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Chairman, CEO and President
Kelly Gay joined KnowledgeStorm in February 2000, and has 25 years of business and management experience in sales, sales operations, market strategy, business development and financial operations. Kelly is responsible for the overall strategic direction, growth and management of KnowledgeStorm. Under Kelly's leadership, KnowledgeStorm has achieved significant revenue growth year-over-year, which has earned KnowledgeStorm several prestigious rankings including the Inc. 500, the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 and Software Magazine's Software 500.
Prior to joining KnowledgeStorm, Kelly led IBM into the entertainment, publishing, printing, advertising, broadcast, cable and sports markets as Vice President of IBM's North American Media and Entertainment division. Under her direction, the IBM business unit produced 18% year-to-year revenue growth over a five-year period, with overall annual revenue exceeding $1 billion in 1999.
Kelly serves on the Board of Directors of KnowledgeStorm, the Bank of Atlanta, the Technology Association of Georgia, and the Board of Directors Network. Kelly also recently completed service as the first Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Georgia Department of Motor Vehicles. She is a member of the Outsell Executive Leadership Council, the Software and Information Industry Association and American Business Media.
Kelly was chosen by Catalyst magazine as one of Atlanta's Top 50 Entrepreneurs in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005. She was spotlighted in Atlanta Woman magazine as a leader to watch, and has been chosen by the Atlanta Business Chronicle's yearly Who's Who in Technology for four consecutive years. She also was chosen by BtoB magazine as an Atlanta Diva.
As a sought after speaker, Kelly has been invited to address both industry and client-sponsored events including Go! Outsell, The Entrepreneurship Institute's Presidents' Forum, ad:tech New York, InfoCommerce Forum, Jupiter Media's Online Advertising Forum, American Business Media events, Software & Information Industry Association events, Georgia Technology Forum, and many others. Kelly has also appeared as a guest on CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight," and the Georgia Business Report.
Kelly is a magna cum laude graduate of Newcomb College of Tulane University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics.
Executive Vice President, Products, Technology and Marketing
Jeff Ramminger joined KnowledgeStorm in April 2000 and has 25 years of business technology experience. His responsibilities include business strategy, marketing, product strategy and management, Website architecture, development and operations.
Previous to KnowledgeStorm, Jeff served as director in IBM's Communications Sector e-business Services practice where he led a team of Internet consultants, designers and developers working with clients on online strategies and complex Web-driven applications. He was a key founder of IBM's innovative Interactive Media Practice, created in 1994, and led the design and delivery of more than 40 large-scale sports and entertainment Web events including the official Websites for the Masters, GRAMMYs, Wimbledon Championships, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, Superbowl and Ryder Cup. Jeff also led engagements with clients including the PGA Tour, NHL, NBA, Sony Music, Italia Telecom, Cox Communications, Wall Street Journal, World Golf Village, and the PGA of America.
Jeff has developed a variety of thought leadership initiatives and platforms for KnowledgeStorm including Intelligent Content Strategies, Content Consumption and Lead Generation and the Emerging Media Series. He speaks frequently at industry and client events, including Software Business, InfoCommerce, Philadelphia: Models of Excellence and Search Engine Optimization (SEO), the SLAM Conference, the BtoB magazine NetMarketing Breakfast and SERIS, Atlanta.
Jeff is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology and holds a Bachelor in Electrical Engineering degree. He is also a member of the Technology Association of Georgia, the Software and Information Industry Association and American Business Media.
Senior Vice President, Business Planning and Corporate Development
Rachel Spasser joined KnowledgeStorm in July 2000 and has 17 years of experience in marketing, business development and general management. Rachel is responsible for establishing relationships with publishers and industry organizations, building the company's distribution network, identifying and negotiating partnerships for product and content innovation as well as overseeing the development of the company's market intelligence strategy. Additionally, Rachel is responsible for the design and delivery of KnowledgeStorm's outbound products including custom email programs, sponsorships and the company's channel strategy.
Prior to joining KnowledgeStorm, Rachel served as vice president of business development and general manager of FigLeaves Inc., an online retailer. In addition, Rachel worked in business development and as a management consultant for the Telecommunications and Media Industry Group at IBM. Rachel has also held marketing positions at Le Parker Meridien Hotel in New York and The Penn Club.
