Paul M. Rand is the president and CEO of Zócalo Group with responsibility for overall client strategy and satisfaction as well as the leadership and growth of the Zócalo Group team.

Prior to launching Zócalo Group, Paul was a Partner and Global Chief Development and Innovation Officer at Ketchum as well as member of the firm's global Executive Committee. He also served as Director of Ketchum's Global Technology Practice and Managing Director of Ketchum Midwest.

Paul has more than 20 years of strategic communications experience, with expertise in corporate, industry analyst, financial, crisis, employee, business-to-business, media and marketing communications.

As the founder and CEO of Corporate Technology Communications (CTC), Paul led CTC into becoming the Midwest's largest independent corporate and technology communications firm and among the most respected in the nation. Omnicom/Ketchum acquired CTC in June 2001.

In addition to his role at Zócalo Group, Paul also serves as President-Elect for the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) and is widely regarded as a leading expert in Word of Mouth / WOM Marketing and brand evangelism.

For 10 years, Paul taught as an adjunct faculty member at DePaul University's Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, teaching strategic planning and entrepreneurship. He is currently on the Executive Committee of the Dean's Board of Advisors. In addition, Paul serves on the Membership Committee for the Economic Club of Chicago.

Paul has been featured and/or quoted on WOM, business and communications issues in media including The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Business Week, National Public Radio, the Chicago Tribune, PRWeek, AdWeek, Advertising Age and numerous other outlets. He is a regular speaker and moderator for business and trade groups and was named in BtoB Magazine's Top 100 marketers in 2004 and 2006.
Email: prand@zocalogroup.com

Patrick Rooney is a Partner at Zócalo Group, leading the Digital Influence Group, which is responsible for developing and executing digital word of mouth marketing programs.

With more than 15 years experience working with some of the world's best-known companies, Patrick has expertise in strategic planning, brand strategy, corporate communications, customer evangelism, internal communications, influencer relations and business-to-business marketing focused on WOM Marketing and brand evangelism.

Prior to Zócalo Group, Patrick was president of Expand Communications, an influencer relations firm.  He has also served as a vice president at Ketchum and as a vice president at Corporate Technology Communications (CTC) and in senior positions at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, Cunningham Communication, and technology start-up firms in Silicon Valley.

Patrick has been interviewed and quoted on marketing and communications issues by publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Advertising Age, AdWeek, BrandWeek and Chicago Tribune. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science/Public Administration and an MBA.

Emily E. Bader, Partner and head of Zócalo Group's B2C practice, builds WOM strategies for some of the world's top consumer brands.  In developing creative, high-impact, online and offline word of mouth marketing and social media programs, she ensures that brands connect with audiences and incite action that leads to more than just an "impression" or "hit" but the far more critical "recommendation."

In addition to her marketing and communications interests, Emily and her husband owned and operated S3 Kitchen, a critically acclaimed fast-casual café in Oak Park, IL.

Emily has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from Northwestern University.

email: ebader@zocalogroup.com

Dave Kissel, Partner at Zócalo Group, builds brands and businesses through marketing innovation.

With more than 20 years of accomplishments as both agency and client leader, Dave has helped achieve enterprise growth for companies of all sizes across business-to-consumer and business-to-business channels, in a variety of industries.

Through leading edge online and offline initiatives, Dave's team at Zócalo Group is leveraging expertise and technology to drive recommendations and results for a number of leading and emerging brands.

Dave's accomplishments in creating brand evangelism, amplifying WOM and building a strategic social media presence for his B2B clients are the most recent successes in a career that has spanned media strategy and planning, account management and integrated marketing.  

Prior to Zócalo Group Dave held a variety of leadership positions at DDB Chicago, the largest office of the world's most-awarded advertising agency network. At DDB, Dave led the firm's two largest businesses, State Farm and McDonald's.

Dave is a graduate of the University of Illinois and is a member of the Aji Network, a business professionals program certified as Executive M.B.A. by General Electric.

Andrea Wood, Partner/ Associate Director, oversees all client engagements and staff management at Zócalo Group. She brings 20 years of marketing and communication experience in industries from automotive to telecom and with brands from floor tiles to antacids and big box retailers. As both a student and steward of big brands, Andrea's passion lies in understanding and leveraging marketplace behavior to create brand advocacy and ultimately recommendation on the strength of WOM Marketing and brand evangelism.

She most recently served as Managing Director of the Chicago office of Clear!Blue Communications where in addition to leading and growing the office and key client relationships she also directed the experiential marketing firm's public relations practice.

In her more than twelve years at Golin Harris, Andrea lead the firm's corporate branding work with Sprint and Kmart as well as an agency-of-record engagement with Chrysler and then DaimlerChrysler.

Andrea and her teams have earned many industry awards including PR Week Innovation of the Year and Promotional Event of the Year awards, Event Marketer's EX award, a SABRE award and many Chicago PRSA Skyline awards.

She's a proud graduate of the University of Kentucky as well as Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and loves calling Chicago home.

Erik Hesler is CFO of Zócalo Group. Erik manages the Finance, Operations and Human Resource aspects of the agency. With more than 10 years experience in strategy consulting, interactive entertainment and financial services, Erik brings an analytical foundation to the senior management team.

Prior to joining Zócalo Group, Erik was with Discover Financial Services in their Corporate Financial Strategy and Analysis Group.

Erik is a graduate of DePaul University and has an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. In addition to his professional responsibilities, Erik enjoys distance running, Greyhounds and English football.

email: ehesler@zocalogroup.com