MCEI Seattle holds a dinner meeting each month with a distinguished marketing or communications presenter. Presenters bring a behind the scenes perspective and high-level industry marketing insights. Speakers share provocative stories, ideas, positions, and concepts, including controversial topics.

See below for our current upcoming program.

June 2026

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 2026 - 5:30 P.M. - IVAR’S SALMON HOUSE

In June, MCEI Seattle will be joined by Lexy King and Svetlana Gershman of Method Communications.

For decades, measuring PR success meant counting estimated eyeballs. Then, social media shifted the focus from measuring reach to evaluating resonance and two-way engagement. Now, AI is transforming it again, and this time the implications are deeper than we expected. As large language models increasingly retell your clients' stories to their target audiences' prompts, the fundamentals of great PR are more important than ever. But our metrics must also evolve. In this session, a PR strategist and a research and analytics professional will show you what modern measurement truly looks like when these two disciplines collaborate, from traditional media monitoring and social signals to the emerging realm of synthetic narrative.

Lexy King joined Method Communications in February 2026 as an SVP and lead of the firm's new Corporate Communications Practice. Drawing on her tenure at two of the world’s largest PR firms, Lexy serves as a strategic advisor to global enterprises and high-growth startups, helping challenger brands navigate complex reputational challenges and market transitions. She specializes in building and executing results-driven communications strategies, including thought leadership, earned media, executive coaching, and narrative development. Throughout her career, she has guided clients through major milestones such as M&As, rebrands, funding announcements, and product launches. 

Prior to Method, Lexy led Weber Shandwick's Seattle Market, overseeing regional operations for a multidisciplinary team serving clients across the technology, nonprofit, hospitality, and public sectors. She recently orchestrated a vertical-specific AI summit for a Fortune 15 global technology leader and developed a comprehensive risk and reputation framework to safeguard a client's international market expansion.

Before that, Lexy was a Senior Vice President at Revere (Edelman's former technology-focused agency), leading integrated communications for technology brands. She partnered with Google DeepMind to develop long-term executive thought leadership platforms and position the brand as a responsible AI leader. She executed high-impact campaigns for Shopify, such as its record-breaking Black Friday-Cyber Monday initiative, and supported global expansion for companies like Airbus. Lexy also launched stealth startups, including 3V Infrastructure (electric vehicle infrastructure) and Fastino (SLM AI). She led events and award submissions that secured recognition from Fast Company, CNBC, and Ernst & Young. As Revere’s longest-serving employee, she played a foundational role in developing business and talent, founding the internship program, and cultivating team-building and professional development initiatives.

Previously, Lexy worked in Edelman’s New York and Seattle offices, serving clients like Blue Apron, The Boston Consulting Group, and ADT. She began her career at Visit Seattle, her hometown’s destination marketing organization. Lexy holds degrees in Strategic Communication and Humanities from Seattle University.

Svetlana Gershman brings over 20 years of experience in generating insights, with a rare ability to translate ambiguous business questions into clear, actionable intelligence that drives decisions. At Method Communications, she leads the integrated research and analytics practice, building the capabilities and team infrastructure that help clients elevate their strategic communications, sharpen competitive positioning, and design growth-driving campaigns grounded in data. Her approach is holistic by nature: she draws on a full spectrum of research methodologies, including surveys, qualitative research, syndicated data, and advanced analytics, to build a complete picture of the market, the audience, and the opportunity.

Her expertise runs deep in the technology sector, where she has spent most of her career helping brands navigate complexity and communicate with precision. Before joining Method, Svetlana spent nearly a decade at Escalent, building a track record of translating large, multifaceted datasets into strategic insights for technology clients. She has designed and led research programs across the entire lifecycle, from methodology design and fieldwork through synthesis, storytelling, and stakeholder presentations, ensuring that insights not only inform decisions but actively shape them.

Earlier in her career, Svetlana served as Director of Marketing Research at GIS International Group, where she led primary and secondary research across multiple verticals and managed startup research initiatives from the ground up. She started her career at Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, conducting advanced qualitative and quantitative analyses for Microsoft, and later consulted on research strategy at the University of Washington Educational Outreach.

Svetlana is an active voice in the research and marketing communities, serving as Programs Director for the Puget Sound Research Forum and as a Marketing Advisory Board Member at Seattle University, where she helps shape the next generation of marketing talent. A technology enthusiast and outdoor adventurer, she loves music and is a proud groupie-turned-mom to three young aspiring rock stars.

July 2026

WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2026 - 5:30 P.M. - IVAR’S SALMON HOUSE

What are Marketers and Communicators Thinking in 2026? 

