Vertical Media Philosophy:
Vertical Media is a company dedicated to bringing qualified internet visitors to companies who can best serve their needs. We strive to be on the cutting edge of technology in internet searches as well as bringing valuable resources to the visitors who are searching the web. We are a progressive company who believe in innovations and employee initiative. Every member of our team has the ultimate goal of making our websites the best resources for both visitors and retailers. We believe in making our business more streamlined in order to provide you with the best resources for your dollar.
We believe in:
- Making work fun.
- Being resourceful and innovative.
- Caring about our client’s and visitor’s needs.
- Being humble.
- Being honest in our business transactions.
Account Representatives
Mike
Banville
Account Representative
Coming to Jackson Hole in 1981, Mike is a
graduate of Chico State University in
California with a B.S. in Marketing. His
24-year career in sales and marketing began
in Jackson Hole and has included 5 years in
retail sales and guided fishing operations
with the Jack Dennis organization, nearly 6
years as Sales Manager for UniLink Software
in Jackson, and 10 year owner of his own
consultancy firm, Direct Marketing
Specialists. In November of 2002, Mike -
along with his wife, Katie, and daughter
Adrianna - moved to Bozeman, Montana to
establish the Montana office for the
company. He loves to fly fish, enjoys
mountain biking, and has been active within
the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce,
Knights of Columbus, and Rotary Clubs around
the region.
Drew Cosby
Account Representative
Drew is originally from South Carolina and arrived in Jackson winter of 1997. After graduating from College of Charleston with a degree in Political Science and Business, he headed west to explore the life and culture of Jackson Hole. After honing in his customer service skills working in the service and hospitality industry, Drew and his wife Heather moved to Asheville, NC in 2002. In 2006, Drew, Heather and their son, Noah, moved back to Jackson. Drew brings over 5 years of successful advertising sales and marketing experience to Vertical Media, while in Asheville he was an Advertising Account Executive for Mountain Xpress, an award winning alt-weekly publication, and most recently Advertising Sales Director for Planet Jackson Hole Weekly. In his free time, Drew enjoys spending time with his wife Heather and their two boys Noah and Waylon, skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking and fly fishing.
Alyson Smith
Account Representative
A native Nebraskan, Alyson first visited Jackson Hole at age 6. After many returns throughout her youth, she grew passionate about the valley, and knew she would be content keeping the plains a fond memory. Within days after graduating from Lewis & Clark College, in Portland, OR, Alyson moved to Jackson, anchored down, and is still living the dream 10 years later. Skiing, mountain biking, and playing outside with her dogs, Grace and Kasey, are her primary passions, but she is also content to just enjoy the inspiring beauty of the place, and the unique people who have also chosen Jackson as their home. Her successful sales record includes selling for local/regional magazines Teton Home and Teton Valley Top to Bottom, and most recently, the nationally distributed, and Maggie Award winning, publication Western Interiors and Design magazine; where, in addition to being a Regional Account Manager on the national sales team, she was in charge of advertising and sponsorship sales for Western Interiors and Design magazine’s Design Conference and Home Show series.
The Rest of the Team
Tim
Bradshaw
President
Tim is a graduate of The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA with a B.A. in Psychology. After graduation, Tim moved to Jackson Hole in search of the mountain lifestyle. Tim learned about the Internet as he managed website administration for the Travel Consultants and provided contract website design services for Vertical Media starting in 1995. In 1999, he joined Vertical Media on a full-time basis and now serves as President. Tim’s primary goal is to build Vertical Media as a valuable, employee-driven, profitable company that provides superior content for visitors, excellent value and quality for advertisers, a flexible and fulfilling lifestyle for employees, a profitable investment for owners and employees, and strong support for the great places it promotes.
Bob
Strobel
Vice President
Bob moved to Jackson Hole from Twin Falls,
Idaho in 1995 at the age of 19 to spend time
on the family ranch and get to know his
grandmother Lois Strobel. Bob's dedication
and persistence led Vertical Media to be the
leader in providing local businesses with
qualified internet prospects. Bob serves as
Vice President at Vertical Media, Inc. and
works very closely with the Vertical Media
Team on creating new and better
opportunities for Vertical Media's clients
to prosper. Bob enjoys all the mountain
activities Jackson Hole, Wyoming has to
offer including fly fishing, hunting,
snowmobiling, skiing, hiking, horseback
riding, backpacking and more.
Dan
Staebler
SEO / Internet Marketing
Dan is responsible for attracting visitors to Vertical Media's websites. He received his degree in Business Administration from Valparaiso University in Indiana. He got his first taste of the Internet by helping the school's MIS instructor outline the University's future "Infobase" - an early 90's version of a university website. After spending a couple college summers in Jackson Hole, Dan relocated to the valley in 1994. In 1996, he founded Sharplink Internet, providing website design, hosting and promotional services. Sharplink worked closely with Vertical Media for 5 years before the partnership was formalized in 2001. Dan now lives and works just outside Bozeman, Montana - along with his wife, 2 kids, and a fluctuating number of animals. He enjoys mobile living, cooking, music, tinkering, and spending time outdoors, often while still connected to the internet.
B.J.
