2024 NBA Annual Convention Sessions

Speakers

Nicole Gustafson - NAB
Nicole Gustafson is Senior Vice President for Government Relations for the National Association of Broadcasters. Previously, Nicole served for two years as Vice President of Government Affairs for the National Football League, and eleven years in Congress in counsel and coalitions roles for House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Senate Republican Conference Vice Chair John Cornyn, and Sen. Chuck Grassley. She holds degrees in political science and communications from William Penn University and received her J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law. An Iowa native and proud Hawkeye, Nicole splits her time between Fort Walton Beach, Florida, and Arlington, Virginia.

Davina Sashkin - Wilkinson Barker Knauer
Davina Sashkin is a partner with the boutique communications firm Wilkinson Barker Knauer in Washington, DC (though she resides in Austin, Texas!). For nearly two decades, Davina has represented broadcast and telecommunications clients on all manner of FCC regulatory compliance matters, transactions and mergers, spectrum auctions, broadcast ownership issues, political broadcasting rules, as well as FCC investigations, enforcement proceedings, and administrative hearings. Davina also has extensive experience advocating for broadcast and telecommunications clients in FCC rulemaking and policy proceedings and in litigation before federal courts.

Speakers

Tara Stingley - Cline Williams
Tara is the Chair of Cline Williams Wright Johnson & Oldfather’s Labor and Employment Law section. Specializing in employment law, Tara advises businesses in a variety of industries on compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws and regulations. Tara assists clients in developing employment policies and provides guidance on best employment practices, employment/termination decisions, and avoiding employment litigation and claims. Tara also prepares and updates employment policies, employee handbooks, employment agreements, independent contractor agreements, restrictive covenant agreements and separation agreements/releases. Additionally, she develops employee training materials and conducts training sessions on equal employment opportunity subjects and recent changes in employment law.

Speakers

Erik Therwanger - Think GREAT
Erik is the founder of Think GREAT and draws from his experiences as a U.S. Marine, executive business leader, sales professional and entrepreneur to help organizations achieve new levels of success. He uniquely combines leadership development, team building, sales training, and goal-setting into strategies and techniques that empower team members and leaders to exceed expectations. As a speaker and coach, Erik’s training sessions provide the tools needed to achieve greater results. With a lasting message of inspiration, he also empowers audiences as he describes his life-changing experience of being his wife’s caregiver, during her four bouts with cancer. Erik has inspired audiences across the country in nearly every industry. Think GREAT is a Certified Veteran-Owned Business and Erik is also the author of The Think GREAT Collection.

Speakers

Paul Jacobs - Jacobs Media
Paul Jacobs is Vice President/General Manager of Jacobs Media, specializing in revenue generation for Jacobs Media’s clients. Paul has earned a reputation for educating sales staffs and their clients about the marketing power of radio broadcasting and the industry’s digital future. He began his career on the sales and management side of the business, working in sales and management positions at WNIC, WRIF, and WDFX in Detroit, as well as for KZEW in Dallas before joining his brothers Fred and Bill in 1991 at Jacobs Media. Over the decades, Jacobs Media has provided research and consulting for some of the most influential companies in media, including MTV, Vh1, NPR, Arbitron, the BBC, and most of the biggest companies and organizations in commercial and public media.

Speakers

Brian Allers - TVB
Brian Allers is Senior Vice President, Business Development at TVB, the national trade association representing America’s local broadcast television industry. Brian works with local broadcast stations and ownership groups by traveling the country and presenting to advertisers on how to grow their business through the right allocation of their media dollars. Brian also spearheads TVBU, TVB’s dedicated online sales training program. Brian’s background includes over 20 years in marketing and advertising. Brian is a graduate of the University of Kansas and lives in Naples, FL with his two children.

Brad Seitter - TVB
Brad Seitter is Executive Vice President, Local & National Business Development at TVB, overseeing TVB’s national, local and digital business development efforts across all 210 DMAs. Brad travels the country presenting directly to advertisers on the power of combining local broadcast TV with specific digital media. Brad’s background includes 25 years in broadcast TV, including 11 years as President & Executive Producer for the Kansas City Chiefs GameDay TV Network. Brad earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism at the University of Kansas and resides in Overland Park, KS with his wife and two children.

Speakers

Rose Ann Shannon - Moderator
Retired KETV News Director

Speakers

Jeff Schmidt - RAB
Jeff has been “on the air,” on the streets as a successful seller, and has spent years inspiring teams as sales manager. Jeff has navigated the complexities of working for small independently owned companies and excelled in the corporate arena. He rose through the ranks as sales manager, market manager, and regional vice president and has served in various sales roles and organizations in his 30+ years in radio. As Senior Vice President of Professional Development, Jeff Schmidt oversees the professional development group across all RAB's training services and works with the industry's leadership to continue to provide a professional development practice positioned to serve an evolving industry sales force focused on digital, solution based integrated marketing and sales efforts.

Speakers

Stephanie Downs - The Center for Sales Strategy
Stephanie Downs is a Senior Vice President at The Center for Sales Strategy and a member of the Executive Leadership Team. She joined the company in 2007, bringing a diverse background in TV and Cable sales and sales management. With over 25 years of experience, Stephanie is passionate about helping clients turn talent into performance. She is energetic, focused, and a straight shooter and she brings her commitment to Quality, Integrity, and Responsiveness to every assignment. Known for her ability to understand the unique needs and situations of every client, Stephanie provides guidance to improve their team and their overall sales performance – reasons why many clients have been with her for years. Stephanie lives in Chattanooga with her husband and two girls.

