Our Team

Elle Chan has set the bar for Trademark’s reputation as a storytelling juggernaut. Her greatest professional passion is supporting clients on their biggest day – whether it is a fundraising gala bringing in millions for important charities like charity: water, user conferences and social responsibility programs prior to going public for unicorns like Slack, or internal celebrations building culture for disruptors including Lyft and Lime. Her production acumen and proven instinct help her lead clients and the Trademark team to create experiences that inspire action. Elle directs the entire Trademark creative process, helping clients discover new ways to deliver their messages and brand values with maximum impact. Her super power – combining messaging with mediums such as film, video, music, art, light and physical surroundings – is unmatched in the event industry and proven in the toughest of environments. She understands the alchemy of story, performance, and production, and applies it to help attendees relate to and internalize a brand, its values and its products. Elle serves on the Board of Trustees of her alma mater, Hampshire College, and lives with her family in Menlo Park.

Jon Forst, co-founder and primary organizational force behind Trademark, is a master storyteller. His ability to bring corporate messages to life is borne of a lifelong love of global travel, a formal education in TV and film production at University of Maryland, and 25+ years of creating corporate events for the most important and discerning companies in technology, biotech, pharma and fin-tech. Jon brings a unique ability to envision events that ignite emotions, ideas, and audience engagement. His unique super power is envisioning and transforming nondescript venues into immersive spaces that turn brands into experiences that reach people and inspire them to believe and act. Jon pushes the boundaries of the possible, and ensures that the client, extended, and core team members come together to deliver flawless, memorable experiences in the real world, virtually, or in a hybrid scenario.

Wendy Cook is the master of details, deadlines, and dependencies. With entrepreneurial spirit at her core, Wendy has always been in the business of creating flawless events. Her first company, founded at age fourteen, was a wait staff and clean up crew for neighborhood dinner parties. Wendy’s creative management of ever-present forces of time, cost, and scope help clients realize their vision within budget and on time. Wendy’s super power is the ability to recognize and manage contingencies without compromise. She uniquely sees the impact of shifting details, vendors, weather, talent, business priorities and ideas, and identifies a successful way forward. Wendy is a graduate of Brown University and holds an M.B.A. from University of San Francisco. She lives in San Francisco, and has been a key part of Trademark for over two decades. She is known for surrounding herself with people who believe, despite everything they have seen to the contrary, that there is good in the world, and it’s a human imperative to be positive and hopeful.

In his 12 years at Trademark, Jeff has set the standard for how to produce events. His solutions-oriented approach both establishes and strengthens long-term relationships with Trademark’s family of house accounts. He develops a vision and brings it to life with actionable plans and keeps the team motivated by cultivating strong, genuine relationships. Prior to his time at Trademark, Jeff worked as a District Manager for Samuel Adams in Northern California, honing his sales and negotiation skills, while also managing 6 wholesalers along with a team of sales reps and brand ambassadors. He also spent time at BBC honing his production and leadership skills. He has led key projects for some of the world’s top global brands, such as Slack, Lyft, Electronic Arts, Lucasfilm, Okta and Zendesk. A true citizen of the world, Jeff spent 6 months touring South East Asia where he volunteered for the Ahka Hill Tribe rehabilitating small village homes in high elevations and honing his fire dancing skills in front of travelers and locals on Thai beaches. After travel, he completed his Masters of Science in Leisure Studies at San Francisco State University, while concurrently exploring the Bay Area events scene and taking on significant roles with the region’s largest events including the Nike Women’s Marathon and the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. Jeff’s superpower is his unique ability to make everyone around him better and raising his team’s bar with a calm demeanor under pressure. He thrives when put in front of challenging projects by supporting others to do their best work and is committed to the belief that the impossible is possible.

A fascination with the theater, especially the technology that makes it possible, has led Keith on a 25 year career designing, programming, and installing event experiences throughout the United States, Mexico, South America and Europe. For Keith, communication is paramount. He listens intently and masterfully brings ideas out of ambiguity and into reality. When designing a complex system, stage design, or look and feel, Keith can interpret pictures, videos, text, diagrams, schedules, and napkin notes to create and produce a cohesive vision. Keith’s superpower is a well-honed instinct that can distill client’s business goals into gorgeous visual and interactive experiences that inspire audiences. He carefully and meticulously evolves client’s style guides into exquisite stage design and creates an atmosphere that immerses attendees in the brand aesthetic. Keith has worked across industries from music to tech to consumer where he has created stages for concerts, conferences, and festivals. He has worked with Netflix, Slack and AirBnb to Lady Gaga and WuTang Clan. He finds inspiration in excellent design and pulls inspiration from architecture, theatrical design, cars and art installations.

