Kirby Asplund
Marketing Director, Primedia Business Magazine
Kirby Asplund has been a marketing director with Primedia Business Magazines and Media for 14 years. Kirby is a Certified Business Communicator (CBC) – a professional designation offered by the Business Marketing Association and was named Business Marketer of the Year for 1996 by the Kansas City BMA. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in mass communications from Morningside College in Sioux City , Iowa , and an MBA from the Keller Graduate School of Management. Kirby has been married to Tamara, an elementary school administrator, for 25 years. His son, Ben, is an Eagle Scout and will graduate from high school in May. 

Jacqui Banaszynski
Associate Managing Editor of The Seattle Times, Professor, Missouri School of Journalism:
Jacqui Banaszynski was promoted in February 2003 to associate managing editor for special projects and staff development at The Seattle Times. Also, among the notable achievements of her 30-year career as news reporter and editor at newspapers in the Upper Midwest and Pacific Northwest is a Pulitzer Prize in feature writing that she earned while at the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press. That same year she won an SPJ Distinguished Service Award and an APSE 1st place spot news for the Olympics. She was finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in international reporting in 1986 and has since served as a Pulitzer juror four times. Banaszynski is also on the visiting faculty at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla. An enormously popular lecturer on writing at national conferences, she also serves as the Knight Chair in Journalism at the Missouri School of Journalism.

Steven D. Blumreich
President, BKD Corporate Finance, LLC
A registered principal with the NASD and a CPA, Steve has more than 20 years of merger and acquisition experience in a wide variety of industries. Before founding BKD Corporate Finance in 1994, Steve was vice president and director of the Special Business Services Group of Morgan Keegan & Company, Inc., a New York Stock Exchange investment banking firm. He has a B.S. degree in accounting from the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, 1973.

Zena Burns
Music Director, TEEN PEOPLE Magazine:
As Music Director for TEEN PEOPLE magazine, Zena Burns is responsible for anticipating changes in the tastes of the most fickle audience in the business. Hers is a job that involves everything from securing Jessica and Ashlee Simpson's first joint cover to maintaining an ongoing Connect Four battle with Kanye West (they're tied). When Burns joined TEEN PEOPLE in 1999, she oversaw all entertainment coverage for the magazine's website, creating daily, weekly and monthly celebrity content. Prior to TEEN PEOPLE, she lived in Chicago, working at Scratchie Records, an independent label co-owned by James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins and Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne. You'll frequently find Burns talking about teen stars on CNN, E!, VH1 and in publications like USA Today, the Los Angeles Times and the New York Daily News. A native of Detroit, Burns currently resides in New York City.

Katey Charles
President and Founder, Katey Charles Communications, LLC:
Katey Charles is the president and founder of Katey Charles Communications, LLC, a St. Louis marketing communications firm specializing in the development of e-mail newsletters. Prior to launching the communications business in 2003, she was head of communications and public relations for world-renowned artist Mary Engelbreit. She holds a master' s in journalism from the Missouri School of Journalism and a bachelor' s in German language and literature from the University of Notre Dame. During the past 10 years, she has worked as a writer, managing editor, graphic artist, art director and overall communications manager. Her clients include Louie Magazine, Mary Engelbreit Studios Inc., The Mary Engelbreit Store, Karen Rossi Studios, Ginger Bay (Aveda) Salon & Spa and school districts and private schools across the country.

Jan Colbert
Associate Professor and Chairof Magazine Journalism at the Missouri School of Journalism:
Jan Colbert is an associate professor and chair of Magazine Journalism at the Missouri School of Journalism where she teaches classes on design, writing, media issues and graduate research seminars. Her research focuses on visual storytelling and creativity. Colbert has been the executive director of Investigate Reporters and Editors, Inc, the managing editor and art director of The IRE Journal and was co-editor of the second edition of The Reporter's Handbook, published by St. Martin's Press. She has worked as a reporter and editor and has designed numerous magazines and books. She freelances as a book designer and photo editor and is currently writing a book on in-depth reporting, writing and photography methods.

Jeannette Cooperman
Editor, St. Lous Magazine
Now the editor of St. Louis Magazine, Jeannette Batz Cooperman has come full circle: She was managing editor for a different incarnation of the city mag 14 years ago—and left for a saner job in medical publications. Sane … was boring. So she earned a doctorate in American studies and then spent 10 years as a staff writer at The Riverfront Times, St. Louis’ alternative newsweekly. She has won national awards for narrative and investigative pieces on education, mental health and social justice issues—but she’s proudest of the James Beard Food Journalism Award, because she can barely boil water. Cooperman has written two books as well as freelance articles for O: The Oprah Winfrey Magazine, Glamour, Seventeen, Family Circle, Bark, the National Catholic Reporter, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Boston Globe. Now she’s back at St. Louis Magazine, eager to broaden and deepen its coverage—and no longer the least bit interested in sanity.

