PRINCIPALS & ADVISERS
Dianne L. Chase
An accomplished media, journalism and public
relations professional with profound expertise in
various communication disciplines, Ms. Chase is also
an experienced management consultant, trainer,
presenter, and writer.
Ms. Chase’s broadcast journalism career includes
positions throughout the Carolinas as news director,
anchor, and reporter at the top news radio stations.
She is the winner of numerous local, state,
regional, and national broadcast news awards and the
Executive Editor of ‘North Carolina Police Officer’,
the official publication of the North Carolina
Fraternal Order of Police.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee,
the Asheville, NC native
was the founding partner of several media relations
consulting firms. Ms. Chase has broad experience in
helping individuals and companies of all sizes deal
with the informational needs of the media and other
important stakeholders. Her work for C4CS has
included immediate on-the-scene response to critical
situations as well as ongoing strategic
communications advice and media and crisis
communication training for senior managers.
Ms. Chase has served
as president of the Radio-Television News Directors
Association of the Carolinas and the Charlotte
Chapter of the International Association of Business
Communicators. She currently holds several board
memberships with nonprofit and professional
associations, assisting with communications, media,
public relations, professional development, and
event planning.
A recipient of the National Associated Press
Broadcasters Enterprise Award, the Bishop Fulton J.
Sheen Award, the South Carolina Associated Press
Best Newscast award, Ms. Chase has also served as
adjunct professor at UNC-Charlotte, Winthrop
University, the University of Bucharest, Romania and
Knoxville Business College.
Dr. Terry W. Cole
Dr. Cole brings a wide range of academic and “real
world” consulting experience to his work with
C4CS.
Earning a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Public Communication
from the University of Oregon in 1974, he has served
on the faculty of the Department of Communication at
Appalachian State University for over thirty years.
During his tenure at Appalachian, Dr. Cole served as
Director of Forensics for fifteen years and
Department Chair for ten. Among the courses taught
during his academic career are Argumentation and
Advocacy, Rhetorical Theory and Criticism,
Communication Law, Communication Ethics, Public
Speaking, Speech Writing, Communication Training &
Development, and Crisis Communication.
This academic diversity shapes Dr. Cole’s consulting
expertise in Crisis and Risk Management and
Communication, Presentation Communication, Executive
Communication Coaching and Media Management of high
profile clients. His consulting experience with C4CS includes work with client partners in a variety of industries as well as executive coaching with corporate CEOs and CFOs, working with several major law firms as an expert witness in First Amendment cases, and litigation communication for high profile clients.
Consistent with
C4CS’s
international reach, Dr. Cole has been a visiting
instructor at two Polish institutions, the
University of Gdansk and the Warsaw College of
Communication and Social Science. His instruction
included presentational communication, interpersonal
communication, and First Amendment law as well as
visiting Warsaw internship providers in television,
radio, public relations, and journalism.
Dr. Cole’s recognitions include Outstanding Teaching
Award from the alumni association of Appalachian
State University, serving as National President of
Pi Kappa Delta, National Forensics Honorary Society,
President of the Carolinas Communication
Association, receiving the top leadership and
contributions awards from both organizations, and
serving various offices in the Southern States
Communication Association including chairing its
Academic Administration and Freedom of Speech
divisions. An active leader in the Boy Scouts of
America, he is the holder of the Silver Beaver Award
from that organization.
His scholarly and professional work includes
articles in national and regional communication
journals, the recent publication of a textbook on
Communication Law, numerous paper presentations and
national and regional academic conferences and a
recent invited presentation on Risk Communication at
the Annual Conference of Women in Federal Law
Enforcement.
Dr. Cole is married with two grown sons and makes
his home in the Blue Ridge Mountain community of
Todd, North Carolina.
Dr.
Alan
R. Freitag, APR, Fellow PRSA
Dr. Freitag is a professor with the Communication
Studies Department, College of Arts and Sciences,
the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He
teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in public
relations, and has held this position since August
1998. He also advises the university's chapter of
the Public Relations Student Society of America.
UNC-Charlotte is one of 16 campuses of the
University of North Carolina system, and has a
student population of 20,000. The Department boasts
nearly 1,300 majors and minors.
He earned an associate in applied science degree in
television production and direction from the
Milwaukee Area Technical College (1971); a bachelor
of science degree in radio, television and film from
the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (1973); a master
of arts degree in business administration and public
administration from Webster University, St. Louis,
Missouri (1977); and a Ph.D. in mass communication,
specializing in public relations, from Ohio
University's E.W. Scripps School of Journalism
(1999).
A U.S. Air Force veteran, Freitag retired in 1995 as
a lieutenant colonel after 22 1/2 years of service.
During that time, he spent nearly 10 years in Europe
and two years in Hawaii. He began his career as a
navigator aboard C-130 Hercules aircraft, then
entered the public affairs career field. He served
in advertising and publicity for Air Force
recruiting, on the operations staff of the American
Forces Network - Europe, as director of public
affairs for a U.S. air base in England, with Air
Force legislative liaison in Washington, D.C., as
director of media relations for the Strategic
Defense Initiative Organization at the Pentagon, as
director of media relations and press aide to the
Supreme Allied Commander for NATO's military arm
headquartered in Belgium, and as assistant director
of public affairs for the Air Force's Pacific
command.
His military duties included direct public affairs
involvement in the return of the U.S. hostages from
Iran in 1980, the raid on Libyan terrorist
facilities in 1986, and the invasion of Panama in
1989. During three critical years with NATO,
Freitag was closely involved with Alliance media
activities surrounding the reunification of Germany,
the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact, the restructuring of NATO's military, the
opening of NATO to Eastern Europe, the Russian coup,
the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, and NATO's
involvement in the Gulf War.
