Meet The Team

Parks Associates, About Parks Associates

Parks Associates is an internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing in emerging consumer technology products and services. Founded in 1986, Parks Associates creates research capital for companies ranging from Fortune 500 to small start-ups through market reports, primary studies, consumer research, custom research, workshops, executive conferences, and annual service subscriptions.

The company's expertise includes new media, digital entertainment and gaming, home networks, Internet and television services, digital health, mobile applications and services, consumer electronics, energy management, and home control systems and security.

Each year, Parks Associates hosts industry webcasts, the CONNECTIONS™ Conference Series, and Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer.

Tricia Parks, Founder

Tricia Parks is the founder of Parks Associates, a market analyst and research company dedicated to providing meaningful information and counsel to companies offering technology-based products aimed at improving people's lives. She presents worldwide on consumer trends, market requirements, and industry structure, with an eye to meshing visionary and progressive ideas to consumer needs and wants.

Parks Associates hosts CONNECTIONS™, an international conference and showcase for the digital home hosted in the U.S., and CONNECTIONS™ Europe, hosted in Europe and focusing on market opportunities for digital products and services in the many nations of Europe. Tricia Parks also developed the Relevancy Theory, a forecasting model for sales across a broad range of digital electronic products and services.

Tricia has served on a variety of industry boards including CEA's Home Networking and Information Technology division, the National Research Council's Committee for a Partnership to Assess Technology for Housing (PATH), the AMD Board of Global Consumer Advocacy, and CABA. Tricia Parks has a BA from Sweet Briar College and graduate studies from the University of Texas.

Elizabeth Parks, President and Chief Marketing Officer

As President, Elizabeth supports all teams within Parks Associates, a woman- and family-owned market research and consulting firm. She oversees research topics and coverage areas for the company and directs the integrated strategic communications plan for Parks Associates, including advertising, public relations, and marketing. Elizabeth has supported the growth of Parks Associates business and marketing services for twenty three years and is the key organizer for all of Parks Associates' events, including Parks Associates signature event CONNECTIONS™. She also drives the overall mission to provide clients with the best consumer and industry research and analysis on the SMB and consumer technology markets to inform strategic market decisions.

Elizabeth joined Parks Associates on a full-time basis after graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with a BA in psychology.

Jennifer Kent, Vice President, Research

INDUSTRY EXPERTISE: Connected Health, Connected Home Technologies and Services, Connected Entertainment Products and Services

Jennifer manages the research department and Parks Associates' process for producing high-quality, relevant, and meaningful research. Jennifer also leads and advises on syndicated and custom research projects across all connected consumer verticals and guides questionnaire development for Parks Associates’ extensive consumer analytics survey program. Jennifer is a certified focus group moderator, with training from the Burke Institute.

Jennifer earned her PhD in religion, politics, and society and an MA in church-state studies from Baylor University. She earned her BA in politics from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.

John Barrett, Director of Consumer Analytics

John Barrett leads Parks Associates questionnaire development and specializes in survey design that elicits accurate, insightful, and actionable data. He regularly advises companies across consumer technology markets on research methodology and business strategy and has authored dozens of industry reports. He also teaches college-level courses on research methods and other topics at LeTourneau University.

He holds a PhD in Religion, Politics, and Society from Baylor University, an MA in international economics from the Johns Hopkins University: School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a BS in international affairs from Georgetown University.
 

Alan Bullock, Sr. Contributing Analyst

Alan joins Parks Associates with fourteen years’ experience in market research as an industry analyst, covering consumer and professional photo and video markets for InfoTrends and Keypoint Intelligence. His work there included subscription-based advisory services, custom consulting projects, and multi-client studies for US and international clients, as well as presenting research findings and trends at industry events. Previously, he spent twenty-five years with Kodak and its Qualex subsidiary in roles ranging from programming and tech support to marketing, sales, and product development during the transition to digital in retail photofinishing products and services. Alan graduated from Houghton College (NY) with a BA in mathematics.

Kristen Hanich, Director of Research

INDUSTRY EXPERTISE: Consumer electronics, mobility services and devices, connected health and wellness

Kristen Hanich heads Parks Associates' consumer electronics and mobility research, with expertise in other verticals including connected cars, mobile networking, healthcare, wellness, and independent living. She leads a mix of custom and syndicated research projects throughout the year, with a focus on major players and emerging trends. Kristen specializes in bridging the gap between data-driven and narrative approaches to understanding the consumer markets via a mix of qualitative and quantitative research approaches.