John Fennell
Associate Professor, Missouri School of Journalism|
John Fennell has served as editor of Milwaukee Magazine, an award-winning monthly city magazine. The publication won some 160 awards during his 13-plus years tenure, including a nomination for the National Magazine Awards and two for the Gerald Loeb Award for Business and Financial Journalism. Fennell has just completed a book about the life of Harry V. Quadracci, the late founder of Quad/Graphics, the third largest printer in North America. John is a former newspaper reporter who worked as assistant to the Pulitzer-Prize-winning columnist Mike Royko. He was also editor of the international design journal, Step-By-Step Graphics.

Josh Gordon
President of Gordon Communication Strategies:
Josh Gordon is president of Gordon Communication Strategies, an independent media rep firm. A nationally known expert on selling, Gordon's insight into media sales comes from 20 successful years in the business. His columns on space sales have appeared regularly in Folio: magazine since 1987. His book on selling ad space, Competitive Selling (Folio Books) sold more than 4,000 copies. He has been interviewed on CNN, CNBC, National Public Radio (on PRI's Marketplace), the FORTUNE Business Report, Wall Street Journal TV and WCBS Radio. His two general books on selling, Tough Calls and Selling 2.0, have been covered in USA Today (three times), FORTUNE, Business Week, Success (twice), The Mail On Sunday (UK), and numerous times in Selling Power and Sales and Marketing Management. In addition, they have been the cover story of 13 magazines and newsletters and have been translated into the native languages of China, Korea, Taiwan, and Germany.

Chris Harrison
President and General Manager of The Business Times Co. publications
Chris Harrison began his publishing career in mid-Missouri.  Upon graduation from the University of Missouri , Chris was given the opportunity to stay close to home and begin a career in magazine publishing.  He began as an Account Executive with a national trade publication and rose to the level of General Manager & Publisher. Chris assisted the ownership group with the due diligence and acquisition of the company by a Chicago - based venture firm in 2000. Chris has experience with publications in several industries where he has held National Sales Manager, Associate Publisher and Publisher titles.  His broad range of experience, from working on start-up magazines to enhancing well-established magazine brands, provides a unique perspective. Chris is currently Vice-President & General Manager of The Business Times Co. publications in Columbia , Mo. , where he publishes two business newspapers and two lifestyle magazines.  Chris and his wife, Elizabeth, reside in Fayette , Mo., and are the parents of three children, Jack, Clay and Lilly. 

Gregory Holman
Editor, 417 Magazine
Gregory Holman is the editor of 417 Magazine, which covers Springfield, Mo., and the surrounding Ozarks region (a.k.a. 417-land, named for the telephone area code). He also serves as editorial director of all Whitaker Publishing magazines, including GO Magazine, Springfield’s biweekly tabloid of news, entertainment and culture; 417 Bride; 417 Home and 417 Encore! Before joining Whitaker Publishing in 2003, he was a freelance writer. Holman was also a junior editor at MH-18, the now-defunct teen version of Men’s Health magazine. He is a 2000 graduate of the University of Missouri–Columbia, where he took a magazine-sequence BJ from the School of Journalism and an AB in French.

Ellen Kampinsky
Senior Editor/News, Glamour Magazine
Ellen Kampinsky is senior editor for news at Glamour magazine, where she handles major news-driven and investigative articles. Prior to joining Glamour, she was a senior editor at Tina Brown’s Talk magazine, and helped launch New York City’s newest daily newspaper, the New York Sun. Kampinsky has worked both online and offline. She was chief of content for Belo Interactive, the network of 25 newspaper- and TV-affiliated web sites for Belo, the nation’s ninth-largest media company; and a founding partner in PowerShopping, a women-targeted Web site. She has also been an editor at D, the magazine of Dallas, and was assistant managing editor of The Dallas Morning News, where she created and supervised 10 daily and weekly feature sections. While working with Targetbase Marketing, she created publications for firms such as Procter & Gamble and Harrah’s casinos. She has spoken to national and international media associations about topics such as storytelling on the web.

