YCC Project Team

Kathleen McCasland – Founder & CEO
Kathleen is founder and CEO of YCC and has more than twenty years of experience in association and conference management. Prior to founding YCC in 1992, Kathleen served for six years as the executive director of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, where she directed an annual conference of more than four thousand participants. She also served as the conference division program director for a consulting firm in the Washington, D.C. area. In this capacity, she managed more than twenty meetings a year ranging in size from one hundred to five thousand participants.

Kathleen has extensive experience in all aspects of conference planning including site selection/hotel negotiations, preconference planning, agenda development, special event planning, exhibit marketing and management, budget preparation and monitoring, and on-site management. Her understanding of the conference business, coupled with her dedication to providing the highest quality of services, has led her to create a company that provides the full-range of services needed for effective conference management. Kathleen holds a BA in social work from Western Michigan University.

Karen Dobkin, Editor/Copywriter
Karen is a professional writer and editor with more than fifteen years’ experience in corporate communications. She assists in proofing, editing, and coordinating printed materials. Karen earned her master’s degree in foreign languages/linguistics at West Virginia University and her bachelor’s degree in professional writing at Wheeling Jesuit University. She has worked as a freelance writer and co-owner of Ghost Writers, a corporate communications company. Before joining YCC she was an adjunct professor in the communications department at Waynesburg College in Pennsylvania.

Wendy Fletcher – Director of Finance and Administration
Wendy oversees all financial aspects of the company and YCC clients. Her duties include processing payables and receivables, reconciling monthly bank statements, preparing monthly financial reports, preparing conference breakeven analysis, preparing and monitoring conference budgets, and assisting with the preparation of year-end tax returns. Wendy has more than seventeen years of accounting and office management experience. She earned her BA in industrial relations at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has an MBA with a concentration in finance and accounting from Wake Forest University.

Lori Lorusso - Marketing & Social Media
Lori came to YCC from her company Media A.S.E. where she successfully ran social media and search engine optimization campaigns. Lori creates holistic strategies for YCC’s clients starting at the website and covering all aspects of internet marketing including Facebook Apps and advertising; leveraging LinkedIn through connections and advertising; online press release distribution; blogging; Twitter; and social interaction via YouTube videos of event interviews. Lori uses a variety of reporting including Google Analytics, Radian6, and Facebook Insights to monitor and tweak marketing campaigns. Her methodology has been proven to increase community engagement and branding for YCC’s clients.

Lori has a BA in international affairs and a minor in communications from Florida State University.

Kate Kassens – Database Specialist
Kate is a computer programmer and technical support specialist. She is an expert in C++, C, Visual Basic (VB/VBA), SQL, Java, SAS, JavaScript, and HTML languages, and is familiar with several others. Her software applications include Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Microsoft FrontPage, and Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0 Professional. She works on the Windows 98/NT/XP/Vista/7 and UNIX platforms. Kate’s specialties include providing technical support, modifying and/or creating databases, and familiarizing office staff with new system hardware and applications. She received a BS in Mathematical Sciences/Computer Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Heather Kennedy – Conference Assistant
Heather serves as the coordinator/liaison for the sponsors and exhibitors for ODTUG, YCC’s largest client. Her responsibilities include Board of Director and Special Interest Group coordination, hotel liaison, speaker coordination, website maintenance, and logistics for several conferences. She received her bachelor’s degree in business for a sustainable future with a minor in business management from Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, VA. 

Melissa Pollard – Registration Manager & Membership Coordinator
Melissa joined YCC over a year ago and is the registration manager and membership coordinator for one of YCC’s largest clients. She processes and manages registration for multiple conferences throughout the year, ranging from 100 to 1,200 participants. Melissa manages and tracks the membership database housing over 4,000 members, sending out renewal notifications, processing dues, and fielding membership questions. She also assists with all other aspects of conference and association logistics. Melissa graduated with a BS degree from the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

Lauren Prezby – Creative Director
Lauren is a project manager and creative director at YCC and has been with the company for over four years. She has a strong, innovative background including a wide range of experience in set design, merchandise display, graphic design, web development and maintenance, and preconference material development such as name badges, signs, forms, and promotional items. She has a knack for understanding group and product branding for websites and printed literature. Her project management experience also includes speaker coordination, exhibitor and sponsor coordination, and special event logistics. Lauren attended the University of North Carolina Wilmington where she earned two bachelor degrees.

Lisa Ramsey – Publications Manager
Lisa, YCC’s publications manager, is responsible for proofing, editing, and coordinating printed materials and assisting with Web site maintenance. Prior to joining YCC, she produced the membership newsletter, Web site, presentations, and flyers for a country club in Wilmington, NC; contributed to Web site copywriting and editing for First Union Corporation’s Internet department in Charlotte, NC; created marketing material for a car auction company in Charlotte, NC; and was a freelance writer for Encore Magazine, Current Diversions, the Daily Athenaeum, the Dominion Post, and Trip Magazine. Lisa graduated from West Virginia University with a BA in news-editorial journalism and a minor in English. She also has a BA in Spanish from the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

Veronica Snow – Registration Manager
Veronica is the registration manager for all conferences managed by YCC. She also has experience in Web management and is certified in Dreamweaver MX. Veronica has more than eight years of experience with event planning and on-site coordination. Prior to joining YCC, Veronica was the senior national sales executive for Image Products, a company specializing in marketing incentives for financial institutions. She was also an executive and marketing assistant for Clarks Companies, NA. Veronica attended Framingham State College where she majored in business administration.

Larissa Skipper Stamey – Technology Manager
Larissa has been with YCC for ten years and serves as a project manager, on-site logistics specialist, and on-site technology specialist. She is responsible for project timelines, speaker coordination, database creation, registration procedures, and overall project management. She has also been involved in the on-site management of more than three dozen conferences and she is proficient in Office 2007, Adobe PhotoShop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe PageMaker, and Dreamweaver.
Larissa graduated from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill with a BA in communication studies, with a concentration in organizational and interpersonal communications, and a minor in anthropology.

Crystal Walton – Senior Project Manager and Web Manager
Crystal is a bona fide multi-tasker―juggling her duties at YCC with her duties as executive director for a client of YCC’s that has over 24,000 members. Crystal’s strengths include creating cohesive marketing campaigns, budgeting, working with volunteers and boards, conference management, writing, and overall brainstorming and implementation of ambitious projects under tight time constraints. Before joining YCC in 2007, Crystal served as the managing editor of Lumina News and perfected the art of asking questions. That desire to know has led her to become very close with YCC’s clients and helps them spread their messages to the masses.