2021 Annual Conference Speakers
Anna Anderson is the CEO of Art Unlimited, has grown up working in the marketing industry. As a second-generation owner, Anna is leading Art Unlimited in multiple industries and specialties. Anna speaks on national stages across the United States for Owens Corning, Best of Success, and other national events. She enjoys working alongside business owners and organizations, helping them obtain success. With a keen digital marketing emphasis, Anna has the ability to stay one step ahead of the marketing landscape.
Steve Brockhaus is the Digital Media Coordinator at CCX Media, In his role, Steve is responsible for the digital output of CCX Media including social media and website management. CCX Media provides a Connected Community Experience for the northwest suburbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Ian Cobb is an IT Systems Engineer at Alpha Video and a longtime member of this community. Ian started in PEG back in 2005 at CTV15 under Coralie Wilson and was an integral part of their operations for many years. He also worked at Tightrope and a local healthcare facility before moving to Alpha Video in November of 2020. Ian helps Alpha's customers with remote cloud production and IT systems engineering.
Scott Denfeld has been the Video Production Coordinator for more than 10 years at the City of Edina. During that time, he implemented one of the first high definition PEG channels in Minnesota, developed a successful social media video presence and has overseen the production of various award-winning video projects with the assistance of a very talented video production staff. He really enjoys the challenge of effectively communicating important information to the residents of Edina.
Luke Erickson - Luke has worked for CTN Coon Rapids since 2017 as a motion graphics designer. He currently handles all the station's graphics, promotions, and specialty projects... and does a good amount of general editing as well. He has a BA in Cinema/TV and ran his own full-time videography company for nearly a decade. Luke enjoys crafting award-winning visuals that tell compelling stories.
Lonnie Garland - Lonnie has worked in Broadcast Television for over 30 years, producing shows for ESPN, Destination America, The Sportsman Channel and the Outdoor Channel. Lonnie has extensive knowledge in production and videography. Since 2020 Lonnie has been the Technical Manager at South Washington County Telecommunications. His day to day activities include programming four cable channels with SWCTC programming and other government shows. Lonnie is also, the lead on new video equipment for the cities of Woodbury, Cottage Grove, St. Paul Park, Newport and Grey Cloud Island Township. Lonnie leads a team of three part-time Cable Casters and a fulltime I.T. Specialist to bring city meetings to air and via the web.
Brian T. Grogan is a shareholder and director with the Minneapolis law firm of Moss & Barnett practicing in the firm's communications, business law and infrastructure practice groups. Since 1988 Brian has worked with municipal entities in Minnesota and throughout the country on a variety of cable, telecom, wireless and broadband communications issues. In his business law practice, Brian focuses on contract matters in the technology industry as well as fiber and conduit lease agreements.
Janine Hill has been the communications administrator for the City of Bloomington since 2007. She manages Bloomington's print publications, video production, websites, social media, print shop and cable television franchise. Hill has worked for the City of Bloomington since 1999. She holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in journalism and communications from the University of Iowa and a master's degree in business communication from the University of St. Thomas.
CJ Luck holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcasting and Electronic Media from University of Northwestern St. Paul, and has worked for 10+ years in the PEG Television field. He is the Master Control Operator at Quad Cities Community Television in Champlin. He has also worked for NineNorth in Roseville as a Truck Engineer and City Meetings Operator/Producer and has contracted with NDC4/TST in Inver Grove Heights covering city meetings and some community events. He has helped make numerous community shows over the years. In CJ's spare time he enjoys playing video games, researching technology, and hanging out with family and friends.
Nick Nelson is a video producer with the City of Saint Paul and has been with the city since 1998. According to Nick: "I got my start in video production, first as a hobby and then as a paid gig, at Saint Paul Neighborhood Network, our city's Community Cable station. My connections at SPNN led to a job, and now career, at the city. PEG television and community media will always hold a special place in my heart. As I was working toward a degree in Radio and Television Broadcasting at Brown Institute, I continued my work at "Spin" running camera at high school sports and directing talk shows in the studio. My instructors at Brown stressed the importance of localized content and using video storytelling to deliver a message. That is the lesson that has stayed with me, and that focus on local stories and the people of Saint Paul, is what still motivates me 25 years later."
Grant Parker is the Production Supervisor for the City of Bloomington and has worked on video productions for the City of Bloomington for 33 years. He also works in the capacity of Chief Engineer and IT support for all video production equipment within the City's Communications Division. Mr. Parker has shot and edited numerous local as well as national award winning videos over the years. He currently oversees the operations of both the government and public access channels in Bloomington.
Jacque Smith joined the City of St. Louis Park in 2015 as communications and marketing manager. Previous to that, she served for 11 years as community relations manager for the City of Minnetonka. She has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communications, and earned her Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) credential in 2018.
Tommy Platek has been with Town Square Television since 2014. He has advanced quickly from Facilitator/Instructor to award-winning Producer, receiving five Upper Midwest Emmy® awards and twelve Awards of Excellence at NATOA's Government Programming Awards.
John Sommer - John first got involved in community media while attending the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus. Radio K, the student run radio station, had just started (1993!) and he became a DJ there. Soon he was involved as a live sound engineer for their weekly live music show, Off the Record. John worked for the Minnetonka School district after college and helped start the video program at the high school, editing his first project with Final Cut Pro 1.25 on a G4. While at Minnetonka he was the cable caster for the School Board meetings and learned first-hand that the integrators who set-up control rooms do not always have the end user in mind when they install the equipment. John then spent 11 years (and went through three different job titles) at CTV North Suburbs (now NineNorth) in Roseville, MN. John co-owned an analog recording studio in the late '90s and still likes to talk about microphones.
