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.

Spring Break - No Meeting in April 2026

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May 2026

WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2026 - 5:30 P.M. - IVAR’S SALMON HOUSE

May’s meeting will feature photographer and director Hayley Young.

Hayley Young's deep connection to Seattle's artists and makers that has always driven her work. That connection is the foundation of HomeLines, Hayley's 12-episode documentary series that provides the kind of hyper-local arts and cultural coverage our region desperately needs. With support from a 4Culture Project Grant, she's developing a series that meets audiences where they are—on social media and digital platforms—while maintaining the depth and quality of long-form storytelling. As readers have shifted from print to video for their cultural content, Seattle has lost consistent, high-quality coverage of its creative community. HomeLines fills that gap, documenting the intimate stories of musicians, visual artists, restaurateurs, and cultural leaders—the people who make Seattle vibrant and economically competitive. As Seattle's creative sector drives nearly one-fifth of our economy, these stories deserve a platform that matches how we consume media today.

Join Hayley as she shares the concept behind HomeLines, the journey that brought her to this project, and where it's headed. She'll screen the pilot episode—one of three episodes planned for launch later this year—and discuss how authentic storytelling can strengthen cultural infrastructure, support local businesses, and create the sense of belonging our rapidly changing city needs. Hayley is eager to connect with potential partners across brands, nonprofits, government agencies, and media organizations who share her vision for celebrating and preserving Seattle's creative community. Whether you're interested in sponsorship, collaboration, or simply learning how documentary work can serve community building, this is an opportunity to be part of something meaningful from the ground up.

For 18 years, Hayley Young has been telling the stories of Seattle's creative community through her lens. As Photo Editor and Staff Photographer for Seattle Magazine and Seattle Business Magazine, she photographed thousands of Pacific Northwest residents, from emerging artists to Fortune 500 executives. Her transition to video production as Executive Producer and Director at CURATOR brought her work to a global scale, creating content for brands like Microsoft, Nike, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

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.