International Graphic Communication Week Speaker Information
Katie Albang
Quantcast
Thursday 8:10 AM – 9:00 AM
GrC alum, Katie Albang graduated with a Management concentration in 2003 and during her time at Cal Poly, was a member of Mat Pica Pi, London Study and worked in the Craft Center teaching fellow students the art of stained-glass design. Katie’s favorite courses in GrC were Flexographic Printing Technology & Sales Management. The Management concentration provided a foundational hands on, "Learn By Doing" approach to learning about business and provided an introduction to sales which sparked her interest immediately. Upon graduation, Katie began her career at Paragon Label in Northern California as a wine label estimator/inside sales before embarking in the world of digital media sales in San Francisco. Over the past decade, Katie has worked as a sales representative selling digital media for CNET Networks/CBS Interactive, IDG International, Twitter, AdRoll and she currently works as a Senior Account Executive for Quantcast selling display advertising in the Bay Area. The GrC curriculum, with a Management concentration exposed Katie to a number of career opportunities and prepared her for a successful sales career in the digital media & tech industry.
Allie Ayers
DuPont Cyrel, Image Solutions
Tuesday 1:10 PM - 2:00 PM
Allie Ayers graduated from Clemson Universities Graphic Communications Major in 2016 and went on to complete her Master's in Packaging Science from Clemson in 2018. After walking across the stage, she joined DuPont Cyrel's Technical Applications Team. For the last 18 months, she has worked with DuPont, as well as volunteering/Participating in industry events such as the Phoenix Challenge and the FTA.
Kristina Benvenuto
NVIDIA
Tuesday 10:10 AM - 11:00 AM
Kristina Benvenuto is a 2012 graduate from Cal Poly GrC. Kristina started her career at Apple following graduation, working as an Account Manager on the mobile advertising team. Kristina left Apple after four years for a digital Advertising Agency in San Francisco, where she worked as an Account Director launching integrated advertising campaigns for Tech and Pharmaceutical companies. In 2018, Kristina moved to the in-house Marketing team at NVIDIA, where she currently works as a Senior Marketing Manager, leading consumer go-to-market strategies. Kristina hopes to share experience on the different aspects of the Advertising and Marketing world, from working directly with clients and creative teams within an agency, all the way to managing product launches, designing packaging, websites, and brainstorming creative stunts with a corporate in-house team. Outside of work, Kristina keeps her passion for creativity alive through freelance projects for family and friends, and enjoys running, good music, and pretending to be a contestant on the Food Network.
Kendall Donaldson
Applied Medical
Thursday 1:40 PM – 2:20 PM
Kendall graduated from Cal Poly in March of 2017 with a degree in Graphic Communication and a management concentration. Shortly after, she started at Applied Medical in the Branding department. Kendall works on the Branding Operations team and helps to support a group of 40 designers, illustrators, and editors. Some of her key projects include training users on and developing a digital asset and content management system, supporting the implementation of an ISO 9001 process, and working with cross-functional teams to establish effective design systems and processes.
John Gatewood
XYZ Graphics
Tuesday 9:10 AM - 10:00 AM
John has had an extensive career in Graphic Arts. Beginning as a negative assembler for a web printer while in college, then transitioning to project manager for a pre-press house, then making the transition to digital production and now working as an animation producer in the CGI world.
Justin Green
Mark Andy
Tuesday 3:10 PM - 3:40 PM
Justin Green has been involved with the printing and packaging industry for more than 20 years. He attended Clemson University, where he earned his Master of Science degree in Graphic Communications. Justin has worked for several suppliers to the printing and packaging industry. His background includes experience in product management, sales, and technical support. In his current role at Mark Andy, Justin works with customers to improve their internal workflows, partners to develop new products for market, and manages international reseller channels.
Lauren Gruter
Talking Rain Beverage Co.
Thursday 3:10 PM - 3:50 PM
Lauren Gruter is a GrC Alumna with over 6 years designing in the beverage industry. She is seasoned in packaging design and branding with a passion for custom typography and creative problem solving in order to create meaningful products & consumer experiences. Since graduating, she has worked at Stone Brewing in San Diego, CA and is currently a Senior Packaging Designer at Talking Rain Beverage Co, the makers of Sparkling Ice in Seattle, WA. In this role, she leads a conceptual creative team that develops branding & packaging design for emerging products.
