Fred Gerantabee

Training Manager and Instructor | Aquent Graphics Institute

Fred Gerantabee is an Emmy-award winning interactive professional, author and instructor with over 13 years of hands-on experience in design, web development and multi-media production. Fred was most recently was an interactive producer for ABC/Disney with whom he developed interactive real-time games for prime time television productions including the Academy Awards and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Widely considered a subject matter expert in Flash/ActionScript, Dreamweaver and web technologies, Fred has authored/co-authored 7 books and several video series including the new Flash CS4 and Dreamweaver CS4 Digital Classroom titles (Aquent/Wiley) and the Design Premium/Web Premium Desk Reference for DUMMIES books (Wiley). Alongside his AGI colleagues, he has been at the forefront of training designers and developers across the country in Microsoft’s Silverlight platform and Expression Studio products.
 
Fred is an avid musician and audio engineer, and spends his (very) spare time recording, playing and producing music in his beachside New York studio.

Lance Loveday

Founder, President & CEO | Closed Loop Marketing

As the CEO of Closed Loop Marketing (CLM) Lance Loveday is a recognized thought leader in the online marketing industry. He is a regular speaker at industry events—MacWorld, Search Engine Strategies, Web Design World and South by Southwest, to name a few—where his strategic, humorous and down-to-earth approach inspires designers, online marketers and business executives alike.

Lance's experience in the world of search marketing stretches back to 1998, when he became web site manager for a Fortune 100 company in Silicon Valley. During this stint, he developed a passion for transparent, results-focused online marketing that motivated him to start Closed Loop Marketing. Since its inception in 2001, CLM has become a highly sought after agency serving a wide array of clients—from startups to big brands like Hewlett-Packard, Brocade, and Lockheed Martin. To each client, CLM brings a deep expertise in not only online advertising platforms but also the user experience—what happens "after the click." It's this combination of skill, experience and knowledge to which Lance attributes his company's success.

Lance is co-author of the breakout business strategy book Web Design for ROI, which was published in 2007 by New Riders Press. His educational background includes an exploratory tour in law school, preceded by a BS in Managerial Economics from UC Davis, where he is honored to guest lecture on occasion.

Sandra Niehaus

VP User Experience and Creative Director | Closed Loop Marketing

As VP User Experience and Creative Director of Closed Loop Marketing, Sandra heads up the company's usability and conversion optimization projects. She is co-author of the book "Web Design for ROI" from New Riders Press, and regularly speaks on the topics of usability, design, and conversion at industry and business conferences. Sandra has contributed her expertise to projects for a wide range of companies, including Hewlett-Packard, Brocade, ReelzChannel, and Allstate.

She joined Closed Loop Marketing in 2004 after nearly a decade as an independent web consultant. She resides in Northern California, where she surfs, writes, practices mixed martial arts, and thinks about stuff.

Jeremy Osborn

Training Director | Aquent Graphics Institute

Jeremy Osborn has more than 15 years of experience in web and graphic design, filmmaking, writing and publication development for both print and digital media. Jeremy recently served as the program director of Graphic & Web Design at the Center for Digital Imaging Arts at Boston University. At CDIA he developed and taught the design curriculum which has become known for it’s emphasis on real world training for print design and an emphasis on web standards for web design.

Chris Smith

Author, Consultant, President | Aquent Graphics Institute

Christopher co-founded Aquent Graphics Institute (previously American Graphics Institute) in 1994 after leaving Quark, Inc. Christopher recognized that publishers, designers, and communications professionals needed assistance in adopting and adapting to rapidly changing technology. He quickly grew AGI to become the leading technology training and consulting resource for nearly every major advertising, media, publishing, and marketing firm in North America. In 2007 AGI became part of the Aquent, a $400 million business with 70 offices across 17 countries that represents 400,000 creative, marketing, and communications professionals.

Jennifer Smith

Author, Instructor, Executive Vice President | Aquent Graphics Institute

Jennifer Smith is a noted web and graphics technology expert. She is the author of more than one dozen books on digital imaging and Web publishing, including her recently published Photoshop CS4 Digital Classroom, and the Adobe Creative Suite 4 Web Design Premium for Dummies. She has been hired many times by Adobe systems to develop and deliver training content to Adobe employees, and to write books for Adobe Press. She is the co-founder of Aquent Graphics Institute.