Civilian experience includes production and
direction work in public and commercial television
prior to his Air Force service, and teaching courses
in journalism and public relations during his
three-year doctoral program at Ohio University, as
well as serving as faculty adviser to the school's
Public Relations Student Society of America chapter.
He is a member and officer of the Association for
Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, for
whose national conventions he has presented several
research papers. He is also a member of the Public
Relations Society of America and serves as faculty
adviser to UNC-Charlotte's student chapter. He also
holds memberships with the SHAPE Officers
Association (NATO), the Air Force Association, the
Armed Forces Broadcasters Association, and the
Retired Officers Association.
His work has been published in Journalism and
Mass Communication Quarterly, Journal of
Public Relations Research, Journal of
Communication Management, Public Relations
Quarterly, Newspaper Research Journal,
Airman, and Asia-Pacific Defense Forum.
Professional military courses completed include Air
War College, Air Command and Staff College, Squadron
Officers' School, the NATO Officers' Course, the
Senior Public Affairs Officers' Course, the
Broadcast Managers' course, the Public Information
Officers' Course, and the Air Force Communications
Short Course.
Joey C. Popp
A professional broadcast journalist with over 20
years in television and radio news, Joey Popp uses
realistic interview techniques to help build media
and spokesperson skills for our corporate, not for
profit and government client partners.
Mr. Popp’s career includes both journalism and
public relations. In the early 1980s, he left a
stint with an Atlanta network affiliate to undertake
a new and exciting adventure. As Director of
Communication for the 1982 World’s Fair, Mr. Popp
was interviewed by hundreds of newspaper, radio and
television reporters from around the globe. In this
role, he added to his talent for covering the news
the ability to effectively work with the news media
as a PR professional.
Following the conclusion of the World’s Fair, Mr.
Popp returned to broadcast journalism in Charlotte,
NC. As an investigative and medical producer with
WBTV, the CBS affiliate, he quickly gained
recognition for his award-winning work. A member of
the NC Radio Television and Directors Association,
Mr. Popp conducted numerous memorable interviews and
wrote and edited many groundbreaking investigative
pieces. In addition, he produced “Doctor-On-Call”,
one the first local television news segments devoted
to medical research, which quickly became a
respected feature on WBTV news.
Mr. Popp then moved on to WLOS, the ABC affiliate in
Asheville, NC, where he worked as a general
assignment reporter, reporting “live” about many
breaking stories and providing in-depth coverage of
the area’s judicial system. He also filled in as
co-anchor of the station’s highly rated Morning News
before joining the NBC affiliate, WCNC, in
Charlotte. For WCNC he reported “live” from many
crisis spots and prepared breaking news stories from
the station’s mobile newsroom. Always stable and
unflappable before the intensity of the cameras,
Popp was a highly recognized and popular member of
the News6 team.
In 1996, Mr. Popp left full-time journalism to
pursue an independent career. In his role as Senior
Partner and lead media trainer at
C4CS,
he has since worked with hundreds of individuals who
routinely praise him as an outstanding mentor and
coach.
Together with his wife Catherine, Mr. Popp also
produces television and radio segments and places
advertising with various broadcasting media. In
addition, he continues to work as a TV journalist
with WTVI, hosting the popular weekly one-hour
call-in program “Healthwise”.
An avid sports fan, in his free time Mr. Popp can be
found at Bank of America Stadium cheering the
Carolina Panthers, pulling for the Charlotte
Bobcats, or broadcasting from various high school
football games where he occasionally provides both
play-by-play and color commentary.
A native of Berlin , Germany , Mr. Schmidt looks back upon many years of consulting, training and coaching in the areas of strategic communication, crisis management, and organizational leadership. He speaks several languages and has lived and worked in North America , Europe and Asia .
Due to his international background, Mr. Schmidt possesses a rare sense for cultural differences and their role in multinational corporations. He is capable of both quickly assessing complex business issues and guiding a comprehensive response while providing culturally diverse client partners with a depth of understanding and competence.
Mr. Schmidt has routinely advised business leaders including the CEOs of well-known corporations regarding high stakes business problems. On the consulting end his focus has been on working with domestic and international client partners in the areas of crisis and risk communication, media relations, internal communication, issues management, reputation management, and crisis management.
In confidential executive coaching sessions Mr. Schmidt has helped senior leaders improve their interpersonal and group communication skills as well as reach a greater understanding of what it takes to be a successful leader. This holistic approach is not only geared at enhancing verbal and physical delivery, but also at learning how to win over audiences and becoming a more confident and better manager.
Mr. Schmidt has frequently been invited to make presentations and conduct customized management trainings. He has addressed a wide variety of professional audiences in over 30 countries on topics ranging from crisis and risk communication to issues management, business continuity planning, and leadership coaching.
Mr. Schmidt's expertise extends to his educational career. He possesses a Master's degree in Business Management and in Communication Science and has been a guest lecturer at universities in several countries. A Friedrich Naumann scholar and recipient of a Fulbright Grant, Mr. Schmidt has written articles for a variety of industry and peer reviewed publications.
In his free time Mr. Schmidt enjoys biking and swimming with his wife and his children. His interest in learning about and exploring foreign cultures has turned him into a fan of travel literature. An avid fly fisherman, Mr. Schmidt can be found wading the streams feeding Lake Erie , preferably going after steelhead.
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