Event Chairs

Joan Herbig :: Event Chair

Joan Herbig is CEO and President of XcelleNet, Inc., a worldwide provider of Mobile Infrastructure solutions and expertise. In 2001, Joan was named the Woman of the Year in Technology by the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG). In an awards ceremony in Atlanta, Joan was recognized as the driving force behind the re-emergence of XcelleNet and its aggressive move into the mobile and wireless technology market. In 2002, Greater Louisville Inc. – The Metro Chamber of Commerce honored Joan with its Thomas A. Edison Ambassador Award. The annual award was created to recognize an outstanding risk-taking former Louisville resident who has successfully pursued an entrepreneurial endeavor.

An active member of the Georgia technology community, Joan serves on the Board of Directors of TAG, SciTrek – The Science and Technology Museum of Atlanta, the Atlanta Women’s Network. In addition, she serves as an Executive Director for Women in Technology (WIT). Joan is also a member of the Georgia Executive Womens’ Network, the Georgia 100 Mentoring Program, and Women in Technology International, an organization that awarded Joan its “Women Forging the Future” Award in April 2001.

Before joining XcelleNet, Joan was with Digital Communications Associates (DCA) from 1987 to 1995, where she served as Senior Product Line Manager responsible for marketing and product management of DCA's software product lines. Joan began her business career in customer support at IBM Corporation. She earned a B.A. in French from the University of Louisville and a M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Kentucky.

I. Sigmund Mosley, Jr. :: Event Chair

I. Sigmund Mosley, Jr. is President of Imlay Investments, Inc. Mr. Mosley received his Bachelor of Business Administration from Emory University in 1968. From 1968 to 1969 Mr. Mosley was employed by Peat Marwick & Mitchell as a staff accountant. He joined Management Science America, Inc. (now Dun & Bradstreet Software Services, Inc.) in 1969 as a staff accountant and served as Secretary-Treasurer from 1972 to 1990 and was a Vice President from 1982 to 1991.

Mr. Mosley serves on the board of directors of the following private companies: 180Commerce; Auctionworks; Bank Intelligence; eQuorum Corporation; Fountainhead Water Company, Inc.; Gardening123.com; MCF Systems, Inc.; Photobooks, Inc.; RF Solutions; USBA Holdings, Inc; Vadum Technologies; Wuliweb; and, Cirrex Corporation. In addition, Mr. Mosley is a Director of The Imlay Foundation, Inc.

Imlay Investments, Inc. is the personal investment company of John P. Imlay, Jr.

Mr. Mosley was born in 1946 and has six children. Hobbies include golfing, coin collecting and reading.

Duane Ackerman :: Honorary Event Chair

Duane Ackerman is chairman and chief executive officer of Atlanta-based BellSouth Corporation.

A native of Plant City, Fla., Mr. Ackerman holds a bachelor’s degree in physics and master’s degree from Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., and a master’s degree in business from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Mr. Ackerman began his communications career in 1964, and has served in numerous capacities with BellSouth. Mr. Ackerman was named president, chief executive officer of BellSouth Telecommunications, BellSouth’s local telephone service unit and largest subsidiary, in November, 1992. He was promoted to vice chairman and chief operating officer of the parent company, BellSouth Corporation, on January 1, 1995, and was elevated to the position of president and chief executive officer of BellSouth on January 1, 1997. On January 1, 1998, Mr. Ackerman was appointed chairman and chief executive officer of BellSouth.

In addition to serving as a director of BellSouth Corporation, Mr. Ackerman is also a member of the board of Wachovia Corporation and The Allstate Corporation. His civic commitments include immediate past chair of the Georgia Research Alliance and membership on the board of the Woodruff Arts Center. Mr. Ackerman is the chairman of the national Council on Competitiveness, vice chairman of the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee, a trustee of Rollins College and a former member of the board of governors for the Society of Sloan Fellows of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.



