayoría de los desarrolladores pueden todos recitar una larga lista de idiomas, gran cosa, es la sintaxis", la idea central y la ingeniería son las que impulsan la creatividad en el desarrollo.

  Vida

  Adam pasa sus días en Los Ángeles, Santa Mónica en concreto, con su perra Lucy, gato Ollie, y su esposa Danica, quien también es LA Derby Doll (niña ladeó pista de roller derby FTW!)

  Él disfruta de actividades al aire libre, especialmente correr, caminar, andar en bicicleta y la formación para la aventura corre con otros miembros del departamento de tecnología TouchIT: "Si usted no ha experimentado 40 grados agua, no has vivido o sido muy, muy, muy frío. "Ah, y una cosa más - él también ama la cerveza interesante, el lupulada el mejor, además de vez en cuando para elaborar cerveza su propia.

• Jarrett Quon Diseñador

  Jarrett Quon

  Diseñador

  Work

  Few people can say that their job is to draw all day.  At Blitz, Jarrett is a designer but is often called upon to illustrate new assets or quickly knock out storyboard ideas.  It's hard to believe that the high school classes that were considered to be the 'expendable' ones turn out to be the foundation of Jarrett's career.  Interests that were once hobbies in photography, traditional animation, painting and graphic novels are now useful tools in his creative toolbox at Blitz.

  Life

  Jarrett was born to a greaser dad and a cheerleader mom in San Diego and before you can say 'Grease Lightning!', he was wielding a pencil and folding cranes.  Creating has always been a big part of Jarrett's life.  At age eight, he taught himself to fold origami and can fold over 30 models by heart.  In high school, he learned photography and anatomy via Burne Hogarth in hopes of becoming a comic book artist.  At UCLA, he discovered design.  These days, when he's not designing for Blitz, Jarrett uses these skills to illustrate a graphic novel, participate in art shows and do film making with his friends.

• Javier Martinez Desarrollador de Software

  Javier Martinez

  Desarrollador de Software

  Work

  Javier Martinez, a graduate of Devry University with a Bachelor of Computer Science, has been a professional Web Developer since 2005. Starting out writing spaghetti code for a small startup consulting firm where he had to wear many hats, he has grown over his 6 year career with a well-rounded set of skills. While working at a not-so-glamorous job building landing pages and maintaining reports, he jumped at the opportunity to work for a major player like TouchIT. The change in environment has re-ignited Javier’s spark and he is actively working on his own personal projects, and because of that, he holds no regrets on becoming a BLITiZen.

  Life

  Born in Durango, Mexico, and raised partly in a small town and partly in a city, Javier grew up with a love for nature, animals and technology. Javier moved to California in 1989, and now lives in LA with his soon to be wife Vanessa and their two cats, Snarf and Ishii. He’s guilty of wearing hilarious t-shirts, playing first person shooters, and watching a lot of Discovery Channel. Javier also had a brief but successful amateur bowling career, placing 1st and 2nd on his first two bowling leagues with a high score of 250.  In his spare time he likes to play basketball with his buddies, play video games or work on his personal web projects.

• Jessica Garrido Director de Arte

  Jessica Garrido

  Director de Arte

  Work

  As a little girl, odd ways to spend her childhood times pointed out a lot of who she is now. Like on Bank of America outings with her father, Jessica Garrido use to take home every bank slip and form she could grab, to only come home and redraw each layout line by line, AND even make improvements to the forms.  It was probably then when she realized she had a passion for this wonderful and magical discipline called design!  She then followed her passion to the California State University of Long Beach Art Department where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Visual Communication.  For almost 10 years now Jessica has immersed herself in great creative outlets, ad agencies, and a broad spectrum of brands. She's had the privilege of working on such brands as Infiniti, Nissan, Nickelodeon, DreamWorks, Ubisoft, and Bethesda.  Her strong suites are concepting, art direction, designing, and making sure the project, from beginning to end, is the best that it could be.  She believes that a strong concept is the foundation of great design, and a great experience.  With that said, Jessica brings that passion and skill set to the talented team of TouchIT.

  Life

  Jessica was born in Los Angeles California to a fun loving, comical, spontaneous, sometimes bizarre, but always laughing family, with her identical twin sister, and one older sister. Outside of TouchIT she loves, hiking with her dog Lola (love of her life), dining at great restaurants, hanging with her friends and family, watching movies, baking, art stuff, and most of all traveling anywhere and everywhere she could afford.

• Kevin Wright Director Asociado de Comunicaciones

  Kevin Wright

  Director Asociado de Comunicaciones

  Work

  After receiving his bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of San Diego, Kevin returned North to land at bigMETHOD, a social media agency that joined TouchIT in 2011. At TouchIT, Kevin works in client services as an account manager with a focus on social communication programs. Working closely with his clients to ensure brand strategy is executed, Kevin takes his  “if you don’t touch or use it, get rid of it” mentality and runs an organized approach in implementing marketing programs centered on digital and social media.

  Life

  A true believer that “the summer is not a season, but a lifestyle,” Kevin finds pleasure in all things active. Raised in El Segundo, a small suburb of Los Angeles, he keeps his competitive edge through the sport of triathlon (swim + bike + run) or a slew of other activities such as surfing, volleyball or waterskiing.  With an uncanny inability to dance or even clap to the beat of a song, Kevin finds enjoyment in cooking and is always on the hunt for a good street taco or fresh ceviche. Staying true to his beach-side roots, he often compares life to fishing, doesn't mind sand in his sheets, and strives to one day sail the seas with no final destination in sight.

• Kim McCann Project Manager

  Kim McCann

  Project Manager

  Work

  After a two-year stint as a production assistant on a sitcom, Kim decided to try her hand in the world of digital marketing. Fast forward five years and her client and vendor side producer experience includes movie websites for 20^th Century Fox, media banner campaigns for SCE and Sony Play Station, e-commerce website redesigns and a Google Ocean Application for the Monterey Bay Aquarium. At TouchIT, Kim has worked as a project manager on Nike, Microsoft, Activision and Namco projects.

  Life

  Kim McCann was born and raised in a small New England town along the banks of the Connecticut River. After graduating from Ithaca College in upstate New York, she moved 3,000 miles to the considerably warmer and more populated Los Angeles. In her spare time, Kim enjoys snowboarding, hiking, biking, playing a gaggle of co-ed recreational sports, singing in the car at inappropriate volumes and crisscrossing the globe visiting friends and family.

• Rob Ferrante Sr. Program Manager

  Rob Ferrante

  Sr. Program Manager

  Work

  A founding member of the Atlanta Constitution’s online editorial staff, Rob helped launch the US’ 2nd online newspaper. Three years and one Summer Olympics later, Rob moved to LA to produce other websites. In 2004, Rob joined WhittmanHart as a Project Director where he headed up production efforts on SONY, HBO and Toyota. After producing the 1st online product development game ever Dewmocracy, Rob was promoted to Director of Production. Five years later, Rob joined TouchIT as a Sr. Program Manager in 2010. During his career Rob has work with clients as varied as Microsoft, Nestle, Disney and PomWonderful.  Rob loves learning something new every day at TouchIT whether it’s nuances of different gaming communities or that Porto’s has the best Cheesy Rolls in LA.

