Advertising Research Foundation Staff

Kristin Ace - Executive Assistant to the CEO & CRO and Board of Directors Liaison

Kristin Ace is currently the ARF's Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer & Chief Research Officer as well as the Board of Directors Liaison. Prior to taking on this role, she worked in marketing, events and human resources in various industries including technology, gift and toys, and holiday. Kristin enjoys painting and writing as well as boxing, snorkeling and hiking. Her current aspirations are to travel more and to go skydiving!

Rosie Aponte - Membership Services Manager

Rosie Aponte, Membership Services Manager, comes to the ARF from the Alzheimer's Foundation of America. There, she quickly progressed from receptionist to the Director of Membership and Grant Making where she was solely responsible for managing the foundation's relationships with member organizations nationwide. She now works with the ARF's membership team to ensure the delivery of knowledge and member value to the ARF's 400+ member companies. Rosie is a graduate of SUNY New Paltz and a native "Bronxonian." (Let's Go, Yankees!)

 Robert L. Barocci - Executive Transition Specialist

From September 2004 until April 2013, Bob Barocci was President and CEO of the ARF.  Just prior to joining the ARF, Bob was the director of communications of New School University and part of Bob Kerrey’s leadership team. Before that, Bob, as he says it, was privileged to enjoy a very satisfying advertising career including 21 years with Leo Burnett culminating in the position of President of Leo Burnett International. After he left Leo Burnett, he was founder/CEO of McConnaughy Barocci Brown and then invited by Alex Kroll to become Director of Central/East Europe for Young and Rubicam. He holds an M.B.A. from Harvard University and a Phi Beta Kappa mathematics degree from the University of Wisconsin.

Chris Boon - VP of New Business Strategy

Christopher Lee Boon, or "boon" as he's better known around the office, is the VP of New Business Strategy at the ARF, where he works mostly with the Research and Events Departments to identify and engage prospective members & industry leading companies through various value offerings and events that the ARF programs each year. Before joining the ARF boon spent over a decade building brand equity and driving revenue growth for some of today's top lifestyle brands and B2B marketing organizations, including Red Bull North America, Glaceau VitaminWater, and FriendsWithYou to name a few. Serving as the creative engineer behind a number of 360º strategies, boon also expresses his creative side outside of the office by participating in the arts, DJing, and producing special events.

Dr. William A. Cook - EVP of Research and Standards

Dr. William A. Cook is the ARF's EVP of Research and Standards. Dr. Cook leads the ARF's Online Research Quality initiative, a million dollar research-on-research study, the evolution of the ARF's Research Quality Forum, and the ARF NeuroStandards Project that studies the fast-emerging world of biometric research. Bill first served the ARF as Editor for the Journal of Advertising Research from 1987–1997. He joined the ARF as a member of the management team in 1996. Bill started his marketing research career at DuPont seeking to increase the effectiveness of DuPont's corporate image advertising. He later worked on advertising strategy and research for consumer products at DuPont, and, subsequently at Kraft General Foods. At KGF, Bill led the "Seven Routes to Advertising Effectiveness" program which defined a process for improving the setting of advertising objectives and matching the research with those objectives. Pursuing better integration between media planning and marketing strategy, Bill became Exec. Vice President at Simmons Market Research Bureau. At Simmons, Bill worked with leading media companies and advertising agencies on ways to increase the return on advertising spending. More recently, Bill joined modelers seeking to improve targeting techniques and data-based marketing at Equifax NDS and subsequently at William Cook & Company. He has co-authored Advertising Research - 2000: The Changing Face of Advertising Research in the Information Age with Ted Dunn, Research and the Meaning of Advertising Effectiveness: Mutual Misunderstandings with Arthur Kover, and Ad Testing (a chapter in the award-winning Handbook of Marketing Research: Uses, Misuses, and Future Advances with Allan Baldinger. Bill earned his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Florida.

