Nolan Wherley is anything but your typical audio-visual technician. Nolan has interned and freelanced for MediaQuest on-and-off for the past few years, and we are extremely pleased that he has officially joined the MediaQuest team full-time!

Nolan brings a whole new skill set to MediaQuest; including his creative abilities with video editing. He is an essential part of the ever-expanding video production side of MediaQuest, as well as an extremely hard-working event technician.

Nolan’s first experience with MediaQuest began in 2018 while he worked as a summer intern between semesters while he was an ungraduated student at the University of Pittsburgh. While interning, Nolan did extensive editing work, and taught himself many different styles of motion graphics. Nolan also gained experience in the events side of the audio-visual industry during this time.  

“I began interning for MediaQuest the summer after my second year at Pitt. And before I knew it I was in on office jokes, and driving a minivan to Boston.”

From the start, Nolan fit in to the culture at MediaQuest, and after his internship was completed, MediaQuest made sure to hire him as a freelancer as much as possible. He worked many different events for MediaQuest, but was also able to freelance with other audio-visual companies throughout Pittsburgh.  

After graduating from Pitt, Nolan pursued other opportunities; but finally, MediaQuest was able to convince him to join the company full-time in November 2021.

When not editing or working events, Nolan is always down for an adventure - and a good cup of coffee.

“Well, I grew up in Lancaster along the Susquehanna River and moved to Pittsburgh for university where I lived along the Monongahela River. Now I live in Sewickley along the Ohio River. Living by rivers allowed me to go kayaking and develop a general love for the outdoors. My girlfriend Peyton and I like to spend our free time outdoors as much as possible - especially during the dreary months in Pittsburgh. But most nights we settle for watching an episode of Survivor with our two cats, Milo and Bok.”

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After watching Mike Hammer stay cool under pressure at an event, MediaQuest knew that he would be a perfect fit for our team.  

What we did not realize was the vast amount of experience and talent that “Hammer” would bring to the company.  

After graduating from Penn State University, Mike began work as an audio sales rep / recording engineer and eventually worked his way up becoming the Front of House Engineer for the band ‘Rusted Root’.  

After his touring days, Hammer spent 10+ years as a sought-after engineer freelancing for companies across the US before finding a home at MediaQuest.  

While being an audio engineer has been his primary focus, Mike also has a background in performing live music.  

He has been playing and recording music on the guitar, bass, and keyboard for more than 20 years and has been in several Pittsburgh area bands.  

He also manages to keep up with his passions for woodworking, adventuring outdoors and of course the never-ending house projects.  

“I have worked in every state except Hawaii - I love traveling, and I try to get a hike in whenever I can.”  

Although his schedule keeps him quite busy, he is happiest when he is able to enjoy the outdoors with his wife Katie or lounge around the house with their three cats.  

“The culture at MediaQuest is what made my decision easy.  It’s easy to see that MediaQuest is one big family where everyone has the same goals: great production and customer service.  The fact the MediaQuest is a leader in the Pittsburgh Livestreaming market and is currently building a production studio in-house is a huge bonus.  I am looking forward to getting back to my roots in studio and post-production work.”  

Here at MediaQuest, we are certainly excited to have him as a new addition to our team!

No one at MediaQuest is more passionate and enthusiastic about our work and clients than our Founder and CEO, Mike Dorfner.

Mike started the company 30 years ago, and has never looked back.  You will never find a CEO more invested in his company than Mike.  He can be found way more often in the warehouse loading trucks or putting away equipment than in the office.  He is always the first to volunteer to work an event, and spends a lot of time traveling.  Mike even spends a lot of his time driving the trucks to and from events across the country.  He loves to “work with diverse clients in diverse fields,” and this has really shaped MediaQuest and how it operates every day.

Although Mike is very dedicated to his work, there is a lot more to him than meets the eye.  If you have ever ridden with Mike to an event, whether it be 10 minutes or 10 hours away, you will never have to worry about being entertained.  Mike is not only full of interesting knowledge, but he has an entire arsenal full of funny stories and jokes.  “I love to laugh.  Laughter is the best medicine.”  He brings his great attitude to work everyday, and you can be assured that even in the most difficult moments, he inspires all of his employees.

