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Welcome to RAIN communications. Your Content Generation Firm. Rain communications was established November 2002 with one intention: Growth Ideas for our Clients!  From the beginning our focus has been on Organic Growth for our clients and personal growth for our people. We have shown clients that you don’t need big budgets for big ideas.   You need smarter, more agile navigators with one goal in mind:  THE BOTTOM LINE. rain. rain communications Our people are the CONTENT GENERATION! They’ve grown up with computers instead of pads, Facebook instead of pen pals, MySpace instead of the playground. They are savvy navigators of content and understand the new mentality of communicating with people rather than advertising to them.  With offices in Chicago, London and Dublin, we are focused to help you grow your business both here and across the pond. Welcome to RAIN communications. Your Content Generation Firm. Ferdia Doherty Ferdia is a co-founder and Chief Content Generator responsible for: the creative product, marketing and relationship-building with prospective clients, and helping to make the company’s goals reality. His leadership skills emerged at an early age as president of the student union at Dublin Business School. His drive to make things better for organizations and people has led to a satisfying career for Ferdia and business growth for his clients. At Frankel & Co., he learned the promotions side of marketing at one of the best agencies in this field and led the Kodak Cameras integrated campaign, the “Sports Illustrated Campus Fest” and “AVP Pro Beach Volleyball” sponsorship. At Euro RSCG Tatham he worked on the Hoover, Dean Foods, Brown & Williamson, Marie’s Salad Dressing and Birds Eye accounts. It was at Publicis & Hal Riney that Ferdia created a diet fast food strategy that brought “Jared” to the masses for Subway Restaurants, and also led the OfficeMax and Shoney’s accounts. Ferdia co-founded rain with John Linesch. John co-founded rain and serves as the Content Creative Director. He is an award-winning creative director with an established reputation for creative leadership. Before co-founding rain, he was with Element 79 where his primary creative responsibilities were with the packaged goods giant Quaker Oats and Gatorade. Prior to that John worked at Euro RSCG as art director on numerous accounts including Red Lobster restaurants, Huffy Bicycles, Vidal Sassoon, Midas Mufflers, Hunts Tomato Sauces, Jolly Rancher, and One-A-Day Vitamins. This was preceded by a lengthy stint at Campbell Mithun where he worked on Coors and Corona Beer. Ron Polito RonO is our Chief Convergence Officer. RonO’s vast experience in Advertising and Digital Convergence creates a dynamic combination that has helped him to earn recognition as one of the pioneers of today’s technology revolution. As a respected member of the advertising and technology community, he has advised the staff of Oprah’s Harpo Productions about how to incorporate interactive media, future IT strategy, and Dconvergent technology into the various media channels of their business. Over the last several years, he has produced commercials for McDonald’s, Kahlua, Chevy, Equal, KFC, Sears, and Sony, just to name a few. Before the concept of non-linear editing was accepted and understood in the advertising and film community, RonO forged the trail with a company called AVID Technology, which is now the standard by which most films, music videos, commercials and television shows are creatively edited. By becoming one of the first to embrace and incorporate the idea of creatively editing commercials and films with a computer, RonO lead the way to placing the technology into the mainstream of the Chicago advertising market. Steve Hanika Steve is a Managing Director responsible for: operations and marketing oversight of the four rain business units, new business pitch preparation and presentations, and works directly with select clients. He served as Senior Partner, Group Account Director at Euro RSCG Tatham where he reenergized Dean’s ice cream brand with the Really Cool Flavors product line strategy and marketing campaign, introduced Dean’s Milk Chugs, Chex Snack Mix, Fleischmann’s Light Margarine, Coors Extra Gold, Hostess Breakfast Bakeshop and more. He also helped grow sales for Hoover, Midas, Carrier, and Nabisco. After 18 years Steve joined Maddock Douglas as head of marketing and client services where he brought in new accounts Verizon Airfone/JetConnect, Ford Motor Co., SkyLight Professional Development, Keebler, and more. He has successfully adapted his “big agency/big brand” experience to help all types of companies grow their business, from firms in IT consulting, software, manufacturing, consumer electronics and nutritional supplements. Mark Bettenhausen Mark is a leader in the new school of Digital Design and serves as our Director of Content. Fishing and messing around in Photoshop keeps him busy while not at work. He started out his career graduating from Illinois State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Mass_Communications and a minor in Cinema Studies. From there, he landed an executive position with a small agency. This is where his talents were discovered and when his passion for design was kindled. From there, he completed a four-year Bachelor's Degree at The Illinois Institute of Art-Schaumburg in two years, where he majored in Multimedia & Web Design. With a thirst for knowledge and a love of technology, he brings a fresh approach to design and adds a new dimension to our creative possibilities. During his 4+ years at rain, he has helped to develop two new Spirits, VeeV & Zuidam, creating the logo and packaging for both. He is known around here as "Mark of Rain". Aireen Arellano Aireen is our Content Art Director who started her creative career in illustration while attending Northern Illinois University. She has since found her true talent in creative branding. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Advertising Art Direction from Columbia College Chicago, but original illustration has become a large focus of her current work. Her style is a coalescence of modern art influences and experimentation with the classics. She creates visual branding using thoughtful design fueled by the needs of the big picture. More importantly, she makes sure everyone in the office gets their daily dose of the Red Eye newspaper. When she’s not at work, you can usually find her rocking out with Guitar Hero, hustling others at tennis, or taking a plethora of crazy new classes to sharpen her skills for both work and play. Julie Funke Julie is a California native who has been living and working in Chicago since 2000. She is a graduate of Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California where she majored in English. She has over 15 years of experience working in San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara and Chicago. Her knowledge comes from working in various sales and marketing roles in both the corporate and private sectors. Since moving to Chicago, Julie has found her niche in the hospitality industry as a consultant providing sales and marketing services to restaurants. Julie is our Director of Hospitality Content. Her proven strength is in direct sales. She is successful in executing sales objectives by matching the appropriate customer with the right restaurant, and she continues to deliver long term ROI for her clients. Julie attends selling seminars and may networking events in Chicago and is an active member of The Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau and The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. Julie loves to entertain, travel, snowboard and take long walks along the lake. Julie has provided sales services for the following restaurants: Cape Cod Room Chicago Firehouse Restaurant Clock Tower Café Drake Bros.’ El Muro Emerald Loop Bar & Grill Grace O’Malley’s Restaurant-Pub Merlo on Maple Merlo Ristorante Meztiso Latin Bistro & Wine Bar Wabash Tap Zapatista Joanne Hogg Joanne heads up Rain Hospitality. A native of Dublin, Ireland, she is a graduate of the Dublin Institute of Technology, Cathal Brugha Street, where she studied Hotel Management and Business Studies for four years. A promotional opportunity brought her to Chicago in 2001 where she has been living and working since. Joanne has over 15 years experience in the hospitality industry both in Ireland and the U.S. Her knowledge comes from working in a variety of sales, marketing and management positions both at the property and corporate level. The major part of her career was spent with the Fitzpatrick Hotel Group who have 6 hotels in Ireland and the U.S. Her proven strength is in direct sales where her contacts cross all markets. She also has in-depth knowledge of how to combine and execute the elements of P.R., advertising and e-commerce. Joanne possesses a strong work ethic and is results driven. An expert “networker”, she is an excellent communicator. Clients and business associates all agree that she leaves an impression! Her clients are her partners and she passionately shares their objectives and dreams- she will deliver ROI and GROWTH.