Speaker Biographies

Sarah Andreadakis has been in advertising and media for more than 20 years. With a client portfolio in some of the most complex categories, she has become recognized as a leader in the industry, driving Bluewater to improve the ways it serves its clients and solves for their needs. As executive vice president of media for Bluewater, Andreadakis drives media strategy for her clients and shapes the services required to meet those needs. She leads a team of expert practitioners to deliver world-class services and exceed results. Her data-driven approach fosters a culture of continuous optimization and shared ownership.

Mary Ann Bautista is a YouTube strategist specializing in direct response marketing. She’s the co-founder of the agency TurboRank, which unlocks YouTube’s full potential to drive revenue. Why should your brand care about YouTube? Because it’s the second-largest search engine and the No. 1 place where consumers discover, research, and engage with brands. Bautista helps businesses turn YouTube into a powerful growth engine — boosting views, engagement, and conversions through organic optimization. With more than 23 years in direct response marketing, she’s scaled D2C brands by crafting data-driven strategies that get real results. When she’s not optimizing YouTube content, you’ll find Bautista enjoying great food, pilates, and a glass of wine.

Mario Cordon is a data-driven marketing leader with a track record of blending creativity with advanced quantitative methodologies. As CMO of Debt.com, he optimizes multichannel strategies using data science, multivariate testing, and consumer insights. With expertise in e-commerce and lead generation, he has led digital growth at Bel USA, Open English, Levenger, and Office Depot, maximizing ROI through analytics and creative strategy. A creator of award-winning TV commercials, Cordon crafts attention-grabbing campaigns that drive results. He holds a chemical engineering degree from Lehigh University and an M.B.A. from Duke.

Jon Friedman joined XR in August 2024 as senior vice president, client partnerships. He’s charged with leading XR’s direct response and general market agency sales efforts and has helped brands connect with consumers for more than three decades through his work at agencies, media conglomerates, and innovative digital media and data companies. Friedman has a passion for disrupting the status quo and building mutually-beneficial partnerships that unlock incremental value and drive business results.Prior to joining XR, he was chief revenue officer at Cuebiq, a location data and advertising attribution provider. Previously, Friedman held sales leadership roles at organizations including Verve, NBCUniversal, Viacom, and OMD. He is relatively new to the DR space and is absolutely fascinated by how the industry is evolving to meet the challenges and opportunities of a dynamic media landscape and fragmentation of audiences. He comes to PDMI excited to meet the architects of new solutions and discuss how XR's distribution and production capabilities can help drive business results.

Federico Garza serves as senior vice president of research strategy and insights for NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises. In this role, he leads all of research, insights and analytics to inform programming, marketing and digital strategies across Telemundo’s portfolio. A seasoned consumer-insights professional with more than 20 years of experience and ample expertise across multiplatform data, audience measurement and marketing strategies, Garza oversees and develops comprehensive research plans through consumer insights, data capabilities and multiplatform measurement to achieve Telemundo’s business goals. Additionally, Garza oversees primary and secondary research and drives data-driven recommendations to enhance Telemundo’s multiplatform strategy and deliver on the content needs of the growing Latino consumer. Garza was previously the executive vice president of research and insights at iHeart Media, where he spearheaded thought leadership, developed analytics and led cross functional strategic programs.

Linda Goldstein is co-leader of BakerHostetler’s Advertising, Marketing & Digital Media team. She provides advertising counsel and regulatory advice to leading Fortune 500 and Fortune 100 companies. She represents clients in investigative and enforcement proceedings brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), state attorneys general, district attorneys, and other federal and state agencies. Goldstein spends a considerable portion of her time advising clients on how to minimize the legal risks associated with mobile marketing, e-retail, social influencers, native advertising, email and telemarketing, and more. Goldstein’s commentary has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, NBC’s TODAY Show, Adweek, Advertising Age, and the National Law Journal.

Leonard Gordon, co-chair of Venable’s Advertising and Marketing Group, is a skilled litigator who leverages his significant experience working for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to help protect his clients’ interests and guide their business activity. Gordon regularly represents companies and individuals in investigations and litigation with the FTC, state attorneys general, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). He also represents clients in business-to-business and class-action litigation involving both consumer protection and antitrust issues.

Dan Grskovic is a sales manager at Samsung Ads with almost 15 years of experience in direct response ad sales. He started his career at FOX Cable Networks, where he cut his teeth working across a variety of cable networks before moving on to join NBCUniversal’s direct response ad sales team. At NBCU, Grskovic worked across various networks, until settling in as an account executive representing NBC Sports Group’s portfolio of networks, which included NBC Sports Network and Golf Channel. He supported the launch of networks such as Universal Sports and Olympic Channel during his tenure. After almost nine years with NBCU, Grskovic joined Samsung Ads in 2022 as the first external hire on the newly formed performance media team, focused on the Samsung TV Plus streaming app and CTV media. He was born, raised, and still lives in Queens, N.Y., with his wife, son, daughter, and their two dogs.

