THE PALESTRA

Our company name comes from the Greek word "palestra" which means: "a public place in ancient Greece for training and practice in athletics."

The Palestra.com is a web and wireless content business dedicated to creating and distributing specialized audio and video content. Our content is designed to attract, cultivate, and maintain a community of impassioned consumers.

Through our network of on-campus reporters, The Palestra collects, produces, packages, and distributes unique audio and video content about college sports, music, entertainment and news.

Joe is a former sports and features reporter at NBC 4 News in Columbus, where his assignments have included covering the 1998 Sugar Bowl, the 1999 NCAA Men's Basketball Championships and the U.S. Women's Soccer Team, in addition to hundreds of profiles of high school, college, professional and Olympic athletes. Joe won an Emmy award for his reporting in 2001. In covering features, he has entered the ring with professional wrestlers. He marched with the Ohio University and Purdue Bands (and even hit the Big Drum). In acting as a participatory journalist, he has played field hockey, ice hockey and soccer with college teams. From 1995 to 2003 Joe was a syndicated newspaper columnist with Scripps Howard News Service, Washington, D.C. His column, "Matter of Fact," was featured in more than 300 newspapers weekly. In addition to writing his column, Joe has been a contributing editor for ESPN The Magazine, the O-Zone and Nickelodeon Magazine Games and Sports for Kids. In July 2000, he tried out for, and did not make, a spot on the Detroit Lions football team. He reported on his quest for fame in the NFL in Nickelodeon Magazine. He earned an Emmy award in 2001 for the documentary, "A Golden Moment," which focused on a behind-the-scenes look at the 2000 state champion Upper Arlington football team. Joe is a former journalism instructor at The Ohio State University. Joe holds a BA from The Ohio State University and an MBA from Xavier University.

Dave Maetzold is a broadcast journalist with 25 years of experience in radio and television sports reporting. As Sports Director of television stations in Wisconsin, West Virginia and Ohio, Maetzold has covered college athletics on all levels. Dave covered 12 bowl games including the 2002 National Championship game. He also covered 4 NCAA basketball tournaments including the 1999 Final Four in Tampa and the 2005 Frozen Four in Columbus. Also included among his major assignments are the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, 4 World Series, 2 Heisman Trophy ceremonies, 3 NFL Drafts, numerous PGA tour events, the Indianapolis 500, the Brickyard 400 and a Super Bowl. Dave has also worked as a freelance writer for several Ohio publications and currently hosts a weekly sports talk radio program on WTVN-AM in Columbus. Dave has earned three Emmys and numerous Associated Press broadcast awards for his reporting and leadership skills throughout his career.

John T. Olvey is a business development expert practitioner and technology entrepreneur and team builder. A founding partner of Environmental Pipeliners, an Ohio based construction firm, he served as director of operations until the successful sale of the company in 2000. Then as founding partner of Ca-Botics Fiber Systems, he served as director of operations and led that company in deploying a revolutionary new technology for installation of fiber optic networks in metro core settings. In 2003 John was asked to do a tour In Iraq as a contractor. His grass roots efforts working with Iraqis contributed to the successful completion of numerous contracts in the areas of life support, logistics, construction, and communications to include GIS/GPS mapping of Baghdad's infrastructure, the installation and operation of a commercial ISP backbone, and an Iraq-wide logistics contract for the USG. John also spent time in Bande Aceh, Indonesia as part of the relief effort after the 2004 Tsunami and spent three month in New Orleans helping with the Hurricane Katrina recovery effort. John has served past leadership roles in a number of associations to include the WEF, NASSCO and ASTM. In 2006, John was named to the President's Business Advisory Council. He participates as a Director for AISG, Inc., and is on the Business Advisory Board of PDG-Domus, Inc. He holds a BS in Engineering from the United States Military Academy and is a Bronze Star Recipient from the Gulf War. John is fluent in Portuguese. One of three brothers, all born at, raised in, and graduated from West Point, he has been an avid lifelong fan of college sports.

Ric joined The Mobile Content Network Company in August 2006 as Director of Technology and Engineering. His primary responsibilities are to oversee and lead network operations, direct the expansion of the site, and manage the day to day functions of The Palestra technological platform. Ric joined The Palestra after having served as a senior systems engineer and consultant for the United States Department of State. At the State Department his responsibilities included providing technological support, managing foreign information web sites, and overseeing and designing the hundreds of U.S. embassies web sites from around the globe. Prior to joining the State Department, Ric was senior software developer for Advanced Technology Systems in Washington, D.C. and several other technology companies. In addition, Ric has worked for capital.com an investment banking firm. There he was the senior programmer and technical liaison for the television, on-demand broadcasts and Internet companies. In addition to his work as a software and systems engineer, has also been an Internet field reporter and photographer covering such events as the ESPN X-Games and the Clear Channel X-treme sporting events. Ric began programming at age 12 on his super old school Atari 400 computer. Ric is from Washington, D.C. and a 1995 graduate from Penn State University where he earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering.

