atCommunications, LLC

10/03/2026

From Champaign to the "Shark Tank" stage and back! Today students in Terry Kasdan's Media Entrepreneurship class at the University of Illinois had the opportunity to hear from Charlotte Trecartin, founder of CharCharms (https://charcharms.com) and WallCandy (https://wallcandyshop.com), and a fellow Illini alum. Charlotte shared the story of how she started and grew CharCharms, what it was like pitching to Mark Cuban, Mr. Wonderful, and the rest of the Shark Tank cast, and lessons she’s learned along the way as an entrepreneur. She was incredibly generous with her time, sharing practical advice, answering every question we threw at her, and showing what’s possible with creativity, persistence, and the courage to take risks. Thank you so much for visiting with us today, Charlotte!

15/07/2025

Four students from Terry Kasdan's Media Entrepreneurship class at the University of Illinois earned Graphic Design USA magazine’s American Digital Design Award for the brand identity and user interface they created for a mobile app concept they developed in class. Even more inspiring, they’re continuing this summer to work on the business they started in class last semester.

This team also won the class’ “Shark Tank” pitch competition which was judged by a panel of industry professionals from Meta, Ogilvy, and elsewhere. Look for their work in GDUSA’s 25th annual Digital Design Awards Showcase published in print and online at https://gdusa.com/competitions/digital-design. More than 13,000 entries were submitted this year and just 100 winners were chosen. Congratulations Alessandra Lopez, Macy Miller, Ben Riseman, and Emmanuel Tinajero! We're so proud of you and can’t wait to see what you accomplish next!

27/01/2025

Thank you 𝘛𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘤𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘳 for including atCommunications' Terry Kasdan in today's expert roundup on the subject of whether to build or buy generative AI solutions.

https://techronicler.com/the-build-or-buy-decision-tech-leaders-answer-the-generative-ai-conundrum/

23/02/2024

As seen in this AP News report: 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗚𝗼 𝗔𝗹𝗹-𝗜𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹: 𝟲𝟰% 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰, 𝗘𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 . .
“Imagine showing up just as someone asks, ‘Where can I find your product?’” says atCommunications’ co-founder Terry Kasdan. “Paid search, like Google Ads, makes this—which is every marketer’s dream—a reality by allowing advertisers to pick the queries that trigger their ads.” . .
“Businesses no longer view digital channels as isolated tactics, as they did pre-pandemic,” says Kasdan, who is also an adjunct professor in the College of Media at the University of Illinois. “The digital space is now recognized as a powerful, integrated ecosystem where every interaction contributes to a cohesive customer journey.”

14/12/2023

Congratulations to our client Ascension Medical Group's Pathways Behavioral Health Network on the publication of its new Web site. We've had the privilege to serve Ascension (formerly AMITA) for more than a decade!

08/12/2023

This week, students in Terry Kasdan's Media Entrepreneurship class at the University of Illinois pitched business concepts they've worked on all semester long (starting in August with ideation and market research to customer segmentation, finance, user experience design, monetization, promotion, and more) to a panel of industry professionals — our class' own "Shark Tank." Thank you Diana Dionisio (WGN-TV), Joshua James (OTHER.OOO), and Nicole Yaylayan (Arc Worldwide) for volunteering your time to be this semester's "sharks!"

Every single team knocked it out of the park (some teams are even planning to continue working on their businesses after this semester ends), but only one team earned class bragging rights by winning this semester's Pitch Competition. Which team do you think our judges voted for?

(If you're a junior, senior, or grad student at UIUC and think you have what it takes to step into the Media Entrepreneurship Shark Tank, Advertising 409/509 is open to all majors. Class meets every Tuesday and Thursday at 1:00PM and there are still a few spots left for spring!)

30/10/2023

Thank you Yahoo Finance for including Terry Kasdan in this article!
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“Who is better suited to open the next winning business in an industry than the individual with 20 or 25 years of experience under his or her belt?” said Terry Kasdan, founder of digital marketing agency atCommunications and adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Illinois.

“...Take the knowledge, skills and industry connections you’ve acquired working all these years for someone else and start working for yourself.”

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/experts-lose-job-40s-50s-180023510.html

03/08/2023

90% of all Web traffic starts at Google. Being seen on page 1 of Google's search results can translate into hundreds of thousands (or even millions) of additional sales. Optimizing Web sites to generate maximum search engine visibility is both an art and a science. It was a privilege for atCommunications to work with Wilson Sporting Goods this summer to analyze its existing search engine visibility, and to recommend and implement ways to improve it.

26/07/2023

The Intelligentsia Cup Pro/Am bike race returns to the streets of downtown Northbrook TOMORROW, and atCommunications is thrilled to be assisting again with social media coverage for this exciting event! Follow here on Facebook (as well as on Instagram & Twitter) for more information and all the latest updates.

THURSDAY IS THE DAY! 🚴‍ ☀️ Get ready for a thrilling day of family fun as the Northbrook Grand Prix pro/am bike races return to the streets of Downtown Northbrook! The 1.1-kilometer race course wraps around Downtown Northbrook and the Village Green Park, and goes through neighborhood streets with tight corners. This creates a fast, challenging course for riders and is exhilarating for spectators to watch up close! There is no admission fee for spectators. Races start at 11:10AM and culminate with Womens' Pro and Mens' Pro races (presented by George Garner Cyclery) at 5:00PM and 6:45PM respectively. WHO ELSE CAN'T WAIT?!
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26/05/2023

I've been playing with the beta version of Photoshop with generative fill, and all I can say is... WOW! I gave it these vertical pictures I took and, obviously, it had no way to know what was actually to the left and right in either one. With just one click it completed hills and valleys in the first picture, forest and ground in the second one. It filled in rocks and plants, trees and shadows, clouds and sky — all perfectly proportioned, impeccably colored and toned, and all in perfect context. Who can say what's real any more?!

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24/05/2023

Repost from Illinois Advertising:
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Four students in this spring's 409 Media Entrepreneurship class have won 2023 American Digital Design Awards presented by Graphic Design USA Magazine. Congratulations to Caroline Azzo, Hope Fowler, and Lillie Ostarello, all juniors in Advertising, and Simran Shah, a Master’s student in Urban Planning.

The four students teamed to create a comprehensive pitch deck for a new mobile app they conceived of called Roomiversity. Their Tinder-style app will help college students meet and match with like-minded roommates. Terry Kasdan, who teaches ADV 409, encouraged the team to submit the brand identity they created for their business to GD USA Magazine's 23rd Annual Digital Design Awards Competition, and they won! 👏

Their work will be published alongside entries by Adobe, Molson/Coors, the NBA, Pepsi, and several other student entries from different universities that also won.

More about the course 👇
ADV 409 is offered every fall and spring semester on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:00 to 2:20PM. It’s open to juniors, seniors, and graduate students in any major on campus. Over the course of the semester, students work in teams to develop an idea for a new business and progress it through many of the stages of entrepreneurship learned in class: ideation; marketing research; business planning; financing, funding, and monetizing a business; user experience and product design; and promotion. For the final project, teams pitch their businesses to a panel of industry professionals—the class’s own “Shark Tank.” https://courses.illinois.edu/schedule/2023/fall/ADV/409