Josh Harris | founder and marketing strategist

In the Round founder and owner, Josh Harris, is a Canton, Ohio native with over 16 years of experience in multimedia systems; music performance and composition; event and studio production; and computer-based multimedia design. Josh is a graduate of Malone College (Canton) with degrees in Commercial Music Production and Business Administration, and the Los Angeles Film Studies Center. He has also served as an adjunct faculty in the Fine Arts Department at Malone and is a frequent guest speaker in local schools and colleges.

Josh started In the Round in 1998 with just himself, his laptop and a cell-phone. Now surrounded by a skilled team, he spends much of his time developing projects and directing project teams. His abilities to create innovative solutions, design technical and creative specifications and oversee execution successfully realize even the most complex projects.

When not immersed in technology, Josh enjoys hanging from cliffs, crawling in caves, whitewater canoeing, backpacking and otherwise adventuring in the great outdoors and out of range of his cell phone.

Kate Harris | business manager

The glue that holds In the Round together, Kate manages the office, handles the accounting, keeps us legal, and oversees much of the web content creation. She is the voice of In the Round, serving as the first point of contact for clients, prospective clients, vendors, and subcontractors. As our resident "taskmaster," Kate excels at keeping the rest of us -- and our projects -- on track while meticulously attending to the finer points of content creation and editing.

Kate earned her masters in Information and Communication Sciences from Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. where she also served as a graduate assistant for the Center for International Programs.

When she manages to escape the office, Kate immerses herself in scrapbooking, cross-stitching, reading, gardening, and bicycling. She has also backpacked through France, Italy, and Germany twice.

Aaron Winn | creative director

As creative director and lead visual designer, Aaron spear-heads print design services as well as day to day management of content creation for web and multimedia. He believes that clever form should never be an excuse for poor function and that effective communication should be a synthesis of both form and function.

Aaron earned a Liberal Arts degree—with concentrations in communications, psychology, and commercial music technology—from Malone University. But he still doesn’t really know what that means. In his quest to figure it out, he’s kept himself busy as a freelance graphic designer in both corporate and non-profit settings and also as the director of trade marketing for Barbour Publishing.

In his early and collegiate years, Aaron was active in live theatre production. Since retiring from the boards, he enjoys any sort of remodeling or construction project, participating his church’s worship band, and eating cookie dough ice cream with his wife and daughter. Someday he’d like to live in Cairo (Egypt) again.

David Brown | lead visual designer

A recent graduate of Kent State University's visual communication design program, David has already been awarded regional, state, and national accolades for his work. He brings strong natural design skills and creativity to his work on real-world print and web projects for In The Round clients.
 
David first delved into visual design during high school when, as the “computer expert” of his family, he designed stationary and other materials for his family’s thriving business. Originally from Columbus, David and his parents moved to Kelleys Island on Lake Erie where he spent his high school years. While there, David also attended Erie Huron Ottawa Vocational Education (a vocational school on the mainland) for graphic design.

David’s eye for design also lends itself to an eye for photography; he is currently working on a project to shoot 360 architectural images inside Kent buildings. He is a fan of “posi” music—a combination of punk style and positive lyrics.

Brenda Gottsabend | visual design intern

Brenda Gottsabend joins the team as a Written and Visual Communications Design Intern. In her new role, Brenda will create and design written and visual content for all media formats. Her training, experience, and expertise have proven valuable assets as she designs a wide variety of pieces.

Following a 30 year career as an IT professional for a Fortune 500 company, Brenda was inspired to try her hand at Design. In May, she graduated from Stark State College of Technology with certificates in Graphic Design, Advanced Graphic Art, and Digital Photography from as well as becoming an Adobe Certified Associate in Visual Communications. She is also a graduate of Baldwin-Wallace College with a degree in History and Political Science.

In her free time, Brenda enjoys creating digital art which she exchanges with friends around the country. She is also an avid reader, quilter, beader and cross-stitcher and seeks on a daily basis to improve her digital photography skills. She is the proud parent of three amazing young adults and grandparent to Elliot. Her husband David is her biggest fan.
 

