Strategies 360 is pleased to announce the further expansion of our Colorado office with the addition of Lynea Hansen as senior vice president. Lynea is a strategic communications pro with deep expertise in public affairs and a background in political communications.

Previously, Lynea ran her own Denver consulting firm, Hansen Communications, where she worked with a wide variety of corporate, non-profit, and legislative clients including Microsoft, the Higher Education Access Alliance and National Popular Vote. Lynea has successfully represented a wide variety of public policy positions at the state and local level, ranging from requiring carbon monoxide detectors in homes to helping undocumented students receive in-state tuition to promoting local economic development.

“Lynea has a tremendously successful track record in Colorado and a winning way with important issues across the state. She’s a tremendous addition to our team,” said Tyler Chafee, head of S360’s Colorado operations.

In the political arena, Lynea worked on campaigns ranging from Congressional races to City Council contests to ballot initiatives and the Denver mayoral race, often performing a dual role of campaign manager and spokesperson. Realizing there was a gap in understanding between the people and groups advocating a position and community leaders, Lynea left the day-to-day campaign world behind and created her own firm to fill that gap on numerous issues. She has also consulted on business development plans and served as a budget analyst.

“We’re thrilled that more and more incredibly talented people like Lynea are joining our firm,” said Ron Dotzauer, S360 co-founder and CEO. “Our strong growth is allowing us to provide our clients with unmatched expertise and reach to achieve their objectives.”

Lynea was born and raised in Southeastern Colorado, where the cows outnumber the residents and water is the most precious commodity. Lynea enjoys living in downtown Denver and often leaves “the big city” to visit the “farm,” so she can find some political and life balance.

She has a bachelor’s in communication and political science from the University of Colorado Boulder and received her master’s in public administration from the University of Colorado Denver.

Lynea can be reached at: lyneah@strategies360.com

Strategies 360 clients in Arizona turn to Robbie Sherwood for sharp insight on media, politics and strategy honed over years as one of the state’s leading political journalists. When he’s not working, you can find Robbie snarking on Twitter at @RobbieSherwood, and schooling youngsters on the basketball court despite his artificial hip.

Q: What’s something that Strategies 360 blog readers might not know about you?

I grew up on a cattle ranch in Eastern Arizona, but I can swear profusely in Finnish or sing along to any Finnish radio hit from the late 1980s (I was an exchange student). Still trying to find a way to market this skill.

Q: How did you get involved in your field of work?

I was hired as a newspaper reporter while still in college and worked for many years in the Phoenix market. During the last nine years of that career I covered politics and government for The Arizona Republic, where I caught the bug. After I left journalism, I was fortunate to join the staff of Congressman Harry Mitchell, who gave me a great barometer for statesmanship and public service. These experiences have taught me that common sense and good writing will always be valuable to people trying to make positive change.

Q: What is something you wish you knew when you started your career?

That I have a decent chance to physically outlive newspapers as a thing.

Q: What is the best advice you’ve ever been given?

To take a typing class in high school, my Mom’s idea. I dropped out of that class after one semester (28 words a minute) to be a teacher’s aide for girl’s PE, which at the time seemed brilliant. But it’s being able to write as fast as I think that has paid the bills.

We continue our series of meet-the-team Q&As with Annie Connole, director of marketing strategy and research for Strategies 360′s Montana operation. Annie brings her connection to the people and businesses of her native Montana, along with her agency experience in New York, to her work leading the Missoula office.

Q: What do you love about your job?

I love engaging with storytelling for my work.  I love the process of developing a brand beginning with market research.  I love discovering the textures, the fabric, the untold triumphs, desires, and dreams of people having a human experience, and then translating this into a powerful messaging strategy.  I love working on projects that have a capacity for great social and political impact.  In Montana, with a low population density, we are able to see and feel the impact of our work in a much deeper way.

 Q:What would we find in your work space?

Paper coffee cups, harvest gold vintage fabric, succulents, palms, and a clear view of the iconic Mount Sentinel.

Q: What is the most recent book you read? And what are you reading now?

Most Recent:  Lean In, by Sheryl Sandberg: Sandberg addresses issues that I had been considering in recent years, including the contemporary cultural factors that contribute to the low rate of women holding professional leadership positions.

Current:  Country Girl: A Memoir, by Edna O’Brien

I have enjoyed a number of O’Brien’s short stories and novels, so when her memoir was released this past month, I immediately started on it.  O’Brien is from County Clare, Ireland, a mythic place for my family, as it is the home of our Irish ancestors. I read her to better understand that place, but also because I admire the honesty she brings to her narratives about women coming of age in the 50’s and 60’s in Ireland and England.

We continue our meet-the-team series of Q&As with Kevin Ingham, Vice President of Polling and Research. From focus groups to in-depth interviews to statewide and regional surveys, Kevin oversees Strategies 360′s growing research effort. Kevin’s rigorous and insightful work helps us guide our clients to success using clear, hard data, where some firms rely on guesswork, conventional wisdom and “instinct.”

