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Melanie Webber, President 

Melanie Webber is a specialist in consumer focused and B2B public relations, as well as in marketing and internal/corporate communications for public and non-public companies, with deep experience in Lifestyle, Wine, Technology, Entertainment, Internet/New Media, ‘Green’ and Automotive. She is President of mWEBB Communciations Inc., the award-winning public relations agency she launched in 2009. 

 

mWEBB Communications has served over 40 clients, including Califia Farms, AutoMD, ReviverAuto, Restore Hetch Hetchy, eLEND Solutions, DME Automotive, The Garagiste

Wine Festivals, and SpringBoard Auto, achieving hundreds of millions of dollars in earned media for clients.  mWEBB received the American Business Award for Public Relations Campaign of the Year in 2011, The Stephen Mather Visionary Award in 2012 and, for its Public Relations campaign for Califia Farms, the Best in Business Award in 2015.

 

Prior to starting her own agency, she served as a public relations executive both on the agency side and in-house.  As Vice President of Public Relations at RBI Communications, she drove awareness of Autobytel.com into one of the most visited and recognized online brands both domestically and globally, featured in thousands of print, broadcast and online outlets as an innovator and leader in online automotive commerce and the recipient of numerous prestigious industry awards. She went on to serve as Vice President of Corporate Communications at publicly-traded Autobytel Inc. for eight years where she spearheaded internal and external communications for six consumer-facing websites, product launches, acquisitions, global initiatives, industry and portal partnerships and employee and crisis communications. She also led the marketing communications initiatives to Autobytel's B2B customer base, including thousands of automotive retailers and major automakers.

 

Known for her incisive strategic thinking, Melanie is a hands-on communications executive and creative practitioner, expert at building brand credibility and driving consumer awareness. A digital veteran, she is experienced in traditional and new media campaigns, event and conference marketing, trade marketing, internal and external communications, and community outreach programs. In addition, she is an experienced media spokesperson, quoted in numerous online and offline publications, as well as broadcast outlets.  Her extensive entertainment industry background as a theater and film producer, story analyst and film journalist equips her with a unique and creative perspective on the entire communications process.

 

Melanie was instrumental in creating and launching the renowned Garagiste Wine Festivals and embedding the term ‘American garagiste’ in the media lexicon and has given back with work for multiple pro-bono clients, from at-risk kids to the National Park Service.

  

A graduate of Northwestern University’s School of Communications, her varied background also includes media campaigns for AutoPartsWarehouse.com, DrivingSales.com, Mota Motors, DMEa, CarFinance.com, PlaySushi, ArcadeWeb, HTS Bio, Future Ads, The Channel Islands ‘Save the Foxes’ campaign, The Playboy Jazz Festival, Allen Edwards Salons and Lingerie for Less, as well as editorial assignments for The San Francisco Chronicle and Screen Actor Magazine, among others. 

 

A certified wine expert, Melanie has achieved the WSET Diploma in Wine and Spirits and the French Wine Scholar Certification with Honors from The French Wine Society.

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Cassandra Cavanah, Social Media and Strategy Partner

Cassandra Cavanah is a senior PR executive with more than two decades of PR and marketing expertise. Her career began as a journalist in the tech and business space, which gives her a unique understanding of the media and its needs. Cassandra spent 10 years based in London where she was the Executive Director of Spafinder Wellness Europe, playing a central role in launching this US company in the UK. PR campaigns resulted in significant coverage in all major UK newspapers (including The Times, The Independent, The Telegraph) as well as major UK lifestyle publications.

At mWEBB Communications, Cassandra has served as the lead on key accounts, including consumer-facing Califia Farms, and B2B automotive clients, CallSource, CarStory, eLEND, among others. In addition, Cassandra continues to work within the spa and wellness tourism market with her hands-on role in PR efforts for the Global Wellness Summit, an annual gathering that brings together leaders and visionaries from every sector of the $3.4 trillion wellness industry. She has managed a variety of accounts for both publicly-traded and private companies in a variety of sectors, including technology, social media, spa and wellness, automotive, food and beverage, and her award-winning campaigns have resulted in extensive international newspaper and magazine coverage. 

Cassandra is a graduate of UCLA where she received a BA in English Literature.

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Crystal Hartwell, Senior Director, Accounts

Crystal Hartwell has over 20 years experience in public relations, investor relations and marketing communications. She combines deep knowledge of, and sharp instincts for, the intricacies of strategic communications, with an ability to manage responsibilities on multiple fronts.

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Crystal began her career at Corelink as an investor relations specialist, where she coordinated investor activities for the Company, generating reports and working closely with senior management. In 2000, she joined Autobytel Inc., shortly after its highly anticipated IPO. As Manager of Investor Relations, Crystal worked closely with the CEO, CFO, and General Counsel,

to manage the flow of financial and other information between the Company and financial community, as well as playing a key role in the generation of reports, investor profiles, and IR presentations and marketing materials. In the rollercoaster climate following the dotcom boom and bust, Crystal was a key player in helping maintain communications continuity “with” or “to” Autobytel investors. In 2003, she added public relations and marketing communications to her scope. As Autobytel's Manager of Corporate Communications, she was responsible for managing and coordinating all corporate communications, public relations and marketing communications activities for the Company, from trade show marketing to dealer communications and marketing to media relations.

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Since 2011, Crystal has served as Senior Accounts Director at mWEBB Communications. In this role, Crystal heads up the coordination of key client accounts, including Califia Farms, eLEND Solutions, PERQ, ReviverAuto, DrivingSales, and The Garagiste Festivals. She also runs mWEBB Communications social media campaigns, working with client teams to generate content, infographics, tweets and pitches across all relevant platforms including Facebook, Google+, etc. Crystal spearheaded, a major initiative for the AutoPartsWarehouse.com Heroes Automobile Gallery, which helped surprise our military veterans by reconditioning or providing much needed parts for their vehicle without any charge. The initiative also provides members of the military with a discount on auto parts and an opportunity to share pictures of their vehicle, and what it means to them, as well as a little about their military history.

 

The proud mother of two girls, a seven year old and a 15 year old.

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