Although Mike is a prominent figure in the Pittsburgh audio/visual world, he did not start out in television.  Mike’s roots go back to when he was a professional musician, and how he spent his college years with the Tamburitzans at Duquesne University.  Throughout this time, he learned all about the industry and started a company with a partner.  Mike later become the sole owner, MediaQuest was born, and the rest is history.

Mike pursues his hobbies for golf and table tennis as passionately as his work at MediaQuest. Mike’s favorite sport is, “Golf - but only when I’m playing well!”  On top of his other accomplishments, Mike is also considered one of the top 30 businessmen golfers in the Pittsburgh area according to the Pittsburgh Business Times.

Despite his success, Mike still says that the best thing that ever happened to him was getting married to his wife, Mary.  Together they have two children. Matthew just graduated high school, and Nina attends Duquesne University.

With energy that few people can rival, Mike has turned MediaQuest into the successful business that it is today.

An important person everyone should know from MediaQuest is our controller, JoMarie!
Aunt Jo, as she is lovingly referred to, keeps everything (and everyone) organized at the office. As our Controller, JoMarie ensures all the financial accounts are up-to-date and accurate.  

For the past 16 years, JoMarie has loved her co-workers at MediaQuest. There is never a dull moment with her around, and according toJoMarie, “Every day there is a story at MQ."

JoMarie is huge on the importance of family– becoming a mom to two daughters is the best thing that has ever happened to her.  She spends a lot of her free time with her husband and daughters – especially at the soccer fields.  With her whole family working as coaches for the West Allegheny High School and Middle School soccer teams, she spends a lot of her time cheering them on.

JoMarie loves to dance and has been spotted showing off her ‘flossing’ skills - as well as doing whatever other dance moves are necessary to avoid pesky spiders. When she is not dancing, she is always helping others, and is a strong supporter of the underdog.  She truly goes above and beyond the call of duty every day and has gone way beyond her comfort zone to help all her co-workers – including running teleprompter for a presidential speech!  Even through this high-pressure situation, she was always smiling and professional.

With her infectious laughter and awesome organizational skills, we are lucky to have JoMarie!

One of the pillars of MediaQuest includes our President, Tom Bender.

Tom has dedicated almost 20 years of his life to ensure the success of MediaQuest.  Without Tom, MediaQuest would be a very different place than it is today.  Tom has been responsible for not only project managing and working events, but he also makes a lot of the marketing decisions, hiring decisions, and even spends some of his time video editing.

Tom not only keeps the office organized, but keeps the office light-hearted as well.  “I just love to laugh.  I love memes.”  Along with loving to read memes to the staff, “I also like to write memes… maybe become a professional meme writer when I retire.”  Along with his love of memes, Tom also enjoys wood working and repurposing thrift store finds.  He creates beautiful, new pieces of furniture and decorations that he sells - and has even created custom pieces for his wife’s office.

Tom has been known to be accident prone - whether it includes being stranded in a flood, or getting stuck in a tree and having to be rescued by the fire department, despite this, he has been lovingly married to his wife for almost 30 years.  They met while working together, and even though they no longer work together, their common interests have impacted their relationship in a good way as they continue to work together on their hobbies everyday.  They have two children together.  Their daughter is a nurse, and their son is a mechanical engineering student at Penn State.  “I am most proud of my family, and the life we built together.”  

Tom is definitely one of the most knowledgeable people in the office, and is more than willing to share his knowledge and experience with everyone.  You can always count on Tom to be there for not only our clients, but the staff as well.  MediaQuest is more than just a place to work for Tom.  His coworkers are an extension of his family.  “My coworkers are my friends… they are like family.  We have the same kinds of relationships with our clients.”

Fun-loving and the office prankster, there is never a dull moment around Bart.

After working as an intern for MediaQuest in 2001, Bart never left.  He stayed on with the company after graduating from Robert Morris University, and is now the VicePresident who oversees all the video production for the company.  He is also the self-proclaimed IT guy – whether he likes it or not.

