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Niche Online Travel Communities |
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Scollay Petry - ( Founder & CTO )
Scollay’s twenty years of work experience includes large scale IT systems development, marketing, research, analysis, sales and entrepreneurship. He is responsible for developing and supporting the Social Horizon Platform. As a seasoned marketing professional, Scollay also advises on marketing strategy and analytics.
Scollay joined America Online (AOL) in 1993. In addition to building the company's first promotional marketing database, he was the first to fully exploit operational tracking data by marrying it with billing and demographic data to present a complete picture of AOL usage. This was the first robust online usage reporting to hit the interactive marketplace, at a time when the relatively new WWW could only report “hits”, a relatively meaningless statistic. Scollay also developed the first advertising rate card for what would quickly turn into a $2billion revenue stream, and he was an architect of AOL’s AdServer technology to deliver 1Billion+ online ads per day.
Scollay launched AOL’s first Market Research Department, and working with PlanetOut.com commissioned the first Gay and Lesbian demographics study with Simmons and PlanetOut.com. He also supported the development of research and sales materials for nearly a dozen AOL interactive brands.
In 1999 Scollay founded his own DOT.COM business based on his own idea for a new service for schools and non-profit organizations. With $6M of venture capital and angel funding, Calypso.com was serving 50K customers within a year. Calypso merged with an interactive marketing agency in Washington, DC, and its technology supported AOL's online rewards program in partnership with American Airlines.
Previously, Scollay worked for MBG Associates in New York City and Booz Allen &Hamilton in Washington, DC. At these companies he supported data analysis and systems development for large clients such as Ford Motor Company, North American Philips, Mobil Oil, Boeing, the US Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service, and US State Department.
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Jack Gonzalez - ( Founder & COO )
Multilingual and multinational, Jack’s twenty years of international work experience spans across four continents and a variety of industries including IT and publishing.
Jack is responsible for the marketing and operations management of Social Horizon in the early growth phase focusing on community, content and niche partner management.
Since inception, Jack has worked closely with Scollay on the design and development of Social Horizon’s content management systems, website and new blogging platform.
With a natural flair for networking Jack has played an active role in marketing QGuide to online social networks, blogs and online professional networks.
Prior to Social Horizon, Jack worked in Spain as the IT Director for Continental Europe, Middle East and Africa at Lend Lease and Bovis Lend Lease delivering IT business solutions across the group’s business units. Jack served on Lend Lease’s Global Architecture Strategic Advisory Board.
In his operational roles, Jack sourced and developed supplier relationships to deliver intricate direct marketing and media campaigns at Time Life, International Masters Publishers UK and The Micro Marketing Group.
Throughout his career, Jack has specialized in “start-up phase” office openings in Sydney, Dubai, Johannesburg and throughout Europe.
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Jen Storey - ( Marketing & PR )
Jen Storey is an online industry veteran with more than 15 years experience in the Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and US markets.
Her 3 seemingly unconnected degrees in education, information science and a Masters in Public Relations have proved invaluable in her career in the online world. Her passion is developing customer driven, creative, innovative strategies that deliver results.
Throughout her career she has worked in strategy, marketing, business strategy, content development, venture capital, online marketing, communications, public relations and ecommerce.
Her experience has been developed across a broad range of industries including education, media, advertising, consulting, agribusiness, travel, tourism, community development and financial services. Jen has extensive experience in start-ups and large established corporates including The Age, Next Media, Leo Burnett, ACP, AOL, The Farmshed, ourbrisbane.com and Suncorp.
Jen runs her own customer design based strategy & marketing consultancy, is a regular contributor to Online Banking Review and is a founder of Interactive Minds, the premier networking event for online marketing in the South East Queensland region..
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Jeff Tidwell - ( Creative and Community Consultant )
Jeff Tidwell is an online community pioneer with 20 years of experience connecting regular people with compelling digital experiences across a variety of communities including BabyCenter.com, WebMD, E*TRADE, Chirp Interactive, Navigenics.com, The David Allen Company, and MarketTools.
Jeff is currently the Director of User Experience at GreenRoad and the founder of SuperTwitter. He serves on the Advisory Board for DesignStory.com.
Previously he served as Director, User Experience for WebMD in New York and Atlanta where he helped launched Blogs and did lots of usability work for the health portal.
