Event: 'Breakfast Seminar - The 2008 Presidential Election: Leadership, Voting Behavior, & The Economy'

Date: Friday, October 31, 2008 At 07:30 AM
Duration: 2 Hours

The Moderator for this intriguing seminar was Kent Davy, Editor of the North County Times (far right). The Panelists for this dicussion were: Jeff Campbell (middle left), Dr. Jennifer Merolla (far left), and Kelly Cunningham (middle right).

JEFF CAMPBELL
Jeff Campbell is the former CEO of Burger King and ex-Chairman of the Pillsbury Restaurant Group, which included – at the time of his tenure – the Burger King, Steak and Ale, Bennigan’s and Godfather’s Pizza restaurant chains, totaling
some 6,000 units worldwide.

Jeff has also held the posts of Senior Vice President for Brand Development for Pepsi-Cola (where he was responsible for the marketing efforts behind the Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and Mountain Dew brands) as well as CEO of the Johnny Rockets
and Catalina Restaurant Groups.

During a thirty-seven year career, Jeff has been directly involved in a number of high-profile marketing successes such as Burger King’s “Have It Your Way” and “Battle of the Burgers” campaigns and Pepsi’s “Been There, Done That” campaign
for Mountain Dew. He has also made a mark for himself – and with those who have worked directly with him – as a highly effective leader, memorable and inspirational mentor and strong developer of up-and-coming management talent.

During his seventeen-year stint at Burger King, Jeff rose from Advertising Manager to CEO in twelve years and led that company to some of its historical peaks in performance, including a doubling of Profits Before Tax between 1982
and 1984.

Jeff has a B.A. in Psychology from Fairfield University, an M.B.A. in marketing from Columbia University and an M.A. in History from the University of Miami. He’s been the recipient of multiple professional awards including two
Gold Chain Awards from Nation’s Restaurant News and Advertising Executive of the Year from the Gallagher Report. Prior to embarking on his business career, Jeff served as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division.

Jeff’s consulting practice, originally started in 1997, has focused on the areas of strategic and marketing planning and business evaluation. Previous clients have included: GECapital (on Boston Market) The Wolfgang Puck Food Company, Fujitsu Transaction Systems and Luby’s Cafeterias. Since 2005, Jeff has been teaching part-time at San Diego State University’s Hospitality and Tourism School where he is currently the Norman Brinker Executive In Residence.

DR. JENNIFER MEROLLA:
Dr. Jennifer Merolla is the Mary Nicolai-George Blair Assistant Professor in the Department of Politics and Policy at Claremont Graduate University. She received her B.A. from Boston College in 1997 and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Duke University in 2003.

Her teaching and research focuses on campaigns and elections, minority political behavior, public opinion, political psychology, and Congress. She also teaches courses in methodology.

Her current research projects focus on the effects of context and information on the policy preferences, attitudes, and political behavior of citizens. The overriding goal of her research is to understand how different types of contextual settings and informational cues influence the quality of representation in various democracies.

Please click on the following link for more information: Dr. Jennifer Merolla

KELLY CUNNINGHAM
Kelly Cunningham is Senior Fellow and Economist for the San Diego Institute for Policy Research. He is the former chief economist and research director for the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, where he established a reputation for his understanding and expertise of San Diego's regional economy. He was also supervising economist at the City of San Diego and a senior market research analyst for a national apartment developer.

After graduating from Brigham Young University with a degree in business and economics, Cunningham worked in the marketing research department at the corporate offices of the Copley Press, Inc., owners and publishers of The San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper. He joined the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce in 1987 and became director of the Economic Research Bureau. He left to work for the City of San Diego in 2004 and the private builder in 2005.

Cunningham has closely monitored San Diego's economy for the past 23 years. His analysis and views on the San Diego economy are sought by local, state, national and international businesses and media.