On a daily basis, Bart can be seen around the office looking for his lost keys, spending late nights editing videos, drinking several pots of coffee, and pulling office pranks mostly involving mannequins.  One of the weirdest experiences Bart ever had is that he ended up on stage with a former president during an event – and he has no idea how it happened.

Bart’s greatest joy comes from his family.  After marrying his wife Alissa in 2002, Bart has two children, Camden and Adelyn.  Bart is involved with the Boy Scouts, and spends his free time camping and hiking(as well as anything else outdoors), and hanging out with his family.  Bart also spends a lot of time volunteering at his church, and participating in church activities.

The top reason Bart loves to work at MediaQuest is because of, “The talented and tight knit staff.”  Bart truly finds the fun and joy in everything, and makes a significant impact on the fun MediaQuest atmosphere.

Whether it is playing the drums for his band, rescuing other MediaQuest employees from being stranded in the river during a boating trip, or project managing some of our biggest events of the year, Chris is a genuine guy that you can rely on.

Chris has overseen the graphic design needs for the company for 15 years, and is well known for being great at managing large events and projects for multiple clients. After graduating from ITT Tech, Chris connected with MediaQuest, and spent time freelancing before starting full-time.

On any given day, you can find Chris hard at work in our warehouse prepping for his next big event, or driving one of our trucks cross-country to an event.  Recently, as Chris was driving a MediaQuest truck back from an event in Seattle this summer, he crossed paths with a tornado in Wyoming – which he barely escaped from.  Chris has spent a lot of time traveling for work, but he always makes sure he has fun in his free time.  Meteor Crater National Landmark in Winslow Arizona, Jolly Green Giant statue in Blue Earth Minnesota, and The Alamo are some of his more memorable stops while driving the truck.  He tried to see Devils Tower and Mount Rushmore recently - but was too busy outrunning the tornado.  Chris enjoys showing the staff at MediaQuest that we, "can have fun, while still being serious about our events."

When Chris is not traveling the countryside, he plays the drums for his bands ‘RadioActive’ and 'Blackfield Chapel' in venues all over Pittsburgh including the Smiling Moose, The Rock Room, 31st Street Pub (until it closed), Cafe Down Under, and Irwin Eagles.  RadioActive has released a studio album, and one of his best experiences is, “seeing my music being listened to worldwide.”  Chris loves hard rock / metal music, and loves to ride dirt bikes, hunt, and fish. He also enjoys drawing, and small engine repair.

With Chris working at MediaQuest, you can be assured a top-notch event!

No one would ever expect a dancer, instructor, and seamstress to work at MediaQuest, but guess what… we have someone who can do all these things and much, much more!

As the Event Coordinator and a Project Manager, Beth often takes the lead in the staging aspects of the company's events, as she is known for the set designs she creates.  In addition, if you have ever seen our beautiful drapes, you will be amazed to know that Beth made all of them.  She has also created many other set pieces that we use frequently.  

Beth is not new to the audio visual industry and has been working with MediaQuest as a freelancer since 1997 and full time since 2017.  Although she did not intend to start working at MediaQuest, Beth stepped in to help when she was needed.  “I attended a small dance performance that MediaQuest was shooting that day and was asked, unexpectedly, to step in and run a camera.  The director asked me to pan LEFT and of course I moved RIGHT.  I learned very quickly that day, and knew I had a passion for learning more!”  Beth’s personality has been essential to her success in this industry.  “I'm not sure I've ever been a shy person, so I've always loved the planning, the people, and the innovation.”

With a BA and MA in Corporate Communications from Duquesne University and a performer with the Duquesne University Tamburitzans, her passion for learning manifests itself in various ways. Whether it involves dance, culture, or learning about her ancestry, she is always striving to be her best.  Beth is very passionate about the arts, and she is involved in as many ethnic dance opportunities as possible, still teaching both children and adults and occasionally stepping up on the stage. In addition to her already jam-packed schedule, she is on the Board of Directors for the TAA and acts as the Managing Director of the BMNECC.

Beth grew up in a family with six siblings, and they inspired her love for music and dance.  “Being a performer from a very young age developed confidence in every aspect of my life.”  Beth’s ethnic background of Croatian, Slovak, and Polish decent has also greatly inspired her life.  Whether for pleasure or work, Beth is on the road as much as possible.  “I love traveling - to see family, for work, to visit loved ones, to learn culture, to experience something new.  This is where my heart will forever take me!”

