Attendee Orientation: Getting the Most from Your Conference Experience

He’s got a reputation as the “go-to guy” for marketing in the transportation and logistics industry. That’s because he has more than 25 years marketing, communications, and sales experience in transportation, warehousing, and logistics, with a special expertise in business strategy, B-to-B marketing, and association management. As Senior Partner of MindShare Strategies, Everett regularly provides marketing counsel to the firm’s key accounts. He is particularly well-connected to shippers as the former Executive Director of the National Shippers Strategic Transportation Council (NASSTRAC). Currently, he provides strategic counsel for the Women In Trucking Association, and is Group Publisher/Editorial Director of Redefining the Road (WIT's official magazine) as well as Food Chain Digest and Food For Thought (the official magazine and member e-newsletter, respectively, of Food Shippers of America).

Everett also was Director of Marketing for C.H. Robinson for 10 years, and helped transform this low-profile company to one of the world's most widely known brands in the third-party logistics market when it went public in 1998. He also was CEO of the Transportation Marketing & Sales Association (TMSA) for approximately 20 years, and has provided counsel in business strategy, marketing and sales for leading companies in MindShare Strategies' client portfolio, including Saddle Creek Logistics Services, the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN), LeSaint Logistics/TAGG Logistics, RWI Logistics/RWI Transportation (part of the Castellini Group of Companies), Satellite Logistics Group, UPS, Line Drive Trucking, and H&M International Transportation, to name a few.

Everett is known to be a “chronic volunteer” in industry associations. He has served on the board of directors for the International Association of Business Communications at the international, regional, and local chapter levels; on the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) Twin Cities Roundtable; and was the Chairman of the Transportation Track for a recent Warehousing Education Research Council (WERC) annual conference. In fact, in recognition of his career experiences and passion for industry involvement, Everett was named the youngest recipient of TMSA’s “Lifetime Achievement Award.”

A seasoned sales professional, Cassidy is responsible for a wide variety of projects ranging from WIT event management to production management of Redefining the Road magazine. She also manages recognition programs for the Women In Trucking Association (Top Women to Watch, Top Woman-Owned Businesses, and Top Companies for Women to Work For in Transportation). Prior to joining the WIT team, Cassidy worked for more than two years in sales and customer experience roles for KeepTruckin, a technology leader in connecting the world’s trucks with its cutting-edge ELD and fleet management platform. She also worked for nearly three years in a sales capacity with ServiceSource. Cassidy holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Western Kentucky University. She is located in Nashville, Tennessee. When not working on WIT initiatives, she enjoys spending time with friends, family, and her dog, Kona.

Jennifer Hedrick, CAE, is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Women In Trucking Association (WIT). Her responsibilities are to work closely with WIT’s board of directors and staff to oversee initiatives that support WIT’s mission to encourage the employment of women in the trucking industry, promote their accomplishments and minimize obstacles faced by them. 

Hedrick has 17 years of association leadership experience and is an accredited executive by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). For five years she led the National Industrial Transportation League (NIT League) focusing on issues across highway, rail and ocean freight transportation. In that role, she advocated on behalf of members to create efficiencies throughout the commercial freight transportation network.

In addition, she previously served as Vice President, Association Solutions, for MCI USA, where she served as Executive Director and Strategy Manager for several associations, providing full-scale management of operations, staff teams, and outside contractors. In these capacities, she also served as spokesperson for associations on Capitol Hill, before federal regulators, in trade and national press, and at conferences and other engagements. 
Hedrick holds a Master of Arts degree from Virginia Tech and a Bachelor of Science degree from Bridgewater College.