Mike Stodola – Creative Director, Boelter + Lincoln
Originally from Omaha, Michael Stodola began his career 22+ years ago at Bozell Worldwide as an intern. After 4 years as an Art Director and Group Head there, he made the move to Milwaukee, joining BVK as an Associate Creative Director before landing at Boelter + Lincoln. For the past 12 years, Michael has called B+L home, first as Associate Creative Director, and for the past 6 years, its Creative Director.

He is a father of two and a husband of one. He loves his job, his family and his Harley-Davidson Road King Custom. His expertise is in brand development, but he is heavily involved with strategic and tactical development, design, conceptual development as well as some light quantum physics (theory).

Mark Szczepanik - Associate Creative Director, Adcom
Mark has spent 15 years of his life writing things that most people try to avoid. He's gotten pretty good at it. In fact, some people actually have read his work for Cedar Point, The Ohio Lottery, Applebee's and the Ohio Tool Racing Championships. Mark has earned a number of awards, including national ADDYs. In his younger days, he served as the youngest president in the 111-year history of AAF-Cleveland. On Wednesdays, you'll find him teaching students at Kent State University how to write things that people won't hate reading.

Marino Puhalj - SVP, ECD, Biggs|Gilmore
A veteran of the Cleveland advertising scene, Marino arrived at Biggs|Gilmore in 1996 as an art director determined to help a regional agency improve its creative product. As the agency transitioned to an all-digital shop, keeping the focus on the work paid off big as Biggs|Gilmore began to add national clients like Kellogg's, Kimberly-Clark and Heinz.

Marino now heads the team of art directors, writers, designers and user experience gurus who solve creative problems for brands like Cottonelle, Scott, Pop-Tarts, Froot Loops, Apple Jacks and Frosted Flakes. He strives to raise the level of creativity and effectiveness of the agency's digital, social and mobile work while raising the creative department's spirit and professionalism.

Claudia Martin – President/Partner, Redstone Communications
Claudia Martin is president, partner and media director for Redstone, a full- service advertising, marketing and public relations firm. Redstone clients include Nebraska Furniture Mart, Celebrity Homes, Centris Federal Credit Union, University of Nebraska at Omaha and many more.

Claudia has been a member of the Omaha advertising community for over 30 years and has always been active in the AAF. She served on the board and as president of AAF Omaha, served on the board and Governor of the AAF 9th District, and also served for many years on the national AAF ADDY committee. She was awarded the Silver Medal and was the 1990 Ad Woman of the Year.

Jim Buhrman, Jr. – Art Director, Bailey Lauerman
Jim Buhrman Jr. continues to be painfully modest and we still can't figure out why. This recently promoted associate art director has helped create highly touted campaigns for CommunityAmerica Credit Union, ConAgra Foods and Union Pacific, among others.

Buhrman is a two-time Effie Award winner, earning silver in 2011 and bronze in 2012. He also recently won silver in the 2012 national ADDY Awards. His work has been featured in Graphis, Print Magazine and HOW Magazine. He joined Bailey Lauerman in 2009 and is a graduate of Creighton University and the Miami Ad School. Yet with all his successes, our unmitigated workhorse of the agency has remained, wonderfully, ego-free.

Craig Hughes – Associate Creative Director, Ervin & Smith
Designer, musician and mechanical tinkerer, I try to avoid lists because they only remind me how many ideas I have to put off for another day. In my world, dreamy ideation and ruthless pragmatism can still be best friends. I frequently apologize that I'm a terrible decorator but a damn good thinker. I get really jazzed by how the junctions of design, anthropology, and engineering can change the environments we inhabit.

Previously working in the fields of data-visualization and coding, I'm currently an associate creative director at Ervin & Smith and the president of AIGA Nebraska.