Q: Who inspires you?

Young people. The kids coming out of high school and college these days are facing a different and more difficult reality than their parents faced decades ago. High unemployment, student loans, personal debt, and high costs of living are part of a daily struggle for many young people. This reality has really forced a lot of younger professionals to punch above their weight just to stay ahead and that then drives me to want to be better.

Q: What do you love about your job?

My job is a great balance of art and science – equal parts left brain and right brain. That was the sweet spot I had always hoped to find in my professional life. My parents both had scientific backgrounds and encouraged a scientific curiosity from a young age. However, I have always been fascinated with communication and marketing. Research is a truly unique field that allows me to use statistics and the scientific method in support of our clients’ communications and marketing needs.

Q: What’s the most recent book you’ve read? 

I recently finished reading Nate Silver’s The Signal and The Noise. I’ve always been an admirer and reader of Silver’s FiveThirtyEight blog but his book is a remarkably well organized and thoughtful discussion of predictions and their frequent failure to actually predict.

We continue our series of meet-the-team Q&As with Research and Communications Associate Emma Bohmke. Emma uses her focus and attention to detail to support the firm’s research and communications tactics for clients.

Q: What’s something that Strategies 360 blog readers might not know about you?

I am a not-so-secret country music lover and love to practice my two-stepping skills whenever I get the opportunity.

Q: Who inspires you?

My parents constantly inspire me to continue growing and learning in every facet of life by actively setting and reaching goals. They are both leaders at nonprofit organizations, and they encourage me to emulate their values of hard work and dedication. They are also incredibly motivated morning people, 5 a.m. wake-up calls anyone?

Q: What do you do for fun?

I love to be active so I play basketball, run, and most recently, cycle. I also have an addiction trying new things, from surfing to curling. Skydiving is on my list for this summer.

We continue our series of Q&As with the Strategies 360 team with Senior Vice President Paul Berendt. Before joining S360, Paul was the longest-serving party chair of the Washington State Democrats, where he was instrumental in a long string of electoral victories, most notably Gov. Chris Gregoire’s narrow win in 2004. Today he uses his finely honed political skills and staggeringly large Rolodex to oversee the firm’s grassroots practice. When he’s not working, Paul can usually be found watching his daughter play stellar volleyball.

Q: What is the best advice you’ve ever been given?

Be smart, work hard and use good judgment. If you can do one you will succeed, if you can do two you will excel and if you can do all three you will be a smashing success. This advice was given by my father, Joe Berendt.

Q: What do you love about your job?

The most enjoyable part of my job at Strategies 360 is working with an extraordinary team of professionals who are great at what they do. Being exceptional is part of the criteria Ron and Eric use to hire everyone from the receptionist at the front desk to communications professionals to our regional office senior vice presidents. Working with strong professionals makes everyone’s job easier and more interesting.

Q: What’s something that Strategies 360 blog readers might not know about you?

I’m a recovering political junkie and a workaholic – and I bring the same passion to being a Volleyball Dad. My daughter, Michaela, is a gifted volleyball player, and I have spent many proud and happy hours driving her to practice and games and watching her succeed. Her Olympia High School team took 1^st in state in 2011 and 4^th in state in 2012. She has a full-ride Division 1 scholarship to play for Villanova University in the fall of 2013.

Strategies 360 is pleased to announce the expansion of our Idaho office with the addition of Lane Packwood as Director of Public Affairs and Marketing.

Lane formerly served as Economic Development Administrator for the Idaho Department of Commerce under Gov. Butch Otter. Under Lane’s leadership directing Idaho’s business recruiting and entrepreneurial job growth efforts, the state quadrupled corporate site visits and closed several large projects with companies such as Allstate Insurance and Chobani Yogurt. Lane’s team managed more than $8 million a year in federal and state rural development grants and coordinated hundreds of development projects representing nearly $700 million in potential investment.

“Lane’s expertise in economic development and creating jobs will help our clients in Idaho and across the West,” said Ron Dotzauer, CEO of Strategies 360. “We’re thrilled to have him join the S360 team.”

Lane is a seasoned communications professional with over 15 years of experience in strategic communications and brand management. He’s collaborated on public relations and marketing strategy projects for several of Bonneville International’s media properties, and engaged in policy work on military, state agency, and non-profit issues. He has also consulted on election campaigns in Idaho.

Lane is a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, where he is an instructor in the Army’s graduate-level education program for senior reserve officers. During the Iraq War, Lane commanded a large unit that trained local police and military forces, advised developing democratic institutions and managed more than $2.5 million in humanitarian projects. He has also served in a multitude of other leadership roles in strategic planning, civil-military relations and leadership recruitment during his 25-year career.

Lane enjoys teaching and has been an adjunct professor at several Idaho colleges while working toward an MBA at the University of Phoenix. He has a master’s degree in national security and strategic studies from the U.S. Naval War College; a master’s in political science from the University of California at Los Angeles; and a bachelor’s in political science from Brigham Young University, Provo.

Lane can be reached at: lanep@strategies360.com