MediaQuest has provided an outlet for Beth to express her creativity, while working in an industry that she loves.  “The next day will never be the same.  This job provides variety, initiates courage and confidence, develops creativity, and allows for learning and education.”

This combination of creativity and skill has allowed Beth to create some of the most unique experiences for our clients!

Our warehouse expert and manager, Frank Bastone, is one the most essential members of the MediaQuest team.  Frank is in charge of our warehouse, and nothing goes in or out without his permission.

Frank started at MediaQuest about a year and a half ago and had years of experience managing equipment for a different audio/visual rental company and music store.  “I came to MediaQuest from a musical background.  As a drummer through my 20’s and 30’s, I played in a handful of local bands, and got to travel to different parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York.“

Frank does not just manage our very extensive warehouse though.  He is also a referee for college and high school level ice hockey.  During hockey season, Frank spends several nights a week at the rink.  “In 2007, I traded my drumsticks for ice skates and began my career as a hockey referee.  I even had the thrill of skating with the pros, when I reff’d the Penguins’ training camp games in the summers of 2016 and 2017.”

In addition to refereeing, Frank also enjoys golfing, and plays in a league.  “When I’m not in our warehouse stocking the shelves, in the parking lot dumping oil from one of the trucks, or in the main office building bothering Bart, you can probably find me on the golf course, chasing the little white ball around.”

Frank lives in Allegheny Township with his wife, Missy, and two dogs.  They frequently like to travel to New York City and experience the city.

Frank is one of the most organized people at MediaQuest (and one of the best forklift drivers!), and we are thrilled that he helps keep us all on track with our equipment every day!

Very few people have the extensive knowledge about every area of the audio/visual industry that Joshua Smith does.

Joshua joined MediaQuest almost three years ago, and has become famous as being the guy who can fix anything and everything.  Although Joshua is the Senior Lighting Designer, he is also an expert in everything audio, video, and photography related.  Joshua spends his time designing light displays, as well as project managing for several important clients.  With his diverse skill set, and more than 25 years of experience in the field, he is an essential part of the MediaQuest team.

Before MediaQuest, Joshua worked in many different occupations.  As a professional musician and singer, his band produced a lot of music, and was well-known throughout Pittsburgh.  He has also worked as a professional performer at Kennywood as a juggler and magician.  While Joshua was in college, he got his start in the audio/visual industry.  He started working as the lighting guy for a club, and the rest fell into place for him.

Joshua was married to his wife, Melissa, 15 years ago, and has two kids. "Outside of work I enjoy spending time with my family, playing music, fixing electronics, juggling, playing video games, camping, and secretly planning world domination with my master race of nomadic carnival-folk performers.”  As you can see, Joshua is never one to miss an opportunity to tell a joke or funny story.  In addition to taking care of his family, Joshua is also very active in his church, and he plays guitar for his church for their Sunday morning services.

 There are many reasons to love MediaQuest, but according to Joshua, “I love MQ because we’re a tight-knit family of hard-working people.  We all have each other’s backs and are willing to work hard to produce the best possible version of our clients’ vision on each event.”

Joshua’s many talents and great attitude make him a key part of the MediaQuest team.

The newest MediaQuest employee is the youngest employee, but he does not lack for experience in the audio visual industry.  

Josiah Forton has worked at MediaQuest for one year, but he is already becoming very good with our clients.  Josiah is a Project Manager, and will be in charge of many events in the future.  He is a hard worker that is always ready to learn, and is always willing to help out.  

Josiah got in the audio visual industry while he was in college at Geneva.  While still attending school, he interned at the Contemporary Music Center in Nashville, and assisted in coordinating concerts and touring. In addition to his extensive experience, his educational background in production management, his interest in technology, as well as his work experience in event coordination, has made him a perfect fit for MediaQuest.  Before working at MediaQuest, Josiah also worked at a church where he did production.

Josiah’s favorite part of MediaQuest so far is,“it’s high standards, honesty, and work ethic.”

