The Dark Intelligence Group Team

Robert L. Michel
President & Editor in Chief

Deborah Lucas Michel RN
Vice President
Deborah Lucas Michel RN is the Vice President for the Dark Intelligence Group based in Spicewood, Texas since 2000. She is responsible for Audio Conferences, Human Resources, Contract Monitoring, and financial oversight. She has a nursing degree and a bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administration from USC. Nurse Debbie is a psychiatric nurse with expertise in Quality Management, Program Development, and Case Management. When not working, she does volunteer work for community based services, trains Engel, enjoys sailing, and dancing. She can be reached at djlucas@darkreport.com or directly at 512-264-7103.

Robert Croce
Executive Publisher/General Manager
Email: bcroce@darkreport.com
Phone: (512) 264-7103
After almost 18 years as an executive in B2B publishing, Bob joined The Dark Intelligence Group in September 2018 to run daily operations and assist founder Robert Michel with a plan for future growth. Bob’s stops as a publishing company leader include health care information and training companies HCPro and Carlat Publishing, and Wellesley Information Services in the IT space. While at HCPro as Group Publisher, Bob was a part of a management team that helped that company through 10 years of super growth, leading to two private equity recapitalizations. A Boston area native, and graduate of Northeastern University, Bob splits his work time between our Spicewood, TX, main office, and his home office in the Boston area, where he lives with wife Maureen and their two “cheagle” puppies named Sully and Murphy.

Mary Harris Hoffman
Director of Marketing
Email: mhoffman@darkreport.com
Phone: (512) 264-7103
After almost 7 years of professionally meeting all of TDIG’s marketing needs as a private contractor, Mary joined The Dark Intelligence Group in February 2019 as the full-time Director of Marketing. In addition to continuing to run all of TDIG’s marketing programs, as the chief marketing leader Mary now contributes to decision-making and strategy, and is integral in helping the company achieve its goals for nurturing an effective and professional marketing plan and department. Mary’s background includes more than 20 years of experience in B2B publishing. Prior to her relationship with TDIG, Mary had her own marketing consultancy for 14 years, and before that spent 10 years in senior level marketing positions for Oakstone, one of the country’s largest healthcare publishers. Mary is a graduate of Mississippi State’s MBA Certificate Program with a concentration in marketing, and earned her BA with a dual major in Business Administration and Marketing from Birmingham-Southern College.

Liz Carey
Managing Editor of Specialized Content
Email: lcarey@darkreport.com
Phone: (512) 264-7103
Liz Carey joined The Dark Intelligence Group in February 2019 and works as Managing Editor of Specialized Content. Liz is responsible for Dark Daily’s sponsored white paper and webinar program. Liz most recently served as Senior Editor of HomeCare Magazine, which is part of Cahaba Media Group in Birmingham, AL, and she previously spent 13 years with Oakstone Publishing. Liz has more than 15 years of experience in developing and managing editorial and creative programs for B2B digital and print publications, in addition to a range of educational products and tools. She is a former newspaper reporter and editor and is a graduate of the University of South Alabama with a BA in English and Communication. Liz is based in Birmingham, AL. Outside of work, she enjoys roller skating and watching Pittsburgh sports with her family. Liz is assisted in the office by her leopard gecko, Jeffrey.

Shelly Hatch
Manager of Operations and Special Projects
Email: shatch@darkreport.com
Phone: (512) 264-7103
Shelly Hatch joins The Dark Intelligence Group office in Spicewood in the role of Manager of Operations and Special Projects to assist the team with various lab intelligence meetings and collateral while supporting the sales team. She brings over 10 years experience in sales, quality control, and customer service management along with over 25 years in administrative support including 7 years in the Scott & White Neurodiagnostic Laboratory and 4 years with Wal-Mart Grocery Distribution. Most recently she was the area sales and customer service manager for Daily Juice Cafe, customer service manager with Austintatious Blinds & Shutters, and in sales with Documaxx/Xerox and Townsquare Media.

Jude Broderson
Digital Marketing Specialist
Jude Broderson is a Digital Marketing Specialist for The Dark Intelligence Group. He is based in Seattle, WA. and has been with the company since 2001. Over the years as the business has grown, Jude’s involvement has grown; he currently is the primary support to the Marketing services of the company and he oversees the digital marketing campaigns and websites. He has a BA in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Oregon. Jude can be reached at jbroderson@darkreport.com or call 512-264-7103

Jim Whitehurst
Sales Executive Lead Generation Programs
Jim Whitehurst joins The Dark Intelligence Group as a Senior Sales Executive. Jim Brings with him over 25 years of experience in the laboratory industry, selling highly-complex laboratory, revenue cycle, document imaging, web portal and connectivity solutions to both commercial and outreach laboratory marketplaces. Prior to TDIG Jim was the the Director of Sales at tevixMD and was responsible for all sales, marketing and business development activities. Prior to tevixMD Jim worked as Vice President of Sales at ASPYRA LLC where he was he is responsible for all sales and new business development activities. Prior to ASPYRA, Whitehurst worked as VP of Sales for Halfpenny Technologies selling connectivity, web portal and mobile reporting solutions for laboratory service providers.

Sue Calabro
Customer Care Specialist
Email: scalabro@darkreport.com
Phone: (512) 264-7103
Sue joined TDIG in February 2019 as Customer Care Specialist for The Dark Report. She has more than 25 years of experience in customer service and came to the Dark Group to assist subscribers with questions, and provide information for potential subscribers and those signing up for our 14-day free trial .
She spent 15 years in similar customer service roles at healthcare publisher HCPro, Inc., and at The Greeley Company, a consulting company that assists hospitals in the area of medical staff leadership, credentialing, and quality. Sue’s role as a customer service professional has always been to serve the best needs of customers, and she is always just an email or a phone call away.
Sue works remotely from her home office North of Boston, where she resides with her husband, Guy, and their two beautiful grandchildren. In her free time, she enjoys reading and spending time with her family.

Melinda Lopez
Controller
Phone: (512) 264-7103
Melinda brings a wealth of knowledge to TDIG. She previously worked as Controller for Arise Austin Medical Center and The Hospital at Westlake Medical Center, where she assisted upper-level management decisions by creating comprehensive financial reports and building an internal accounting department/team after the acquisition of both hospitals. She has also served as analyst and accountant. A graduate of New Mexico State University, where she earned her accounting degree, Melinda lives in Austin with her 3 year old son.
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