William Theodore Walton, III (Bill) was born on November 5th, 1952, in San Diego, California. He was introduced to the game of basketball while in the fourth grade at Blessed Sacrament Elementary School by Coach Frank "Rocky" Graciano. Walton then attended Helix High School, where the basketball coach was Gordon Nash. At Helix, his team won the California Interscholastic Federation High School title two years in a row, while winning their final 49 consecutive games. Walton enrolled at UCLA in 1970 and played center for John Wooden's Varsity team for three seasons (1972-1974). He was a member of two NCAA championship teams compiling an NCAA record 88 consecutive game winning streak. He was the recipient of several awards, including the NCAA Player of the Year Award in 1972, '73 and '74. At UCLA Walton was a scholar-athlete who also earned Academic All-American honors three years in a row. He graduated with honors earning a B.A. in History. Walton's professional career began when he was the number one overall pick in the 1974 NBA Draft by the Portland Trailblazers. He won championship titles with the Blazers and the Boston Celtics. He also played with the San Diego Clippers, and the relocated Los Angeles Clippers. Over the course of his NBA career, he was honored with numerous awards, including NBA's MVP and All-Star Team. Eventually Bill was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Walton started his broadcasting career in 1990 as an analyst for the then Prime Ticket Network. Walton worked for CBS Sports in the early 90's during the NCAA Final Four and then for NBC for many years, including work on the 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney Summer Olympic Games. Over the last 15 years he has worked for ABC, ESPN, NBC, CBS, Fox, MSNBC, Turner Sports, KCAL, and the NBA. In 2001, Walton won an Emmy for best live sports television broadcast. Walton looks forward to building the San Diego Sport Innovators (SDSI) program with CONNECT. SDSI is a business accelerator that connects and drives the growth of San Diego's vibrant sports economy by offering innovative programs and services for start ups, mature companies and service providers.
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John Sarkisian, is CEO of SKLZ, the innovator in Athletic Training. John is also the Founding Investor and current Chairman of the Board of Semtek Innovative Solutions which developed and is commercializing patented encryption technology protecting sensitive data for the credit card industry. John is the Chairman of the Board and Founding Investor in Brightscope which has developed the industry standard for measuring company 401(k) performance. With his family he founded and developed Pat and Oscar's Restaurants which was sold in 2001 to a public company. John is active in Real Estate development and investment in San Diego County through his company Del Mar Heritage. John was awarded the 1999 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for San Diego County. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the YMCA of San Diego County and as a Trustee of the San Diego Sports Commission.
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Stephan Aarstol is an entrepreneurial thought leader and online marketing expert. With over a decade of Internet experience, Stephan has worked with a large variety of startups, from ecommerce and medical imaging to educational toys and youth backpacking. He is currently the CEO and founder of Tower Paddle Boards, an online, manufacturer-direct brand in stand up paddle boarding, the fastest-growing water sport in the world. Tower Paddle Boards garnered an investment from billionaire Mark Cuban on ABC’s “Shark Tank,” and was named one of the top 10 success stories in the history of the show by Entrepreneur Magazine. With only four employees, Stephan has grown the company from $3K revenue in 2010 to a projected 2013 revenue of $4M. Before founding Tower, Stephan started a number of niche ecommerce businesses, including high-end poker chip company BuyPokerChips.com. The site began as a solo venture side job and resulted in $2.5M in sales over its first five years. Stephan is an avid backpacker and has a passion for leading revenue-increasing initiatives for startups and high-growth organizations. Stephan holds an MBA in New Venture Management from the University of San Diego and lives in San Diego today.
