Endorsed Bloggers

Apryl Hanson

Director of Customer and Partner Strategy, Blytheco, and Editor, Bellwether Magazine 
Blog: Think.blytheco.com
Twitter: @AprylHanson

Apryl Hanson is Blytheco's director of customer and partner strategy as well as the editor of Bellwether Magazine. She speaks on social business, social marketing, and customer strategy. She has been an evangelist for the voice of the customer inside organizations and how strategy can increase the potential for profit. Apryl also has a love for outrageously wicked heels. You can follow Apryl on Twitter: @AprylHanson.

Jess Vento

Senior Accountant, Westbrook Management and Burke Properties
Website: www.westbrook-management.com
Blog: www.jessvento.com 
Twitter: @sunshinejess22

Jess Vento is the senior accountant for Milwaukee-based Westbrook Management and Burke Properties, a family-owned and operated company. She wears many hats as part of a very active small business, not only as a Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate (formerly Sage Timberline Office) advanced user, but in handling accounting functions and acting as both IT and HR administrator for the company, as well. Jess is definitely the go to guy for her coworkers, in many different capacities!

Jess has an MBA in leadership and management and a BA in accounting, both from Ottawa University’s Brookfield, WI, campus. Jess’s varied professional experience includes working for companies like U.S. Bank and Harley-Davidson Motor Company prior to joining Westbrook Management and Burke Properties.

Jess is a social media and technology junkie and gets all her news through her Twitter account, so she remains up to the minute on what is going on NOW. In her spare time, Jess serves on the board of two Milwaukee-based nonprofits and loves to build websites on Wordpress.

Peter Wolf 

President, Azamba Consulting Group
Website: www.azamba.com
Blog: www.summitdiary.com
Twitter: @AzambaInc

Since early 2000, Peter Wolf has dedicated himself to helping small and medium-sized organizations become more profitable through effective, efficient usage of CRM. Azamba Consulting Group, his current venture, has successfully implemented Sage CRM at hundreds of organizations since inception.

Peter’s upcoming book, “The Future is Now: The why, what and how of CRM for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses,” is targeted toward management and owners at the typical small and medium-sized organizations and is designed to share proven, basic principles to guide them to successful CRM implementations.

Hilary Kissinger

New Media Contributor, Kissinger Associates, Inc.
Website: www.kissingerassoc.com
Blog: kissingerassoc.com/blog
Twitter: @KissingerAssoc

Hilary contributes her skills as a writer, editor, and content creator to help Kissinger Associates, Inc. with new media marketing endeavors. Kissinger, a reseller of Sage 100 ERP and Sage 500 ERP and a Sage Development Partner, successfully entered the social media and blogging landscape largely due to her efforts. Hilary draws on her theater experience as an actor, director, and playwright to create clear and engaging communications. You may have seen her making playful YouTube videos at Sage Summit 2011. She graduated summa cum laude from Lehigh University in 2009 and lives in Philadelphia, PA, with her husband, Tom.

Brad Hartz

Technology Director and Sage 500 ERP Customer, Heritage Food Service Group
Blog: www.SageSummitBlog.wordpress.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SageSummitBlog
Twitter: @bradhartz

Brad Hartz is no stranger to Sage products, having first implemented accounting software from State of the Art in 1989. He currently serves on the Sage Customer Advisory Board for his product group and the Sage Summit CAB. Brad is a customer advocate and is often found assisting other customers looking for solutions or resources in the Sage community. He holds a BA in business administration with honors, completed numerous Microsoft certifications, is an active private pilot, and resides in NE Indiana.

Bianca Lightheart

Certified Consultant Sage 50 Accounting—Canadian Edition (formerly Sage Simply Accounting) and Bookkeeper, Soma Small Business Solutions
Website: www.www.simplysoma.com.wordpress.com
Blog: www.somanews.wordpress.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SomaSolutions
Twitter: @Simply_Soma

Bianca attributes her entrepreneurism, loyalty, and drive to her genetics. She was literally born into the bookkeeping industry having worked alongside Sage Simply Accounting guru Dianne Mueller since childhood. As the lead bookkeeper at Soma, Bianca works closely with clients to provide the information, navigation, and guidance they need to make effective management decisions by using Sage 50 Accounting—Canadian Edition.

Soma Small Business Solutions (Soma) is a family-run business where Bianca is the lead bookkeeper and in 2010 earned her certification as a Sage Simply Accounting consultant. Bianca is also the Vancouver regional developer for the Institute of Professional Bookkeepers of Canada (IPBC).

Bianca values her relationships with the local Sage team, fellow Certified Sage Consultants and bookkeeping colleagues through the IPBC, and most importantly Soma’s clients. By attending Sage Summit, she feels that she will be able to continue to contribute to these relationships with relevant, up-to-date information regarding other Sage product lines and the rebranding of Sage 50 Accounting—Canadian Edition (formerly Sage Simply Accounting).

Greg Tirico

Senior Social Media Manager, Sage North America
Blog: www.tirico.net
Twitter: @gregt12

Greg Tirico is the senior social media manager for Sage North America and acts as a visible Sage thought leader. In this role, Greg stays current with social media trends and works across the Sage Business Units to help set strategy and success metrics for social media marketing programs. He speaks frequently each year and also appears in the press.  

Prior to joining Sage in 2011, Greg worked for 14 years in a variety of Internet marketing and web design roles for a Global 500 firm. He holds a BA in business administration with an emphasis on decision sciences from Georgia State University.

Ed Kless

Senior Director, Partner Development and Strategy, Sage North America
Blog: www.edkless.com  
Twitter: @edkless

Ed Kless joined Sage North America in July of 2003 and is currently the senior director of partner development and strategy. He develops and delivers curriculum for Sage business partners on the art and practice of small business consulting. Ed is a frequent contributor to industry publications, including the “Journal of Accountancy” and “Harvard Business Review” and has spoken at many conferences worldwide on project management, pricing, and knowledge workers.