Our People: A Team of Experts

Jessica Switzer

Partner

As former Vice President of Tesla Motors, Jessica Switzer directed marketing and launch strategy for the notable electric sports car manufacturer. Before Tesla, she was Managing Director of Ruder Finn, the second-largest, independently owned PR agency in the world.

Jessica came to Ruder Finn after the acquisition of Switzer Communications, a public relations and marketing firm, which she founded in 1995 with annual billings of $3 million and 25 employees. She also ran corporate communications for Broderbund Software, a consumer software company, where she served as company spokesperson and assisted the company throughout its IPO and numerous acquisitions.

Jessica specializes in product and company launches, integrated marketing campaigns, and public relations and crisis communications. She is an active member of the TED community. She is also involved with the Switzer Foundation, a $20 million family foundation devoted to creating environmental leaders through academic and project leadership grants. She received a bachelor’s degree in politics from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Tim Gnatek

Partner

For more than a decade, Tim Gnatek has communicated issues and ideas in technology, science, and sustainability. He has been a regular contributor to the New York Times and a researcher for Wired magazine. Tim has covered solar energy production for public broadcasting radio and The Technology Review; sustainable urban design for PBS’ FRONTLINE/World; and science, nature, and technology for the San Francisco Chronicle and PC Magazine. He’s also written for Outside Magazine, Mothering and a number of other national publications.

Previously, Tim managed creative programs, media relations, and partner communications for technology clients at Switzer Communications. He won various national and international awards for programs he helped design and implement, including two Mercury Awards and a Tenagra Award. He has also been a documentary consultant for a film studio and an editorial writer and speechwriter for an international relief and development agency.

Tim received a master’s degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, and bachelor’s degrees in English and philosophy from the College of the Holy Cross.

Jessica Appelgren

Vice President, Marketing Practice Leader

Jessica has managed strategic marketing and public relations programs for the past eight years.

She comes to Blue Practice with a background in the built environment, having led marketing for the Prometheus Real Estate Group and EDAW, a global landscape architecture, planning and design firm based in San Francisco.

Jessica’s passion for forward-thinking, sustainably-minded companies and initiatives is put to great service at Blue Practice, where she plays a dual role directing PR accounts and leading the agency’s marketing practice. Jessica works with client partners to establish clear messaging and branding guidelines, translating those plans into compelling campaigns and initiatives.

Jessica previously served in several posts at Bay Area magazines, including 7×7 Magazine, California Home and Design and Click. She has also written for Urban Land, Landscape Architecture, and The Potrero View.

Jessica currently sits on the host committee for the Young Urbanists branch of SPUR (San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association).

She received a bachelor’s degree in Modern Literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz and lives in Oakland, CA where she bakes award-winning pies.

Marc Tamo

Account Manager

With an extensive background in marketing, brand, project and account management, Marc Tamo comes to Blue Practice after a twelve-year career in the entertainment industry. During his tenure as the Marketing and Business Development Director for San Francisco-based Fat Wreck Chords, Inc., Marc managed an international staff of 25, servicing a roster of 40+ active clients and launching over 200 retail music products.

With a passion for environmental solutions and a desire for making a positive change, Marc has come to apply his marketing and management talents towards initiatives that further climate solutions and sustainability.

Specializing in full service account management, Marc helps clients grow brands and products while developing programs appropriate to their individual culture and in line with their target customers. Marc is well versed in the use of emerging digital media and social networking to develop campaigns with measurable results.

Marc received a bachelor’s degree in mass media communications from Saint Mary’s College of California, Moraga. He lives and gardens in Oakland, California.

Nolan Necoechea

Advocate

Nolan Necoechea is a former journalist who has worked with clients that range in size from some of the largest law firms in the world to nuanced vendors and experts.

Before joining Blue Practice, Nolan began his public relations career with professional service and legal clients at Infinite Public Relations, consistently recognized as a Bay Area leader in legal marketing. Working as a West Coast pillar for the company, he placed clients in the world leading business and trade publications, like the Wall Street Journal, Associated Press and The American Lawyer.

As a student of journalism, reporter and freelancer who has written for the Vallejo Times-Herald and San Francisco Examiner, Necoechea has a great respect for journalists and the evolving ways in which news is delivered and disseminated. His respect and understanding for journalism is reinforced by experience with the radically different systems of news found in China, Taiwan and throughout South East Asia. Nolan has studied in China and Taiwan, and is conversationally fluent in Mandarin Chinese.