Hansen
Publications Manager
B.J. is a graduate of the University of
Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington with a
B.A. in Politics and Government. Immediately
following graduation, B.J. was appointed as
the Executive Director of the Adventure
Travel Trade Association (professional
membership division of the Adventure Travel
Society). Recognizing the importance of the
internet and technology to the fast-paced
and ever-changing adventure travel industry,
B.J. developed methods to increase profits
and decrease spending throughout the whole
of the Society through the web. In the fall
of 2000, B.J.'s passion for the outdoors led him to the Teton mountain range. B.J. has worked with the Vertical Media team since his arrival in the Valley. He is now the Publications Manager with the primary goal of creating a dynamic user experience that ultimately links them with our partner advertisers.
Mike
Welch
Content Manager
Born and raised in Southern
California, Mike moved north to San Luis
Obispo to surf, bike, and play in a rural
California coastal community. He studied
English at Cal Poly SLO when he could find
the time for scholastic pursuits, and soaked
up as much beach time as he could before
moving to the rural Wyoming mountain town of
Jackson in ‘92. Bringing his life guarding,
pizza delivery, pool cleaning, and retail
liquor sales experience gained in his high
school and college days, he landed his first
position as a Bellman at historic Jackson
Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park.
From there, he gained innumerable and
invaluable customer service skills in his
varied positions working as a ski rental
jockey, irrigation specialist, bartender,
and other various seasonal jobs. He goofed
around a few more years in more
"traditional" nine-to-fives, picked up some
technical skills here and there, and then
conned the gang at VM into bringing him on
in the spring of ’03. His wife, son, and dog
share his home in Jackson.
Merilee
Lienert
Affiliates Manager
Merilee finds herself at home in the
mountains surrounding Jackson. After taking
many summer trips to Jackson, Granite Hot
Springs and Yellowstone as a youngster, she
enjoys having these areas right in her own
backyard. She moved to Jackson from Salt
Lake City, Utah in the fall of 2000 and
doesn’t plan on leaving any time soon!
Merilee graduated from the University of
Utah with a Bachelor’s degree in Exercise
Physiology and a minor in Chemistry. After
graduation she worked at Fidelity
Investments as a mutual fund trader and at a
Salt Lake City based non-profit
organization, The Cancer Wellness House, as
the Administrative Coordinator. She was
brought to Jackson by her interest in
adventure, outdoor enthusiasm and friends.
Merilee worked at Four Pines Physical
Therapy as an administrative assistant and
physical therapy aide before she was brought
to the Vertical Media Team. She enjoys the
challenges put forward by the innovative and
initiative seeking Vertical Media team as
well as working with clients on hosting and
customer service issues. When not in the
office she likes to hike, bike, raft and
snowboard.
Eric
Bjorkman
Consulting Software Engineer/ Application
Development Services
Consultant and owner of Application
Development Services, Eric serves as lead
architect and software engineer for
Information Systems. A Microsoft Certified
Application Developer (MCAD) for .Net, Eric
automates mission critical processes to
maximize productivity and customer service.
With 20 years of consulting experience, BS
and MBA degrees, Eric leverages his
communication and problem solving skills to
translate unique requirements into value
adding, enterprise software. A resident of
Teton Valley Idaho since 1994, Eric is an
avid backcountry skier and runner.
Chris
Wolstenholme
Sales Manager
A Virginia native with an addiction to skiing, Chris applied his studies at Virginia Tech in a way that would enable him to work in the environment that he loved. Graduating with a degree in marketing management, he moved to Killington, Vermont to oversee a field promotion partnership between The American Skiing Company and BMW headed by Octagon Sports Marketing. He then began working directly for Killington, where he managed marketing efforts to regional colleges and corporate & leisure groups. It was his experience in the travel industry and the great opportunity with Vertical Media, which partnered the two in June 2004. Moving from Vermont to Wyoming, he has made his home in this paradise with the hopes of promoting tourism and growing revenue for Vertical Media clients.
Carli Lyon
Office Manager
This flatlander knew that the cornfields of Nebraska could never keep her full attention. They just weren’t the excitement she was looking for.
The day after graduating from the University of Nebraska in 2005 with a PR/ Communication major, she packed up her car and hightailed it out of there as fast as she could. She knew the experience gained interning for the Nebraska Lottery and Archrival PR group would take her far someday. As the story goes with most-she instantly fell in love with all the valley had to offer. Carli now oversees the general operations at Vertical Media and enjoys the ever changing day to day challenges. Never able to sit still for very long, Carli enjoys skiing, hiking, fishing and exploring. Where there is fun to be had…she will be there.
Lauren Smith
Marketing Manager
Lauren grew up in Las Cruces, New Mexico and made it to Jackson Hole by way of Tampa, Florida, where she went to the University of Tampa. She played volleyball in college for two years before quitting to focus on academics, graduating with a double major in Economics and Management, and the honor of the Adam Smith Society’s Economics Student of the Year. The intention was to go to Bozeman, to pursue a graduate degree in Agricultural Economics, but the lure of the Tetons and Jackson Hole, and pursuing the two activities she enjoys the most-skiing and golf-wouldn’t allow that. Since May, 2001, a career path has steadily lead her to focus on Search Engine and Internet Marketing, specifically in the hospitality industry. First a client, Lauren now enjoys working for Vertical Media, a company where she has always seen tremendous results in her marketing endeavors in Jackson Hole.