Norman Cordova - Accounting Manager

Norman Cordova is the Accounting Manager at the Advertising Research Foundation and first joined the organization in 2006. He is responsible for managing accounting activities and special projects in the financial, compliance, operational and information systems areas of the organization. His accounting experience of more than 20 years includes the Health Care, Governmental and Trade industries. Prior to joining ARF, Norman worked for various non-profit & private organizations that included Church of The Holy Apostles (the largest emergency feeding program in New York City), The Public Theater (the nation's foremost theatrical producers of Shakespeare), P.R.F.I. and Mt. Sinai Hospital. His responsibilities involved managing all facets of accounting, integration of systems and financial reporting that included both State and City. Norman holds a B.S. degree in Accounting from Far Eastern University.

Chris Ducharme - Graphic Designer

Chris Ducharme is currently the ARF's Graphic Designer and has previously served as Webmaster and has had his hand in most every ARF event and initiative for the past several years. Prior to the ARF, Chris served as web and graphic designer for Honeybee Robotics, working with rocket scientists in New York City. He also spent time at JPMorgan, working in one of their busy and demanding graphics departments. Chris's background and education is quite broad. He has a Bachelor's in Geology, a Master's as well, and has written several plays, a few of which were read and performed in New York City. Chris also worked for a short stint as a well-site geologist in the Rocky Mountain area and for several years he followed the family trade and built and remodeled homes in California. He once flew a hang glider 100 miles along the spine of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and hitchhiked across the United States. He lived to tell about both.

Rachael Feigenbaum - Program Director

Rachael Feigenbaum is the Program Director at the Advertising Research Foundation. In this role she develops cutting-edge content for a variety of events and is responsible for the overall show execution. Previously, Rachael was a group show director for the DMA where she oversaw the planning, production and execution of a large portfolio of conferences and exhibitions. Prior to this, Rachael developed high-level conferences covering a range of topics for Forbes Conferences. Rachael holds an M.A. in Russian Studies from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University where she was also a Harriman Certificate recipient. She earned a B.A. from the University of California at Santa Cruz in English/Russian literature. Rachael got her start in the events business while working in St. Petersburg, Russia in the 1990s and loves off the beaten path travel.

 Gayle Fuguitt - President & CEO

Gayle Fuguitt became the first woman to lead the ARF when she succeeded Bob Barocci as president and CEO in April 2013. Fuguitt, a long-time champion of employing consumer insights and research while at General Mills, spent 32 years at the Minneapolis-based food company, where she was lauded for bringing the voice of the consumer to the decision table.  She has served on the board and executive committee of the ARF from 2005 to 2012. She earned her BA in economics, and a BS in industrial relations from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an M.B.A. with a concentration in marketing research from the University of Wisconsin in Madison.  A passionate supporter of non-profits, she is currently a trustee at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, on the YWCA board of directors, and a strategic advisor to the Northside Achievement Zone.

Catherine Gardner - Managing Editor of the Journal of Advertising Research

Catherine Gardner is Managing Editor of the Journal of Advertising Research, the quarterly publication of the Advertising Research Foundation. The Journal encourages dialogue between practitioners and academics to expand the scientific body of knowledge about all facets of marketing and advertising research, and to facilitate translation of that knowledge to support the ARF's mission of 'effective business through research and insights'. Previously Catherine worked at the World Advertising Research Center developing publications for the IPA, UK Marketing Society, Market Research Society and Advertising Association, and edited four academic advertising journals.

Don Gloeckler - EVP and Chief Research Officer

Don Gloeckler is EVP and the Chief Research Officer of the ARF. Don joined the ARF in January, 2012, after completing a 33 year career at The Procter & Gamble Company, where he held research management positions in the United States, Canada and Japan. He has been co-chair of the ARF Research Quality Forum and a member of the TrueSample Quality Council. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of disABILITYinsights, a non-profit organization that studies and represents the needs of persons with disabilities. Previously, Don was a member of the Board of Directors of the Media Rating Council, the Board of Directors and Steering Committee of the Nielsen Media Research Council for Research Excellence, and the Advisory Board for NielsenConnect. In 2006, he was recognized by Advertising Age as one of the magazine's Media Mavens. Don was born and raised in Ohio and holds an M.B.A. from The Ohio State University, a B.B.A. from the University of Cincinnati and a Certificate in Lay Pastoral Ministry from the Athenaeum of Ohio, Mount St. Mary's Seminary. He resides in Cincinnati with his wife, Linda. They have four children and one beautiful granddaughter.

