Meet our Leadership Team

Shelly Spiegel

Chief Executive Officer and Chief Creative Officer

Mike Matthews

Executive Vice President of Enrollment Services

Jeff McLaughlin

Executive Vice President of Enrollment Data, Strategy, and Analytics

Randy Deike

Executive Vice President of Student Success

Jim Slavin

Executive Vice President of Enrollment Software

Shelly Spiegel

Chief Executive Officer and Chief Creative Officer

Mike Matthews

Executive Vice President of Enrollment Services

Jeff McLaughlin

Executive Vice President of Enrollment Data, Strategy, and Analytics

Randy Deike

Executive Vice President of Student Success

Jim Slavin

Executive Vice President of Enrollment Software

Akber Pabani

Chief Financial Officer

Russell Schroeder

Chief Technology Officer

Katrina Masiak

Vice President of Operations

Glenna Ryan

Vice President of Search Operations

Zach Beerger

Vice President of Marketing and Operations

Zach Beerger

Vice President of Marketing and Operations

Shelly Spiegel

Chief Executive Officer and Chief Creative Officer

shelly@fire-engine-red.com

215-913-6066

Philadelphia, PA

Founded Company

December, 2001

Current Role
The creative force and visionary leader of Fire Engine RED.

Former Position
President, Search By Video, a national clearinghouse for college admissions videos.

Education
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, B.A.; The Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America, J.D.

Who'd play me in ”Fire Engine RED — The Movie“
Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Mike Matthews

EVP of Enrollment Services

mike@fire-engine-red.com

703-400-7434

Reston, VA

Joined Company

May, 2011

Current Role
Leads our Student Search division.

Former Position
College Board, Director of Student Search Service.

Education
Georgia State University, B.A.

Who'd play me in ”Fire Engine RED — The Movie“
Danny McBride

Jeff McLaughlin

EVP of Enrollment Data, Strategy and Analytics

jeff@fire-engine-red.com

Northfield, MN

Joined Company

June, 2014

Current Role
Oversees software direction, data management, and strategy.

Former Positions
St. Olaf College, Dean of Admission & Financial Aid; Neuger Communications Group, Executive Vice President.

Education
St. Olaf College, B.A.

Who'd play me in ”Fire Engine RED — The Movie“
Tom Hanks

Dr. Randy Deike

EVP of Student Success

randy.deike@fire-engine-red.com

Chapel Hill, NC

Joined Company

July, 2021

Current Role
Leads our financial aid strategy and student success initiatives.

Former Position
Sr. VP of Enrollment and Student Success, Cleveland State University; Sr. VP for Enrollment Management and Student Success, Drexel University; VP for Enrollment Management and Institutional Research, New York University; VP for Enrollment, Case Western Reserve University; Assoc. VP for Enrollment Management and Executive Director for Undergraduate Admissions, The Pennsylvania State University; Assoc. Dean of Students, Juniata College

Education
The Pennsylvania State University, Ph.D.; The Pennsylvania State University, M.A.; Juniata College, B.S.

Who'd play me in ”Fire Engine RED — The Movie“
Jeff Bridges

Jim Slavin

EVP of Enrollment Software

jim@fire-engine-red.com

571-477-0260

Sterling, VA

Joined Company

August, 2011

Current Role
Leads our Software Products division.

Former Position
Director, Admission and Enrollment Software Services, Recruitment PLUS.

Education
Canisius College, B.S.

Who'd play me in ”Fire Engine RED — The Movie“
Paul Rudd

Akber Pabani

Chief Financial Officer

akber@fire-engine-red.com

Wayne, PA

Joined Company

July, 2014

Current Role
Leads our finance department.

Former Positions
CFO, Y-Prime Inc; Vice President, Finance, moksha8 Pharmaceuticals Inc; Vice President, Finance, Mars Electronics International.

Education
University of Kent, B.A.; London Business School, MBA; CPA.

Who'd play me in ”Fire Engine RED — The Movie“
Charlton Heston

Russell Schroeder

Chief Technology Officer

russell.schroeder@fire-engine-red.com

Castle Rock, CO

Joined Company

March, 2018

Current Role
Oversees the management of our Innovation team and development of our company’s CRM and legacy software products.