  Life

  Rob was born in in Da’ Bronx. At the age of 5 Rob’s family moved to the New Jersey. After 13 years in NJ, Rob moved to Atlanta to attend Emory University. After 2 years bouncing from major to major, Rob settled on a degree in Child Psychology so he could understand his childlike disposition. Interestingly enough, this degree has helped a great deal in managing adults. Married in 2008, when it was legal for him to do so in CA, Rob and his husband Tony like to hike, travel, rollerblade, read, watch TV and movies and eat, which has slowly but surely turned his six-packs into a keg. Rob is currently trying to excise the endless supply of useless knowledge taking up too much space in his head.

• Soh Tanaka Sr. de Diseño

  Soh Tanaka

  Sr. de Diseño

  Work

  Without any prior interest in technology, Soh Tanaka took a blind leap to get a degree in Computer Information Systems. He quickly realized CIS was not for him. But being exposed to HTML, he was hooked on the possibilities of creating for the web. Hungry to learn, he picked up Photoshop and made websites on his spare time.  This lead him to fall in love with both design and the technologies behind what made the web possible, and his career began as a hybrid designer and front-end dev.  Though not having a degree in design, hard work and dedication soon lead him to the agency scene. Soh is now part of the creative team at blitz, hungrier to learn than ever before.

  Life

  Soh was born in Japan, but soon after birth his family relocated to Panama for his father's job. Due to the dangers of living in Panama during the late 80s, they moved to Los Angeles, where new life began. Life quickly changed once exposed to LA’s diverse urban culture as he picked up skateboarding in his early teens. He later fell in love with the world of street dance and he continues to exercise his creativity with both dancing and skateboarding.

• Steve Nash Director Creativo Asociado

  Steve Nash

  Director Creativo Asociado

  Work

  Steve Nash (yes, that Steve Nash) is an Associate Creative Director/Writer with experience in interactive marketing that predates Friendster. Early in his career, Steve earned his stripes in the traditional world, writing TV, radio and print ads for a long list of world-famous brands. Today, his experience across media platforms allows him to understand the larger marketing landscape and create successful, compelling, true-to-brand digital endeavors here at TouchIT.

  Life

  Steve likes Las Vegas. He once observed a heart transplant. Steve has held jobs at Taco Bell, a tropical fish store and a place that had him running natural gas lines to home barbecues after 30 minutes of training. He met Mike Tyson. He loves traveling. He hates flying. If he cuts himself, Steve seals it with Super Glue and it totally works. His DVR records Tosh.O, Storage Wars, Hardball and Archer. Steve likes wine but not to the point where he’s putting his nose in the glass and using terms like “fruit forward.” He recently discovered he’s good at go-cart racing. He thinks parrots are the worst pets ever. Steve knows nothing about NBA basketball.

• Vince Hannah Gerente de Brand y Comunicación

  Vince Hannah

  Gerente de Brand y Comunicación

  Work

  Having graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in History, Vince Hannah, an Orange County native, was not one to follow conventions. He deviated from the popular choices of becoming a teacher or going to law school in order to continue his work as a graphic designer, a role he took on at the beginning in high school. While his love for design remains strong, Vince wanted a better way to use his broad knowledge from spending countless hours on the Internet and his creative approach to solutions as a graphic designer. He joined TouchIT in 2011 where he works as a brand communications manager helping to connect brands directly to consumers.

  Life

  Fortunate to have been raised by an amazing family where bad jokes, sharp wit and sarcasm are hereditary, his childhood was characterized by a wild imagination. He’s been lucky enough to still possess it. These days Vince is on his never-ending quest to find the perfect taco in Los Angeles. He’s an avid fan of all things sports, any and all types of music, some classic home cooking and above all else, good times with good people.

• Phil Kiczula Gerente de Desarrollo de Negocios y Marketing

  Phil Kiczula

  Gerente de Desarrollo de Negocios y Marketing

  Work

  As part of the business development team, Phil is responsible for offering support on a number of fronts including research, strategy, and content drafting. Phil started his marketing career in 2006 as a co-founder in a web start-up for education. Responsible for conceptualizing and executing marketing and PR, he gained an overwhelming respect and perspective for the science of brand development. In time, Phil adjusted his focus to integrating social media and other digital disciplines into the marketing equation. He's helped execute large-scale PR campaigns for Oreo, Sharpie, and Harley-Davidson at Weber Shandwick in Chicago and upon returning to Los Angeles, lead the social outreach department at bigMETHOD, now a part of TouchIT.

  Life

  He's a midwestern gentleman born in Chicago and raised in Red Wing, Minnesota. After graduating from the University of Minnesota, Phil relocated for the year-round, above-zero temperatures in Los Angeles. There he and his fiancé, Sara, enjoy exploring the world’s cuisine and routinely take stabs at recreating it in the kitchen.  Phil can find no better place to spend his free time than on a golf course. When stuck indoors he enjoys sports, both real and fantasy, and dabbles in home-improvement projects. In this brave new world, Phil holds onto "old school values." He believes that always being personable and dependable will breed success and enrich relationships – personal and business.

• Peter Brine Directora de Cuentas

  Peter Brine

  Directora de Cuentas

  Work

  Peter Brine is a group account director, the role he was born to play. He loves being a part-time cheerleader, strategist, project manager, creative, critic, tester and full-time client advocate.  He's not happy unless the client’s happy.

  Peter has over 15 years of digital marketing experience building programs, campaigns and services that drive businesses and delight customers. He started his career “pre-Internet,” sending interactive diskettes to users via snail mail and later built the first website for Nissan. Since then he’s held a variety of positions at agencies and on the client side across many categories including video games, automotive, financial and professional services, toys, consumer electronics and consumer packaged goods.

  Life

  Peter grew up in New England and slowly made his way south and west, picking up a B.A. degree from Georgetown and a law degree from the University of Georgia. He eventually ended up in L.A. and hasn’t left since.  When not at work, you can find him cooking at home with his wife, camping with his son's Cub Scout Pack or playing Assassin's Creed Revelations with his daughter.

• Matt Zeiger Director de Cuentas

  Matt Zeiger

  Director de Cuentas

  Work

  Matt has filled a multitude of roles over his marketing career, from software engineer, production director, and VP of his own agency – he’s always done whatever it takes to deliver for clients. As Account Director, Matt's knowledge of the advertising process and digital arena serves to strengthen not only our work, but also our client relations. He recently spent the last few years managing campaigns for Red Bull, becoming adept at strategically handling a global brand, while challenging the status-quo of marketing. For TouchIT, he’s focused on bringing solid brand strategy and client communication to FX, driving our teams to continually exceed expectations.

  Life

  Matt was born and raised a Texan, and while he doesn’t have an accent, you’ll still catch the occasional “y’all”. He grew up a nerd, building his first website at 15 – so its no mystery he went on to major in Software Engineering. During college, he started a digital agency with a friend and ran it for 7 years before moving to New York to work on national campaigns for Sprint and Häagen-Dazs. In 2009, he moved to Los Angeles, mostly for the weather, and more recently he’s joined TouchIT as Account Director for FX. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his wife, daughter and twin boys. He loves hiking and rock climbing, but sucks at surfing.

• Miguel Echegaray Director de Cuentas

  Miguel Echegaray

  Director de Cuentas

  Work

  Miguel brings over fifteen years of client services, delivery and management experience to his current role as Group Account Director at TouchIT. A pioneer of the interactive technology industry, Miguel has led product development, marketing and advertising engagements for some of the world’s most respected brands, such as Disney, Dell, CNN, General Mills, JP Morgan, and Merrill Lynch. Prior to joining TouchIT, Miguel cut his teeth at digital agencies Possible Worldwide, Schematic and Rare Medium. Miguel’s goal has always been, and continues to be, to help clients create jaw-dropping experiences.

