Partnering with CustomNEWS gets you more than a vendor who produces your conference’s communications tools. Instead, you get a team of seasoned show daily producers who are aware of the tremendous news and promotional value that show dailies provide. They are dedicated to making every client’s publication a successful endeavor.
Meet the Staff
The company’s founder, Ross E. Heller, is publisher of CustomNEWS, Inc. He produced his first show daily at a Greater Washington Society of Association Executives event in 1979 and has been at it ever since. Heller caught the entrepreneurial bug after working as a reporter for the Providence (RI) Journal, as a press secretary for a U.S. Senator, and as a lobbyist for a telecommunications association.
Tim Mercer, vice president, marketing and assistant publisher, works as senior production staff for on-site show daily newspapers. Mercer’s 25 years at CustomNEWS follows staff and management positions in broadcast journalism and hospital public relations and marketing. Heralding from Colorado, he brings a broad background in communications to the complex and deadline-sensitive process that makes up a show daily newspaper. Tim earned a BA at Colorado State University and an MA at Ohio University.
The primary author of this blog is Jenn Waters, assistant publisher and digital media manager. Prior to joining the firm in 2001, she worked as a senior editor at a trade magazine publisher that also produced show dailies. She’s worked on both sides of a convention newspaper project, and can share that knowledge with clients. Jenn has developed projects for a range of association and meeting planning clients – her goal is to create a show daily that meets the needs of her client as well as their meeting’s attendees and exhibitors. Jenn has spear-headed the company’s digital publishing efforts. She oversees conversion of our publications to digital flip books and continues to look for new digital offerings to complement our print publications. Jenn graduated from the Catholic University of America with a BA in Political Science. (Follow Jenn on Twitter, @JennWaters1.)
The quality of our team makes CustomNEWS, Inc. the premier convention newspaper publisher in the nation. We invite you to discover how our dedicated staff can make a professional convention daily a reality at your next meeting.