Former Position
Software Engineering Manager, Fire Engine RED; Senior Software Engineer, BrieBug Software.

Who'd play me in ”Fire Engine RED — The Movie“
Alan Rickman

Katrina Masiak

Vice President of Operations

katrina@fire-engine-red.com

Bel Air, MD

Joined Company

June, 2011

Current Role
Oversees Fire Engine RED's day-to-day operations.

Former Position
Sr. Project Manager, Fire Engine RED; Sr. Project Manager, Razorfish Philadelphia

Education
University of Notre Dame, B.A.; Carnegie Mellon University, M.A.

Who'd play me in ”Fire Engine RED — The Movie“
Elisabeth Moss

Glenna Ryan

Vice President of Search Operations

glenna@fire-engine-red.com

Schenectady, NY

Joined Company

October, 2006

Current Role
Oversees the management and development of our Student Search operations.

Former Position
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Director of Student Outreach.

Education
Cornell University, B.S.

Who'd play me in ”Fire Engine RED — The Movie“
Charlize Theron

Zach Beerger

Vice President of Marketing and Operations

zach@fire-engine-red.com

Philadelphia, PA

Joined Company

February, 2011

Current Role
Leads Fire Engine RED's marketing department.

Former Position
Director of Marketing and Operations, Fire Engine RED.

Education
Temple University, B.S.

Who'd play me in ”Fire Engine RED — The Movie“
Nic Cage

Jamie Levick

Director of People

jamie@fire-engine-red.com

Broomall, PA

Joined Company

June, 2009

Current Role
Oversees our people, places, & perks department.

Former Position
People Manager, Fire Engine RED; Human Resources Manager, Fire Engine RED

Who'd play me in ”Fire Engine RED — The Movie“
Mariska Hargitay

User Experience

No technical knowledge required
Administer and utilize Fireworks without any coding or technical expertise.

Consumer-like user experience
Provides a simple, intuitive experience (think Apple® and Google®).

Built for admissions
Fireworks was built from the ground up by Fire Engine RED. It’s not a corporate sales tool (Salesforce®) that has been jerry-rigged for admissions.

Uses admissions terminology
All of the labels, values, reports, etc. are familiar and make sense from the start.

Responsively designed
Designed to dynamically adapt to your smartphone, tablet, or computer. No need to use an app when you’re on the go.

Designed for accessibility
Accessible to people with low vision, corrective lenses, and color blindness.

Training & Support

Customized training
We’ll provide you with unlimited, live online training customized to your needs.

Unlimited, live support
Our legendary Client Care team is available to you, your entire staff, and the students you serve 365 days a year.

Implementation

Start when you’re ready
Begin the implementation process on your timeline.

Fully managed process
You’ll be assigned a dedicated implementation specialist who previously worked in admissions. They’ll guide you through the process — from beginning to end — and do the “heavy lifting” for you.

Consulting on admissions recruitment
We’ll share CRM best practices and help you implement them.

Reports & analytics
We’ll create actionable, custom reports for you that will help you make better, data-driven decisions.

Communications strategy
We’ll evaluate your communications plan and help you build a communications strategy to maximize your results.

Email Response

Answer incoming emails quickly
Respond to incoming email messages in a quick, customized, consistent way in less than one minute.

Sort & route emails
Automatically sort and route messages to the appropriate staff member to answer.

Events

Create unlimited registration forms
Create forms for your on- and off-campus interviews and recurring events.

Apply your branding
Customize the look and feel of your registration forms and confirmation messages.

Flexible format
Present your events in a list or calendar.

Mobile-first design
Enable sign-up from a mobile device.

Manage events
Set guest limits and registration deadlines, track attendance, and create customized itineraries.

Create surveys
Automatically send a post-event survey to attendees.

Accept online payments
Integrate with your payment gateway (TouchNet, Authorize.net, NelNet, Nova Info/Elavon, Paypal/PayFlowPro).

Manage special requests
Automate internal emails for special requests (wheelchair accessibility, faculty appointment, visit with coaches).

