President
Carrie Ferenac has worked in television production since 1994, and has a passion for the industry.
Before starting Convention News Television, Carrie spent eleven years producing news for WESH-TV, the NBC affiliate in Orlando. She worked her way up from Newscast Producer to Senior Executive Producer. Before that, she worked for television stations in Gainesville, Florida and Charleston, South Carolina. As a former news manager, she knows how things get on television, and she knows what sells.
In addition to producing daily newscasts, she has produced live political debates, severe weather coverage and sports specials. She is especially proud of her work covering the 1998 Florida wildfires, the 2000 Presidential Election and the Hurricanes of 2005. While she was nine months pregnant, Carrie oversaw coverage of NASA’s Columbia disaster. The coverage of that tragic day won her a Dupont Award.
She has served as visiting faculty for the Poynter Institute, one of the best known journalism schools in the country. She also led multiple seminars for The Producer Academy, a joint training venture between Hearst-Argyle Television and BELO.
In addition to news events, Carrie also helped create content for the local elements of Weather Plus, a new 24-hour digital weather channel and launched a news magazine program called A Closer Look. She teamed up with Kevin Crouch and Marcelo Zolessi to create Convention News Television. Recent clients include Aviation International News, University of Central Florida, Walt Disney World, NBC Weather Plus, and Turnstile Publishing. She has created original television newscasts for the internet for companies like Golfweek Magazine and Aviation International News.
Carrie serves on the Board of Directors for Shepherd’s Hope, a non-profit organization that provides health care for the uninsured, and leads the orientation for new volunteers. She grew up in Central Florida, and now lives in Orlando with her husband, Andy and two children, Julia and Alex.
Carrie Ferenac
Carrie Ferenac
Marcelo Zolessi
CEO
Marcelo was born 1977 Montevideo, Uruguay. He spoke Spanish as a child and is now bilingual. Marcelo went
to high school in Gillette, Wyoming and attended Full Sail in Orlando after graduation. He has always had
a passion for music, so he worked in local recording studios once he finished school. He worked with a number of
bands who “made it big”, including The Backstreet Boys and N’Sync.
After spending three years in the music industry, he moved into television working behind the scenes of Orlando Magic games at the RDV Sports Complex. From there, he worked as a news photographer at the local affiliate for Univision and FOX 35. He shot video of breaking news, operated live trucks, and edited stories for the evening newscasts every day.
It was that experience that taught him how to shoot quality video in a short amount of time. After spending five years in the news business, Marcelo was hired as the senior editor for Turnstile Publishing. His main focus was Golfweek.com, where he shot and edited video, and then posted it to the web.
He traveled around the world to cover golf tournaments, and post highlights and stories the same day they happened. During his time at Turnstile Publishing, he also had a chance to cover the PGA Merchandise Show. That’s when he first teamed up with Carrie Ferenac to produce daily coverage of the PGA Show for Golfweek.com.
Marcelo has also been working as the Chief Photographer and Editor for Aviation International News since 2006. He has traveled to Geneva, Paris, Dubai and Atlanta to cover various air shows and conventions for AINtv.com.His experience in audio recording, video photography, non-linear editing and live news events now comes together with the creation of Convention News Television.
Kevin Crouch
Executive Vice President
Kevin Crouch has been involved in production and design for almost 20 years. His expertise includes graphic
design, web design, photography, journalism, video and film editing, film production and music composition.
Kevin grew up in the Florida panhandle before attending The Ohio State University and Full Sail University for degrees in Journalism, Film, and Digital Media. During his attendance at Full Sail, Kevin won two awards for his work on the short film, "Smoke and Mirrors". He also composed the score for " The Meeting" ; a short film by one of the "Blair Witch Project" creators which aired repeatedly on The Sci Fi Channel's "EXPOSURE" series and at the Florida Film Festival.
Kevin teamed up with Carrie Ferenac and Marcelo Zolessi to create Convention News Television in 2007. His extensive knowledge of graphic design, web design, content management, video and music production combined with his partners’ news backgrounds creates the perfect blend for this new, well-rounded company. CNTV is on the cutting edge of video production and web news coverage.
Some of Kevin’s previous clients include: United States Department of Agriculture, Signature Flights, Flickerfly Productions, the213.net, Ale House Inc., Enzian Theatre, Josh Leonard Television, Yardhouse LLC, EventHawk. and the off Broadway Musical, "Amelda."
Kevin lives in Southern California, and runs the West Coast division of Convention News Television. Having worked in many facets of the graphic and web design industry, his quality of work and knowledge what the client is looking for is paramount to CNTV.