Sara Gretschel - Office Manager/Membership Associate

Sara Gretschel joined the ARF team in September 2011 as Office Manager/Membership Associate. Prior to the ARF, she worked as an Administrative Assistant in the Workers' Compensation/Unemployment Department at the Actors' Equity Association. Sara attended Marist College where she received a BA in Communication & Public Relations in May 2009. She continues to work with her alma mater as a volunteer for the Marist Alumni Recruiting Program, attending high school college fairs to assist prospective Marist students and families.

Michael Heitner - SVP, Member Value

Michael Heitner, SVP, Member Value, leads the ARF's membership team in delivering value to members by matching member business needs with ARF activities, initiatives and events that can positively impact those needs. Michael has extensive experience in building client relationships, including owning successful New York City advertising agency, Heitner Weiss, for over a decade and most recently as President of his former client's high-end jewelry brand, Verdura.

Chris Kosar - Director of Sales

Chris Kosar is the Director of Sales for the ARF where he creates and sells all sponsorship offerings for major events and initiatives such as Re:think Annual Convention, Audience Measurement Symposium, Industry Leader Forums, Thought Leader Series. Prior to the ARF, Chris spent eight years in Financial Services sales at JP Morgan and AIG and three years three years creating integrated marketing strategies for growth strategy firms. Chris was also part of a singing group for six years and performed at Carnegie Hall over a dozen times.

Gwen La Fantasie - Membership Manager

Gwen La Fantasie has been with the ARF since October 2007. Currently Membership Manager, Gwen works with the ARF's membership team to ensure value delivery to the ARF's 400+ member companies. She is a co-founder of the ARF Young Pros, and works on regional membership programing, with the aim to develop the ARF community outside the New York area. Gwen originally hails from California, where she received degrees in Communication and Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Jessica Letizia - Knowledge Specialist

Jessica is a knowledge specialist at the ARF's Knowledge Center. Her most recent position was with ORC International as a research analyst, where she specialized in secondary advertising and marketing research for agencies and companies. Prior to working at ORC, she spent two years at the American Kennel Club library helping researchers and the public locate information on all things related to dogs. She received her B.A. in communications from Manhattan College and holds a master's degree in library and information science from Pratt Institute. Jessica loves traveling and spends as much of her free time as she can outdoors.

David Marans - EVP, Media

David Marans, the ARF's EVP, Media is an industry leader and frequent public speaker. He began his media research career at Young & Rubicam, and served as Media Research Director at JWT and Mindshare. After 25 years on the agency side, David joined IAG Research as an EVP in 2005. During his career, he worked closely with clients such as Ford, Sears, Pfizer, Unilever, winning a citation from the Association of National Advertisers as well. David is taking a leading role in the ARF Forums, and hosts the Audience Measurement conference.

Ted McConnell - EVP, Digital

Ted McConnell joins the ARF as EVP, Digital. The newly-created research position reflects the ARF's commitment to strengthen our focus on digital measurement. McConnell, who recently retired from P&G after 32 years, where he spent the last 15 years presiding over digital innovation, partnering with brands and corporate groups to understand how these new methods could work with packaged goods brands, leads a new ARF program to identify new measurement initiatives to support and validate digital marketing.

Kelly McSorley - Director of Events

Kelly McSorley is the Director of Events at the Advertising Research Foundation. In this role she is responsible for managing all event logistics, budget, and contract negotiations for the ARF's largest shows (Re:Think Annual Convention and Audience Measurement Symposium). In addition to this, Kelly is also responsible for producing the ARF Great Mind Awards, The David Ogilvy Awards and the ARF's Webcast program.

