Meet the Team
Rick Harshman
Rick Harshman began his gaming career with Grand casinos, Inc. as their regional director of systems for all its southern properties, at which time he assisted with the opening of six resort casinos in three years. His understanding of the gaming market has propelled him to hold other executive positions such as Director of Slot Operations, Director of Casino Operations, Vice President of Casino Marketing and Vice President of Operations. Rick’s accomplishments include designing proprietary games, boosting player development and retention programs, creative and technical writing, gaming consultation and training.
Rick’s 14 years in the casino industry and ten years on the gaming agency side help him offer our clients in-depth knowledge of tracking systems, Players club development and database marketing. His expertise has helped our partners understand their data, customers and reinvestment strategies. Rick has helped casino clients increase their direct response redemption rates, grow their active databases, understand player worth by segments and tiers, reduce inactivity and help determine player profiles and predictability.
Ivy Rice
Compassionate, caring and considerate. Clients routinely use these words to describe Ivy Rice, a 22-year direct marketing expert who has an intuitive understanding of client needs. And as her delighted clients can tell you, working with her is an absolute guarantee you’ll get results. As the President of H2R Agency, Ivy is the driving force behind numerous successful marketing programs and offers exceptional strategic insight for new ways to tackle tough problems while keeping our clients’ budgets a priority.
Ivy offers our partners in-depth expertise that allows them to identify their best customers and build loyalty in the most efficient and cost effective manner. She understands gaming, tracking systems and database programs. As such, she knows how to meet the immediate needs of her gaming clients and respond with timely solutions. She is very active in maintaining current clients. Ivy is responsible for all of her team’s day-to-day operations, including strategy; development and execution, budgeting and ensuring clients’ goals are met on a daily basis.
Steve Hammond
An award-winning art director and creative director, Steve can capture and convey the thrill of gaming like no one else. Like other executives at H2R agency, he’s spent time working in a casino – so he gets it. Steve began his career as an art director and Creative Director for Henry-Gill Advertising. He served as Creative Director at Hewlett Packard, held key creative positions at top Ad Agencies and spent 12 years creating successful brands and stunning ads for his own clients at Hammond Creative, spanning various fields including medical, high-tech and eventually casinos.
Steve brings a passion to learning all he can about the client’s needs, competitive environment and marketing goals. Then, he applies that same passion to creating. In the end, the final work reflects a unique feel that supports the marketing objective – with a surprise that makes the client smile. The ultimate reward is when the work does exactly what it is supposed to do – get results.
Cassie Rakoczy
Cassie is a highly qualified, analytical and multi-skilled marketing professional with over two decades of progressive experience in gaming and hospitality. She began her gaming career as the database-marketing manager for Victories Casino, and then worked at Potawatomi Bingo Casino, Isleta Casino and Resort and Buffalo Thunder Casino & Resort as Director of Marketing.
She has routinely produced double-digit growth for one of the nation’s largest Native American gaming operations, participates in the strategic planning, implementation and execution of a new Casino Management System, develops multi-year marketing plans, as well as, numerous re-investment and investment programs.
Lauren Osgood
"Our very own Multi-tasking Manager and Mother of Many."
Behind the scenes, Lauren is seamlessly juggling several of our partner’s priorities on a daily basis. In front of the scenes, she’s a calm, calculating, confident manager who helps our clients prioritize their needs and concerns on a timely basis. When she’s not physically in front of you, you can still see her radiant smile through a phone call.
Kami Johannes
Linking fresh ideas, social media and the web, Kami loves to make your brand shout and flourish. As a graduate from the celebrated Art Institute of Colorado, Kami has been developing multimedia designs for an array of clients across the casino industry such as Treasure Bay Casino and Hotel, Clearwater Casino Resort, The Downs Casino, and others. She has an eagle eye for detail and is a pro at adjusting to corporate guidelines as well, having worked on projects for eBags, The Sports Authority, Netflix, the University of Denver and Qdoba.
She is a natural at strategizing, developing and creating robust and thought provoking web based and traditional creative solutions. Her focus is to ensure your brand and your message evokes a positive and lasting impression.
Makena Hammond
"A Passion for Puppies and Producing Phenomenal Works of Art."
Makena is an incredibly talented designer, illustrator and 3-D artist. Her strong suit is being able to adapt her wide range of abilities to the unique demands required to make each of our client’s brand stand out. Her distinctive creative and thought-provoking approach coupled with her infectious enthusiasm makes her a fan favorite with all our partners, vendors and consumers. She’s relentless at delivering her award-winning ideas and concepts on time and within budget. A true breath of fresh air.
