Kurt, who initially helped launch the e-Rewards panel programme in early 2000, led the company’s client development and strategy efforts for 8 years. He was responsible for the global revenue of the company until February 2008, when he left to pursue both charitable work with the Restore Hope Project and co-found Abundant Energy, LLC, a renewable energy innovation company, focused on wind and hydro technologies. He served as Chief Executive Officer for 2 years.
 
Prior to joining ERI, Kurt spent a decade as a management consultant. He worked for both Booz Allen Hamilton and Accenture, specialising in business and technology strategy and execution. As a consultant, Kurt served over 20 Fortune 1000 clients with strategic and business improvement analysis and advice.

Kurt earned his Master of Business Administration degree from Dartmouth's Amos Tuck Graduate School of Business and was an Honours Programme graduate at Baylor University, where he holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in management and information systems.

 

Prior to joining Research Now in 2007, he served as Regional Finance Director at Fitch, a subsidiary of WPP Group plc, with responsibility for the group's financial management and corporate development in Europe and the Middle East.

Previously, Nathan led the corporate finance function of Cordiant Communications Group plc from 2001 until Cordiant's acquisition by WPP in 2003. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant (ACA) with PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1998.

Nathan has a Bachelor of Science degree in economics and accounting from the University of Bristol.

 

Miles commenced his career in investment banking at NM Rothschild, before moving into consumer marketing with Cereal Partners (Nestle & General Mills). Miles also worked for Bain & Company in London, and Cadbury plc where he was director in the Group Strategy Team.

Miles graduated from Edinburgh University with a Master of Arts (Hons) in history, and received a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University Graduate School of Business.

 

In his career, Craig has influenced the development of standards and guidelines used by today's market research industry, including his work with the Federal Trade Commission to establish online privacy guidelines that led to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998.

Craig is a frequent speaker at industry events and is active in several organizations, including the Council of American Survey Research Organizations (CASRO), the Marketing Research Association (MRA) and the Associations Collaborative Effort (ACE). Craig also serves on CASRO's Board of Directors, Americas Research Industry Alliance (ARIA), and is a member of the Advisory Board of the University of Texas at Arlington's Masters of Science in Marketing Research.

Craig received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree and attended graduate studies at the University of Texas at Arlington.

 

Previously, John worked at Greenfield Online in multiple roles, which included global operations, offshore operations and operational process improvement. Earlier in his career, John held operations and process improvement roles at GE, American Express and JP Morgan Chase.

John graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and spent five years in the Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer.

 

Kevin most recently served as Senior Vice President of Retail and Alliance Services Product Delivery at First Data Corporation, where he was responsible for software product development and support. Prior to this, Kevin served as Chief Information Officer at Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., responsible for all aspects of information technology for Bed Bath & Beyond, Christmas Tree Shops, Harmon and buybuy BABY, operating in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Kevin has also served in executive and IT roles with The Home Depot, Delta Technology and Citibank, N.A. (Cards Division).

Kevin graduated from the University of South Florida with a Bachelor of Science degree in business management and computer science, and received his Master of Business Administration in corporate finance from Pace University’s Lubin School of Business in New York.

 

John, who was the first employee of ERI, developed the business plan, financial model and prospectus for the company, and worked with investors to close over $18 million of private equity funding in three different funding rounds. John returns to ERI after serving as President and Chief Operating Officer of Ignite Technologies, a technology service provider for delivering video and other digital content for clients, and most recently serving as a board member and advisor to early stage technology and green renewable energy opportunities, as a strategic partner with Wellington Associates.

Prior to joining ERI in 1999, John served as a management consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton, where he worked with oil and gas companies focused on expense reduction, redesigning business processes, and identifying application and technology needs.

John received an undergraduate degree from Baylor University in finance and economics, graduating summa cum laude, and a graduate degree from Victoria University (Wellington, New Zealand) in economics and finance. John is active in the leadership of: The Lighthouse for Christ, a medical mission on the east coast of Kenya; the Dallas Symphony Orchestra; and the Dallas Assembly.

