Eric Longs
Comet Interactive
Comet Interactive’s founder and president, Eric Longs has a long history of providing creative services for clients throughout the metro Detroit area and beyond. Past clients have included corporations and non-profits, service providers and national organizations, businesses of all sizes.
Sydney Lepora
Corporate Communications Manager, The Shfft Group
sydney.lepora@gmail.com, 586-413-4112
Sydney Lepora is a communications professional with nearly a decade of experience in multiple Fortune 500 companies, working in both external and internal capacities. Skilled in executive communications and media coaching, she has more than 15 years of both public speaking and coaching experience and is skilled in speaker training, scripting, and presentation development. She believes in artful communication that is ethical, transparent, and focused.
In January 2022, Sydney joined The Shyft Group, an innovative automotive technology company that is driven to deliver goods and services today and tomorrow, sustainably as the Corporate Communications Manager. Before joining Shyft, she worked as the Director of Client Experience for corporate business at Current Global, a global communications agency. She also served as the Special Events Communications Manager at Hilton, where she created and executed multiple communications strategies for special events internal team practices, as well as communication activities for large, internal conferences, inclusive of C-suite message and presentation development.
Prior to joining Hilton, Sydney worked at Ford Motor company as a Senior Project Manager for Organizational Change Management Communications, supporting the corporation during an intense IT transformation. She began her career at Valeo, a Tier 1 automotive supplier, as the Region Communications Coordinator, then Region Communications Manager. She was responsible for managing the external narrative of the North American business portfolio, internal communications, and working to place industry thought leaders with tech, automotive and tradeshow media.
She attended Wayne State University, earning a BA in public relations, a BFA in theater arts, and a minor in English. While at Wayne State, she competed on the collegiate speech team, earning a national championship in Persuasive Speaking, which led her team to place in the top ten speech schools in the nation – a first in the University’s history. She was also named the Michigan Intercollegiate Speech League’s best speaker for two consecutive years.
Andrea Kenski
Andrea Kenski serves as an Integrated Communications Director at Franco in Detroit. As a leader on the agency’s nonprofit team, she provides strategic counsel to her clients and her team, advising them on integrated approaches, strategies and tactics to be effective communicators. She leads her team on promoting major fundraising campaigns, including The Salvation Army Eastern Michigan Division’s annual Red Kettle Campaign and the Bed & Bread Club Radiothon and Hospice of Michigan’s Barley, BBQ & Beats events.
Andrea has spent more than a decade in retail management before joining the integrated communications agency, honing her leadership and communication skills working for brands like The Gap, Target, Panera Bread and Wherehouse Music.
Andrea holds a Bachelor of Arts in communications and a Bachelor of Science in public relations and marketing, both from Eastern Michigan University. She is an active member of the Detroit chapter of International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), having served as president in 2016. Andrea and her team have received multiple local and regional awards from IABC for their work on nonprofit campaigns.
Gary Spondike
Westcomm
gspondike@westcomm.com, 248-224-4078
Gary Spondike is an Executive Vice President at Westcomm, Inc. Gary is a results-oriented individual with 30 years of experience in business development, marketing communications and brand management. He has been a member of IABC for more than 20 years and has served on several IABC committees for both the Detroit Chapter and the IABC Heritage Region. Over the years, Gary has taken advantage of the many opportunities IABC offers to foster both personal and professional relationships. Gary was named IABC 2014 Regional Leader of the Year and IABC Detroit’s 2016 Communicator of the Year.