Send confirmation messages
Automatically send confirmation messages and reminders.

Applications

Apply your branding
Customize the look and feel of your applications and application-related email messages.

Mobile-first design
Enable viewing and application submissions from a mobile device.

Pre-populate fields
Pre-populate the information you already know.

Utilize conditional logic
Introduce or hide questions based on the student’s prior answers.

Save progress
Allow students to save their application and complete it over multiple sessions.

Track progress
See which students have started but not yet completed your application.

Request documentation
Allow students to request and track online recommendations from teachers, coaches, etc.

Upload documentation
Upload documents such as essays, personal statements, and resumes.

Accept online payments
Integrate with your payment gateway (TouchNet, Authorize.net, NelNet, Nova Info/Elavon, Paypal/PayFlowPro).

Waive fees
Waive your application fee for all, or select, students.

Print completed applications
Print custom PDFs of completed applications one by one or in batches.

Store multiple applications
Store unlimited applications, including those provided by third-party vendors (Common Application, LSAC, state-wide applications).

Forms

Create unlimited forms
Build as many customized forms as you need (inquiry, enrollment deposit, registration forms).

Apply your branding
Customize the look and feel of your forms and confirmation screens/messages.

Mobile-first design
Enable viewing and form submissions from a mobile device.

Pre-populate fields
Pre-populate the information you already know.

Utilize conditional logic
Introduce or hide questions based on the student’s prior answers.

Print

Create letters, postcards, & labels
Access standard templates or create your own using our “What You See Is What You Get” (WYSIWYG) editor.

Personalize your letters
Use merge tags to personalize your letters.

Schedule sends
Schedule print jobs immediately or schedule them for a future date or time.

View print communications plan
View your communications plan in a calendar or list format.

Live Chat

Chat with your website visitors
Chat 1-on-1 with your website visitors in real time.

Brand the chat interface
Apply your branding to the chat window.

Receive notifications
Receive an alert when someone starts a chat session.

Offline availability
Enable students to email your office through the chat interface if your staff is offline.

Simultaneous chats
Chat privately with multiple students at the same time.

Chat transcript
Provide students with a transcript of their chat.

Review chat history
Access a student’s previous chats with your office.

Texts

Choose your audience
Send text messages to any individual or group.

Segment by field
Segment messages by any field or combination of fields (location, major, term).

Schedule sends
Send texts immediately or schedule them for a future date or time.

Send reminders
Send reminders (event invitations, deadline notifications) based on specific dates and times.

Personalize your text messages
Use merge tags to personalize your text messages.

Build relationships
Have two-way text conversations with students at all stages in the admissions funnel.

Automatically manage opt-outs
Enable recipients to automatically opt out of texts.

View text communications plan
View your communications plan in a calendar or list format.

Broadcast Email

Choose your audience
Send unlimited messages to any individual or group, including purchased lists.

Segment by field
Segment by any field or combination of fields (location, major, term).

Automate communications
Automatically send communications based on actions taken by people and/or organizations. For example, set up a series of follow-up email messages to go to any student who opens an email.

Powerful design features
Create and modify responsively designed messages and templates using our HTML “What You See Is What You Get” (WYSIWYG) editor.

Personalize your emails
Use merge tags to personalize your email messages.

Preview messages in 30+ email clients
Automatically see how messages will display in popular email readers (Gmail, Apple Mail, Outlook) and on mobile devices (iPhone, Samsung).

Spam testing
Automatically identify words, phrases, and other items that are likely to trigger spam filters.

HTML/URL validation
Test messages using HTML/URL validation.

View email communications plan
View your communications plan in a calendar or list format.

Track results in real time
Track and measure your campaign results, including delivery rate, bounces, opens, clicks, delivery rate, unsubscribes, etc.

New Student Leads

(Community colleges only)

Receive access to hundreds of new leads from a national test-based service at no additional cost.

Workflow

Create tasks
Assign tasks (call students, review applications, schedule events) to yourself or other staff members.

Manage tasks
Categorize tasks (communications, applicants, events) for better organization.

Set priority levels
Prioritize individual tasks (high, medium, low).

