Tom Newkirk, Chairman
As a founder of Direct Tech, a graduate of M.I.T. and a significant contributor to the direct marketing industry, it goes without saying that Tom Newkirk is an icon to many and a visionary in all that he does. Tom is credited with inventing products that have solved substantial business problems and for over 30 years, has helped major companies succeed. Upon the sale of Direct Tech to Experian, Tom served as Chairman with a seat on the Global Board of Experian. Tom's business experience as a board member, investor, and senior executive gives Web Decisions depth in solving diverse business problems and delivering solutions to our clients.
R. Scot Thomas, CMO
Scot's career has been firmly planted in the CRM/database marketing arena since 1975. He was one of the founders of Direct Marketing Technology, which became one of the premier companies in direct mail. Scot was elected CEO of the company in 1986 and held that position until the group sold the company to Experian in 1997. At that point, Scot became CEO of Experian Marketing Solutions and helped develop Experian into one of the main players in the database marketing sector, with over 450 employees working for the company. Scot left Experian in 2001 and currently is CEO for Verascape, a start up technology company located in Schaumburg, IL. He is also active in various real estate companies which specialize in the development and management of vacation properties in the Caribbean and other locations. He has a degree in Biology from O.C.C. in Chicago, IL.
Kim Addington, CEO
Kim Addington, a Business and Computer Science graduate of UVA, has 25+ years of experience in providing marketing database applications for retail, mail order, and ecommerce businesses. He was a former shareholder and VP of Operations for Brigar Computer Services, a sister company of Direct Tech, that was sold to Experian. Kim served as Chief Technology Officer at Experian Marketing Solutions and upon his departure has since founded Web Decisions along with Scot Thomas, former CEO of Experian, and Tom Newkirk, former Chairman of Experian. Over the years, he has had the pleasure to work with most of the major consumer brand companies everyone has come to recognize.
Tim Bahlke, VP of Product Development
Tim has been with Web Decisions since 2003 where he spent his previous life as an Internet Developer and Affiliate Marketing Manager for a multinational direct marketer. Since joining Web Decisions, Tim has been an integral part of the team, leading and mentoring our production staff before moving into his current role of VP of Product Development. In addition to an MBA, we have benefited from his extensive database and technical experience which we have fully utilized to develop and launch webLIVE, our real-time online decision engine. He is currently spearheading new technological advances at Web Decisions that will lead the marketplace. Leveraging ground-up new technologies, forward-thinking, next-generation marketing applications are being launched during 2011.
Lisa Eldredge, VP of Client Services
As a senior leader reporting directly to the CEO, Lisa Eldredge oversees Client Services teams and their functions at Web Decisions. Managing a very talented staff of direct marketing professionals, Lisa directs service strategy, process improvement, automation, new product implementation & tools integration in a technical environment while maintaining extremely strong client and employee allegiance. Lisa is active from the beginning and on a day-to-day basis in transitioning clients and making sure that Web Decisions services exceed expectations. Prior to joining Web Decisions, she was a highly respected senior project consultant at Experian for over 15 years where she worked on major list processing and database multi-channel accounts including Staples, REI, Nordstrom, Oriental Trading Company and Crate & Barrel. Lisa’s key accountabilities in client satisfaction, productivity enhancement, quality assurance and process improvement made her the perfect candidate for her move to Web Decisions. She received her Marketing degree from Northern Illinois University.
John Filipoff, VP of Production
John oversees the exceptional technical staff at Web Decisions. John uses his technical skills, can-do attitude, and marketing knowledge to ensure that all client expectations are always exceeded. He is focused on quality assurance and continually streamlining processes to achieve improved turnaround times. Prior to Web Decisions, John was a Senior Technical Advisor for Experian with over 12 years direct marketing experience focusing on process efficiencies, new product implementation, employee mentoring, and postal affairs. He is a Computer Science graduate from Roosevelt University and earned a Certificate in Direct and Indirect Marketing from DePaul University.
Paul Blaser, Director of Database Development
Paul is a marketing analyst and developer with 15+ years of experience helping companies leverage their customer databases to improve marketing results. He possesses advanced analysis and reporting skills, including data mining and predictive modeling and is a certified database professional and computer programmer with a concentration in direct marketing. Paul's experience with direct mail file data processing and bulk email campaign management makes him a strong contributor in delivering solutions to our clients. Paul received his Masters of Engineering specializing in Bioinformatics from the University of Illinois.
Jeremy Lehnerer, Technical Support Advisor
Jeremy, a Computer Science graduate of Northern Illinois University, worked at Experian for 8 years before bringing his expertise to Web Decisions in the areas of merge/purge processing, postal qualification and inkjet formatting. Jeremy has proven that he is meticulous and demonstrates high quality in all he undertakes at Web Decisions. He also acts as a technical lead for account audits, implementing new streamlined processes, and making account recommendations to improve turnaround time.