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Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, Steve Astephen began his professional career in 1988 when he joined Vail Associates. While in Vail, he began to recognize the growth potential of the snowboarding and skateboarding industry. Expanding on his knowledge of the industry, in October 1989, Astephen and partner open The Other Side, the first snow and skate retail store in Beaver Creek, CO which quickly became one of the most influential shops among the top snowboarders in the region. In 1994, Astephen moved to San Diego, California and became Team Manager of Lamar Snowboards and was quickly promoted to Marketing Director. In his two years at Lamar, he developed a licensing deal with Nintendo for the first-ever snowboarding video game and assembled one of the top snowboarding teams in the industry. Astephen began a short career at Mantra Sunglasses as Director of Sales and Marketing. Astephen resigned from Mantra along with the president of the company and together they began consulting independently for several companies, including Sungold Eyewear. In 1998, Astephen founded THE FAMILIE an athlete management and marketing agency based in Carlsbad, CA. His success quickly grew to a roster of over 30 of the world’s top action sports athletes in BMX, Motocross, Snowboarding, Skateboarding, Surfing, and Wakeboarding. By 1999 THE FAMILIE was established as the premiere action sports marketing and athlete management agency. Clients included ESPN X Games, Disney, Stat Card, Powerade and Nike ACG, among others. In early 2003, The Familie acquired Arizona based, Action Sports Management creating of one of the largest action sports firms in the world, with over 50 athletes competing in seven sports. Shortly following, Astephen partnered with Wasserman Media Group. Currently Steve Astephen serves as Principal of Action Sports Management for Wasserman Media Group and resides in North County.
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Ludo is the co-founder and former CEO of ONE Industries, a world's leading motocross company. Born in France, Ludo became an avid motorcycle off-road racer during the early 1980's. His racing career consists of multiple French regional championships as well as multiple top 3 final ranking positions in French National Enduro Championships. In 1988 he took a position as a road representative for a motocross equipment company in Europe which eventually lead him to move to the United States in 1989. In 1991 Ludo created his first company, BRAKING USA, the US division of BRAKING International, an Italian Brake Manufacturing Company. In 1998, Ludo sold BRAKING back to the Italians in order to focus on his main project ONE Industries started in 1997 and another joint venture in company, TAG Metals started in 1999. In July 2007, Ludo sold both ONE Industries & TAG metals to Riordan Lewis and Haden private equity company and accompanied the sale through May 2008. Since that time He has been enjoying an extended “vacation” while consulting tot he Action sports industry. “Free from the day-to-day management of ONE Industries, I have been able to enjoy life with my wife and three children,” said Boinnard. “We have been dividing our time between our primary home in Southern California and our summer residence in Hossegor, France.” Still an avid motorcycle racer, Boinnard competes in rallies in Africa and South America, co- own a European-based rally team, and has just finished the 2010 Dakar Rally this past January in Argentina and Chile. Current consulting and business projects being developed are still related to action sports.
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Michael
Brower is currently the CFO for Gunnar Optics, a market leader in the $24
billion Digital Performance Eyewear Category. Previously he was the CFO for Event Network, the
leading retail operator of gift shops in cultural attractions across North
America. Prior to Event Network Michael was the Additional
prior experience includes; CFO for Cleatskins; CFO for Triple 7 Group, a
holding Company for several companies who design, develop, and distribute
products for the cycling and moto-cross markets; General Manager and CFO for
PowerMetal Technologies, an advanced materials company providing nano-enabled
components for the sporting goods and consumer products markets (investors
included DuPont); CFO for Orange 21, a leading provider of eyewear products to
the action sports and youth markets where he led an IPO. From 1993 through 1999 he held various
positions with Odyssey Golf, a manufacturer of golf equipment, including Chief
Financial Officer, Vice President and General Manager and Executive Vice
President. As VP/GM, Michael managed
Odyssey Golf through their rapid growth period in which sales grew from $6 to
over $60 million in sales in two years and became the global market share
leader in the putter category. Odyssey
was sold to Callaway Golf for $130 million.
Over this career, Michael has raised over $80 million in private and
public equity and debt capital. Mr.
Brower began his professional career as a staff accountant with KPMG LLP.
Michael received a Bachelor Degree from Chico State,
and earned an MBA from USD. He is also a
CPA.
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Tony Chen is the President and CEO of Osiris Shoes. With its roots in skateboarding, Osiris is a premiere action sports lifestyle brand. Based in Southern California, Osiris is recognized as a leader in footwear design, innovation and is always at the leading edge of style . Known for its creative marketing campaigns and progressive product offerings, Osiris is sold globally in over 40 countries. Using a multi tiered distribution strategy, domestically Osiris sells to independent boutiques up to national retail partners. As one of the original founders who created the brand, Tony has experienced all facets of the business during its formative years, giving him a well rounded understanding of the various skills need to operate company in a global environment. He is also currently a managing partner in the combat sports brand Triumph United. Tony holds a BA from the University of California Santa Barbara.
