the generators.
We’ve been very lucky to attract smart and amazing talent to our home. They come to us because they believe in our cause and stay with us because they want to be better Citizens of Growth. Thirty-percent of our work is not-for-profit, and that’s not to win awards, it’s to win hearts and minds. Our rain-makers work here to improve the world for themselves as well as their family and friends. At Rain, we’re driven by our beliefs, not our bank statements.
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 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 5+ 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.
laura blankemeyer.
Laura was a magazine journalism major and German minor at Ohio University in
Athens, Ohio, where she wrote for The Shaft, The Post, and Friday’s Live.
Beginning in the summer of 2007, Laura brought her years of journalism and
creative writing experience to Rain in the hopes of making more people :).
Laura enjoys attempting to write comedy and has overseen the production of
several sketch comedy revues since moving to Chicago. As an Ohio native,
Laura’s a card-carrying member of the Browns Backers and generally bets far
too much money every year on the seemingly unlikely chance that the
Cleveland Indians will win the World Series (2008, baby). Laura bleeds
scarlet and gray and loves watching the Buckeyes (as well as making and
eating them). She plays volleyball, football, and is proud to own her very
own bowling shoes. Reading is Laura’s #1 hobby, as she firmly believes it
will help stave off the impending atrophy of her brain. She will also
challenge anyone to a game of Risk, as world domination is her unfortunate
middle name.
tony moy.
Tony is our Director of Flash Content Programming. He is a professor of Interactive Media at the Illinois Institute of Art, where he concentrates on Flash and server technologies. He has an MBA in e-commerce and marketing from Loyola University and a BA in biological sciences with research in chaotic physics.
ben rowland.
Ben is our Director of Database Content Programming. He was formerly Senior Software Engineer at Information Resources, Inc. in Chicago where he led the design and development of .Net applications. He holds a BA in computer science from Knox College.
jonathan domanus.
Jonathan is our Content Programmer. He has been developing interactive websites for over 8 years. He earned his BFA in Interactive Multimedia Design and Development from the Illinois Institute of Art, Chicago. Jonathan works as an interactive media developer and project manager on a wide array of projects ranging from smaller companies like scooterfriends.com to large projects like World Book Encyclopedia.
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
nora gainer.
Nora heads up Rain Hospitality. Bringing over 15 years of international luxury branding and marketing experience Nora is an industry leader in driving sales and results through effective branding. After launching the US office in Italy for Zincografica Publishing, Nora was responsible for Swissotel and Raffles marketing operations in North and South America. Nora then went on to lead a global team of marketing professionals responsible for 350 hotels worldwide at Preferred Hotel Group in her role as Vice President. During this time Nora launched the re-branding of Preferred Hotel Group and introduced Preferred Boutique as a new brand. Most recently Nora has consulted for a variety of clients including: MB Realty, Kashwere Lifestyle Luxury, Preferred Hotel Group, Hyatt Corp., Starwood, Encore Hospitality and Amer Hotel Group in the areas of:
· Market feasibility studies
· Brand management
· Enterprise sales agreements
· Sales and marketing plan development
· Customer retention strategies