Executive Committee

Ron Farmer :: Executive Committee

Ron Farmer, 44, is Managing Partner of Smith Harbor Ventures, an Atlanta-based venture capital fund, which focuses its investments on enterprise software companies. Mr. Farmer received a BS degree from Virginia Tech, and an MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. Prior to joining Smith Harbor Ventures, he spent 5 years as CEO of Debitek, a software company, which he sold to IVI-Checkmate in 1999. From 1987 to 1993, Mr. Farmer was employed in various management positions at Oracle, was twice named Oracle Regional Manager of the Year, and rose to Group Director of the Oracle Pharmaceutical Vertical Industry Group. He began his career at AT&T in 1983, and served in various finance, sales and sales management positions.

Scott Geller :: Executive Committee

Scott Geller has been the Executive Director of TechBridge since July, 2000. For the previous 9 years, Mr. Geller was a high tech entrepreneur, having founded and served as the CEO of Business Systems Design, a manufacturing systems integrator and consultancy from 1991 until it was sold in 1996. In 1996 he founded 2order.com, a sales automation and Internet software company, sold in January 2000 to Primus Knowledge Solutions, a public company. Mr. Geller earned a B.S. degree in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.S. degree in Computer Science from the University of California, San Diego. He currently serves on the Boards of SAK Logistics, a private supply chain software company, Pathways Community Network, a nonprofit that provides collaboration technology for agencies serving the homeless and working poor, and the Intown Jewish Life Center (IJLC).

Kathy Harris :: Executive Committee

Kathy Harris is President of KHarris Advisors, LLC, a financial advisory firm focused on emerging growth businesses, primarily in the technology sector. Prior to forming the advisory firm this year, she was a Partner at Technology Ventures, an Atlanta-based venture capital firm that focused on early stage investments in private and public software and Internet companies. She sourced, evaluated and managed investment opportunities for the firm. Kathy has over 20 years of finance and investment experience. Prior to Tech Ventures, she served as Vice President/National Marketing Manager of Sirrom Capital Corporation, where she oversaw all business development and loan origination activities. She also served on the Investment Committee, which approved all investments nationwide. At Sirrom, Kathy originated mezzanine investments in 38 companies totaling over $100 million, including WebMD, TALUS Solutions (now Manugistics) and Radiant Systems.

Prior to Sirrom, Kathy spent more than 10 years at J.C. Bradford & Co. (now a subsidiary of UBS PaineWebber) where she was a Senior Vice President of the Investment Banking Group. Kathy started her career at KPMG International where she served as a Senior Auditor, specializing in the firm's thrift practice. She is also a Certified Public Accountant (inactive in Tennessee). Kathy holds an M.B.A in Finance and Human Resource Management from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University. She received a B.S. in Accounting from Murray State University.

Kathy is on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee and is Treasurer of TechBridge, a non-profit organization that actively promotes the energy, capabilities and resources of the technology community to charitable organizations. She is also a Georgia 100 mentor and on the Boards of Hands On Atlanta and Women in Technology.

Mary Lou Heastings :: Executive Committee

Mary Lou Heastings is director of Worldspan’s worldwide e-business initiatives. In this capacity, she leads the development and enhancement of the company’s enterprise e-business infrastructure, ranging from traditional business applications such as payroll and accounting to cutting-edge technologies such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM), portal solutions and data warehousing and business intelligence systems. From the company's Atlanta headquarters, Heastings directs an international staff of over 120 technical professionals and managers based around the U.S. and Europe. Heastings has over 18 years of experience in general management, strategy, business development, and software development with companies such as Delta Air Lines and Holiday Inn.

Heastings has appeared on Georgia Public Television, spoken at Comdex, and has been featured in the Atlanta Journal Constitution for her leadership role in building an e-business environment at Worldspan. She currently serves as the 2002 President of Georgia’s Women in Technology and as a board member of the Technology Association of Georgia. Heastings holds a bachelor's degree in psychology and an MBA in management from Georgia State University in Atlanta.

Steve Linowes :: Executive Committee

Steve Linowes is responsible for platform strategy and corporate development at Yahoo!. He has spent the past 17 years working in the technology field for leading companies in that industry. He joined Yahoo! in 1999 when his start-up company, Encompass, was acquired by Yahoo!. Before joining Encompass, he was head of business development for Monorail, the first company to deliver a sub-$1,000 personal computer. Prior to that he worked at Microsoft Corporation, where he led various product marketing roles including the Internet marketing and product management for Windows 95.

