Water We Talking About?

After college, Tom Ferguson, managing partner of Burnt Island Ventures, was an actor. Now, he uses the lessons that he learned in improv class to help in assessing startups and ensuring success. 

A background in technology helps Isaac Pellerin, VP of Marketing at 120Water, remember that data tells a powerful story. Now, he puts that background to good use by helping to create tools that make life easier for water operators. 

After retiring from the water industry, Robert Wimmer, former CEO of Aqua-Aerobic Systems, realized he still had a lot more to give back to the business. Now, he emphasizes the importance of having a set of core values in the industry and keeping in mind the 5 P’s: Purpose, Passion, People, Products, and Profit. 

When Peter Yolles, founder and managing partner of Echo River Capital, speaks to founders of water tech companies, there is one thing he wants to know: What is their personal “North Star?” 

After a career delivering heavy trucks to utilities and using short training videos to educated operators and supervisors, Joseph Blackman, Founder of Vitendo Training Solutions, finally took the plunge to creating that content full-time. Now, he is an educator and advocate utilizing multiple media spaces: newsletters, podcasts, and videos. 

After becoming burned out working TV news, Kelley Dearing Smith took on a new challenge with Louisville Water. Now, the VP of Communications and Marketing helps Louisville Water tell stories -- and it all starts with listening. 

One of the best ways Joe Zuback, Principal at Global Water Advisors, has found to connect with an audience is to establish commonality with them, and he does so by researching each audience in detail before presenting or speaking.

As a lover of both science and art, Aoife Kelleher, Business Development Manager at BlueTech Research, started her career using art to promote a science gallery, to make it more accessible for more people. Aoife has carried that approach with her in the water industry, including while working on the Netflix documentary “Brave Blue World”. 

As an early adopter of the podcasting medium in the water industry, Travis Loop, Founder & Producer of waterloop, uses his platform to focus on and sharing solutions, as well as sharing success stories, and inspiring people to not give up. 

After breaking into the water industry with PennWell, Angela Godwin became the face and voice of the industry through her work with Endeavor Business Media, and now as Principal Partner with Rogue Monkey Media. 

What does the design aesthetic of a logo tell us about a business? Lorenzo Falzarano, founder of Orb, shares his unique perspective on design and talks about how we validate that our water is safe for use and reuse. 

After spending a decade working on the utility side of the industry, Hugh Sinclair, Vice President – National Practice Lead For Asset Management at Arcadis, now spends his time focusing on the people who do the work – the heroes of the industry – and finds that understanding someone’s story is the most effective vehicle to create empathy and context around their collaborative partnerships. 

For Mike Wade, Executive Director for the California Farm Water Coalition, spending north of $140,000 in crowdsourced funds for an ad and campaign to get the word out to policymakers and the entire country on the devastating effects of the droughts in the west was worth the cost. 

To Michael Stanley Gallisdorfer, affectionately known as MSG, the message for water is simple: Water matters. When sharing water’s story, MSG says to make it simple and direct – and use words that everyone can understand. 

For Mary Conley Eggert, Founder of Global Water Works, it’s of the utmost importance to solve the global water crisis in this generation. And that takes everyone working together. 

Shea Dunifon, aka Lady Caca, the Education Coordinator for Pinellas County Government finds that the best way to share stories is to start with the basics and keep the message simple. 

Candice Jansen, a water sommelier, gives people a water experience worth remembering by hosting water tastings – elevating water the same way we do wine – allowing others to learn the emotional value of water. 

Being a steward and educator for the water industry in his community is of the utmost importance for Jeff Kalmes from the Billerica Water Resource Recovery Facility. 

For Herve Buisson from Veolia Water Technologies, when it comes to effectively communicating with an audience, it takes listening, looking for non-verbal signals, and being an interesting and engaging presenter. 

When it comes to your online presence, you own and control your personal narrative, so says Austin Meyermann, the Water and Wastewater Industry’s Headhunter. 

For Trace Blackmore, it’s all about helping others. When you help others, they innately help you, too. The host of the Scaling UP! H2O podcast loves to give and is encouraging others to join him on the World Vision Global 6K for Water , too. 

After cutting her teeth in the news business as a journalist and news anchor, Andrea Hay now helps shape the story of the water industry as the Director of Communications for Green Bay Water Utility. 

Utilizing her experiences as both an engineer in the water industry and an art history buff, Susan Guswa, from Woodard & Curran, has learned that there is no one way to communicate or share stories and finds value in meeting people where they are to communicate effectively about projects and their importance. 

In order to move the irrigation and agriculture industries into the future, Cassandra Toves knows it takes more than just technology to do so. It comes down to relationship-building and knowing how to tell your stories -- and share your content -- with your audiences in different ways. 

Between supporting innovation in the water sector and helping engineers learn how to share their stories with utilities, Jen Murphy from Parametrix believes integrity and technical competency paired together help build trust between utilities and engineers.