Leadership
Matt Walsh, Director
After finishing his degree at Columbia University, Matt Walsh spent seven years teaching History & Geography, first in Genoa, Italy, and then in the public schools of Houston. At some point, Matt decided to go back to school and headed to the Chicago Portfolio School, where he finished his Copywriting portfolio. He landed his first writing gig at Euro RSCG Chicago working on the Citibank account. Matt then returned to Houston to work at STANANDLOU, followed by a stint as an Interactive Copywriter at Idea Digital, writing for several agency accounts, like HP, Microsoft and Money Management International, to name a few. He now works as Senior Copywriter & Creative Strategist for Six Foot Studios.
When he’s not writing copy or jading young minds in the classroom, you’ll find Matt working in his garden, cooking things from that garden, kicking around the soccer ball with his old Rottweiler or trying to make his nieces less girly.
Chris Hungate, Associate Director
Chris Hungate (@chrishungate) is the consummate Art Director—a whiz on the computer, easily angered by bad design choices and obsessed with the details. Chris got his start making ads for his band back in college and hasn’t stopped for 16 years. Beyond knowing a thing or two about Art Direction, Design and Music, he also knows his way around the back-end. Meaning, of course, that he’s an accomplished developer, who builds his own websites (like this one) and knows way too much about technology.
He’s an Associate Creative Director at Idea Digital, where he works on their Microsoft, HP, & KSBJ accounts, as well as agency marketing stuff, and is the go-to guy for all questions that anyone has. Seriously, you hear, “Go ask Chris,” multiple times daily.
Chris is a die-hard soccer fan, donning the blue of Chelsea FC and the orange of the Houston Dynamo on a regular basis. He is addicted to Sprite and salt.
Instructors
Matt Walsh
HSA101: Concepting
Let’s not feed Matt’s ego by giving him a second bio.
Linsy Nguyen
Students who take Linsy Nguyen’s class will immediately know two things about her: 1) She is, by far, the smallest Creative Director you’ve ever seen; and 2) she’s damn good at what she does. Despite her rather “efficient” frame, Linsy is a creative tour de force, a unique combination of visual genius and technical wizardry that digital agencies drool over.
As Associate Creative Director at Idea Digital, Linsy leads a team of Art Directors, Designers, Writers and Information Architects on the agency’s largest accounts. She is warmly known by her colleagues as a hard ass, never settling for anything less than great and calling a piece of crap a piece of crap. (We all need an instructor like this.)
She received her BA in Graphic Design from the University of Houston (Go Coogs!) only after she almost finished another undergraduate degree from UH in…um…Math. No, seriously. We think it makes her a one-of-a-kind creative.
Linsy is a fine artist at heart, just as comfortable with paper and paint as she is with web design and motion graphics. Linsy has also been a professional dancer (no, not that kind), and she’s a lover of all things handmade, namely things that are knitted, crocheted or doodled.
She makes a mean banh mi.
Chris Pitre
HSA104: Social Media & Digital Strategy
Known in most advertising and marketing circles as the “Social Media Guru” of Houston, Chris Pitre is HSA’s Social Media & Digital Strategy instructor. As Executive Director of Social Media and Innovation, he spends most of his time devising and implementing social and mobile initiatives for Idea Digital and its clients, but he makes time to sit on the Boards of some very important organizations and Chair some very important events.
Besides being an avid Social Media user himself (@chrispitre), Chris is a shrewd marketer who truly knows how to use solid strategy and Social Media to build brands. He single-handedly built Idea Digital’s Social Media team, making Chris the go-to-guy for all things Social and Mobile.
He’ll be the first to tell you that it’s not all about Facebook and Twitter. He’ll tell you it’s all about word-of-mouth, still the most powerful form of advertising. The words and the mouths are just digital these days.
Chris earned his BBA from George Washington University and sits on its Alumni Board of Directors. He is an active member of HiMA and was Chair of its Interactive Strategies 09 Conference. He was judge at the 2010 NSAC in Florida and, most recently, became a guest writer for mashable.com.
He also loves Beyoncé. Ask him to sing for you. He will.