Eric Seidel

Over a decade ago, Eric took his more than 30 years in the newsroom to the corporate boardroom. In that time he's worked with hundreds of executives in a number of the Fortune 500 companies, including IBM, Verizon, Comcast, Lockheed Martin, The Coca-Cola Co., Southern Co., The Kroger Co., AT&T, Merck & Co., Inc., Georgia-Pacific Co., Raytheon Co., Marriott, Mirant Corp., and UK-based BAE Systems and GKN Aerospace Services, Inc.

During his broadcast news and programming career, he hired and developed two well known nationally syndicated radio hosts, Sean Hannity and Clark Howard. Also, network anchors and reporters, including Forrest Sawyer, Louise Schiavonne and Ed Gullo worked for him when he led what was at the time the Southeast's largest and most highly honored radio news staff at WGST, Atlanta. His news staff captured many awards, including the International Programming Award, a national Sigma Delta Chi/Society of Professional Journalists Award and several Radio-TV News Director Association Edward R. Murrow Awards.

A graduate of the renowned University of Missouri Journalism School, Seidel has worked in several top ten markets, including Atlanta, Washington, DC and Philadelphia. In DC, his hometown, he was the U.S. Supreme Court Correspondent for CNN.

He founded The Media Trainers, LLC®, a professional communications training and consulting business, in 1997.

Eric and his wife reside in suburban Atlanta and have two grown daughters.

Jed Nitzberg, APR

With two decades of professional communications experience, Jed brings extensive insights and lessons learned to bear when servicing his clients.

He ran the Healthcare Practice for Ogilvy Public Relations’ Atlanta office. Before Ogilvy, Jed served as Director of Communications for the Georgia Department of Human Resources, responsible for all aspects of the agency’s media relations, crisis communications and strategic communications planning on issues ranging from mental health to child abuse to online education campaigns.

Prior to DHR, Jed was with WebMD. This followed his work at the national headquarters of the Arthritis Foundation as VP for PR and then VP for Interactive Communications.

Jed also has been Director of Development Communications for the University at Buffalo (State University of New York), and a news anchor/reporter with WLNH-FM/AM (Laconia, NH). He’s received a number of public relations and journalism awards, and has been active in leadership roles for local chapters of the Public Relations Society of America.

Jed received a master's degree with honors in journalism from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and a bachelor's degree in English and American Literature from Brandeis University.

Chuck Griffin

With experience in journalism and public relations, Chuck Griffin knows both sides of a media interview. As a journalist, Chuck worked as a reporter and editor for newspapers, UPI and American Lawyer Media, winning awards for stories on the 1992 Atlanta riot and the legal system’s effect on the mentally ill.

During his time in PR, Chuck worked for Atlanta-based Southern Company, the nation’s largest producer of electricity, then subsidiary Southern Energy Inc., which became Mirant. As Mirant’s communications director, Chuck developed expertise in handling “low–trust, high–concern” situations. In particular, he developed and executed successful communications strategies related to the environment, the California energy crisis, and the construction of new power plants in sensitive areas. He also worked closely with the media during power plant emergencies, where the public perceived lives and community health to be at risk.

Chuck holds a bachelor of science degree in communications from the University of Tennessee and a master of divinity degree from Asbury Theological Seminary.

Andrew Dietz

Andrew is president of Creative Growth Group, Inc., and an associate of TMT. He brings extensive practical experience to the training environment as a former senior executive in several corporations.

Andrew co–conducts Executive Presence Workshops with Eric, and he developed the 7 Laws of Gravitas™ (see “Workshops and Consulting” page above) that are the benchmarks of these workshops. Previously was a consultant with Egon Zehnder International, a leading global executive search and human capital advisory firm where he assessed, selected and advised senior executives and board members for some of the world’s most successful companies.  In that role, he formed a peer advisory organization focused on developing rainmaker competency in professionals.   He continues to lead a series of such groups under the brand, The Rainmaker Councils.

Andrew helped to form, netWorth Partners, a private equity investment firm now wholly owned by Mellon Ventures; as a venture partner with the fund, he served as CEO of one of its portfolio companies, SideTalk. Previously, he was a founding member of BellSouth’s Internet service provider, BellSouth.net where he served as VP, Product Marketing and led the initial marketing launch of BellSouth’s DSL service. Andrew also has served as a marketer of advertising and market research services for leading national publishers such as Ziff–Davis, Cahners Publishing and American Consumer Index.

He graduated from The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a concentration in marketing.  He received his Masters in Business Administration with honors from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business including a particular focus on services marketing.