Set deadlines & track progress
Set deadlines and monitor progress (complete, in progress, not started).

Duplicate Management

20+ robust matching rules
All incoming records are checked against a set of 20+ sophisticated matching rules to determine if it’s a new or duplicate record.

Resolve possible duplicates
You have the option of creating a new record or merging the potential duplicate with an existing record.

Import & Export

Build, run, and schedule imports & exports
No technical expertise required.

Convert complex data
Automatically convert complex data values from external sources (campus-wide system, test sources, search lists) to CRM values.

Utilize standard import packages
Provides standard import packages for frequently used data sources (ACT, Common Application, LSAT, NRCCUA, SAT).

Create custom import/export packages
Build import/export packages based on your school’s needs.

Save & schedule import/export packages
Makes repeated imports/exports to the same source much more efficient.

Search

Powerful search capability
Provides a powerful Google-like search experience enabling you to find records quickly and easily.

Search on every data field within a single search
Define and build search parameters using all fields and conditions. No need to do multiple searches to get your results.

Build complex searches
No coding or technical expertise required.

Relationships

(A Fireworks exclusive)

Create & associate relationship records
Create and associate one or more relationships (parent, high school, sibling, counselor) with a student record, manually or upon import.

Measure the value of each relationship
Focus on the people, organizations, and places that matter most. For example, run a report that tells you how many of your applicants are connected to a local Community-Based Organization (CBO) or employer.

Communicate with relationships
Engage with a student’s relationships. For example, send an email to school counselors whose students were accepted for the fall.

Security

SOC 2 Type II compliant
Fireworks undergoes an annual SOC 2 Type II audit attesting to its compliance with security, availability, and confidentiality controls.

Single Sign-On
Direct integration with institutional SSO (SAML).

Backup & disaster recovery
Full system backups are performed weekly, incremental backups are performed nightly, and transaction-log backups are performed hourly.

Data encryption
Data is transmitted over a secure, encrypted channel, both at rest and in transit.

Integrations

Bi-directional integrations
Provides bi-directional integrations with ACES2®, Banner, CAMS®, Colleague, Jenzabar®, PeopleSoft®, PowerCampus®, and other systems.

Standard integrations
Provides integrations with testing providers such as ACT, AP, GMAT, GRE, LSAT, SAT, and TOEFL, and others.

Online payment processing
Integrates with many payment gateways, including TouchNet, Authorize.net, NelNet, Nova Info/Elavon, and Paypal/PayFlowPro.

API integrations (in development)
Provides API integration with Ellucian Colleague® and Ellucian Banner®.

Technology

Powered by modern tools & technology
Uses tools, coding languages, and software engines that power some of today’s most innovative technology companies, including Airbnb®, Amazon®, Netflix®, and Zillow®.

Hosted solution
Hosted on Amazon Web Services® (AWS), the leading cloud platform. Works in any major browser and is available anywhere you can connect to the internet.

No third-party purchases or support required
All tools are included in your subscription to Fireworks and are supported by Fire Engine RED, not a third-party provider.

Jeff McLaughlin

Jeff is Executive Vice President of Enrollment Data, Strategy, and Analytics at Fire Engine RED, where he leads a data services group that’s earned a reputation for helping clients achieve outstanding results.

Jeff currently oversees strategy, data management, as well as reporting and analytics for 65-plus clients, including the College of William and Mary, Hamilton College, Seattle University, Southern Methodist University, and Whitworth University.

Prior to joining Fire Engine RED in 2014, Jeff spent 20-plus years in admissions and enrollment. He served as the Dean of Admissions & Financial Aid at St. Olaf College, where he led all aspects of enrollment management. In addition, he served as the Interim Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Antioch College, and as an enrollment consultant for over 20 institutions, including Butler University, the College of the Atlantic, Millsaps College, Northwestern University, and the University of Chicago.

Jeff is available to consult on:

CRM data analysis and strategies
Data collection and management
New market identification
Operational best practices
Strategic enrollment planning
Travel optimization and planning
Vendor optimization
Coaching and mentoring
Board meeting preparation and reports
Funnel assessment
Communications flow
List purchase strategy and optimization