ICN Team
Hector Botero
CEO
Mr. Botero has spent more than 10 years building, running and troubleshooting international and emerging markets newswire operations in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin & North America for the largest corporate newswires worldwide. Previously, Mr. Botero led international operations at Marketwired Sysomos, a leading corporate communications and social media services company owned by OMERS Private Equity. From 1997 until 2008, Mr. Botero worked as President of Business Wire Latin America and Business Wire China.
Eduardo Vidal
Executive Vice President & General Counsel
Mr. Vidal is a corporate lawyer with over 30 years of experience in New York and Chicago firms, having worked on a wide range of transactions such as securities placements, loan financings and private equity investments. For the last few years he has been General Counsel of iCrowdNewswire, LLC and its predecessor affiliate, focusing on the legal aspects of outsourcing, crowdfunding and startup companies.
ADVISORS
Antoun Sfeir
President,ePressPack SAS & PressKing
Mr. Antoun Sfeir is a global entrepreneur having founded ePressPack in 2011. Today, ePressPack clients include Air Liquide, Axa, Bayer, Louis Vuitton, Orange, Renault-Nissan, Sanofi, Commission Europeene and France Television. ePressPack has a presence in 6 countries in France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Europe. In February 2015, ePressPack acquired PressKing, a SaaS solution designed to provide companies the ability to manage their own virtual press room online. Mr. Sfeir was formerly with PR Newswire France from 2003 to 2011.
Martin Murtland
GM/Head of Product/Revenue Builder
Martin is a senior executive with over 20 years in product and management roles in the digital content and data analytics sectors. Most recently, he was Senior Vice President, Product and Data, at PR Newswire where he was responsible for cloud-based subscription products, ecommerce, reporting and analytics, user experience and shared services. Previously, Martin worked for Dow Jones in various global roles including Managing Director of the Communications Solutions Group, which provided software solutions for public relations professionals. Prior positions included General Manager for Dow Jones Factiva, Director, Content & Metadata Strategy, Content Licensing, and Business Planning. Martin has been quoted as an expert on enterprises’ use of social media and analytics in various media, including The Financial Times. He is a contributor to “Supporting Strategy: Frameworks, Methods & Models” published by John Wiley. He also co-founded the Robbinsville Irish Heritage Association and earned his M.B.A. with distinction from Warwick University in the U.K.
Wolfgang Zehrt
Founder of text-on GmbH and a digital agency / dapd news agency / ddp direct / dapd video /medienservice exklusiy / Hugin, a New York Stock Exchange company
Wolfgang Zehrt is an experienced news and information expert with an international track record. Zehrt built up, among other companies, an Internet TV service provider in New York and founded the PR company directnews (Leipzig), which was later integrated into the NYSE and now belongs to the news agency Reuters. As board of the news agency dapd (Berlin, 420 employees), he was responsible for digital product development and the development of the PR and content marketing business. He currently manages clients worldwide in the area of ”automated content”. Zehrt has published two textbooks about news and public relations. As a reporter he reported for ARD, Zeit and Stern several years from the Middle East.
Miguel Angel Martinez Beccar Varela
President,ePressPack SAS & PressKing
Lawyer from Universidad de Buenos Aires, Master in Corporate Communications by Università della Santa Croce, Rome. Attending a PhD in Communication Sciences from Universidad Austral. He is a strategic communications Consultant and expert in Latin American lobby, where stands out
for its interaction with press and public officers, his excellent advice on crisis management and distinctive views on the matter. Founder and CEO of MedioXMedio, company that provides information services and database on journalists and media in Argentina, which years later was sold to the Canadian media company, Marketwire. Founded and directed, until 2006, “La Ciudad”, a newspaper from San Miguel de Tucumán. Former Communications Director of Opus Dei Prelature in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia. He completed his professional mentoring with Dr. Joaquin Navarro-Valls, Director of Sala Stampa Vaticana. University professor.
