Lessons from Legends
DJs Dugout 114th & Dodge | 5:30 - 7 PM
Lite bites and cash bar will be available.
Jim Lauerman – CEO Emeritus, Bailey Lauerman
Jim Lauerman is CEO Emeritus of Bailey Lauerman. He helped grow the Nebraska-based advertising agency from a five-person shop in 1973 to a 90-person destination agency for America’s most prominent brands. During Jim’s tenure, Bailey Lauerman was recognized in 2012 as the Ad Age Midwest Small Agency of the Year, following that up in 2013 with National Small Agency of the Year. Communication Arts and Graphis magazine have run multi-page features on the firm and Bailey Lauerman has been recognized in the industry’s most prominent shows, including the Effies and Cannes Lions.
Lauerman has played a leadership role in the agency's work with clients including Union Pacific Railroad, Disney, General Electric, and Honeywell. He continues to serve on the board of Bailey Lauerman.
Additionally, Jim has served on the national board of Boys Town, as well as the Boys Town marketing committee. He served as a Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben Counselor and is past president of the Counselors. He has served on the national board of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, and on the regional and local Ad Federation boards. He's a previous recipient of the Silver Medal Award, the Ad Federation's highest professional honor.
As an elected official, he served on the Lincoln Airport Authority board for 12 years and is a licensed pilot. (Aviation has been a lifetime passion.)
He was awarded the Keith P. Sanders Outstanding Service Award in 2015 by the University of Nebraska Chapter of Kappa Tau Alpha—the National Honor Society in Journalism and Mass Communications.
Dave Hansen – Chairman, Swanson Russell
Dave Hansen is the former CEO and co-owner of Swanson Russell, the largest regional advertising agency in the area with 175 employees in Lincoln and Omaha. He now serves as Chairman, helping to guide the company forward. Dave joined Swanson Russell in 1988 to head up their client services discipline. He was instrumental in the agency’s new business efforts, where he helped the agency grow to be the largest firm in the country for the golf and turf industries. While serving clients was his focus, he enjoyed the opportunity to visit some of the most famous golf courses in the world. Throughout his tenure as CEO, he helped the company achieve growth for over 15 years. His other passion within the agency was creating an environment at Swanson Russell where people could grow personally, professionally, and financially. “Growing people has always been my priority for success. Focus on people and the rest falls in place”.
As Dave has now retired, he has found more time to stay involved in the community. Some of his recent involvements include TeamMates, NMOTION which helps start-up companies, and supporting Mourning Hope Grief Center through a successful capital campaign. He has also found time to get in 2-3 rounds of golf a week, 3-4 mornings of pickleball, and tend to his garden. But his favorite moments these days are spending time with his 5 precious grandchildren.
Robin Donovan – President, Bozell
Robin lived and worked in the Northeast for several years before moving to Nebraska in 1999. After three years as a high school English teacher, she moved into advertising in the early 80’s where she worked on accounts such as Duracell, Stanley Tools, IBM, Konica Royal, Merck Pharmaceutical, BMW, Visa, and Capital One. After moving to Bozell she and three colleagues purchased the Omaha founding office from its New York-based parent company Interpublic Group in 2001. She has been president of Bozell since 2012.
Robin has served on the Business and Professional Ad Agency and Ad Club boards while working in the Northeast. After moving to Omaha, she has served on the Omaha Children’s Museum and YWCA boards, and has chaired the Alzheimer’s of the Midlands board.
Robin also serves as a Nebraska and Iowa site visitor for the Chicago regional of WBENC and she was a recipient of the 2021 Enterprising Women of the Year Award through the national magazine Enterprising Women.
Robin was the author of the blog, Menologues, which has been republished by Vibrant Nation and Alltop, and has won numerous regional awards.
She has also published three humorous murder mysteries in the award-winning Donna Leigh Mystery murder series, which can be found on Amazon.
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