Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights President Doug Soetaert announced today the newest additions to the franchise’s administration.
Joining the executive management group is Brad Haynes in the role of vice president of sales and marketing; Dave Ahlers as director of communications and broadcasting; Scott Zingerman and Keith Edmonds as account executives and Jeremy Kaliff as administrative assistant and merchandise manager.
Dave Ahlers relocates to Omaha from Portland, Maine, where he worked as director of communications and broadcasting for the Portland Pirates for nine years. In his role with the Ak-Sar-Ben Knights, Ahlers will be the team’s radio broadcaster while having overall responsibility for the effective representation of the organization with the public. He will be charged with the creation and execution of community relations initiatives and will be the main contact person for all media.
A 2003 winner of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Award in the radio category, Ahlers has also worked as a television sports anchor, a producer and reporter during his career. He is a graduate of the University of Maine and is currently completing a masters degree.
Brad Haynes brings nine successful years of experience in marketing and sales to the Ak-Sar-Ben Knights Hockey Club. He joins the franchise from his recent position as director of corporate sales with Texas Tech Athletics where he was responsible for the generation of over $1.4 million in sponsorship sales. In addition, Brad’s department was responsible for the growth of football season ticket sales from 13,000 in 2002 to over 26,000 for the upcoming Texas Tech football season.
The sales group of the Ak-Sar-Ben Knights enhanced their efforts with the addition of Scott Zingerman and Keith Edmonds as account executives. Scott joins the team from the Premier Industrial Corporation where he performed as an area sales representative. His sales experience also includes the Omaha Compound, United Security and Crest Industries. Keith moves to Omaha from Michigan where he most recently was employed with Central Michigan University as the assistant director of athletic facilities and game management.
The management of the Ak-Sar-Ben Knights merchandising will be the responsibility of Jeremy Kaliff who will also assume the role of the organization’s administrative assistant. Jeremy brings experience in this field from the Colorado Eagles Hockey Club of the Central Hockey League where she has worked for the past year.
