Sam Borowy
Senior Interactive Art Director at ADG Creative
Sam got her start in advertising early: As a girl she was hired by her Barbies to sell a new line of Barbie beds to other Barbies. B2B if you will. The campaign was a smashing success, boosting toy box market share by eleventy-jillion percent. Today, Sam is Sr. Interactive Art Director at ADG Creative in Baltimore, MD working to combine solid concepts and clean interface design to create strong brand experiences that translates across every screen.

John Foster
Principal at Bad People Good Things
John is a designer and writer in Washington, D.C, as the principal and superintendent of Bad People Good Things LLC. He is the author of New Masters of Poster Design and New Masters of Poster Design: Volume Two (Rockport Publishers), 1,000 Indie Posters (Rockport Publishers), and a contributing author to Thou Shall Not Use Comic Sans (Quid/Peachpit) and The Essential Principles of Graphic Design (HOW). He is an international speaker on design issues and has appeared several times at the world’s largest design gathering, the HOW Design Conference, and was recently named the curator for the poster collection for the University of Maryland. His work has appeared in every major industry publication, and he is the proud recipient of a Gold Medal from the Art Directors Club of Metropolitan Washington and a Best in Show from the ADDYs. His work has been shown in galleries all over the globe and is also a part of the Smithsonian’s permanent collection. Foster resides in Maryland with his lovely wife and daughter and three of the world’s goofiest dogs.

Jonathan Helfman
Creative Director/Managing Partner Exit 10
Jonathan is the creative director/managing partner of Exit10 Advertising in Baltimore. He began his advertising career in 1996 as an intern for TBWA Chiat/Day, after a friend convinced him to quit his sales job and pursue a career in advertising. Six months later, Chiat hired him as a Jr. Copywriter. Throughout his career, he has worked on clients such as Nissan, Infiniti, Absolut Vodka, AOL and others. His work has been recognized by all the most respected award shows; most recently, he won the $5,000 Radio Mercury Award for best PSA in 2010. He currently lives in Ellicott City, Md., with his wife of 11 years, Angela, and their two young daughters, Andie Mae and Emma Shannon. They are the three greatest accomplishments of his life.

Tom Jeffrey
Partner/Creative Director at HOOK
Tom Jeffrey is the co-founder, co-creative director, and co-conspirator at Hook. He has helped the Charleston, S.C., advertising agency rack up a large collection of awards and accolades, including “2010 Ad Age Small Agency of the Year: Southeast.” A writer by trade, Tom’s journey through the ad world includes stops at Aspen Marketing in Boise, Idaho, and the Weightman Group in Philadelphia, where he developed memorable work for Sunoco, HP, Compaq, Tastykake, Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, and more. Outside of work, Tom is active in his local ad community and youth sports programs.

John Patterson
Executive Creative Director MGH
John Patterson believes advertising award shows are superficial exercises in self-aggrandizement, and as such, tries to enter as many shows as he can. As executive creative director of Baltimore-based MGH, John is responsible for high-profile campaigns for Old Bay, Ocean City Maryland, UTZ Quality Foods, Marco’s Pizza and more. A writer by trade, John was formerly CD at Doner/Baltimore, where he managed projects for clients like Mazda and Progressive Auto Insurance. His work has been recognized in trade books like CA and Print; he’s the recipient of national, regional and local Addy’s, as well as the gold medal for copywriting from the New York Festivals. In his spare time, John shoots street photography.