Peter Orban - EVP, Online, Social and Mobile Media Marketing

Peter Orban spent close to 20 years with various IPG & WPP agencies in six countries on three continents articulating marketing, advertising, and consumer research questions and applying the findings to the marketplace. His passion for technology and innovation led him to Deutsche Telekom where he ran the Innovation and Corporate Development practice based in Europe. After a stint on the Venture Capital side, he cofounded an Internet technology startup. In this role, he developed and executed a primary research methodology that enabled the articulation, comparison, and rank ordering of consumer needs regardless of originating domain. His research led to various applications in social media, semantic search, m-commerce and recommendation engine solutions. Most recently he advised companies across the consumer technology spectrum, especially mobile, on using research to support product development and marketing communications.

Zena M. Pagán - Forums and David Ogilvy Awards Manager

Zena M. Pagán manages the Forum programs and the ARF David Ogilvy Awards program for the Advertising Research Foundation. ARF Forums showcase industry best practices and introduce ARF members to new technologies and the latest thinking about all aspects of advertising and marketing research. This program also provides members with a platform where the industry can voice their mutual concerns in a non-competitive platform. The ARF David Ogilvy Awards celebrate the role of research in successful advertising campaigns. The Awards honor breakthrough moments when creative inspiration and research insights combine to produce a spectacular campaign. Currently, Zena attends LaGuardia Community College undertaking a Media Studies major, where she has received Dean's List recognition by the City University of New York. Zena is also an avid Yankees' fan. Keep up with her on Twitter @theadgroupie and Facebook at facebook.com/adgroupie.

Mi hui Pak - Librarian and Learning Specialist

Mi hui Pak is a Librarian and Learning Specialist at the ARF's Knowledge Center. The Knowledge Center provides a wide range of knowledge solutions, including PowerSearch, MorningCoffee, Knowledge@Hand, and member Research Requests. She received her Masters in Library and Information Science from Queens College, and has helped ARF members answer questions related to marketing and advertising research since 2007.

Erica Palmisano - Human Resources Manager

Erica Palmisano currently serves as the ARF's Human Resources Manager. Prior to taking on this role, Erica began her time at the ARF as Office Manager, and also worked closely with the Membership team as well as assisted with Marketing and Social Media in the capacity of Community Manager. In addition, she has spent time working in theatre and is a massive music fan. She's also an avid NY Giants fan and can be heard cheering them on every Sunday afternoon!

Todd Powers - EVP, Primary Research

Dr. Todd Powers is the ARF's EVP of Primary Research. He comes to the ARF by way of IBM, where he served as Director of Brand and Advertising Research in the Market Insights organization. Dr. Powers, who joined the ARF in September 2010, provides a strong leadership vision for industry topics including advertising ROI, leveraging data analytics for insight, establishing research-guided roadmaps to better manage decision-making complexity, digital measurement, and the real marketing role of the social media movement.

Steve Rappaport - Knowledge Solutions Director

Steve Rappaport, ARF Knowledge Solutions Director, helps member companies build brands through the ARF's Knowledge Center. The ARF Knowledge Center organizes and synthesizes the knowledge generated through ARF activities along with archival sources and trusted third-parties, and then makes them available through a family of self-service sources, such as the ARF's industry leading PowerSearch database, Morning Coffee newsreader, and also through assisted research and consulting services available from the ARF Knowledge Center. Steve is the author of Listen First! Leveraging Social Media for Business Advantage (Wiley 2011), and lead author of the best-selling The Online Advertising Playbook: Proven Strategies and Tested Tactics from the Advertising Research Foundation (Wiley 2007).

Ed Reilley - Project Coordinator

Ed manages the ARF’s major ongoing research initiatives. He brings four years of marketing and project management experience. His most recent position was with Premium Outlets, a Division of the Simon Group. Ed was the Interim Marketing Manager, acting as the project manager/liaison, promoting new store openings and driving the branding message between the corporate office and across all shopping centers in the US. Ed received his BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. Ed is also a huge Philly sports fan and enjoys playing ice hockey.