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In 2008 Scott Dickey brought a 20-year career of managing high-profile global businesses to Competitor Group, an enterprise dedicated to promoting the active lifestyle sports of running, cycling and triathlon. As President & CEO of Competitor Group, Scott has been instrumental in leading the development of the company’s media assets, both online and in print, with five industry leading brands in Competitor, Triathlete, VeloNews, Inside Triathlon and Women’s Running while also managing the company’s rapid expansion of its flagship asset, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series, from 5 events in 2007 to 27 events around the world in 2012. Prior to joining Competitor Group, Scott was previously the President of Transworld Media, a former division of Time Warner, where he led the growth and multimedia expansion of the world’s leading action sports media company, with brands including Transworld SKATEboarding, Transworld SNOWboarding, Transworld SURF, and Transworld Motocross. He was recruited to Transworld from K2 Inc., a leading manufacturer and distributor of premier branded sporting goods equipment (NYSE: KTO), where for five years he was President of its $45 million K2 Licensed Products division as well as K2 Properties, a division he organized and launched. Previously, Scott was President and COO of Fotoball USA Inc., a publicly-traded sports and entertainment licensed product manufacturer (NASDAQ: FUSA), where he completed a financial turnaround before selling to K2 Inc. Dickey has held other top executive posts at leading sports and entertainment entities including The Walt Disney Company, where he managed the development and launch of ESPN Zone, to the National Basketball Association, leading the league’s consumer product marketing and sales initiatives and assisting in both the launch of the WNBA and the league’s expansion into Canada. Scott is currently the President & CEO of Competitor Group where he serves on the Board of Directors. He also serves as a Director of Javo Beverage Company and has been an active member of YPO Int’l (Young Presidents Organization) for the past ten years. He currently resides in Encinitas, CA with his wife and two sons.
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Adam Dailey is the Chief Strategy Officer and Founder of Ludus Tours. The company was founded in 2003 and has been named one of Fastest Growing Businesses in the Country. Dailey has set up Ludus offices all over the world, living in Spain, Italy, Germany, Greece and Canada. He relocated the Ludus headquarters to San Diego in 2010. Ludus is the Official Hospitality Provider for over 20 different sports federations, including USA Track & Field, USRowing and USA Curling. He has been nominated as San Diego’s Most Admired CEO two times. Ludus was a Finalist for San Diego’s Best Places to Work and San Diego’s Healthiest Companies. Dailey was a former All American distance runner at the University of Arkansas, who he completed his MBA and ran in the 2000 US Olympic Trials. He lives in La Jolla with his wife and three children.
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Brian Enge is
Vice President at the Active Network responsible for Active’s Consumer Products
business. Prior to Active, Brian spent five years as the CEO of Zoot
Sports, a global leader in endurance sports products. Zoot was acquired
by K2 Sports in early 2009. Brian has spent fifteen years in the sports
apparel and footwear industry with a series of leadership positions including
Senior Vice President of Saucony and President of the Schoffel North American,
an outdoor and ski apparel brand. Brian is a former professional soccer player
for the Wichita Wings of the National Professional Soccer League, and a
graduate of both Harvard Business School and Harvard College, where he
captained the soccer team in 1991. In his spare time, he is a triathlete,
soccer coach and father of four.
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Steve Espino brings over 25 years of experience in commercial banking to AmericanWest Bank, formerly Security Business Bank. As a founding member of Security Business Bank, Steve served as Executive Vice President, Senior Lending Officer. He served on the Executive Management Committee, Loan Committee and Asset Liability Committee of the publicly traded company. Founded in 2002, Security Business Bank built a reputation for providing small and midsized business customers with financial innovation, access to management and superior client service. The Bank merged with AmericanWest Bank on July 2, 2012. Prior to joining Security Business Bank, Mr. Espino served as Senior Vice President for California Bank & Trust, managing its downtown San Diego Commercial Office. He was responsible for the management of a full service bank office serving commercial banking, real estate and private banking clients. Before joining CB & T, he was Senior Vice President and Regional Manager for Manufacturers Bank serving San Diego County from 1991 to 1998. Mr. Espino has been active in commercial lending to small and midsized businesses in the greater San Diego area since 1981. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of LEAD San Diego, Downtown San Diego Partnership and the Advisor Board of San Diego Sport Innovators (an affiliate of CONNECT). Mr. Espino has also served as the Chairman of the Board of LEAD San Diego, President of the Hispanic Bankers Association and Chairman of the Board of the Centro Cultural de la Raza. Steve is married to Sandy and has a son Adam.
