Speakers
Janelle Abad
Janelle started her music industry journey at KTSW, serving as the Music Director in 2015-2017, with a short stint as Local Music Director. During Janelle's tenure, helped book the last few MR Fests, built up the Music Press Team, moved our offices from Old Main to Trinity one Very Hot summer, led a new branding initiative amongst other executives, represented KTSW at CBI and the final CMJ Festival, and more. While Janelle was MD Janelle interned with Glassnote Records under the US Radio Promotions Director, aiding in gathering chart data for pitching to Alternative, AAA, and Commercial stations. Afterwards Janelle pivoted to a more creative-based Marketing / College Radio Promoter role at Dangerbird Records. Today, Janelle is the Art Director at Polyvinyl Records
Erika Aguliar
Erika Aguilar, Executive Producer of NPR’s Morning Edition and Up First, is graduate of Texas State, majoring in History and Journalism, Aguilar leads the team that delivers the news that many of us listen to on our morning commutes.
Andy Alford
Andy Alford joined the Tribune as director of editorial recruitment, training and career development in March 2022 after a 24-year run at the Austin American-Statesman, where she rose from reporter to assistant metro editor, metro editor, senior editor and then managing editor. As managing editor since 2018, she oversaw a newsroom of more than 60 journalists; a near-doubling of digital subscriptions; and award-winning coverage that prompted the Texas Managing Editors to recognize the Statesman as Texas newspaper of the year for 2013, 2014 and 2016. Born in Dallas, Andy enrolled at Florida A&M University to study engineering, but later found her calling in journalism, her major after she transferred to the University of Houston.
Andrea Bergstrom
Dr. Bergstrom specializes in Communication theory and research, interpersonal, and gender communication as an Associate Professor at Coastal Carolina University.
Danielle Boniche
Danielle is a dot-connecting digital marketer with a strong background in paid social strategy and execution. While her career began in PR at a business communications agency her curiosity and interest in digital led her to pursue full-time social media opportunities. Over time Danielle broadened her media experience adding paid search and display advertising to her skillset. Her previous agency experiences focused on the agriculture, healthcare, and hospitality industries.
Marty Butler
Marty Butler is a brand development studio in Austin, Texas. As our creative leader, Marty’s deep background in art direction, storytelling and design allows him to guide and sculpt branding that connects. Marty is adept at leading teams and clients to merge strategy into creative that sends the proper signal to the audience. Marty was born and raised in Austin and attended Southwest Texas State. He studied fine art, design and mass comm and began his career at GSD&M advertising. He started his own company in 2003 with his brother Adam. His company has had the opportunity to work with brands like Austin FC, The Blanton Museum of Art, Texas State Parks Foundation, Tacodeli, Texas Children’s Hospital, Real Ale Brewing, College Board and Truth.
Jim Bob Breazeale
Jim Bob Breazeale is the Senior Director of Local Media Content for The E.W. Scripps Company’s five properties in Corpus Christi, TX. He oversees strategic direction for news, digital and OTT content for KRIS (NBC), KZTV (CBS) and KAJA (Telemundo). He also directs content for CW South Texas and independent station KDF-TV.
Jennifer Broome
Jennifer Broome is a freelance multimedia travel and environmental journalist for broadcast, digital and print outlets. She was awarded Honorable Mention for the Thomas Lowell Grand Award 2022 Travel Journalist of the Year, North America’s most prestigious travel journalism award. Her work has been seen on The Weather Channel, on local TV in Top 50 markets like Dallas and Denver, AAA National and Matador Network.
SanTres Broussard
SanTres Broussard is a 2020 graduate of Texas State and PR Specialist at Expedia Group with a focus on Media Relations. SanTres Broussard previously worked as an Account Executive at MullenLowe PR in Boston supporting the Tropicana Brands Group and Boston Beer Company portfolios. SanTres Broussard is currently working to earn his Masters in Corporate Communications at the University of Colorado Boulder and set to graduate in Spring of 2024.
