about Gather Inc.
A Message from the CEO Do you remember that thing the other day that really caught your attention? You heard it on the radio on your drive home, or perhaps at a dinner party last weekend. It made your heart beat in excitement or made your blood boil. You were distracted by it all night long, and kept coming back to it the next day. Maybe it was a lyric in a song, just one phrase that connected. Perhaps it was a sound bite from your congressman, or a court ruling that affects you, your family, your church, or your friends. Whatever it was, it touched you. It clicked with you. It mattered. Well, it mattered to a lot of other people, too. And you can meet them on Gather. Gather is a place where you can share the things that are important to you with the people who are important to you, too. You can connect around a Supreme Court nominee, an Umbrian chicken recipe, a new album by Aimee Mann, or your child's soccer game. You can share your thoughts with the entire world, or exchange ideas, photography, audio (even podcasts), or video with just your friends, your family, or your work colleagues. You can connect with your book club, your PTA, your management team, or your committee to elect a new great leader in town on Gather. We will give you a place where your group can share information with one another or with the world. And the dreaded question: how much does it cost? How about if we pay you for a change? No, really, no kidding. You'll be creating great content on Gather, for audiences large and small. Some of the things you contribute might be brilliant, novel, and interesting to a lot of people. Some might bring people from around the web to try Gather for the first time. That creates real value for other Gather users, and we want to reward you for doing it. Gather makes money by displaying advertising to people who use Gather's services. So it just seems fair that we share our advertising revenue with you based on the quality and popularity of the content you contribute. We'll share even more revenue with you if you use the site actively, exploring content that others write, searching on Gather and on the web, and inviting your friends, family, and colleagues to use the site. You're rewarded for your site participation with Gather Points™ you can use to purchase goods and services from Gather partners. And members who consistently publish great content and participate on the site can even earn cash. That's it in a nutshell. Gather is a place for you to connect with people who share your passions. It's a place where you can contribute thought, art, commentary, or inspiration. We'll reward you for all the great things you share with others in your communities of interest. And together, we'll continue to build a pretty special place to hang out online. Thomas August Gerace -- Founder & CEO In his most recent role, Tom Gerace served for two years as Senior Vice President, Marketing, for National Leisure Group (NLG), a $1 billion annual seller of travel. He had primary responsibility for developing brands owned by the company and for managing brands licensed by the company. Tom oversaw an annual marketing budget of $32M. He also grew the company's Vacation Outlet brand by 60% CAGR and its licensed brands by 30% CAGR. In addition to day-to-day management, Tom created a single marketing organization for NLG, unifying retail, online, and telesales efforts. He also established systems for tracking the company's marketing through to point of sale. Prior to joining NLG, Tom was the Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Be Free, Inc., a publicly traded online marketing services company. As Chief Marketing Officer, he was responsible for creating new and existing products and services, and overseeing mergers and acquisitions, corporate and product communications, and customer acquisition. In the early stages of the company, he served as Be Free's President, where he also had responsibility for client services and fundraising activities. He was awarded two U.S. Patents (5,848,396 and 5,991,735) for profiling computer users and targeting advertising based on that profiling. During his tenure with the company, Be Free raised more than $200 million and launched both U.S. and European operations with a staff reaching 340. Using those resources, Be Free acquired more than 300 leading online customers including barnesandnoble.com, Verisign, Bertlesmann, Time Warner AOL, IBM, Dell, Microsoft, and eBay. The company also acquired a development-stage personalization company and used this acquisition to launch its second significant product line. Prior to founding Be Free with his brother Sam in 1996, Tom was a senior business analyst at the Harvard Business School. Here, he authored case studies including "The National Information Infrastructure and the Internet." He also assisted with the creation of the curriculum for the "Managing in the Marketspace" course within the MBA program. In addition, Tom was responsible for the creation and development of electronic learning and communications technologies, which supported executive education at HBS. Tom received a Bachelor of Arts in Social Studies, magna cum laude, from Harvard University in 1993. Susan Whirty Maffei, Esq. -- Vice President, Strategy Prior to joining Gather, Susan Maffei served as the CFO, Vice President, Operations, General Counsel, and Managing Director, International Subsidiaries for Forrester Research (NASDAQ:FORR). Forrester is a leading independent research firm offering products and services that help clients assess the effect of technology on their businesses. Susan joined Forrester in 1993 when the company was a privately held startup with just 30 employees. By 2001, Forrester employed 600+ and revenues were $159.1 million, having grown the previous five years at a CAGR of 59%. While at Forrester, Susan managed all aspects of Forrester's successful IPO (completed 11/96) and secondary offering (completed 2/00) including: recapitalization and reincorporation, selection of lawyers, auditors, bankers (Goldman, Sachs), orchestration of organizational meeting, writing of Prospectus, roadshow, and pricing the offering. Susan also successfully managed two acquisitions (Fletcher Research, Ltd., 12/99, and Forit Gmbh., 11/00) and coordinated analysis and due diligence on numerous other investments, partnerships, and