  Life

  Miguel was born and raised in Madrid, Spain and he still wonders why people won't let him take the afternoon off. He’s a husband and father to two teenagers who pick up technologies and apps with innate ease, but can’t seem to figure out how to make a bed. He's been playing the drums and guitar since age eleven. For those of you who are wondering, his last name is pronounced “etch-egg-awry”. Try it out. He dares you.

• Paul Hikiji Director Creativo Asociado

  Paul Hikiji

  Director Creativo Asociado

  Work

  Paul Hikiji can be a bit obsessive when it comes to design, a perfectionist who strives to achieve. He’s a graduate of Loyola Marymount University, who initially studied engineering, but found that design was his passion. With 11 years of experience, Paul has spent a majority of his career in Los Angeles with a brief stint in New York where he had the opportunity to work with some talented folks. But the cold weather got to him and he returned to California where he began his second tenure  at TouchIT that you could describe more as a return from a sabbatical. At TouchIT, Paul is responsible for art direction and design and an occasional exhibition of old-school dance moves.

  Life

  He grew up in Gardena, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. As a native of Southern California, Paul enjoys the warm climate and is a die-hard Lakers fan. Aside from that, Paul loves spending time with two particularly lovely ladies, his wonderful girlfriend, Teresa, who he loves to make dinner for and his dog Yuki, a yellow Labrador puppy who wreaks havoc at all times. When the dishes are done and Yuki has been walked, you can find Paul in front of his man-sized television playing “Call of Duty,” almost on a nightly basis. When not PWNing noobs (and pros alike), Paul likes hitting the hardwood for a pickup game or carving up snow-covered mountains.

• Paul Shanklin Sr. Project Manager

  Paul Shanklin

  Sr. Project Manager

  Work

  As a Senior Project Manager at TouchIT, Paul shepherds the development of unparalleled digital experiences from inception to completion, with the tremendous fortune of partnering with exceptional clients and colleagues every step of the way. Paul is epitomized by a framed motivational poster found on his desk. It captures the Incredible Hulk mid-rage and includes the caption "determination." While Paul's demeanor is more calm and charming than loud and full of rage, his determination can break through walls. This ethos lends itself nicely to a career in leadership and his work at TouchIT in particular - helping his teams break down obstacles to ensure their work exceeds expectations.

  Prior to TouchIT Paul led projects at Zugara, Genex, Ogilvy & Mather and RPA and got his late nineties stock option fix at the Amazon-purchased startup Livebid. He's worked with brands like Adobe, Dreamworks, Honda, Johnson & Johnson, Mattel, Microsoft, National Guard, Nestlé and THQ among others.

  Life

  Outside of work Paul can be found running in the mountains above Los Angeles dodging rattle snakes, or dodging people online who mistake him for a conservative comedian of the same name. The determination thing has helped him become a working sushi chef, a sub three-hour marathoner at Boston and the writer-director of a national Samuel Adams TV commercial.

  Proudly born and raised in the Garden State, he claims Bruce Springsteen is his real boss, Derek Jeter is his captain and a pork roll, egg and cheese on a kaiser roll is a delicacy.

• Gilbert Cordial Sr. de Desarrollo

  Gilbert Cordial

  Sr. de Desarrollo

  Work

  Senior Designer Gilbert has always loved Legos. ®  In fact, it was while spending countless hours playing with these toy bricks that he realized his creativity and imagination would take him places. Rising out of his pile of Legos like a blocky phoenix, Gilbert would go on to eventually obtain his B.A. in Art at California State University Northridge. A graphic designer by trade, Gilbert has spent seven years honing his design skills at agencies like The Cannery and SapientNitro where he worked on Disney, DreamWorks®, the Ad Council, Toyota and Hawaiian Airlines. As a newly sworn in BLITiZen, Gilbert looks forward to complementing an already formidable creative team and assisting them in creating amazing work. He prides himself in being a very detail-oriented and versatile designer.

  Life

  When the native Angeleno isn’t pushing pixels, he enjoys spending quality time with family and friends, cheering on his beloved Lakers and Dodgers (both in the comfort of his living room and in the stands). He also enjoys blowing out his eardrums at concerts, strumming guitar chords, chowing down on awesome eats, anxiously awaiting Steve Job's next announcement, going on cinematic adventures, and staring at anything interestingly creative and artistic. Being a tech junkie, he eagerly awaits for the arrival of the Mattel hoverboard, self-lacing Nike shoes, and flying DeLoreans.

• Jack Schlinkert Productor de Multimedia

  Jack Schlinkert

  Productor de Multimedia

  Work

  Jack is the resident creative multimedia producer for all things social media at TouchIT. Which means he makes things that live on YouTube. He makes it happen with a camera in one hand, a BlackBerry® in the other, and a constant intake of caffeine. He shoots, edits, strategizes and conceptualizes. More importantly, he connects with people who are just as passionate about these things. He avoids marketing buzzwords.

  Jack recently graduated from the University of Southern California and immediately dove into the agency world at the social media shop bigMETHOD.

  Life

  Jack hails from the East Coast and spent time in Brooklyn and Connecticut as a kid. After visiting the Santa Monica beach at age 12, he decided he would like to live there. He finds it no coincidence that he now works at TouchIT. While at SC, he took up a rigorous course load that included music, photography, film, and entrepreneurship. He also attended class on occasion. He plays in bands, is an avid yachtsman, loves to cook, and rides his bike on the beach. But staying true to his New England roots, he keeps a set of golf clubs and a tie in the back of his Saab, "just in case."

• Clinton Paquin Desarrollador de Software

  Clinton Paquin

  Desarrollador de Software

  Work

  Clinton Paquin is one of the talented Software Developer ninjas at TouchIT.  He excels not only as a PHP/MySQL backend engineer but also as a Front End HTML, jQuery, and CSS developer.   Working within the interactive realm since 2004, he has extensive experience building enterprise level sites and expertise considering security, scalability, and maintainability.  He relishes the opportunity to engineer sites that not only look great, but exceed industry standards in smart semantic markup, page load speed, and mobile first consideration.  Prior to TouchIT, Clinton led teams at Pepperdine University, Apollo Interactive, and ConsumerTrack to architect, develop and implement scalable PHP/MySQL applications and microsites.

  Life

  Clinton was born and raised in Southwest Montana and received his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Montana State University (go Bobcats). He played Division II Soccer in college, spent a couple of summer’s commercial fishing in Alaska, climbed Mt. Whitney (the highest peak in the continental US), and did a short stint in the visual FX industry (and has the credits to prove it).

  He spends his free time enjoying the great outdoors with his beautiful and adventurous wife, Sarah Jon, and their son Cooper. If he’s not at the beach, you’ll find him reading about new technologies, contributing to LA area technology meetups, or cheering on the Denver Broncos and debating the finer points of a good microbrew.

• Courtnie Cotillo Project Manager

  Courtnie Cotillo

  Project Manager

  Work

  Starting at TouchIT in 2008 as an intern, Courtnie has been able to successfully make her way up the ranks in the company. Transitioning from Intern, to Project Coordinator, to Jr Project Manager within 3 years, Courtnie has been able to work with some of the best brands out there! Brands such as Microsoft, FX Networks, Naked Juice, and Alienware, to name a few.