Charlcee Cervantez
Charlcee Cervantez is the coordinator for alumni relations, joining the staff in 2021. A native of San Marcos, Cervantez graduated from Texas State in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations and Mass Communication. She previously served as the marketing and communications coordinator at Wonder World Cave and Adventure Park. As alumni relations coordinator, Cervantez oversees digital communication for alumni, facilitates the Alumni Network Program, coordinates Ring Celebration, and supports events and engagement opportunities for Texas State Alumni and the Bobcat community. Cervantez is continuing her education this fall as she pursues a master’s degree in mass communication at Texas State University.
Marissa Chumbley
Marissa is an Austin, Texas native with nearly a decade of experience in account management for local and national clients. As a constant multi-tasker and maker of endless lists, she's a sucker for process and organization. She's a Texas State and UT alum and has always had a passion for building relationships, especially in a creative environment. Outside of work, Marissa enjoys being outdoors with her husband and two kiddos. She loves traveling, live music. If you love 90's R&B and reality tv, she's your girl.
Kate Connors
Kate Connors is the social media coordinator for the Houston Texans. She graduated from Texas State University in 2021 with a BS in digital media innovation with a sports media concentration. While at TXST, Kate worked with the University Star as a sports reporter and was a digital/photography intern with Texas State Sports Properties, the football team and Athletics – and she worked as the TXST Athletics marketing and social media coordinator until moving to her new role with the Texans.
Matthew Crowley
Matthew Crowley, Copy Chief for Politifact, has spent three decades in journalism at newspapers in Nevada, Arizona and New York state. He has supervised edited and written for all four major newsroom desks — city, business, features and sports and edited on department-specific, universal and digital copy desks. He’s won national, regional and state awards for reporting and headline writing and mentors other journalists through the Syracuse University Alumni Partnership Program. He supports journalism as a member of the Society for Editing and Investigative Reporters and Editors.
Desiray Davis
Desiray is a Concordia University Texas and University of Texas at Austin Alumna who joined the 3RC Account Team after interning with us in 2019 and 2020. When she is not helping clients through problem-solving, you can find her at football, volleyball, and basketball games.
Laura Figi
Laura Figi is the city editor for ATX Today, a digital publication in Austin. Figi is a graduate of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University, where she double majored in journalism and French before graduating in 2020. During her time at Texas State, Figi worked for the University Star and was twice honored for her work by the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association. Since graduation, Figi has written almost 1,000 articles between her first job at Austonia News and her current position at ATX Today.
Elissa Fontenot
A TXST alum, Elissa has over a decade of experience in digital marketing. She shapes the content strategy for a half-dozen social media accounts, our digital advertising efforts, and our high-profile web properties. She's thrilled to be a part of the Bobcat community and to lead the digital presence of the university.
Isaac Garza
Isaac Garza is an Austin-based filmmaker, content producer and graduate of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University. He is currently the content Brand Manager for Torchy’s Tacos, where he leads production and activations for branded content pieces. His previous film that he wrote/starred/produced, Pepito, premiered at the Austin Film Festival and was later picked up by HBO as one of the winners of the inaugural Latinx Short Film Competition. He is a current recipient of the HBO Pa’Lante Promise writer/director program in collaboration with Warner Discovery’s OneFifty for his next project.
Jordan Gass-Pooré
Jordan Gass-Pooré (she/her) is an award-winning podcast producer and investigative journalist with more than a decade of journalism experience. Presently, Jordan is the creator, producer, reporter, and host of “Hazard NJ,” a limited-series podcast about the impacts of climate change on hazardous Superfund sites in New Jersey. “Hazard NJ” is a production of NJ Spotlight News, the news division of NJ PBS, and is the outlet’s first podcast. She has a master’s degree in investigative journalism from City, University of London and a bachelor’s degree in electronic media and English from Texas State University. During her time at Texas State, Jordan served in various roles with KTSW and The University Star
Juan Garcia
Juan Garcia majored in Electronic Media and Mass Communication at Texas State University. He started as a news reporter and assistant music director at KTSW 89.9. In his years at KTSW, he led the news department before becoming the Station Manager and spent some time in the Multimedia and Programming departments as a video producer and DJ. In his last semester at Texas State, he began interning at KUT 90.5 as a producer and host in the evenings. He is now a full-time producer and host on weekday mornings on KUT.
Justin Grady
Justin Grady is a senior copywriter at Preacher with 14 years of experience working with brands like AT&T, Toyota, Disney, and Delta Airlines.
