Meet the Smart Energy Decisions team

Meet the Smart Energy Decisions team

Wes Doane
Event Director

Wes Doane is the Event Director of Smart Energy Decisions, Intersolar North America, and Energy Storage North America. Focused on B2B event sales and management, Wes has deep expertise in the solar + energy storage and finance and accounting industries. He lives in Maine with his wife and two children, and still finds time to surf once or twice a year.  


John Failla
Founder  

John has more than 30 years of experience in B2B media as an executive responsible for developing and managing digital media products, magazines, and face-to-face events.

Prior to launching Smart Energy Decisions, John launched and developed Green Retail Decisions, the leading online information resource for retailers on sustainable business practices. Green Retail Decisions was acquired by Stagnito Business Information along with the other media brands created by John at Tesoro Business Media. Prior to that, John spent 15 years at VNU (Nielsen) Business Media, where he was responsible for publications, trade shows, and online services serving several B2B markets.


Marjorie Ferris
Sales Director

Marjorie Ferris is the Sales Director of Smart Energy Decisions, Intersolar North America and Energy Storage North America. She’s been with Diversified Communications for over 12 years putting her sales skills to work on an array of different events. Her forte is working closely with customers to help them find the best solutions for their challenges. She is known for her positive energy, determination, and dedicated work ethic. Marjorie is a native New Yorker, transplanted to Maine 20 years ago, and doesn’t plan to ever leave.

 


Lisa Carroll
Director of Community Development

Lisa brings a broad and diverse background as a gregarious and consummate professional with over 25+ years of experience in relationship management, strategic development, project management, market research, public relations, business development, and marketing communications. Although events were always part of her career journey, Lisa got bit by the Events Industry and quite naturally, became an event junkie.  In the lifecycle of an event, you name it, she’s done it. Her specialty is in understanding a market and finding the right audience and partners. Because without an audience, you’ve got nothing.  

 A recent move has landed Lisa and her husband Jim in Mount Pleasant, SC, where she is just 4 miles to the Isle of Palms beach and just 20 minutes into historic downtown Charleston.  She’s never leaving.


Debra Chanil
Director of Editorial and Research 

Debra has more than 25 years of experience in market research and content development. In her current role, she manages all SED content development and leads SED's exclusive energy industry research including the annual State of Corporate Renewable Energy Sourcing and State of Distributed Energy Resources. Prior to joining Smart Energy Decisions in 2017, Debra was Research Director of Retail & CPG insights for EnsembleIQ and Stagnito Business Information, where she conducted editorial, sales, and marketing research for a variety of B2B media brands covering the retail sector as well as for custom research projects. Debra also worked as Research Director for Nielsen Business Media and VNU/Bill Communications. 


Alexandra Failla
Director of ESG and Administration

Alexandra Failla is Smart Energy Decisions' Director of ESG and Administration, managing sustainability initiatives, social media, and coordinating content-related scheduling.  She recently received her M.S. in Sustainability Management at Columbia University. 

 

 


Maria Failla
Podcast Producer

Maria Failla brings five years of podcasting experience to the Smart Energy Decisions team as the lead producer of the Smart Energy Voices podcast. Maria's personal podcast, Bloom and Grow Radio, is consistently one of the top lifestyle/Home & Garden podcasts on the iTunes charts and was a 2020 Webby Honoree. If you like houseplants, you should check it out. Previously, she toured the world as a musical theater performer and on Broadway in Cats the Musical.  


Kirsten Cutler
Content Manager
Kirsten is an experienced communications and marketing professional with a strong background in health care and a special interest in the news media industry. She has a vast portfolio of partnering with senior leaders to successfully craft and measure communications toward operational and cultural goals. Highlights of Kirsten’s career include writing and producing health/science stories for national syndication, building an internal communication strategy for a rural health system, working with national news outlets such as CNN covering children’s health, and planning events featuring celebrities including Tom Hanks. In her free time, Kirsten enjoys running, playing piano, reading, and hiking with her husband, son, and two rescue dogs.


 

Ellen Chang
News Editor

Ellen Chang is a journalist based in Houston. In addition to writing news for Smart Energy Decisions, she writes investing and banking articles for U.S. News & World Report and TheStreet. Her byline has appeared in national business publications, including USA Today, Forbes, CBS News, Yahoo Finance MSN Money, Bankrate, Kiplinger, and Fox Business. 

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