Who we are

Bergen Anderson

As VP of Client Services, Bergen makes sure that things get done and people are taken care of. As an oldest child and a perfectionist, she’s quite skilled in her role. Bergen has a theater degree from Gustavus Adolphus College and actively participates in Chicago’s theater scene. This background, plus her previous work experience in real estate and finance, has prepared her to be flexible and creative in any situation.

Bergen lives in Andersonville, on the north side of Chicago, and will speak Swedish with you if you ask her to.

Quick facts about Bergen:

• She is very tall and uses this advantage on the volleyball court whenever possible.
• She plays the guitar, piano, percussion, a little French horn, and has even dabbled with the oboe.
• She once played a unicorn, a fairy princess, and a bird – all in one play.

Erin McDaniel

As a Community Manager, Erin strives to ensure members are talking about the most important topics in social media, feeling connected to one another, and having great conversations every day. She’s an instigator, moderator, connector, and concierge.

Erin graduated from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana and has a background in social media, marketing, and PR. Most recently, she was the Community Engagement Manager at Sears Holdings Corporation where she helped develop corporate social media guidelines and directed growth and engagement strategies for their primary social media platforms. She lives in Chicago with her husband and enjoys the ever-changing restaurant scene, running along the lake path, and all the awesomeness that is Chicago in the summer.

Quick facts about Erin:

• She started using social media for marketing when it was called “blogger outreach” and “talking with users.”
• Some of her favorite dinner conversations consist of talking about food: the food being eaten, the dish coming up next, and restaurants to try. This is also why she runs several miles every week.

Kurt Vanderah

Kurt is the General Manager of SocialMedia.org and the Chicago office of GasPedal. He works closely with the Councils of SocialMedia.org, advancing the conversation about social media and connecting executives across the Fortune 1000. He takes great pride in the honor of working with leaders of social media efforts at big brands and helping them talk with one another to make social media a more integral and reliable part of doing daily business.

A University of Illinois graduate, Kurt’s first life was in radio, including more than a dozen years at WGN-AM in Chicago. Kurt came to GasPedal in 2008, encouraged by the company’s firm belief that doing good business can be fun. And so far, so good.

Quick facts about Kurt:

• He has seen major league baseball games in 45 stadiums, past and present.
• He loves his job so much, he happily makes the daily 90-minute commute. Each way.
• His favorite travel destination is home, where he can see his wife and two beautiful kids.

Cale Johnson

As Editor and VP of Content, Cale leads the content team in their mission to create great content, earn loyal fans, and have reasonably non-broken websites. He’s part copywriter, part editor, and part project manager.

Cale has a degree in Journalism from Drake University and got his start covering sports for The Des Moines Register. After two years in Chicago, Cale’s now part of the Austin GasPedal crew. He lives with his fiancé and their three cats (yes, three — it’s a Brady Bunch scenario), and he’s a big fan of the town’s BBQ, outdoor adventures, and days under 110 degrees.

Quick facts about Cale:

• He rides a Harley (but doesn’t own leather chaps).
• His hometown is smaller than yours.
• He once ate fried butter and lived to tell about it.

Kristen Platt

As Content Producer for GasPedal, Kristen supports the team by writing, editing, and coordinating content for our blogs, newsletters, and public websites. She also manages the editorial calendar, helps with event marketing, and is even known to break out her graphic design skills now and then.

Kristen is one of the few Chicago natives on the team and will openly brag about her city to anyone who will listen. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Advertising and Design from DePaul University last year while interning for GasPedal and, because we all got along so well, decided to stick around as a full-time part of our crew.

Quick facts about Kristen:

• She attends, on average, at least one live concert a week.
• She owns over 15 different kinds of wigs (and wears them often).
• She once got fourth place in a Ms. Pac Man arcade tournament.

Tyler DeBoer

Tyler is in charge of making pretty pictures for the company. He spends most of his day with at least two Adobe programs running and browses font websites and design magazines for fun.

Tyler was born and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska, and has an Advertising degree from the University of Nebraska. He’s an avid sports fan, and he’ll wake up at 6:00 on a Saturday morning without complaint to watch Liverpool play a soccer game across the pond. Consequently, there are few things in life more satisfying to him than a Saturday afternoon nap.

Quick facts about Tyler:

• He plays a mean guitar on Guitar Hero (but sadly not in real life).
• He can solve a Rubik’s Cube.
• He was, at one time, the youngest person in the world.

Erica Alatorre

As Event Producer for GasPedal, Erica sweats the details. There’s nothing she likes more than having an event go off without a hitch.

Erica has a Marketing degree from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio. Right after college she moved to Austin, TX and started working for the Texas Aggregates and Concrete Association (TACA). After almost five years at TACA, she was ready for a change and decided GasPedal was the answer. As the only native Texan in the office, she’s likely the only person using the term “y’all.”

Quick facts about Erica:

• She has a spoiled dachshund named Holly.
• She always has a nicely stocked inventory of markers and crayons.
• She was born in Corpus Christi, TX. No, she didn’t know Selena.

Jen Bachelder

Jen leads the event team through challenges of all kinds — the planned, the unexpected, and the half-an-inch-of-snow-in-Austin. She’s the Event Producer, and she’s pretty serious about it.

Before joining GasPedal, Jen earned her graphic design degree from Marietta College. She got her start in the event-world planning at Invisible Records and has since found that her experience planning rock shows is surprisingly applicable to running GasPedal events.

Quick facts about Jen:

• She designs postcards and calendars out of her everyday garbage.
• She’s the kind of Vikings fan that remembers Moss’s rookie season.
• Her hometown is almost as small as Cale’s.