Joanie is a graduate of Miami University where she majored in accounting. After working several years at the corporate offices of a Central Ohio fast food company, she retired to the volunteer community where she focused on causes related to children and education. Joanie spent five years working and fundraising for the Childhood League Center, a preschool for children ages birth to 6 who struggle with learning delays. A veteran of several PTO executive boards at her children's schools, Joanie has also served in leadership positions on five successful school levy campaigns. Entering back into the professional community, Joanie has spent the last four year serving as the Assistant Director of the Upper Arlington Education Foundation, an organization that provides grants and scholarships for students and staff of the Upper Arlington community.

Tom is a 2000 graduate of The Ohio State University with a BA in Journalism. During his college career, Tom worked as a sports reporter, and later as sports editor of the student newspaper, The Lantern. In his final quarter of school, he also worked as a sports producer at NBC 4 in Columbus, Ohio. He held that position for three years, earning two Emmy nominations, and helping the station earn Associated Press awards for best sportscast and outstanding sports operation. From 2003-06, he worked at the ABC affiliate in Detroit, WXYZ-TV.

Nick Jones graduated from Otterbein College in June 2005 with a bachelor of arts in Broadcast Journalism. While at Otterbein, Nick held positions of Music Director and Production Direction for the college's radio station WOBN. Nick also worked as Program Director for the television station WOCC TV3, and anchored the sports desk for TV3 News for 5 quarters. Nick spent the summer of '04 on Nashville's "Music Row" while he interned at NewsChannel 5. In the fall of '04 Nick joined NBC 4 Columbus as a sports producer covering Ohio State Football and Basketball, the Blue Jackets, Columbus Crew, and Central Ohio High School Football. In 2005, Nick started Monument Square Productions where he has produced two documentaries on Ohio high school football.

Radio veteran Brian Phillips brings 20 years experience in the broadcasting and music businesses to Palestra. Brian is from Port Angeles, Washington; Brian is a product of Washington State University's prestigious Murrow Communications School. In Pullman Brian caught the radio bug, hosting mornings and acting as Music Director at KUGR FM. Phillips worked in three Western Washington markets in the late 80's and early 90's, including KXRX in Seattle. His time in the Emerald City coincided with the Seattle music explosion of that era. Since 1994, Brian has hosted mornings and is the Assistant Program Director in Columbus, Ohio at influential alternative rock station WWCD.

John is a proud alumnus of Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. While at Northwestern John worked as Sports Director for the Northwestern News Network, wrote for the Northwestern Chronicle, worked in NU's media services department and ran crew for NNN. As a freshman, John played with the Wildcats as a walk-on member of the football team. Prior to becoming a full-time employee John was an intern with The Palestra. While working for The Palestra, John covers college sports across the country, produces the news, and manages student reporters within the network. John led The Palestra's coverage at the Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament and the massacre at Virginia Tech. John loves his job, but says the worst part is working with a bunch of Buckeye fans.

Dawn is a proud alumna of THE Ohio State University—how firm thy friendship. She grew up in Strongsville, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. As a Palestra reporter, she has covered various college sporting events, including the 2007 National Championship football game and the Heisman Trophy Ceremony. When she’s not working, you can find her cheering on the Buckeye football team, speaking Spanish, running, or hanging out with her amigos. Go Bucks!

Ryan is a native Hoosier. He hails from a small Indiana town just outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. Ryan graduated with high distinction from Indiana University in June 2006 with a degree in broadcast journalism. While at IU, Ryan covered Hoosiers athletics for multiple media outlets, including the Indiana Daily Student and the local PBS affiliate, WTIU. He was also a play-by-play announcer for Indiana basketball and football at the student radio station, WIUX. Ryan's first experience with The Palestra came in May of 2005 when he delved into the rich tradition of the world's greatest college weekend, The Little 500 bicycle race at IU. During his time in school Ryan also worked as a news reporter and producer for Bloomington's NPR affiliate, WFIU. In the summer of 2004 he helped with the television production of Cincinnati Reds games as an intern with Fox Sports Net Ohio. The next summer he served as an intern in the sports department at WXIX-TV in Cincinnati. As a graduate reporter with The Palestra, Ryan has covered a multitude of college sporting events and campus traditions all across the country from Columbia to College Station. Outside of work Ryan is a maniacal Cincinnati Bengals fan. Who-Dey!

Laura Neal is a Texas native and graduated with distinction in May 2007 from the University of Oklahoma, with a degree in Broadcast and Electronic Media. At OU, She was an anchor, entertainment and political reporter for OU Nightly: an award winning, live, 30 minute, five day a week student newscast (it's never too late to plug!). She joined the Palestra as a fashion reporter for "The Look" in January 2007. Later that semester, Laura was promoted to host of the segment, hired as a producer/ reporter and moved with her dog Beckham to Columbus. The 2007 Summer Tour was also recently added to her Palestra activities. In her free time, Laura enjoys hanging out with her puppy, good Mexican food, reading, fashion magazines and Entertainment Television.