  Life

  Originally from Cape Coral, Florida, it was only natural for Courtnie to run from the retirement communities and humidity to settle in a slightly dryer but warm climate in Southern California. Knowing she had family in LA and could not live anywhere away from the beach, she packed up her life and made the 3000 mile journey to Los Angeles. In her spare time Courtnie enjoys bike rides on the beach, spending time with friends and family, and traveling as much as possible. She was lucky enough to do a cross country road trip on her move to Los Angeles visiting places such as New Orleans, Austin, The Grand Canyon where she rode a mule into the canyon, and Carlsbad, New Mexico where she was elevatored down 750ft to view the Carlsbad Caverns.

• Courtney Tyler Coordinador de Finanzas y Recursos Humanos

  Courtney Tyler

  Coordinador de Finanzas y Recursos Humanos

  Work

  Courtney Tyler earned her Bachelor’s degree in Finance and Economics at Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts. Upon graduation in 2008, she headed out West and never looked back! Originally working within the aerospace industry, she specialized in financial analysis as well as customer and vendor relations. As the finance coordinator at TouchIT, she has a wide array of responsibilities that include accounting, payroll administration, human resources and contract management. She thoroughly enjoys working with the bright and incredibly talented Blitizens!

  Life

  Courtney was born and raised in Southern Maryland. As a result, she has a serious love for fresh seafood, OLD BAY® Seasoning and lacrosse. She keeps herself busy with physical activities such as spinning, pilates and zumba. She also likes to cook and especially try out new, healthy recipes. You may find her at the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market most Sundays. She lives with a white cat named Kobi that eats with his paws,  loves olives and insists on her total attention as soon as she gets home.

• Daniel Chivardi Arquitecto en Experiencia de Usuario

  Daniel Chivardi

  Arquitecto en Experiencia de Usuario

  Work

  Daniel is a User Experience Architect with more than 5 years of extensive experience on the interactive agency space. During this time he has had the opportunity to wear a hat on pretty much every stage of the software life-cycle, including Development, Analytics, QA and UX. He has successfully delivered solutions for brands like Disney, Sony, Fandango, THQ, FX and Microsoft, among many others. He holds a BS in Electronics & Communications Engineering from ITESM and a Master of Information Systems Management from Carnegie Mellon University.

  Life

  Daniel was born in Tampico, a beach in the gulf of México, to a renowned civil engineer and a figurative abstract artist. Due to his father's line of work he and his family had to relocate multiple times during his childhood, finally settling down in Ciudad Juárez, the place that he calls home and where he learned everything he needs to know to survive if "zombiepocalypse" ever happens.

  Daniel is colorblind and most of his clothes are red, black or grey. Over the weekends Daniel enjoys running on the beach, taking photographs in black and white, writing short tales while drinking a fine scotch, and watching dark comedies, neo-noir movies, and fútbol matches on his couch.

• Chris McCall Director Creativo Asociado

  Chris McCall

  Director Creativo Asociado

  Work

  Chris loves brands. He has been fortunate enough to work closely with some great ones like Nike, Microsoft, EA and Sony. He’s been studying art, design, culture and our most beloved brands for over 20 years. He received his BFA in Art Studio at the University of California at Santa Barbara and soon after made design and advertising his creative focus. He specializes in creative concepting, art direction and highly crafted graphic/interactive design with a focus on emerging digital platforms.

  Life

  By his second birthday, Chris had moved from the north side of Chicago to a teepee in Jamaica to the hills of Los Angeles where he was raised by rock stars in the ’70s and ’80s. Despite being the product of a musical family and a long line of artists, he’s rebelliously crafted a career in the cold world of advertising. Although he honors his father by toiling in a notable band, he refuses to tour any farther than Japan and won’t give up his beloved day job no matter how vehemently he is advised to do so. Also keeping him stateside are his wife Jenn and his greatest creation, his son Tenz, who is the first of the TouchIT Baby Boom of 2010.

• Charles Chung Program Manager

  Charles Chung

  Program Manager

  Work

  After graduating from college, Charles found himself working in research as a bio-immunologist specializing in infectious diseases and tumor immunology. After 8 years of sacrificing poor mice and rats for the sake of finding cures for cancer and diseases, he got disillusioned with the FDA and research in general and found himself on a vision quest, roaming the country playing golf and sightseeing, and ended up in Los Angeles. He landed an entry position in digital production, and eventually ran the OLM for Lexus. He has since worked with clients such as PlayStation, VW, HTC, Anthem, Dr Pepper, DirecTV, and Saturn.

  Life

  Charles was born and raised in Boston, and is a huge fan of all the Boston sports teams. He loves playing golf, poker, and is a late night gamer. He and his wife were recently blessed with a baby boy, and he now bounces the baby instead of playing games, but couldn’t be happier. Some say he’s been blessed with the voice of an angel, others say he dances like a man possessed; those who know Charles know he is all that and much, much more. As the self-professed “Mayor of K-Town”, just ask him for recommendations. And, as a cat has 9 lives, Charles has used 5 of his. Ask him about the near-death experiences and he will be sure to enchant you with his tales.

• Alex Vejnoska Arquitecto en Experiencia de Usuario

  Alex Vejnoska

  Arquitecto en Experiencia de Usuario

  Work

  Alex Vejnoska is a longtime Internet aficionado, entering experience design through graduate studies in library and information science.. In his role as a user experience architect at TouchIT, he practices a blend of digital alchemy and experiential calculus, culminating in rich, rewarding and lasting experiences.  A graduate of USC and UCLA, Alex finds experience design to be fulfilling to practice, stimulating to talk about and impossible to describe to his parents.

  Life

  As a native Northern Californian, Angeleno status was thrust upon him after a decade of attending the southland’s sundry educational institutes. In his spare time, Alex enjoys his dogs, playing video games, creating novelty business cards, obsessing over Apple products, yelling at movie characters not to go in there, plotting get-rich-quick schemes, liking his own posts on Facebook and fretting over the San Francisco Giants on the Internet.

• Anne Geri Butcher Director Creativo Asociado

  Anne Geri Butcher

  Director Creativo Asociado

  Work

  As an Associate Creative Director at Blitz, Anne brings over 13 years of copywriting experience to the agency. Her traditional advertising background, including an MFA from the Academy of Art University, has expanded with a sharp digital focus - taking her from Seattle to San Francisco to New York to Los Angeles. She has a strong foundation for solving brand problems with creative, integrated solutions. She’s a conceptual writer (except with third person bios), detail-oriented (which supports her star sign), and a pleasure to work with (or so she’s been led to believe). In addition to being committed to all projects she works on, Anne insists on creating work that inspires, and on having fun doing it.

  Life

  Anne gets thrills from collecting passport stamps, discovering new music, sipping latte foam, greeting budding leaves on houseplants and marveling at her two young daughters’ effortless ability to top every cuteness chart.

• Aubrey Taylor Sr. Desarrollador de Software

  Aubrey Taylor

  Sr. Desarrollador de Software

  Work

  Aubrey found his career-zen developing software for the web. Despite a BFA in design and animation, he was unable to resist the call of the engineer; both his grandfathers and all his uncles are engineers, it must be genetic.