Daniel Gulick is the head of product at JamLoop, bringing 15 years of ad tech/marketing science experience to the team. He focuses on enhancing JamLoop's platform to be the most transparent and actionable solution for advertisers, giving small businesses and D2C advertisers the same powerful tools as major brands. With a background working with companies like GoDaddy, CreditKarma, Untuckit, and HelloFresh, he thrives on helping advertisers uncover their "a-ha" moments through data-driven insights. Passionate about attribution and outcome-based measurement, Gulick is dedicated to proving the real impact of advertising. Outside work, he's enjoying life as a girl dad (times two), spending time outdoors, and hitting the golf course. Fun fact: He grew up on a horse farm where his family bred and raced thoroughbreds.

Jeremy Herbert is a performance marketing expert with a proven track record of using data to drive business growth and market expansion. As vice president of marketing atWeBuyAnyCar.com, he focuses on optimizing the customer journey and leveraging media to fuel scalable growth, while also emphasizing the importance of a robust measurement framework to ensure success.

Maria Kennedy is the president of performance media at Allen Media Group, she oversees nine cable networks including The Weather Channel, Justice Central, The Grio, Recipe.tv, Pets.tv, Cars.tv, Comedy.tv, ES.tv, and My Destination. She also is responsible for selling DR inventory on AMG's six syndicated properties, including the big reach Court Combo programs along with AMG's streaming platforms: Local Now and The Weather Channel app. A pioneer in the DRTV space, Kennedy ran the DR group at Discovery for 16 years before doing the same at FETV. Kennedy was to the Direct Response Hall of Fame in 2015, and, in 2017, received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the ERA.

Matthew Laramee is the senior media director of mass media for Southern New Hampshire University, a non-profit leader in higher education. He has helped lead and build an in-house media team during the past five years, creating continued year-over-year growth for SNHU. This growth is due to his focus of the best medium to maximize performance across linear and CTV. He is dedicated to reaching potential learners to find education that they may have never thought possible. He knows they aren’t just leads; they are people looking to find success. Away from the office, you will find him heading out for a road trip with his wife, getting their three dogs riled up, and seeking out the best tacos.

Racine Levy is the senior director of performance and brand media at Care.com, where she leads strategy and buying across TV, CTV, social, and influencer channels — bridging the gap between performance and brand. With 14 years of experience across CPG, entertainment, and tech, Levy brings a full-funnel approach to driving results through media. Before joining Care.com, she spent more than five years at Angi, where she built and led the in-house brand media team from the ground up. Prior to that, she spent eight years on the agency side, managing campaigns for major entertainment and CPG brands. A proud Manhattan native and graduate of the George Washington University School of Business, Levy is passionate about media planning, tough negotiations, and building meaningful industry relationships. When she’s not bopping around New York City, you’ll find her traveling and discovering new places.

Jacklyn Lopez is an accomplished marketing strategist and brand leader with a passion for connecting brands with the U.S. Hispanic audience in meaningful and measurable ways. As the Hispanic marketing director and brand lead at Anhelo, she oversees all offline and online marketing efforts, driving impact through innovative, culturally relevant campaigns. With more than six years of experience helping Fortune 500 companies maximize their reach and ROI in the Hispanic market, Lopez specializes in performance-based marketing, strategic planning, creative production, and multi-channel media execution. A proud Miami native with Colombian roots, she graduated magna cum laude from Florida State University, where she studied editing, writing, and media. She brings both analytical acumen and creative vision to every project, ensuring brands don’t just reach audiences — they build lasting impact and connections.

Jeanne Rose “JR” McElroy is head of performance media at Comcast’s AudienceXpress, an industry leader in connecting advertisers with TV audiences across all platforms and screens. With more than 20 years of leadership experience in the media space, including AMC Networks and Zenith Media, McElroy is recognized as a strategic, dynamic thought leader. With a passion for innovation and collaboration across the industry, she also has extensive experience in leading high-performing sales teams who deliver world-class service to partners and clients.

Shelby Nichols is the vice president of media at Media Culture, where she leads innovative media strategies with a focus on emerging channels. With experience across brands such as Shriners Children’s, National Debt Relief, Save the Children, and The Kroger Co., she has helped brands and organizations navigate shifting consumer behaviors and media fragmentation. Nichols is passionate about leveraging data-driven insights and an omnichannel approach to maximize audience engagement. As CTV continues to reshape the advertising landscape, she has spent the past 20 years helping brands adapt to new opportunities in a rapidly evolving ecosystem.

