AdvertiseVA.com Bios

From TV sports anchor to self-taught Web designer and developer, Gary Cope has had quite the professional career since graduating from Virginia Tech in 1997. Armed with a degree in Communications, Gary moved to Michigan to work as the Iron Mountain bureau chief for WLUC-TV. After a short, and very cold, stint in the Upper Peninsula, Gary returned to Virginia where landed a videographer gig with WSLS-TV in Roanoke, but quickly worked his way up to sports reporter and anchor. He also co-produced Virginia Tech Sports Today during the 1998 season.

Gary left WSLS in September 1999 to take the sports reporter and weekend anchor job at WVIR-TV in Charlottesville. He spent two and half years at NBC29 before leaving television to become the sports editor for The Culpeper Star-Exponent and as a sports talk radio show host at WKAV in Charlottesville. After the managing editor of the paper abruptly resigned, Gary interviewed for the job, but Media General dragged its feet, so he accepted an offer from the state’s top weekly paper, The Fauquier Citizen, where he went on to earn a Virginia Press Association award for his sports feature writing and two more VPA awards for layout and design. Gary joined the corporate world as a communications specialist at SRA International, Inc., in Fairfax, VA. He moved back to the New River Valley with his wife, Donna, and his son, Nicholas. Gary currently works as an In-House SEO professional and Web designer for a company in Roanoke, Va. Gary also founded CWI Media & Marketing, a small business providing Web, graphic and marketing development for small- to mid-sized businesses and organizations - though his wife, Donna, runs the day-to-day operations.

Gary is a native of Newport News, Va., but lives in Pulaski.

Beth Deel is an intra-disciplinary artist living and working in Roanoke, VA. She recently completed her MFA in Dance this summer at Hollins University and American Dance Festival and holds a BFA in painting and printmaking from the Kansas City Art Institute in Kansas City, MO. Since 2000 Beth has been flying off tall buildings in aerial dance productions, organizing art exhibitions, teaching, and contributing to design projects. Most recently, Ms. Deel is teaming up with design maven, Wendy Schuyler, to create Roanoke's first ever intra-disciplinary design firm, upUPperiscope.com. Their most exciting and popular project to date is the brilliant interactive online calendar www.myScoper.com. Beth is excited to be part of The Butter Room Crew and blogs the world about art, performance +music, design, technology and sometimes rock climbing. In her spare time, Beth LOVES to rock climb, improv everywhere and play with her Weimaraner, Dixie. Also, KUDOS to the significant other, Mark Kary, who goes along with all of Beth's antics and run amok shenanigans.

Wendy Schuyler is an intra-disciplinary designer living and working in Roanoke, VA. Most recently, she and Beth Deel (aka mini think-tank), created upUPperiscope, inc., a revolutionary, interactive design firm in Roanoke, VA. Their most exciting and ambitious project to date is myScoper.com, a dazzling interactive calendar of events for Roanoke and beyond. Wendy started her graphic design career in Poland at the McCann Erickson advertising agency, one of the world's largest and most influential. She also worked in traditional publishing for several years prior to leaping into business ownership. Wendy holds a B.S. in Advertising/Communication Arts with a minor in Dance from Appalachian State University. Still a lover of dance, Wendy hits the floor when she gets a chance; her other loves include traveling to far-flung places and hangin' with her wuzzles (aka dog and cat). Wendy also loves sunny days, hiking in the mountains, swimming in "real" water (she's a native of Smith Mountain Lake, VA after all), and painting her house, which she shares with her husband Travis, every color of the rainbow.

Without a job and a business plan, Todd Wickersty founded Business Bullpen, an online services firm that provides application development, online marketing, and web design solutions in July 2005. Three months earlier, Todd left his post as Director of Online Fan Clubs & Project Management at Musictoday to take an internet commerce position in the sports industry. Three days before his start date, the eCommerce line of business was dissolved and so was Todd's new job. Business Bullpen was then formed, purely to survive.

Since graduating from Virginia Tech in 1993, Todd has been fortunate enough to work on a variety of projects in the music, sports, and tech sectors. Todd has selected video clips for Titleist commercials, piloted an indoor blimp at college basketball games, and managed 15 Virginia Tech football players for a telemarketing campaign in the press box of Lane Stadium. The highlight of Todd's stint in the sports world occurred in 1995-96 when he coordinated the 1996 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was Tiger Woods' last collegiate event, and it set records for attendance and ticket sales. After finding out that the indoor blimp cost more than his salary, Todd left the sports industry for business school in 1996, launching a career focused in technology. After his MBA, a consulting gig with Accenture followed and then Todd joined AOL in the Interactive Marketing department three days before the announcement of the AOL-Time Warner merger. After surviving the first two rounds of layoffs during the dot-com bust, Todd moved to Charlottesville, Virginia and worked for Musictoday from 2001-2005. During that time, Todd oversaw many of Musictoday's most critical projects from the migration and construction of the Grateful Dead online store to the advent of the Musictoday digital download platform and online fanclub business.

Todd has lived in Arlington, Blacksburg, Falls Church, Williamsburg, Winchester, and now Charlottesville.