Jim Signorelli
Founder/CEO ESW Partners, Chicago
Before Jim switched to client management, he had won a number of awards as an advertising copywriter. Eventually, he found strategic planning to be more fun instead of being chained to a keyboard. So he bought a suit and began a career that led him from Chicago, to New York, to Los Angeles , Baltimore and then back to Chicago where he founded ESW Partners. He has worked with major national brands such as Citibank, General Electric, Toshiba, Burger King, Arby’s, KFC, International Harvester, Blue Cross/Blue Shield and others. And he has worked at major advertising agencies including, N.W. Ayer, W.B. Doner, Marsteller, Lois USA and Frankel & Co. He started ESW Partners in 1999 with two other people. Today, ESW Partners is made up of 45 employees and has been cited by Crain’s Chicago as one of Chicago’s fastest growing agencies.
Rob Biesenbach, Contributing Editor
Rob Biesenbach, a former vice president at Ogilvy PR Worldwide, uses storytelling both in his independent practice helping corporate clients better present their stories to the marketplace and as a Second City trained actor and writer. He has served a wide range of clients with their marketing and communications needs, from Fortune 500 companies to entrepreneurs to major law firms. In his second career in the arts, Rob has appeared in more than 100 commercial and stage productions and has authored a number of short plays produced in Chicago.