Megan Heddinger
Wilde House Paper
Tuesday 8:10 AM - 9:00 AM
Having graduated as a GrC student herself in 2015, Megan has gone on to carve out her own path as a multifaceted creative who is now the visionary behind her lifestyle stationery company, Wilde House Paper. Starting as a graphic designer for the women's fashion brand, Free People, Megan began developing her personal aesthetic as a creative which has led her to where she is now.
Molly Hitchings-Wiley
Mathys-Potestio
Thursday 12:10 PM - 12:50 PM
Molly graduated from GrC in 2014 with a concentration in Web and Digital Media. Since graduating, she moved to Austin, TX, where she picked up the odd jobs here and there before falling into a company and position she truly loves. Mathys+Potestio is a creative staffing agency that focuses on creatives helping other creatives. Outside of work, you can find Molly enjoying the local breweries, rock climbing, or eating all of the tacos Austin has to offer.
David Jang
Makers & Allies
Tuesday 2:10 PM - 3:00 PM
David Jang is a Senior Designer at Makers & Allies in San Luis Obispo, CA. After graduating with a concentration in Design Reproduction Technology in 2016, David stayed in SLO to continue his career at M&A, collaborating with an insanely passionate and creative team to create bold and meaningful designs for wine, craft, and spirits. When he's not at work you can find him sipping a whiskey and binging every possible thing on Disney+ while a rack of ribs is going low n' slow on the grill.
Carl Joachim
ePac Flexible Packaging
Wednesday 7:40 AM - 8:10 AM
Carl Joachim is Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of ePac, an all-digital manufacturer of flexible packaging. Carl has over 25 years of executive marketing management experience with Xerox, Ocè, and Ricoh, developing markets for production digital printing technologies used by data centers, commercial printers, and in-plant print centers across the US. In 2013 he turned his focus to the packaging industry, and in 2016 he, along with two business partners, created ePac as the first all-digital flexible packaging company in North America.
Hannah Kayser
Esko
Tuesday 12:10 PM - 1:00 PM
Hannah Kayser graduated from the GrC department in 2017 with a concentration in Design Reproduction Technology. After graduating, she began her full-time career as a Prepress operator but quickly discovered she enjoyed finding ways to make the process easier more than she enjoyed fixing the files themselves. She now works for Esko as an Application Engineer, where she travels to printers around the US to teach them how to use Esko software and automate the process of preparing designs from designers to the press floor.
Natalie Kuhn
Capital One Commercial Labs
Wednesday 8:10 AM - 9:00 AM
Natalie Kuhn graduated from the GrC department in 2009 with a double concentration in Printing and Imaging Management (PIM) as well as Design Reproduction Technology (DRT). While in attendance, Natalie was Co-President of Mat Pica Pi, Knowledge Manager and a head pressman for University Graphic Systems (UGS), and often attended TAGA meetings – she found great value in all that GrC had to offer! Natalie now leads the Associate Experience design team within the Capital One Commercial Bank. They are responsible for improving existing products and services used by associates to serve customers, as well as creating new ones when appropriate. The Commercial Bank enables their customers to better understand and proactively manage their finances through various credit and treasury management solutions. Natalie coaches teams through research, synthesis, strategy, creative concepting, prototyping and product testing. When not solving design problems you can find her exploring art exhibits, practicing yoga or listening to live music. She helped a client build a robot once.
Brian Lawler
Cal Poly
Wednesday 12:10 PM - 1:00 PM
Brian Lawler started his career at Cal Poly in January, 1969, as an undergraduate in Graphic Communication. He graduated in 1975, and he stayed in San Luis Obispo first as a business owner, and eventually as a Cal Poly professor. His life of adventures has taken him far and wide, but he remains rooted in the Graphic Communication Department and in the local community. Brian plans to retire in June; he will then move to Munich, where he will teach the summer semester in 2021. After that he will return to San Luis Obispo where he plans to ride his bikes, hike many trails, and paddle his kayak on all of the local lakes and bays.