Stephen C. Kopcha
Associate Professor, Missouri School of Journalism
Stephen C. Kopcha began his advertising career with the corporate advertising department of Monsanto Chemical Company in St. Louis . He later worked for what is now known as D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (DMB&B) as a copywriter on the Budweiser account. During his tenure at DMB&B, he received many advertising awards, including Clio and International Broadcasters. Along the way to being elected Executive Vice President, Chief Creative Officer of DMB&B/Detroit and member of the worldwide Board of Directors, Kopcha created and supervised advertising for Anheuser-Busch, Pontiac, Cadillac, Buick, GMC Trucks, GM Parts, FTD, Dow Chemical Company, Whirlpool, Colgate-Palmolive, M&M/Mars, U.S. Air Force and Westinghouse. He also worked on special international projects, which afforded brief stints in the London , Paris , Vienna and Mexico City offices of DMB&B. Kopcha has been honored by The Wall Street Journal as a member of the elite Creative Leaders and was the first creative director ever named to the Board of Directors of the Adcraft Club of Detroit . After retiring to a farm in Missouri for two years, Kopcha returned to the advertising business in 1996 as a Senior Vice President, Creative Planner at the Detroit office of McCann-Erickson. Kopcha joined the Missouri School of Journalism's faculty in August of 2001.

Don Ranly, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, Missouri School of Journalism:
Don Ranly, professor emeritus of the Missouri School of Journalism, was head of the magazine sequence for 28 years.  Dr. Ranly has worked as a newspaper reporter, a magazine editor, a weekly columnist, a radio host and television producer, director and host. He has conducted more than 950 communication seminars for corporations, associations, organizations and individual newspapers and magazines. He has been a featured speaker at The Folio: Show, a national magazine conference, for the past two decades. He has co-authored News Reporting and Writing; Beyond the Inverted Pyramid and Telling the Story: The Convergence of Print, Broadcast and Online Media and is author of Publication Editing. In 1995 Dr. Ranly received a University of Missouri-Columbia Faculty-Alumni Award and was named the O.O. McIntyre Distinguished Professor of Journalism for 1995-96. In 1998, he received a Gold Chalk Award for outstanding service in the training and mentoring of professional students. In June 2002, he was named a Fellow of the International Association of Business Communicators. In 2003, he won a William T. Fellowship for Excellence in Teaching.  In 2005 he received  a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Business Publications Editors.

David Reed
Group Editor of The Business Times Co.:
David Reed is group editor of The Business Times Co. publications,  the Columbia Business Times, the Jefferson City Business Times, Columbia Home & Lifestyle magazine and Jefferson City Home & Lifestyle magazine. He began the job in April 2005 after leaving Europe to join his wife in Columbia , who is a professor in the University of Missouri School of Journalism. From 1999-2005 he was a senior news editor at Prague-based Radio Free Europe, where he supervised the central news desk, a 24-hour operation that files breaking stories that are broadcast daily in 19 countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Middle East. Prior to that job he was a correspondent for The Associated Press. While in the Czech Republic , he taught media writing part-time at the University of New York in Prague .  His articles have been published inhe The Wall Street Journal-Europe, The New York Times, The Washington Post and other major newspapers, Associated Press Best Bureau Stories, The Reader’s Digest, Arts & Antiques Magazine,Virginia Magazine and Virginia Life Magazine. His return to Columbia brought his career full-circle: he received a bachelor’s degree from the Missouri School of Journalism two decades ago in the magazine sequence. 

Roy Reiman
Reiman Publications

Born on a grain-livestock farm near Auburn, Iowa, Roy Reiman graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in Agricultural Journalism. After college and military service, he joined the staff of Capper’s Farmer magazine in Topeka, Kan., and became that national magazine’s Managing Editor at the age of 23.  In 1964, after a three-year term at Agricultural Publishers in Milwaukee, he launched his own company in the basement of his home with a portable typewriter propped on a TV tray. In 1970, he launched the first of the company’s stable of advertising-free lifestyle magazines.  Since then, Reiman Publications has grown to include 14 bimonthly magazines with a combined circulation of more than 16 million paid subscribers. Reiman Publications is currently the country’s largest publisher of magazines in the categories of food, rural lifestyle, crafts, birding/gardening and nostalgia.  Today, one in every 12 American households receives at least one Reiman magazine. The company also is one of the nation’s largest direct marketers of books and calendars. 

Jim Robertson
Managing Editor for The Columbia Daily Tribune:
Jim Robertson, an MU journalism alum, has worked with Missouri community newspapers for 28 years, since 1987 as managing editor of the Columbia Daily Tribune. He is a former president of the Missouri Society of Newspaper Editors and Missouri Associated Press Managing Editors.

Tony Silber
Editor, Publisher, Folio: The Magazine for Management and for Circulation Management

Tony Silber was part of the acquisition team at Red 7 Media, which purchased Folio:, CM, and their related products in August 2004. Before the acquisition, Silber launched M10, the executive-level magazine and information service for the magazine industry. M10 published its first print magazine—which was greeted with the acclaim of the industry—in June 2003. Prior to M10, Silber was publisher of Folio: and Circulation Management under the Primedia umbrella, where he developed a variety of new information products for those franchises. Silber was also editor of Folio: from 1998-2000. Before Folio:, Silber served as executive editor of Internet World. He started his career as a press secretary in the New York State Senate, and also worked as a reporter and editor at a daily newspaper in Connecticut . Silber recently concluded a term as chairman of the American Business Press Publisher’s Committee. He has a bachelor’s degree in history from the State University of New York at Albany .

