WYRF HOME » 2011 SPEAKERS
Confirmed 2011 Speakers
As a sometime sailor, Andrew became involved in more serious yacht racing over 30 years ago by sponsoring the North Sea Yacht Race from his home town of Scarborough to Holland. This proved to be the start of a relationship with boats, people and the sea which evolved to make his name synonymous with some of the most notable sailing campaigns of recent years. He has supported a number of sailors and teams from small boats to large ocean racing vessels, including single handed around the world sailor Emma Sanderson MBE, the fabulous quadriplegic sailor Hilary Lister, Olympic hopeful in Weymouth Hannah Mills, environmental campaigner Jo Royle as well as Volvo Race winner Mike Sanderson and three time world champion match racer Ian Williams. The Pindar name has gone round the world no fewer than six times and is now in partnership with global shipping and logistics company GAC.
David Graham has worked his entire career in the sailing industry starting life teaching people how to sail beach catamarans in Lefkas, Greece. On his return to the UK he ran a sailing school followed by a decade with Performance Sail Craft Europe Ltd (Laser), the last 4 years of which as their Managing Director. During this period the Company grew substantially. In his role as Managing Director, David led the acquisition of Vanguard, which culminated in his relocation to Newport Rhode Island in order to manage the integration of the 2 companies. Soon after, he was approached by Rod
Carr and Mark Tuner and was invited to become the CEO of Oman Sail. Oman Sail is a Government funded organization with a diverse program of activities including grass root sailing initiatives, Olympic Teams and high end
off-shore sailing.
Carr and Mark Tuner and was invited to become the CEO of Oman Sail. Oman Sail is a Government funded organization with a diverse program of activities including grass root sailing initiatives, Olympic Teams and high end
off-shore sailing.
Franck's current project is the amazing multi one design class, who's origins lie in the giant French trimarans dating back to the early 1970's. Franck was also Olympic windsurfing champion in 1992 and holds 3 world championship titles. The MOD 70 is one of the most spectacular sailing machines in Ocean Racing and is set to provide spectacular television viewing.
The governing body of sailing speaks about the steps in place to ensure the future continuity of sailing at Olympic level, where the challenges and issues lie. Jerome became Director of Sailing in 2005 and was appointed Deputy Secretary General in 2007. He assumed his current position as Secretary General in 2008.
Jim has a wealth of sports sponsorship expertise, having worked with the FA Premier League and Moneygram International. He also ran WPP's Sports & Entertainment agency 'Ogilvy Action' where he consulted to a range of global brands and rights holders including; Manchester United Football Club, FIFA, Williams F1, AIG and Vodafone.
Born in Harstad, Norway, Frostad has carved out a successful career in both sailing and business taking up the role of Volvo Ocean Race CEO in March 2008. His links with the race date back to the 1993-94 race when he was helmsman on the second-placed Intrum Justitia. He was skipper and project founder/director on Innovation Kvaerner in 1997-98 and on Djuice Dragons in 2001-02. In 2005-06 he was watch leader and technical advisor with Brasil 1.
Since he founded Offshore Challenges in 1998, Mark Turner has become a leading figurehead within the yacht racing industry, widely known for managing numerous sailing projects with solo sailor Dame Ellen Macarthur. Mark recently merged the OC Group with ThirdPole, an expanding force in Outdoor Events ranging from running, cycling and biathlon. The Group's sailing events division, OC Events, continues to be Organiser of the award-winning and groundbreaking Extreme Sailing Series™
An economics graduate Stewart left his role as Head of Sourcing, which included sponsorship acquisition at Royal Bank of Sscotland to take up the position of Managing Director at Hugo Boss Sailing. He brings significant experience to the role, with six years as a Director at Cap Gemini Ernst & Young followed by his most current role, where he was one of the youngest Executives in RBS history.
Neil has worked for most of the last 30 years in the UK public sector in both sports development and facility management in the fields of sport and culture. He has worked with a number of sports governing bodies including the Rugby Football League, Rugby Football Union, British Swimming and the Football Association and has been a national Council member, and chair, of the Institute of Sport and Recreation Management. He has received two national awards, the F.R.Botham award for services to the Sport and Recreation industry and the Sir Basil Blackwell award for academic excellence from Sheffield Hallam University. In the mid 1990's he was seconded to the team which designed and built the McAlpine Stadium in Huddersfield, a design and business model which has been copied around the world.
