Team Leader

Michael A. Sisti

Vice President, Sisti & Others. Responsibilities include account management, client interface, strategic planning, creative and branding direction of all client activities,

Biography
Michael A. Sisti is the former Chief Communications Officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island. In that position, he was responsible for strategic planning, creative development and production of all advertising, public relations, marketing communications, product literature, event planning and web site development. He managed a budget of $7 million and a staff of 25. His innovative communications programs have been nationally recognized and cited as best industry practices. These include a health care magazine, an award-winning health focused television show, and a TV advertising campaign that has been syndicated in markets around the country.

During his six-year tenure at the health plan, Sisti’s communications efforts have resulted in hundreds of regional and national awards including several Best of Blues awards, three successive National Brand Excellence Awards, a Telly, NY Festivals and more. One of his TV commercials is a finalist for inclusion in the Museum of Modern Art’s Permanent Collection.

Sisti is the former CEO and co-founder of Sisti, Zinbarg & Howard, Inc., which became one of New Jersey’s largest advertising and public relations agencies. His background includes over forty years in every aspect of marketing and communications.

Sisti has published articles on marketing and has been written up in several business magazines. He has served on the Marketing Advisory Board of American Cancer Society (NJ), Juvenile Diabetes Foundation (NJ), and has lectured on marketing and provided marketing and branding seminars for the Chambers of Commerce (NJ, RI) and other organizations.

Production and Management Coordinator

Sara O. Sisti

President, Sisti & Others. Responsibilities include coordination and production supervision of all public relations, advertising, and other communications activities, budget management and vendor supervision.

Biography
Sara O. Sisti has managed people and functions in various business fields for over thirty years. The common thread in her diverse career is her ability to simultaneously guide
personnel, streamline processes and create effective results. She has trained and directed internal staff, as well as procured services from outside organizations. In most of her roles, she has interfaced with both clients and vendors, developing and sustaining, close working relationships.

Her experience includes managing a law office, serving as the property manager of an eighteen-tenant, commercial office building, and management of a restaurant for absentee owners.

After spending 16 years in the legal profession, she changed careers and founded a graphic design and production company, learning computer production during its infancy. Then, with 10 years experience in this new field, she and her husband started New Jersey’s first virtual marketing agency.

Sales & Marketing Consultant

Regina Aulisio

President, Wave Management Group. Responsibilities include participation in strategic planning, marketing plan development, and product marketing.

Biography
Regina Aulisio is the founder and president of Wave Management Group, Inc., an organization of marketing and technology professionals providing consulting services to Fortune 1000 companies, technology suppliers and retail store chains.

Ms. Aulisio began her career at Vornado, Inc., an operator of supermarkets, discount stores, category killers and specialty retail formats. She held management level positions in store operations, merchandising, human resources, marketing, training and information systems.

Ms. Aulisio transferred her technology and marketing expertise to leading in-store systems providers, Sweda International, Fujitsu LTD., and later to Datatec where she held the position of Vice President and General Manager of the Western United States region In her role as CEO of Wave Management, she provides consulting services and hands-on management of market research, sales training, product marketing and strategy development.

Highly respected throughout the industry, Ms. Aulisio is a recognized expert on marketing, retail operations, technology implementation and industry trends, strategies and direction. She has spoken internationally on the US retail market and is well known for her expertise and ability to deliver effective business / product strategies to client companies around the world.

Sales & Marketing Consultant

Joe Polidoro

President, Polidoro Marketing Communications, LLC. Responsibilities include participation in strategic planning, marketing plan development, and account supervision.

Biography
Joe has over 16 years of marketing communications experience, having developed successful marketing programs, positioning, and identities for the investment management divisions of several national and global asset management firms.

Before starting Polidoro Marketing Communications LLC, Joe was at Citigroup Asset Management, where he led a number of marketing initiatives including the re-branding of Salomon Brothers Asset Management.

At Bankers Trust, Joe helped reposition the firm's $33 billion mutual fund family for the Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) market. Joe has also held marketing positions at Bear Stearns, Dean Witter, Gruntal & Co., and E.F. Hutton, and was group account director at branding boutique Frankfurt Balkind Partners.

Joe received a B.A. in English from The College of William & Mary. He did graduate work in nonfiction writing at Columbia University, completed the Strategic Marketing Executive Program at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management (where he was privileged to study with marketing giants Phil Kotler, Ann McGill, and Louis Stern, among others), and passed Level I of the Chartered Financial Analysts exam. He has published articles in New York magazine and The Litchfield County (CT) Times.

