Student Roadshow 2024

STUDENT
ROADSHOW
2024

The American Advertising Federation (District 7) and the Public Relations Council of Alabama have a lot in common.

Our shared focus is on developing and retaining talented communicators, marketers, writers and advertisers within the vibrant creative community here in north Alabama.

What better way to share our knowledge, skills and experience than to get inside the classrooms and show students the vast opportunities and support that our members have to offer? Join us as we share tips, strategies and stories intended to help you get interview-ready, find a mentor, land an internship or jobs, and then excel in your career. We’ll also answer all of your burning questions!

We are bringing industry professional speakers to local colleges and universities to have creative discussions about the advertising, marketing and public relations industries.

Meet The Speakers

The Roadshow Locations

The Topics

“This is a great opportunity for current and up-and-coming creatives to realize the support and the amount of talent that is vibrant in north Alabama. Come see why!”
Tom PattersonCreative Director for Bold Agency
AAFNA Student Outreach Chair
Student Roadshow 2024 Organizer

SPEAKERS

UX / UI Designer - Bold Agency

Ashton Peluso

Originally from Nashville, TN, Ashton developed her artistic and design skills in a vibrant environment at Lipscomb University before moving to Huntsville.

With a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design and a Minor in Marketing, she seamlessly blends creativity with strategic thinking. Her passion in design is shown through her commitments and work towards Design Week Huntsville. Beyond work, Ashton enjoys painting, designing apparel, reading, and keeping up with the latest design trends.

Typo-graphic / Brand Designer

Andy Anzollitto

While the outputs of my design practice span a wide range, my work begins with a focus on typography, context-specific design, and a research-driven process.

I’m Andy Anzollitto, and I am a typo-graphic designer. While the outputs of my design practice span a wide range, my work begins with a focus on typography, context-specific design, and a research driven process. A constant through-line in my work is a curiosity about how type can tell stories through form and context.
For the past six years, I worked closely with Louise Fili as her senior designer at Louise Fili Ltd and now as a partner at our type foundry, Tipofili. Having worked on smaller teams, my responsibilities often extended beyond just design-work and into art direction, account management, and operations. And while I am comfortable working independently within a team, I most enjoy working collaboratively as a member of one.

Graphic Designer - Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau

Leah Hall

Leah Hall is a Seattle, WA, native who came to Alabama with over 13 years of experience as a graphic designer, art director, photographer, and illustrator. She’s worked with companies such as Amazon Kindle, Hearst Magazines, Microsoft Windows, Seattle Pacific University, and World Vision. Her work has been featured in various publications, including Country Living Magazine, Seattle Magazine, Wine Spectator, and SPU’s Response Magazine. She also writes and produces articles for countyliving.com. She loves working with people and brands that are passionate about the story they have to tell, and she’s excited to share Huntsville’s story as Graphic Design Manager at the Huntsville Convention and Visitors Bureau. She lives in Huntsville with her husband Andrew and pup Rothko, and outside of work enjoys getting out in nature, trying new restaurants, watching F1, and cooking for friends.

Director of Marketing and Communications - Huntsville Botanical Gardens

Laura McPhail

Laura McPhail is the Director of Marketing and Communications at Huntsville Botanical Garden.

Laura McPhail is the Director of Marketing and Communications at Huntsville Botanical Garden. In this role, she uses her expertise in strategic public relations and marketing planning to reach diverse audiences and share the Garden’s mission of connecting people to plants. In addition to several local, state, and regional awards, Laura earned her Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) in 2018 and was recognized with a Senior Practitioner Award from the Southern Public Relations Federation (SPRF) in 2019. Bringing over 14 years of communications experience to the Garden, Laura has held past roles with Tyler Arboretum, Huntsville-Madison County Public Library, Mississippi State University, and the City of Huntsville. Laura is also a U.S. Air Force veteran, serving as an air traffic controller and watch supervisor for eight years.

Creative Director - Bold Agency

Tom Patterson

Tom is a graphic, front-end web, and UX/UI designer, creative project manager, and Creative Director for Bold Agency in Huntsville, Alabama.

A driven and results-oriented creative director, campaign and project manager, digital team
leader, web developer and graphic designer with broad-based expertise in ad, print, and web
production as well as extensive experience in campaign development, project management,
layout/content design, brand development, web design/implementation, product
animations/illustrations, video pre and post production, and trade-show design
management.

Creative Director - Taylor Burton Creative

Taylor Burton

Taylor Burton is a freelance graphic designer and professional musician based in Madison. A 2005 graduate of Queens University of Charlotte, Taylor is an industry veteran with 18 years of experience.

Taylor Burton is a freelance graphic designer and professional musician based in Madison. A 2005 graduate of Queens University of Charlotte, Taylor is an industry veteran with 18 years of experience. Building from his foundation of magnet high school education in music and art, the Augusta, Georgia native minored in Studio Art in college before taking a retail role as the manager of a copy and ship store with in-house design services, his first design job.

From 2008-2013, he lived in Tuscaloosa, where he worked as a graphic designer at The New York Times Regional Media Group, designing print advertisements for regional magazines and newspapers from Santa Rosa, California, to Tuscaloosa, to Lakeland and Ocala, Florida, and several in between, winning regional industry awards along the way. It was in Tuscaloosa that he dipped his toes into the freelance waters, working on several projects for The University of Alabama.