Nolan holds bachelors degrees in journalism and Chinese language from San Francisco State University. He calls San Francisco’s North Beach home.

Karen Omholt

Marketing Strategist

Karen is the acting principal of Omholt & Associates, a specialty marketing firm for branding and positioning services. She has been providing strategic marketing counsel to emerging and high-growth businesses for over 12 years, and has been a long-time collaborator on marketing projects with Blue Practice founders Jessica Switzer and Tim Gnatek. Karen has over 15 years of experience in the marketing and successful introduction of consumer and business products for organizations such as Shutterfly, LEGO MindStorms, Hospice of Marin, All-America Rose Selections and Avery office products.

Karen works with client partners in developing brand positioning, crafting key messages and creating integrated marketing communications campaigns that build brand awareness and customer loyalty. She also has experience in creating effective web marketing programs that build site traffic and drive sales. Additionally, she provides counsel and direction for partner marketing initiatives that enable businesses to leverage each other’s marketing assets and generate incremental sales.

Previously, Karen served as Senior Marketing Manager at Broderbund Software and was responsible for the company’s Home Productivity Group. The group’s flagship product, 3D Home Architect, became an award-winning best seller in the cluttered home design software category. She also held senior positions at Ketchum Public Relations where she was responsible for integrated marketing communications initiatives for a number of global brands.

Alisa Weinstein

Senior Advocate

Alisa Weinstein brings a reporter’s curiosity and a strategic mindset to Blue Practice, along with a sincere concern for the environment and a passion for incorporating sustainable practices into our everyday lives. Along with her years writing for national newspapers, magazines and the Web, she is an accomplished PR veteran with a history executing successful communications campaigns.

Before joining Blue Practice, Alisa worked as a Senior Account Executive at Flashpoint PR, where she helped to develop and carry out media relations efforts for clients including real estate search engine Trulia.com, consumer-technology company Sling Media and mobile advertising company 4INFO.net. She has led national media initiatives, including press tours, exclusive media engagements and new product launches.

Alisa understands what makes a compelling story and is able to help craft messages that resonate with both specialized and mainstream media and help companies develop thought leadership roles in their industries. Her career in journalism has included contributions to publications including Sprig.com (a Washington Post Newsweek Interactive media property), Red Herring, The Denver Post and Saveur Magazine. Alisa is also passionate about developing new paradigms for the way the global media covers innovation. She is associated with the Innovation Journalism Fellowship program at Stanford University, where she helped to develop the participation of Pakistani journalists in the program.

Alisa received a master’s degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, and bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Michigan.

Liz Batchelder

Creative Services

Based in Portland, Oregon, and holding BA and MFA degrees in writing, Liz brings print and interactive design and strategic marketing skills to Blue Practice. In her more than ten years of professional experience, Liz has crafted effective communication and collateral for a wide variety of purposes, including advertisements, brochures, websites, e-communications campaigns, speeches, and conference materials.

Her recent background includes senior writing duties, message management, Flash development, and Web product oversight for EDAW, a global design, environmental planning, and economic, social, and cultural services firm. She has been published in Urban Land and Landscape Architecture as well as in more targeted vehicles such as Port Technology International, and has provided services on a consulting basis to clients including ETwater Systems, an innovative Web-based irrigation controller company.

Portia Switzer

Senior Communicator

Portia is a Senior Communications Expert based in the Southern California market. Most recently, as Vice President of Investor Relations (VPIR)with International Rectifier, a $1 billion leader in advanced power management technology in Los Angeles, California, Portia was acting company spokesperson during a multi-year financial restatement & SEC investigation, hostile bid, heated proxy battle, and was the direct liaison between Board members, the new management team, and the financial community.

Prior to joining IR in 2003, she was an investor relations manager for four years with STMicroelectronics, Inc, a $7 billion global semiconductor supplier, where she managed the US investor relations for a global company headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Prior to her work at ST, Portia was an Investor Relations Manager at FORE Systems, Inc. a data networking company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She held an Account Manager position in corporate communications, technology and business media with Switzer Communications, Inc.

Portia has been an active NIRI member since 1995, and previously served as LA Board Member and Vice President, Programs for the Los Angeles chapter as well as Vice President, Communications for the Pittsburgh Chapter. She is also past Regional Director and founder of the Pittsburgh Chapter of Women in Technology International (WITI). She received her B.A. in English from Portland State University, Oregon.