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Jason Femrite is a Partner in the Action Sports and Apparel Group of the San Diego based law firm Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP. His practice focuses on assisting entrepreneurs and executives commercialize their business concepts, from idea to exit. In such capacity Jason has represented companies in a wide range of transactions, including more than 150 financings and acquisitions, while simultaneously assisting them protect and expand their brands on a worldwide basis. Although Jason represents clients involved in many industries, his emphasis is representing companies in the action sports community. Prior to joining Procopio, Jason spent more than 12 years with Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP, where he formed and led the firm’s Action Sports Group. In addition to his law practice, and his position on the advisory board at SDSI, Jason is an active member of the San Diego community, where he holds memberships with and has sponsored several other organizations, including: the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association, the San Diego Venture Group, the Association of Corporate Growth, the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce and the Entrepreneurs’ Organization, San Diego Chapter. A Southern California native, Jason earned his B.A. in Political Science at UC San Diego in 1996 and his J.D., cum laude, at the University of San Diego in 1999.
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In the early 1980s San Diego surfer, Tony Finn, developed the Skurfer – the first ever wakeboard. The boards were a cross between a surfboard and a water ski, and Tony began selling them to his friends on Mission Bay. In 1985, he decided to make a business out of it, and started mass producing Skurfers. He began to sell them worldwide and traveled relentlessly for the next few years, teaching people how to ride the boards, doing exhibitions, improving the product by adding foot straps and modifying the shapes, and selling boards to water sport enthusiasts around the globe. In 1988, Skurfers were being successfully sold in more than 400 stores in the U.S. and 40 countries worldwide, and Tony was featured on the cover of “Water Ski Magazine.” In 1989, Skurfer was sold to Kransco, who at that time also owned Hydroslide, Morey Boogie, and Frisbee. Tony continued to develop the sport for Kransco and became their sales manager. He was hired by ESPN as the voice of wakeboarding, and announced multiple events for ESPN, including the X games. In 1997, Tony founded Liquid Force, a company that sells wakeboards, wakeboard bindings, wakesurfers, wakeskates kiteboards, kites, and apparel; and is dedicated to relentless innovation, progressive design, maximum functionality, and unparalleled quality. Liquid Force is widely recognized as the No. 1 wakeboard brand in the world!
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Kevin Flanagan, currently the CEO of The People’s Movement, has 14 years of diverse marketing experience in the action sports industry. Kevin began working at Oakley in the Sports Marketing department before moving to Europe to become the Director of European Marketing. Following his European experience, Kevin returned to Oakley headquarters as the Director of International Marketing, where he oversaw marketing departments throughout the world. After Oakley, Kevin joined Broadband Interactive Group as Vice President of Marketing where he created a cross platform media company focused on the convergence of broadband and TV. At Broadband, Flanagan also managed all creative for the Bluetorch properties which included a daily one hour action sports show on Fox Sports Net, four print magazines, a highly visited web site and major live events. Joining the Globe Shoes team as Vice President of Marketing, Kevin developed effective marketing plans for multiple actions sports brands including Globe Shoes, Gallaz Shoes, Mooks apparel and Whyte House Entertainment. Prior to his current position at Reef, Kevin spent 4 years as Group Show Director with SDSI partner, ASR. At ASR, Kevin had P&L responsibility for the Action Sports Retailer Trade Show portfolio where he increased profits in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 through sales growth and expense management. While at Reef, Kevin developed strategic 5-year marketing plans, conducted global consumer research and designed creative for print, proprietary events and digital media platforms. Kevin currently serves on the board of directors for the Surf Industry Manufactures Association and SD Sport Innovators
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David Fredrickson is the KPMG LLP auditing partner responsible for delivering outstanding audit and accounting services to large and small, global and local, public and private clients in San Diego, and is primarily focused on consumer markets, biotech and middle market companies. He has spent 10 of his 11-year career with KPMG in the San Diego office. David has experience in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, retail, restaurant, government contracting, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, publishing, service, and software. David has served KPMG nationally as a national instructor and as a member of the Training and Methodology Team. He has also served the San Diego office as: a financial instruments and derivatives audit resource; a staff mentor; as the local office training coordinator and a supplemental reviewer on public engagements related to the audit of internal controls over financial reporting under PCAOB Auditing Standards. David is or has been active in several civic and charitable organizations, including serving on the board of directors of The John Brockington Foundation, CWI-USA, The Twin Trails Education Foundation and on the board of trustees of New Life Presbyterian Church of La Mesa.