He worked for Yorkshire Forward, the Regional Economic Development Agency, from 2002 where he established a regional approach to attracting major international sports and cultural events as part of the region's strategic plan for economic diversification. It was during this period that Neil worked with the Clipper platform as part of a two race strategy to deliver economic, tourism and place benefits for the Region. In July this year Neil took up his new position as Director of Partnerships and Sponsorship with Clipper Ventures.
He worked for Yorkshire Forward, the Regional Economic Development Agency, from 2002 where he established a regional approach to attracting major international sports and cultural events as part of the region's strategic plan for economic diversification. It was during this period that Neil worked with the Clipper platform as part of a two race strategy to deliver economic, tourism and place benefits for the Region. In July this year Neil took up his new position as Director of Partnerships and Sponsorship with Clipper Ventures.
Chris is a past Commodore of the Seattle Yacht Club (USA). He is also a member of the New York Yacht Club, Cruising Club of America and the Royal Ocean Racing Club. Chris has served as Vice President of the International Council of Yacht Clubs visiting yacht clubs on every continent and currently is chair of the Communications Committee for the ICOYC. He has cruised and raced extensively in the U.S., Caribbean, UK and the Med in his Swan 46, Aphrodite. When he is not boating, Chris practices law on Bainbridge Island, Washington, races his Lotus Formula Ford and can be found on the slopes at Whistler, BC.
The CEO of 1080 Media Organisation and the Communications Director for Team Korea over the past year since Korea became the newest nation to compete in the oldest trophy in international sport. An experienced journalist, consultant, TV producer and director, he works across different genres but has specialised in sailing & sports coverage for many years, directing broadcasts of Match Racing regattas in particular. Cliff also directed the live online coverage from Oracle's base in Valencia when they won the America's Cup last year. He has been heavily involved in the Team Korea campaign, helping from initial start up and through the first three events, with the team presently equal 4th overall in the AC World Championships.
Dan is one of the UK's leading strategists in digital engagement with a track record for leveraging social media and creating fans for brands. He started his career as a marketer, spearheading the campaign behind the World famous Olympic Laser Class dinghy. He has since been involved in the digital marketing of over 30 sports, adventure and entertainment initiatives from sailing teams to race series and from entertainment to record attempts. Dan not only leads the online and social media strategy and delivery at Slipstream, but is also retained as a mentor and advisor to clients wanting to understand and fully harness the opportunities presented by the digital age. Credits include: Volvo Ocean Race, Vendee Globe, B&Q / Castorama Dame Ellen MacArthur, Help for Heroes, Ryder Cup 2010, British Triathlon, HUGO BOSS
Christina is an international speaker, strategy consultant, facilitator, trainer and coach. She is also the co-author of the recently published "Your Loss: How to Win Back Your Female Talent " providing a blue-print for companies to attract and retain their female employees and their female customers.
A Venezuelan - Greek, she is the founder and CEO of Aquitude, a strategic leadership and marketing consultancy which works with its clients to engage top talent and top customers to improve the bottom line. Clients include Shell, Barclays, Accenture, Mercer, Detica, PA Consulting, among others.
Christina is a thought leader in the subjects of Gender-Savvy leadership and talent management, employee and customer engagement, effective product development and marketing, as well as innovation and entrapreneurship.
A Venezuelan - Greek, she is the founder and CEO of Aquitude, a strategic leadership and marketing consultancy which works with its clients to engage top talent and top customers to improve the bottom line. Clients include Shell, Barclays, Accenture, Mercer, Detica, PA Consulting, among others.
Christina is a thought leader in the subjects of Gender-Savvy leadership and talent management, employee and customer engagement, effective product development and marketing, as well as innovation and entrapreneurship.
David is a marketing consultant with a traditional background in consumer goods now focused on online marketing in a wide variety of sectors including sport. After leaving Unilever in 1999, David worked with pioneers of mobile marketing mBlox and one of the world's first social networks; Bolt.com. As founder and CEO of Lateral Syncing, David developed digital sports marketing apps for NASCAR.COM, MotoGP and Manchester United FC. David started yachtsponsorship.com in 2008, which was re-launched in 2011 as YachtRacing.biz. The business news site is widely read by the leaders of the sport of sailing including rights holders, sponsors, suppliers and athletes.
Dee currently lives on the south coast of the UK. She was awarded an MBE in recognition of her solo circumnavigation and set a world record by becoming the first woman to complete this 'wrong' way round voyage in 2006. She went on to compete in the 2008/9 Vendée Globe finishing in 6th place out of the 30 competitors. More recently Dee successfully completed the Barcelona World Race with a Spanish co skipper finishing in 6th place and making her the only woman to have circumnavigated the globe non-stop three times. In addition, Dee still holds the female crewed monohull Round Britain and Ireland speed record, set in June 2009. Dee is currently preparing for the 2012 edition of the Vendée Globe.