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Keith Speer
Technical Training Specialist, University of Missouri
Keith Speer is a technical training specialist for IAT Services at the University of Missouri. Keith currently instructs courses in Microsoft Office 2003 and Adobe Creative Suite CS 2.0. Keith received his CompTIA A+ certification in 2005. Before coming to the University of Missouri, Keith worked as an IT Helpdesk Manager and Technical Trainer for five years at William Woods. Keith obtained his degree in Computer Information Technology. Keith's passion for training others provides his participants a top-notch classroom experience.

Katie Van Luchene
Editor, KC Magazine

Katie Van Luchene is the editor of KC Magazine, Kansas City’s monthly publication covering luxury living and fine home design. She also serves as editor in chief for Anthem Media Group’s other publications including Commercial Journal Kansas City and Commercial Journal St. Louis, and hard cover books including Kansas Speedway’s 5^th Anniversary: Five for the Fans. Katie has been on both sides of the editorial desk. She was a contributing writer and columnist for Kansas City and Kansas City Home Design magazines, which were combined into KC Magazine in November 2004. She received a degree in Business Administration from Baker University in 1995.

Ron Wall
Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Ascend Media:
Ron Wall serves as Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Ascend Media, headquartered in Overland Park, Kan. Financially backed by J.P. Morgan Partners L.L.C. and Veronis Suhler Stevenson, Ron founded the company with two partners in 2003. Prior to founding Ascend Media, Ron spent 25 years with Primedia Business (formerly Intertec Publishing). His media career began in advertising sales, and he progressed through roles as Sales Manager, Publisher, Group Publisher, Vice President, COO and ultimately President of Primedia business. During his tenure at Primedia,/Intertec the company grew from 12 trade magazines generating $15 million in annual revenue to more than 100 trade magazines, 40 trade shows and 200 books and price guides, with offices in 26 cities, including Hong Kong, Beijing and London. As one of the company's principal managers, Ron helped direct annual revenue to $400 million in 2000. At its peak, the company employed 1,700 media professionals. Ron has broad experience with acquisitions and mergers in the media business, as well as resulting integration strategies. He has served on numerous industry boards and committees, including eight years on the Board of Directors of BPA International, the world's leading media circulation audit company.

Donald Waterman
Technical Trainer, University of Missouri
Don retired from the Navy in the fall of 2001 and joined MU's staff. Since February 2004, Don has been a technical trainer with MU's IAT Services Training Department . Don instructs courses in Microsoft Office 2003, Adobe Creative Suite 2.0, Macromedia Dreamweaver, and web coding. A Missourian by birth, Don grew up on a family farm in Northeast Missouri. During his 24-year Navy career, Don rose to the rank of Chief Petty Officer and continued his education, earning an AAS in Business Management Technology from the University of the District of Columbia and a Certificate in Computer Networking and Maintenance from the Community College of Rhode Island.

Bob Watson
State Government/General Assignments Reporter, Jefferson City News Tribune
Bob is in his 18th year as a State Government/General Assignments reporter for the Jefferson City News Tribune — “the Best Job I’ve ever had.” He also covers Lincoln University,The Jefferson City Public Schools and local, state (appeals and Supreme) and federal (U.S. District)courts. He's worked in print, television and radio. Bob is a graduate of Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with a B.A. in religion.

Gary Whitaker
Owner, Publisher, 417 Magazine and President, Missouri Association of Publications
Gary Whitaker bought 417 Magazine, the monthly lifestyle magazine serving Springfield and southwest Missouri, and formed Whitaker Publishing in 2001. In addition to publishing 417, Whitaker Publishing produces two 417 Bride magazines each year, a spring and fall edition of 417 Home & Garden Magazine and six issues of Campus Express, a college-student-targeted tabloid. In both 2003 and 2004, the City and Regional Magazine Association ranked 417 Magazine number one in percentage of increased ad pages by members. Gary is a 1975 graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism, with an emphasis in broadcasting. Prior to forming Whitaker Publishing, Gary spent 25 years in television news and management. His wife, Joan, is co-owner of Whitaker Publishing and serves as the company's general manager.

Oliver Wiest
Editor The Sedalia Democrat:
Oliver Wiest has been editor of The Sedalia Democrat since 1997. Wiest spent most of his career at the Jacksonville (Ill.) Journal-Courier, where he was a reporter, photographer, copy editor, city editor and weekly columnist, usually not at the same time. Wiest, who grew up in Albion, Mich., is an alumnus of Illinois College in Jacksonville. He is married to Christiann, a former journalist who teaches high-school English. They have a 7-year-old daughter.