Local Leadership
Tim Fry, Chair, Global Technology Practice
Tim is the General Manager for the Seattle office of Weber Shandwick. He has a background in storytelling strategy and coaching, public opinion research, brand campaigns and product launches for some of the world’s most respected brands, including Microsoft, Motorola and Samsung. Tim also leads the agency’s Client Relationship Leader (CRL) program, which sets the gold standard for client service excellence within Weber Shandwick and the industry.
Tim has launched several new services for Weber Shandwick. He is the lead instructor for Weber Shandwick’s Storytelling curriculum, which he developed and now teaches to clients around the world, from MasterCard to L.L.Bean – helping clients become media organizations in their own right as the lines between marketing and journalism continue to blur. Tim also launched Weber Shandwick Media Intelligence, which provides in-depth traditional and social media research and analysis for clients that need to track campaign results and keep their finger on the pulse of the media.
Before joining Weber Shandwick, Tim worked with Rowan & Blewitt, Inc. as a research associate, where he developed and tested corporate messages using electronic message testing technology.
Tim has been recognized with several industry awards, including Ad Age’s “40 under 40” and PR News’ “15 to Watch.” He sits on the advisory board for the University of Washington’s Master’s in Communications Digital Media program. Tim graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in 1994 with a bachelor of science degree in foreign service and spent a year at Sophia University in Tokyo, where he studied comparative culture and Japanese business and politics.
Michelle Maggs, Executive Vice President, General Manager
During her 13 years of public relations experience, Michelle has led global communications programs targeting both business and consumer audiences, representing a variety of technologies including websites, social networks, cloud-based services and connected entertainment products.
Over the last decade, Michelle has worked on a variety of Microsoft account teams, including MSN, Microsoft TV and Microsoft Financial Products. She also has experience in the local healthcare community through work with Children’s Hospital of Seattle and the Melanoma International Foundation. In 2000, Michelle received the “One in Twenty” award, Weber Shandwick’s annual recognition of the company’s top performers.
Prior to joining Weber Shandwick, Michelle was the public relations administrator for Disney Online, a division responsible for Disney‟s presence on the Internet. She earned a bachelor of arts degree in journalism, majoring in public relations, from the University of Oregon.
Rose Berg, Executive Vice President, Integrated Healthcare
Rose Berg is a Senior Vice President at Weber Shandwick and is responsible for leading its Seattle Healthcare Practice. She has more than 25 years of experience in advocacy and issues management, corporate positioning and brand marketing. Her proven track record extends to many northwest institutions and brands including Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Pacific Health Summit, National Bureau of Asian Research, Puget Sound Chapter of the Komen for the Cure, Seattle King Public Health County, University of Washington School of Social Work, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as Microsoft.
Erika Bitzer, Vice President, Emerging Technologies Lead and Technology
Erika Bitzer, a vice president of Weber Shandwick, participates in the agency’s broad technology practice. In this role, she leads global and local technology accounts and has a special emphasis within the group on emerging technology and business models. She has 11 years of experience as a business and technology communications strategist working for major international brands and startups alike and offers clients deep industry knowledge in digital entertainment, cloud infrastructure and services, enterprise software and wireless technologies. At Weber Shandwick, her role with clients includes providing senior counsel, global program and account management, crisis communications and PR and AR strategy including social media.
Ryan Hodgson, Senior Vice President
Ryan is a Senior Vice President at Weber Shandwick, specializing in integrated communications. He has extensive experience in the digital space, particularly in social media where he has a successful track record of growing engaged communities for global brands and nonprofits. His work in this area has been recognized by the Huffington Post which named him as one of the nonprofit world’s Twitter Powerhouses. Ryan draws on his diverse background in marketing, advertising, public relations and events which he gained through working with organizations such as HTC, Comcast, the Viacom backed nonprofit Get Schooled, Sleep Country USA and Washington’s Lottery to lead the Seattle office’s biggest account, Premera Blue Cross’ Lifewise brand. He is also the founder of the 501(c)3 nonprofit, Team Up for Nonprofits. Connect with Ryan on Twitter @ryanintheus.
