BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//jEvents 2.0 for Joomla//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York X-LIC-LOCATION:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:19700308T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:19701101T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:4d944cbbb6c00ba51ff10836ec5b7166166 CATEGORIES:Virtual Campfires SUMMARY:Virtual Campfire DESCRIPTION:
It feels li ke there is a new accounting firm merger announcement every week, or at lea st every month! If you're a marketer in an acquiring firm, what have you le arned about integrating new firms? If you're a marketer from a firm who has been acquired, how has it affected you, your teams and career path? We hop e AAM members who have been heavily involved in transactions over the past couple years will join and share their war stories.
SME
Alex Drost
< img style="margin: 5px; float: left;" src="/assets/Alex%20Drost%20Headshot% 20%232%2019%200528.jpg" alt="Photo of Alex Drost" width="116" height="93" / >Alex Drost is the founder & CEO of Connection Builders, a purpose-buil t platform designed to accelerate career development for individuals and dr ive sustained growth for firms.
M r. Drost began his career in middle-market investment banking, most recentl y as a Vice President of Cascade Partners, a private investment and investm ent banking firm serving middle-market companies in the manufacturing, heal thcare, and business services industries.
During Mr. Drost’s tenure at Cascade, he led capital raise, buy-si de & sell-side transactions in the consumer-healthcare, multi-site reta il, and manufacturing industries that totaled nearly $1Bn in transaction va lue.
Alex is also the host of the Branch Out Podcast, where h e interviews thought leaders from the accounting, legal, and other consulti ng professions, who share their unique insights and real-life lessons learn ed throughout their careers.
Alex holds a B.B.A. from Northwood University and is a registered CPA in the St ate of Michigan.
Facilitators
R aissa Evans
Raissa joined Weaver as head of digital and lead gen in 20 20, a full-service national CPA and advisory firm. She began her early care er in the technology industry, then spent 12 years as head of marketing at PKF Texas, a firm recognized as a market-leader by its peers due to many in dustry firsts, winning more than 120 awards along the way. She founded her consultancy Running Reload LLC in 2015 where she works with clients on soci al optimization and Guided Marketing.
As a pioneer of digital strate gy for professional services for more than 20 years, Raissa’s led digital t ransformations in marketing technology, web and content strategy and lead g eneration customer journeys. She speaks regularly on growth strategy, marke ting operations, digital performance and the like.
She hosts AAM’s monthly Virtual Campfire video conference and was AAM Marketer of the Year 2011, was named "One to Watch" by Accounting Today's Top 100 Most Influenti al in Accounting, is Past President of Houston's Interactive Marketing Asso ciation, and founder of non-profit Celtic Valor, which awards scholarships to veterans.
Amanda Sturdevant
Amanda is a marketing strat egist and project manager with more than fifteen years of experience in acc ounting marketing. In late 2022, she joined the Enterprise Marketing team a t Baker Tilly, an IPA Top 10 firm, through a merger and is still feeling he r way around. Prior to the merger, she spent seven years as Marketing Direc tor at True Partners Consulting (TPC), a national tax-only accounting firm with nine offices across the U.S. At TPC, Amanda provided strategic marketi ng counsel to the firm’s management team, managed all forms of marketing co mmunications, planned conferences and events, and trained firm professional s on marketing and business development topics. Prior to her role at TPC, A manda was the Marketing Director at MorrisAnderson, a restructuring and tur naround consulting firm. She strongly believes that the most important thin g an accounting marketer can do is build trust with the partners and profes sional staff by learning and understanding their business.
Amanda ear ned her MBA in Marketing Strategy & Planning and Brand Management from DePaul University’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business in Chicago. She i s also a proud alumna of the University of Wisconsin – Go Badgers! She work s remotely from her home in Connecticut which she shares with her husband a nd two sons.
Amanda is the co-host of AAM’s Virtual Campfire video co nference series and looks forward to facilitating conversations on topics t hat help AAM members contribute to the growth of their firms. She also serv es at co-chair of AAM’s Virtual Education Committee. Connect with Amanda on L inkedIn.