Sonar Group CEO Dennis Flynn and 5ive Founder Susan Mernit Named Media Center Senior Fellows

Reston, VA --Dennis Flynn, a branding and marketing executive, and Susan Mernit, an expert in Internet publishing and business development, have been appointed senior fellows of The Media Center at the American Press Institute (API).

As senior fellows, both will contribute to Media Center educational programs, research and strategic planning. Flynn, based in the San Francisco Bay area, will guide The Media Center in its communications efforts and in the center's strategic planning and industry outreach. Mernit, based in San Jose, California, will lead planning of a Media Center executive seminar in February 2005 and assist The Media Center in adjusting its publishing and communications priorities, as well as serve as The Media Center's representative with Silicon Valley and with the global, independent, Internet-media community.

"Dennis and Susan are both clear-eyed, tremendously respected executives in media, technology and advertising circles, and for The Media Center to have won their commitment to our work shows that we are moving in the right direction and connecting with a growing network of really smart people," said Andrew Nachison, director of The Media Center. "With their wisdom and expertise, our work will reach new audiences and achieve new levels of innovation and creativity. We are extremely fortunate to have them aboard."

Founder of The Sonar Group (www.thesonargroup.com), Dennis Flynn is an experienced management leader, marketer and communications professional. He has more than two decades of business and brand strategy and marketing and communications experience in corporate, agency, academic and entrepreneurial environments. For the past eight years his work has concentrated on emerging growth and enterprise-level B2B companies and investors. Prior to establishing The Sonar Group, he co-founded Sanchez, Lonchar & Flynn, a brand-communications and design firm. Flynn led Saatchi & Saatchi's Corporate Communications Group for several years and prior to that held senior management positions at J. Walter Thompson and BBDO/West. He has held senior corporate-sales and brand-management positions with Beatrice/Swift Foods in New York and Chicago. Flynn holds BA and MBA degrees from Adelphi University in New York, and has taught brand communications at San Francisco State University. He is author of a business and brand-strategy book, "Brand Clout! How to Stay Relevant and Profitable in an Environment of Constant Change," to be published in late 2004 by Cameo Publications. He is a member of the Promar Executive Consortium.

With more than 10 years of senior-executive experience building profitable new brands and products, Susan Mernit, through her consulting group, 5ive (www.5ivegroup.net), works with large media companies and emerging technology start-ups to create new products and rethink existing businesses. She has led the development of leading consumer brands for Scholastic, Parade Magazine, Advance Publications, Netscape and America Online; her products have won industry awards from The Newspaper Association of America, Folio, Clarion Women in Communications, The American Journalism Review, the Software Industry Association of America, and Editor and Publisher magazine, among others. Regarded as one of the most effective and experienced Internet/digital media executives in the U.S., Mernit, a former magazine journalist, served as vice president of programming, design and production at Netscape.com, transforming the site into the #1 daytime work/home content destination on the Internet at the time. For America Online, she wrote a white paper on blog strategy and launched content initiatives to establish interactive communities as a retention tool for the AOL brand. She is an avid blogger (susanmernit.blogspot.com) and active on LinkedIn, Ryze and Orkut.

For more information, contact Gloria Pan, Media Center communications director, at gpan@mediacenter.org or (703) 715-3301.

About The Media Center

The Media Center is a nonprofit think tank committed to building a better-informed society in a connected world. The Media Center helps individuals and organizations worldwide acquire intelligence and apply insight into the future role and use of media and enabling technology. Through research, education and unique learning experiences, The Media Center helps leaders in media, technology, academia, philanthropies, NGOs, nonprofit and other businesses understand the challenges of a changing multimedia world. The Media Center is a separately funded division of The American Press Institute, an independent, not-for-profit educational center with headquarters in Reston, Virginia. Through its global, multi-disciplinary network of researchers and leading thinkers, The Media Center inspires and agitates dialog and activities exploring the intersection of media, technology and society. Media Center research and programs provide knowledge and strategic insights for personal, professional and organizational growth. For more about The Media Center, go to: http://www.mediacenter.org.

Contact:
Gloria Pan
Communications Director, The Media Center at API
11690 Sunrise Valley Drive
Reston, VA 20191-1498
(703) 715-3301
gpan@mediacenter.org
www.mediacenter.org