Find out about the people behind PassageMaker Magazine and PassageMaker Events

John Wooldridge | Editor-In-Chief
John came to PassageMaker Magazine in January, 2008 with 30 years of experience in marine publications, having written and edited for the most notable titles in the field. He has had the opportunity to cruise coastal and offshore waters globally, aboard vessels ranging from pocket trawlers to bluewater ocean crossers. He writes extensively about boats and their systems, owners and their adventures, destinations and voyages.
jwooldridge@passagemaker.com
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Peter Swanson | Executive Editor
Award-winning writer Peter Swanson grew up sailing on Buzzards Bay, then went on to an ill-timed stint at the U.S. Military Academy. With the Vietnam War winding down, he dropped out and went on to graduate from UMass in Journalism. He worked as a reporter and editor for New England newspapers for 20 years before setting a course to the islands on his 30-foot sailboat. Along the way he worked as a catamaran captain, diesel mechanic, delivery skipper and freelance writer. Returning stateside, he worked as an editor for Yachting and PassageMaker magazines, and later became communications director for the builder of Great Harbour trawlers. He participated in both the Nordhavn Around the World adventure and the Nordhavn Atlantic Rally. He piloted a GH N37 from Florida to Ensenada, just south of San Diego, and later took another N37 from Ensenada to San Francisco. He’s has nearly 20,000 nautical miles under way in trawlers, much of them blue-water passages. He holds a 50-ton captain’s license and was recently certified by the National Marine Electronics Association as a basic installer.
pswanson@passagemaker.com

Kelly Fong | Associate Editor
Kelly started as a freelance copy editor in the fall of 2011, and joined PassageMaker full-time as associate editor in the spring of 2012. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in journalism from one of the top journalism schools in the country, the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland (UMD), and has more than five years of editorial/journalism experience under her belt. For a brief period, she was a multimedia journalist and reporter for UMTV’s Maryland Newsline Monday—UMD’s cable news channel . From 2007 to 2011 she could be found contributing to and working in the offices of Teen Vogue, Entertainment Tonight, NBC, and Autism Speaks. She has traveled around the globe from Paris, France to Bangkok, Thailand, and is thrilled to be part of the PassageMaker family and working by the water every day. She recently completed a basic powerboating cruising course at Wilde Yacht Sales.
kfong@passagemaker.com
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Geoffrey Leech | Associate Publisher
Geoff has been with PassageMaker Magazine since the summer of 2003. In his role as Advertising Sales Director he is responsible for a spirited team of talented sales professionals covering print, online and event sales. His passion for boating evolved from his childhood spent exploring the Chesapeake Bay on variety of watercraft.
geoffrey@passagemaker.com
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Kieran Conaty | Advertising Sales Associate
Kieran joined PMM back in 1999— when the magazine published four times a year. Over the past thirteen years, Kieran has enjoyed witnessing the trawler market exploded into the mainstream of the marine industry. He hopes to soon own a trawler/cruiser and live out the cruising-under-power lifestyle. Kieran’s hobbies include kayaking, fantasy baseball and writing bios in the third person. As an Advertising Sales Associate for PMM, Kieran works with industry reps to create a powerful, results-oriented advertising experience. If you have any questions on advertising, feel free to contact Kieran at the email or number below.
kieran@passagemaker.com
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Will Carlsen | Event Sales Associate
Will joined PassageMaker in the Spring of 2006. He grew up in the Annapolis area where he acquired a love for the water at an early age. Will handles the exhibitor sales both land and water, for the PassageMaker Events Series and has enjoyed meeting readers and advertisers at various locations around the country.
wcarlsen@passagemaker.com
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Vicky Shoemaker | Web Ad Sales & Ad Traffic Coordinator
Vicky came to PassageMaker Magazine in July of 2007. She works with our advertising partners to expand their branding into the internet and the ever-growing new market there. She manages the coordination of ads for the print magazine. She helps during our PassageMaker Events Series, where she is a jack-of-all-trades. If you see her climbing a ladder or steadying one, wait until she gets down to give her a high-five.
vshoemaker@passagemaker.com
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Cindy Salvatoré | Events Manager
Cindy joined PMM in 2006 to help organize the PassageMaker Events Series. She has over 20 years of event planning experience including work for the Department of the Army, Porsche Cars Racing, and hotels and casinos in the Lake Tahoe area. Boating is a new experience for her, and she is happy to be part of the PMM family. Cindy grew up near the beaches of Southern California and although she considers Lake Tahoe to be her spiritual home, she does enjoy views of the Chesapeake Bay from the office. Some of Cindy’s passions include traveling to exotic lands, backpacking, cooking, driving fast cars, and watching University of Southern California football.
cindy@passagemaker.com
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Christina Vilches | Promotions Coordinator
Christina joined PassageMaker Magazine in the summer of 2011 as the Editorial Intern, where she fell in love with PassageMaker and Annapolis. She was hired back on as the Promotions Coordinator in December 2011. Christina graduated from Iowa State University with a B.S. in business marketing, journalism, and advertising.
cvilches@aimmedia.com
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Emily Bohling | Events Coordinator
Emily joined PassageMaker Magazine in January of 2012. She is completely new to the Annapolis area, as well as new to the world of boating, but is loving every minute of it. Emily grew up in a small town in Virginia, and graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in Management. She loves to travel and couldn’t be more excited to be a part of PassageMaker Magazine and Events Series!
ebohling@passagemaker.com
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Pamela Batchelder | Marine Group Business Manager
Pamela comes to PassageMaker as the Office Manager with a strong background in management and finance. After graduating from UMUC in 2004 with her MBA she became the VP of finance and operations for a contracting company in Annapolis. Before that, she had a great deal of experience in many areas of business from accounting, operations, human resources, contracting, and management. Pamela was raised in Forestville, Maryland and decided with her husband to move here to Annapolis in 2002. When she isn’t working she keeps busy with her children Thomas, Joseph and Catherine and all of the family pets. Her family is proud to sponsor four Naval Academy midshipmen each year. She has a diverse range of hobbies from gardening, music, dance, working out, reading, sewing, and dog training. For all you Redskin fans she was a Redskins cheerleader years ago to a Super Bowl championship team. She is happy to be a part of a really great PMM team.
pamela@passagemaker.com
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Carolyn Russell | Administrative Assistant
Carolyn was raised in a small town called Ostego in southwest Michigan. Before moving to Maryland she earned a Bachelor of Science degree and teaching certificate from Western Michigan University in Kalamzazoo Michigan. Carolyn had a 32 year career teaching Chesapeake Bay Studies, Environmental Science, and Chemistry at Severna park Senior High in Severna park Maryland. After retiring from teaching six years ago she joined the PassageMaker team in the accounting department. She and her husband Chris have one daughter and three grandchildren. Her hobbies include traveling, reading, genealogy, basket weaving an scrapbooking. Carolyn enjoys working with people at PassageMaker and the great office location at Horn Point Marina.
carolynr@passagemaker.com
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Efrem Zimbalist III, Chairman & CEO

Andrew W. Clurman, President & COO

Brian J. Sellstrom, Senior VP & CFO

Patricia B. Fox, Senior VP, Operations

Joseph Cohen, VP, Controller

Marcia Orovitz, VP, Newsstand

Kristy Kaus, VP Research

AIM Marine Group
Gary deSanctis, VP & General Manager of the Marine Group
Jennifer Jones, VP, Marketing & Events