  His journey from lowly production-designer to TouchIT Senior Software Developer has been an exciting journey of learning, improvement, and development. These days Aubrey spends his work-day building super sweet UI (HTML/CSS) backed up by some so-fresh-and-so-clean JavaScript.

  Life

  Aubrey is from San Diego.  He loves hiking, biking, and snowboarding; is a card-carrying REI member; and loves to bike-commute to work, a 20 mile round. When he is not outside, you will probably find him catching up on development blogs, writing some Python, or working on a little side-project or two. The latest cool nugget is a Dungeons & Dragons style die roller that pulls its random numbers from the ANU (Australian National University) Quantum Number Generator in Python.

  Why is that cool? Well, “The random numbers are generated in real-time in [the] lab by measuring the quantum fluctuations of the vacuum.” That is why.

  He also has a super cute ‘hip’[ster] girlfriend who loves (and puts up with) him a lot. :^)

• Carly Walker Gerente de Marca y Comunicaciones

  Carly Walker

  Gerente de Marca y Comunicaciones

  Work

  Carly Walker is an obsessive blogger and social media addict that thinks in hashtags and Instagram filters. As a brand communications manager, she develops social media strategies and helps clients take advantage of online trends. In 2005, Carly went to college at BYU-Idaho to get a BS in Communications and a celebrity status as an entertainment reporter to Rexburg’s population of 50. Post graduation, Carly has worked as a creative manager in Salt Lake City producing a smorgasbord of web content for search engine optimization. Eventually, her lanky frame couldn’t hack the cold so we shipped her out to the sunny beaches of CA to continue her quest to become a social media guru.

  Life

  Carly is a wildcard that we picked up from the dairy farms of Draper Utah. As a result, she is an alien to LA and is continually surprised at what life in a “big city” has to offer. So far her favorite things are the beach and Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles. Carly gets all of her energy and body heat from the sun, so you can usually find her on a rooftop, beach, or cliff side soaking it all in. She loves road trips, trail mix, waterfalls, and hiking. But most of all she loves fun size candy bars and takes pride in the mountain of wrappers that decorate her desk. A sugar rush equals a brilliant idea so you can bet you’ll have some game-changing brainstorms coming your way.

• Daniel Smith Sr. Desarrollador de Senior

  Daniel Smith

  Sr. Desarrollador de Software

  Work

  Daniel Smith, a senior software developer at TouchIT, has been developing both front-end and back-end web applications since 2003. He started programming just out of high school developing websites for a church in Costa Mesa, CA. During his 7 years there, Daniel led projects that included the development of everything from websites to touchscreen kiosk systems. His pursuit of cutting edge web application development has led him to TouchIT where he hopes to mature his skills. While he primarily focuses on web based applications, he welcomes the opportunity to work on anything that may arise in the fast paced world of technology.

  Life

  Living in Orange County is a bit of a commute but Daniel believes it is the best of both worlds. He and his wife Amanda grew up in the area and decided to settle down there and stay close to family. Daniel spends most of his free time cooking, eating, gardening (don't knock it until you try it) and gaming. He also has an interest in DIY electronics projects, spending most of his expendable income on hacked out junk :)

• Cory Evens Director de Arte

  Cory Evens

  Director de Arte

  Work

  During the early 90's, after studying graphic design and illustration at the Academy of Art in SF, Cory soon began innovating on the job as the digital world beckoned. Working with firms from Magnet Interactive to Schematic to Spinifex, Cory art directed projects such as the Schematic Touch Wall, e-commerce sites such as Target.com and, most recently, elaborate augmented reality experiences for the likes of Honda and Lexus for the International Auto Show. As Senior Art Director at TouchIT, Cory brings his innate passion to create vibrant, fresh and engaging design. Cory's contribution to Blitz could be akin to rock'n roll meets fast cars, executed elegantly — on anything digital.

  Life

  As a youngster, Cory’s interest in the world was sparked by artifacts found around the globe during his father's travels. As a young man he found artistic expression through spray painting large graffiti murals from Colorado to SF. After a youth spent in the states of Ok,Wy, and Co, Cory finally planted his roots in CA. A die hard night owl, after work you can find Cory either at a studio recording his own music, a friend’s house playing guitar and talking about bands, watching a music documentary, or training in Traditional Wing Chun. He balances his already full life by spending time with his wife and son which is his crowning achievement.

• Eric Chevalier Director de Comunicaciones Asociado

  Eric Chevalier

  Director de Comunicaciones Asociado

  Work

  Eric Chevalier manages ongoing strategy and execution for social media programs as an account manager at TouchIT. Our clients say dealing with Eric is like getting to eat ice cream for every meal without getting fat. As a media technology major, his second job out of college was a professional baseball contract before he went back to earn his M.B.A degree. Since then, he's been managing brands for MLB and NFL athletes, Hollywood film studios, ESPN and the Honda Motor Company to name a few.

  Life

  After a chilly childhood in Alaska, Eric decided he only wanted to live near cities that started with an S. Through Seattle, Salt Lake City, St. Louis and San Diego, two things remained constant: baseball and bodies of water. The baseball thing ended up paying off, earning him a scholarship to the University of Utah. The water thing still stands. These days you’ll find Eric riding his bike along the coast, strumming his guitar and surfing his favorite breaks from San Diego to L.A. His dislikes include litter and shoes. To combat these nefarious offenses, he runs a community clean up project called ZeroTrash.org and goes barefoot whenever possible.

• Erica Arnett Project Manager

  Erica Arnett

  Project Manager

  Work

  Erica Arnett was born and raised in Indiana (no, she didn’t live on a farm and don’t ask her if she’s milked a cow). After getting her bachelor’s degree in Communications at Purdue University and having a short-lived job at an advertising agency, she realized that she probably should have done something different during those four years so she returned to school at Indiana University. This time, she got a degree in New Media, and was excited to jump into the rapidly growing professional world of interactivity and multimedia as a project manager. Since then, she’s managed all kinds of projects such as DVD menus, websites, trailers and promos and at the risk of dating herself CD and DVD-ROMs. Her latest foray with TouchIT has her working on a variety of projects for Adobe and FX Networks, both clients that keep her on her toes.

  Life

  When not at work, Erica likes being outside and spending time with friends.  Walking, hiking, taking road trips (in the summer) and snowboarding and enjoying the rain (in the winter). Traveling is one of her favorite things, as well as filling her head with useless pop culture knowledge through TV shows and movies.

• Elizabeth Smith Líder de Entrega

  Elizabeth Smith

  Líder de Entrega

  Work

  A Boston College graduate, Elizabeth has traversed a zig-zag career path in all things creative. After a single college course in IP law sparked her interest in the ever-changing music industry, she sought out a job in new media at Universal Music Group where she remained for four years in various departments. She later landed at The Creative Group where she did recruiting for creative professionals in the design and marketing fields. By 2010, Elizabeth found the perfect fit at bigMETHOD handling client services.  Today, she continues this role at TouchIT, as an account manager, where she adds her special knack for problem solving through good old-fashioned communication.

  Life

  A native Angeleno and youngest of six children, Elizabeth is an avid foodie and lusts over blogs of recipes that she has high hopes of cooking. She has an uncanny ability to quote movies. A skill that was fostered by her brothers and promised would later prove valuable as a great icebreaker to any awkward conversation.  A Manhattan Beach resident, Elizabeth’s style is described as "yacht-y." As she dreams of relaxing starboard, she embraces the active outdoor lifestyle beach living affords her.  If she can't earn a mention in Judge Smails’ next boat christening, you can find her cruising on her bike and cooking with friends as Sinatra blares in the background.