Juan Garcia Jiménez
Juan Garcia Jimenez is a 2020 Digital Media Innovation graduate of Texas State. His first role as Full Stack Web Developer was with Wytec International, a 5G telecommunication company. After gaining experience for a year in that role, Garcia Jiménez moved to a Web Developer position at Gannett, the media conglomerate that owns news operations in 43 U.S. states and six countries, including the Austin American-Statesman. His responsibilities include a project consolidating Gannett’s online brand messaging, as well as creating a more friendly user experience. He also builds pages for the company’s intranet, analyzes site analytics and runs their Youtube channel.
Cristela Jones
Cristela Jones is a journalism graduate student in the master’s professional track at the University of Texas at Austin. She graduated with her bachelor’s in Electronic Media and a minor in Spanish from Texas State University in summer 2021. While there, she worked as a life and arts reporter and editor for the University Star and a social media contributor for KTSW 89.9. She’s interned for the San Antonio Current and more recently, KUT’s the Texas Standard. Her work has also appeared in UT’s Reporting Texas and she’s participated in some extracurricular programs outside of school like Bloomberg’s Journalism Diversity Program in New York and NPR’s Next Generation Radio program in San Antonio.
Krash Kelly
Krash Kelly has been a Texas radio personality with the majority of that time spent in his native Austin. After graduation from Austin’s Anderson High School he became a Texas Tech Red Raider before graduating from Texas State. Krash Kelly has been a Texas radio personality with the majority of that time spent in his native Austin. After graduation from Austin’s Anderson High School he became a Texas Tech Red Raider before graduating from Texas State. Krash started on-air, and quickly became the station’s Program Director.
Lynsey Lamoureux
Lynsey Lamoureux is an account coordinator at Powell Communications. She graduated in December 2021 from Texas State University with a BS in public relations. Throughout her college career, Lynsey interned at Leadhub, a digital marketing agency, where she created web and social media content and managed client websites. In addition, Lynsey played the clarinet in the Bobcat Marching Band and delivered the University Star as the distribution manager.
Reynaldo Leaños
Reynaldo Leaños Jr. is a producer at Latino USA and is based in New York City. Leaños is an award winning journalist who recently covered the U.S.-Mexico border and immigration for Texas Public Radio in the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas. While at TPR, his work was frequently featured on NPR’s national news shows like Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Weekend Edition, as well as NPR’s newscasts. Prior to joining TPR, Leaños was a freelance journalist in the Rio Grande Valley and in New York City. His work has appeared on PRX’s The World and Global Nation, NBC News, Latino USA and KUT’s Texas Standard. He has an undergraduate degree from Texas State University, where he studied journalism and international studies. Leaños also has a master’s degree from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, where he specialized in international reporting.
John Lee
John is an account coordinator turned account executive at Third Rail Creative. As a native Texan, he graduated with a marketing degree from Texas State University and interned at various agencies in Austin. Home must really be where the heart is, because he decided that he wasn’t ready to let go of his Austinite title. When he’s not working, you’ll find him sewing clothes, catching some live music shows or chomping on some local bites
Matt McClearin
Matt has been actively involved in radio in one way or another since originally leaving Texas State in 2001. Originally from the DFW area, a graduate of Rockwall High School. He's had a couple of stint in Dallas working at The Ticket, hosted a daily sports talk show on ESPN 103.3 in Dallas and currently hosts The Matt McClearin Show, weekdays from 12-2p on WJOX 94.5 that is simulcast across the state of Alabama from his current city of Birmingham to Huntsville and Montgomery. He has shown a track record of ratings success and currently enjoys a consistently Top 5 show in the Birmingham market in his daypart. Earlier this year, Matt was named by Barrett Sports Media, in a poll conducted of sports talk industry executives and program directors as one of the Top 20 Mid Market Midday Shows in the country. His dedication to radio during his 20+ year career, his passion for what he does and his willingness to help young people in the industry grow are great examples of what KTSW produces at the highest levels.
