Board
Paula Tompkins
Board of Directors
Paula Tompkins is founder and CEO of ChannelNet and an acknowledged pioneer in
using personal technology to facilitate multichannel marketing and sales. In the last 30 years,
she has helped hundreds of the world’s leading companies use technology to sell
their products and build customer relationships.
Ms. Tompkins began her career working in sales and marketing at 3M, General Electric,
and several technology start-ups. Among other achievements, she was instrumental
in the design and marketing of early personal computers, including the Actrix and
Grid, the first true portable computers. She also invented Skytray, an interactive
electronic advertising medium targeted to airline passengers, for Altus Corporation.
Tompkins’ early foray into interactive selling fueled her belief that the personal
computer was a persuasive communication platform for selling and buying. Since founding
ChannelNet (formerly The SoftAd Group) in 1985, she has led the company to create
multichannel marketing and sales solutions based on the best available technologies — from
early iterations of multimedia, through CD-ROM and client/server technology, and
on to the Internet.
As an expert in using technology to improve marketing and sales processes, Tompkins
is a much sought-after resource for journalists and authors, and as a conference
panelist and keynote speaker. She has appeared on television in Tom Peters' "Thriving
on Chaos" and PBS' "The Nightly Business Report," as well as on National Public
Radio's "Money Talks." Tompkins has lectured at Columbia University's School of
Business, the University of California at Berkeley's Haas School of Business, and
Stanford University.
Sam Inman III
Advisory Board Executive Chairman
Sam Inman is a 28-year veteran of the computer industry, including two years as
president of IBM’s personal computer company for the Americas.
Most recently he served as co-CEO in charge of finance, manufacturing, engineering,
and IT for Viking Components (now Viking InterWorks), which designs and manufactures
memory and communications components for the computing, telecommunications, aerospace,
industrial, medical, and other industries. He has also served as chairman and CEO
of Centura Software, as well as president and COO of Ingram Micro, the world's largest
microcomputer products distributor.
In addition to ChannelNet’s Advisory Board, Mr. Inman is a member of the boards
of directors for the Forum for Corporate Directors, LeadingWay Corp., Think Outside,
and St. Anne's School, as well as an advisory board member for Vanguard Voice and
ICCI.
Mr. Inman earned a B.A. in mathematics from Purdue University.
Rick Crandall
Board of Directors and Advisory Board
Rick Crandall, is a director and advisor to a number of companies ranging from large to small,
public and private. He was the founder of Comshare, Inc. in 1966 originally as a pioneer of
computer timesharing services. He took Comshare through one of the earliest public offerings
in the tech industry, and then guided it through one of the few total transformations to enterprise
software products. Crandall had one of the longest tenures (28 years) as CEO in the enterprise
software industry; he grew Comshare to $130 million in revenue and expanded into 20 countries by
the time he vacated that position in 1994 for his present activities.
Crandall was Chairman of Novell until its sale in 2011.
He is the founder and (since 1995) continuing chairman of the Enterprise Software CEO Roundtable,
consisting of the CEO's or COO's of the industry's top 35 software firms focused on enterprise software.
During the period 1995 - 2003, Crandall helped Gideon Gartner create Giga Information Group, one of the
nation's premier technology research and advisory firms that went public in the late 1990's. From 2002 - 2003
he was Chairman of Giga until it was sold to Forrester Research.
Mr. Crandall is a founding partner of Arbor Partners, a tech-focused venture capital firm.
He served as Chairman of ITAA, the association for the computer software and services industry. He served
on the ITAA Board for over 20 years and chaired its strategic planning committee for 12 years.
Crandall was the technology advisor to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce from 2003 to 2008.
In 1986, the year of the 25th anniversary of the birth of the software industry, Crandall was
selected as "One of the 5 Leading Pioneers of the Computer Industry" (ref.: ICP Business Software Review; Oct. 1986).
Crandall received the 1992 Outstanding Entrepreneur Award from the University of Michigan Business School and Harvard Business School Alumni groups.
He presently serves on the Board of Directors of:
- Diebold Inc. (NYSE – DBD)
- Pelstar, LLC - Chairman, manufactures Healthometer professional medical equipment
- ChannelNet -(Sausalito, CA) multi-channel e-commerce software
- Platinum Energy Solutions – fracking and related services for domestic natural gas
- Actv8 Inc. – (Los Angeles, CA) interactive television gaming and coupon apps linked to popular TV shows
Crandall attended the University of Michigan where he received a BS Electrical Engineering, BS Mathematics and a Masters in Industrial Engineering, 1966.
Alfred B. Ford
Board of Directors and Advisory Board
Alfred Ford is a director of the Ford Family Office, an active member of the Family
Office Exchange, and a trustee of the Ford Motor Company Fund. In 1978, he founded
Ramayan Arts, Inc., an East Indian arts gallery, and in 1985 was named one of the
top collectors in America by Arts and Antiques magazine.