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Jeff Kearl is entrepreneur and angel investor. He is the Chairman and CEO of Stance, a company with an original point of view on socks. Jeff was previously the Executive Vice President and on the Board of Directors at Logoworks, a high-growth Internet startup backed by Benchmark Capital and Shasta Ventures. Logoworks was successfully acquired by HP in 2007. After the acquisition, Jeff headed strategy and new ventures for HP’s Internet services businesses. Prior to Logoworks, Jeff was an Associate at vSpring Capital where he worked on software and Internet investments including Altiris (IPO then acquired by Symantec), Avinti (acquired by M86 Security), Cerberian (acquired by Blue Coat Systems), comScore (NASDAQ:SCOR), Control4, MediConnect and Senforce (acquired by Novell). In addition, Jeff has invested in over 20 start-ups since 2004 including 99 Designs, Ancestry.com (NASDAQ:ACOM), Celtek, Coupa, Dynamic Signal, Familylink, Matuse, MovieClips.com, Needle, Omniture (IPO then acquired by Adobe), Outright and Skullcandy. Jeff is the Chairman of the Board of Skullcandy and a board member at Needle and SD Sport Innovators. He is on the investment advisory committees at Innovations Capital Partners and Mercato Partners. He holds a BA from Brigham Young University and lives in San Clemente, CA.
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Originally from LA, Gary came to San Diego for college at SDSU and has called San Diego home since. He started G.S. Levine immediately after school in 1987, and has grown to become San Diego’s community focused premier insurance agency. Gary and his team are committed to their clients and not their insurance companies. They specialize in business insurance, personal lines, employee benefits, and financial services and they work with their clients to see the whole picture and create solutions before there is an actual problem. GS Levine is committed to delivering service beyond expectations both in person and on-line and in it knowing their clients, their attention to detail and the services offered is how they define their success. Gary and his team have been successful at coming to collaborative solutions with their clients through not just obtaining quotes from insurance companies, but by getting to know their clients, understanding the businesses and what their clients are looking to achieve and protect – realistically, for the long term and that fits the companies culture. Gary is an avid runner, loves to cross train and is likely joining the CAF Million Dollar Challenge in 2013. He has been married for 30 years and has three children.
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David Nash has over 40 years of retail experience and is the founder, president/CEO of Athleisure, Inc., dba: Sun Diego Boardshops, an eight store chain of retail stores doing business throughout San Diego County since 1981. Sun Diego Boardshops was voted the best beach wear/surf shop for eight straight years by the readers of The San Diego Union Tribune. Sun Diego was also voted Retailer of the Year in 2005 and Women’s Retailer of the Year in 2008 by the Surf Industry Manufacturer’s Association and their retail peers though out the country. Dave is a founding and active board member of the Board Retailers Association (formed in February 2003), a non profit trade association representing over 550 action sport retailers in the surf, skate, snow, wake, kite and wind industry with approximately 3000 storefronts across the country. Dave and Sun Diego are actively involved in the community and promoting the industries Sun Diego represents. Dave and Sun Diego work with The Surfrider Foundation, Feeding America and Keep a Breast Foundation as well as helping local high school find funds for their programs. Sun Diego also provides a competitive surf series for surfers of all ages as well as AmSlam a competitive skate series. Prior to Athleisure, Inc., Dave was the EVP of Snowden-Mize Companies, Inc., dba: Snowden-Mize Sports and The Athlete’s Foot, a leading retailer in the 70’s and 80’s in the athletic shoe and apparel industry. A chain of 26 company owned stores in five states and a Franchisor of 150 The Athletes’ Foot stores.