Kristen has dual master's degrees in applied anthropology and public health from the Universities of North Texas in Denton and Fort Worth. She earned her BSc in health at the University of Texas at San Antonio and has a graduate certificate in Geographic Information Systems.

Steve Hawley, Contributing Analyst

Steve Hawley is publisher of Piracy Monitor (piracymonitor.org), to foster awareness and better understanding of the technical and business concerns associated with the theft of video content and services. He also is founder of tvstrategies, which supports video service providers and their technology suppliers in delivering premium video programming to any connected consumer screen.

Sharon Jiang, Consumer Insights Analyst II

Sharon Jiang is a member of the Consumer Analytics team. She analyzes different kinds of consumer data to extract critical findings of market trending and consumer behavior. She also contributes to the visualization of information to construct consumer reports. In addition, she leads the communication process with venders to provide cost estimates for custom surveys.

Sharon is currently pursuing her Dbl. BSAN MS and MBA degrees at the University of Texas at Dallas. She also earned a master's degree in Accounting at Syracuse University.

Yilan Jiang, Senior Director of Consumer Analytics

Yilan leads Parks Associates' Consumer Analytics team and manages numerous primary research and custom research across all areas of the consumer IoT, including consumer electronics, entertainment services, voice assistants, and connected home solutions. Yilan conducts consumer behavior analysis to understand market trends, predict consumer demand, and provide quantified market intelligence that guides strategic business decisions. Yilan leads research that provides rich insight into consumer preference and deep analysis of competitive strategies and business models.

Yilan earned her MA in economics from University of Texas at Arlington and BA in economics in Nankai University, P.R. China.
 

Sarah Lee, Research Analyst

Sarah joined Parks Associates as a Research Analyst on the Entertainment side and covers topics such as OTT and consumer electronics.

Sarah earned her PhD in Experimental Psychology from The University of Texas at Arlington. She also earned an MS in General Experimental Psychology from Murray State University and a BS in Psychology from Xavier University. 

Yuting Mu, Consumer Insights Analyst I

Coming Soon!

Thomas Schaeffer, Sr. Contributing Analyst

Thomas Schaeffer is the founder and former CEO of Float Left Interactive, a software agency that built the first generation of TV apps. iMedia Brands, Inc. acquired Float Left in 2019, where Tom served as President of the Float Left business unit and VP of OTT Products until January 2022.

Since exiting the company, Tom has joined Parks Associates as a Contributing Sr. Analyst.

Early in 2022, Tom founded Thomas Schaeffer & Co., an agency that helps busy executives build authority online through copywriting and audience development.
 

Eric Sorensen, Sr. Contributing Analyst

Eric Sorensen is an accomplished sports and news media executive with extensive knowledge in developing live streaming and Digital Media strategies. Diverse background includes; business management, product development, digital ad sales, videogame development, social content strategies, sponsorship development, and TV production. Eric spent over 15 years at ESPN helping pioneer the launch of WatchESPN, The Longhorn Network, and SEC digital network. Prior to joining Parks Associates Eric served as Director of Advertising and Digital and Social Content for the Houston Astros.

Eric graduated from Sam Houston State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Radio, TV and Film.

Chris White, Research Director

Chris is a research director with Parks Associates, covering the smart home and smart energy markets. He was previously a Director of Insights at PeopleMetrics in Philadelphia and the Data Manager of a youth-serving collaborative in New Orleans. He leverages this background in marketing research and data gathering to contribute to the design of Parks Associates consumer surveys.

Chris earned his BBA in Marketing from the College of William & Mary and his MBA in Marketing and Finance from American University.
 

Jason Paris, Vice President, Business Development

Jason Paris joined Parks Associates in 2007 as an analyst studying international telephone, cable, and satellite providers and is now a member of the business development team.

Jason graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BA in psychology and government. After working for the Texas House of Representatives, Jason spent the previous seven years in New York City working with portable and enterprise healthcare technologies.

Ashton Gambrell, Strategic Account Manager, Events & Marketing Services

Ashton joined Parks Associates with over 15 years experience in sales, business development, account management and sponsorship sales within the hotel and sports industries. She is now part of the business development team managing event sponsorships and custom marketing services.