 

James brings nearly 15 years of experience in the research industry and 10 years of experience managing dynamic, fast-growing businesses. He started his research career at ACNielsen, where he worked with several Fortune 500 clients including Intel, Kellogg and Mastercard. He was later involved in the growth of internet research start-up RedSheriff and post-acquisition with Nielsen Online, holding several upper management positions with these businesses from 1999 to 2005. James founded and developed SanMartin+Co in January 2006, where he served as Executive Director for the research-based consultancy business prior to joining Research Now in March 2011.

James received his Bachelor degree in business management from the University of Technology in Sydney, and is a member of ESOMAR and AMSRS. James is QPMR certified.

 

Konstanze brings over 15 years of experience in global and European marketing and branding to the company, having begun her marketing career at American Express where she went on to hold a number of senior roles.

Before joining Research Now in 2009, Konstanze was Head of Marketing at Qube Global Software, a leader in property and facilities management software.

Konstanze holds a Master in Business Administration from the University of Munich, and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

 

Noman co-founded Peanut Labs in 2005, and has been instrumental in connecting market researchers with social media. The company went on to becoming the market leader in social media sampling and was acquired by e-Rewards in October 2010 to be part of one of the largest permission-based digital data collection and advertising offers companies with over 1000 employees worldwide.

Noman is an experienced conference speaker who engages his audience with his excitement for and expertise in social media monetization. He has spoken at a number of national events including The Gamification Summit, LOGIN 2011 and a number of Google panels.

Noman has a Bachelor of Science in computer science and lives in San Francisco.

 

Between 1989 and 1995, Mr. Carty was Executive Vice President-Finance and Planning for AMR and American Airlines, overseeing a broad range of strategic planning matters and a wide array of critical financial activities.

Mr. Carty had been American's Senior Vice President and Controller before leaving the airline in March 1985 to become President and CEO of CP Air in Canada. In March of 1987, he returned to American and was elected Senior Vice President-Airline Planning.

Before joining American, Mr. Carty spent seven years in various management positions with Celanese Canada, Ltd., Air Canada, and the Canadian Pacific Railway.

Mr. Carty is a graduate of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and of the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. He is a recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Law from Queen's University. He serves on the Boards of Directors of Dell, Inc., Barrick Gold Corporation, Hawaiian Holdings, Inc., and Gluskin Sheff & Associates, Inc. Mr. Carty is Chairman of Virgin America Airlines, Inc. and Porter Airlines, Inc. He also serves on the Board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts Foundation. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Southern Methodist University and the SMU Cox School of Business Executive Board. In 1999, Board Alert named him one of the year's Outstanding Directors.

In September of 2002, Mr. Carty was appointed by President Bush to the National Infrastructure Advisory Council where he served until the summer of 2005. In January 2003, he was named an officer of The Order of Canada.

Past board seats include Palm Computing, Apollo Computing, Molecular Devices, Neurex, and Hybritech. Mr. Anderson was also responsible for the firm's start-up funding of LSI Logic, Quantum Corporation, Mentor Graphics, Linear Technology, and Biovest.

Mr. Anderson is a member of the Board of Directors of the MIT Investment Management Company. In the past, he served as a Director of the Harvard Business School Alumni Association and as a Trustee of the San Francisco Ballet. Additionally, he was a Director and President of the Western Association of Venture Capitalists, a founding member of Entrepreneurs' Foundation, and served on the Executive Committee of Crystal Springs Uplands School for many years. Mr. Anderson graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1966, and received his M.B.A. from Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1968.

Mr. Brierley began his entrepreneurial career in direct marketing some thirty years ago, when he co-founded Epsilon Data Management, one of the nation's leading database marketing firms and a specialist in Customer Relationship Management (CRM). In 1980, as a pioneer in the development of customer loyalty programs, he served as the one outside consultant for the design of American Airlines' AAdvantage, the first frequent flyer program.