In 2000 Jeff developed the online community Cancer Buddies and email communications programs for Oncology.com as Director of Community.
Jeff was also a Senior Product Manager for E*TRADE tasked with producing the online community for the online financial hub and brokerage. The community exceeded 800,000 very active members.
He produced the prototype Kids Online Community NvolveKids sold to Nickelodeon Online, and developed the website and beta marketing communications programs for software maker Actioneer. In 1996 he was the recipient of a grant from the San Francisco Examiner for an arts and politics site, Foundry, which he created in collaboration with the San Francisco Digital Media Center. In the old BBS days, Jeff developed an online campus for the Electronic University Network, the first online service to offer distance learning in a collaborative hypertext bulletin board environment.
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Kenneth Hill - ( Social Media Strategist )
Kenneth Hill is a veteran of social networking, viral marketing and digital communications. His experience includes working at Web companies from start-ups to world-famous brands.
For seven years, he was an online executive at AOL where he oversaw the editorial aspects of the company's gay and lesbian content areas and online community. While at AOL, he served as managing editor of a well-known gay blog that drove 2 million page views monthly.
He is a seasoned development professional and worked for 10 years in the LGBT community raising funds for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in Washington, D.C.
Now a resident of London, Kenneth develops social media strategies for companies and organizations wanting to harness the power of new media.
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Matthew Skallerud - ( President at Pink Banana Media )
Matthew began his career in the gay & lesbian marketplace when he founded GayWired.com in May of 1995. He successfully led GayWired.com into becoming one of the premiere gay websites worldwide, translating that success to LesbiaNation.com and QTMagazine.com (gay travel site). In 2001, he expanded this online reach by launching a company focused on both developing niche-oriented websites for the gay & lesbian community and helping companies large and small reach these gay & lesbian consumers through this expanded network of websites, which included GayMonkey.com, GaySports.com, Navigaytion.com, PrideParenting.com and GayBusinessWorld.com, just to name a few.
Having sold these sites, his focus is now on the latest in advertising and marketing utilizing social networks and tailoring their opportunities to the GLBT community. Skallerud starts with the basics of banner ads and e-mail, but expands into the more advanced world of blogs, social networking and online video, and how those components can tie into an overall online marketing campaign including banner ads for some of the best performance for his clients.
His goal is to work with companies wishing to increase the efficiency and performance of their online marketing endeavors, using some of the "tried and tested" of the past few years and merging with some of the new, since "new" is where the eyeballs are continually migrating to on a daily basis.
Matthew served as Board President at IGLTA
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Laszlo Horvath - ( President and Founder Active Media )
Laszlo was selected as a Strategic Consultant for America Online in 1995. Clients included the Greenhouse of AOL Studios, the AOL Finance Channel and interactive brands like the Motley Fool, iVillage and NetNoir. He placed the first advertising program on AOL's largest content site. Laszlo founded Active Media in 1996, establishing relationships with leading interactive and consumer brands.
Prior to earning his MBA, Laszlo established an advertising agency and TV-Production house in Central Europe. His clients included Ford Motor Company, Kellog's, United Distillers, Philip Morris, Fiat and the Leo Burnett advertising agency.
Laszlo received his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1995. He graduated from the Film Academy of Budapest in 1989 as a film and television director, and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in languages and in literature from the University of Budapest. He is a native Hungarian, who also speaks Russian and French.
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Karine Griffiths - ( Direct Marketing and Advertising Professional )
Karine Griffiths is a Direct Marketing professional with a focus on acquisition marketing. Karine’s eighteen years of international experience spans across a variety of industries and marketing fields.
In 1990, Karine moved to London to work for a fast growing direct marketing publishing company, International Masters Publishers.
In 2000, Karine went on to develop leading consumer bands such as The Sunday Times Wine Club (UK) and Sainsbury’s-to-you (launch of home delivery service).
Karine is now based in Brisbane, Australia.
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Dee Farrell - ( President at Peacock Tourism Marketing )
30 passionate years in gay and lesbian travel industry, as travel agency owner, guesthouse marketer, tour operator, marketing consultant and travel destination writer.
Dee was the founding Executive Director of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association in 1983.
The Birds-of-a-Feather team at Peacock Tourism is relied upon by operators and suppliers of lodging, attractions, tours and travel services for online marketing services and target communications to gay and lesbian travelers.
