Speakers

Laurie B has been teaching Digital Marketing at Chippewa Valley Technical College since January 2013. A DEI advocate, mental health warrior, and crime show addict, this INFJ has been featured in US News & World Report, The New York Times, and numerous other media. Laurie holds a MS in Communication (emphasis in digital) from Northwestern University, Graduate Certificate in Mobile Marketing from Rutgers University, and BA in Mass Communication-Public Relations from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

Derek Entrekin is a U.S. Army veteran and founder of Edwin Marie Web Design. Since 2012 he's combined a background in corporate sales and marketing with a designer's eye to build websites for small and midsize businesses across the country. Today he's focused on the intersection of web design and AI—helping businesses adopt AI Implementation and Answer Engine Optimization so they stay visible and competitive as search evolves. His guiding principle, borrowed from Einstein: make things as simple as possible, but not simpler.

Jack Fentress is an Eau Claire native and the founder of Jolly Mammoth Co., a human-oriented AI consulting company that helps businesses across the Chippewa Valley to make AI approachable and genuinely useful, teaching them how it can help them do more impactful and more joyful work.

After graduating from Memorial High School in 2019, Jack moved to Tennessee, studying at Chattanooga State and then at BrainCo Advertising School, where he began building his portfolio while living near the Smoky Mountains in Knoxville. He spent the pandemic years growing a freelance copywriting business for ESG and sustainability brands. When ChatGPT launched in late 2022, he watched it complete a version of his work in seconds. Instead of seeing it as a threat, he saw it as a sign that the way businesses operate was about to change and learned to drive AI instead.

In 2024, he returned to Eau Claire and began operating Jolly Mammoth, helping local contractors and service-based business owners navigate that shift. Drawing on experience in both the trades and marketing, Jack found that the same skills behind good creative translated naturally into building AI-powered business systems.

Today, for a company named after something that failed to adapt and went extinct, Jack's mission is spot on-brand: help businesses do the opposite.

Andrew's passion is crafting character-driven, interesting and impactful stories through video. This skill has earned him the trust of some of the area's most recognizable businesses and nonprofits.

Amanda Anderson is the Director of Marketing at Pablo Center at the Confluence, where she leads marketing strategy for one of the Midwest's premier performing arts venues. She oversees integrated campaigns that drive ticket sales, memberships, fundraising, community engagement, and brand awareness across hundreds of performances, events, and programs each year

Luke is the Senior Public Relations Manager at Visit Eau Claire and is in his 5th year with the organization. Luke works in various roles at Visit Eau Claire, including recruiting and executing travel writer and influencer partnerships. He also works closely with the marketing team, collaborating to develop creative campaigns that highlight the unique aspects of Eau Claire and drive visitors to the region.

Growing up on the island of Crete, Greece, Luke returned to the U.S. and attended the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where he studied journalism and marketing and graduated in 2021. In 2024, he was honored as one of Destinations International's 30 Under 30, recognizing his contributions to the tourism industry.

Catherine Bormann is a senior media and communications strategist known for turning brands into cultural players and preparing companies for their next stage of growth. With a background spanning broadcast journalism, strategic communications, and large-scale consumer activations, Catherine specializes in building narratives that scale from regional relevance to national impact.  

Justin is a marketing nerd. His gateway drug was in middle school when he and his buddies would make up brand names and draw logos for fun. He now enables founders to grow their pipeline and thought leadership through social media videos.

Lee Caraher, CEO of Double Forte, is a widely acclaimed communication strategist known for her practical solutions to big problems. Her company works with some of the top consumer lifestyle, digital life, and wine and spirits brands in the country at many stages, from startups to mid-cap public, private and B-Corp companies.

Erin Trowbridge is the CEO of Four Peas Consulting, a local firm that provides on-demand fractional (part-time) teams of marketing leaders and skillful tacticians that support business's growth goals and marketing objectives.

Sara has returned from traveling the United States with her family and is ready to pick up where she left off, but this time as a co-founder of Four Peas Consulting. Her love for this one-of-a-kind community and the people who call it home fuels her passion to help others reach their goals.

After a 4 year stint at Visit Eau Claire, Benny has returned to Daredevil Consulting, the company he started 6 years ago, with an established team running digital ads, social media content, website creation, and graphic design.