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The North Social Team

About North Social

The Innovator Of Record Since 2006

North Social has been building innovative and impactful social media applications, promotions, and marketing campaigns for some of the most forward thinking brands on the planet since 2006.

In February 2011, North Social was acquired by Vocus Corporation, a Maryland based provider of marketing and PR software. (VOCS) You can read more about Vocus at www.vocus.com

Alex Bernstein

Business Strategy & Planning

Alex fuels, drives, and steers platform strategy, operations, and business development for North Social (clicks, conversions, and viral drivers are his world). Prior to co-founding North in 2006, Bernstein was a Senior Vice President at Virgin Entertainment Group where he led strategy, operations, and corporate development. Living up to the title of serial entrepreneur, two years before iTunes launched Alex co-founded and served as Executive Vice President for a digital content distribution platform called Echo, which was both politically backed and funded by leading media retailers: Best Buy, Virgin, Borders, Tower Records, TransWorld Entertainment, Hastings, and Wherehouse. Prior to entering the business world Alex spent four seasons in the NFL as an offensive lineman with the Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, and Atlanta Falcons.

David Brody

Promotion Strategy & Creative Concepts

Brody plays brand sensei and conceptual catalyst for North Social. Before co-founding North, he was recruited to play disruptor and chief viral officer inside Richard Branson's Virgin empire as a Vice President of Marketing, where he spearheaded the launch of a groundbreaking viral campaign that brought home the Gold Lion at the Cannes International Advertising Festival and won the hearts and imaginations of music fanatics across the world wide web. Prior to that, Brody wore just about every strategic leadership hat inside big Omnicom shop, the Integer Group/TBWA where he put challenger thinking into motion and triggered breakthrough impact (on and offline) for leading brands like United Airlines, Coors Light, Procter & Gamble, the NFL, and EarthLink.

Rishi Mathur

Social Software & Application Development

Entrepreneur, code junkie, and international man of mystery, Rishi is the lead developer and application architect for North Social. His past online resume includes managing web development for AEG where he architected and implemented an enterprise wide content management solution for the sports and entertainment conglomerate. He was also the lead engineer for Gorilla Nation media, where he played lead techie for one of the world's largest online ad sales rep firms. Rishi's super power is designing and developing cutting-edge, scalable social technology applications including custom Facebook and Twitter applications, blogging technologies, social games, and mobile applications.

Chris Mottau

General Manager

A graduate of Amherst College, Chris has already cut his teeth and built up his online I.Q., by helping launch four internet-based startups - from an internet search company to an auction-based online display advertising company. He plays the coveted role of North Social's roverback, assisting with project management, customer insight mining, design and implementation of marketing programs and campaigns, media planning and buying, and content management. When he's not optimizing site traffic and keeping the team pointed in the right direction, Chris can be found paddling out to catch the next early morning set at the beach, or pushing his own clothing line DEC.

Taylor Brown

Head of Design & User Experience

Taylor has the enviable task of bringing the North Social visual brand to life through the creation of logos, app icons, website designs, application designs, and promotional materials. Day-to-day, Taylor can be found activating his creative superpowers in user experience, web development, graphic design, and project managment, to maximize the impact of North Social apps inside Facebook. Prior to teaming up with North Social (and getting swept up in social media hysteria), he spent most of his time using his imagination and talent to pursue a career in Industrial Design. In his analog life, Taylor can be found schooling and scoring on the soccer field, shredding gnar gnar in the Rocky Mountains, or using his passion for 3D design to build furniture and kinetic sculptures.

Elspeth Pelliccia

User Education & Social Experience

The questions, concerns and the infinite woes of North Social users have been no match for her winning attitude, powers of empathy, and unmatched desired to help the good people of the social network find solutions to their problems. Elsie comes to us from her previous position working as a supervisor in a Trader Joe's that houses over 115 employees and undergoes +$100,000 in daily transactions. It was there where she acquired the zen-like patience to handle difficult customers and the ability to multitask in the busiest of times. TJ's was also an ideal place for a gal so skilled in the kitchen, having surrounded herself with the amazing foods and recipes she now shares with the North Social team, keeping our bellies full and us always happy.

We love Elsie, and you will to. She's your new best friend.