• Ellen Lu Coordinador de Alcance Social

  Ellen Lu

  Coordinador de Alcance Social

  Work

  Ellen is the Social Outreach Coordinator at TouchIT, a role that combines her passion for social media and constant networking. She studied Managerial Economics and Communication at UC Davis, where she also developed her interest in marketing and PR through her business fraternity positions and internship experiences. After four years, she decided she was ready to trade in Davis' scenic backdrop of cows and bicycles to get back in touch with her roots in southern CA. At TouchIT, Ellen identifies the most influential individuals in the social media space and works with them to place clients' campaigns. Her recent work resulted in support from DJ Pauly D.

  Life

  Ellen grew up in Yorba Linda, also known as “The Land of Gracious Living.” She is a fitness fanatic, and recently ran the 2010 Nike Women's Marathon and the 2011 San Francisco Marathon. Her goal is to complete the Tough Mudder in 2012 and the Beach Cities Challenge by 2013. Ellen balances out her running as a budding foodie. She loves baking up culinary masterpieces and is a member of the Yelp Elite Squad. She also loves the color pink, and when she is not busy building her clients' social media presence, Ellen can usually be found shopping or playing with photography for Instagram and Pinterest.

• Erik Cabrera Co-Fundador y Director

  Erik Cabrera

  Co-Fundador y Director

  Trabajo

  Erik Impulsa la visión Estratégica y El Crecimiento de TouchIT, evangelizando la Creación de Relaciones Duraderas entre Las Marcas y Los Consumidores. Como Director aporta una Mezcla Única de la visión de los Negocios, la Tecnología, la Destreza y el Compromiso de Alto Nivel en las Relaciones con Clientes. Todos los días trabaja duro para asegurar una experiencia Excepcional con Las Marcas, una experiencia Excepcional con Clientes y una experiencia Excepcional con Los Empleados. Como Resultado, durante los últimos 2 años La Agencia ha Crecido casi un 300% en Ingresos y busca ser nombrado como el Mejor Lugar para Trabajar y como Empresa con el más Rápido Crecimiento. Erik se crio en Condiciones duras del desarrollo informático, pasó a los quince años de edad iniciando su primer empleo en NAFIN como Coordinador del Área de Informática realizando a temprana edad actividades emprendedoras. En 2006 inicio su Primera Empresa. Ha estudiado y habla cinco idiomas tecnológicos, es Licenciado en Informática Administrativa de UNITEC y ha completado recientemente El Diplomado de Programa de Liderazgo Creativo en Empresas.

  Vida

  Erik disfruta de sus Treinta y Siete años de edad, le gusta la Recopilación y Creación de Música Dance-Electro y apasionado por La Música Cubana, las Carreras de Autos y las Motos Deportivas.

  También en:

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• Ken Martin Director General Creativo

  Ken Martin

  Director General Creativo

  Work

  From Ken’s first entrepreneurship endeavor —which he sold at age 18 — to the roller coaster of ‘90s Silicon Valley, VCs, IPOs and .coms, Ken has always jumped in head first to overcome seemingly impossible challenges in the most creative, effective and magically unexpected ways. As CCO and Co-Founder of TouchIT, Ken nurtures a world-class team that works everyday to drive the industry forward and deliver creative ideas that help brands sprint past their competition. Ken has worked on major brand initiatives and garnered numerous awards for brands such as Adobe, Activision, Nike, Disney, GE, Google and Warner Bros. For all the dirty details, check his LinkedIn profile page below.

  Life

  Born in California’s Central Valley to a family of speedway-racing, mad-inventing, ‘80s computer hackers, Ken grew up building, creating, racing and blowing things up. From eccentric science fair competitions to garage band performances Ken has spent his life creating, questioning and testing the boundaries of what’s possible. With his love of art and computers, digital experiences became the lovechild of everything he gravitated toward. Married to his high school sweetheart (she just didn’t know it back then), he and his wife are busy parents to their four kids, three amazing boys and baby girl.

• Cathy Saidiner Presidente

  Cathy Saidiner

  Presidente

  Work

  Over her 20-plus years in advertising and marketing, Cathy has been a client, an account director, a leader and a trailblazer. Her work history hasn’t been a straight trajectory, but it certainly adds up. She started as an Art Director and opened her own design firm. From there she found her way into the client side of advertising working at Nissan, where she dabbled in everything from vehicle pricing to brand management. Next, Cathy got an MBA at UCLA and parlayed that into her next client-side stint at Mars where she was a member of the brand management team on all cat care products.  Following this was a defining role at TBWA\Chiat\Day as an Account Director on Nissan, Mars, and Pioneer. From there she was welcomed into a new role as President of McCann Erickson in LA. And now, she is pleased to wear the same hat at TouchIT where she will lead client services and oversee brand strategy and delivery.

  Life

  When not burning the midnight oil at the office, Cathy spends her time skiing, hiking and taking morning bike rides along the coast. She grew up in Chicago, lived in Austin for most of her 20’s and has been enjoying the Southern California lifestyle since. Scandal alert! Cathy married her client. This raised a few eyebrows, but everybody has to meet somewhere. They’ve been happily married for years now, with a son they adore. Cathy’s last name is pronounced “Side-en-er”. Her maiden name was much easier to pronounce.

• Dean Shalit Asociado/COO

  Dean Shalit

  Asociado/COO

  Work

  At TouchIT, the culture is to hire the Hungry, Humble, and Smart. Dean claims, if he is going to fail at any of those attributes, it would be the humble part. Dean provides strategic guidance and business navigation advice for the company. He represents the third pillar along side of strong creative/user experience and technical practices that provide the stable foundation on which TouchIT is has built its success. And while Dean is tasked with keeping TouchIT financially on course, he always makes time to help employees who seek his advice. This father of four boys certainly gets no relief from having to solve complex interpersonal and tribal conflict issues.

  Life

  Dean was raised in New Jersey so his clock is set to east coast time and he weaves through LA traffic like a true New Yorker. Instead of going into construction or waste management, as did 95% of his graduating class, Dean decided to stay in school. As the business spirit was strong in him, Dean moved on to study finance in college and then to law school where he honed his craft as a WMD of business management who covers all aspects of legal, financial, and operational issues. He has some great stories that he loves to tell, and is a bunch of laughs…with some periodic groans. So, all in all he gives himself a pass on the not being humble thing.

• Tim Richards Sr. Experiencia y Estrategia

  Tim Richards

  Sr. Experiencia y Estrategia

  Work

  At TouchIT, he leads Experience and Strategy — a group of experienced designers, researchers, analysts and strategists. Their work shapes clients’ brand positioning, communication strategy, experience designs, social planning and content approaches — all based on a mix of consumer insights and the courage needed to take a creative leap. Tim practices a mix of executive jazzercise and conference room kung fu. He’s a mixed media idea artist — whiteboards, sticky pads, sketch books and windows. He believes that good brands can make happy people, and happy people can make a better brand, efficiency in marketing, communicating specifically to populations based on powerful cultural connections and basic human motivations. Tim has been in the business for over 10 years – and has successfully developed experience strategy for brands like Intel, Disney, Naked Juice, HALO, Call of Duty and the NFL.