John is a past Chairman and Vice Commodore of Royal Thames Yacht Club (UK) and a member of the Royal Southern and Royal Lymington Yacht Clubs. He is currently President of the ICOYC since 2008. John has been a keen small keel boat sailor including Nordic Folkboat national champion twice in the last ten years.
John has been involved with the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy since its inception in 1999, initially as Development Director, but since 2008 as CEO. He was involved in the selection of Weymouth and Portland as the nominated venue for the sailing events and the subsequent preparation of the bid to hold the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
John is a keen sailor, and, after participating in dinghy racing earlier in his career, his current major participation in the sport is cruising with his yacht 'Little Egret' in the coastal waters of Dorset and the UK West Country
John is a keen sailor, and, after participating in dinghy racing earlier in his career, his current major participation in the sport is cruising with his yacht 'Little Egret' in the coastal waters of Dorset and the UK West Country
Kevin Roberts was launch editor of SportBusiness International in 1996 and, as editorial director, has overseen the subsequent development of the SportBusiness Group's content offering across all formats. He has worked in the commercial sports sector since the early 1990s when he was with the London agency CPMA. Today he is a regular chair of sports sector conferences and a media spokesman on sports business issues and combines his work for SportBusiness Group with wide-ranging communications consultancy for clients within and outside sport.
Educated in Communication and PR, Nathalie Quéré has a long experience in the international corporate communication field, from operational activities to strategic management, with a unique expertise in global sponsorship. Her career highlights include the implementation of the partnership of France Telecom with Eurodisney from 1992 to 1996, management of the sponsorship of Infonet with Volkswagen during the Dakar Rally and World Cross-Country Rally Championship in 2005, and management of the sponsorship of Infonet with Alinghi for the two successful 31st and 32nd America's Cup campaigns from 2001-2007.
Within BT Global Services, she continues in her area of expertise with the management of BT's sponsorship with Montreux Jazz Festival in 2008, and from 2007 to 2010 the management and exploitation of BT Team Ellen, the international sailing sponsorship with a focus on sustainability between BT and Offshore Challenges. From 2009 to 2011 she was also in charge of the activation of BT's sponsorship of XPRIZE Foundation. Nathalie is currently looking after the international activities around BT's partnership with London 2012 Olympic Games.
Within BT Global Services, she continues in her area of expertise with the management of BT's sponsorship with Montreux Jazz Festival in 2008, and from 2007 to 2010 the management and exploitation of BT Team Ellen, the international sailing sponsorship with a focus on sustainability between BT and Offshore Challenges. From 2009 to 2011 she was also in charge of the activation of BT's sponsorship of XPRIZE Foundation. Nathalie is currently looking after the international activities around BT's partnership with London 2012 Olympic Games.
Richard Worth is a former CEO of T.E.A.M. Marketing and Sportfive, with a 36-year history in sports broadcasting and sports marketing, which also includes a 20-year association with ITV. He was appointed Chairman of the 34th America's Cup Event Authority in October 2010.
Worth joined ITV in 1975, and worked in an editorial capacity on all of the network's top level sports programming, culminating in Executive Producer responsibility for most of ITV's sports output.
Worth joined T.E.A.M. Marketing in 1995, playing a leading role in developing the commercial success story of the UEFA Champions League.
His role in delivering substantial television rights sales, and improving television distribution worldwide grew to becoming CEO with responsibility to oversee the integration of television and sponsorship strategies for the UEFA Champions League and other UEFA competitions.
From October 2007 to June 2009, Worth was Group CEO of Europe's largest sports marketing agency, the Groupe Lagardere-owned Sportfive, a multinational with 450 employees worldwide. Worth secured a 15-year marketing partnership with Juventus FC and a historic TV sales partnership with the IOC for TV rights in Europe for the Olympic Games of 2014 (winter) and 2016 (summer).
Immediately prior to joining ACEA, Worth was advising leading football associations and media companies on securing major events and developing successful sports marketing strategies.
Worth joined ITV in 1975, and worked in an editorial capacity on all of the network's top level sports programming, culminating in Executive Producer responsibility for most of ITV's sports output.
Worth joined T.E.A.M. Marketing in 1995, playing a leading role in developing the commercial success story of the UEFA Champions League.