Merchandising & Retail Marketing Consultant

Rosalie Jackson Regni

Professor, Virginia Commonwealth University. Responsibilities include planning , marketing consultation, merchandising and product display.

Biography
Rosalie Regni joined the faculty of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia in January 2002 after completing over 30 years of a distinguished career in retailing and manufacturing in New York City. She began her career at the J. C. Penney Corporate Office in Manhattan. Following a 15-year tenure, she became a Divisional Merchandise Manager and then General Merchandise Manager at Montgomery Ward. She then spent 12 years in the manufacturing side of the fashion business. During her career, she traveled extensively in the United States, Far East, and Europe doing trend research, product development, and international negotiations.

As professor of merchandising at Virginia Commonwealth University, she teaches classes in Fashion Forecasting, Product Development, and Advanced Store Development, a class, which simulates the process of opening a new small apparel store from business plan to turnkey development.

Ms. Regni has delivered several papers since joining Virginia Commonwealth University, including one at an international conference in Australia in July 2002. She is in the process of writing a textbook on Product Development.

Customer Service and Sales Training Consultant

Larry Venable

Managing Director, TEC International. Sarasota Chapter. Responsibilities include planning , consultation and training for customer service, branding and sales.

Biography
Formerly in management with 3M Company, Larry has been a motivational speaker and trainer for more than 15 years and has delivered more than 2500 seminars and speeches around the world on leadership and management, customer service, team building, and sales. His insights, examples, sharp wit, and polished communication skills give practical ideas and information that can be used immediately.

Larry’s list of client organizations numbers well into the hundreds and reads like a Who’s Who of America. He has conducted scores of workshops for the federal government including NASA, DOD, OPM, and the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Interior, and Treasury. National companies have regularly engaged Larry to conduct seminars, and he was one of the few speakers in the country to have been certified by Tom Peters to present “In Search of Excellence” seminars sponsored by CareerTrack. He has been retained by several Dale Carnegie Training centers to facilitate leadership workshops.

Larry recently founded the Sarasota chapter of TEC International, an organization, which boasts 8,000 members worldwide. As leader of this elite group of CEOs, Larry provides leadership, coaching and direction to the membership.

An experienced executive, including 10 years in management with 3M Company, and a term as interim general manager of Minnesota Wireless, Larry has the experience and the understanding to establish rapport and work with all levels of management as well as front line personnel.

Real Estate and Homebuilder Marketing Consultant

Polly Webb

Senior Marketing Consultant, Trace Marketing, Inc. Responsibilities include participation in category-specific strategic planning and marketing plan development.

Biography
Polly Webb has been involved in land development, residential construction and new home marketing for more than 25 years. She has worked in markets as diverse as California, Washington D.C., Pennsylvania, Florida and the Caribbean. In addition, Ms. Webb has worked in senior housing as well as more traditional family markets.

Webb recently served as Vice President of Marketing for Lakewood Ranch, a 31,000 acre master planned community in Sarasota and Manatee Counties, Florida. In this capacity, she envisioned and implemented several new initiatives: Around the Ranch, a 48-page monthly community newsletter; Digital Village, an interactive website hosting the community's more than 60 neighborhoods and 80+ clubs and activities; and certification of Lakewood Ranch as a Green Development through the Florida Green Building Coalition. Day-to-day responsibilities involved the full spectrum of marketing activities including public relations, advertising, special events, Information Center operations, Builder Program management, lot pricing and participation in future product and land planning.

For nearly 10 years, Webb owned and operated a custom home building company with her husband in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The firm won numerous top awards in the Parade of Homes of design, quality and craftsmanship and received the Builder of the Year award in 1992. As a consultant, Webb was affiliated with the nationally known marketing firm of Parker Associates in Jacksonville, Florida, for several years in the mid- 1980s and again in 1994.

Webb served as Executive Director of the Institute of Residential Marketing (IRM) and Director of the National Sales and Marketing Council (NSMC) of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). She has contributed articles to a variety of housing publications and has been a featured speaker for local builders associations, NAHB and the Urban Land Institute (ULI). She is a member of IRM, NSMC and the National Council on Senior Housing (NCOSH). She served on the Executive Board of the Home Builders Association of Manatee County in 2004.

Ms. Webb graduated with honors from Pitzer College in California with a BA in English. She was a California State Fellow at U.C. Davis where she received a Master's degree in English Literature.