The Spears Groups Announces New Hires, Promotions
The Spears Group recently announced two new additions to its team and a promotion rounding out a successful year and celebration of the firm’s 10th anniversary.
Heather Ferdinand, a long-time freelance production partner of the firm has joined The Spears Group as its events operations manager.
A graduate of Florida Atlantic University, earning both her undergraduate and MBA, Ferdinand has worked with the company since its founding in 2008 and brings more than a decade of events planning and production experience to the Spears Group events team. She has played an instrumental role in the successful execution of Spears events including the National Fried Chicken Festival, Millennial Awards, Le Diner en Blanc, La Fete du Rose, and more. Additionally, she has worked as a freelance production manager for large-scale New Orleans events and organizations such as VooDoo Music Experience, Essence Festival, Live Nation, and NBA All-Star among others.
Ferdinand will serve as a great addition to the Spears Group events team as it prepares for a continued out-of-market expansion of their events portfolio in 2019.
Melvin Cade Jr., a recent graduate of Howard University, has joined Spears as account coordinator. Cade is a fourth generation New Orleanian and recent graduate of Howard University, where he received his bachelor’s in strategic, legal, and management Communication with a focus in advertising. Prior to being hired by Spears Group, he gained valuable experience working with the Wilderness Society, Joan Mitchell Center, and National Park Service.
Additionally, Spears announced that current account manager, Elle Schmidt, would be promoted to the role of senior account manager effective Jan. 1, 2019.
Schmidt received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Mass Communication with a concentration in Political Communication and PR from Louisiana State University. Since moving from her native state of Ohio and joining the Spears team two years ago, she has led successful campaigns for various clients including the New Orleans City Council, NBA All-Star, the Greater New Orleans Funders Network, HousingNOLA, and Landis Construction. As a result of her work, Spears Group has received various awards of excellence from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) New Orleans Chapter.
In her new leadership role, Schmidt will serve as the lead strategist for her assigned clients in addition to supporting her fellow team members with the successful execution of accounts.