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Long-time businessman in the ski, outdoor, golf, and surf world. I started as a ski technician and lift operator while struggling through the University of Colorado. In the course of too many years to recount, or recall, I held positions as marketing director and sales manager at Nordica USA, VP of sales and marketing for Swiss-based Raichle-Molitor, GM of Merrell Footwear, president of Nike Golf, VP/assistant to Ely Callaway of Callaway Golf, CEO of Reef sandals and Sanuk Footwear, and Operating Officer for Boardworks and C4waterman. In the course of life I have had the pleasure of working with bigger than life founders, great retailers, and now a deep group of Waterman in our stand-up paddle venture. I have seen it all, from failure to transactions, and occasionally wonder at it all while perched on the tailgate of my Woodie, usually at the Cardiff Reef; usually over a BBQ and a cerveza. I hope to pass on the experiences I have had to younger entrepreneurs, in the hopes they will rise higher and make one less mistake than I did!
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Duane J. Roth is Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of CONNECT. CONNECT is the globally recognized public benefits organization fostering entrepreneurship in the San Diego region by assisting new business formation of technology and life sciences companies. CONNECT has been directly involved with over 2,000 companies since its inception in 1985 and these companies have secured over $10 billion in funding. Prior to joining CONNECT Mr. Roth founded Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp., where he serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Prior to Alliance, he held senior management positions at Johnson & Johnson and Wyeth operating companies. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors and executive committees of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the California Healthcare Institute (CHI) and BIOCOM (past Chair). Mr. Roth was appointed to the oversight board of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006 and was elected Vice Chairman in 2009.
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Joe Schimmelpfennig is a Managing Director in Investment Banking. He joined ROTH in 1995, and is currently Head of the Retail, Consumer and Business Services Investment Banking groups. Mr. Schimmelpfennig has assisted emerging growth companies complete over 100 equity financings and advisory transactions in a variety of industries, including consumer products, retail, digital media and commerce, communications services as well as staffing and SAAS. He holds a Business Administration degree from Coe College.
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Over the past 30 years Mark Schmid has developed multiple industry-leading companies in the action sports space. He has over 25 years of experience in product design, brand launch, management, manufacturing, marketing, and distribution in both hard goods and soft goods in both specialty & big box retail. Currently, Schmiddy is the CEO of ArtFunction, Inc., which manufactures and distributes patent-protected display and organizational systems for products that have strong emotional connections to their users. Schmiddy is also the founder/owner of Click Carabiner Company & Sk8ology. Sk8ology is a company focused on the professional skateboard market & Click Carabiner Company designs & manufactures functional niche specific jewelry. Schmiddy’s past includes being the western USA Learning Director for the Entrepreneurs Organization, President of the San Diego Chapter of Entrepreneurs Organization, & founder/owner of Syndrome Distribution and Pro Skate Products where he was directly responsible for the manufacturing of over 4 million professional skateboard decks. Prior to life in business, Schmiddy was a professional skateboarder. Outside of family & business, Schmiddy sits on multiple NPO Boards including CONNECT’S San Diego Sport Innovators (SDSI). With all this time spent on a board & in business, he hopes someday to be awarded a college diploma.
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Dana Shertz has a 30-year history of record sales growth, marketing innovation, revenue enhancement and expense reduction in management, sales and marketing roles at EnDev Enterprises, MacGregor Golf and Callaway Golf. From 2006 to January 2009, Shertz was COO and CMO of EnDev Enterprises, a partnership that owned and operated several nightclubs and restaurants in San Diego. Prior to EnDev, Shertz spent more than 20 years in the golf industry. He served as president and COO of MacGregor Golf. Prior to MacGregor, Shertz spent 13 years in senior sales and executive positions at Callaway Golf. His ability to consistently deliver unprecedented results led him through a rapid rise in the company's ranks, eventually resulting in an appointment as Callaway's Vice President of Sales. As a leader of the company's sales and marketing, he oversaw revenue growth from $5 million to $840 million, annually. Prior to Callaway, Dana founded and operated a successful retail golf operation in Palm Springs, Desert Golf and Tennis. Shertz also brings a unique understanding of business financial management. Prior to the golf industry, he worked in investment banking at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. Shertz
is a business consultant who provides consulting and successful growth
strategies to the Hospitality industry, Retail, Apparel, Consumer products and
the Sports and Golf industries.
