Come join NCET and industry professionals for the 8th Annual State of Digital Marketing luncheon hosted at the Tamarack Casino on Wednesday, November 1, 2023.
This panel discussion includes agency representatives, boutique marketing firms, in house marketing experts, as well as customers who will outline what their requests were of the firms with which they contracted.
The panel is moderated by Edward Estipona, and it is brought to you with support from The Abbi Agency and Noble Studios.
Thank you to our panelists:
Danni Winter | Performance Marketing Director | Noble Studios
Ashley Behre | Director of Marketing | The Abbi Agency
Tyler Bourns | Chief Marketing Officer | Dragonfly Energy
Wesley McQuillen | Principal | Alter Strategies | NCET Board Member
Stuart Mass | Sr. Director of Marketing & Business Development | Visit Lake Tahoe
Scott Oxarart | Communications Manager | Northern Nevada Public Health
MEET OUR PANELISTS
DANNI WINTER
Danni Winter is an award-winning marketing strategist, who brings over 12 years of experience to Noble Studios. In her role, she develops and manages high-performance integrated marketing strategies to help her clients meet and exceed campaign goals. Danni also constructs effective tracking and attribution strategies that help showcase the full value of the team’s marketing initiatives. Her client list has included a mixture of travel and tourism, B2B, ecommerce and more.
ASHLEY BEHRE
Ashley is an authentic and engaged leader with distinguished communication skills who has been in the Las Vegas market for over 12 years and has a breadth of experience in many industries. She has overseen integrated marketing campaigns for Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles, Nevada Health Link, Regional Transportation Commission of Northern Nevada, and the Nevada Department of Transportation. Ashley now acts as a marketing strategy leader, guiding the social media, paid media, and strategic content efforts of the agency.
TYLER BOURNS
Chief Marketing Officer, Tyler Bourns, leads the creative charge at Dragonfly Energy. With over 15 years spent producing story-rich, award-winning content for global brands, Tyler has received much recognition throughout his career. Today, he draws on his deep reserves of hands-on knowledge to push the envelope of strategic marketing at Dragonfly Energy.
For over 6 years, through his video production company, Bourns Productions, Tyler helped Dragonfly Energy’s Battle Born Batteries brand grow to be one of the most respected and popular Deep Cycle Lithium-ion products on the market today. In 2021, Tyler joined Dragonfly Energy full time. Drawing on his hard-earned wealth of on-the-ground insight in production, Tyler strives to apply the same narrative-driven approach to marketing that brought him both recognition and fulfillment in the world of content creation. Steered by a strategy of creative authenticity, he brings a dynamic, experience-informed leadership style to Dragonfly Energy.
WESLEY McQUILLEN
Wesley McQuillen is a six-time ADDY-winning senior marketing strategist with 17 years of marketing leadership roles. He is currently principal of ALTER Strategies, specializing in alternative marketing approaches for highly regulated products and services. A self-described "Web3, VR, AR, and metaverse optimist," he frequently uses cutting edge tech (like interactive Instagram and Tiktok filters) to achieve organic growth for industries that can't easily use traditional paid advertising, and is regularly invited to speak and publish on business applications and use cases for new technologies for advertising. He also serves on the boards of AAF Reno and GLCCNV. Feel free to add him on LinkedIn at wesmcquillen.com.
STUART MAAS
After being raised in Scotland and completing his university degree, Stuart Maas flew to Lake Tahoe to experience 'one' ski season in the basin and never returned home.
As the Senior Director of Marketing & Business Development for the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority, aka Visit Lake Tahoe, Stuart is tasked with marketing the South Shore of Lake Tahoe as a unique, year-round, and awe 'and then' some destination, including integrating the recent lake-wide Destination Stewardship plan into all aspects of messaging and advertising.
In addition, he oversees sales efforts in attracting meetings, events, and sports tournaments to the new Tahoe Blue Event Center. Other passions include educating communities through the Lake Tahoe Master Gardener program, skiing, golf, hiking, fishing, and exploring the world with his wife and malamute.
SCOTT OXARART
I am a communications professional with experience in public relations, media relations, social media, digital media, website content management and marketing. My background in print journalism and news radio helped me understand the needs and expectations of local media in Northern Nevada. Since transitioning to communications, I've helped digital marketing and media relations efforts for four companies and shaped website content strategies for two. I was the lead public information officer (PIO) for the COVID-19 response in Washoe County, sending out more than 500 press releases, organizing over 100 media briefings and much more. My versatility and positive attitude have allowed me to succeed with private, nonprofit and government organizations.
meet our moderator
EDWARD ESTIPONA
At the ripe age of 22, Edward Estipona launched his own design firm. It wasn’t the brightest move for a recent college grad with little experience and fewer clients, but it was indicative of the way Edward would build his business, making the uneasy choice and innovating his way to success.
What makes Edward’s story atypical starts with the man himself. Spend any time with him and the distinct nature of Edward’s leadership become clear (and yes, we do include Edwardisms— his signature malapropisms—in that description). He was an early Apple adopter (remember the Macintosh LCIII?) and was among the first agencies to implement start-to-finish design with one artist taking a job from concept through final production—no production artists, no layers. As he grew his agency, the horizontal structure stuck with every employee having an equal voice and responsibility for the work. He took his agency virtual back in 2009, before it was common or even fully understood, choosing to invest in talent and technology over bricks and Red Vines.
Over the course of nearly three decades, he has guided that agency from a one-man design shop into a full-service marketing agency with over a dozen rambunctious employees known for smart, effective work, a commitment to community and a bit of irreverence. The advertising industry and the local community has taken note. Edward was named “Reno Advertising Person of the Year” at the age of 25, “Marketer of the Year” by the American Marketing Association’s Northern Nevada Chapter, a top business leader under 40 by the Nevada Business Journal and, in 2008, one of the “Top 20 Business Leaders Under 40” by the Reno Gazette Journal. In 2022, the agency he founded was named Advertising Agency of the Year (under 10MM) in the West.
While according to Edward, “We don’t do it for the plastics,” under his leadership, the Estipona Group been honored with a host of marketing awards, including American Advertising Federation ADDY awards and American Marketing Association ACE awards. In 2008, Estipona Group was awarded the prestigious Governor’s Arts Award in recognition of its support of the arts; in 2016, the agency was named “Outstanding Media Partner” in the Silver Syringe Awards, the same year Edward was named “Technology Advocate/Creative Services” in the NCET Tech Awards; and in 2017, Estipona Group was a finalist for the Governor’s Points of Light Awards, recognizing community contribution through volunteer service.
Edward is devoted to his community and passionate about supporting its health and growth. And he doesn’t just talk the talk — he volunteers his time, energy and expertise on numerous community and statewide boards. He has served on the Community Foundation of Northern Nevada Board of Directors since 2014 and recently earned an appointment to the Foundation’s Board of Trustee where he serves as Chair of the Diversity Equity and Inclusion task force. He was appointed to two consecutive terms of the Nevada Arts Council by then-Governor Brian Sandoval, in 2019, he was appointed by Governor Sisolak to serve on the Nevada Travel Commission and in 2022, to the Governor’s Workforce Development Board. Edward is a founding member of the New Nevada Jobs Coalition, as well as a founding member of Truckee Meadows Tomorrow (TMT). After serving on TMT from 1997-2002, he returned to the board in 2020. In 2022, Ed was invited to join the Truckee Meadows Community College Institutional Advisory Council.
Edward and his sweet 90s perm graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the University of Nevada, Reno. He is the father of two and happily married to his high school sweetheart.