Hiram Enriquez
Director, Product Marketing – SPT Digital Networks Latin America at Sony Pictures Entertainment
Experienced leader in the digital media space. Innovative digital media strategist, creator and producer of digital content and community products, specialized in US & Latin America. Seasoned producer of produced internet, television, radio, and broadband programming, covered news, technology, business, digital lifestyles and popular culture as a reporter and host of a TV show. More than twelve years of experience in broadcast and digital media business development, product development, product management, production, convergent media production and content strategies. Research interest in technology and the media, media convergence, media studies and critique. Previously Hiram worked with Viacom International, MTV Networks, Univision Interactive and Yahoo!.
David Ketchum
CEO, Current Asia Chairman, Digital + Direct Marketing Association Hong Kong and Singapore
David is a strong advocate for the business value that marketing and communications add at every level of the sales funnel, from building brand awareness, to engaging customers, to driving sales, to CRM. David is CEO of Current Asia www.currentasia.com, a new breed of business solutions provider that maximizes the value of clients’ data, contacts and content. Current Asia helps companies identify and deploy the right marketing technologies using its proprietary PPCT (People, Process, Content, Technology) methodology. The company operates across Asia Pacific with presence in Singapore and Hong Kong. As Chairman of the industry group the Digital + Direct Marketing Association [D+D] he helps drive thought leadership and direct activities regionwide, including lobbying, events,
networking and research. Previously, as founder and President of Bite Asia-Pacific (named Mid-Sized Network of the Year by Campaign Asia) and Technology Agency of the Year (Holmes Report), David headed up the six offices in the region and provides senior client counsel. David has lived and worked in Asia since 1992, and worked in Europe and the US previously. He founded Upstream Asia, which joined Bite Communications in 2009. In 2008 David managed the sale of Media Services Asia (MSA) to Marketwired, He served as Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications Asia-Pacific for Calvin Klein, Inc., and also held senior positions with Burson-Marsteller and Hill and Knowlton internationally. He is the author of the book BIG M, little m Marketing: New Strategies for a New Asia.
Rodolfo
CCEO and Chairman of Grupo Attitude S.A. and Coordinator of Brasil+Competitivo Initiative São Paulo, Brazil
Rodolfo Zabisky is CEO and Chairman of Grupo Attitude S.A. (www.attitudesa.com). He holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from IMT-Maua and an MBA from FGV-SP and Columbia Business School. Rodolfo served in various capacities for 18 years at the Odebrecht Organization (1982 through 1999), primarily on technology, business and commercial planning, investor relations and structured finance (asset backed and IPOs). In 1995, he was Top 5 finalist at the Global International Entrepreneurial Challenge of MOOT CORP (University of Texas at Austin). In November 1999, Rodolfo founded Grupo Attitude (then MZ Consult), an integrated business communication company (Investor Relations/Governance, Public Relations, Digital Marketing and Research/Intelligence). In 2007, he was selected entrepreneur of the year by both rankings: Endeavor-Exame PME (innovation) and FGV-PEGN (growth). By mid 2012 he initiated the mobilization “Brasil+Competitivo” (www.bmaiscompet.com.br) to encourage best practices in productivity and governance.
Rodolfo
CEO & Founder, BNamericas
BNamericas delivers on-the-ground insight and trusted business intelligence to companies and investors active and entering Latin America. Identifying opportunities early-on and connecting clients with business contacts and decision-makers across 12 industries, BNamericas is the edge your company needs in Latin America. In addition to project-focused industry news and data, as well as C-level conferences, BNamericas analyzes macro movements that affect everyday business and future developments, including social, political, economic, regulatory, technological, financial and labor-related coverage. Connecting our clients with trustworthy and timely insights, BNamericas has been shaping the development of Latin America for 19 years. BNamerica’s focus is on Oil & Gas, Electric Power, Mining, Metals, Water & Waste, Infrastructure, Telecommunications, Information Technology, Banking, Privatization, Insurance and Petrochemicals across the whole of Latin America.