Legendary conference immerses marketing pros in the latest in digital marketing
Duluth, MN
April 10, 2025

Haley Hedstrom (she/her) is a marketing and tourism professional with over 12 years of experience specializing in nonprofit strategy and communications. As the Executive Director of the Lake Superior Zoo and a board member for YWCA Duluth, she continually works toward meaningful change in the community. Haley applies the latest AI tools to better engage non-profit stakeholders for deeper, engagement and action. When not at work, she enjoys spending time with her son, Max, and cat, Shiva, traveling, and cozying up with a good book.

Autumn Gran is a marketing strategist with over a decade of experience helping brands meld strategic storytelling to earn brand loyalty. Autumn leads the marketing department at Tacheny Exteriors.

Along with managing newsroom content and special projects at Northern News Now, Briggs LeSavage also co-anchors the 5 p.m. news and co-hosts the station’s lifestyle show, Northern Life. Briggs has spent a decade in journalism and is proud to tell stories in her hometown.

Anna Bailey is an award-winning wood mosaic artist, entrepreneur, and the creative force behind Bailey Builds, a multi-faceted brand that has grown through the power of social media and user-generated content. She has collaborated with brands including Magnolia, West Elm, Motor Trend, and Wagoneer–gaining worldwide exposure. Anna was recently featured on the Netflix top-ten show Love Is Blind.

Proctor native and Duluth resident Jana Hollingsworth covers northeast Minnesota for the Minnesota Star Tribune. She spent more than a dozen years covering education and Native American issues for the Duluth News Tribune. Jana began her journalism career with the University of St. Thomas campus newspaper and also worked for the Superior Daily Telegram.

Mike Mayou (he/him) is the Marketing Manager at Glensheen Mansion in Duluth and, separately, serves on the Duluth City Council as the District 2 Councilor. Previously Mike worked in Enrollment Management Marketing at the University of Minnesota. Mike has developed institutional and nonprofit marketing experience while targeting a variety of audiences. Zenith is one of his favorite conferences to attend year after year to learn about new and emerging trends, including AI tools.

Molly Solberg has over 22 years of experience in Marketing, PR, Sales, Social Media, SEO, and Digital Marketing. Molly is also the Founder of the Social Media Breakfast Twin Ports (#SMBTP), a group with over 1000 members and now in its 15th year.

Renee Passal is an Iron Range native, now raising her family in Duluth. She just hit the 20 year mark at WDIO. Reporter by day, anchor by night, for The Five!
Her beats include mining, shipping, and the 148th Fighter wing, but she enjoys covering all kinds of stories across the region.

Elmer heads the SEO, Schema and Local teams at Milestone. He has 25+ years of experience in digital marketing with a major focus on SEO. He’s worked with businesses from SMBs to Fortune 5-size including Rocket, Ford, Mars Corporation, Banfield Pet Hospital, Wilsonart and Corner Bakery Café. Prior to his career in digital marketing, he was in the US Army for 14 years as a translator and intelligence analyst.

Angie Erickson is the Director of Outreach & Communication for North Homes Children and Family Services. In her role, Angie leads community outreach and marketing efforts. She builds new collaborative partnerships, supports staff through training and coaching, and assists grants procurement. When not working, Angie enjoys volunteering and being an advocate in her community, playing sub-par punk music, and spending time with her super awesome family.

Heather Sadorf is the VP of Marketing at 1SEO Digital Agency, leveraging over a decade of digital marketing experience to drive brand growth and craft strategies. During her tenure at 1SEO, she has worked across all stages of brand journeys—from go-to-market strategy to growth hacking. Heather believes good marketing involves risks. You need to be disruptive to stand out from the noise.

Will Scott is an internationally known marketing leader, credited for coining the phrase “barnacle SEO” in 2008. A faculty member emeritus of Local U, Will is a contributor to popular online journals and a well known speaker at PubCon, SMX, and many others.

With a degree in Architecture from Tulane University, Will is a professionally trained problem solver whose eye is always on the bigger picture. Founder of of Search Influence in New Orleans, Will directs teams of dedicated professionals who optimize potential!

Rachel Heseltine is the VP of SEO at CBS Digital at Paramount Global. She, and her team are responsible for driving organic traffic to sites such as CBSSports, CBSNews, and CBS.com.  Over the years, Rachel has led award winning teams at Trader Interactive, ForRent, and AOL, also working in-house at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and for several years on the agency side. Once upon a time, Rachel taught digital marketing for 5 years at Georgetown University in DC, and was on the board of SEMPO for 4 years, 2 as VP of Education.  Rachel is also a Proud member of the LGBTQ+ community.

Krystal is a Senior Account Manager for Aimclear, focused primarily on bringing client campaigns to life across social channels. With social media marketing experience rooted in retail and tourism, Krystal has expertise in strategic audience development, media planning, and campaign execution.