uncompleted deals. In April 1998, Susan opened the company's European headquarters (Amsterdam, April 1998). The office achieved break-even by year end. Before joining Forrester, Susan was Corporate Counsel at Cognos Corporation, a software development and application company, from 1989 to 1993. She received her B.A. from Smith College in 1979 and her J.D. from Boston University School of Law in 1982. She has been a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association since 1982. John Mihalik -- CTO John Mihalik's career spans more than 13 years in the software engineering industry. John has lead the development and deployment of massively scalable web-based solutions, and brings an extensive knowledge of Internet application development to the company. He has had direct experience in architecting web solutions since the early days of Internet expansion. John began his career in 1993 as a software developer for the Department of Environmental Protection in Pennsylvania. He later served as a software engineering consultant from 1996 to 1997. Later that year, John joined Be Free, Inc. as the Director of Engineering. There, he led the rapid development of mission-critical technologies -- most notably the tracking and warehousing of billions of Internet ad impressions across multiple datacenters. In 2005, John joined Gather as Vice President of Development and was later named CTO. John received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh in 1990. Bob Nicoson -- VP, Human Resources Bob heads up the strategic direction of Human Resources at Gather. His efforts attract and retain the best possible talent, helping the company become the leading social network connecting people and ideas. He develops, implements, and manages a variety of initiatives that ensure that Gather employees thrive in their roles and develop their personal and professional lives. Bob joined Gather in January '07, bringing more than 25 years of experience leading HR direction for publishing, financial, and technology companies. He's held key leadership and management roles in start-up, mid-term, and established businesses both in the U.S. and abroad. Bob was born in Terre Haute, IN, currently lives in Brookline, MA, and loves to travel. Lesley Solomon -- SVP, Sales & Marketing Lesley gets the word out about Gather, for both members and clients alike. She oversees the direction of the Gather brand, and heads up the Sales and Marketing teams. Lesley also plays a lead role in managing public relations and developing strategic partnerships. During her tenure at the company, she's formed advertising sponsorships with leading enterprises such as American Express, Starbucks, Decca Records, Amtrak, and Paramount Pictures. Lesley has over a dozen years of experience as an executive at trendsetting companies such as The Food Network and Barnes & Noble.com. Lesley is a native of Newton, MA. She received her MBA from Harvard Business School and has a BA in English from Cornell University. Lesley currently resides in Boston's North End and is an active supporter of the Boston Public Library and Brigham & Women's Hospital. Pam Johnston -- VP, Member Experience Pam makes sure Gather's Member Experience and Member Support teams are giving 110% to help each and every Gather member. She also manages content programming and content acquisition. In her pre-Gather days, Pam spent 16 years working in local TV news. Most recently, Pam was the News Director at Boston's Tribune-owned station, WLVI-TV. With Pam at the helm, Boston's WB earned various accolades, including 17 Emmy Awards from the NATAS/New England chapter. In 1999, she won an Emmy Award from the NATAS/New England chapter for her role as producer in the Outstanding Informational Program category for "New England Stories". In May 2003, Boston Magazine named Johnston one of the top ten most powerful women in Boston. Pam holds a BS in communications from Syracuse University. A native of Natick, MA, she currently lives in Marlborough, MA with her family and is an active supporter of The Jimmy Fund, The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Rosie's Place. Tyler Hoffman -- VP, Finance Tyler takes care of all financial, legal, and investor relations for Gather, and also acts as Corporate Secretary. Most recently, he managed the accounting and revenue functions at Pegasystems (NASDAQ: PEGA) and played a key role in establishing Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. Tyler began his career in the technology assurance practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he managed audit and advisory engagements for clients including startups and multi-national publicly traded organizations. Tyler has significant experience with early-stage companies in equity and debt financing, intellectual property, and the IPO process. Tyler is a CPA and received his BS in Accounting from Babson College. He lives in Boston with his fiancé and can frequently be found kite boarding off Cape Cod. David Woodrow -- VP, Partner Integration David leads the Partner Integration team, which develops and executes social networking programs for Gather's clients and strategic partners - and he's an expert in the social networking space. For the last 10 years, he's helped companies develop and manage online communities designed to meet key business goals. David's clients have included Borders, Starbucks, TiVo, Microsoft, Warner Bros., McGraw-Hill, and Kraft. During his 20-year career, he's been Senior Engineer at IBM and a manager in the Business Consulting Practice at Arthur Andersen, where he helped companies design and implement sales and marketing strategies. He's also the author of Maximum Sales Velocity: How to Build a World-Class Sales Organization. David holds an MBA from Northwestern University and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. William H. Kling -- Chairman; Co-founder Bill Kling serves as President and CEO of American Public Media Group (APMG). APMG is the nonprofit parent organization of Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), American Public Media (APM), and the sole shareholder of the for-profit Greenspring Company. He serves as CEO of all three companies. Bill is the founding president of MPR and is responsible for MPR's two regional networks of 35 public radio stations and their national program