Paul Kiely, Vice President, Creative Director, Seattle Studio
Paul leads the video production unit for Weber Shandwick on the West Coast. He directs all aspects of production from concept to finished product for both broadcast and the web, providing creative and strategic direction for visual digital media.
Since joining Weber Shandwick, Paul has won over 200 industry awards for television production and web video. Paul has directed and produced client work featuring Ed Helms from The Hangover and NBC’s The Office, as well as Jeremy Piven, two time Emmy winning star of HBO’s Entourage, and Kevin Pererra, host of Attack of the Show.
As a professional voice-over artist he has over 50 television and radio spots to his credit along with roles in film and animation. Paul is on the judges’ council of the Telly Awards and has guest lectured at CalArts on acting for the camera.
Scott Meis, Vice President, Social and Digital Strategies
Scott counsels a vast array of nonprofit, corporate and government clients on social media strategy and manages digital marketing projects. His focus and passion lies in insightful strategy, visual storytelling, creative content, online engagement and clean design. Scott has managed various digital projects and campaigns for clients such as The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, LifeWise Health Plan of Washington and Washington State Parks. Scott is also a regular contributor for Ragan’s Healthcare Communications News and you can keep tabs on his insights by following him @ScottMeis or at Social Media Snippets.
Mark Mohammadpour, Vice President, Social & Digital Strategy and Technology
Mark has been at Weber Shandwick for more than 10 years, and has experience ranging from driving social media strategy for a branch of the U.S. military, to writing byline articles on behalf of semiconductor companies, to managing global product reviews programs for smartphones. Mark’s efforts have helped secure dozens of awards on behalf of his clients, including those given by The Holmes Report, IABC, PRNews, PRSA and PRWeek. Mark has a degree in Organizational Communication from The University of Portland.
Laura Morarity, Senior Vice President, Management Supervisor
Laura is a vice president in Seattle focused on mobile technologies and experiences. In this role she oversees product launches, wireless industry relations, trade shows and analyst relations for Motorola Mobility. Laura regularly shares her expertise in mobile to support clients on topics ranging from mobile payments to gaming.
Brooke Shepard, Executive Vice President, West Coast Creative Services
Brooke is the Seattle office’s chief creative officer. In this role, he is responsible for leading creative strategy and development for digital campaigns, video creation and major announcements. Brooke has won numerous awards developing creative campaigns that span traditional PR, marketing and social media. Brooke helped Samsung navigate its 3D TV launch featuring the Black Eyed Peas, as well as introducing Samsung’s Smart TV at CES featuring Hulu, Comcast and Time Warner Cable. For several years he also led Weber Shandwick’s mobile segment, driving engagements with Motorola, Boingo Wireless and the GSMA. He’s worked with Blackberry, Tellme and Microsoft Windows and Windows Phones. Over the past year Brooke focused on building the consumer technology practice for Weber’s sister agency Current Lifestyle Marketing, and also started serving as part-time faculty in the University of Washington’s Master of Communication in Digital Media program, in which he taught a course on Anyscreen Storytelling.
Brenda South, Executive Vice President, West Coast Technology Practice
Brenda has 20+ years of experience directing PR and marketing programs for companies across multiple industries including consumer, technology, nonprofit and business to business. Brenda currently leads and provides strategic counsel to Ambassadors Group, a leading global educational travel company, along with two regions of Verizon Wireless, and the Cleantech Practice in the Pacific Northwest. Her award-winning programs have been recognized multiple times by the PRSA Totems, the Mercury, Communicator and Sabre organizations.
Megan Torres, Vice President, Healthcare, Social Impact
Megan Torres, a vice president at Weber Shandwick, supports the Seattle Heathcare and Social Impact practices. In this role she works with foundations, nonprofits and companies on issue advocacy, brand positioning, coalition building and social engagement campaigns. Megan has shaped communications strategies to inform public policy debates for top clients and is currently serving as strategic counselor to clients such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, PATH and Microsoft.