Outside of MediaQuest, Josiah enjoys coffee brewing, studio recording, and reading.  He was married two years ago to his wife Emily, and has a daughter, Lillian.

Josiah not only has the potential to contribute a lot to MediaQuest in the future, but he has already proven himself to be a very valuable asset to MediaQuest.

Although MediaQuest is widely known for their event services, another important service they offer is video production.  One of the main editors at MediaQuest is Josh Drenning. 

Josh has worked at MediaQuest for almost 9 years, and in that time span has worked extensively with Bart McClelland to build up our video production.  Throughout the years, they have succeeded in getting some wonderful clients who appreciate and utilize their editing expertise.

Outside of MediaQuest, Josh is known for his love of his family and video games.  The best thing that ever happened to him was meeting his wife, and having their daughter Luna.  Although he is still working on his dad jokes, his almost two-year-old daughter is a huge part of his life.  “A lot my free time usually goes to my daughter Luna.  She is quite a handful, but I enjoy every moment of it!”  When he is not chasing his daughter around, his main hobby is playing video games, mainly on the PS4. 

Josh got involved with audio visual production after attending Pittsburgh Technical Institute for Filming/Editing.  He interned at MediaQuest, and never left!  What he loves most about MediaQuest is, “The people!  We may have our rough moments during the busy season, but I consider everyone at MediaQuest like family.”

With Josh’s After Effects, Premiere and overall editing skills, you are sure to get a quality video every time you work with us at MediaQuest.

MediaQuest can cover all of your audio/visual needs. We provide everything you need for live events, videos, and we can even cover your editing needs.  But one thing most clients overlook is that we also do photography!  Our photographer, Kaitlin Brinser, is more than willing to cover all your photography needs. 

Kaitlin has worked at MediaQuest for the last three years and seems to have found her niche here.  Not only does Kaitlin take photographs, but she also does a significant amount of video editing.  Before working at MediaQuest, Kaitlin worked as a freelancer for sports television in Pittsburgh.  Although she loved to freelance, she could not say no when MediaQuest offered her a photography job.  “MediaQuest has allowed me to pursue one of my ultimate goals of becoming a professional photographer.  I have so many more opportunities now to take photos after starting at MediaQuest, and I could not be more grateful.”

When Kaitlin is home from the office, you will find her either outside going on adventures, or inside curled up with a cat, her husband James, and her latest crochet project.  All this depends on the weather though, since Kaitlin hates cold weather.  Kaitlin’s absolute favorite thing to do though is travel.  “Traveling can change everything about a person.  It changes perspectives and gives you the chance to see new things.  As a photographer, there are very few things as important as seeing and experiencing new things.  Traveling awakens a person’s sense of adventure, and there is nothing more exciting!”

Kaitlin’s upbeat attitude and creative contributions help to make the MediaQuest office a nice place to work.

Our resident movie buff, and all-around funny guy, is one of our newest employees.

T.J. Luck started with MediaQuest in October of 2019, and as the Senior Audio/Visual Technician, he has become the go-to guy for everything event related.  With tons of experience, and tons of contacts throughout the city, MediaQuest is ‘Luck-y’ to have a guy like T.J. on the staff.

T.J. started in the audio visual industry while living in California.  He started working events in college, “and developed a passion for it, and couldn’t stop.”  After working in California for several years, he recently moved back to Pittsburgh.  T.J. worked as a freelancer for MediaQuest (as well as other audio-visual companies around Pittsburgh) and spent his time working conferences and trade shows all across the United States until he was hired full-time by MQ.

T.J. is known for his movie references, and is greatly inspired by Mel Brooks.  A little known fact about him, is that he has thousands of records in his collection, and he loves to listen to Prince and Van Morrison.  In addition to movies and music, T.J. also enjoys hunting, fishing, and golfing.  Whenever possible, T.J. spends time with his family, including going up to their camp in the mountains.  According to him, “I have amazing family and friends.”

T.J. has been working for MediaQuest for two years now after freelancing for three years, and described the people at MQ - “I’ve never worked with a group of people that I genuinely liked and respected like this one.”  

T.J. has become an important part of our staff, and we look forward to working with him for many years to come.