Bill Peeper
Vice President, Sales and Marketing
A native of Cleveland Ohio, Peeper attended Ohio University where he received a Bachelor of Science in Journalism degree with a major in Public Relations. He then served four years in the United States Air Force.
He began his career in Dayton Ohio, in 1970, at the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce as the first director of
the Convention Department for three years. From 1973 until 1979, he served as the Director of Sales at the New Orleans Tourist and Convention Commission. In November of 1979, Peeper assumed the position of President of the
Hartford Convention and Visitors Bureau where he served until coming to Orlando in May of 1981.
Peeper joined the fledging staff of the Orange County Convention Center with two roles, director of marketing for
the Convention Center and director of the Convention Bureau which was then also a part of county government. Working with the private sector hospitality industry of Central Florida he helped form the not-for-profit Orlando/Orange County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Inc. and became it first CEO in 1984 where he has served as president until his retirement in January 2007. He has seen Central Florida’s tourism industry grow from 35,000 hotel rooms, a handful
of theme parks and attractions, 150,000 square feet of exhibit space to its current 115,000 hotel rooms, 99 attractions and 2.1 million square feet of exhibit space making it the second largest convention center in the United States, with
the second largest market share of convention and trade shows in the country. During that same period Peeper also oversaw the growth of the convention and visitor bureau sales and marketing staff from two to its current level of 170 with offices in five countries and convention sales offices in four U.S. cities. He has traveled extensively both
nationally and internationally to promote the Orlando region.
Peeper is recognized as an industry leader and has worked tirelessly to advance the tourism and convention
industry nationally while growing the market on the home front. He has served in leadership roles for many professional organizations, including; The Professional Convention Management Association, The American Society of Association Executives. He is a former chair of the Florida Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus, and Destination
Marketing Association International (formerly The International Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus) and recently served as treasurer of the Travel Industry Association, the nation’s umbrella travel-trade association. He is frequently sought after for comment on industry issues by various trade publications, including Meeting News which
has also named him one of the top 25 most influential people in the travel industry for six consecutive years.
Believing strongly in the growth and advancement of the entire community Peeper has been an active participant, serving on the board of several local organizations including; the University of Central Florida’s Rosen School
of Hospitality Management, United Arts of Central Florida and the Executive Committee of Florida Citrus Sports, and the Orlando Museum of Art. At the same time he works collaboratively with the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce,
the Greater Orlando Economic Development Commission and the I-4 High Tech Corridor to advocate for a diverse economic base for the Central Florida region.
He resigned his position in January 2007, and focused on completing a book he co-authored entitled, Managing Destination Marketing Organizations, The Tasks, Roles and Responsibilities of The Convention and Visitor Bureau Executive, which was published in January 2008. He is currently consulting with variety of companies in the convention and travel industry.
Peeper was inducted into the Florida Tourism Hall of Fame by Visit Florida in 2002. He was honored with the William C. Peeper Eminent Scholar Chair in Destination Marketing by the Rosen School of Hospitality Management, the
Gene T. Hassett Hospitality Dedication Award from the Hospitality Sales and Management Association’s Central
Florida Chapter, the Charles Andrew Hospitality Award for Community Leadership from the Central Florida Hotel and Lodging Association and the Chairman’s Award for Outstanding Service from the International Association of Convention and Visitor Bureau’s Foundation. He is one of two inaugural inductees into the University of Central Florida’s
Rosen School of Hospitality Management’s Hall of Fame. He was recently recognized for his accomplishments and service to community when more than 800 members of the community and industry attended a dinner in his honor.
Peeper has been married to his wife, Anne, for 37 years. They have two sons, Jay, 33 and Blake 32.
Greig Powers
Producer
Greig Powers has a true talent for multimedia communication and puts it to use for CNTV clients.
As a television professional, Greig has worked with the CNTV team at conventions around the world since 2006. His writing, editing and project management skills drove quality content that reached tens of thousands of people.
At television outlets in Orlando, Fla., Greig creatively produced live news programs for WFTV-TV (ABC) and WESH-TV (NBC). At WFTV-TV, Greig’s leadership allowed the station’s morning program to continue its ratings dominance in the market. He also produced content during the award-winning coverage of the 2004 Florida hurricanes and contributed articles, images and video to the station’s influential news web site.
Orlando’s PBS affiliate, WMFE-TV, called upon Greig to generate high-quality, non-commercial programs for its choosy audience. He created a variety of well-received studio and documentary style programs. Greig also regularly contributed to WMFE-FM, Orlando’s National Public Radio (NPR) station, including reports during the historic 2008 general election and Tropical Storm Fay.
In print, Greig’s work can be seen in national trade magazines such as American City and County and Emergency Management. He also produced two documentary films: Who’s Next and the upcoming Young Composers Challenge.
