Thomas Tucker
Partner – Food, Hospitality & Leisure Strategies
About Pulse
Read Tom's Bio
Tom is an urban planner and the former Director of Retail Development and Operations at Yale University. As a Partner with The Pulse Group, Tom specializes in concept development, brand positioning, strategic planning and operational consulting for food, hospitality, retail, tourism and sports facilities. Throughout his career he has creatively blended market insights, industry best practices and competitive intelligence with operational expertise, to build powerful holistic award-winning design concepts, which have received significant national recognition, including National Restaurant Association — Hot Concept, Food Management — Best Renovation and the National Association of College and University Foodservice — Best in the Business Awards.
Tom has been a featured speaker and author for a variety of hospitality forums including the National Association of College and University Foodservice, the Society for Hospitality and Foodservice Management, the National Restaurant Association, the California Restaurant Association, the National Association of College Auxiliary Services, with high energy presentations that focus on market-driven tools to plan, program and position hospitality projects for success.
Prior to forming The Pulse Group, Tom was a management consultant with Arthur Anderson and Laventhol & Horwarth where he managed real estate, hospitality, tourism and sports related projects. Mr. Tucker received his Bachelor’s degree from Saint Michaels College in economics and his Master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Oregon’s School of Architecture and Allied Arts.
Read Kim's Bio
Kim is the Partner in charge of customer insights and analytics for The Pulse Group and has more than 25 years of experience in market, survey and focus group/community research and strategic planning for corporate, institutional and governmental clients.
Kim’s areas of specialization include overall research design and methods, data analysis/presentation, large and small group process facilitation and executive level reporting. Kim regularly completes studies and research efforts that involve measuring customer attitudes, awareness and satisfaction; testing customer preferences; measuring demand for new facilities/services; and gaining actionable insights through in-depth conversations with users and stakeholders. Methods used include in-depth interviews; mobile ethnography; focus groups and community workshops; online, telephone or intercept interviews; shop/dine-along and observation.
Prior to forming The Pulse Group, Kim was a management consultant with Coopers & Lybrand and Laventhol & Horwath, where she managed the firm’s business and consumer research practice nationally. Ms. Royster received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois in applied life sciences and her Master’s degree in international management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.
Teena Tabor
Associate – Data Tabulation & Analysis
Teena has exceptional large data analysis and tabulation skills with 21 years of experience in the marketing research industry. The past 16 years she has focused on large data manipulation, tabulation and statistical analysis utilizing Wincross, SPSS, BrandMap, Excel & Qgen software. Ms. Tabor holds a B.S. degree with majors in Mathematics & Sociology from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon.
William Farley
Associate – Online Programming
Bill provides state-of-the art online survey programming with more than 20 years of experience in market and survey research. Bill is proficient at CATI and CAPI programming, advanced statistical analysis (SPSS), and statistical reporting (Wincross). Mr. Farley is knowledgeable in using SSI-Web, and all MS Office programs. Bill earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Oregon State University and a Master’s of Science from Marylhurst College. In both cases, he had a concentration in Marketing and Statistics.
Val Vandiver
Associate – Advanced Analytics
Val Vandiver is a senior scientist in advanced study design, analysis, database construction and a priori mathematical modeling. He is passionate problem solver and enjoys applying that interest to behavioral and attitudinal segmentation analysis and advanced application of conjoint analysis. An avid and inquisitive technologist, he stays up to date on how the interactive world can be leveraged to solve current and future business problems. Val has a BS (Honors), MS and PhD in Physical Chemistry from New Mexico State University, Western Michigan and University of Michigan.
William Wilson
Associate – Graphic Design & Branding
Bill is a multiple platform brand leader with over 30 years of graphic design in advertising and marketing. His skill sets include development of brand identity packages, promotional and marketing materials, formulation of retail marketing campaigns, and digital signage development. Bill has served for many years as Marketing Director for several Ivy League schools including Stanford and Yale, where he developed branding and marketing strategies for 20 different on-campus restaurants, catering operations, residential dining, and other hospitality services. Bill is a multiple Grand Prize Horton Award winner.
Merry Ann Moore
Associate – Content Strategist
Merry Ann helps clients sift through digital and offline marketing options and identify the platforms and tools that will work best. She delivers creative, strategic content marketing, branding, public relations, web content and social media projects that move clients toward their business goals.
For more than 25 years, Merry Ann Moore has helped corporations, startups, PR agencies, government, small businesses and NGOs reach and persuade their audiences. She’s worked as a corporate marketing specialist for a mortgage finance company, a freelance journalist, a PR account rep serving consumer product and professional services clients, and president of an ecommerce startup. Merry Ann has a BA in European history and art history from Harvard University and a “licence” from Université Paul-Valéry, Montpellier, France.