Molly McCarthy
Quad
Thursday 3:50 PM - 4:30 PM
Molly McCarthy is 2019 graduate of the GrC department with a concentration in Graphic Communication Management. After graduating, she joined Quad’s Corporate Trainee program based out of Milwaukee, WI. During her time at Cal Poly, she was the Vice President of Cal Poly TAGA, worked as a Graphic and Web Designer for Student Academic Services, and also worked at Cal Poly Print & Copy. Molly has spent six months as a Customer Account Manager for Quad’s In-Store division, and has recently transitioned into an Account Coordinator role for a major account. In the short time Molly’s been at Quad, she’s built upon her project management skills and has handled over $1 million dollars in projects for the company. In her free time, Molly loves traveling, spending time with her family, and seeking out the hottest new items at Trader Joe’s.
Eli McNutt
Dreamship
Wednesday 9:10 AM - 10:00 AM
Eli McNutt is CTO and Co-founder of Dreamship, and a 2013 GrC graduate. During his time at Cal Poly, he was the UGS prepress manager and was a part of the national prize-winning Phoenix Challenge team. After graduating, Eli moved to San Francisco to work closely with startups, beginning his career as a product design consultant and later moving into the venture capital industry. In 2018, Eli combined his experience in software development and knowledge of printing to co-found Dreamship. Dreamship helps empower entrepreneurs and businesses through on-demand commerce. Eli is responsible for building and managing the technology for a network of premium print-on-demand suppliers that is utilized by businesses around the world to fulfill one-off orders.
Victoria Owens
Under Armour
Thursday 12:50 PM - 1:30 PM
Victoria is a Digital Product Designer at Under Armour in Austin, TX. After graduating from GrC in 2014, she made her way to Texas and spent time working at Dell and Whole Foods Market / Amazon. Today at UA, she’s the design lead on the mobile team & the omnichannel retail team. Outside of the office, Victoria is most likely hanging out with her dog or eating at a new Austin restaurant!
Candice Sampson
Snowball Print Marketing
Thursday 2:20 PM - 3:00 PM
Candice Sampson is Director of Client Services with Snowball Print Marketing. She has spent the last 6 years working with various accounts and clients across the globe to execute direct marketing campaigns. She graduated from Cal Poly in 2012 with a BS in Graphic Communication. She was Bindery Manager for UGS and a member of TAGA.
Max Starubinskiy
Adobe
Thursday 10:10 AM - 11:00 AM
Max is a Marketing professional with a passion for Ed Tech and a drive to launch products/services to help shape the future generation of young creators.
Kaitlin Vaughn
Quad
Thursday 3:50 PM - 4:30 PM
Kaitlin creates and executes strategy to support the growth and development of Quad's early talent while ensuring a high-quality, diverse, sustainable pipeline to develop and meet Quad's future talent needs. Overseeing a team of 70+ young professionals, she applies her 11+ years of industry, complex project management, and marketing experience to create a strong foundation of which her Trainees build upon their career. Throughout her career, Kaitlin has also worked with Quad’s largest retail customers to re-engineer their marketing workflows for greater efficiency and effectiveness. She has managed marketing projects for both Quad’s largest and newest business segments including the creation and launch of an internal brand, the execution of marketing materials across business segments corporate-wide, and organized highly visible corporate events. Additionally, as a member of the international leadership team, Kaitlin supported over 250 sales reps in US & Latin America. Being well versed in the intricacies of international logistics, she played a key role in managing very complex, multi-cultural print advertising and production programs across our global business operations. As a lifelong learner and teacher, she earned her MBA from Marquette University and currently serves on the advisory committee to The Circle, the woman’s affinity group at Quad, of which she co-founded.
Alyssa Wigant
Elephant
Thursday 9:10 AM - 10:10 AM
Alyssa Wigant is a visual designer at Elephant working onsite with Apple by day, and a live-streaming lettering artist by night. Known for her dynamic and whimsical typographic illustrations and murals, she strives to merge pixel-perfect details with free-flowing artistry to always create something out of the ordinary.