Steve has a history of being very active in the community on both a national and regional level. In addition to being a founder of TechBridge, he is founder of the National Youth Technology Advisory Committee of Boys and Girls Club of America and serves as a National Associate for that organization. Currently, he serves on the Board of Visitors of Emory University, the advisory board of the Technology Association of Georgia, the Regional Arts TaskForce, and is a board member of the Urban League of Atlanta.

Marci McCarthy :: Executive Committee

Bringing nearly a decade of marketing and consulting experience with emerging technology and security companies, Marci McCarthy is responsible for Lancope’s corporate marketing direction, including Public Relations, Analyst Relations, Investor Relations, Advertising, Interactive Marketing, Events and Branding. Previously, McCarthy served as Managing Director of Next Door Marketing and also held positions at SecureWorks, Deloitte Consulting, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and TSC.

Recognized as “Who’s Who in the Georgia’s Technology Community” by the Atlanta Business Chronicle and as a “Woman to Watch” by The BroadSheet, McCarthy is an active member of the community. Currently, she is setting the strategic direction for Information Security Executive of the Year Award in Georgia. As a past President of Women in Technology (WIT), society of the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG), she continues to serve actively on its Board of Directors. She is also an active member of the Atlanta Women’s Foundation, the Georgia Technology Forum Oversight Committee and TechBridge’s Digital Ball Executive Committee. An expert on e-commerce and Internet security, McCarthy is a columnist and speaker at industry events.

Sue Miller :: Executive Committee

Sue Miller is an operations executive and consultant with over 20 years experience in the banking, e-business and software development industries. She leads various teams in bringing together business users, business process analysts, product design, development and quality assurance teams to execute the core business objectives of the company and provide top quality solutions. Her current engagements include work with a Fortune 100 financial institution; where she is implementing a business critical application that is both required by regulators and adds to the bottom line profitability of the institution. Her other engagement is with a start-up company engaged in creating Internet TV channels for vertical markets. Sue has been a member of Women in Technology since WIT's early days. She served as President in 2000 and has been a board member for 7 years. Women in Technology is a society within the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG). She served on the TAG board in the year 2000. She is also a mentor at the Atlanta Girls' School and actively works on various education initiatives.

Cecilia Roach :: Executive Committee

Cecilia Roach is a senior vice president and Technology Practice Director in Ketchum’s Atlanta office. Roach oversees marketing and public relations services for leading clients such as Scientific-Atlanta, Inc., Magnet Communications and Navic Networks. She brings more than 25 years’ experience in all facets of technology marketing and public relations to Ketchum.

Prior to joining Ketchum, Roach opened and ran the West Coast operations of a privately-held public relations firm focusing on emerging growth technology and healthcare clients. Roach was instrumental in establishing the agency as the premier provider of “surround sound” marketing and public relations campaigns designed to raise national and industry awareness prior to acquisition, IPO or other liquidity event. She split her attention between business-to-business companies and business-to-consumer clients, launching companies, categories and products in a way that differentiated her clients from their competitors.

In addition to agency work, Roach has spent half of her career on the corporate side, helping private and public companies with enterprise-focused offerings to differentiate themselves in crowded, confused and nascent markets.

Tom Vertin :: Executive Committee

Thomas M. Vertin is Silicon Valley Bank's Southeast Division Manager, which is headquartered in Atlanta, GA, and includes offices Reston, VA, Research Triangle Park, NC and South Florida. Mr. Vertin is responsible for the Bank's presence in the Southeast. The Southeast Division serves over 460 technology companies and venture capital firms. Mr. Vertin is active in the local technology community, is the co-originator of the Digital Ball, advisory board member of the Technology Association of Georgia and participates in other professional and philanthropic endeavors.