Breese has worked with the largest names in Silicon Valley, New York and everywhere in between, She knows how to translate corporate goals into achievable tactics, and ensures that each detail is delivered as planned. No matter the situation that arises, Breese is known for her cool, professional ability to chart the best path forward, and lead the team to a successful outcome. Breese’s superpower is supporting clients in the role of “Speaker Whisperer”. She has the unique ability to calm nerves and inspire great performances. She also translates inspiring content into engaging visual and experiential components, is fantastic at talent sourcing and excels in creative solutions to complex problems. Prior to joining Trademark, Breese led a team of amazing event professionals for Slack where she was accountable for building brand awareness and generating demand through world class event experiences. She was responsible for the strategy and execution of global field marketing and events programs including regional events, product launches, brand stunts, and Slack’s annual user conference, Frontiers. Breese is a graduate of U.C Berkeley and a triathlete and is always ready to take on the next challenge.

Greg Villeneuve is a data scientist turned creative producer at Trademark. With a keen focus on details and logic, Greg manages a wide variety of details concurrently, ensures on-time and within budget delivery of event elements, and coordinates production details into a symphony performance rather than a string of solos. As a technology industry veteran, Greg can relate to clients’ needs to launch products, differentiate within markets, and attract and engage customers. His unique ability to translate production skills has found a creative outlet for Trademark clients including Adobe, charity: water, and Lucasfilm, but also as a key contributor to high-profile Bay Area-based Burning Man camps and projects. Creatively solving complex problems is Greg’s superpower. He combines an analytical approach and technical know-how to deliver inspiring and seamless attendee experiences. Greg is constantly seeking new ways to solve problems or improve events and relishes times that seemingly unrelated forces connect to reveal a solution to a creative problem. A Bay Area native, Greg is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis and resides in San Francisco.

Clara thrives working closely with her collaborators to create designs in fast paced environments across industries. Clara’s training and experience as an accomplished UX designer, combined with her passion for taking on complex problems underlies her ability to design elegant, simple solutions that surprise and delight users. As Production Manager, Clara relishes the opportunity to apply this mindset and competence to in-person experiences. Her superpower is her ability to envision an end-to-end user experience with impactful storylines. She’s also an expert at applying resources effectively and launching programs at the next level. Prior to Trademark, Clara worked in the San Francisco tech industry and has been a key contributor to Bay Area-based Burning Man camps and projects. Clara is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley, and combines a passion for developing creative new ideas with a strategic approach and technical know-how to deliver inspiring and seamless attendee experiences.

Dillon Morris is a curious creative problem solver with a focus on broadcast and video technology. With an original foundation in editing and cinematography, his 13 year career has taken him through the film industry, advertising, experimental technology, and broadcast/streaming with global agencies and large commercial brands. He engineers everything between live events, live broadcast, video production, 360° video, spatial/volumetric capture, VR/AR/MR platforms, projection mapping, workflow and system design. Dillon is a graduate of Chapman University with a B.A. in Film Production and Cinematography. A storyteller at heart, he always considers the end experience through technical development.

Nick started his first production company 11 years ago creating kickstarter videos for Bay Area companies. He is proud of his experience producing content that promotes global sustainability and humanitarian efforts. As Video Production Lead for Zeal Optics he championed a 5 part series with the National Forest Foundation to increase awareness around environmental change. In 2018, he worked as Production Manager on a 360 video production for charity: water’s gala which raised $7 million dollars in a single evening to bring clean water to Ethiopian villages. As a Production Manager at Trademark, Nick leads creative content and experience development for major global brands including Adobe, ZEISS and Apple, managing complex budgets and teams of employees and overseeing resource allocation. He has a proven track record of executing global programs with complex logistics.

Natalie has worked in the film and television industries for nearly ten years. She started working at her local public access station in Vermont when she was just 14 years old and has been immersed in the industry ever since. Natalie takes the Swiss Army knife approach to production, believing that the key to a successful story is understanding every component and how they link together. She’s worked in nearly every department over the years and particularly loves lighting design. As a Production Coordinator at Trademark, Natalie applies her technology acumen to developing virtual platforms, and manages everything from site selection and venue management to activations and themes.

Nick “Squid” began his journey as a producer over a decade ago in Hollywood, working on major motion pictures, live concerts, commercials, immersive virtual reality experiences, and television programs. With deep experience running shoots in backlot sound stages and on location, he pivoted to live event production and streaming in 2016. He relocated to San Francisco to produce and broadcast marketing, educational, internal events, and product launches for top tier technology clients. He has traveled the world, leading stage builds and technical control room operations. In 2020, he easily refocused on virtual production and broadcast, teaming up with a long-time friend and collaborator, Dillon Morris, to build an end-to-end remote control room solution in a studio in San Francisco. In this control room, he produced and directed dozens of live virtual events for major brands, businesses, and charities featuring company executives, thought leaders of various industries, musical performers, and movie stars. This practice of interfacing one-on-one with key event stakeholders, sponsors, and celebrity talent through the pandemic significantly sharpened Squid’s interpersonal sensibility as a technical producer and director. Squid is a graduate of Temple University with a B.A. in Film & Media Arts.

Dutch is a design and creative powerhouse. Their extensive experience in environmental and digital design results in a complete transformation of raw spaces into stages and activations expressing clients’ brand values. Clients love working with Dutch’s never-ending energy and curiosity. Their work includes attendee journeys for Apple, Adobe, Webflow, Contemplation by Design, and more.