1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The Lod Cook Alumni Center
3838 West Lakeshore Drive
Baton Rouge, LA 70808

$75.00
$50.00 Flores MBA Alumni Association Members
$25.00 Flores MBA Students

Eli Jones is the dean of the E. J. Ourso College of Business and the E. J. Ourso Distinguished Professor of Business. Widely published in major marketing journals, he is also the co-author of Selling ASAP: Art, Science, Agility, Performance and Strategic Sales Leadership: BREAKthrough Thinking for BREAKthrough Results. Jones’ research is primarily focused on issues related to the changing sales force—sales force diversity, sales force change management and sales force technology adoption and performance, salesperson motivation, and buyer-seller relationships. He is listed in Marquis Who’s Who in America, Madison Who’s Who, International Who’s Who Historical Society, and has been featured in several national publications, including Sales & Marketing Management, Selling Power, Biz Ed, Business 2.0, and The New York Times.

Jones has received Excellence in Teaching awards on the university, national, and international levels. In August 2008, he was honored with the KPMG PhD Project Marketing Doctoral Students Association Award and, in March 2009, he was named a Mays Business School Outstanding Alumnus. Additionally, before becoming a professor, he worked in sales and sales management for three Fortune 100 companies. Jones earned his bachelor’s , MBA, and PhD from Texas A&M University.

Blaine Kern Sr., known around the world as “Mr. Mardi Gras”, is a 7th generation Algerine. He is the founder of Blaine Kern Artists, Kern Studios, Mardi Gras World, and Kern International. Blaine Kern has been in the business of producing parades for over 60 years and has served as the Captain of the Krewe of Alla for 50 years; co founded some of New Orleans most iconic Carnival Krewes including Bacchus, Endymion, Orpheus, Caesar; and he originated many international celebrations with customers in Europe, Korea, Japan, and Central America. His career has taken him to over 60 countries with accomplishments ranging from the international growth of Mardi Gras to his recent philanthropic endeavors for his beloved city and home, New Orleans.

Kern began his humble career as an apprentice to his father's sign painting business during the 1930's. His artistic talents were discovered at the age of 19 while painting a mural in a hospital for Dr. Henry La Rocca, who at the time served as the Captain of the Krewe of Alla. Shortly thereafter, the son of one of the original founders of Merrill Lynch, Darwin Fenner who was serving as the Captain of Rex, sent Mr. Kern to Europe to further develop his artistic abilities. When he returned home, he was offered an opportunity by Walt Disney himself to join his artistic empire, but Kern’s love for New Orleans and passion for Mardi Gras kept him in Louisiana. Kern is still one of a few outside artists to have the honor to work for Walt Disney Studios. His unique style and superb craftsmanship has allowed him to build props and parades for theme parks, festivals and casinos worldwide including Universal Studios.

Post Hurricane Katrina, Mr. Kern’s focus changed and he began an aggressive attempt to aid his ailing city. In 2007, he founded one of the most innovative nonprofits in New Orleans, the First Responders Fund (FRF). The First Responders Fund was established because New Orleans police, fire and EMS departments were suffering in many ways in the months and years following Hurricane Katrina. With cooperation and input from New Orleans city leaders and department heads, it was decided that a housing incentive was the right tool to assist these departments with recruiting and retention efforts. Providing a tangible benefit to New Orleans’ finest, the FRF was founded on the belief that if we help the recovery of these men and women, we help the recovery of the city. To fund this important housing initiative, the FRF created New Orleans’ first and official Halloween Parade, the Krewe of Boo!

Kern has expanded his Mardi Gras World to the Eastbank of the Mississippi River, which will dramatically increase its size and production capabilities. Currently Kern Studios, in collaboration with Tulane University, will have a renewable energy and ‘green’ display that will feature two large barges containing turbines to generate clean and renewable energy from the Mississippi River along with research vessels.

Kern has adopted many inner city schools and charitable causes over the years. He has received countless awards and honors for his professional and philanthropic contributions to the New Orleans community.

Ms. Jacqueline S. Beauchamp is the co-founder, Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer of Nerjyzed (pronounced Energized) Entertainment, Inc, a privately held African-American owned interactive digital media development and publishing company headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. With a development staff of over thirty-five (35) full-time employees, Nerjyzed develops and publishes high quality video games and films that reflect the urban market segment. Beauchamp has 20+ years of experience in the high technology, multimedia entertainment industry with an established and proven track record.

Before founding Nerjyzed, Beauchamp became the first African American female General Manager within Motorola where she led the Multimedia Systems Division. Led by Beauchamp, this global organization developed silicon for the DVD and high-end audio industry and developed digital set-box and video games. As an engineering technologist at IBM, where she holds a “High Density Memory Module” United States Patent, Beauchamp accrued 10 years of extensive expertise in the areas of product design and development, as well as advanced technology development.

Beauchamp is also a noted speaker on digital entertainment technology and its impact on the entertainment industry. Most recently, she presented: “The New Yellow Brick Road: Where Entertainment Meets Technology” at the Global Film Conference sponsored by the Motion Picture Association of America. She is also recognized in the video gaming industry as being a pioneer in the forefront of black-owned studios and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, Jet Magazine, Black Enterprise, and was a 2007 Black Enterprise Innovator of the Year finalist. Most recently the Baton Rouge Business Report voted Beauchamp as a 2009 Influential Business Woman of the Year.

A cum laude graduate from Southern University, Beauchamp earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering with minors in computer science and mathematics.