Mr. Vertin, who has over 19 years of banking experience, joined Silicon Valley Bank in 1993 in its Santa Clara, CA headquarters. He was responsible for the development of the Bankâs Communications and Online Services Practice. Mr. Vertin moved to Atlanta in 1997 to open the bank's first southeast office. He was then promoted to his current position in 1999 when the Bank established its Southeast Division and added the regional office in Reston, VA and Research Triangle Park, NC to his responsibility. Last year, the regional office in Florida was opened.

Prior to joining Silicon Valley Bank, Mr. Vertin established and ran the technology division of Civic Bank. He has also served with Pacific Western Bank and Bank of America, where he began his banking career. Prior to his banking career, Mr. Vertin served for three years with the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.

Angelina Watson :: Executive Committee

Bringing over a decade of management experience, Angelina Watson is the Atlanta Solution Center Manager for the Field Services Group at Computer Associates International (CA). Ms. Watson’s responsibilities include being the brand and product specialist for the UniCenter product line. In this highly visible role, she is responsible for demonstrating the product benefits and functionality to executives from prospective clients and the CA salesforce. She is also instrumental to managing product launches and the CA Solutions center for onsite client visits. Prior to joining CA, Ms. Watson was a senior manager for Hyatt Hotels Corporation.

As an active member of the Atlanta community, Ms. Watson has served since 1998 on the board of directors for Women in Technology (WIT), a Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) Society. She also serves on TechBridge’s Digital Ball 2003 Executive Committee where she is the Co-Chair for the Logistics Committee. Other professional organizations where Ms. Watson has an active role include Hosea Williams Feed the Hungry and Habitat for Humanity.


Planning Committee

Eddie Birchfield - Eton Technology Partners
John Borden - McKenna, Long & Aldridge LLP
Betsy Cagle - Sales Builders, Inc.
Ron Farmer - Smith Harbor Ventures
Robyn Feinberg - The North Highland Co.
Jethro Felton - XcelleNet
Darrell Glasco - Silicon Valley Bank
Darnell Lewis - The People Network
Sonia Lucas - Provant Power Management
Tim Mann - Kilpatrick Stockton LLP
Lisa Mayer
Joe Morettini - Deloitte & Touche LLP
David Nour - The Nour Group, Inc.
Charlie Paparelli - Paparelli Ventures
Randy Pilkenton - CheckFree
Tammy Robertson - High Tech Connect
Chris Rossie - Gray Ventures
Lynn Scott - King & Spalding LLP
Karen See - Abovo Group
Shawn Sickler - Verso Technologies
Al Spurgin - Silicon Valley Bank
Fred Sturgis - H.I.G. Ventures
Rosemarie Thurston - Morris Manning & Martin LLP
Melissa Wyatt - Abovo group

Host Committee

Jarnice Anderson, CIO, GlobalTech Financial
Jean-Michel Ares, CIO, The Coca-Cola Company
Maggie Bellville, EVP Operations, Charter Communications
Becky Blalock, SVP & CIO, The Southern Company
Richard Campbell, President, Securiant
Curtis Cook, President, Novations Project Management
Phil Davis, CIO, Porsche Cars North America
Kate Dever, CIO, Per-Se Technologies
Jeff Freemyer, CEO & Chairman, iReadyWorld
Margaret Godsea, CIO, AFC Enterprises
Emmett Hawkins, CIO, Leapfrog Services
Sandra Hofmann, CIO, MAPICS
Jennifer Holmes, President & CIO, MIS Solutions
Lee Lee James, Vice Chairman, CIO & CPO, Synovus
Bill Jones, CIO & VP Operations, Interland
Kristin Kamm, CIO, AGL Resources
Michael Lang, SVP Audio Video Entertainment, Philips
Harland LaVigne, CEO, Lancope
Darnell Lewis, CEO, The People Network
Gregory Morrison, VP & CIO, Cox Enterprises
Bill Nussey, President & CEO, Silverpop Systems
Sue Powers, SVP Worldwide Product Solutions & CIO, Worldspan
Richard Welke, Director eCommerce Institute, Georgia State University
Bart Wood, Georgia Regional CIO, Georgia Power Company
Bob Wynn, CSO, Georgia Technology Authority