His role in delivering substantial television rights sales, and improving television distribution worldwide grew to becoming CEO with responsibility to oversee the integration of television and sponsorship strategies for the UEFA Champions League and other UEFA competitions.
From October 2007 to June 2009, Worth was Group CEO of Europe's largest sports marketing agency, the Groupe Lagardere-owned Sportfive, a multinational with 450 employees worldwide. Worth secured a 15-year marketing partnership with Juventus FC and a historic TV sales partnership with the IOC for TV rights in Europe for the Olympic Games of 2014 (winter) and 2016 (summer).
Immediately prior to joining ACEA, Worth was advising leading football associations and media companies on securing major events and developing successful sports marketing strategies.
Aaron moved into the online marketing industry in 1995, the year of the industry's birth. He has worked extensively with major corporations and start-ups and offered online marketing techniques to Fortune 1000 and FTSE 500 companies over nearly 2 decades. His career has taken him from London to New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sydney and back again to London where he now runs Interactive Mix and Be Different, two fast growing specialist agencies. Aaron is passionate about the opportunities afforded by new technologies and how they can be utilised for Strategic Digital Marketing. Aaron's presentation will demonstrate how various techniques combined together, provide an end to end solution for both small and large companies. These techniques when used correctly return unparalleled penetration into a marketplace at a price point hitherto unthinkable.
Angus is a lawyer by training specialising in multi-jurisdiction litigation at a major city of London law firm. However, Angus's passion has always been sport and his career started out at the sharp end of sport as a professional sportsman. He was the youngest crew member on Sir Peter Blake and Sir Robin Knox-Johnston's world record breaking non-stop circumnavigation of the world in 1994. Angus now heads up our brand and rights holder consultancy. He established a successful rights holder consultancy in 2000 and is proud to have been advising clients like Volvo since 2002 in the development of their sports events and creating ground-breaking sponsorships such as Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean in the Volvo Ocean Race. Angus has consulted brand and rights holder clients on properties ranging from Formula One to the Olympic Games and now works with our rights holder clients such as FEI, Volvo Ocean Race and ISAF, led the Madrid 2018 Ryder Cup bid and liaises with our brand clients such as AMD.
Staffan has been involved in the Royal Swedish Yacht Club in various positions before taking up as Commodore earlier this year. He is an avid sailor in the Dragon class and a keen offshore racing sailor. Staffan is also CEO of a family business conglomerate Salenia AB with holdings in operating companies in Scandinavia, UK and in the US.
Tristan is a specialist in communications and video distribution products over satellite and terrestrial links. Tristan established Livewire Digital in 1991 and for the last 20 years has worked with mainstream broadcasters, satellite service providers and the maritime community. Graduating from York University with an honours degree in computer science, he has focused on building a highly skilled team of engineers at Livewire Digital Ltd. Bringing together in-depth knowledge in video, satellite communications and IP networks and engineering software and hardware solutions to meet the demanding requirements of clients such as, Reuters, UK MoD, Inmarsat, The Volvo Ocean Race and the European Space Agency (ESA)
Wolfgang serves as an Executive Vice President of International Markets of comScore, Inc. where he is responsible for overseeing comScore's international expansion strategy in the European, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific regions. Previously Wolfgang served as Managing Director, EMEA at Omniture (acquired by Adobe Systems). During his six-year tenure, he oversaw the European expansion of Omniture's online marketing platform from the ground up as the first international employee, growing the European business to more than 1,100 customers and 200 employees. A frequent speaker at industry conferences, Wolfgang holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the University of Saarland, Germany and spends most of his free time sailing his ketch rigged sailing yacht in his home waters of Barcelona.
A graduate in Telecommunication Engineering and Business Management, Marco Simeoni is an entrepreneur who has created a number of companies, mostly in the IT area, and under the name "Veltigroup" which employs more than 300 people. Passionate about sailing, Marco launched Multi One Design with Swiss skipper Stève Ravussin and Windsurfing Olympic Champion Franck David. The company undertakes the construction of 12 MOD70 trimarans in 2009 and has developed the MOD70 circuit starting in 2012 with the Krys Ocean Race, a transatlantic race from New York to Brest. In 2010, Marco also created the Multi One Attitude Foundation - Race for Water to support his belief that sport can be an effective communications tool to raise awareness on important issues for mankind. He decided to use the circuit as a platform to support a cause close to his heart: ocean and water preservation. Based in Lausanne (Switzerland), Marco is a keen sailor and races on Lake Geneva on his Decision 35 Veltigroup.



















