PDX Pop Now! Board of Directors

PDX Pop Now! 2012 Board of Directors

PDX Pop Now! is managed by a volunteer Board of Executive Directors and Coordinators. Each Director is responsible for overseeing a particular facet of the organization, including but not limited to Logistics, Fundraising/Sponsorship, Grants, Outreach, Booking, Compilation, Tech/Web, Volunteer Coordination, Communications and Design. In this regard our Board operates in the capacity of a rotating volunteer staff.

Administrative Department

Administrative Director: Christine Rutan
Volunteer Coordinator: Lisa Pfafinger
Legal Counselor: Peter Shaver (Sound Advice, LLC)

Artistic Department

Artistic Director: Nicholas Johnson
Compilation Coordinator: Jesse Studenberg

Development Department

Development Director: Ben Kubany
Grants Coordinator: Ben Kubany
Fundraising & Sponsorship Coordinator: Renata Tirta

Events Department

Events Director: Lydia Mazer
Outreach Coordinator: Lydia Mazer
Festival Coordinator: Frank Rinaldi

Finance Department

Finance Director: Chelsea Rice
Bookkeeper: Marian Slakie (Magnolia Management)

Media Department

Media Director: Benna Gottfried
Tech Coordinator: Marc Charbonneau
Graphic Designer: Cole Gerst (Option G)
P.R.: Chris Hnat (230 Publicity)

Bios

Ben Kubany, Development Director, joined the board in 2009 after volunteering during the prior year as a member of the Booking and Grants Committees. First introduced to PDX Pop Now! by former Booking and Volunteer Coordinator, Elizabeth Dannen, while programming concerts at Whitman College, Ben moved to Portland after graduating in 2005. He currently manages Fashionbuddha, a design studio specializing in animated and interactive media.

Benna Gottfried, Communications Coordinator, works in development and marketing for a local social services non-profit. She earned a BA in American Studies from Occidental College in 2007. Benna is a native Oregonian, her family has been involved in the Portland arts community for four generations. Benna began volunteering on the Fundraising Committee for PDX Pop Now! in the Spring of 2009 and joined the board soon thereafter.

Chelsea Rice, Finance Director, a Midwest transplant, has lived in Portland for 5 years. She is a Finance student at Portland State University, graduating in Spring 2012 and enjoys linking the analytical with the artistic. Being part of PPN! was a great way for Chelsea to get more connected to local music. In her spare time she enjoys canning and pickling, photography and is slowly learning to play the drums.

Frank Rinaldi, Logistics Coordinator, originally from the NYC area, relocated to Portland after graduating from Gettysburg College in 1996. He served as the President of local company Cascade Media for eight years before moving on to the marketing department at the Rose Quarter in early 2009. Frank is currently the Director of Marketing for local Portland music venue Doug Fir Lounge. When not working his day job, Frank will moonlight in various capacities at local and regional festivals which ultimately led him to PDX Pop Now! when he joined the Booking Committee in 2009. Frank also serves as the founder and administrator for local music blog Basement of Our Brain and keeps an active schedule of seeing live music of all genres around the country with a special affinity for The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival which he’s attended for 9 years.

Jesse Studenberg, Compilation Coordinator, has been involved in Portland music since moving here in 1999. He’s been involved with PDX Pop since 2005 and took on distribution responsibilities for the 2009 compilation before being asked to take on the role of Compilation Coordinator in 2010. During the day he’s a full-time education major and works part-time at Full Life, an artistic, recreational, and vocational program for adults with developmental disabilities. He currently writes music and plays shows under the name bazillionaire.

Lisa Pfaffinger, Volunteer Coordinator, lived in Minneapolis, MN and Charlottesville, VA before moving to Portland in 2003, and discovered the first PDX Pop Now! compilation as her introduction to the local music scene. She has been volunteering with PDX Pop Now! for several years on the compilation listening committee, as a festival volunteer, and with the booking committee, and joined the board for 2011. She completed a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in psychology in 2007, and works as a Child and Family Therapist for a local children’s mental health nonprofit.

Lydia Mazer, Events Director, is also the PDX Pop Now! Outreach Coordinator. She moved to Portland in 2008 from Brooklyn, New York. Her long-time interest in music and sparking creative interest in kids has coalesced into one harmonious position at PPN! whereas in the past, she’s had to do two separate things to plug both of those little heart-holes. In addition to volunteering for PPN!, she founded and runs the local nonprofit ABCPDX, an organization that teaches students to live out their fantasies of being pirates/dinosaurs/astronauts/brussel sprouts through writing in the Portland Public Schools.

Nick Johnson, Board & Booking Coordinator, is the Executive Director of the Give! Guide at the Willamatte Week. He is a native Oregonian and after graduating from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington in 2007 returned to Portland and began volunteering for PDX Pop Now! This is his sixth year as a volunteer and fourth year on the Board.

Renata Tirta, Fundraising & Sponsorship Coordinator, moved to Portland after recently graduating from Linfield College, in McMinnville, OR, where she programmed musical events for the campus. She currently works in the field on international education at a local liberal arts college. Renata started volunteering with PDX Pop Now! in 2010 as a way of staying involved in the Portland music scene. Her position on the board continues her passion for creating partnerships between music and community. Aside from music and work, she enjoys cooking and maintains her blog—Half Pint Girl.

All Board Members can be reached by email at firstname.lastname@pdxpopnow.com

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