Dez Moore
Dezmond Moore is a graduate of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University currently serving as the Social Media Director and Content Lead for Nice Kicks, a sneaker focused story-telling outlet covering all of the whats-happenings in the sneaker industry. Dezmond has interviewed and created original content with some of the biggest names and brands in sports all while rocking some nice kicks.
Danny Olivas
Danny Olivas – a mission specialist for 12 years – was a crew member on two Space Shuttle missions, logging more than 650 hours, 440 earth orbits and 11 million miles. He participated on five spacewalks totaling 34 hours. He installed critical components onto the International Space Station. He also accompanied the first ever spacewalk to repair the shuttle while orbit, repairing damaged heat shielding that posed a potentially disastrous threat to the shuttle and crew. Olivas holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering and materials science from Rice University. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at El Paso.
Andrew Osegi
Andrew Osegi is a Social Media Strategist at IBM where he works alongside fellow social strategists, creative designers and the larger IBM Content Experience team to help manage (and bring to life) the IBM Watson and IBM Data and AI brands on social and other online communities. Andrew has 8+ years in social media management, digital governance, content production, community engagement strategy and paid media implementation. A former SJMC Journalism major, Andrew is experienced in the application of strategic frameworks for digital engagement across a wide range of industries and businesses- specifically, through online communities and social platforms.
See Andrew's virtual portfolio here: https://andrewosegi.contently.com
Jaime Paxton
Jaime Paxton is the SVP of Development and an Executive Producer for Red Arrow Industries, a tv production company. Specializing in unscripted tv and documentaries, some of her current on-air projects include How To Be A Cowboy on Netflix, Two Steps Home on Discovery+, First Timers Club on Discovery+, Bizarre Builds on Discovery+, Building Off The Grid: Bottle Island on Discovery+ and The Radkes on Hulu. After graduating from TXST in 2001, Jaime went to work as an associate producer at NBC5 in DFW before shifting gears to entertainment. Jaime was a part of the production team on three seasons of MTV’s Laguna Beach and one season of MTV’s The Hills. She then went on to work in development for many successful production companies and has created/developed hundreds of hours of programming over her career.
Kerri Qunell
Kerri is an experienced leader in non-profit, education, and agency communications, marketing, and branding. As Vice President of Communications for the National Domestic Violence Hotline, she develops and leads The Hotline’s national communications, marketing, and brand management. Kerri previously served as Chief Marketing Officer at Trinity Episcopal School and as Director of Marketing at St. Edward's University – where she is an Adjunct Professor teaching Business Communication and Social Media Marketing. She is a Leadership Austin graduate and past board member, and a founding board member and past president of Young Women's Alliance (YWA), for which she serves on the YWA Advisory Council. She was named a “Profiles in Power Woman of Influence” by Austin Business Journal and an “Austin Under 40” winner. She holds a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership and Ethics from St. Edward's University and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Texas State University.
Ash Romo
Ash Romo is a Content & Engagement Specialist at OJO Labs. Ash was a graduate of the DMI program and now has 8+ years of digital marketing experience in a diverse group of industries. Ash specializes in community management, social media moderation, social media campaigns, branding and brand voice, advocacy programs, data analytics, POVs, distribution, Canva content designs, and relationship management
Hannah Rucker
Hannah Rucker is a news and traffic anchor for KVUE Daybreak in Austin and an alumna of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University. As a native Texan, she takes deep pride in telling stories in the capital of her beloved home state – particularly stories about children in the foster system looking for permanent homes. Before coming to KVUE, Hannah was a reporter in Lubbock and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Luke Simons
Luke Simons is currently the Special Projects Content Manager for KENS 5 in San Antonio, Texas. When it comes to working in TV and Digital Media, Luke has done almost every single job in a newsroom. After graduating from Texas State University (it was still SWT when he was there), he began his career as a tape editor and photographer in Beaumont. Luke’s second stop took him to Erie, Pennsylvania, as a sports director for the ABC and Fox affiliate. Although this Texas boy nearly froze in the winters, it turned out to be a great place to get his career going. Luke was fortunate to cover a Super Bowl, World Series, U.S. Open, Rose Bowl and Stanley Cup Final. He made it back to the Lone Star State working in the Baylor University Athletics Department as the Director of Sic ‘em Sports Productions. Soon afterward, he went to College Station to start up a new station there. He began in sports and eventually became the station’s News Director.