In 1982, Mr. Brierley was elected Vice President of Sales and Advertising for Pan American World Airways, where he launched Pan Am's extremely successful frequent traveler program — WorldPass. In 1983, Mr. Brierley was named Senior Vice President of Marketing for Continental Airlines.

Mr. Brierley resumed his entrepreneurial career with the launch of Brierley+Partners in 1985. At B+P, he has supported the customer loyalty program design efforts for over 200 of the world's leading consumer brands.

Mr. Brierley founded e-Rewards in 1999 and navigated it successfully through the post- dot.com meltdown. Over the following decade, as Chairman and CEO, he directed e-Rewards' sales growth to over $105 million in 2009, managed two rounds of late-stage venture capital placements, and its recent acquisition of Research Now.

In 2007, Mr. Brierley launched e-Miles, LLC, a parallel venture that rewards its members for receiving and reacting to commercial messages. Since its launch, e-Miles has enrolled nearly 2 million members and served over 2,000 advertising campaigns.

Currently, Mr. Brierley serves on the Executive Board of the Dallas Symphony, the Boards of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts, the Dallas Opera, the Baylor Health Care System Foundation, KERA-TV, and the National Forest Foundation. He has also served as a member of the Board of Dean's Advisors for Harvard Business School.

Mr. Brierley received his B.S. with highest honors in chemical engineering from the University of Maryland and his M.B.A. with high honors from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar.

Previously, Mr. Carter served as our Vice President, Corporate Operations from February 2001 to March 2005.

Prior to joining MetroPCS Communications, Mr. Carter was Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of PrimeCo PCS, the successor entity of PrimeCo Personal Communications formed in March 2000. He held various senior management positions with PrimeCo Personal Communications, including Chief Financial Officer and Controller, from 1996 until March 2000.

Mr. Carter also has extensive senior management experience in the retail industry and spent ten years in public accounting.

He is an authority on consumer behavior and marketing, including particularly direct and interactive marketing. He is editor of the Journal of Consumer Research, and was the founding co-editor of the Journal of Interactive Marketing. He is a Trustee of the Marketing Science Institute, a board member of the Direct Marketing Education Foundation, and a Director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.

Mr. Deighton's research has received a number of commendations, including the "best article" award of the American Marketing Association for an article in the Journal of Marketing, and he was named "outstanding educator" by the Direct Marketing Education Foundation. He has been a visiting scholar at the University of Tokyo, Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, and the Judge School of Business at Cambridge University. Mr. Deighton has taught in many of Harvard Business School's programs, as course head of the first year MBA course in marketing, and elective courses in business marketing, consumer marketing and interactive marketing. Currently he teaches the first year MBA marketing course, an elective course in Digital Marketing Strategy, and is course head for the Taking Marketing Digital executive course. Prior to joining the Harvard Business School he was on the faculties of the University of Chicago, where he received the Hillel J. Einhorn award for excellence in teaching, and the Amos Tuck School, Dartmouth College. Mr. Deighton's Ph.D. is in marketing from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and he has an undergraduate chemical engineering degree from the University of Natal and an MBA from the University of Cape Town.

He is a Director of e-Rewards, Inc., and Monotype Imaging, and a former Director of CFRA Holdings, Ecometry Corporation, Expert Software, Fargo Electronics, Numara Software, Trident International, Webhire and several privately-held companies. Prior to rejoining TA in 2001, Mr. Johnston spent two years as President of idealab! Boston.

Previously, he spent seven years at TA, making significant contributions to a number of successful technology investments. Before joining TA in 1992, Mr. Johnston was a General Manager at Lotus Development Corporation and a Software and Computer Services Research Analyst at The First Boston Corporation. Previously, he held sales and engineering positions with AT&T Communications. Mr. Johnston received a B.S. degree, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, in electrical engineering from Duke University (1981) and an M.B.A. degree with highest honors in marketing and finance from Pennsylvania State University (1982).

