2010 Making Media Connections Conference

Sharon Stangenes began her career as a “beat” reporter covering social service organizations for the Evansville (Ind.) Press. After moving to Chicago, she was the Midwest correspondent for Women’s Wear Daily and W.  While at the Chicago Tribune, she was a fashion writer, home furnishings reporter and covered banking. For 10 years, she reported, wrote and edited stories about real estate, new home construction, green building, the environment and community development. As a freelancer, she has continued to write about “green” housing and environmental issues as well as affordable and multifamily housing. She enjoys writing about innovators and cutting-edge ideas from wind turbines for urban housing to the looming need to conserve water in Northern Illinois. She won Best Freelance Collection in the 59th annual journalism awards of the National Association of Real Estate Editors in 2009.
.

As Chicago Public Radio’s senior metro desk editor, Cate conceives and researches stories, edits scripts and organizes long-term projects including investigations and series.

Cate joined the staff of Chicago Public Radio in May 1998 as an editor for Eight Forty-Eight, Chicago Public Radio’s weekday morning newsmagazine. She later became a contributing editor for Eight Forty-Eight and interim news director.

Cate has received more than a dozen Peter Lisagor awards and three Sigma Delta Chi awards, including as editor on a project that examined abuses among children at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. She is the editor for on ongoing look into Illinois’ youth prisons called Inside and Out.

Prior to joining Chicago Public Radio, Cate worked as editorial director and planning editor for WBBM 780 AM. She’s also worked as a newspaper reporter and magazine editor.

Cate has a M.A. in Journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.A. in English from Mundelein College.

Cate lives in Skokie with her husband, Richard. They have four children and a granddaughter, Madeline.

Kevin Lampe is an internationally recognized expert in political, media and communications strategies. “Ideas, Delivered” is the mission of his firm Kurth Lampe. He has developed and directed the delivery of his client’s complicated messages to a variety of audiences. Kevin has worked with Vice President Al Gore, Hotel Rwanda’s Paul Ruesabegina, then State Senator Barrack Obama, Erik Estrada, Ambassadors, CEOs, Senators, Congressmen. He has worked across the US and in Kosovo, Uganda, Belgium, Albania, Sweden, Mali, Norway, United Kingdom and Macedonia. For more information visit www.kurthlampe.com. Also, Kevin can be reach at kevin@kurthlampe.com

Karen has dedicated much of her professional and personal life to bringing important stories to light and bridging the gap between people of different backgrounds.

Her professional experience focuses on journalism, publishing and communication. Currently she’s the managing partner of Kring Lerner Group, a media agency known for innovation, which specializes in photography, journalism and strategic media.

As Assistant Director of Media Relations for Illinois Institute of Technology she’d helped journalists find and create interesting stories relating to IIT and identify experts on campus to be interviewed on topic ranging from campus safety to nuclear power.

As New Media Manager for Community Media Workshop she’d managed the website’s content, wrote and edited e-newsletters, oversaw updating and production of its media guide and managed design and production of other digital and printed materials.

She’s bought, sold, assigned, edited or produced photographs for the Panoramic Images, General Learning Communications, Associated Press, Rockford Register Star, Sun-Times News Group, Chicago Tribune and other news outlets.

In 1993 she co-founded PICTURE THIS Projects with other women photographers. It remains a non-profit, philanthropic organization of photographers, journalists and other community members supporting and creating photo projects that encourages creative expression, self-esteem and community building.

She posts on Twitter at @KRKring, @LiveFromSkokie, @EvanstonLive and @WomenToNote.