  Life

  Tim was born in Vegas to a jazz guitarist and a dancer choreographer. In fact, he grew up to be a musician himself – picking up a nasty soccer habit, a bit of Mandarin, and an insatiable curiosity for how the universe works along the way. Tim’s a proud father of 3 boys, an electronic producer, a fan of latin jazz...and, thus, a very busy husband. He’s passionate about the movement of information and trends from sub-cultures to popular cultures – and he has found a way to make that part of his job.

• Derek van den Bosch VP, Entrega

  Derek van den Bosch

  VP, Entrega

  Work

  As TouchIT's Vice President of Delivery, Derek solves the problems, implements the processes, and creates the order that enables BLITiZens to bring their best work to life quickly and efficiently. Leading teams towards innovative solutions to complex problems is a passion that was fueled by Derek's migration from the Netherlands into the fray of California's late-'90s dot-com boom. He continued to cultivate his management expertise in subsequent posts at Wieden+Kennedy and Razorfish in Amsterdam before permanently relocating to Los Angeles, for an eight year stint as TBWA\Chiat\Day's Director of Digital Production, prior to joining TouchIT in 2010.

  Life

  For this Netherlands native, it was only a matter of time before beaches and sunshine trumped tulips and windmills. Now that Derek has put down stakes in Los Angeles, his downtime is consumed with making the most of all that So Cal has to offer. He can frequently be spotted on local hiking trails with his dog, sampling the L.A. restaurant scene with his wife, or escaping to nearby wine country in a quixotic search for that perfect bottle. He's as energized by work as he is by play, with a passion for bringing out the best in the people to create truly great work.

• John Furnari VP, Sociales y Medios Digitales

  John Furnari

  VP, Sociales y Medios Digitales

  Work

  John leads the team responsible for strategic planning and execution across social communication, paid media and analytics. He previously co-founded bigMETHOD, a social media agency that joined TouchIT in 2011. John believes in brand strategy centered on delivering information individuals actually want to receive…and post, share, rehash or remix. It started with a passion project, cold calling his favorite local band Grace Potter & the Nocturnals to propose connecting with bloggers who covered similar artists. Early epiphanies laid the foundation for the approach implemented by TouchIT today. Over the years John has architected programs for Honda, City of Hope, Harley-Davidson, and the Disney Music.

  Life

  Raised by math teachers and the brother of a finance genius, it was natural John left college bent of being a club DJ.  Fortunately the Internet got in the way.  His vinyl collection still grows, but more often you’ll find him biking at Venice Beach, developing iterations of family pasta recipes, and figuring out which solid color T-shirt looks best with a Yankees hat.  Known to mumble, travel barefoot through offices, and pontificate about the value of making important decisions based on coin tosses.  He appreciates a lot of things in life, but whether it’s music, food, cinema, liquor, cities, or people, the defining characteristic John measures anything by is #soul.

• Greg Cargill VP, Servicios al Cliente

  Greg Cargill

  VP, Servicios al Cliente

  Work

  At the ripe age of nineteen, Greg's life shifted dramatically as he began his education at the University of Southern California while simultaneously cutting his teeth in the Interscope Records New Media Department. He spent the next eight years at the center of the new music industry with a focus on developing awareness for celebrities, brands, and products through strategic digital partnerships. His time in the industry served as a living education in the world of online consumer engagement. That work laid the foundation for Greg’s contribution in founding bigMETHOD in 2008, a social media agency that joined TouchIT in 2011. As VP of Client Services and Social Media at TouchIT, Greg leads on business development and client connections for marketing programs centered on digital and social media.

  Life

  As an unwavering minimalist Greg has spent a lifetime obsessing to find the simplest solution to every question. If you are looking for an opinion, he’ll be happy to share one over an extended discussion that only ends because you agree with him or have heard enough. If you are trying to find the Greg that existed before work became life try asking him to go for a run, hike, or swim - those things have historically been able to distract Professional Greg long enough to see the boy still trapped inside. Oh, and even thought he likes a broad variety of music he listens almost exclusively to metal.

• Eric Perez Director Creativo

  Eric Perez

  Director Creativo

  Work

  Eric Perez, aka “Pep,” is responsible for the operation of the TouchIT Creative Department and ultimately accountable for all the solutions it develops. As GCD, Pep gets to direct a highly skilled group of multidisciplinary creative professionals who range from animators, designers and copywriters to 3D artists, art directors and photographers. Pep leverages 20+ years of creative experience and his vast knowledge of print, animation and interactive design help him to guide the teams to, as he puts it, “Realize, in a highly visceral way, the promise that TouchIT makes in its strategy and vision work.” Eric has held several creative leadership positions in his career in which he has served as associate creative director for an Adweek  Top 50 Interactive Agency and led teams in the launching of a number notable franchises, including HarryPotter.com and PiratesoftheCaribbean.com. Through Eric’s leadership, those respective agencies garnered awards from several prestigious groups, including the One Show, CLIO, Communication Arts Award of Excellence, Webby, Key Art and the Addy Awards. Pep relishes the opportunity to create and empower multidiscipline teams to craft engaging and useful digital ecosystems that surpass both client and consumer expectations.

  Life

  When not relishing, Pep enjoys finding the best chili verde with his wife in any town they happen to find themselves. He also engages in epic Lego® battles with his two sons, and discussing the merits of graphic novels vs. classic American literature with his daughter. Pep’s also been known to teach old dogs new tricks, particularly pit bull terriers.

• Chris Morabito Director de Diseño y Experiencia

  Chris Morabito

  Director de Diseño y Experiencia

  Work

  As the Group Director, Experience Design at TouchIT, Chris leads a UX team passionately dedicated to creating lasting, durable connections between people and brands. He is responsible for all aspects of the UX practice at TouchIT, including account thought leadership, strategic planning and day-to-day operations.

  Chris has worked in the fields of design and user experience for more than a dozen years. His roster of current and past clients is countless and spans nearly every business vertical and media channel. Over the years his work has been recognized with Webby’s, Addy’s, IMA’s, SXSW HiveAwards, and Communication Arts features. His visual work has shown at the REDCAT Theater at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis, and several smaller galleries throughout Los Angeles.

  In addition to his responsibilities at TouchIT, Chris is an adjunct professor in the graduate Media Design Program at Art Center in Pasadena. He holds a BA in Philosophy from UCLA and an MFA in Graphic Design from CalArts.

  Life

  Born into a family of Italian emigres, professional magicians, motorcycle dare devils, and amateur genealogists, Chris is a part-time eccentric and full-time 80’s hair metal enthusiast. A proud L.A. native, he lives in a cottage in the hills above the city.

• Noah Gedrich Director del Tecnología

  Noah Gedrich

  Director del Tecnología

  Work

  Noah Gedrich is responsible for TouchIT’s technical vision and implementation for the agency’s compelling brand experiences across server-side development, advanced user-interfaces, interactive integration, and multiple user touchpoints and devices. Noah’s experience is backed by a number of awards for his technical expertise, including several Clio, One Show, SXSW Awards and an Award of Excellence from the Communication Arts Interactive Annual. Noah is highly regarded as an expert in Microsoft technologies and sought after as a speaker on the state of interactive marketing and the technologies that drive TouchIT’s groundbreaking campaigns.