Taylor spent the next eight years with Calhoun Community College, working in their Public Relations office as the in-house graphic designer for the entire institution. Taylor was awarded at the state, regional, and national level for his contributions while at Calhoun. In 2022, Taylor was recruited by Turner Construction Company, the largest general contractor in the United States, to be the Marketing Specialist for the Huntsville office, working in tandem with marketers in the Memphis and Nashville offices.

In April, 2023, Taylor decided he craved more hands-on design work and less proposal writing, and returned to what he knew best. He registered his DBA, Taylor Burton Creative, with the State of Alabama on April Fool’s Day and hasn’t looked back. In his first year of business, he has worked with around sixty clients in five states, including The City of Charlotte, Historic Huntsville Foundation, ChurchStreet Family, Huntsville Botanical Garden, Stovehouse, The University of Alabama in Huntsville, The United Way of Greater Charlotte, Del Chuco Cantina y Cocina, The Standard Social Market, and the Microwave Dave Music Education Foundation.

Thirteen years after releasing his solo album “Old North State”, Taylor founded his band The Silver Silos in 2017, and has played at The Orion Amphitheater, Stovehouse, Panoply, PorchFest, Originally Huntsville, and WhistleStop. With three singles to their name, The Silver Silos recorded a new batch in early March at Clearwave in Decatur with some very special guests. Taylor hosts a successful monthly open mic event with a full band every month at The Electric Belle at Stovehouse.

Taylor lives in Madison with his wife Dana, an instructor at Calhoun Community College and recovering attorney, and their 17-year-old cat, Lucy.

Creative Director & Brand Designer - Leerie Studio

Eli Walton

Creative Director and Brand Designer at Leerie Studio

Creative Director and Brand Designer at Leerie Studio. Always stoked about helping startups find their identity, Eli believes that as a creative director, his primary role is not that of an artist but rather a designer and strategist. With a passion for crafting killer brand packages, Eli finds joy in witnessing startups transform from struggling to thriving, all thanks to a well-executed visual identity and strategy.

Director of Communications - HudsonAlpha Institute

Adam Kelley

Adam Kelley serves as Director of Communications at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Huntsville, Ala., where he leads the communications department.

Adam Kelley serves as Director of Communications at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Huntsville, Ala., where he leads the communications department.
His duties include providing strategic direction for the not-for-profit Institute’s integrated marketing and communications efforts. He also helps create, develop and execute a range of strategies and tactics to advance the visibility and reputation of the HudsonAlpha brand.
Kelley joined HudsonAlpha from Children’s of Alabama, one of the nation’s largest pediatric healthcare systems. Before Children’s, he held communication and marketing roles at AAA-Alabama and the University of Montevallo.
He earned degrees from Auburn University and the University of Alabama where he worked in both schools’ athletic department public relations offices and covered local and state news for several state newspapers and other publications as both an undergraduate and graduate student.
Kelley is an active member of the Alabama chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and the Southern Public Relations Federation (SPRF), which he represented on the Universal Accreditation Board from 2014-17. He and his wife, Natalie, have two sons, Jesse and AJ.

VP of Communications - North Alabama Public Relations Council of Alabama

Emily Rodick

Since moving to Madison, AL she has dabbled in the world of retail and the pet care industry. She currently serves on the North Alabama chapter of the Public Relations Council of Alabama Board as VP of Communications.

Emily Rodrick received her BA in Strategic Communications with a focus in Public Relations from the University of South Alabama. During her time at South, she served as the Promotions Director for WJGR 97.1 The Prowl FM, interned for the Office of Marketing and Communications, and a freelance photographer for The Vanguard. Along with serving as the Promotions Director, she was the co-host for 97.1 The Prowl’s summer morning radio show. After graduating with her bachelor’s degree, she went on to receive her master’s degree in Business Administration from South. She worked as a graduate assistant, assisting the Associate Director of Marketing and Communications in the Mitchell College of Business (MCOB) She studied abroad at Toulouse Business School in Toulouse, France for a semester while maintaining her position with MCOB. Following her master’s degree, she worked for Walt Disney Theme Parks and Resorts for a full year before moving to Madison, AL, to take on new opportunities. Since moving to Madison, AL she has dabbled in the world of retail and the pet care industry. She currently serves on the North Alabama chapter of the Public Relations Council of Alabama Board as VP of Communications.

ROADSHOWS LOCATIONS & DATES

Calhoun College
Wednesday 3/6/24

Building: Alabama Center for the Arts
Time: 11:30 - 1pm
Address: 133 2nd Avenue NE Decatur, Alabama 35601
Moderator: Laura McPhail
Speakers: Adam Kelley, Andy Anzollitto, Ashton Peluso, Eli Walton, Tom Patterson

Oakwood University
Monday 3/11/24

Building: Burrell Hall Auditorium
Time: 5:30 - 6:45pm
Moderator: Tom Patterson
Speakers: Adam Kelley, Amanda Jarrett, Andy Anzollitto, Eli Walton, Laura McPhail

UAH
Tuesday 3/19/24

Building: Morton Hall 146
Time: 8:30 - 11am
Moderator: Tom Patterson
Speakers: Adam Kelley, Andy Anzollitto, Ashton Peluso, Eli Walton, Patricia Lloyd, Amanda Jarrett, Abbie Kate Hancock, Taylor Burton

Alabama A&M
Wednesday 3/27/24

Building: Morrison Fine Arts Building Room 200
Time: 1:00 pm
Moderator: Tom Patterson
Speakers: Adam Kelley, Andy Anzollitto, Ashton Peluso, Eli Walton, Leah Hall, Amanda Jarrett, Abbie Kate Hancock, Kristen Bowen