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 Steve oversees the organization that brings sports leagues, events, and volunteer opportunities to young professionals in San Diego. Prior to his involvement in VAVi, Steve was the Vice President of Strategic Planning at RealAge where he oversaw business planning, business development, and product management. Steve has a passion for internet marketing, and has been a panelist at the San Diego Ad Club and a guest of UCSD Extension's Marketing with New Media class. He also actively contributes to CONNECT's Springboard program for entrepreneurs. Steve graduated in 1999 with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Technology from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. VAVi Sport and Social Club was established in 2002, and organizes over 30 different adult coed sports leagues, fitness & dance classes. VAVI currently runs over 500 leagues and classes in San Diego, with a membership base of 45,000 young professionals. For each of the past 4 years, VAVi has been recognized by the San Diego Business Journal as one of the Fastest 100 Privately Growing companies in San Diego. VAVi has also received recognition from the American Marketing Association for award-winning Special Event production and Promotional Campaigns.
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Robyn is Sports Medicine Program Director in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at UC San Diego Health System. She coordinates a team of sports medicine specialists, including fellowship trained orthopaedic surgeons (in every discipline) as well as primary care and physical medicine/rehab doctors. Previously at top- ranked Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, Robyn collaborated with two physicians to create the first Women’s Sports Medicine Center in the country. She is also a former Executive Vice President at the American Council on Exercise. Robyn has 30 years experience in healthcare including cardiac rehabilitation, health promotion, sports medicine, and business and occupational health. She is a Registered Clinical Exercise Physiologist with the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). Robyn is a member of the ACSM Exercise Is Medicine Education Committee, the National Osteoporosis Foundation - Exercise and Rehabilitation Advisory Council, the Clinical Exercise Physiology Association executive committee and the ConnectWell Advisory Board. Robyn learned to love sports at an early age - playing anything involving a ball, bat or racquet. She played collegiate volleyball and went on to become the first YMCA National Women’s Handball Champion and Pacific Northwest Regional Women’s Open Racquetball Champion. Robyn’s goal at UCSD is to build upon the extensive resources of the university to develop an innovative sports medicine program serving the uniquely active San Diego community of all ages and abilities. She stays in shape by cycling to work from La Jolla to Hillcrest.
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In January 2012, Carl Thomas was appointed CEO of X-1 Audio Inc (formerly H2O Audio)., while continuing his role as a Board Member (since 2010). In addition to rebranding the company and product line, he is leading the brand expansion with innovative new product design, integrated marketing and a revitalized sales strategy focused on Sporting Goods and Specialty Sport Retail. He is also beginning his 4th year as a CONNECT EIR and SDSI Business Mentor. Most recently, Thomas was an operating partner and lead executive in the emerging sports, media and entertainment sector with Private Equity firm J.H. Whitney Capital Partners. Previous senior leadership roles include CMO and Executive Vice President of Sales for Tickets.com; Executive Vice President Sportsworld Media Group P.L.C.; and Senior Vice President of Worldwide Corporate Partnership for Universal Studios, Inc. Thomas spent eighteen years in sports marketing including strategic brand and product management, live event production, integrated television packaging and sponsorship sales. He is credited with creating the Olympic distance triathlon format which debuted in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and was a 2009 inductee into the USA Triathlon Hall of Fame (www.usatriathlon.org). Thomas began his career at swimwear and sports apparel maker, Speedo International, where he was Vice President, Marketing. Thomas holds a B.S. in Kinesiology from UCLA, where he also was a nine time NCAA All American in Swimming (team captain) and a two time NCAA National Champion in Water Polo. Additionally, he was a member of the USA National Water Polo team (1976-1977),
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Marco Thompson is the founding Chairman of Connect S.I., the Southern California trade organization dedicated to helping create and grow the action sports, sporting goods, and outdoor lifestyle industry. Marco advises several local firms on finance and growth, and successfully raised growth capital in 2008 for a Connect S.I. member company. Marco is also a Managing Director of Express Ventures, an early stage technology venture firm. He has operational experience at up to $50-million revenue run rates, and he has led marketing & sales strategy development for diverse technology enterprises. He founded and self funded Doctor Design, which grew to become San Diego’s most successful Engineering Design Services firm and was eventually acquired by Wind River and then Intel. Marco has founded, financed, guided, and mentored numerous startups, and he currently sits on the board of directors or advisors of several early stage companies. Some of these companies include: MaintenanceNet, Entropic, Profitline, Intellitouch, Rosum, Drivecam, Objectiva, V-Enable, Benchmark Revenue Management, Qthink, and Philometron. Marco has been very active as a startup CEO mentor in the San Diego community, thru programs such as Connect Springboard, Commnexus Next Stage, and the Chairman’s Roundtable. Marco is a founding board member, past president, and past chairman of CommNexus. He holds three patents and has written a book on memory design. He has been honored as “Technology Supporter of the Year,” and is the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering Alumni of the year for 2003. Marco has also been awarded the Gray Cary Award for Technology Innovation in 2003. Marco graduated with a BSEE from UC San Diego.