Kurt, who initially helped launch the e-Rewards panel program in early 2000, led the company’s client development and strategy efforts for 8 years. He was responsible for the global revenue of the company until February 2008, when he left to pursue both charitable work with the Restore Hope Project and co-found Abundant Energy, LLC, a renewable energy innovation company, focused on wind and hydro technologies. He served as CEO for 2 years.
 
Prior to joining ERI, Kurt spent a decade as a management consultant. He worked for both Booz Allen Hamilton and Accenture, specializing in business and technology strategy and execution. As a consultant, Kurt served over 20 Fortune 1000 clients with strategic and business improvement analysis and advice.

Kurt earned his MBA degree from Dartmouth's Amos Tuck Graduate School of Business and was an Honors Program graduate at Baylor University, where he holds a BBA in Management and Information Systems.

He was a member of the Harvard Business School faculty from 1962, where he taught courses in corporate finance and related fields in several school programs while also engaging in research and course development in Europe and North America. From 1996 to 2005 he served as Senior Advisor to the President of The World Bank. He has held numerous corporate directorships, committee memberships, and consulting posts in business, government, education and health care organizations around the world over the decades. He has also served in numerous roles for the Mayor of the City of Boston.

For many years, Mr. McArthur served as chair of the Brigham and Women's Hospital. Following the affiliation of Brigham and Women's and Massachusetts General Hospital, he was founding Co-chair of the Board of Trustees of Partners HealthCare System, Inc. He is currently chair of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, Vancouver, BC; the Center for Surgery and Public Health at the Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston; the Development Gateway Foundation; Duke University Health System; e-Rewards; Koç Holdings, A.S., Istanbul; Reuters Founders Share Trust Company Limited, London; and Stemnion, Inc. Mr. McArthur has received numerous awards and six honorary doctorates. The John and Netilia McArthur University Professorship was established at Harvard University in 1997 and McArthur Hall was dedicated in 1999. In 2002, a group of Canadian alumni announced the establishment of the John H. McArthur Canadian Fellowship Program. A native of Vancouver, British Columbia, Mr. McArthur earned his Bachelor of Commerce degree in forestry from the University of British Columbia in 1957. At the Harvard Business School, he completed his MBA degree in 1959 and earned a doctorate there in business administration in 1963.

He serves on the Board of Directors of e-Rewards, Inc., IntraLinks, and Numara Software.

Prior to joining TA in 2005, Mr. Taylor was an Associate at Stone Point Capital in Greenwich, Conn. He also worked at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he was a Financial Analyst in the Principal Investment area and the Investment Banking Technology Group. Mr. Taylor received an AB degree, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, in economics from Hamilton College (1996) and an M.B.A. degree from the Harvard Business School (2001).

He has been a corporate finance practitioner for nearly 30 years and was a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers from 1983 to 2000. Mr. Westmore led PwC's UK Corporate Finance practice from 1995 to 1998 and thereafter was the Global Head of Transaction Services and M&A.

Since 2000 he has pursued a portfolio career, specializing in smaller, rapidly growing companies and in larger companies experiencing financial difficulties. He is currently Chairman of the Four Seasons Healthcare Group, one of the UK's largest providers of care homes and specialist hospitals, and The Bagel Factory, a food retailer in travel locations.

Over the past 10 years, Mr. Westmore has been a director of a number of companies including Avery Weigh-Tronix, an international weighing equipment business; Brunner Mond, a chemicals business which was one of the founding companies of ICI; Danoptra Holdings, the UK's leading player in gaming machines; Le Meridien Hotels, a leading global upmarket hotelier; and Retail Decisions, an international payment card processing business.

Before joining Polaris, he served as a senior associate at Great Hill Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm.
At Great Hill he was responsible for sourcing investments in and serving on the boards of SmartMail Services (sold to Deutsche Post) and ManagedStorage (acquired by Front Porch Digital). Previously Mr. Youngren served as an analyst for Willis Stein & Partners, Bear Stearns & Co., and George K. Baum & Company. Mr. Youngren holds a B.A. in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.