Full-Service Team of Media experts for the mid-size client

Darren Magarro
Chief Media Strategist and Negotiator, President

Darren began his decade-long odyssey as a media buyer/strategist at New York City agencies MediaEdge:CIA and Zenith Optimedia, where clients included Toyota Motor Sales, Verizon Wireless, Mattel Toys, Campbell's Soup, Boston Beer, Puma and Jim Beam. Somewhere jammed in the middle of all that madness, Darren also did a stint as a media sales planner at FX. The experience that was gained by working for and with some of the sharpest and most creative people in the world allowed for a tremendous amount of growth.

Darren had always dreamed of being his own boss and he felt the time was right to make his move in February 2007. The New Jersey Lottery says it best: "All you need is a dollar and a dream" which is literally all he had when he began The DSM Group. From day one, Darren saw the need to work collaboratively with clients to help them "Make Their Media Matter." In addition, he embraced a novel idea that he saw lacking in many business relationships – a truly personal bond between client and agency. Groundbreaking, eh? And so, The DSM Group was born!

Darren graduated with honors from Lehigh University with a B.A. in History. When he's not wrestling alligators or perfecting the art of competitive eating, he can be found practicing with his bobsled team at a track near you.

Ryerson Kipp
VP, Creative Director

Ryerson has been working in art and graphic design for over a decade, starting his career at the age of 16 at a respected publication design firm in the northeast. He quickly realized an interest in design and worked on numerous books for clients such as David R. Godine, Shambhala Publications, and McGraw Hill.

A steadily increasing passion for design took Ryerson to Syracuse University where he earned a B.F.A. in the school's consistently top-ranked Communications Design program. Upon graduating he began his career as a designer at an advertising company in northern New Jersey where he worked on projects for numerous clients in the furniture industry such as Thomasville, Kincaid, Stanley, Basset, La-Z-Boy and more.

Recently Ryerson also has been lucky enough to brand and creative direct the luxury lifestyle magazine, Suburban Classic, a young magazine that has achieved a great deal of critical acclaim for its art direction and design. At Suburban Classic, Ryerson has worked with established photographers such as Christopher Kolk, Steve Turner and Mac Hartshorn as well as high profile designers including Tommy Hilfiger.

Christine McIndoe
VP, Communications Director

Christine McIndoe didn't choose to become a star in the full-service advertising industry. Like Michael Corleone famously said, "They just kept sucking me back in, she says." For more than 10 years Christine has been working on some amazing advertising campaigns for clients across the spectrum yet still has time for her passion, keeping pets with their families. That's why she and Darren, along with some of their friends, started Companion Animal Advocates; Christine is currently the organization's Vice President, Co-Treasurer and Marketing Chair (as well as chief bottle washer). She's an organization fanatic, so working with mostly men has been one of her greatest challenges. How one ends up wearing the socks he didn't put on in the morning is a mystery only the Y chromosome will ever grasp.

Caryn Starr-Gates
Head Copywriter

Caryn has been writing copy for print and broadcast media longer than she cares to admit but she will tell you just how long if you ask her nicely.

As an advertising copywriter, Caryn was proud to have helped launch the first 24-hour cable news station - CNN - and worked on all facets of the Turner Broadcasting System account for several years. She also wrote ads and TV spots for national, regional and local accounts including Anheuser-Busch, Ralston-Purina, Pfizer, and ABC Television (daytime and prime time). Even while taking career detours into catering, the restaurant industry and owning her own gift basket business, Caryn continued to write sales and marketing materials, newsletter columns, articles and press releases for small business owners she worked for and met along the way (including herself of course).

More recently, Caryn has added public relations and website content to her list of copywriting projects, and has enjoyed helping myriad clients get noticed in the press and on the internet. Her editing and writing skills have been put to use on children's books and non-fiction works, and she is a contributing writer - and ghost writer - to several publications.

Abe Abrams
Public Relations Consultant

Abe Abrams is a media relations consultant for The DSM Group who possesses more than 12 years of experience developing and executing communications strategies for a broad spectrum of businesses ranging from Fortune 500 firms, to mid-market players, to entrepreneurial startups. Primarily a financial and professional services expert who's placed clients in top tier business media such as CNBC, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, at The DSM Group Abe has proven quite adept at penetrating local and trade media for regional organizations such as Landscapers, Architects, Youth Orchestras and private High Schools.

A graduate of The George Washington University's Elliot School with a M.A. in International Affairs and The University of North Carolina with a B.A. in History, Abe possesses the passion and sickness that is college basketball fandom. He, therefore, has no memory of the months March and April, 2010.

Tom Murphy
Director of Social Media, SEO, Mobile Technologies and Gaming

Tom Murphy comes to us via a valued partnership with his company Green Lion Digital. Tom has been working in information systems for over 13 years finding a niche in Internet-based applications. The formal training in Finance, e-Commerce and Project Management brings a unique skill set to the table. Being able to clearly define business goals and needs when initiating a technology based solution is critical to the success of his campaigns.

Tom has a broad base of experience implementing and managing campaigns for clients in the following industries: Banking, Insurance, Biotechnology, Retail, Medical and Professional Services. His experience at Valley National Bank includes the project management, design and content building for the bank's mortgage division. In addition, Tom managed the building of an intra-net for remote loan offices which tied directly into Valley's Loan Origination System.