Tracey Stabile
Tracey Stabile is a director at Central Texas Pig Rescue, where she manages the development, fundraising and voice of CTPR. Part of her role includes representing the unique personalities of each resident, as well as the ethos and dreams of CTPR on social media. Tracey also creates and manages the execution of CTPR events, designs its merchandise and website, and helps manage the Animal Care Team programs. Away from the rescue, she is a full-time, freelance graphic designer and illustrator.
Carrington Tatum
Carrington is a Garland-made, Memphis journalist with a background in environmental justice reporting for MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. The news should serve people who have been made most vulnerable by systems of oppression first. He graduated from Texas State University's journalism school. As a student, he wrote about Southern Dallas and e-sports for the Dallas Morning News, Texas policy, politics, and higher education for the Texas Tribune, and led the University Star as its first Black editor. Before catching the journalism bug with the student newspaper, he managed the YouTube strategy for The Brilliant Idiots, a Loud Speakers Network podcast, as well as channels for stand-up comedian and podcaster, Andrew Schulz.
Jonathan Valdez
Jonathan Valdez started his journey at Texas State University’s KTSW 89.9 where he created and launched a morning talk show called Orange Juice and Biscuits Morning Talk Worth Waking For. The show was Voted Top 8 Morning Show on Austin360.com in 2008 by write-in votes alone beating out corporate morning shows in Austin! From there, Valdez turned Orange Juice and Biscuits into a blog and has been a pop culture and fashion expert, influencer and content creator for over twelve years. Valdez has been seen on Bravo, NBC, ABC and CBS news programs nationwide as well as international outlets discussing red carpet looks, runway fashion and pop culture. He is also an Us Weekly Fashion Police Top Cop and host of OJ&B the Podcast with Jonathan Valdez powered by DNRStudios.com.
Sarah Vasquez
Sarah M. Vasquez is a writer and photographer based in Marfa, Texas. She is known for her award-winning coverage of the Far West Texas region for the Big Bend Sentinel newspaper. She interned at Marfa Public Radio before joining the Big Bend Sentinel as a general assignment reporter and photographer. Her writing has appeared in Latinx Spaces, Texas Observer, Hyperallergic, Luz Media and Texas Highways, and her photography has appeared in NBC News, New York Times and Texas Tribune. Prior to moving to Marfa, she started her website, SoManyBands, in 2003, covering the Austin music scene. She also wrote for UWeekly Magazine, Red River Noise and Austin Vida.
Deborah Welch
Deborah Welch is the Group Data Strategy Director at Translation | UnitedMasters. She works with brands like Beats by Dre, NBA, Intuit, AT&T, and more. In her role, she works across the enterprise, which is one part creative agency (Translation) and one part creator platform (UnitedMasters). Deborah’s team is the in-house data strategy group working across marketing, product, and sales. Together, they do all things cultural intelligence and measurement.
Conner Yarbrough
Conner Yarbrough (they/them) currently works as a Marketing Assistant at Polyvinyl Records with a primary focus on tour marketing/promotion and digital asset distribution. Conner spent their time in Texas State's Electronic Media program exploring and gathering as many multimedia skills as possible in hopes to find a career in the music industry. Whether they were contributing to KTSW's social media and web content departments or programming the music on air, they worked to connect the station's hard work to the San Marcos community. These experiences helped them post-grad in navigating the professional world.
Gabriella Ybarra
Gabriella Ybarra is a graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin and a teaching assistant for the School of Journalism and Media. Gabby graduated from Texas State University in 2021 where she received her bachelor’s degree in journalism. At Texas State, Gabby worked for the independent student-led newspaper, the University Star, as a news reporter before becoming managing editor for the 2020-2021 academic year. Since graduating, Gabby has had internships at the San Antonio Express-News and The Texas Standard, Texas’ statewide NPR program.
Alana Zamora
Alana M. Zamora is the Membership Coordinator for the Witte Museum in San Antonio, Texas. A native of San Marcos, Zamora graduated from Texas State University in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations and Mass Communication. Zamora also currently serves as the Communications Chair for the National Museum of the American Latino’s Young Ambassadors Program Alumni Network