Martin Atkins
Martin is an multi-faceted entrepreneur and entertainment industry educator. As a drummer and session musician he is best known for his work in Public Image Limited (PiL), Ministry, Nine Inch Nails (NIN), Pigface, and Killing Joke. He is the CEO of Invisible Records and the author of the book Tour: Smart.
Mike Bailey
Mike started his music business career by running his own independent record label. That led him to the major labels where he was Marketing Coordinator for Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records (Narada/EMI). He has worked in a variety of positions (marketing/label manager/A & R administration) with a diverse mix of artists – including Cracker, The Neville Brothers, Frank Black, David Sylvian, Acoustic Alchemy, and Afro Celt Sound System. He settled into a long-term position as A& R Director for Back Porch Records and completed his 11-year tenure with EMI with a turn at the prestigious Blue Note Label Group in New York. At Blue Note he oversaw projects from Rosanne Cash Van Morrison, Alejandro Escovedo, and Emerson Hart (Tonic) while also working on Grammy nominated projects for Lila Downs, Viktor Krauss and John Hammond. Mike works in artist management and continues to consult doing A & R on independent projects.
Rich Denhart
Rich has been a music industry professional for over 30 years. Starting out as a band member and touring the U.S., he moved to front of house and recording engineering in 1980. For the last 11 years, Rich served as A & R Director for EMI labels Narada, Back Porch, and Narada Jazz. He has worked for or with such artists as David Bowie, Adrian Belew, Robert Fripp, Chuck Berry, The Subdudes, Ramsey Lewis, Champaign, New Edition, Tony Levin, Lila Downs, Frank Black, The Bodeans, George Massenburg, and many others. Rich is currently the Program Specialist and Lead Instructor for the Entertainment and Media Business program.
Mark Irving
Mark has worked in the television industry in Southeastern Wisconsin since 1981 writing, producing, directing and editing commercials, corporate training, public relations, marketing, music video, electronic press kits and documentary programs. In addition, he also devises and implements online networks and marketing strategies for delivering these programs as primary messaging tools to establish and promote brands and services.
Professionally trained as an independent filmmaker with graduate work at UW-Milwaukee, Mark has produced numerous documentaries including Gridlock: Public Transit in SE Wisconsin, broadcast in 2009 on PBS affiliate WMVS, as well as the first “how to” automotive series: Classic Car Shop, in 1992. He operates his own company, i level media, inc. and works with a vast array of clients including Fortune 100 companies Johnson Controls, Briggs and Stratton, Dow Agro sciences, GE Healthcare, Kraft Foods, Kohl’s Department Stores, and EMI/Virgin Records. Mark’s productions have won multiple awards from the Business Marketing Association, Addy, Telly, PR Society and RAMA/RAC.
Greg Jansen
Greg has been practicing entertainment law for nearly 25 years. He currently has his own practice in Milwaukee. Prior to that, he was Vice President of Legal and Business Affairs for the Blue Note Music Group (a division of EMI) in New York City. Before going to New York, he was V.P. of Business and Legal Affairs for Narada Records, overseeing all of that company’s legal matters as it grew, during his tenure, from a company with six album releases to one with over six hundred. Greg has worked with a diverse range of labels and artists including Real World Records, Higher Octave Music, Celtic Woman, Norah Jones, Suzanne Vega, Ramsey Lewis, Lila Downs, David Lanz, Jesse Cook, and many others. Greg has a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School (Cum Laude, Law Review, Order of the Coif) and a B.A. from the University of Iowa.
Laura Klocke
Laura has worked for more than 10 years as a professional accountant in both the public and private sectors. Her background includes functioning as a controller as well as an internal auditor. Laura is currently licensed as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE).
Sean McMahon
Sean’s diverse credits include producing and engineering Marilyn Manson, Michael Bolton, The Judds, Slipknot, Stone Sour, Wynona Judd, and Bill Gaither. He collaborated on two Grammy-nominated album projects and a platinum album. Sean mixed and/or engineered tracks on three #1 Billboard music videos. Presently he is Chair of the Bachelor of Science Degree in Entertainment and Media Business at Madison Media Institute and a certified Pro Tools instructor. Sean has a Bachelor of Science degree from Middle Tennessee State University.
Sue Schrader
Sue has spent the past two decades in the music and entertainment industries. She has participated in all aspects of music publicity and promotion, including creating and managing campaigns for various promoters, record labels, bands and venues. Sue spent many years building solid regional and national relationships and her broad knowledge and experience are effective in creating and executing successful marketing and media campaigns. She began her career as a talent buyer for her college and also did promotion for Alternative Concert Group. Subsequently she moved on to publicity and promotion at GMR Marketing, where she worked with the Miller Band Network and various other clients. Sue managed Narada/EMI’s media relations department for fifteen years and was responsible for a number of artists including the Neville Brothers, The Subdudes, John Hammond, Cracker, Charlie Musselwhite, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Jeff Lorber, Afro Celt Sound System, Kathy Mattea , and many others. In addition to her work with Blind Ambition Management, Sue oversees Blonde Ambition Public Relations, an independent music publicity firm for artists from multiple genres. Their roster of current and past musicians includes the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Charlie Sexton, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Ruthie Foster, Bo Ramsey, Clarence Bucaro, and others. In her spare time she produces and publicizes several local music festivals.
Daniel Sharp
Dan has over 18 years experience in marketing research, educational research and database programming in both the public and private sectors. He has also taught economics at the college level for over 16 years. He has provided statistical analysis of surveys, educational research and program evaluations, estimating customer value, enrollment analysis, and placement test analysis.