The team, experts at uncovering what drives gay travelers to choose where they go on holidays – build integrated marketing programs to attract them to your destination or property by using the internet, social networks, gay media and direct marketing.
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Mike Wallas
Chief Executive Officer
Enterprise Growth Solutions Pty Ltd
With over 22 years experience in the International IT industry, Mike has developed extensive business strategy, marketing, and distribution channel expertise. He spent 9 years at Hewlett-Packard, and as a senior executive assisted H-P Europe with Channel Development and Strategy for the largest sector of their business.
Thereafter he became the Managing Director of the largest IT distribution operation in Africa with revenues in excess of $400m. At this time he was responsible for over 35 different vendor distribution and alliance agreements. As a Business Angel he has been involved in many start-up technology businesses and has added significant value to his investee companies through his extensive international networks.
As a Business Angel he has been involved in many start-up technology businesses and has added significant value to his investee companies through his extensive international networks, capital raising activities, strategic alliances, and development of strategy.
Mike has assisted a number of technology companies with the establishment and expansion of their businesses in the USA and Canada. As an advisor and on the Board of Directors to a number of other businesses, including Mining Services, Medical Clinics and Employment services, Mike primarily focuses on international growth and expansion, channel development, corporate compliance and strategic development.
Anna Sharpe
Anna Sharpe provides special counsel and trusted legal advice at a senior level. She established her practice in February 2009 after approximately 30 years’ practice (20 years of that as a partner in the national Australian law firm of Clayton Utz). Anna practices in the corporate advisory area, with a particular focus on the transactional aspects of intangible assets - intellectual property, trade marks, telecommunications, biotechnology, licensing, media contracts and information technology.
Anna is listed in several reviews as a key Australian lawyer including Who's Who of Australian Women; Asialaw Leading Lawyers and the Australian Financial Review’s lists of Australia’s leading lawyers. She is a co-author of one of Australia’s leading legal texts in relation to e-commerce and technology contracts.
Ruth Drinkwater
Business Development Manager, Capital Raising
i.lab Incubator Pty Ltd
Ruth Drinkwater is currently undertaking two part time roles - Business Development Manager, Capital Raising at i.lab Incubator Pty Ltd and CEO of the Australian Association of Angel Investors Ltd.
Ruth was formerly the CEO of teQstart Pty Ltd, managing investment funds and an investment portfolio of 26 companies across the biotechnology, and non-life science technology sectors. The Queensland Government sold teQstart Pty Ltd to Uptake Health Capital Partners in early March, 2009.
Ruth has worked with over 60 technology-based start-up companies in recent years and has experience at the seed stage of investment. This includes working with stakeholders across the innovation sector to structure and resource companies for sustainable growth.
During a commercialisation career spanning almost 20 years, Ruth has developed capabilities across innovation investment, general management and strategic development of technology and knowledge based SMEs. Ruth has extensive experience encompassing business planning, resource management, market research and marketing, intellectual property, product development and capital raising. Together with managing cultural change in high technology and entrepreneurial sectors dominated by energetic personalities, these skills complement Ruth’s leadership and project management capabilities.
Ruth is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, is a Director on the Board of QUT Creative Enterprise Australia, a Director on the Board of Women in Technology and Chair, WiT|Biotech.
Steve Woodgate
Chief Executive Office
EYECON Pty Ltd
Steve has more than 20 years experience in business and technology solutions in Australia and the USA with a focus on travel, tourism and hospitality information and reservations systems, including an international award winning travel e-commerce web site.
Working directly for start-up companies and consulting to SME in early stage growth, Steve has advised on the creation, operation and sale of technology based enterprises.
Currently working with games and entertainment software developers, Steve is on the Boards of the Game Developers Association of Australia and Electronic Games Queensland and is a Director of Electronic Games Investment Fund Limited. Steve has Master of Administration from Griffith University and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Mathematics from the University of Queensland.
David O’Brien
Director Client Services
DKM Group
David has over 25 years experience in the accounting profession and has previously been a Partner with a large international accounting firm. He works with a large cross-section of clients on advisory issues such as business valuations and project appraisals, capital raisings and restructures, taxation advice and business planning. His particular emphasis with clients is working with them in a Boardroom environment so they look regularly, and strategically, at their business. David has conducted workshops for the AIDC and is also a Director/Treasurer of the Queensland Cricketers Club.
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