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The first World Champion of Professional Surfing (1976) has held numerous industry positions in a 25-plus year career in action sports, including a 10-year term as advertising director/associate publisher of Surfing, Bodyboarding and Volleyball magazines; eight years as the marketing director of Rusty; and more recently this decade as publisher of Primedia's Surfing Group and marketing and events director for the Primedia Action Sports Group (ASG) division. Townend also served as president of SIMA ('88-89) and president of Surfing America ('97-04) which he founded. He served as head coach of the USA Surf Team in 1982-1984, when he led the team to a Gold medal win in '84, and most recently from 2004-2007 when he bought the USA Surf Team back to international credibility with a return to the dias in three of five international ISA World Championship appearances. Townend currently serves on the USA SkateBoarding board of directors, the umbrella organization that is endeavoring to bring skateboarding into the Olympics, and will field the USA National SkateBoarding Team. Townend also serves on SIMA's senior advisory board.
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John has a forty-year history in the action sports business beginning building surfboards from 1970 through High school and College. After several years as a retail buyer for famed Pat’s Ski & Sport in 1976 he joined Swiss ski boot manufacturer Raichle which lasted the next eighteen years. In 1994 he teamed as Managing Partner with a group of investors in a small snowboard company called 5150. In 1995 they built the “Thermal Structures” snowboard factory and in 1996 sold the brand and factory to publicly held Ride Snowboards (now owned by K2) KTO for $11.9 million. Following that, John joined Quiksilver ZQK’s as Vice President and General Manager of the “Snow” division. In three years John turned the $4.5 million snow division into the $23 million WinterSports Division while also leading the $10 million acquisition of the Mervin Manufacturing snowboard factory. Late in 1999 John joined $220 million Op Sunwear as VP of Sales and Marketing where he oversaw the world-renowned Op Pro surf contest in Indonesia, as well as the total overhaul of their “Gen Y” core ad campaign. John’s next venture was as VP and GM of the clothing division of Airwalk shoes where he directed the successful launch of an entirely new collection of “skate” inspired clothing into major American icons of retail such as Sears, JCPenny, Kohl’s and May Company until its acquisition by “Collective Brands” 2003. Two days later John joined Sanuk as VP of Sales where he served until promoted to President in 2006 and to Chief Operating Officer in 2007. During John’s tenure, gross sales rose from $4.5 million to approximately $68 million in 2011 with $90 million (domestically) estimated for 2012. This culminated in the July 2011 sale of Sanuk to Decker’s Outdoor for a total of $163 million. Since leaving Sanuk, John enjoys sitting on several “Boards” and founded The Warm Water Collective which helps companies of any size maneuver the challenges of today’s business environment. John is also a highly sought after speaker on how to make your brand successfully stand out. John’s greatest attributes are his calm domineer, ability to motivate and to coordinate many separate activities into one achievable goal. He brings a unique 40 year history and understanding of the Action Sports, Outdoor and International business models to any situation.
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Wilson brings to SDSI 24 years of experience in sales, brand marketing, financial and operational planning in the action sports industry. John began his career at Clairemont Surf in San Diego where he worked as a buyer and store manager. While working at Clairemont, John attended San Diego State where he received a BA degree in Marketing. While at Clairemont, John was offered the Southern California sales rep position with Oakley covering LA, OC and SD. In addition to sales, Wilson also initiated grassroots marketing events, local athlete sponsorship, in-store merchandising and staff clinics. John was then promoted to brand manager in November of 1996 where he developed the strategic and operational plans for Oakley's U.S. sales in addition to collaborating with product, marketing and operations. John left Oakley in May 1999, to join Reef as the director of US sales where he was then promoted to vice president of US Sales in 2002. In 2006 Wilson was promoted to president, where he was responsible for global growth initiatives, brand positioning, product direction, and distribution strategies. Currently, along with Jeff Kearl, John heads Stance Inc., as president, chief operating officer and co-founder.
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