Greig holds a Master of Arts in Communication and a Bachelor of Arts in Radio-Television from the University of Central Florida, where he occasionally acts as an adjunct instructor of public speaking. Greig grew up in the United Kingdom but now lives in Winter Springs, Fla.
Ed Heiland
Lead Anchor, Reporter
With more than two decades of broadcast experience, Ed Heiland has carved a niche as
a no-nonsense reporter and news anchor.
Coming from a military family background, Ed’s initial career goal was to be a Navy pilot but he was bitten by the Journalism bug while attending college and opted to embark on a high-flying career in broadcasting. His rookie years were spent as a radio reporter for the first all-news network (yes, before CNN!) and he then made the transition to television at WSOC-TV in Charlotte. Quickly adapting to the demands of live television, Ed advanced to become the Bureau Chief in Pensacola, Florida for the NBC affiliate and stayed with NBC when tapped for duty at WESH-TV in Orlando.
Among his many duties at WESH, Ed served as Health reporter and News Anchor as well as co-hosting the annual MDA telethon. During his tenure Ed was honored with more than a dozen reporting awards including four First Place-Major Market media awards from the Florida Medical Association and the American Cancer Society and two SunCoast Emmy nominations.
Success in the nations 20th market inspired a desire to utilize his experience as a Primary Anchor and Ed accepted the challenge at the CBS affiliate in Moline, Illinois. For three years, the station saw ratings growth and numerous awards but working with a staff comprised mainly of first-time reporters also inspired a desire to work
as a leader at a center for learning.
Joining the University of Central Florida in 2004 Ed has been the Host, Writer and Producer of programs seen by over a half million people on UCF-TV. Always looking to expand his horizons, Ed also works with CNTV as Anchor/Reporter for Aviation International News. The internet-based coverage of business aviation (www.aintv.com) has taken him around the world and averages more than 10 thousand web hits daily.
In his spare time Ed enjoys reading, bowling and the occasional good cigar.
Rachel Akers
Producer/ PR Specialist
In love with journalism since she was ten-years-old, Rachel set her sights on working in news at a very young age.
With an overall ten years of broadcast experience under her belt, Rachel consistentlystrives to tell stories in compelling
and visually appealing ways.
Immediately after graduating from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a
Minor in Writing, Rachel moved to West Palm Beach, Florida to work as the Weekday Morning News Producer for WPTV. That same year the 9/11 tragedy struck the United States, and Rachel became one of the first NBC Producers to learn
of the (South Florida) whereabouts of one of the mastermind’s behind the attacks – Muhammad Atta. Rachel took immediate action following this news by sending a photographer to cover the story and alerting the network, resulting
in nationwide coverage and solidifying the local morning newscast’s number one spot in the ratings.
After several years in West Palm Beach, Rachel moved to Orlando to serve as the Weekday Morning News Producer
with WESH 2 News. There, she helped line produce live newscasts on major international events such as the war in Iraq and the capture of Saddam Hussein.
In 2004, Rachel wanted to combine her media experience with serving a good cause so she accepted the role of Communications Director with the American Heart Association, managing all internal and external communications, including promotional efforts for four Central Florida offices. She was recognized by the national non-profit with an
“Above and Beyond the Call of Duty” award.
Today, Rachel is applying knowledge of the business world and media experience with helping companies get the exposure they need. In addition to serving as a Segment Producer for Convention News Television, Rachel is a Contributing Writer for a healthcare magazine. She lives in Winter Garden, Florida with her husband Mark and their
baby girl.
Amy Oshier
Reporter
Amy Oshier brings award winning experience to the CNTV operation. Her exclusive coverage of the 9/11 terrorists earned her the prestigious Edward R. Murrow award, she has also been repeatedly recognized with First Place honors by the Associated Press for news and feature reporting. Working more than a dozen years in local news at stations around Florida gave Amy the opportunity to cover everything from Space Shuttle launches, to the historic 2000 presidential race and recount. Her coverage of Hurricane Charley was later featured in a Weather Channel "Storm Stories" episode.
In 2005, Amy left daily news coverage at the top-rated station in Tampa, the nation's 12th news market, in order to become a freelance reporter. Since that time, she continues to stay busy as an investigative reporter for a Florida network affiliate, she also serves as an anchor for HNN (Healthcare News Network) a hospital-based medical network. As a reporter/anchor for Convention News TV, Amy has travelled domestically and around-the-world and has had the unique opportunity to report on a variety of business interests.
A graduate of the University of Florida, Amy tries to make it to a few football games with her family each season. She also enjoys traveling, cooking and yoga.