Joshua Smith | lead applications developer

Beyond his role as lead developer and programmer, Josh is our standards-bearer—responsible for developing, maintaining, and enforcing the standards and best practices for all code and documentation created at ITR. Fortunately for the rest of us, he is one of the rare IT types who are adept at translating technical jargon into plain English. Although a graduate of Malone College’s mathematics and computer science departments, Josh’s experience extends back to his early years of programming his Atari computer.

Josh is also an accomplished system administrator and, unlike many web developers, possesses both an interest and experience in the mainframe (think super-sized server) world. Prior to joining ITR he was central in updating, integrating, and testing mainframe applications at a fortune 500 company.

When Josh heads home for the day, he insists that he would be most happy to sit at his home computer and program all night. His wife Sunshine, as aspiring veterinarian, manages to get Josh out of the house occasionally to “monkey” around with the inhabitants of the American Primate Educational Sanctuary in Columbus.

Saint Wesonga | applications developer

Saint, a computer science graduate of Malone University, brings a solid set of skills to his work on behalf of In The Round's clients. He first joined the team as an Ohio Third-Frontier intern and his knack for programming quickly made him an excellent candidate for an advanced residency. He completed his residency while also teaching undergraduate courses to aspiring programmers. Saint officially joined the team as a full-time applications developer in June 2009.

Saint hails from Nairobi, Kenya, where he grew up before moving overseas to attend college. His favorite part about studying in the States is the opportunity for adventure—particularly the variety of places to travel.

When he isn’t involved in more serious work, Saint enjoys programming computer games including his own versions of Tetris and Minesweeper. Saint is an MIT African Internet Technology Initiative Participant. He has also taken part in hurricane relief work in New Orleans and Mississippi, and the American Heart Association Team.

Josh Winn | lead crestron programmer & systems engineer

As a systems designer/integrator, Josh excels at bringing together disparate technologies from a number of fields including sound, video, lighting, acoustics, computers, and data networking to create the systems infrastructure necessary for today's multimedia communication. Common applications include school auditoriums, classrooms, houses of worship, live events, performance venues, and business conference rooms.

With many years as an accomplished musician as well as technician, Josh brings a unique understanding of "both sides of the mic" to the process, and a design philosophy that systems should not only be technically advanced, but also user-friendly and cost effective.

When not tinkering with electronics, Josh enjoys woodworking, construction, campfires, and teaching his pre-school daughter tidbits of higher math so she can impress people with her “advanced understanding.” His wife, Julia, sees this as evidence of him being a real nerd.

Steve James | installation technician

After receiving his associates degree from Fullsail Real World Education in Winter Park, Florida, Steve came to In the Round to gain real-world experience in multimedia systems installation and integration. With a background in live event production and portable systems, Steve now specializes in specific considerations for designing and installing permanent systems.

Graduating as valedictorian of his class, Steve earned his associate of science degree in show production and touring from Fullsail. While there, he was honored with course director awards for Advanced Show Production System and Show Production Computer Animated Systems. He has also served as a systems technician for his churches both in Canton and Florida.

When he’s not buried in a new media system or running sound at church, Steve enjoys playing multi-player games online and paintball with his friends. He is also an avid reader—particularly of science fiction novels.

Ben Overton | systems engineer

Ben Overton is a veteran of sound and video with over six years’ experience. His field knowledge spans a wide variety of AV concepts, including video surveillance, home theater, integrated systems design and installation, professional intercom systems, and theater lighting. Starting as the lead sound technician for a music venue, Ben worked to meet the needs of hundreds of bands. He now oversees sound and video at Dover New Life Church, where he and his family attend.

In his off time, Ben loves spending time with his family—his beautiful wife, Lynsey, and three awesome boys. His passion for family has led him to the positions of youth pastor, children’s coordinator, and music director at his church. He also enjoys volunteering with short-term missions trips. Not content with his already busy schedule, Ben still finds time to enjoy his favorite outdoor activities, such as camping, hiking, fishing, and extreme sports.