Speakers

Kevin Benz - KevinBenz.News
A self-described “recovering” news director, Kevin Benz is well-known as an inspiring, engaging speaker. He coaches thousands of journalists and hundreds of newsrooms around the country with his own style of pragmatic, ethical craft. His 30 years in newsrooms and reporting on the streets provide a unique understanding of what journalists need. He began his career as an award-winning videographer and became a nationally recognized journalism leader — serving 14 years as news director in Austin, Texas. His teams received national recognition from organizations including the Sigma Delta Chi awards, the National Edward R. Murrow awards, three National Walter Cronkite awards for excellence in Political Journalism and the DuPont-Columbia awards. Kevin is former Chairman of RTDNA and the Texas AP Broadcasters. He co-founded the Southwest Broadcast Journalism Conference and served as visiting faculty for the Poynter Institute and for the Carole Kneeland Project for Responsible Journalism.

Speakers

Juan Galdamez - Xperi
As a strong supporter of radio’s future in connected platforms, Juan has spent the last 13 years working with broadcasters on the adoption of technology and advancing the future of radio’s presence in the vehicle. Juan has worked with digital radio, RF, automotive, connected platforms, and computer vision technologies. Juan’s passion for radio began at WXTU-FM and continues to this day with stops along the way at WIHT-FM, WMZQ-FM, and WASH-FM in Washington, DC. Throughout his tenure at Xperi, Juan has advocated for broadcasters to utilize technology that enhances the listener experience. His work has helped stations around the world to improve their in-vehicle, mobile, connected device, and metadata delivery, ensuring a competitive listening experience in challenging ecosystems.

Speakers

Erik Therwanger - Think GREAT
Erik is the founder of Think GREAT and draws from his experiences as a U.S. Marine, executive business leader, sales professional and entrepreneur to help organizations achieve new levels of success. He uniquely combines leadership development, team building, sales training, and goal-setting into strategies and techniques that empower team members and leaders to exceed expectations. As a speaker and coach, Erik’s training sessions provide the tools needed to achieve greater results. With a lasting message of inspiration, he also empowers audiences as he describes his life-changing experience of being his wife’s caregiver, during her four bouts with cancer. Erik has inspired audiences across the country in nearly every industry. Think GREAT is a Certified Veteran-Owned Business and Erik is also the author of The Think GREAT Collection.

Speakers

Dan Shelley - RTDNA
Dan Shelley is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), and President of the Radio Television Digital News Foundation (RTDNF). Dan has enjoyed an extensive career in journalism and station operations. His experience includes roles as Senior Vice President of Digital Content Strategy for iHeartMedia; Senior Vice President at Interactive One, part of the Radio One (now Urban One) family of companies and Director of Digital Media at WCBS-TV, New York. Dan also served as an executive producer for WCBS-TV News. Dan’s experience in radio management includes news director/assistant program director at WTMJ-AM in Milwaukee where he was in charge of news and special events coverage. He also helped oversee operations for WTMJ’s Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers and Milwaukee Bucks radio networks. Prior to Milwaukee, Dan was news director at KTTS-AM/FM in his hometown of Springfield, Mo. He holds an Electronic Media Communications degree from Missouri State University.

Speakers

Chris Brunt - Jacobs Media
Chris Brunt has over thirty years of experience in the radio industry, spanning the on-air programming, digital content creation, and digital sales departments. Before assuming his current role as the Director of AI, Digital, and Revenue at Jacobs Media, he played a pivotal role in driving digital growth for Beasley Media and Greater Media in Detroit. His strategic development efforts included launching websites, audio and video streaming platforms, and managing the largest radio podcast in the Midwest. As the Digital Sales Manager, Brunt orchestrated remarkable revenue growth by leveraging both owned/operated and programmatic media. Prior to his Detroit endeavors, he served as the program director for one of the original Edge alternative rock stations in Lansing, Michigan. Along with his duties at Jacobs Media, Chris develops revenue opportunities for jācapps’ mobile apps clients. He is an alumnus of both Lyman Briggs School of Natural Science and the College of Communication Arts and Sciences at Michigan State University.

Speakers

Derron Steenbergen - The Swagger Institute
Derron Steenbergen is the President and Founder of The Swagger Institute, specializing in sales and leadership training, motivational speaking and business and nonprofit consulting. Derron is the founder and partner of The Ten Minute Trainer Network, the industry’s leader in broadcast training. He also spent nearly 30 years as the Chief Revenue Officer of Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation. Steenbergen’s career was built in sales, beginning as a local direct rep and advancing through the ranks of sales management. His high energy, audience-involved seminars are making huge impacts with people across the country, both in person and virtually. Steenbergen has recently been called “the most relatable sales guy in the country,” and “the modern-day Zig Ziglar.” He is also the past chair of the Kentucky Broadcasters Association where he served several years on the KBA board. Steenbergen is a graduate of Western Kentucky University, married to Krista Steenbergen and has three daughters, Logan, Lyn Dawson and Landry. When he is not working, Derron enjoys relaxing with a good cigar.