Panel Speaker Bios - group Y June event

We have four panelists joining us this coming Wednesday. They are:

Kelley Electa -- Executive Director, Promotions & Events, MySpace.com
Gregg Yacovone -- Director of Marketing, Verizon Wireless West Area
Eddie Anaya -- Director of Marketing, Quiksilver
Ross Garrett – Publisher, Surfing Magazine

Please check out their bios below. See you on Wednesday!


Kelley Electa
Executive Director, Promotions & Events - MySpace.com
Graduated from Marymount Manhattan College with a Communications degree and started in the music business interning at Sony, later taking first job at Sony Music and then moved to Almo Sounds. Transferred from Almo's NYC office to the HQ in L.A. in 1996. Periodically worked on skate and snow events in the early to mid-90s with On Board Entertainment. Through this event work with OBE, met and befriended Kevin Lyman, which led to a position with the Warped Tour and the development of a career in promotions, sponsorships and event marketing.

Prior to MySpace, Kelley has held positions at Nintendo of America as the Consumer Promotions Manager, for year 1Tony Hawk's Boom Boom Huckjam in Marketing & Sponsorship, The Familie, SEGA of America & the Vans Warped Tour.

Gregg Yacovone
Director of Marketing for the Verizon Wireless West Area.
In this position Gregg is responsible for marketing and operational support for the youth, Latino, Asian and mature adult consumers. His primary focus is to innovate new ways to integrate wireless products and content into marketing initiatives targeting the various segments. In addition, Gregg's role is to represent the needs of these consumers in order to increase the effectiveness of marketing programs and sales channels.

Gregg joined Verizon Wireless/Airtouch in 1994 and has held a variety of positions in sales operations, marketing and customer service. His marketing roles have included product marketing, business-to-business marketing, strategic planning and distribution strategy. Gregg was previously responsible for operations positions supporting retailstores and business sales. Before joining Verizon Wireless he worked for Taco Bell corporate and was responsible for process reengineering and market development. He began his career at Deloitte and Touche consulting where he was a Senior Consultant.

Eddie Anaya
Director of Marketing, Quiksilver
I'm a native Californian and I've been immersed in the So. Cal surf/skate/snow/music culture for the last 25 years. I began my career as an intern at Surfer Magazine in the early 90's under the leadership of Steve Hawk, Tom Servais, Jeff Divine & Ben Marcus. From there I transitioned to the youth culture advertising/marketing agency McElroy Communication in 1995 where I was an Account Supervisor. Our clients included Vans, Quiksilver, Mammoth Mountain, Volcom, G-Shock, Pac Sun, O'Neill, and Counter Culture to name a few. I also spent some time at Globe Shoes as a Marketing Manager. Since 2003, I've been at Quiksilver where I've now taken on the role of Director of Marketing working on the Young Men's business.

Ross Garrett
Publisher, Surfing Magazine
Ross and his wife Alexis reside in Cardiff, California with their big black dog, Sydney. Ross has been involved in surf media for the last nine years, most recently as the Publisher of the 43 year-old cornerstone of surf culture, SURFING magazine. So far, during his time at SURFING, Ross helped to conceive and create International Surfing Day, SURFING Destinations, the Boardshort Buyer's Guide, Heat: A Guide to Competitive Surfing, the annual Green Issue, the Swimsuit Issue, SURFINGtv, SURFING Music Player, SURFING Blogs, the Art of SURFING, and SURFING Podcasts. Ross joined the magazine after working with leading apparel company, Patagonia, where he helped with strategy on their surf inspired apparel initiative. Prior to that, Ross was Executive Editor at Surfer Magazine, a post he held for three years. Ross also serves on the board for Life Rolls On, a youth oriented non-profit focused on improving the lives of young people who have been affected by spinal cord injury. He also serves on the board for Follow The Light Foundation, and holds an advisory board seat with Surf Industry Manufacturer's Association.