She holds an MBA with honors from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Rachel serves on the Content Board of the Software and Information Industry Association and is a member of the Technology Association of Georgia and American Business Media. She is also a past mentor in the Pathbuilders Achieva Program.
Vice President, Sales
Jim Canfield joined KnowledgeStorm in May of 2003 and has more than 25 years of sales and marketing leadership experience, driving high growth sales at both large, established companies as well as early stage companies. His responsibilities include the overall leadership, management, strategy and growth of the KnowledgeStorm sales team.
Before joining KnowledgeStorm, Jim served as vice president of sales for Headhunter.net (now CareerBuilder), helping the company grow from a very early start-up operation to the Internet's number two job board. Prior to Headhunter.net, Jim held various sales and operational leadership positions at Baxter Healthcare Corporation, including area and regional vice president. At Idexx Laboratories, Jim led both the sales and marketing teams in two different roles, culminating as the vice president and general manager for the 500-person Veterinary Services group. Jim started his career in sales at Abbott Diagnostics.
Jim is a graduate of Southern Illinois University and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Technology. He is also a member of the Technology Association of Georgia, the Software and Information Industry Association and American Business Media.
Vice President, Finance and Human Resources
Mike Ewers joined KnowledgeStorm in January 2000 and has 19 years of public accounting and CFO experience. His responsibilities include accounting, finance, human resources, benefits, administration and facility management. Mike also serves as KnowledgeStorm's corporate secretary and treasurer.
Previous to KnowledgeStorm, Mike was the Chief Financial Officer for TestAmerica, as well as National Environmental Testing (NET), which are both environmental services companies. While at NET, Mike was a participant in the management buyout of the company from its UK parent, The Ocean Group. Mike is a CPA and started his career in public accounting at Chunowitz, Teitelbaum & Baerson in Northbrook, IL, in charge of write-up, audit and tax work for several small businesses.
Mike is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting and a minor in Economics, as well as a graduate of Mount St. Clare College (now known as Ashford University) with an Associate of Arts degree in Accounting. He is also a member of the Technology Association of Georgia, as well as a charter member of the Technology Executive Roundtable CFO Forum and on the Advisory Board of Spunlogic.
Vice President, Client Services
Chris Gleason joined KnowledgeStorm in November 1999 and has 25 years of management experience in operations, program management, sales and channels in the technology, retail and non-profit industries. Her responsibilities include leading and scaling the operations of Client Services and ensuring KnowledgeStorm provides value to both clients and visitors to KnowledgeStorm's sites. Chris also leads KnowledgeStorm's Leadership Development Program.
Prior to joining KnowledgeStorm, Chris developed and led a channel sales team for the software division at Sun Microsystems. Before Sun Microsystems, she was employed by Digital Equipment Corporation's Service Division for 13 years in a variety of management positions in operations, program management and sales.
Chris is a graduate of the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education, and holds an MBA from Tulane University with distinction. She is also a member of the Technology Association of Georgia and a mentor in the Pathbuilders Achieva Program.
Vice President, Technology
Dave MacDonald joined KnowledgeStorm in September 2004 and has 25 years of information technology (IT) experience including over 10 years of senior IT leadership. He has overall IT department responsibility including strategic planning, architecture, engineering, development, operations, quality assurance and business intelligence.
Prior to joining KnowledgeStorm, Dave served in vice president of technology and CTO roles for Hipo.com/edaflow Corporation and Information Technology Builders where he applied his leadership and hands-on technology experience to Web-based initiatives for V.F Corporation, Check Free, EarthLink, BellSouth and Nielsen Media Research. Prior to that he served as director of architecture and director of operations technology for Norrell Corporation where he was responsible for all facets of their systems, applications, development and infrastructure. Dave's earlier career included 10 years with Digital Equipment Corporation as a consultant to Fortune 500 clients worldwide.
Dave holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Bryan College.
Director, Information Services
Steve Donovan joined KnowledgeStorm in 1999 and is one of its founders. He has over 16 years of enterprise application development experience on Oracle databases. Steve has held numerous roles within KnowledgeStorm, including director of software development and director of data structures. He is currently responsible for managing the tracking and reporting of KnowledgeStorm's vast amount of data. He has also managed development projects and has been instrumental as a development lead for KnowledgeStorm's Lead Management Platform and in launching FindTech, KnowledgeStorm's technology vertical search site.
