Living Arts College’s Stars Theater welcomes local advertising mastermind, Todd Coats, Chief Creative Officer at Capstrat, on Wednesday, April 17, at 10:30am.  Mr. Coats has the skills and knowledge to answer what most students need to know on how they can get a job in the advertising industry using their specific creative disciplines, whether it's animation, graphic/web design, audio, photography, or video production.  After earning a BFA in Communication Arts with a double concentration in Illustration and Graphic Design, at age 25, Coats and a partner started a design and advertising design firm in Raleigh.  He then worked on banking and entertainment at FGI before being recruited by Glaxo (now GlaxoSmithKline).  He quickly moved up to design manager, then North American corporate brand manager.  Along the way, he earned his master’s degree from Syracuse in Advertising Design where he worked with well-respected talent from Fallon, VSA Partners, Hal Riney, Goodby Silverstein as well as the great Lou Dorfsman.  After 11 years and two mergers Coats decided to get back into agency life by joining Capstrat, a fast-growing communications agency.  As chief creative officer, Todd believes in promoting a creative culture of best work— doing good work brings new opportunities to do more good work. He makes every effort to keep Capstrat a fun, open environment where everyone's input is valued.  His work has been recognized by The Addys, The Tellys, Summit Awards, Graphis Magazine, Print, AIGA Graphic Design USA, How Magazine, Creativity Magazine, ShowSouth, the AIGA Design Show — and many more.  Students of Living Arts College have an automatic invitation.