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     Infrequently Asked Questions

       

 

Julia Simms, APR
President/Founder

Besides being j. simms agency's walking encyclopedia on all things San Diego, Julia Simms is a fourth-generation Coronadan. She grew up exploring the tidepools in Point Loma, the nooks and crannies of Balboa Park and the hidden entrances of the Hotel Del Coronado.

Despite her misspent youth as an island rat, Julia brings more than 25 years of experience in the public relations and marketing field to the work of j. simms agency. She’s seen more economic cycles than anyone would care to admit and her breadth of experience has earned her the ear of many a mover and shaker in the San Diego business scene. From the trenches to the boardrooms, Julia has watched San Diego grow and brings her hard-earned knowledge to bear for all of the agency’s clients.

Having earned the prestigious APR designation from the Public Relations Society of America, Julia has won more awards from the Building Industry Association of San Diego County for Best Public Relations Campaign than any other person or company in the area. She was awarded the Eva Irving Community Service Award from PRSA in 2003 and the Building Industry Association dubbed her The Gary Campbell Industry Professional of the Year in 1999.

Born and raised on the island, Julia attended Coronado schools and San Diego State University before graduating from the University of Phoenix in San Diego. She claims to have never lived outside the county (except for a two-month stint at age 17 of which the details will remain hidden forever).

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Michael Simms
Vice President

Mike Simms grew up overseas but eventually settled in San Diego. Actually, four generations of his family now call San Diego home. His grandparents owned a five-and-dime store in Encinitas in the 1960s and Mike visited them often to roam the candy and toy aisles and make big eyes at the staff. His favorite spots in the county are Moonlight Beach in the North County and the Aerospace Museum in Balboa Park. His long-term avocation is to find the best carne asada taco on either side of the border before the rest of his hair falls out.

Mike holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from the former U.S. International University’s San Diego campus and previously worked in software development for Mitchell International and Globalink, Inc. before joining j. simms agency.

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Bonnie Vieira
Director of Client Services

Hailing from foggy San Francisco, Bonnie came to j. simms agency by way of San Diego State University on a mission to fulfill a life-long dream of beach living. The resident expert in Pacific Beach, her prized possession is a red beach cruiser and she can out do any Fodor’s guide in naming the best beach eateries and hangouts up and down San Diego’s coast.

A devout SDSU Aztecs fan, she observes every game day religiously and claims to personally know the school’s mascot, Monty Montezuma. And even though the song says she should have left her heart in San Francisco, we are quite certain San Diego has stolen it away.

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Paul O'Sullivan
Director of Cross-Border Communications

Our very own International Man of Mystery, Paul O'Sullivan has been chased by angry hippos in Kenya, attended university in Granada, Spain, camped under the stars in Alaska, and "touched" tomb walls in Giza, Egypt (we're not sure we want to know about that last one). He also has studied poisonous snakes in Costa Rica -- which is just plain wierd if you ask us.

But even after all of that, Paul decided while studying International Relations at the University of San Diego, that the most interesting country to get to know was our very own neighbor to the south, Mexico. Embracing the spirit of our multinational community in San Diego, Paul has worked tirelessly to promote cross-border communication and commerce for 20 years.

Using all of his multicultural expertise and extensive contacts on both sides of the border, Paul opens up true cross-border markets for clients of j. simms agency and it's sister company O'Sullivan Internacional. We still don't know what he did to tick off those hippos, but we're glad he's a member of our team.

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Jessica Davis
Account Coordinator

Although Jessica grew up in northern California, she is no stranger to So. Cal. Family vacations to San Diego remain a favorite childhood memory and, longing for the smell of bonfires on a warm summer night, Jess packed up her things and headed to the sunny city.

Four years and many grande soy lattes later, Jess graduated from San Diego State University. If she’s not jogging along Sunset Cliffs, you may find Jess rummaging through antique stores in Ocean Beach or developing her plan to open a boutique filled with slightly used bridesmaids' dresses.

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Jim Frampton
Senior Advisor

Jim Frampton, a onetime staff writer for the Evening Tribune, has been active in public relations and marketing communications in San Diego since 1966, across a wide range of consumer, financial and business-to-business markets, locally, nationally and internationally. He has received awards for newswriting, advertising and PR and until recently exercised dubious proficiency in concluding a three-martini lunch and still being able to find an open stall in the men's room. He serves as a senior advisor to staff at j. simms agency, and we mean senior.

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George Dowden
On-Line Marketing Specialist

Abigail

Having vowed to never to live more than 20 minutes from the ocean, George arrived in San Diego circa 1979 from Newport Beach. He graduated with distinction from SDSU (yet the meaning of this honor had to be explained to him) and remains a loyal alumnus of the black and red. When not churning out dazzling Web site designs for j. simms or rooting around in the dark places behind every site, he serves on the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District Tech Preparation Advisory Panel in the areas of Graphic and Web design.

His favorite stomping grounds are Old Town, Anza Borrego desert, Coronado and pretty much any Mexican restaurant in between. And in all sincerity, he believes a Siberian Husky is the closest thing on earth to perfection.

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Ron Evans
Senior Designer

Ron and "Mac"

Having moved to San Diego in the early sixties from San Francisco, Ron immediately went to work for Ryan Aeronautical, the company that brought Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis to life in the ’20s. Leaving Ryan in the early ’70s, Ron began producing graphics for Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, San Diego Gas and Electric, Piret's California Bistros and a host of wineries both locally and in northern California and was awarded an Emmy in the ’80s for his work on the America's Cup Challenge video for KPBS.

When not producing graphics, Ron can be found camping with his wife Diane and three dogs all over San Diego County.

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Len Torres
Senior Designer

Len grew up in the shadow of the California Tower in Balboa Park and remembers when San Diego was a “town.” (Interestingly, it still is – probably the biggest little town in the USA.) Len’s degree is in art and communication. He’s very proud to have stayed in college for seven years – SDSU finally said “enough.”

Len has been published and won awards for illustration, design, identity work and advertising. With years of marketing experience he has collected an anthology of trivia such as: San Diego is considered to have the most sophisticated beer palate of any American city.

Len has traveled enough to know that, from the beaches all the way to our beautiful desert, there’s no place like home.

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Carm Greco
Senior Copywriter

After serving time alternately freezing and sweltering in Michigan, Wisconsin and Arizona, native New Yorker and admitted weather wuss Carm Greco finally arrived in Paradise. Her arrival date, 1979, the start of her “real life” in San Diego, is commemorated in a floor tile at The San Diego Historical Society.

Carm’s favorite haunts in San Diego are Balboa Park and Torrey Pines Beach. She’s an avid fan of San Diego’s vibrant theater scene and applauds wildly every time one of our esteemed companies sends a polished production eastward to Broadway.

 

 
  j. simms agency |  9606 Tierra Grande Street,  Suite 201 |  San Diego, CA 92126 | P  858.689.9909 | F  858.689.1281