Left to Right :
April Dellifranci; Sharon Dickinson, MBA; Elizabeth Kupcha; Andrew Weinberg, CPSM;
Ellen Talley; Rebecca Lipscomb; Tracy Lobdell; Jodi Wladyka

Ellen Talley
President

Ellen Talley has been active in SMPS since 2002. She has worked in the architectural and design industry for over 16 years. Currently, Ellen is a Contract Specialist with The New Patcraft & Designweave for the New York State counties of Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk. Ellen holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Tufts University and an Associates Degree in Interior Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology. For the last three years, Ellen has played a significant role in the launching of SMPS Long Island. When she is not busy recruiting new members for our organization, Ellen can be seen running around Long Island disguised as a soccer mom, tennis mom, baseball mom, and the all-important snack mother! Twinkies anyone?

Liz has 15 years of experience as a marketer in the A/E/C industry. Her wide range of responsibilities have included but are not limited to proposal management, client relations, publicity campaigns, and event planning.

Liz has been an active member of SMPS since 1997 and has been involved on committees for the New York and Central Florida chapters and served on the National Education and Marketing Communications Awards committees.

Liz has participated as a panelist for various industry-related presentations. Her speaking engagements include an audioconference for Zweig White on networking, a panel discussion on media relations for the Fair Media Council, and a seminar on social media for SMPS-LI. She has written articles on social media for Building Long Island magazine and networking for the SMPS Marketer.

Liz has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from C. W. Post and has taken MBA-level courses at Iona College.

Andrew J. Weinberg, CPSM
Immediate Past President

April DelliFranci is the Marketing Director for Armao, Costa & Ricciardi, CPAs, a Garden City, NY based CPA and advisory firm. Established in 1995, the firm serves as trusted advisors to construction and construction related firms, labor unions, employee benefit plans, and closely held and family owned businesses, as well as their owners.  

April participates in all marketing aspects for the firm including coordinating events, writing proposals and other client communications, and media relations.  Prior to joining Armao, Costa & Ricciardi, she was a Marketing Associate at Berdon LLP in Manhattan where she headed the firm’s alumni and media relations programs.  In the early 2000’s, she was the Special Events Coordinator at a nonprofit agency focused on mental health issues in New Haven, CT.

April earned her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Iona College.  In her spare time she is an aspiring and budding chef.

Ms. Lipscomb has more than 20 years of administrative/office services experience in the field of engineering performing such duties as invoicing, proposal preparation, graphic design, purchasing and office management. She is the sole proprietor of a graphics design firm which she opened in 1998 which she now operates on a part-time basis. She has provided commercial graphic design and corporate imaging services to hotel restaurants, child care agencies, mortgage companies, real estate brokers and building contractors.

She also has experience in such areas as community relations, fleet management, EEO/Affirmative Action, vocational counseling and human resources. She became an active member of SMPL Long Island in 2004 and is currently serving as Chairperson of the Communications Committee.

Jodi Wladyka is the Business Development and Marketing Manager for Emtec Consulting Engineers, an MEP engineering firm in Ronkonkoma, NY. She participates in all marketing activities including writing and design of proposals, creating promotional items, and brochure design. In addition, she participates in the firm’s business development by attending trade shows and symposiums to promote the firm, as well as getting involved with networking groups to keep up on the trends of the AEC industry.

Before Emtec, Jodi started her career in publishing where she worked as a Production Editor in Manhattan. She then moved on to JRS Architect, P.C. where she stayed for six years preparing proposals, assisted in planning charity events, and performed database management. Jodi also worked briefly for The Trump Organization on their controversial “Trump on the Ocean” project. She is a graduate of New York Institute of Technology with Bachelor of Arts degree in English.

Tracy Lobdell
Director of Special Events

Tracy Lobdell has been active in SMPS since 2006, initially as Director of Public Relations and currently serving as the Director of Special Events, overseeing the SMPS Golf Classic, our Annual Canstruction® competition, and the Holiday Party.

Tracy specializes in the design and management of projects for interior spaces.  Her most recent projects have included creating exciting, inviting and functional Libraries for K-12 schools, colleges and universities, public libraries and specialty libraries. Tracy has designed and/or furnished over 150 libraries in the New York metropolitan area.

Prior to working with Libraries, Tracy represented Knoll office furniture and furnished the corporate headquarters for Viacom, Showtime, MTV, Simon & Schuster and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, among others. Tracy spent the first 10 years of her career in the communications industry, designing and implementing voice and data communications systems for the 200 largest commercial firms on Long Island.

This combination of knowledge and experience enables Tracy to work with her clients on a consultative level, ensuring that the technological, functional and aesthetic requirements are properly met in every project, and that each project is completed on time and within budget.

Mary-Ellen Cocchi
Director of Programming

Mary-Ellen Cocchi is the Marketing Director for Lizardos Engineering Associates, P.C., a mechanical and electrical consulting engineering firm headquartered in Mineola. She has shaped and directed the firm's marketing efforts since joining Lizardos in 1988, thus creating a marketing department, where none had previously existed. Over the years, she has developed internal and external marketing communications including brochures, proposals, presentations, etc. She works closely with the principals coordinating marketing initiatives and developing programs and activities. She has been a member of SMPS since 1990, originally active with the New York City Chapter, where she was responsible for program registrations before the function was outsourced. Later she joined the Long Island Chapter and served on the Communications committee prior to joining the Program Committee. Mary-Ellen earned her Bachelor's in Business/Marketing Degree from Adelphi University, and began her career in advertising for the California based Sunset Magazine.

Mission

The mission of the Long Island Chapter of The Society for Marketing Professional Services is to be the premier forum for education and networking that creates community, facilitates business, and inspires professionals marketing for the built environment.

Benefactors: