The Board of Directors of the Magazine Association of the Southeast is a group of individuals in the industry who volunteer their time and serve specific functions for the organization. We'd like to introduce you to our board!

Suzanne Oliver is a freelance writer contributing to Atlanta Magazine on a regular basis. Beforehand, Suzanne edited Groupaway for Collinson Media and Events. She was previously senior editor of Atlanta Magazine’s Home, a bimonthly title focusing on upscale home design, as well as a regular contributing writer for Atlanta Magazine. Before joining Emmis Publications, she worked for Points North Magazine for four years, another local lifestyle publication. There, she worked her way up from editorial assistant to managing editor.

In 2001, she graduated from The University of Georgia’s Grady School of Journalism with a string of internships under her belt. And she participated in a national internship program in New York awarded by the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME), where she worked at YM for a summer. For four years, she’s also headed up the local chapter of Ed2010, a networking group for young aspiring editors.

Matt Bolch is an Atlanta-based free-lance writer who regularly contributes to nearly two dozen consumer and trade magazines on a wide range of topics from technology and general business issues to health care and education. He also edits two b2b magazines in the health care and benefits arenas.

Matt, a 1987 journalism graduate from Middle Tennessee State University, spent many years in daily newspapers, including nearly nine years as an editor at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where he worked before going free-lance in 2002. His wife (who doubles as Matt’s in-house editor) is an English professor at Georgia State University. They live in Candler Park with their two children.

Ben Campbell is the art director at MD Publishing, a publishing company based in Peachtree City, Georgia. He and his team produce three monthly magazines, an annual buyer's guide and various promotional materials for two annual trade shows. Many of the company's clients use Ben's services for advertising design and marketing. TechNation, MD's youngest magazine, was honored to be awarded the Grand Gamma award at last year's (the 2011) MAGS Conference.

Leading both print and online strategies, Kali Mallard is the magazine and social media editorial director of Atlanta Home Improvement (www.atlantahomeimprovement.com.) She previously worked as editor of regional lifestyle magazine LakeLife and as an online content manager at Digital Sherpa, where she wrote blog posts for clients in the home design industry as part of their content and social media marketing campaigns. An alumna of The University of Georgia’s Grady College, she interned at National Geographic Traveler and Southern Living before launching a career in magazines and digital media.

Alison Embrey Medina is the executive editor of DDI magazine, a monthly trade publication serving the retail design industry. Through the pages of DDI, she covers and comments on store design, visual merchandising, architecture, marketing and branding, with a vast contact base of in-house retail and contract design professionals. In her 10 years with Nielsen (formerly VNU), she has held multiple editorial positions with DDI, as well as a senior writer position for New York-based Convenience Store News. Her byline has appeared in several other online and print media outlets, including Citysearch.com, Brandweek.com, Adweek.com, Contract, Hospitality Design, Women’s Health & Fitness, Girls’ Life, “I Do” For Brides, Points North and INSTORE. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism degree from the Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at The University of Georgia.

Ramsey Harris Nix is an assistant professor of mass communications at Piedmont College. Prior to teaching journalism, Nix served as editor of Lake Oconee Living, an award-winning regional magazine based in Madison, Ga., for six years. During that time, she also worked as a staff writer for the company’s sister newspaper, The Morgan County Citizen, named Georgia’s Best Weekly by the Georgia Press Association.

Nix graduated from The University of Georgia with a master’s degree in journalism. Her studies took her to Turkey, where the prime minister requested a copy of her master’s thesis. Prior to her jump into journalism, Nix was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mongolia, an experience that continues to inform her life’s journey.

Atlanta resident Kirsten Ott Palladino has worked in the editorial business for more than 10 years, serving as editor at several newspapers and magazines, including the internationally heralded magazine, Art & Antiques, as well as contributing her writing and editing skills to a plethora of media outlets. She’s covered topics ranging from food, wine, luxury, travel, spas, health and beauty to celebrity profiles, weddings, adventure, charity, art and gay rights

Along with her wife, the Athens, Ga.-native launched Equally Wed, the nation’s premier online same-sex wedding magazine, in March 2010, after realizing that nothing similar existed on the market when the couple was planning their own nuptials.
 

Stephanie Davis Smith is the Editor in Chief of The Atlantan and Contributing Editor to Jezebel and Executive Editor of Men's Book Atlanta. Before coming to The Atlantan, Smith was the National Web Editor for skirt.com. No stranger to print she launched Get Married Magazine, a bridal magazine with a 300,000 circulation started by Get Married TV and GetMarried.com in 2009. Prior to that she was the Editor-in-Chief of skirt! Magazine in Atlanta, GA. A writer and editor who was formerly on staff at GQ and SELF magazines, she has also written for Gourmet, Domino, Air Tran's Go, Details, Allure, Brides, Pink, Vitals Woman and msn.com.

Lisa Sparer has more than 10 years of experience in magazine design, working with such publishers as Southern Progress/Time Inc., Cond_Nast, and the Sunday magazine of The New York Daily News. She was instrumental in redesigning The Daily News Magazine and Health Magazine at Southern Progress. She is an editorial designer who enjoys packaging articles, images and ideas by working collaboratively with editors, photographers and illustrators. She has designed a wide range of magazines covering topics such as health, lifestyle, food, travel, beauty and entertainment.

Bill Wolpin is the Associate Publisher and Editorial Director of American City & County, Government Product News and Government Procurement magazines. Bill has judged several national magazine and engineering award competitions, and has been a speaker at the magazine industry’s leading conference as well as several solid waste and government association events. His magazines have won more than 80 national, regional and state awards for excellence, including a 2001 Jesse H. Neal Award for his editorials in Waste Age, four Folio Gold Editorial Excellence Awards and a Gold Ozzie. He also was a 2005 Neal Award finalist for his editorials in American City & County.

Bill has received an employee excellence award, a CEO Award and was a finalist for employee of the year. In 2003, he was the recipient of the Lawrence Lecture award, the highest honor bestowed by the Solid Waste Association of North America. In 2006 Magazine Association of the Southeast, where he served as president and member of the executive board, selected him for its Hall of Fame.