Craig Baillie is the Creative Director for Aimclear and has 25+ years of experience in design, website creation, and digital marketing. His interest in drawing cartoons as a kid led to exploration of every type of art, design, mural, painting, and print while completing an Art and Philosophy double major at the University of Chicago. Craig has worked as a pre press computer operator, assistant art director, and digital design director for Saga Advertising until he formed Brave New Media in 1998. He’s worked with iconic brands.

Adam Riemer is an award winning digital marketing strategist, keynote speaker, affiliate manager, and growth consultant with more than 20+ years of experience.  His agency creates and executes integrated and growth marketing strategies based on data points and ROI.  From top funnel affiliate marketing to SEO, email, and conversion optimization, he helps brands of all sizes grow and scale.

Ashlie Castaldo is a communications specialist with extensive experience in political strategy, digital marketing, and community outreach. Her career spans work with the Duluth Harbor Monsters, Nexus Domes, Inc., and various political campaigns. Ashlie is a two-time MARSUM Top Marketing Award winner, 2024 Democratic National Convention delegate, and she serves on the boards of MNeurodivergent and Miller-Dwan Foundation.

Joe Warner serves as Chief Technology Officer for Aimclear®. With 25 years of industry experience and 13+ years at Aimclear®, Joe leads a team of top professionals to orchestrate powerful tech solutions to pressing business challenges. Specializing in website & app development, eCommerce, web analytics, technical & semantic SEO, systems architecture, database management, and other critical aspects of IT, Joe leads from the forefront of technology.

Amanda Farley is a marketer, performance strategist, and business success leader. She is the CMO at Aimclear® and played an integral role in 14 US Search Awards including the last 4 of 9X consecutive most recent Best Integrated Agency.

Jane is a marketing leader with a track record driving revenue growth and engagement across tourism and hospitality industries. With over 10 years of marketing experience, Jane’s focus is scaling accounts using integrated organic and paid ad strategies.

Kevin Mullett is the Director of Visibility and Social Media at MarketSnare, a SAAS solution that helps multi-location brands capture local opportunity via Search, Social, and Business Listings at scale. He has been discovering, testing, utilizing, and sharing trends in digital marketing and tools for developers, clients and popular conference audiences for over 20 years.

Tim is an integrated digital marketer, key account lead, speaker, and marketing clinician.

He was the principal architect behind six AIMCLEAR US Search Award wins, including “Best Use of Social in a Search Campaign” and “Best use of Data.” His differentiator is a balance of paid social performance marketing, AI, search integration, and creative expertise.

Tim’s client credits include PayPal, Venmo, Lands’ End, BBVA, Invitae, eBay & Sideshow to name a few. His decade-plus of experience spans portfolios of household brands, subscription models, travel, national retail chains, & his personal favorite – disruptive SaaS products. An emergent leader on the digital marketing scene, Tim has delighted audiences, from London to LA, with appearances at Pubcon, Ungagged, Digital Summit, MnSearch, Zenith, Internet Summit, Hero Conference, The PPC Podcast, Optmyzr’s PPC Townhall, and Microsoft’s AI Creativity Series.

Search, ranking, and web accessibility are essentially baked into Lea Scudamore’s DNA. As the Director of SEO at Aimclear, Lea applies industry-leading knowledge and skills to drive extraordinary results for the clients she supports. Lea is leading the charge in web accessibility, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), and ADA website compliance for Aimclear’s clients. Her work has been a cornerstone of multiple national and global award-winning case studies. With more than two decades experience, Lea’s work spans a range of business types from startups to iconic global brands.

Christi Olson is the VP of Digital Marketing at Azul Systems, combining nearly 20 years of leadership experience at Microsoft, Expedia, Harry & David, and boutique Seattle Marketing agencies. Christie is recognized globally as a digital marketing thought leader focused on search and AI, keynote speaker, and published author. She is on the Board of Advisors member for the University of Idaho School of Business, mentoring aspiring marketers and business students.

Off-duty, Christi juggles life as a mom of three under 8 years old, including a daughter with a very rare genetic condition, is a dahlia and iris farmer, and “recovering” crossfitter/ultra-marathon runner. Her philosophy embodies that marketing—and life—is all about balance.

Adam is a Partner & Co-Founder at NordicClick Interactive, a Digital Marketing agency in Minneapolis. He’s a 24 year digital marketing veteran who cut his teeth working for Digital River (a global e-commerce provider) in the late 90’s. He spent almost nine years there working on such clients as Symantec, Autodesk, Motorola, and most of the early big Apple utility software publishers like Connectix & Aladdin Systems.

Adam has spoken at numerous industry events including SMX, Pubcon, eMetrics, MNSearch, Zenith Marketing Conference, Digital Summit, SES, OMS, and MDMA. He serves on the advisory board for the Paid Search Association. He is also a past Advisory Board Member for University of South Florida Digital Marketing Certificate, a former Instructor at the Online Marketing Institute, Instant E-Learning, and the University of San Francisco.