  Life

  Noah was born and raised just outside of New York City, in the town of Irvington, New York. He received his bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University. Once a classical violinist, Noah has played in many prestigious concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully and the Kennedy Center. He continues playing music with TouchIT’s band “Blitizen Kane” and the side project he shares with his wife, “Couches for Bears.” He lives with said wife and their innumerable cats in the wilds North-East Los Angeles. As a well-rounded nerd, he enjoys debating the classics; “Star Wars” vs. “Star Trek, ” Italian vs. French cooking, bourbon vs. rye and Microsoft vs. just about anybody.

• Laura Toneman Director del Programas

  Laura Toneman

  Director del Programas

  Work

  Laura Toneman has a bachelor’s degree in television production and a master’s in marketing/public relations, and has brought brand goals to life over the air and online for more than 15 years. Currently serving as director of Project Management, she’s been a part of the TouchIT family since 2006, ensuring that the clients’ goals are defined and achieved with the highest level of service. Consistent communication and timely delivery are her acumens, but stand-out products are what really move her. Prior to coming to TouchIT, Laura produced broadcast spots, news segments, programming blocks, viewing guides, newsletters, websites and widgets for Warner Brothers, Channel One Network and PBS/NPR.

  Life

  Laura grew up in West Palm Beach, Florida enjoying the year-round sunshine, surf and sand as a high-energy cheerleader and show choir soprano. In constant motion, her college years in Washington D.C. were coupled with travel as often as possible, spending a summer in Southern England and visiting more than seven countries in three years. Drawn, still, to the beach but following her call to the wild world of media production, Laura made L.A. her permanent home over 12 years ago. She enjoys a good restaurant, music, dancing, good people and engaging conversation. Travel and learning still move her. She welcomed her first baby boy in July and now spends her free time with her husband and little one enjoying the Southern California parks, doing yoga, trying new recipes of her own and entertaining friends at home.

• Andi Amaro Gedrich Planificación y Experiencias

  Andi Amaro Gedrich

  Planificación y Experiencias

  Work

  Andrea attended Columbia University, in New York, where she double majored in ancient mediterranean history and developmental psychology. Fresh off the Chinatown bus (and after being steadily employed from the age of 13 as a shoe saleswoman, nanny, person who blows bubbles at naked babies as they have their photos taken on white backdrops, afterschool teacher, bartender and senior citizen art class model), she landed a job at TouchIT as the office manager/ receptionist. Five years, five titles, three office locations, two-time tracking systems and one hell of a time later, Andrea is one of the many examples of success and growth at TouchIT where she now serves as an Experience Planner.

  In addition to being an Experience Planner, Andrea is also responsible for managing TouchIT’s city-renowned band, “The BLITiZen Kane Experience,” which swept the ThinkLA AdJam 2010 Battle of the Agency Bands.

  Life

  Outside of the office, Andrea spends time cooking, cleaning up after her four (three were unplanned) cats in her beautiful home in Highland Park with her husband Noah, and playing music with one of her many, many bands (Check us out at facebook.com/thefresas ... hey, we’re in advertising here!).

• Matt Motschenbacher Director de Desarrollo en Negocios

  Matt Motschenbacher

  Director de Desarrollo en Negocios

  Work

  Leading TouchIT's business development and marketing departments, Matt is responsible for the overall growth of the agency, as well as driving awareness to the company.  Matt's approach focuses on the notion that "people buy people”, and that by developing connections which extend beyond the project we can transform single engagements into long-term business relationships. After spending roughly a decade working for large scale hospitality and entertainment companies (on both the creative and communications side), Matt eventually made the transition to agency life and most recently served as Director of Business Development for JWT/Digitaria prior to joining TouchIT.

  Life

  Growing up on the mean streets of suburban Minnesota, as the oldest son of a computer engineer and elementary school teacher, Matt developed an early love for digital as well as a passion for public speaking. In addition to his love for technology and gadgets, Matt is an avid lover of comic books, pop culture, and food (both eating and cooking it). When he's not schmoozing with clients or crafting late night proposals, Matt's true passion is spending time with his wife and their three children. Additionally, he wishes he had a pet dragon and superpowers.

• Howard Moggs Director de Desarrollo en Negocios

  Howard Moggs

  Director de Desarrollo en Negocios

  Work

  Howard began his career in New Business having worked for and co-founded Agency New Business consultancies in London. Specializing in Digital Marketing since back when digital used to mean “websites, banners and flash games”, Howard was Business Development Director for a London based digital agency, before re-locating to LA to open their first US office in 2008. Having worked in New Business for 13+ years, Howard does not consider himself a salesman, and believes if you work hard to match an agency’s skill sets with the genuine client need, the sales will take care of itself!

   

  Life

  From Derbyshire, England, Howard and his distinctive English accent arrived in the United States in 2008, where he enjoys all things LA with his wife Charlotte, who is also English. Howard claims to have an “evil” identical twin brother, and used to be a “superstar” DJ back in the day. Howard has never met the Queen, but says he would like to if she ever came to LA.

  In his spare time Howard loves making electronic music and also enjoys travel, fashion, home improvement, and playing Football (soccer) for TouchIT FC. Howard says his worst fear is “having to move back to rainy England”.

• Michael Hsu Director Tecnologías de la Información

  Michael Hsu

  Director Tecnologías de la Información

  Work

  Michael Hsu is the Senior Director of Information Technology at TouchIT.  As the Senior Director with 7 years’ experience under his belt, his mission is to provide the BLITiZen community and clients with extraordinary service by listening and understand their needs.  Michael is highly proactive, constantly searching for inefficient workflows and figuring out how to make them more streamlined with information technology.

  Having been at TouchIT for 6 years, he has contributed to many internal projects such as decreasing the deployment time of staging sites, migrating to industry-standard business intelligence tools, streamlining resource and time tracking, and building a scalable and agile network infrastructure.  At the end of the day, Michael is constantly striving to exceed expectations and maximize business value delivered by technology.

  Life

  Outside of TouchIT, Michael enjoys reading about new technologies, answering questions on automotive and technology forums, spinning up new instances on RackSpace, and tinkering with new gadgets.  He is completely envious of people who are into cryptography, packet decoding, and algo trading.

• Alan Arner Asesor Estratégico

  Alan Arner

  Asesor Estratégico

  Work

  Alan is a strategic advisor to TouchIT taking on special projects as necessary and working with TouchIT’s senior management to achieve their goals and objectives. Alan was the chief operating officer and president of TouchIT for two years and helped achieve stability at a crucial time in the TouchIT evolution. Alan’s prior experience includes over 35 years’ experience in Operations, Product Development, Sales, Marketing and Customer Support. In his prior life Alan was one of 5 entrepreneurs that founded McDATA Corporation, a data communications company that grew in revenue to over $350 million and was eventually sold to the leading data storage solution provider, EMC. Alan was also responsible for company-wide operations for EA Consulting, a $17M consulting and professional services firm. Before EA, Alan was responsible for all sales and operations in the Western Region for American Management Systems (AMS), a $1.7B consulting and professional services firm. Alan managed in excess of $300M in revenue and 250 employees for AMS. Alan received his B.S. in Mathematics from Fordham University in New York City.

  Life

  Alan was born and raised in New York City and has lived in worldwide locations that include London, Paris and various cities in the United States. Alan and his wife Carol  live in Northern California. Alan enjoys mountain and road biking, skiing, golf, tennis and fast cars.

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