GUEST SPEAKER REWIND: MEHERA O'BRIEN, CD, AKQA

Mehera O'Brien graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Communication and no idea what to do, so she reticently accepted an Account Manager position at D'Arcy Advertising in New York City. She was exposed to branding and the creative process, but found all her efforts at budget management thwarted by Excel.

After a year, she rather randomly moved to Holland where she managed to talk her way into an Interaction Designer position at well-known European digital agency Framfab.

Nearly six years later, after intensive Dutch lessons and a promotion to Creative Director, Mehera was lured back to the US to help open AKQA New York, where she remains as Creative Director and head of the Experience Design team. She is a mentor with the Information Architecture Institute and She Says, as well as a member of the IxDA New York and AIGA.

Mehera's clients have included Vodafone, Procter & Gamble, Sara Lee Corporation, Port of Rotterdam, Coca-Cola, American Eagle Outfitters, Benjamin Moore, New York Jets and AirCell.

She participated in Miami Ad School's Teacher in Residence program and also helped develop the future digital curriculum.

http://www.linkedin.com/in/meheraobrien