62ABOVE, a San Diego creative marketing agency, has added three new team members, including Alex Herron, director of public relations and social media; Austin Anderson, director of strategy; and Cassie Stark, account supervisor.
Herron, a native of the United Kingdom, was previously director of marketing at Marriott International’s Hotel Beverly Hills, and director of international communication for the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board. He began his career in journalism in Cambridge before relocating to Shanghai in China, where he worked as an editor for a publishing group. He moved into PR with H+K Strategies, a global communications firm.
Anderson, an award winner at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for his work on Claritin’s “DiversiTree” project, was previously strategy director at EnergyBBDO, where he led brand strategy for several Bayer pharmaceutical brands.
His brand-building expertise also includes HLK and Leo Burnett with clients United Healthcare and ComEd. He also has worked on Allstate Insurance’s “Mayhem” series and launched shopper marketing campaigns for Corona, Modelo and Sonic Drive-In.
Stark, with nine years of agency and in-house experience, was previously an account manager of digital marketing at STN Digital. Her experience also has included promotional campaigns for Netflix, Walt Disney Pictures, Food Network and Sony Pictures.
The agency said Anderson will provide tactical guidance and brand-building direction for all new and existing accounts while Stark will manage three tourism clients, including Love Catalina, Visit Carlsbad and Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association. In addition, Herron will oversee the strategy and execution of integrated PR and social media initiatives for agency clients.
“This is an exciting moment for 62ABOVE as we build out our strategic and account management team,” says Jon Bailey, chief relationship officer, 62ABOVE. “As our agency grows, we need to continue to offer our clients pioneering campaigns and contemporary marketing best practices. That can mean pulling in the very best, award-winning, talent from lifestyle and tech brands with Austin and Cassie.”
“Alex’s wealth of experience in tourism and hospitality public relations and social media will be vital in expanding and leading our public relations team and offering strategic council to our clients,” said Indra Gardiner Bowers, CEO of 62ABOVE. “We are excited to watch this department grow with such a seasoned strategic leader.”
62ABOVE, with 30 current employees, was previously founded as Bailey Gardiner by Bailey and Gardiner in 1995. The agency was renamed i.d.e.a. in 2014. When Greg Carson joined as partner in 2020, the agency was rebranded as 62ABOVE. The agency’s name comes from its Downtown San Diego location, which sits at 62 feet above sea level.
Brenna Leon Sandeford Joins San Diego Continuing Education
Brenna Leon Sandeford has been named the public information officer at the San Diego College of Continuing Education. A statement describes her qualifications as “an equity-focused leader experienced in working with diverse student populations.”
“I’m honored to be working at a college that is playing a pivotal role in transforming the lives of large populations of students who come from the most vulnerable adult populations in our region,” said Leon Sandeford.
“Brenna Leon Sandeford’s experience in and dedication to advancing equity and inclusion for disproportionately impacted students fits well with the mission and vision at the College of Continuing Education, which is home to a diverse group of students and employees from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, genders, and socioeconomic standings,” said Tina King, president, College of Continuing Education.
“We are excited to have Ms. Leon Sandeford join our team and promote the amazing programs that are contributing more than a quarter-billion dollars annually to the regional economy.”
Leon Sandeford holds a master’s degree in postsecondary educational leadership and a bachelor’s degree in journalism, with a minor in marketing, from San Diego State University.
Currently, she is in a doctoral program at Claremont Graduate University and San Diego State University, where she is studying the impact of marketing and digital media on Black, Indigenous and People of Color in postsecondary education.
She previously managed day-to-day operations at Southwestern College’s Learning Community Hub. Prior to Southwestern College, she oversaw public relations, marketing and communications for San Diego State University’s Educational Opportunity Program. She also served as a student development resource specialist at Grossmont College and as a child development center assistant with the San Diego Unified School District.
