STAFF

James Query, Director of Operations
James Query joined Advantage in the fall of 2005 as our Director of Operations. He supports President Jeff Butzke and Vice President Aris McMahon in several areas of the company including managing client relationships, data analysis, business development, and research.

An exceptional student in politics, James worked on several campaigns of both local and national importance while at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. James coordinated the Students for Burr program his Senior year, mobilizing Wake’s student body to support Winston-Salem native Richard Burr in his bid to join Elizabeth Dole as the state’s second Republican senator. James coordinated much of the grassroots efforts on campus including phone banks, voter registration drives, advertising, and a town hall meeting at Wake. James was also heavily involved in other races in North Carolina from a grassroots level including President Bush’s 2004 reelection, Elizabeth Dole’s US Senate campaign in 2002, and several other local races.

James Query received his B.A. in economics and communication from Wake Forest University in 2005 where he was recognized as a leader in many different organizations on campus. James is a native of Cumberland, RI and now lives in Washington, D.C.

Rob Shrum, Operations Manager
Rob Shrum joined Advantage in the summer of 2006, serving as Operations Manager. He assists President Jeff Butzke and Vice President Aris McMahon in areas such as business development, strategic marketing, managing client relationships, and data analysis and research.

Prior to working with Advantage, Rob worked in an internship with the 72 Hour Department of the Republican National Committee, which is responsible for focusing on devising and implementing nationwide volunteer grassroots activities and organizing and deploying the best turnout and field operations in the states. In this position at the RNC, Rob collected and tabulated past election voting trends for analysis, assisted in the development of voter registration trackers, created in depth candidate profiles, and supported the RNC Political staff. Rob excelled in the study of political science at Middle Tennessee State University. While at MTSU, Rob was a member of the Pi Sigma Alpha National Political Science Honors Fraternity, as well as a member of the American Political Science Association and the Southern Political Science Association.

Rob Shrum received a B.A. in Political Science and Public Administration from Middle Tennessee State University. A native of Gallatin, Tennessee, Rob currently lives in Arlington, Virginia.

Katelynn Calonkey, Project Manager
In June 2007, Katelynn Calonkey joined the Advantage team as a projects manager. In this capacity, Katelynn manages client relationships and client services, assists with analysis and research, business development, and strategic marketing.

Previously Katelynn Calonkey served as an intern for Captura in Fort Worth, Texas. Captura provides strategic marketing, research, and search engine optimization to web based companies through paid search engine marketing, natural search engine optimization, affiliate marketing, and online media buying.  In this internship, she served as a researcher, data analyst and assisted with strategic marketing, advertising, and account services.  As an employee at In Detail showroom in the World Trade Center, Dallas, Texas, Katelynn gained extensive experience in account services, sales, customer service, merchandising and showroom operations.  Through a London study abroad program in 2006, she studied international marketing, media and politics.  While at Texas Christian University, she was awarded the leadership medallion as a charter member of the Chancellor's Leadership Program and served as a TCU Ambassador.  Among her leadership and service activities, she was a founding member and officer of the American Society of Training and Development.

A graduate of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, Katelynn received a B.S. in Communication Studies with an emphasis in Leadership.  She is currently a member of The Madison, Washington D.C., and the Oklahoma and Texas State Societies. Katelynn is from Norman, Oklahoma, and currently lives in Washington, DC.