David Bondy is the chief executive officer of LUBA Casualty Insurance Company, which provides insurance coverage to some 5,000 businesses in Louisiana. For more than two and a half decades, he has been instrumental in the establishment and servicing of insurance programs in the Southeastern United States.

A founding member and past president of the Louisiana Association of Self-Insured Employers, Bondy has served on numerous civic and business boards, including the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, and is a member of the Marketing and Public Relations Committee of the E. J. Ourso College Dean’s Advisory Council. He earned his bachelor’s in general business from LSU in 1974.

Jeff Kleinpeter is the president of Kleinpeter Farms Dairy, L.L.C., a fourth-generation, family-owned business. The Kleinpeter family has been in Baton Rouge since 1774, and will be celebrating their 100th anniversary in the milk business in 2013. The current line of Kleinpeter products includes milk, orange juice, butter, oleo, eggs, cottage cheese, yogurt, coffee, tea, punch and empty containers made on-site for other companies as well as their own. Ice cream was also added to the product line in 2008. Klienpeter Dairy is the only ice cream manufacturing facility in Louisiana.

In 2008, Kleinpeter Dairy was the recipient of several awards including Clean Business of the Year award by Keep Baton Rouge Beautiful; the Power of 9 award; the Marketer of the Year award by sales and marketing executives; and the Legion of Honor Award by the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank. In addition, Kleinpeter Dairy was named Top Business over 100 employees by the Baton Rouge Business Report and Junior Achievement, and they were also named one of the Best Places to Work by Louisiana Life Magazine.

Under the leadership of Jeff and his sister, Sue Anne, Kleinpeter Dairy is quickly becoming a regional brand name, while still maintaining their local touch. Jeff graduated in 1984 from LSU with his bachelor’s degree in marketing.

James Maurin is the chairman of Stirling Properties Inc., a real estate development company he co-founded in 1975. In addition to his duties with Stirling, Maurin is the chairman of the Ochsner Health System Board, has served as the chairman of the International Council of Shopping Centers, and is a founding trustee of Blueprint Louisiana. He is a past chairman of the Louisiana Chapter of the World President’s Organization and served on the Louisiana Committee of 100 and the Tulane Business School Council.

In 2006, Maurin was inducted into the E. J. Ourso College of Business Hall of Distinction and, in 2008, was inducted into the LSU Alumni Association Hall of Distinction. He has been awarded the LSU Foundation President’s Award for Lifetime Support and was named the 2000 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Additionally, Maurin is the co-chair of the LSU Business Building Oversight Committee of the E. J. Ourso College Dean’s Advisory Council. He earned his bachelor’s in aerospace engineering from LSU in 1971, and an MBA from Tulane University in 1972.

Matt McKay is the chairman, president and CEO of All Star Automotive Group, representing 10 automotive dealerships throughout Louisiana. All Star Automotive has the areas largest selection of Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota Kia, Hyundai, Nissan and certified pre-owned vehicles from cars and trucks to vans and SUVs. McKay is part of several corporate memberships including, Ford Dealer Advertising Fund, Louisiana Dealer Services (The LDS Group), The Versant Group, Louisiana Automobile Dealers Association (LADA), and Insurance Management Administrators.

McKay has been a member of various civic organizations over the years, including Tiger Athletic Foundation Board of Directors, Ascension Fund, Boys & Girls Club of Baton Rouge, Gulf States Toyota Dealer Council and he was the former president of South Central Louisiana Toyota Dealers. McKay is currently the president of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, on the executive committee for Baton Rouge Area Foundation, and part of the Woman’s Hospital Board of Directors. McKay graduated from Louisiana State University in 1976.

Shelley Mockler is the training and development manager for Mockler Beverage. She started at Mockler Beverage Company in September of 1995 as the M.I.S. Manager. While at Mockler, she developed the training department and has been the Training & Development Manger for over a decade. Shelley also served on Anheuser-Busch’s National Wholesaler Training Advisory Panel for 12 years, and in 2004 she took on the marketing arm of Mockler’s Consumer Awareness & Education Program to further their efforts in the fight against underage drinking and drunk driving.

Mockler Beverage is a family business, employing over 200 people and covering 8.5 parishes. Mockler’s two owners recently joined forces with another distributor to acquire the New Orleans Anheuser-Busch distributorship.

Prior to her time at Mockler, Shelley worked at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center’s physician management company, Southern Regional. There, she served as Southern Regional’s manager of information systems. Shelley is a member of various civic organizations, including Governor-Appointed Louisiana Commission on Addictive Disorders; Mary Bird Perkins Development Committee; Mary Bird Perkins Marketing Committee; Mary Bird Perkins Open Gold Tournament Auction; LSU Student Recreation Advisory Council; YMCA of the Capital Area Metro Board; Executive Women International, Baton Rouge Chapter; Alzheimer’s Run to Remember and Capital Area Corporate Recycling Council. Shelley graduated from LSU with a bachelor’s degree in finance.

Hans Sternberg is the chairman and chief executive officer of Starmount Life Insurance Company, which he originally founded in 1983 as Goudchaux’s/Maison Blanche Life Insurance Company. From 1960 to 1992, Sternberg worked with Goudchaux’s and subsequently Maison Blanche, where he was chairman and CEO. The business was purchased by his family in 1936.

Starmount Life Insurance specializes in direct mail life and accident insurance and markets in 47 states. The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report named Starmount “Company of the Year” in 2006 and, in 2007, Inc. 5000 declared it one of America’s fastest growing private companies. Additionally, the Better Business Bureau of South Central Louisiana presented Starmount with a Torch Award for Ethics in Business last year. Sternberg earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from Princeton University in 1957 and served for two years in the United States Navy.