PR 360 Creators & Guests

A tech nerd that loves coffee too much.

John McCartney, APR, is the Founder and Principal of Jmac PR. He has been working in PR and marketing for more than two decades leading traditional PR and social media campaigns for technology, advertising, marketing, and media brands. In March 2020, John achieved his lifelong dream of starting his own company, Jmac PR, to build a business that values people and holds steadfast to its mission: helping people and companies navigate the multiple challenges and complexities of creating sustainable awareness, visibility, and thought leadership, with integrity, enthusiasm, and professionalism. In addition, he looks to create an environment that nurtures the next generation of publicists and marketers who are committed to their own enduring visions and values.

Neal Schaffer is a leading authority on helping businesses through their digital transformation of sales and marketing through consulting, training, and helping companies develop and execute on social media marketing strategy, influencer marketing, and social selling initiatives. President of the social media agency PDCA Social, Neal also teaches digital media to executives at Rutgers University, the Irish Management Institute (Ireland), and the University of Jyvaskyla (Finland). Fluent in Japanese and Mandarin Chinese, Neal is a popular keynote speaker and has been invited to speak about digital media on four continents in more than a dozen countries. He is also the author of 4 books on social media, including Maximize Your Social (Wiley) and the recently published The Age of Influence (HarperCollins Leadership), on educating the market on the why and how every business should leverage the potential of influencer marketing. Neal resides in Irvine, California but also frequently travels to Japan. Check out his Maximize Your Social Influence podcast for weekly inspiration.

Patrick Ward is the Director of Marketing for Rootstrap, an outcome-driven development agency that digitally transforms companies like MasterClass, Google, and Quartz. A writer by trade, Patrick has been featured in Forbes, Ad Age, HuffPost, Money Magazine & Business Insider. Aside from his role at Rootstrap, Patrick is an accomplished public speaker, teaching LinkedIn workshops at General Assembly, Nonprofit Learning Lab, Serendipity Labs & California Lutheran University and Guest Lecturing at the University of Southern California on AI and Technology Disruption.He is the author of "Marketing Transformation: Why Your Marketing Mindset is Holding Your Organization Back", featured in Business Leaders Edition, Vol 3. of the Amazon Best-Selling Series "Money Matters".He also is the Co-Host and Founder of #LinkedInLocalLA, a networking meetup community in Los Angeles, with guest speakers that are LinkedIn Top Voices, Former Google employees, and Amazon best-selling authors. He earned his Bachelor of Commerce (Liberal Studies), majoring in Marketing and Political Science, from the University of Sydney.

Shawn Walchef is a media marketing coach, restaurateur, host of the Digital Hospitality podcast, and Founder of Cali BBQ Media.