Mike Johnson

Business Development & Social Strategy

Mike empowers small businesses and creates stars out of community managers by helping them exceed business goals using North Social. Before joining the North Social team, Mike was putting together game-changing social strategies (literally) at Electronic Arts, building digital marketing campaigns and growing online communities for some of the gaming industries' largest brands. In his most recent role at EA, Mike worked with the likes of Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, Sony and Microsoft to help deliver blockbuster gaming content direct to consumers through a variety of digital distribution platforms. In addition to his duties at EA, Mike developed the social media strategy for Monster.com and their Keep America Working international job tour. In his free time, Mike founded a popular website for dads called Playground Dad, a project inspired by his wife and four daughters.

Jack O'Hurley

Brand Marketing & Content Creation

Jack is a new media maven having worn multiple startup hats since graduating from Boston College. He became a fanatic of 'all things web' after profiting from his first eBay sale at age 10 (a set of GI Joe Pogs). Most recently, Jack crafted online display advertising strategies for brands at AdRoll.com. Before that, Jack wielded the mighty PR pen along with managing viral promotions at Swap.com, a peer-to-peer exchange for entertainment media. At North Social, Jack helps power various brand marketing initiatives, assists with content creation, and raises the mean height in the office by over two inches (yep, he's 6-6). Offline, you'll find him hanging from a rock or at the local point break hanging ten.

Shannon Lacy

Account Executive & Social Strategy

Shannon employs her education in behavioral psychology while reading the minds of North Social customers. Before assisting our growing user base with handy app tips and tricks, she was busy being sporty; striking the ball for the University of Southern California's 2007 NCAA Women's Soccer National Champs. A force off the field as well, Shannon crossed the academic finish line early with cum laude honors. She then lent out her organizational superpowers in the 2010 US Senate Campaign, keeping the collective eye on the prize by marshaling an army of volunteers. Shannon maintains her athletic prowess with marathon kickboxing and Zumba sessions, but equally relishes being between the pages of a European travel guide planning her next trip.

Lauren Woods

User Education & Social Experience

Lauren is North Social's renaissance woman and brings a depth of customer service and educational experience to our front lines. Lauren attended UC Berkeley where she built a solid foundation in art history. She then went on to drop knowledge lecturing about the Gold Rush at the Oakland Museum of California. Now, whenever the North Social office goes panning for gold (ummm, valuable app tips), we follow Lauren's lead. Don't be surprised to hear of Lauren's Partridge-family childhood either (she played bass guitar in a family band with her brothers). When she's not chalking up a timeline of improved customer satisfaction, Lauren spends time cooking with Elspeth and making canine lovers jealous at the local park with her dog Boo.

Paul Scrivens

Custom App Delivery

Since 1998 Paul has been creating, designing, writing, and sometimes breaking things just because it is what he loves to do. Before working at North Social he could be found starting the world's first independent blogging network, managing one of the first online design magazines, publishing for the largest Asian content network, running an imagination community, and helping a number of start-ups and established companies launch their products. Paul now brings this diverse experience to North Social where he creates meaningful social experiences for some of the most forward-thinking brands in the world.

Erin Fuentes

Social Strategy & Activation

Erin is one of North Social's freakishly helpful Account Managers where day-to-day she is responsible for helping our clients maximize their Facebook marketing efforts using North Social tools. Besides being a graduate of Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she booked and promoted countless live shows, Erin also fills the important role of office deejay. Prior to joining our team, Erin spent two years at award-winning web hosting company (mt) Media Temple sharpening her client service and brand-building chops, working on various digital marketing campaigns. When she's not helping our clients drive more engagement or turning our staff on to a new track, you'll probably bump into her snapping concert photographs at an LA music venue.

Amanda McAneney

Social Strategy & Activation

Before joining the North Social Team, Amanda's work had been featured on NBC, E!, and QVC (although you would have never known it was her!). The digital voice behind well-known celebrities such as Nicole Richie and Zoe Saldana, Amanda managed their web presence on all social media platforms. Enthusiastic about bringing her clients' projects to life, Amanda is adept at working with demanding publicists, agencies, brands, and entertainers while regularly engaging 3rd party affiliates to promote events, television, and editorial publications. When Amanda isn't talking about herself in 3rd person, she can be found in the kitchen cooking up a storm, Instagramming photos of her cats, or outside kicking a giant red rubber ball.

