Our Team
Bonni Pear
Nearly 30 years in the public relations field have done nothing to diminish Bonni Pear's passion for what she does. Bonni came to work with former agency owner Trisha Miller in 1982, fresh out of grad school. She quickly worked her way up through the not-too-crowded agency ranks from accountant assistant to account exec, supervisor, vice president and managing partner. She took just one three-year hiatus during the early '90s to direct national media relations efforts for the 66,000-member American Dietetic Association. Today, Bonni serves as Miller-Pear Public Relations' president, directing strategic planning and overseeing day-to-day activities on each account served by the agency. She brings to her leadership role the legacy of the agency's rich past, as well as an uncommon flair for creativity and maximizing the media appeal of any project. Bonni holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and a master's in advertising from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
Among three decades of memorable career highlights, Bonni has:
- made Tinker Bell fly over Chicago's Millennium Park.
- created the Barnum & Bailey Barometer - a presidential straw poll based on the hay-eating capacity of the circus' pachyderm pundits.
- enlisted characters from Disney/Pixar's Cars to support Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White's Teen Safe Driving initiative.
- marked the anniversary of the end of World War II by reuniting members of Gen. George S. Patton's Second Cavalry with the ancestors of the Lipizzan horses they saved from extinction six decades earlier.
- generated more live, local and national TV news coverage from Woodfield Mall during each of the past nine Black Friday holiday shopping season launches than all other area shopping centers combined.
- secured the coveted Travel Michigan account against a field including Chicago's biggest PR agencies.
- had the pleasure of working with Gunther Gebel-Williams, Bello Nock, Michael Flatley, Mickey Rooney, Eartha Kitt and Johnny Mathis.
- been fortunate to count among her friends some of the most creative and hardest working public relations professionals and journalists in the business.
Rick Gieser
A regular contributor to Miller-Pear, Rick Gieser brings to the agency editorial insights and connections from more than two decades of work in radio. Currently a fill-in producer at top-rated WGN Radio in Chicago, Rick has also been a traffic reporter for Shadow Broadcasting, and spent seven and a half years as the morning show producer at Chicago's WSCR Sports Talk Radio. One of the hardest working communications professionals in town, Rick is the public relations director for Zanies Comedy Club and serves as an elected trustee on the Carol Stream Village Board. Rick holds a bachelor's degree in telecommunications from Indiana University Bloomington.
Carol Vesely
A self-confessed “media junkie”, Carol brings to Miller-Pear a keen awareness of emerging consumer trends, combined with a journalism and extensive event planning background. As president of a 350-member parent teacher association, Carol successfully coordinated and recruited volunteer teams for numerous large programs and events, overseeing a $100,000 budget. Her professional background includes several years working for software consulting firms, where she has been responsible for marketing campaign development, customer survey execution, newsletter creation and sales database management. She received her bachelor’s degree in Journalism and master’s in Labor and Industrial Relations from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Carol possesses an all too rare combination of creative spirit and detail-oriented work ethic and a true belief in the importance of client service.