Changes are happening so rapidly these days. It’s tough to keep up and know what is around the corner for your career or organization. Rupert and Hemispheres decided it was time for a Vibe Check. 

We surveyed over 100 marketers and communicators on the client and agency side to learn how people are using AI, how they are approaching home/office/hybrid work, and their feelings about where their career and work is headed.

Noah and David will share the results of the Vibe Check and lead a spirited exploration and discussion of where work might be headed for all of us. All attendees will get access to the full report (priceless).

Below are just a few responses from the survey.

We hope you can join us! 

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I think it's a hard time to be in the creative industry. Company and agency executives feel there is a gold rush around AI and the efficiencies that it can drive IMMEDIATELY. While I believe AI will be transformative in the mid/long term (in good ways and not-so-good), the cuts and reductions are expected before the efficiencies are delivered. That's a bad plan.

I believe as people become more comfortable with the role of AI and its possibilities, they will also realize that human interaction and oversight is where the magic happens.

Very optimistic about the value and relevance of the niche work I do, but also very pessimistic about how marketing is evolving in response to technological advances and short-sighted leadership decisions. 

I've noticed that after Covid and with AI, everyone thinks they are a digital marketing expert, but many of those companies are now struggling because they still don't anticipate the issues that come up. This ends up disappointing clients, and then they come back to experienced, dynamic agencies. 

I'm curious how others are feeling about their roles/responsibilities around fostering new talent. I've observed a turn away from hiring interns or junior creatives. Agencies are working remotely, which makes mentoring a junior quite difficult. It's easier to simply work with mid- to senior-level talent who can be productive with minimal oversight. And AI is currently best at doing menial junior-level tasks. I worry about this collective short-term thinking. We're reaping a harvest without planting any new seeds. Are we setting ourselves up for a talent shortage in 3 to 5 years? 

Remote work makes it much harder to be considered for a role because you're going against everyone in the country instead of just the city you live in.

***

Noah Tannen
Managing Partner, Rupert
LinkedIn Profile

Noah Tannen is the managing partner at Rupert, a full-service marketing firm he started in 2010. Noah has been a videogame designer, content producer, copywriter, creative director and marketing strategist for clients like Starbucks, Microsoft, and MTV.

Having worked with businesses ranging from green tea to nuclear power to sales tax automation to wood-fired bagels, as well as starting three companies of his own, Noah has unique insight into a wide range of industries, which he enjoys applying to new and novel scenarios. Originally from New York City, Noah lives in Seattle with his wife Shannon and occasionally their son, Jonah.

David Bauer
Partner, Hemispheres
LinkedIn Profile

David has spent over twenty-five years exploring human perceptions and behaviors and their implications for business strategy. He strives to understand how both rational and emotional elements factor into decision making. Based on this approach, he founded the customer insights agency Hemispheres in Seattle in 2003.

David and Hemispheres offer a full range of qualitative and quantitative research methods as well as UX, data science, and business strategy. Their work covers a broad spectrum of categories including technology, retailing, consumer products, food and beverage, health care, beauty, business services, transportation, and durable goods. David has personally conducted qualitative research across North American and Europe as well as in Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Japan, China, and Australia.

He is a board member of Seattle Marketing Communications Executives International, an Advance Member of the Qualitative Research Consultants Association, and an active member of the Puget Sound Research Forum.

David is a frequent speaker, facilitator, and panel moderator. In the past few years, David has presented at his current organizations as well as the University of Washington, Santa Clara University, Cornish College of the Arts, the AMA Market Mix conference, the NW Insights Summit, and the Seattle chapter of the Interaction Design Association.

November 2026

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2026 - 5:30 P.M. - IVAR’S SALMON HOUSE

What's Your Egg? Designing for Human Agency in the Age of AI

We open with a short film about Betty Crocker, a failed product, and the fix that saved it. When you remove all friction from an experience, you don't create delight — you create disconnection. People need to feel like they matter in the process.

Then we get to work.

This session unpacks a set of principle-based design patterns for building agentic AI experiences that keep people genuinely engaged. Not interface rules or platform playbooks — durable principles you can apply whether you're designing a marketing tool, a customer service agent, or a consumer app.

We'll explore how to give people meaningful moments of contribution, make AI actions visible without overwhelming, and design human-to-machine handoffs that feel like collaboration, not abdication.

**The big idea:** The best AI experiences aren't the ones that do the most — they're the ones that make people feel like they did.

James Tee
Principal Experience Designer
Liberty Mutual, Ex Microsoft
LinkedIn Profile