production centers in Saint Paul and Los Angeles. MPR is the largest public radio entity in the nation outside of NPR in Washington D.C. American Public Media is the second largest producer of public radio programming following National Public Radio (NPR) in Washington. Greenspring is the parent company for Minnesota Monthly Publications, a diversified magazine publishing company, and The KLBB Company, a commercial radio station. APMG is also the parent company for Southern California Public Radio (SCPR). SCPR operates radio station KPCC, serving 14 million people in the Los Angeles area. Bill currently serves as a director of The Saint Paul Travelers Company, Wenger Corporation, and Irwin Financial Corporation, and as a director of five fund Boards of The Capital Group -- American Funds mutual funds. He is a member of the Board of Trustees for the JL Foundation in California. He was an incorporator and founding Director of National Public Radio and the founding Chair and President of Public Radio International. Bill also served as a trustee of the Minnesota Orchestra. Bill has been recognized as one of the 100 influential Minnesotans of the 20th Century by the Minneapolis StarTribune and as one of the Twin Citians who has made outstanding contributions to the Twin Cities by Twin Cities Magazine. He was recently inducted into the Minnesota Museum of Broadcasters' Hall of Fame. Bill holds a BA in Economics from St. John's University and completed graduate studies at the Graduate School of Communication Arts at Boston University in 1966. He and his wife, Sally, live in Minneapolis, MN. Senator Bill Bradley -- Director Senator William W. Bradley, 62 is a Managing Director of Allen & Company LLC. From 2001 to 2004, he acted as chief outside advisor to McKinsey & Company's nonprofit practice. He was a Senior Advisor and Vice Chairman of the International Council of JP Morgan & Co., Inc. from 1997 to 1999. During that time, he also worked as an essayist for CBS Evening News, and as a visiting professor at Stanford University, Notre Dame University, and the University of Maryland. Senator Bradley served in the U.S. Senate from 1979 to 1997, representing the state of New Jersey. In 2000, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. Prior to serving in the Senate, he was an Olympic gold medalist in 1964 and a professional basketball player with the New York Knicks from 1967 to 1977, during which time they won two NBA championships. Senator Bradley holds a BA degree in American History from Princeton University and an MA degree from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He has authored five books on American politics, culture, and economy. Currently, Senator Bradley hosts American Voices, a weekly show on Sirius Satellite Radio that highlights the remarkable accomplishments of Americans both famous and unknown. Thomas August Gerace -- Director; Co-founder See Tom Gerace's management bio. Jim Manzi -- Director Jim Manzi served as Chairman, President, and CEO of Lotus Development Corporation from 1984 until 1995, when the company was acquired by IBM. Since 1995, Jim has been involved in the creation and development of a number of technology startup ventures. In 2000, Jim joined the Board of Directors of Thermo Electron, a scientific instruments company, and serves as the Chairman of the Compensation Committee. Jim presently runs his own investment company that focuses on technology startups. He also serves on the Board of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and is as an active member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Jack Connors, Jr. -- Director Jack Connors, Jr. is a founding partner and Chairman of Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos, Inc., a full-service marketing communications company with headquarters in Boston and offices in New York, Miami, San Francisco, and Greenville, South Carolina. Under Mr. Connors's leadership, Hill, Holliday has evolved from a one-room shop to a nationally recognized advertising agency. Mr. Connors and his three partners founded Hill, Holliday in 1968. Today, Hill, Holliday is one of the nation's top 20 advertising firms, with a client list that includes some of the most well-known brands in the world, including Verizon Wireless, Dunkin' Donuts, Anheuser-Busch, John Hancock Financial Services, CVS/Pharmacy, Dell, Liberty Mutual, and EMC Corporation. Hill, Holliday is a member of the Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE: IPG). Throughout Greater Boston, Jack Connors is known for his civic and philanthropic efforts, as well as his business acumen. Mr. Connors is an articulate advocate for Boston's world-class hospitals, and is a passionate and respected voice in the Catholic community for greater lay participation in the Church. Mr. Connors regularly uses the considerable talent and resources of Hill, Holliday to make a difference through pro bono work for dozens of non-profit and charitable organizations. Mr. Connors serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Partners HealthCare System, which includes the Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital. He is Chairman of the Board of Dana-Farber/Partners CancerCare and Dana-Farber/Harvard CancerCare. He is also Chair of the Board of Fellows at Harvard Medical School and Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Boston College. Additionally, he serves as a Trustee of Brandeis University and Emmanuel College. Born in Boston, Mr. Connors is a graduate of Boston College and resides in Brookline, Massachusetts. He and his wife, Eileen, have four children and seven grandchildren. Al Sikes -- Director Al Sikes consults to Hearst Corporation, continuing a relationship that began when he formed and led Hearst Interactive Media from 1993 through 2001. Prior to joining Hearst, Sikes held the post of Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in President George H.W. Bush's administration. Sikes serves on the not-for-profit boards of The Trinity Forum, New York's School Choice Scholarships Foundation, and READ, an organization he founded and chairs that is dedicated to personal and direct instruction to teach at risk children to read at grade level. Investor Information Tyler HoffmanDirector of Finance ir@gatherinc.com
Public Relations For additional information, contact: pr@gatherinc.com. |