Tiffany Wilson is a Cincinnati native with an innate desire to travel. She graduated from Ursuline Academy in 2003 and cum laude from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in June 2007. While at Medill, Tiffany anchored for the Northwestern News Network, was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and rowed with the crew team. She served as coxswain for a national championship-winning boat in 2005. As a senior at NU, Tiffany anchored daily news updates for ThePalestra. As the graduate managing editor, Tiffany's responsibilities include overseeing ThePalestraHigh.com, directing ThePalestra.com's political coverage and traveling with ThePalestra.com’s fall tour. Tiffany spent three weeks on the road with ThePalestra.com summer tour crew, visiting a haunted prison, riding in a hot air balloon and finishing second in a blueberry pie-eating contest. When she's not working, Tiffany enjoys traveling, cooking and interior design.

Julie Garcia grew up in Sandy, Utah and misses the mountains hardcore. She graduated in 2006 from Utah State University with a bachelor's in Broadcast Journalism and a minor in theater and music. In her time there, she was a reporter, anchor, producer, and director for the campus TV station, Aggie TV. She was also a DJ for KVFX, a top 40 station broadcast through Logan, Ogden, Salt Lake City, and Provo. In addition, Julie found time to dabble in USU Theater and Sandy Amphitheater productions. She plans to return to the stage someday. Julie joined ThePalestra.com as a student reporter for Utah State in October of 2006 and did some awesomely fun stories. Now she is a full-time music reporter for ThePalestra.com and loves constantly meeting new bands and musicians on the rise. Her interests include: singing, dancing, writing poetry, theater, reading, playing with her puppy, and of course rockin' the music.

Josh graduated from the University of Alabama in May of 2007 with his degree in Broadcast Journalism. He grew up in the metropolis of Arthur, IL where the Amish outnumber the town's residents (2,300 townies, over 5,000 amish). Now, he is talent featured on The Gig Guide and the Manager and Producer for the west coast at ThePalestra.com. He also plans to persue a variety of other careers including professional surfer, actor and swing dancer. Josh is on track to become President of the United States in 2048.

Sean Merinar joined ThePalestra.com in fall of 2006 after working as the student reporter for WVU, and participating in ThePalestra.com's Summer Tour. Since joining ThePalestra.com, Sean has had the pleasure of participating in many stops on the Fall Tour, and even got to cover the Sugar Bowl. Sean graduated from West Virginia University's Pearly Isaac Reed School of Journalism with a bachelor's degree in Broadcast News in May of 2007. Sean graduated Magna Cum Laude. Sean was in involved in WVU's television news program as a sports anchor, as well as doing play by play and color commentary for Women's Basketball, Hockey, and Baseball for U92 FM in Morgantown. Sean grew up just outside Moundsville in Wild and Wonderful West Virginia. Sean loves to watch movies, read a few books, and cheer on the Mountaineers! Let's Go!

Columbus, Ohio July 20, 2006 The Palestra Media Group is pleased to announce the company's academic board for the 2006-2007 school year. The following individuals will begin one-year terms: Dr. L. Donne Olvey, (Ret) United States Military Academy; Ms. Laurie McFadden, University of Notre Dame; Mr. Jim Riek, University of Missouri; and Mr. John Ziomeck, Northwestern University.

The role of the academic team is to offer guidance as The Palestra Media Group establishes sound journalistic practices in developing and reporting news, sports and entertainment on college campuses. Advisors will monitor all aspects of the company’s content and help ensure The Palestra is consistent with traditional media standards.

Dr. L. Donne Olvey is a 1955 graduate of the United States Military Academy. He attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar and received his PhD in Economics at Harvard. Dr. Olvey is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and Trustee Emeritus of the Association of Graduates, USMA. He also serves as Director, AAFMAA, and Chairman, PalletKraft NA, Inc.

Ms. Laurie McFadden joins The Palestra Media Group from the University of Notre Dame where she is currently the Broadcast Media Advisor. McFadden oversees students on campus at one television and two radio stations.

Mr. Jim Riek is currently an anchor and reporter on KOMU-TV in Columbia, MO and Adjunct Professor at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Riek works with broadcast journalism students in both the classroom and the studio.

A former Chicago Sun-Times reporter, Mr. Jon Ziomek joins The Palestra Media Group from Northwestern University where he teaches at the Medill School of Journalism. "Along with other faculty members at Medill, I believe strongly in the hands-on approach to the training of young journalists," Ziomek says in his school bio. "Most of my work has been in the practical classes. I also teach seminars, and even though I understand that the Big Picture in seminar classes is crucial, I look for ways to emphasize applied knowledge."

The Palestra is a progressive media company and a division of the Mobile Content Network Company. The Palestra's management is made up of current and former broadcast, radio and journalists with more than 50 years experience.