H+A International was founded in 1984 as a marketing communications company dedicated to providing clients with communications counsel, guidance and implementation strategies. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, H+A serves clients throughout the world.

Doing business in the worldwide marketplace requires a global marketing strategy. Because more and more organizations are looking for new and innovative ways to expand into new markets and improve the bottom line, we have become an extension of our clients marketing communications departments.

 

Roger Halligan
Beate Halligan
Kari Brownsberger
Steve Durning
Nöelle Kull
Freddie Güitron
Michael Sebahar
Tim Ward

Roger Halligan
Founder and CEO

Roger has more than 30 years experience in developing highly successful marketing communications programs for a variety of clients in various industries.

Prior to founding the firm in 1984, Roger was the Director of Advertising and Public Relations for A.B. Dick Co. in the office automation industry. In that capacity, he had responsibility for creating and implementing integrated business-to-business marketing communications programs worldwide.

Roger joined the company from Ruder Finn, where he headed up account teams for such clients as ITT Corporation, Skil Corporation, American Motors Company, A.B. Dick Company, Rexnord, and the Automotive Service Council.

Prior to that Roger headed up account teams at N.W. Ayer Worldwide Advertising where his clients included Motorola, Deere & Co., Sherwin Williams, Citicorp, Holiday Inns, Bell & Howell, and the Illinois State Lottery.

He began his career with Montgomery Wards, where he was responsible for corporate communications.

Roger holds a journalism degree from Northern Illinois University and has won several awards for his work on behalf of various clients. He serves on the board of the International Advertising Association and frequently speaks to and publishes articles for industry groups worldwide on maximizing marketing communications. If Roger had spare time, he would enjoy golf, hiking, reading and international travel.

Beate Halligan
President

Beate joined H+A International in 1993 to create and lead the firm's international division.  Strong marketing and management skills together with a bi-cultural background uniquely qualified her to expand H+A's MarCom activities worldwide.  

Beate started her career at the international headquarters of global agency Foote, Cone & Belding (FCB) in Chicago, where she helped coordinate the operations of satellite offices in 14 countries.  From there she moved on to specialize in association management at Smith, Bucklin & Associates (SBA), the world's largest association management company, where she headed up several trade associations.  Hired as a 'change manager' and one of only a handful of women leaders in the industry, she perfected her management and MarCom skills as the CEO of the Power Transmission Distributors Association prior to joining H+A International.

Today she oversees a group of global corporate and trade show clients in several countries.  Beate enjoys different cultures and moves easily on the global stage. 

Born and educated in Germany, she majored in Business Administration at Goethe University in Frankfurt.  Her interests include global travel, hiking and the 'greening' of the environment. 


Kari Brownsberger
Account Executive

A graduate of Loyola University, Kari came to H+A International with a double major in English and Journalism. During her time at H+A International, Kari has garnered placements for clients in top print, broadcast and digital media outlets. She also heads up production on various accounts, including the Craft & Hobby Association Winter and Summer Trade Shows. Her strong journalism background is supported by roles as News Editor at Loyola's award-winning newspaper The Phoenix and Medical Watch Intern at WGN-TV Chicago. While at Loyola, Kari was involved in numerous academic organizations, including the university's Honors Program, National Society of Collegiate Scholars and the Society of Professional Journalists. Always hungry for new experiences, Kari spent her last semester of college in Beijing, China. A past marathoner, in her free time Kari enjoys running, biking and reading.


Steve Durning
Group Creative Director

Steve has over 20 years of experience in various creative roles with international advertising agencies throughout North America. His award-winning talents encompass art direction, copy writing and production management for ads, direct mail, newsletters, literature, exhibit design, television, radio, outdoor and electronic media.

Before joining H+A, Steve spent 14 years at Meyer/Fredericks and Associates in Chicago. Starting as an Art Director, he quickly took on many functions and clients, becoming Creative Director in 1999. With a heavy concentration on business-to-business marketing, Steve’s work spans many categories for clients such as BP Amoco, Lakeshore Eye Physicians, Metropolitan Title Company, Morse Automotive, Rialto Square Theatre, and Verizon Wireless.

