HT Klatzky & Associates - The Agency: Our People

ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT

Laurie O’Melia O’Neill, vice president/account manager
As one of the only PRSA-accredited public relations specialists in the region, Laurie knows how to connect her clients to the public-and how to maintain that connection-using her vast communications knowledge and genuine enthusiasm. When it comes to managing our client's brands, LOO (as she's known around the office) is a champion of what is true. She knows that saying something doesn't make it so. So she leads a quest to find the essence of every brand we work with.

On the odd chance she's not at work, LOO enjoys being outdoors, curling up with a good book and being the world's best grandma.

Mike Seyfer, account manager
Mike's strongest asset is his ability to lead a team. Because when the agency is firing on all cylinders, the client wins. That means building trust between clients and the agency team. But it also means knowing where to step it up, when to lie back, and, most importantly, how to communicate.

Mike spends his free time outdoors. He puts Minnesota's natural resources to good use through hunting, fishing, biking and golfing.

Joanne Cirillo, account manager
Joanne's background includes more than 20 years of experience in marketing and public relations for nonprofit organizations. Much of that time has been spent in healthcare, giving her a unique perspective as an account manager at HTK. Joanne doesn't believe in advertising for the sake of advertising. Instead, she'd rather tie marketing and advertising to the two essentials: brand and business strategy.

Musical selections on her iPod currently include “King of the Road” by Roger Miller, “Man That Turned My Momma On” by Tammy Wynette and “76 Trombones” from “The Music Man.” She often listens to them while walking her poodle, Stack.

Alison Schiek, vice president, account manager Rhinelander office
Energetic doesn’t even begin to describe Ali. She worked on the client side of advertising, specialized in marketing, strategic planning and public relations for a large health care organization for several years then co-founded and ran her own agency, Schiek & Widule, of Rhinelander for eleven years. She has recently joined HTK and we couldn’t be happier.

Ali is equal parts creative and analytical and is as effective at solving problems and planning as she is at the creative use of visuals and words. To her, the most exciting part of advertising is being able to make a client’s business more successful by providing a new idea or a solution they hadn’t considered.

Ali is a runner—marathons, half-marathons, 10Ks —you name it she’ll run it. She enjoys skiing of every kind, biking, hiking and has two horses, two golden retrievers, two little girls and one husband that fill her days.

ElizaBeth Lyden, new business director

Joining strategy with creativity is what fuels Elizabeth. She thrives on building strong working partnerships between great people inside and outside the agency–the type of partnerships that have notoriously produced campaigns that get noticed. According to Beth, these are exciting and fun times with outlets like the Web, interactive, podcasts and more changing and opening our avenues of communication.

Beth has been helping advertisers get the word out since she was three years old. Her favorite activity as a child was singing jingles, and her favorite TV show was Bewitched—not because she wanted to be Samantha, but because she wanted to go to work with Darren at the ad agency.

Jean Murphy, assistant account manager
Jean's experience in marketing, together with her fantastic sense of humor, makes her a communicator that clients and account managers can count on to get the job done with ease.

When she's not making sure clients and account managers have what they need, Jean serves on the Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College-Superior marketing advisory board. She also finds time for a little reading, journaling, skiing, biking and gardening.

Robin Bue, assistant account manager
A former teacher and passionate learner, Robin always jumps right into the nuts and bolts of each project that passes by her desk. She has a keen ability to get the creative department everything they need to do their best work and embraces the details that go into creating effective advertising.

Reading is Robin’s number one pastime—with fishing, camping and hiking the north woods following close behind.

Patti Widule, assistant account manager Rhinelander office
Patti followed her daughter Molly Widule, co-founder of Schiek & Widule, into the ad business. However, that’s as far as she plans to go. Molly recently moved to Ireland to take up farming. Patti, on the other hand, will be sticking with advertising. A self-professed people person with a great memory, Patti has an almost mythical way of remembering details and anticipating client’s needs. We consider her our great connector—she keeps our work flowing smoothly and our clients up-to-date.

Patti loves to travel—especially to Ireland to visit Molly. She also likes reading, the ocean, long walks and spending time with her children and grandchildren.

Sara Beal, assistant account manager

The energy and creatively charged atmosphere at HTK brings Sara through our doors every morning raring to go. Sharp as a tack—she skillfully supports our account team by conducting research, monitoring budgets, and assisting with public relations activities.

Sara is a student of good creative advertising and has a great appreciation for the process. We all count on her to collect the particulars on a project and inspire us to generate our best work.

Sara enjoys spending downtime with her family. She also likes to knit, read and go to the movies.