Alfred is the vice-chair of the Josephine Ford Cancer Center at Henry Ford Hospital in
Detroit, Michigan. Continuing the legacy of his great grandfather Henry Ford, Mr. Ford
along with his wife, Dr. Sharmila Bhattacharya, PhD, are visionary entrepreneurs and
philanthropists both in the United states and India, with deep strategic interests in
improving global health, particularly in the developing world. He has joined Ratan Tata
on the strategic advisory board of Nanobiosym, a company which merges nanotechnology and
medicine in pursuit of cutting edge health science.
Mr. Ford holds a B.A. from Tulane University.
Dean Hovey
Advisory Board
Dean Hovey has thrived in Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurial culture – forming a dozen companies,
served as a senior executive in two public companies and on several boards. His experience spans
retailing, product design, invention, entrepreneurship, business development, general management
and venture capital.
Over the past four years as president of Comprendo llc, Mr. Hovey consulted with major health
care systems, Fortune 500 companies and early stage start-ups promoting proactive health and
consumer centered solutions as remedy for our chronically ill US health care system. He has
acquired a deep understanding of the science behind human habits, motivation and behavioral change.
Prior to forming Comprendo, Dean was VP New Business & Innovation and GM Mobile and
Entertainment at Plantronics, Inc. where he launched Plantronics’ console gaming products,
and set strategy for their consumer wireless products.
Peter Tierney
Advisory Board
Peter Tierney is currently the president of Firethorn Consulting, which focuses on strategic
and operational planning assistance for technology-related businesses. Previously, he was
CEO of Finaplex Incorporated, a leading provider of Wealth Relationship Management systems
to the financial services industry. Prior to joining Finaplex, he served as chairman, president,
and CEO of Sawyer Media Systems, which produced television documentaries for NBC and its affiliates
and offered a web based software platform for video distribution and presentation. He also has
served as chairman, president, and CEO of MarketFirst and of Inference Corporation (NASDAQ: INFR),
a leading provider of self-service and knowledge management tools for the customer service industry.
Previously, as a senior vice president of Oracle Corporation, Mr. Tierney was responsible for worldwide
marketing, international operations and product development.
Mr. Tierney holds a B.S. and B.A. degrees in management and economics from Northeastern University in Boston.
Emory Winship
Advisory Board
Emory Winship is the founding principal of KB Strategic Advisors, a consultancy
that helps early- to mid-stage companies with strategic planning and funding requirements
to accelerate growth. He has over 20 years' executive marketing management experience
in the brokerage (Charles Schwab), banking (Hibernia Bank), advertising (Cunningham
& Walsh), and e-commerce (TranSettlements) industries.
At Schwab, Mr. Winship was responsible for creating AdvisorSource, a marketing partnership
of independent financial advisors that has over $7 billion in assets under management,
and Custom Broker, an investor service platform that integrates brokers, customers,
and personalized market data.
At TranSettlements, Mr. Winship extended the traditional EDI network to the Internet
and wireless data networks, and recommended and successfully executed start-up funding
for Aether Technologies, now a public company with a market cap of over $1.5 billion.
Mr. Winship serves on the boards of directors of Lexica, TranSettlements, and Rentals,
Inc. He received a B.A. from Yale University and studied at Bromsgrove School in England.
AJ Wagner
Advisory Board
A.J. Wagner is President and CEO of AJ Wagner & Associates, LLC, a business consulting
organization. Wagner also serves on the Board of Directors and the Audit Committee, the
Environmental, Health and Safety Committee and is Chairman of the Integration Committee
for Walter Energy, a public company. Wagner also acts as advisor to several privately held companies.
Wagner retired from Ford at year-end 2006, where he was President of Ford Motor Credit Company
North America and a Vice President of Ford Motor Company. Wagner was responsible for the
lending business units within North America for Ford Motor Credit. This included the field
organization serving Ford and Lincoln Mercury, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo and
Mazda dealers, as well as other dealers serviced under the PRIMUS brand, commercial lending
services and the major accounts unit. He was also responsible for automotive marketing,
minority dealer relations, and brand relationships with the manufacturers Ford Motor Credit services.
Wagner joined the Ford Credit in 1973. He held positions in Leasing, Marketing, Dealer Credit,
Operations Services, Field Operations and Strategic Planning. In 1995, he served as vice president
of Marketing before transferring to Ford Motor Company as Field Operations Manager and then Regional
Sales Manager for Ford Division in the Chicago Region.
He returned to Ford Motor Credit in 1998 as Vice President of Major Accounts and later served as
Senior Vice President of Western U.S. Operations and as Executive Vice President of Ford Credit
North American handling the Ford and Lincoln Mercury dealer brand business. Wagner served on
three Company boards: Ford Motor Credit Company, Ford Credit Canada, of which he was Chairman,
and Ford Direct, LLC as well as the Board of Lithia Motors, where he was also Chairman of the
Corporate Governance Committee.
Wagner earned a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Wisconsin and an MBA from
the University of Detroit. Wagner received the 2010 Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award
from the University of Wisconsin—LaCrosse. Wagner also received the 2006 Philip E. Benton
Award for fostering diversity at Ford Motor Company. He currently serves on the Board of Starfish
Family Services, a local charity that assists young children, 0-5 years of age.