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Dave Pauken, CEO
Dave was named Chief Executive Officer in November 2010 and also serves on the board of directors. Dave has a distinguished career building successful businesses in various industries spanning over twenty-five years.
He began his career at Andersen, where he spent twelve years providing financial expertise in the technology, networking, manufacturing, and marketing sectors. He then served as Chief Accounting Officer for Snyder Communications, an international marketing and advertising firm. During his tenure, the company completed a successful IPO and listed on the New York Stock Exchange, growing in revenue to $1.2B before being sold to the French conglomerate Havas in 2000 for over $2 billion.
Beginning in 2001, Dave served as the Chief Operating Officer of the Washington Redskins. While there, he developed new business lines and implemented innovative technology to drive sales and earnings growth. He provided important leadership and management as the various businesses grew. From 2003-2006 the Washington Redskins was rated the world’s most valuable sports franchise.
From 2008-2010 Dave was the President and CEO of Eka Systems, a leading supplier of wireless, smart grid networking solutions. Eka Systems grew to become an important contributor to smart grid implementation at utilities nationwide and was successfully sold to Cooper Industries in 2010.
Gary Portney, President and Founder
Gary is a recognized business technology veteran who is the driving force behind the company’s growth and innovation. Gary has led corporate strategy and operations for Convoke Systems since its inception in 2006.
Prior to founding Convoke Systems, Gary was a Co-Founder and Vice President of Sales and Operations for KonaWare, Inc. a leading provider of wireless infrastructure for the logistics and supply chain industry acquired by ServicePower (LSE: SVR).
Earlier, Gary co-founded Ventaso, Inc. (formerly Market-Touch), the creator of the Customer Message Management (CMM) category within the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) industry. At Ventaso, he served in several executive roles including CEO, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, and Vice President of Business Development. In the mid 90’s, he served as Senior Vice President of Sales at Vicinity where he helped grow the company from concept to an Initial public offering before it was acquired by Microsoft. Earlier in his career, Gary worked in senior sales positions at Oracle Corporation.
Mike Merritt, Vice President, Product and Services
Mike is responsible for developing the vision and strategy of the company’s technology operations, and drives the company’s product roadmap, development, delivery and professional services.
Before joining Convoke, Mike served as a Managing Director of Symphony Services Consulting where he worked closely with leading edge software companies to define and implement multi-shore development strategies. Prior to Symphony, Mike was the Vice President of Engineering at Portera Systems and headed all development efforts.
Mike spent over a decade at Sybase Corporation, where he was Senior Director of Engineering and led the development of the Sybase Enterprise Application Server from its initial concept to full release and full integration into the Sybase product line.
Mike Dillow, Chief Operating Officer
Mike was appointed the Chief Operating Officer of Convoke Systems in November 2010 and brings more than 28 years of experience to the company. Prior to joining Convoke he was the Chief Operating Officer of Eka Systems Inc., a global manufacturer and supplier of smart grid networking solutions where Mike was responsibility for all operational aspects of the company and its international development.
Previously Mike spent twelve years as the Senior Vice President of the Washington Redskins, where he played an integral role in the complete restructuring of the business upon the change in ownership in 1999. Subsequently his direct responsibilities grew to include all stadium and team operations.
Earlier Mike was the Executive Vice President of Jack Kent Cooke Incorporated, the parent company of the Washington Redskins, Cooke Properties and various other media, cable, sport and entertainment entities, the Director of Finance at Ameritech Communications and a Staff Auditor with Grant Thornton.
Jeff Ochs, Vice President, Finance
Jeff has over 25 years of experience in the accounting and finance discipline, serving both public and private companies. As Convoke’s VP of Finance, he is responsible for the accounting and financial functions of the Company together with human resources and administration.
Prior to joining Convoke, Jeff was the VP of Finance and Controller of Eka Systems, Inc., a high-tech company which developed and produces a Smart Grid AMI (advanced meter infrastructure) solution. Jeff also served as CFO of Atlantic Realty Companies, a privately-owned, full-service commercial real estate company with holdings in the Washington DC metropolitan region. Previously Jeff was the Controller of Snyder Communications, Inc., a NYSE international marketing and advertising firm where he led the accounting and financial reporting functions as the company grew from$100M in revenue to $1.2B. Earlier, Jeff served as Chief Accounting Officer of NHP, Inc. and as Assistant Controller of US Airways, Inc.
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