Prior to KnowledgeStorm, Steve worked for United States Cellular on the Internal Products Research and Development team. He was responsible for building Web applications to interface to the data warehouse. Steve also worked for Information Data Management writing database software for the blood banking industry.
Steve is a graduate of Marquette University and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering.
Director, Marketing
Heather Varian Foster joined KnowledgeStorm in February 2005 and has more than 13 years of experience in sales and marketing management. She is responsible for defining and executing KnowledgeStorm marketing strategies, initiatives and operational plans to support corporate revenue and profitability objectives.
Prior to joining KnowledgeStorm, Heather served as director, marketing for Reed Construction Data, a division of Reed Business Information, a B2B lead generation service for the construction industry, where she was responsible for leading all marketing programs, demand generation, sales support, corporate communications, brand strategy, public relations, customer retention programs and Website strategy for North America. She also served as a regional sales manager and marketing manager for Oil-Dri Corporation of America. Heather helped bring in key accounts, such as Grainger and Unisource, for Oil-Dri and built its first marketing team in the Industrial and Environmental Division.
Heather is a graduate of Georgia Southern University and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and English. She sits on the Board of the Atlanta chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA) and is the Chair of the Mentorship program. Heather is also a member of the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG).
Director, User Services
Nancy Hatfield joined KnowledgeStorm in November 1999 and has more than 19 years of experience in marketing, finance and sales operations in the beverage and high tech industries. Nancy is responsible for the management of the User Services team and for the ongoing development of user-focused products and services, including Lead Assessment and Search User Insights.
Prior to joining KnowledgeStorm, Nancy spent 10 years in the beverage industry, serving in a variety of roles, including sales support, program analysis, channel management, marketing and finance for Meridian Beverage Company and The Stroh Brewery Company.
Nancy is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.
Director, Sales
Jason Hoback joined KnowledgeStorm in February 2001 and has more than 12 years of B2B sales leadership experience. He is responsible for achieving KnowledgeStorm's sales objectives through the regional managers and sales team and is in charge of sales hiring and training and the development of sales strategies and programs to drive profitability and maximize market share.
Prior to joining KnowledgeStorm, Jason served as an area sales director at CareerBuilder. He managed the Southeastern and Southwestern sales regions. He led a sales team responsible for 14 states and grew his division to over $20 million during a two-year time period. Jason opened and managed satellite sales offices in Dallas, TX, Austin, TX and Tampa, FL. He was also a regional sales manager for Autoweb.com.
Jason is a graduate of the University of Memphis and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Advertising.
Director, Business Development
Matt Lohman joined KnowledgeStorm in November 2003. He has over 10 years of business development and sales experience with a focus on online segments. Matt's responsibilities include the development and growth of the KnowledgeStorm Network of content partners and KnowledgeStorm's market research initiatives. In addition, he also oversees advanced reporting products, channel sales pursuits and the blogger community for FindTech Blogs.
Prior to joining KnowledgeStorm, Matt held a variety of sales and marketing positions at CareerBuilder. He is a member of the Market Research Association, the Society for Competitive Intelligence Professionals and is actively involved in the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA).
Matt holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from Georgia State University.
Director, Vendor Services
Jamie Myers joined KnowledgeStorm in October 2000 and has over 10 years of experience in client service leadership, program implementation and account management. Her responsibilities include leading the Account Management team and KnowledgeStorm's client retention efforts. She is also responsible for ensuring successful program implementations, managing the client life cycle and finding ways to provide continuous value to KnowledgeStorm clients.
Prior to joining KnowledgeStorm, Jamie led training programs for Primus and was responsible for government compliance programs for the Georgia Army National Guard.
Jamie is a graduate of North Georgia College and State University and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Physiology.
Director, Product Management
Renée Thompson joined KnowledgeStorm in October 2001 and has 13 years of business technology and leadership experience. She is responsible for the management and direction of all KnowledgeStorm product development to drive product strategy and the profitable growth of KnowledgeStorm products and services.
Prior to joining KnowledgeStorm, Renée was a producer at the IBM Center for e-business Innovation, where she managed clients including New York Times Digital and The Thomson Corporation in developing and growing Web strategies. She served as a senior project manager at MCI Systemhouse, where she led a team of 25 to develop and implement technology training programs and rollouts for such clients as MCI and the California State Automobile Association (CSAA).
Renee is a graduate of James Madison University and George Mason University and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in Psychology and a Master of Arts degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. Renee is also a member of the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) and the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA).
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