Brian Parks

Evette Tan

As a member of SocialMedia.org’s Community Team, Evette helps keep the community healthy for our members by finding other great brands to join their ranks. She also serves as a liaison for event sponsors.

Evette got her bachelors in Business Administration at the University of the Philippines before packing her bags and moving halfway across the world for a master’s degree in Marketing Communications from the Illinois Institute of Technology. She joined GasPedal as an intern and loved it so much, she never left.

Quick facts about Evette:

• One of her favorite things about living in Chicago is actually the weather.
• She enjoys going on road trips to watch hockey in all sorts of awesome cities.
• She once had a speaking part on a Broadway musical.

Peter Waldheim

Peter Waldheim serves as Senior Strategist for SocialMedia.org, focusing on the social media needs of top global brands operating within large-scale corporate environments. An expert in framing messages, communicating content, and engaging the public, Waldheim previously served as Interim CEO of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, Senior Strategist for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Online Operations, and CEO for the Association of Interactive Media.

Waldheim first became interested in how you can influence public opinion during his involvement in the American civil rights movement during the late 60′s. Since then he has served as a consultant to more than 80 nonprofit organizations, more than two dozen Democratic senators, congressmen, and national political organizations, as well as working with senior marketing executives from many of the world’s most distinguished brands and marketing agencies.

Ryan Ronayne

As a member of SocialMedia.org’s Community Team, Ryan helps keep the community healthy for our members by finding other great brands to join their ranks. He’s a liaison for potential members to the SocialMedia.org community.

Ryan has a degree is Marketing Communications from Columbia College Chicago. He completed eight internships during his collegiate career, including his favorite at GasPedal. After getting over his sports interest (five internships), he started his career at GasPedal using his communication skills to find other talented social media leaders to join SocialMedia.org. He loves living in Chicago and enjoys the local restaurants, comedy shows, and sporting events.

Quick facts about Ryan:

• He went 3-0 in the Taco Bell Saucy Sprint mascot races at Minute Maid Park.
• Even though he’s now two inches taller than Ryan, he’ll always call his younger brother “smalls.”
• He’s a volunteer at the Anti-Cruelty Society. It helps to hold him over until he can get his own dog.

Shaina Novotny

As a member of SocialMedia.org’s Community Team, Shaina is a liaison for potential members to the SocialMedia.org community.

Shaina has a degree in Strategic Communications from the University of Minnesota. She started her career in account management at a Minneapolis-based political ad agency (some may say this is where her guilty pleasure for political fodder developed). One day Shaina decided it was time for a change of locale, so she packed up her car and headed south. After arriving in Austin, TX she found a home with other spontaneous Austin transplants at SocialMedia.org. Now Shaina spends her week days doing what she loves most: talking to people.

Quick facts about Shaina:

• She makes award winning peanut butter bacon fudge (and has the trophy to prove it).
• She moonlights as a wedding coordinator.
• Don’t make her say “calendar,” “bag,” or “bagel”…we haven’t gotten the Minnesotan out of her yet.

Aly Kumpula

As Administrator for GasPedal, Aly works on the details. Organizing, planning, and working deep into the heart of Excel are just a few of the things that make up her day.

Aly has a Communications degree from Sterling College in Sterling, Kansas. After graduating in May of 2011, Aly joined GasPedal as an intern and liked the company so much she didn’t want to leave.

Quick facts about Aly:

• She went to a college with less than 900 students..
• Despite living 10 minutes away from Six Flags, she does not like amusement parks.
• She can’t believe it took her 22 years to get to Texas.

Joe Bunner

Andy Sernovitz

Andy Sernovitz teaches word of mouth marketing.

He wrote Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking and the fantastic blog “Damn, I Wish I’d Thought of That!”

Andy runs SocialMedia.org, the community for social media leaders at the world’s greatest brands, and WordofMouth.org, where marketers and entrepreneurs learn to be great at word of mouth marketing.

He’s the leader of the word of mouth movement, which teaches companies to earn the respect and recommendation of their customers. He’s passionate about marketing ethics and travels the country teaching companies how to be nicer to people.

Andy taught word of mouth marketing at Northwestern University and internet entrepreneurship at the Wharton School of Business, ran a business incubator, and started half a dozen companies. He created the Word of Mouth Marketing Association and the Association for Interactive Marketing.

Quick facts about Andy:

• He has testified before Congress three times.
• He was on the Ali G Show.
• He once sauntered 32 miles around the coast of Manhattan.

Kevin Neuse

Shelley Woodard

As Operations Administrator, Shelley makes sure the Austin team has what they need to do their jobs. She sets up the meetings, stocks the closets, and buys the toys.

Shelley has a degree in management from Ashford University and spent 6 years in the Army Reserves as a mechanic. She moved all over the country and finally decided to settle in Austin and has been part of the GasPedal team since July of 2011.

Quick facts about Shelley:

• She has a boxer named Tigger.
• She took welding classes in high school.
• She teaches piano.

Anita Niedermeier

Anita’s job is to provide high-quality interaction with members of the telemarketing, spam, and salesperson community. She receives their requests, responds politely, and deletes them. She has led this operation for GasPedal and its clients since 2000. Prior to GasPedal, she sold used doormats and empty toilet paper rolls on eBay. Anita may be a fictional character.

Preston Firestone

Preston has led human resources and recruiting operations for GasPedal and its clients since 1999. He has served in similar positions with a variety of new media companies as well as traditional consulting enterprises. Preston spent five years on the road with The Vanilla Fudge and raises pet mudsharks. Preston isn’t real, but most job applicants don’t read this far.