Lauren Rubino - Marketing Manager

Lauren Rubino is the Marketing Manager for the ARF where she supports the organization's marketing and communications efforts. Previously, she worked in book publishing as a copywriter for everything from book jackets to ads, and also has experience writing and managing blogs and social media. A self-professed word geek, Lauren is obsessed with Words with Friends, and is also an avid skier, traveler and dog lover. She is originally from the Boston area, and loves watching the New England Patriots.

Sharon Saias - Senior VP, Marketing & Communications

Sharon Saias is passionate about marketing. She joined ARF with over 20 years of experience  working with leading brands such as Kraft Foods, illy caffe, and Reader's Digest. She began her career on the agency side at Ogilvy & Mather, where she quickly rose through the ranks and managed a variety of accounts, including AT&T, Vanguard Financial Services, and Kimberly-Clark. Sharon looks forward to bringing her skills to ARF and creating a marketing organization that will drive innovation and create a best in class membership experience. She has two wonderful daughters and lives in Westchester County with her very supportive husband. When not working or mothering, she enjoys jewelry making, working out, theater, and cooking (and not necessarily in that order!).

Horst Stipp - EVP, Global Business Strategy

Dr. Horst Stipp was Senior Vice President, Strategic Insights & Innovation in the Research department of NBC Universal in New York where he oversaw strategic marketing and consumer research for NBCU's TV networks as well as the new digital platforms. Stipp received his Ph.D. in Sociology from Columbia University and has been involved in media research for over 30 years. His publications, in English and German, cover a wide range of topics. Recently, he has written in journals and contributed to books on the development of the media in the digital age and he has presented on these topics at conferences in the US and in Europe. Since 2000, he has been teaching a seminar on media metrics at Columbia University's Business School. He joined the ARF as EVP of Global Business Strategy in 2011.

Jeremiah Tucker - Membership Development Manager

Jeremiah E. Tucker, Membership Development Manager, has been with the ARF since 2009, working with the business development and membership teams to increase the breadth and depth of the ARF's membership community. He has also spent time at CARU (Children's Advertising Review Unit) helping to regulate fair advertising to children. Jeremiah graduated with honors from Hunter College, where he studied Psychology and Media. He's a born and raised New Yorker and loves to play basketball!

Ronni Umles - Events Coordinator

Ronni Umles joined the ARF team in September 2011 as Events Coordinator. In this new position, she fully supports the Events Department in all endeavors, large and small, including Thought Leader Series, Industry Leader Forum, Audience Measurement Conference and Re: Think – ARF Annual Convention. Assisting the Director of Sales, Program Director, and Director of Events, she loves working in a team oriented environment and making the magic happen. Prior to joining the ARF Ronni lived in Southern California and graduated from UCLA in 2010 with a Bachelor's of Art History. She started her work in events as an intern in college and gradually became more enthusiastic about pursuing event management as a career path. A SoCal native (Orange County), she recently moved to New York, loves the city and how much it has to offer, travels when time permits, loves live music and continually explores new restaurants.

Felix Yang - Chief Operating Officer

Felix Yang is the Chief Operating Officer at the ARF. His responsibilities include overseeing revenue generation in events, membership development, research and publications. Additionally he oversees finance, office administration and human resources. Previously he was the SVP, CFO and he joined the ARF in 2004. Prior to joining the ARF, Felix worked at BNY Alternative Investments as the VP Controller. At BNY, Felix handled the financial and HR integrations for the sale of International Fund Administration into the Bank of New York. Previous to that, Felix worked at the Wolf Group as SVP/Controller. At Wolf Group, Felix played a key role in the sale of Partners & Shevack to Wolf Group. Felix holds a bachelor degree in accounting and an M.B.A. in finance from Baruch College.