Team

Tom Wetzelis a seasoned public relations counselor with over 30 years of distinguished service to dozens of clients in the property-casualty, life and health fields.  He is a board member of the Insurance Marketing Communications Association and a regular contributor to various insurance publications.  Prior to forming THOMAS H.WETZEL & ASSOCIATES, INC., in 2000, Mr. Wetzel was for 15 years a Senior Vice President of NORCOM International, a Chicago-based management and marketing communications firm that focused on insurance clients. He served as National Coordinator of the Insurance Industry Group at Ruder Finn & Rotman and as an Account Executive at Hill & Knowlton, both national public relations agencies. He also held positions at the Michigan Association of Insurance Companies and the Insurance Information Institute.

Senior Consultant and Client Services Director Suzanne Wren is a communications professional with more than 30 years of experience in developing, implementing and integrating public and internal communications, advertising and marketing support programs for a wide range of corporate, agency and government employers and clients. Her comprehensive resume includes serving as Assistant for Consumer Affairs for the Illinois Department of Insurance, where she managed media relations and served as spokesperson for the department; supervised development of Illinois' first Buyers Guides to insurance, and collaborated on the development of regulatory policies.

Senior Consultant Thomas Conneely is an attorney with a more than 30-year career comprising extensive executive and public policy advocacy experience in insurance issue management. He most recently served as President/Chief Executive of the Association of California Insurance Companies, charged with formulating and directing its major restructuring in a difficult political and industry environment. Prior to joining the ACIC, he was Vice President of Industrial Indemnity Company, responsible for legislative and regulatory advocacy and relationships in its 10-state marketing territory. Mr. Conneely served as the San Francisco-based Regional Vice President/Counsel for the Alliance of American Insurers after he was with the Illinois Insurance Department, where he first was Assistant Chief Deputy Director/Counsel to the Director and then Special Counsel to the Director in his capacity as the conservator/liquidator of Equity Funding Life Insurance Company. Earlier, he was in private practice after beginning his career at Allstate Insurance Company as Casualty Claims Adjuster and Supervising Trial Attorney. His undergraduate and law degrees were earned at the University of Notre Dame.

Social Media Trainer Karen C. Yotis conducts training for insurers and producers on using social media effectively.  She supports the content development organization and Web 2.0 Team for a legal publishing company in key initiatives related to Open Web content, strategy, viral marketing, and social networking functionalities. Ms. Yotis is the Community Manager for a popular insurance law website and maintains an editorial focus on regulatory compliance and life insurance issues. She also manages websites that focus on the environmental law/climate change and workers’ compensation practice areas and has recently developed content relating to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and Immigration. Ms. Yotis is a member of the several insurance advisory boards and serves as Publications Committee Co-Chair for the Association of Insurance Compliance Professionals. She previously served as the editor of Mealey’s Insurance Regulatory Compliance Report and her commentary has appeared in Viewpoint and other insurance industry publications. She received a J.D. from the Northwestern University School of Law and a B.A. from the University of Illinois.

Senior Consultant Frank Oatess has more than 25 years experience in media relations, special events for agents and educators, sports marketing, speechwriting, research, financial communications, and crises communications action planning and execution. Before joining THW&A, he served as media relations manager for CNA Insurance, then became a marketing communications consultant with clients such as Allstate and Zurich. He held positions at the national public relations firms of Burson-Marsteller and Manning, Selvage and Lee after earning a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.

Senior Consultant Dr. Marshall Reavis, CPCU, CLU, ARM, is one of the nation's leading consultants on the intricacies of insurance, having counseled insurers and insureds in litigation matters involving all areas of insurance in State and Federal courts since 1977. He has designed and implemented personnel training programs in all areas of insurance and insurance marketing.

Dr. Reavis brings to THW&A clients both a practical and theoretical understanding of the insurance business, having served as a claims representative, technical writer, editor, field representative, and underwriter. He served as sales manager for one insurer, participated in direct sales, and was risk manager for two multi-national corporations. He holds B.A. and M.B.A degrees from Indiana University and a doctorate in Business Administration from the University of Georgia. He has held full-time faculty appointments at Governors State University, Roosevelt University and the University of Illinois at Chicago and was Executive Director and Dean of the Insurance School of Chicago.

Senior Consultant Nancy Harper is one of the nation's most effective media trainers, helping thousands of CEOs and senior executives communicate more forcefully and effectively in media interviews, speeches, and in testifying in court and legislative hearings. She has counseled many top executives in the insurance industry, including CEOs, CFOs, claims and underwriting executives, and safety engineers. She developed the first media training department in the Chicago office at the national public relations agency of Hill & Knowlton.

Video Services Director Paul Buchbinder oversees all streaming video, video news releases and documentaries for THW&A clients. A producer/director with over 20 years experience, Mr. Buchbinder has earned many honors for his productions at film festivals in the United States, France and Japan. Clients have included Crate & Barrel, Northwestern National Life Insurance, IBM, Intel, Citibank, and the National Realtors Association. He also lectures on video production and television directing at Northwestern University.