With more than a decade as an analytics and marketing technology leader, Sergei Peysakhov — executive director of analytics at TCA — is an expert in leveraging data and marketing science to generate measurable client growth. He specializes in advertising effectiveness, brand research, data management, and translating complex analytics into actionable insights. With an extensive background in multi-touch attribution and marketing mix modeling, his focus is on advancing the technology and analytics solutions used within ad measurement and optimizations — or as he would say, “quantifying each channel’s contribution to the bottom line.”

Mike Rabinovitz is a seasoned brand marketer with more than 15 years of experience working at companies like Hershey, General Mills, and New Balance. He has a passion for nurturing brands in the better-for-you and health-and-wellness domains, having recently served as the marketing director of better-for-you at Hershey. In his current role as chief marketing officer at Echelon Fitness Multimedia, Rabinovitz leads the D2C business and guides the brand's vision to empower people in their health-and-wellness journeys. He approaches the rapidly evolving AI landscape with a mix of fear and excitement. Like many marketers, Rabinovitz is trying his best to keep up with the constant barrage of AI tools in marketing, learning what is out there, and assessing what may work best.

Kaitlin Stebbins is the performance media sales manager at Samsung Ads. In this role, she oversees a portfolio that includes performance agencies and advertisers. Before joining Samsung Ads, Stebbins served as the associate director of advertiser solutions at PubMatic, where she managed annual revenue goals of $130 million and maintained crucial relationships with prominent agencies such as IPG, Omnicom, Publicis, WPP, and Horizon Media.

Ryan Stroble is owner of RSM Creations, a conversion-focused marketing agency. He is a performance-driven media buyer and e-commerce growth expert with more than a decade of experience managing high-budget campaigns, including accounts exceeding $2 million per month for brands like Snow Cosmetics. Stroble specializes in scaling e-commerce brands and building profitable MRR subscription models to maximize customer lifetime value and retention.

A veteran of the performance media space for more than two decades, Mark Sullivan is responsible for managing a convergent sales team of 22 executives across broadcast, cable, linear, and digital properties. As Paramount Advertising’s senior vice president of performance media, Sullivan currently works across CBS, MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, Nickelodeon, TV Land, CBS Sports Network, Paramount+, Pluto TV, and more. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with his team to establish a track record of delivering positive results across all sales verticals. He graduated from Siena College with an accounting degree and earned his CPA in 1997. Sullivan lives in Hoboken, N.J., with his wife and three sons.

Rich Thompson recently became chief sales and marketing officer for Burger Boat Co. in Manitowoc, Wis. For more than 160 years, Burger has been renowned for designing and building custom yachts. An EFFIE Award-winning marketer and business leader, Thompson has created and led several successful and profitable brand marketing campaign strategies for DuPont, Newell Rubbermaid, and ITW Welding. A frequent speaker on the subject of strategic marketing at various universities and marketing conferences, his work has been featured in various editions of Response Magazine. Prior to his appointment at Burger, he ran his own strategic consulting business, helping both private and Fortune-listed companies in several functional areas and short/long-term strategic business planning.

Matt Wasserlauf, CEO and founder of Blockboard, is a trailblazer in digital advertising. He’s respected not only for his drive and impact as a first mover in the digital video market, having founded Broadband Enterprises, the first online video company, and the mobile video platform Torrential, but also as a man of high integrity who values people and relationships first. His latest venture, Blockboard, leverages blockchain technology and AI to ensure transparency and trust in CTV advertising. Recognized with the iMedia "Conviction Award," Wasserlauf's visionary leadership continues to drive innovation and integrity in the ad tech space. His leadership at Blockboard has propelled the company to new heights in the ad tech industry. Under his guidance, Blockboard's outcomes-based programmatic marketing platform, built on blockchain technology, has set a new standard for transparency and sustainability. This year, Wasserlauf spearheaded the development and launch of BlockAI, the newest version of its core offering that combines blockchain and AI to further tackle ad fraud and waste. His mission to rectify the pervasive waste and fraud in the advertising industry is a career defining one. His passion for transparency and integrity is evident in every aspect of Blockboard's operations. Beyond his professional achievements, Wasserlauf is deeply committed to community engagement. He and his team actively support organizations like TD Foundation, which aids children affected by war, and DREAM, which provides educational programs for children in East Harlem and the South Bronx. Additionally, they work with the PitCCh In Foundation, established by former New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia, to support youth development programs. Blockboard is also a proud member of the 10/7 Network, which fights antisemitism.