A graduate the University of Georgia and Atlanta’s well-known Creative Circus, Allison worked as a copywriter at Mullen in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. There, she worked on TV, radio, print and online campaigns for SunTrust, Men’s Wearhouse, New Balance and Kumon Learning Centers but focused primarily on an international introductory campaign for TRESemmé’s new line of hair styling products.

She returned to her hometown of Richmond and worked at Madison + Main before joining Big River. In recent months, Allison has expanded her writing skills into more non-traditional areas, such as digital and social media.

At Big River, she will support The Virginia Lottery and assist with various writing projects throughout the agency.

Allison teaches undergraduate copywriting at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Mass Communications.

Across campus at VCU’s School of Mass Communications, Marcel Jennings and Noel Ritter are co-teaching a class called “Perspicuousness.” A special prize goes to anyone who knows what that means without looking it up.

Big River was the beneficiary of three summer interns from VCU’s prestigious Brand Center. The interns, writer Chris Brotzman, art director Thomas Scott and creative technologist Bryan Callison contributed their talents to existing and potential agency accounts.

Big River recently welcomed two new summer interns as part of the agency’s ongoing outreach to young people interested in advertising. Jonathan Miutz, a sophomore at The College of William and Mary and Lee McElroy, a junior at Saint Christopher’s are helping create presentations, conducting social media research and assisting with secondary research for a variety of the agency’s clients.

At Big River, Kate supports Healthways and will be working on Cudas Footwear.

Richmond, Va. (April 26, 2011) — Big River, a Richmond-based, independently owned branding and advertising firm, has hired Deb Lyons as a producer/project manager. Deb is a seasoned advertising professional with expertise in multi-media production and project management.

Deb worked for Charles Ryan Associates for eight years, where she served as a production manager on projects ranging from simple collateral to complex multi-piece campaigns such as point-of-purchase, out-of-home, trade show booths, direct mail, print ads, corporate branding materials, digital and non-traditional media.

Most recently, she worked at Media General in new business development and as a production manager. Early in her career, she worked with the Printing Industries of Virginia, a statewide trade association for printers. She then moved to Cadmus Communications where she produced annual reports, travel maps, magazine layouts, brochures and other printed collateral materials.

At Big River, Deb will be responsible for the project management of multifaceted executions for The Virginia Lottery.

Deb holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printing and Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University.  She is also certified as a personal trainer by the American Council on Exercise.

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About Big River

Big River (www.yourbigriver.com) helps clients achieve their business goals through innovative research that produces unexpected consumer insights and focused brand positioning. The result is powerful creative work that bridges digital communications, experiential and traditional media. Founded by 2001 by Fred Moore, Big River’s clients include Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Cortview Capital, Donate Life America, Harris Williams & Co., MoonPie, National 4-H Council, The Virginia Lottery and WellPoint. Big River’s senior team members have worked at some of the nation’s most prestigious advertising agencies including BBDO, Chiat/Day, Cramer-Krasselt, DDB, Leo Burnett and The Martin Agency, on brands such as Anheuser-Busch, Dell, Gatorade, GEICO, Hallmark, McDonald’s, Nabisco, Nike, Pepsi and Procter & Gamble, just to name a few.

Kim has collected some serious PR hardware, having won a Silver Anvil from the Public Relations Society of America, Gold Quills from the International Association of Business Communicators and a slew of Clarion Awards from Women In Communications. In 2009, she was named as one of Richmond’s “Outstanding Women” for her contributions to professional communications. Kim hails from North Carolina, so she likes to swig sweet tea, chew on ‘que and says “Honey” a lot.