Prior to his tenure at Meyer/Fredericks, Steve moved to Chicago with his pregnant wife from Toronto in search of the great American dream. In Toronto he was an Art Director at Access Advertising for five years, working on many high tech accounts such as Olivetti, Ingram Micro, Oracle and Hummingbird Communications.

Steve holds a Communication Design Degree from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. He also studied advertising at Parsons School of Design in “The Big Apple” on a student exchange program. In addition to family fun, Steve obsesses over hockey and playing guitar.

Nöelle Kull
Account Supervisor

Powered by Starbucks, and motivated by an insatiable need to deliver superior campaign results for clients, Noelle manages both consumer and B2B campaigns reaching more than 30 countries around the world.

An alumna of Loyola University Chicago, Noelle joined H+A International in 2004 and has lent her account management skills to a wide variety of corporate, trade show and not-for-profit clients including: BEKA, Zevro, Microplane Personal Care, Cristel cookware, the International Home + Housewares Show and the International Housewares Association, the Fabtech/AWS Welding Show, Satellite 2005/2006 and the International Advertising Association.

Noelle has led account teams to garner millions of trade and consumer media impressions around the world across broadcast, print and online mediums, and consistently delivers more than five times ROI to the clients she serves.

A 10-year veteran of Corporate America, Noelle comes to H+A International from GE Capital where she spearheaded internal communication efforts by launching an internal newsletter, Risk Management Quarterly and served as Editor for 12 contributing writers.

Freddie Güitron
Finance/Office Manager 

TBA


Michael Sebahar
Group Creative Director

Mike has been creating award-winning, results-focused campaigns at  
H+A International for 15 years.  He comes to H+A with extensive  
experience in the publishing industry after heading of the prroduction department for 2 newspapers He has also served as Vice President of Aeralert International, an emergency management company, where he created and supervised the production of all marketing and training (print and interactive) materials. Mike has an diverse education background from electrical engineering and training at Apple computer to film and multimedia. Mike’s vision  has been key in developing our clients’ marketing materials including; concepts, slogans, and design including multimedia and websites for our clients. He also has a lead role in office IT management, streamlining workflow and helping to make our creative environment flourish.


Tim Ward
Account Supervisor

Tim has nearly 20 years of experience as a strategic thinker and communicator in multiple consumer and business-to-business industries.  He is driven by his passion for communication and marketing, determination to find answers, reach goals and a continued pursuit of bigger challenges.  He has a take action attitude to say the least.

Tim uses his strategic approaches in communications, marketing, technology and crisis management to serve a diverse client base including manufacturing, chemical, energy, packaging, government, entertainment and not-for-profit organizations.

Tim joined H+A International in 2006 and currently provides his superior leadership to major industrial companies such as ITT, Bell & Gossett, Flowtronex and McDonnell & Miller while also leading the communications charge for clients such as trade shows CMM, AHR Expo, CHEM SHOW and the world's largest dance festival, Dance Chicago.  Tim's dedication to his clients is evident in his overseeing of their communications programs, which include media relations, corporate relations, marketing, promotions, community outreach, critical issues and reputation management.

Tim's college and professional career started when he dedicated 8 years to Uncle Sam in the service of the country with the US Army (including a free three-month Mediterranean Vacation in the shape of Desert Storm in 1991) and 5 years at his alma mater, Kansas State University (Go Cats!), ending with a dual degree in Journalism and Political Science.  Tim's previous career endeavors, much like his life, have been full of new challenges and life-altering opportunity.  Some include a newspaper in Kansas, an advertising agency in Kansas, a Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and 3 Convention & Visitor Bureaus located in Minnesota, North Carolina and Florida.

Tim enjoys many activities outside the office, most of which involve cooking, traveling or learning ways to improve his "Q" score and social media skills.  Tim is also know to stop in Chicago Tweetups with other PR and Marketing tweeps to tweet on Twitter.

© H+A International, Inc. 2010