Ashton graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with a BA in Business Administration and concentration in Marketing. After working for Four Seasons Resorts for nearly 10 years, Ashton spent the next seven years working with PGA TOUR pro golfers and their corporate sponsors/partners before joining Parks Associates.
 

Ken Smith, Business Development Manager

Ken joined Parks Associates with over 20 years of experience in sales, business development, account management, and hospitality marketing sales within the hotel and restaurant industries. He is part of the business development team managing Custom and Industry Research Services for the Consumer Electronic Industry.

Ken graduated from Southern Illinois University with a BA in Fine Arts. After managing several chain restaurants throughout the country, Ken most recently managed the restaurant partnerships for the business travelers of the leading Fortune 500 companies as the Director of Restaurant Partnerships for Dinova. He was also the Business Development Manager of the Western US for a nationally recognized third-party cleaning and maintenance company with clients such as Hyatt Vacation Club and Renaissance Hotels.
 

Mindi Sue Sternblitz-Rubenstein, VP, Marketing

Mindi Sue plays a primary role in Parks Associates event management, including Parks Associates-hosted events and the outside events the company participates in. Mindi Sue is responsible for strategic planning and marketing of Parks Associates’ 6 hosted executive conferences. Mindi Sue is responsible for coordinating speaker relations activities for Parks Associates’ conferences and webcasts, including managing all proposals to speak, speaker communication, logistics, and coordination for national and international events and over fifty outside industry events that the Parks Associates analyst team participates in.

Mindi Sue oversees Parks Associates’ public relations efforts including social media, press outreach and event attendance, analyst relations, training, executive communication, and corporate events. As a tenured executive and company-wide leader, she continuously supports all divisions of the company with her enthusiasm and strives to improve company efficiency, creativity, and cohesiveness.

Prior to joining Parks Associates in early 2008, Mindi Sue worked with ad agencies, start-ups, consulting firms, retail stores, nonprofit organization, and real estate companies in designing profitable sales and creative marketing programs. Mindi Sue has an MBA from University of Texas at Dallas and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management Information Systems from Texas A&M University.

Angela Boeke, Marketing Associate

Angela is a recent graduate from Southern Methodist University with a BA in Film and Media Arts. She has experience working in film restoration, audio captioning, and video editing. Prior to joining Parks Associates, Angela started her own pet-sitting business where she managed several clients and was first introduced to smart home features. At Parks Associates, she assists with event marketing, video marketing, social media, and content marketing. 

Susan Minner, Office Manager

Susan joined Parks Associates in 2017 as Office Manager. She manages the accounting, human resources, and benefit administration tasks. She also provides administrative support for the sales and marketing teams.

Prior to joining Parks Associates, Susan served in various positions and has 20-plus years accounting firm experience. These positions include office manager and firm administrator for local CPA firms, and in her last position, she served as the office/accounting manager for a publishing company in Dallas, Texas.

Nick Thrash, Sr. Director, Operations

Nick's primary duties are handling the logistics for Parks Associates’ events and marketing efforts. He organizes and maintains vendor relationships for all trade shows that Parks Associates participates in, including CEDIA and The Consumer Electronics Show. Nick provides logistical support to all sponsors and speakers at events and workshops hosted by Parks Associates. Nick is the primary contact for event sponsors regarding exhibitor logistics and fulfillment of sponsorship benefits at CONNECTIONS™. In addition, Nick manages the distribution of Parks Associates’ research materials to individual and Client Service accounts.

Prior to joining Parks Associates, Nick worked with a full-service advertising agency and graphic design firm. Mr. Thrash has a BBA in marketing from Texas Tech University.

Rosey Sera, Senior PR and Marketing Manager

Rosey (Rosimely) manages Parks Associates’ public relations as well as the company’s email marketing strategy and schedule. Aside from being one of the hosts of Parks Associates’ Connected Consumer Podcast, she works closely with the Marketing team on additional project management such as content marketing, social media, and other marketing initiatives for Parks Associates events and research products and services.

Prior to joining Parks Associates, Rosey worked as Community Relations Specialist in the healthcare industry by managing social media, developing website content, and creating marketing graphics and designs. She also has previous experience in marketing agency and non-profit communications. She graduated Cum Laude with a BS in Communications with a focus in Public Relations from the University of North Florida.