Friday, November 5, AAF District 4 is hosting AD Path, a free full-day student conference to help emerging talent throughout Florida and the Caribbean prepare for jobs in the industry.
This free event features expert speakers from various facets of the industry covering topics such as Creative Briefs, Solution Case Studies, Interview Tactics, Career Paths and Using Awards to Stand out from Your Peers.
Registration for AD Path is free and open to all students, so register today to get your career started.
Our Speakers
Jon Ruhff – AAF District 4 Governor
Jon is a founder and co-owner of Push Button Productions in Orlando. He currently serves as AAF District 4 Governor.
Jon will share how participation in industry groups, like AAF, can help you connect with industry professionals and build your network.
Shawn Gauthier – Co-Founder, Gauthier Creative Group
Shawn is a Freelance Creative Director and Copywriter currently writing for Hilton, his long-time client, and for Johnson & Johnson, a new one. With decades of agency experience at Saatchi & Saatchi, McCann Erickson, and Publicis, he’s written for Acura, Boston Market, Wonderful Pistachios, POM Wonderful, Folgers, Pillsbury, Air Canada, and many more.
His work has won Cannes Lions, Gold Effies, and has been named to AdWeek’s 50 best spots of the year. He’s twice won the Today Show Halloween Costume Contest. He’s lived in Michigan, Boston, New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles but now works 100% remotely from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida where he lives with his wife and 7-year old daughter. He loves running with his dog, disc golf, and writing.
Mary Zumba – VP, Group Account Director at Reprise Digital
Mary Zumba, is a VP, Group Account Director with 16 years of experience. As account lead, Mary's success is rooted in driving innovative experiences across all touch-points that are anchored on behavioral insight, performance and utility that resonates among the brand's target. Her experience spans across various markets for regional and global clients, for categories in both the B2B and B2C sector such as financial services, telecom, government, pharmaceuticals, spirits, cosmetic, skincare, QSR, and CPG categories.
She manages a team of social media account experts who partner with clients to understand their business goals and business nuances to ensure agency deliverables exceed expectations. Mary is originally from sunny Miami, FL where she started her career as S.C.P.F. and is now VP, Group Account Director at Reprise Digital in NY. Here, Mary oversees Client Service and Project Management.
Jamie Denham – Managing Director at Sliced Bread Animation
Jamie Denham is the Managing Director of the London based animation studio called Sliced Bread Animation. They specialize in visually immersive experiences for 2D and 3D animation, illustration and design for digital media. Over the last 20 years Sliced Bread has successfully applied animation to all media platforms - offering anything from augmented reality, virtual reality, motion graphics, title sequences and TV commercials to online animation and series. They also create games, apps, animation, films and illustrated content for education, marketing and entertainment that push the boundaries of technology and design, whilst working seamlessly across all platforms.
Jamie studied animation on the acclaimed course at Farnham in Surrey and have been in the field of animation production for over 18 years during which time he worked on a number of broadcast productions and adverts for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Fox Kids (US). He was Key Animator/Animation Director on 'Star Hill Ponies', a children's animation series shown on BBC TV and produced by the company behind the internationally successful 'Fireman Sam' series.
Jose Resendez – Freelance Publicist & Marketing Consultant
Jose Resendez is an award-winning communications professional with over a decade of experience in diversity & inclusion -- specializing in publicity, digital media, influencer marketing & talent relations. Jose is now based in Los Angeles after starting his career in Miami.
In his previous role, Jose was a Senior Account Executive & Digital Strategist at Omnicom’s FleishmanHillard, where he worked on Fortune 500 clients AT&T, P&G, Johnson & Johnson, & Chase. Jose executed US Hispanic campaigns with talent like Sofia Vergara, Eva Mendes, Becky G, & LeJuan James to name a few.
Jose is now a freelance publicist & marketing consultant -- clients include Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Hispanicize, NEON16, Tainy, Anitta, Myke Towers, & Red Bull. Jose manages viral TikTokers @Abiud_Sando & @TwistedPennywise, with over 15M followers. In addition, Jose hosts The Homo Homie Podcast which is dedicated to all-things Queer Latinx, available on Apple & Spotify. He’s signed to Gaybors Agency as an LGBT+ influencer.
Jose was listed in AdWeek’s PR 30 Under 30, featured in ALEGRIA Magazine's Most Inspiring Latinos, won a LATISM Award & TECLA Award, spoke at Social Media Week & We All Grow.
Jose has a Bachelors in Advertising from Ai Miami International University of Art & Design, receiving the Student Leadership Award, inducted into their Wall of Fame, & interned for Columbia Pictures at SONY Entertainment. Jose has an Associates in Marketing from Johnson & Wales University where he was part of the President's Leadership Team.
Kristina Prusnek – Lead Program Manager at Airbnb
Specializing in technology for more than a decade, Kristina has worked with some of the largest brands in the world, including Disney, 7-Eleven, IBM, Staples and Hilton. Currently she is with Airbnb as Lead Program Manager focusing on Creative and Marketing campaigns. Prior to her time with Airbnb, Kristina was a Project Manager for Disney where she was responsible for digitizing the Guest experience for all table service restaurants. She is also a Past-President of Ad 2 Orlando, as well as current Communications Chair for AAF 4th District. Her work and contributions to the industry have been recognized in the form of multiple ADDY Award wins (local and district), Best of Show awards and Orlando Business Journal's "40 Under 40."
Jackie Brito – Producer, Brand Studio at Google
Jackie spent the last 15 years producing a vast portfolio of award-winning work across various mediums and Fortune 500 companies. Her passion for advertising and expertise in digital led her from her career start role at Crispin Porter Bogusky, on the Burger King account, to a client-side role at Google’s Brand Studio. She is currently building out Google’s design system (Marketing Web Standards), used by thousands of marketers developing websites for Google at scale. She is also leading the charge on Google’s Diversity & Inclusion work, creating a global website speaking to Google’s inclusion efforts. As a former board member of AAF and President of Ad2 Miami, she credits her success to being well informed about the industry, having a clear vision for her career, never shying away from a challenge, and staying well connected to an extensive network of professionals.