Recently Tom has focused his attention on 3 main areas - Enterprise Social Media, Search Engine Optimization and Mobile Technologies. These strategies have helped many early adapters achieve their goals combining web-based and traditional marketing efforts into a coordinated "one stop" execution. Tom is fluent in managing the institution of corporate governance for social media, social media engagement policies and reputation management for corporate entities...among others.

In his spare time, Tom likes to hang out with his wife Alissa and their three kids. Tom is an avid Ohio State Buckeye fan and enjoys cycling on Bergen's vast thoroughfares.....be careful, he's been known to blow by BMW's in a few, short bursts of the pedals.

Kevin Roberson
Director of IT

Kevin brings 10 years of website and IT infrastructure management to the DSM Group. His charge of our hosting servers and website coding is vital to all of our online services.

Kevin graduated from Purdue University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and later parlayed his technical skills into the web design business.

A notorious Phillies fan, Kevin is the target of constant torment from others here in the office. In his spare time he can be found flying around in the skies in his favorite single engine plane, brewing a new flavor of home-brew beer, or competing in one of many running events in the region.

The Boys at Grey Sky Films
Video Production Team

We are proud to have the crew of Grey Sky Films among our arsenal of talented partners. Simply put, Grey Sky Films is a Video Marketing Agency. Unsure about what that means? Well, basically it means that anything captured on video, whether it be a cat playing the piano, exploding pineapples or something a bit more business oriented, is a form of advertisement for you! To put it another way that means we come up with marketing solutions involving video. And what that means is that we do custom productions such as web videos, commercials, branded video content, viral films, mini docs, EPK's, customized productions, and anything else your company many need to become more successful!

It started with a dream. Two guys with the same dream of making videos and helping people, just happened to meet one fateful day in college and from there Grey Sky Films was born. Now these two (one Mark Serao and one Chris Vaglio) get to hang out every day, shooting videos and making a difference in people's businesses. And they want to make a difference in YOUR business. Whether you run Bubba's Bait Shop or a Fortune 500, it makes no difference to us. Grey Sky will come up with a video marketing campaign for your business personalized to your needs and we will make it ASTOUNDING.

Dana Pineiro
Marketing Coordinator

A California girl by way of Wyckoff, Dana Pineiro joins The DSM Group as their new marketing coordinator. She brings with her 10+ years of organizational and production skills (not to mention that clairvoyant sense that only a mother can possess) to assist Darren, Christine and Ryerson achieve maximum efficiency. Once she gets up to speed, Dana will be the internal eyes and ears of the group and will keep track of projects and timelines…something that grammar school teachers forgot to mention that you might need someday.

Dana graduated in 1993 from The Catholic University of America with a bachelor of arts degree in English and a minor in communications. She spent more than a decade working in New York City at Universal Music handling and launching many of its top new releases before deciding that she wanted to start a family and pursue a new career closer to home.

When she heard that her old neighbor, Darren, was hiring, she jumped at the chance to start anew and learn the ins-and-outs of the advertising & public relations industries. Welcome aboard, Dana, and enjoy the ride!

In 1993, after graduating from The Catholic University of America, Dana began her career at PolyGram Records (which later became Universal Music) as a new release coordinator. After much blood, sweat and tears she was promoted to manager of new release production and supervised the department. So, you may ask, what's a girl from the music business doing in advertising? Why living the dream, of course! After a 6-year hiatus to do the mom thing, her next goal was to start an exciting new career mere minutes from home. Bye-bye, arduous commutes to NYC! And what better place than The DSM Group to start anew? Who says that dreams don't come true? When she's not exercising, watching SpongeBob with her 6-year-old son or enjoying good food and vino with her husband like any good Mediterranean, you can find her hard at work here at The DSM Group.

Dayna Fucarino
Account Coordinator/Public Relations Assistant

Dayna is wrapping up her last semester at Ramapo College where she is earning her self-designed B.A. in Contemporary Arts: Advertising and Public Relations, in addition to what should be a doctorate in time management skills and masters in sports obsessionism. Dayna would like to think of herself as a go-getter and believes it is the reason she landed this gig. It was her determination to contact Darren and create a position for herself, when one really didn't exist yet.

Dayna has put her plans to take over the world on hold and is now focusing on writing press releases and media alerts, researching, making sure the dogs have water, among other tasks. From here on out, Dayna will be referred to as "DF" and her new favorite color is officially…orange.

Eric Rose
Advertising and Public Relations Assistant

Eric is currently a student at Ramapo College studying Business Administration with a focus in Marketing. He was hand picked by Darren and Christine to come work at The DSM Group because of the rave reviews he received from his professor. It has already been one year and there's no turning back. Eric excels at watering plants, dressing as a Christmas Tree and lighting himself up and painting the office orange. He is now an expert on PMS 151. He also is a demon with an excel spreadsheet and loves following up on press releases and doing Vocus searches. Eric loves a challenge and is an avid fan of the show Minute to Win It. Even though the application for the show was harder than his application for college, he and his friend made it to the second round and are anxiously waiting to hear if they make it to the next round. Side note: We made him promise to remember us if he "wins it."