Leon Sandeford succeeds veteran journalist David Ogul who served as the San Diego College of Continuing Education’s public information officer in an interim capacity this year from Feb. 6 to Sept. 1. Ogul told Times of San Diego, “I am back to doing contract work with community colleges, including the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.”
Ogul, a former San Diego Union-Tribune news editor from 2000 to 2011, has spent the past decade in freelance communications roles with community college systems from Sacramento to South Texas, including San Diego Community College District, Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District and MiraCosta College.
TV Plans Revealed for Rady Thanksgiving Basketball Tournament
The national TV channels, tip-off airtimes and team matchups have been announced for the inaugural Rady Children’s Invitational Basketball Tournament to be played this month, Nov. 23 and 24, at the LionTree Arena on the University of California San Diego campus.
Sports San Diego, the nonprofit group organizing the tournament, said the two games on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 23, will be televised on Fox’s FS1 channel starting at noon featuring the Oklahoma Sooners vs. Iowa Hawkeyes, and at 2:30 p.m. with Seton Hall Pirates playing the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans.
On Friday, No. 24, Fox Network will televise games at 12:30 and 3 p.m. The earlier game will feature Oklahoma vs. Seton Hall or USC. The later game will feature Iowa vs. Seton Hall or USC.
Tournament sponsor is Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego, one of the West Coast’s largest pediatric healthcare systems.
Sports San Diego also produces the Holiday Bowl and California State Games. Its mission is to drive visitor demand to economically benefit the San Diego region.
“Sports events have been a pillar of the tourism industry in San Diego,” said Dennis DuBard, 2023 president of Sports San Diego. “Together with Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego, Fox Sports, UC San Diego Athletics and Global Sports & Events, we endeavor to produce the best and most special, early-season college basketball tournament in the country. San Diego is the perfect place to do this, and we cannot wait to tipoff the inaugural event.”
Global Sports & Events is a Seattle-based sports management firm and consultant to Sports San Diego.
“Whether shooting hoops in the driveway, participating in a pickup game at the court down the street, or watching talented athletes as a spectator, basketball brings families together,” said Stephen Jennings, senior VP and chief external affairs officer, Rady Children’s Hospital, and executive director, Rady Children’s Hospital Foundation. “Rady Children’s is proud to support college basketball and inspire today’s kids to engage in exercise that develops character, encourages teamwork and builds perseverance.”
“Fox Sports is thrilled to build on its relationship with Sports San Diego and showcase the Rady Children’s Invitational for a national audience over the coming years,” said Derek Crocker, VP, collegiate sports, Fox Sports. “We look forward to adding these elite matchups to our robust college basketball schedule.”
Ticket prices for the four games over the two days range from $60 to $210. Five dollars from each ticket sold will be donated to Rady Children’s Hospital. The LionGate Arena seats 4,000 spectators. For more information, visit www.RadyChildrensInvitational.com.
Fans who purchase tickets to the 2023 Rady Children’s Invitational will have priority on tickets for the 2024 tournament, scheduled for Nov. 28 and 29. Teams scheduled to play in 2024 include the University of Arkansas Razorbacks, Brigham Young University Cougars, University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Purdue University Boilermakers. The second annual tournament also will be played inside LionTree Arena.
San Diego AMA Discussing Big Brand Partnerships
The American Marketing Association San Diego chapter has announced it will partner with The One Club San Diego to present “Agencies and Big Brand Partnerships,” a networking and informational program from 5 to 7 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 8, at Red Door Interactive, 2436 Market Street.
Speakers will include Reid Carr, CEO of Red Door Interactive, and Erin Smith, senior VP of marketing for Stone Brewing Co. Organizers said Carr and Smith will discuss how agencies can provide big brands with creative and strategic expertise needed to reach their target audiences and how big brands can provide agencies with the resources they need.
Cost to attend is $30 for members, $40 for nonmembers. For more information, send an email to info@sdama.org or visit sdama.org.
Rick Griffin is a San Diego-based public relations and marketing consultant. His MarketInk column appears weekly on Mondays in Times of San Diego.