When Amanda isn’t talking about herself in 3rd person, she can be found in the kitchen cooking up a storm, Instagramming photos of her cats, or outside kicking a giant red rubber ball.

Katherine Vanderford

User Education & Social Experience

Katherine is proud to finally say she has conquered the state educational system and graduated from San Francisco State University with an English Literature degree. What will this bring to the North Social team? How about a superhero who is well versed in Old English and Latin, can quote Shakespare on command, and speed read six customer support requests in six seconds! When she's not helping brands maximize their time spent on Facebok, she can be found leisurely baking legionary lemon meringue pies and crème brulee, running and rock climbing, tickling the piano keys, and spending time with the exquisite feline in her life, Gilgamesh.

Theo Yedinsky

Sales & Social Strategy

Theo brings 14 years of social strategy and community building expertise to the North Social team. He cut his teeth in politics where he shaped new media campaigns from Gavin Newsom for Governor (creating the largest Facebook and twitter following for a non-presidential Democratic candidate in the country) to the 2006 "Flunk Arnold" campaign, which was featured in Time Magazine. Prior to joining North Social as VP of Sales, Theo founded Social Stream Consulting, a political and crisis communication social media firm based in San Francisco. If you see him with an adoring grin, that's because he's a proud new Papa of a beautiful baby girl.

Jonathan Kuchar

Sales Account Executive

After being an intern for over a year, Jon has moved over to a real desk and has joined the North Social team full time. Recently Jon received his Bachelor's degree in marketing from University of San Francisco. Jon now applies his degree and social media smarts to his day gig, helping brands understand the value in building and launching a strong Facebook marketing presence. When he isn't posting numbers in the office, he can be seen scoring on the ice a member of team North Social in the Oakland Men’s ice hockey league. Outside the office and rink, Jon enjoys listening to music, swimming, camping, watching sports, and thinking about growing his long locks back.

Kacey Anderson

Sales Account Executive

Kacey, a Sociology major and brand new graduate of UC Berkeley, brings to North Social a wide variety of customer service experience from the fashion, fitness, motorcycle and tech industries. She continually keeps our staff entertained as our in-house fashionista; her self-made clothing creations never disappoint and reflect a love of recycling and refashioning pieces into one-of-a-kind wearables. Her current interest in healthy living involves eating like a cavewoman, doing yoga, and workin’ on her fitness (she recently survived the vicious Norcal waters this summer when she conquered the Alcatraz Sharkfest swim!). Kacey fits right in with the energetic North Social bunch; always ready to have a good time and tackle anything thrown at her!

Ashley McManama

User Education & Social Experience

Ashley joined the North Social team after a career in the teaching world. Born and raised in Massachusetts, she attended Boston College, and later traversed across our grand nation to settle in San Francisco. She brings her powers of communication and enduring patience to the world of customer experience at North Social, where she's eager to untangle interweb woes and customer conundrums. She entertains the team with her quick and random word-song association skills in which she can seamlessly instill annoying songs into the heads of those who surround her. Once a swimmer, lax player, and soccer aficionado, Ashley has since transformed herself into a gymrat, city biker and an outdoor enthusiast. Watch out, folks.

Kealy Mclain

Social Strategy & Activation

Kealy is a recent UC Berkeley graduate with a degree in Sociology bringing fantastic customer experience to the team! She is always here to help out our awesome clientele with all their inquiries. Kealy is also becoming a social media queen on North Social's Facebook, Twitter, and Support Forum. Outside of our OakTown offices she can usually be found on a pool deck coaching women's water polo for USA water polo (psst...she played for CAL), Diablo Club, and Monte Vista High School! She has recently become a Bar Method enthusiast and credits her newfound stamina and energy for solving any social media-related crisis we throw her way.

Chris Volz

Custom Application Development

Chris is the developer behind many of our secret spices and sauces at North Social (ahem, custom Facebook apps). We're not quite sure how many languages he's fluent in (PHP. Python, Ruby, and Java to name a few), but he has used that large vocabulary to help our team create some of the most heavily used and shared applications on Facebook. Chris would like you to know that he became interested in the web, long before cute videos of kittens became viral sensations. Prior to bringing his online talents to North Social, Chris was developing intuitive technology solutions for innovative brands like Linden Labs and Electronic Arts, and somewhere in there he also found time to earn a Masters from the UC Berkeley School of Information. Here's to you Mr. Volz.