Management Team
Gene Austin, Chief Executive Officer
Since joining Convio in July 2003, Gene has been the driving force behind the company's product innovation, strong customer acquisition, expansion of technology infrastructure and staff, and growth. During this time, Convio has grown its customer count to more than organizations. Convio has made Red Herring's list of "100 Top Private Companies," been named to Forbes' list of "Fast Growing Privately Held Technology Companies" and ranked No. 1 on the Austin Business Journal's list of "Top 25 Fastest Growing Companies." Gene is experienced in growing companies like Convio that are based on the "software as a service" (SaaS), or on-demand, model. He served as Senior Vice-President of Sales and Marketing at Careerbuilder.com, an on-demand, Internet recruiting company, where he contributed significantly to growth leading to a 1999 public offering. After Careerbuilder.com, Gene worked at Dell as Vice-President and General Manager of Internet Servers, and most recently, Gene was BMC Software's Vice President and General Manager of Enterprise Data Management, a $600 million business unit. Gene is active in the Austin community. Following his success as the 2006 and 2007 chair of the "20,010 in 2010 Initiative" for the Austin Chamber of Commerce, he was named Chair of Education and Talent for the Chamber, where he also serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors. Austin is also active on the Board of the Westlake Chap Club in the Eanes Independent School District. Gene has an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis and BS in Engineering Management from Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Vinay Bhagat, Founder, Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer
A frequent speaker at conferences, Vinay has addressed events hosted by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Direct Marketing Association Nonprofit Federation, Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, Independent Sector, Integrated Media Association, Politics Online, Public Broadcasting System and National Voluntary Healthcare Association. Vinay also is a widely published author, with chapters in The Nonprofit Handbook: Fund Raising Third Edition 2002 Supplement and Nonprofit Internet Strategies: Best Practices for Marketing, Communications, and Fundraising Success; his articles appear regularly in DM News, Journal of the Direct Marketing Association Nonprofit Federation and on OnPhilanthropy.com. Vinay serves on the board of the ePhilanthropy Foundation and the Education Committee of the Direct Marketing Association Nonprofit Federation. Prior to Convio, Vinay was director of ecommerce at Austin-based Trilogy Software, working with Fortune 500 companies to develop their Internet strategies. Before Trilogy, he was a consultant at Bain & Company in London, Hong Kong and Kiev. Vinay holds degrees from Harvard Business School (MBA), Stanford University (MS) and Cambridge University (MA) in England. He has worked as a volunteer for public television stations, an AIDS hospice and Convio clients. Dr. David Crooke, Founder and CTO
David holds a Ph.D in parallel software engineering from the University of Edinburgh, Europe's leading institution for parallel computing. He also holds an MA in Computer Science from the University of Cambridge. Growing up, David participated in blood drives for the Bermuda Red Cross. He also has helped run motorsport events benefiting the BBC's "Children in Need" campaign. David supports NPR, as well as environmental groups and international relief agencies. Jim Offerdahl, CFO and Vice President
Prior to joining Convio, Jim was president and CEO of Austin-based Traq-Wireless, a market-leading provider of on-demand, mobile resource management software and services to enterprises. Under Offerdahl's leadership, Traq's revenue grew nearly 7x in less than three years, and the company significantly enhanced its product capability. Before Traq, he served as COO and CFO for Pervasive Software, a developer and marketer of data management solutions for independent software vendors, where he guided the company through its successful IPO and secondary offerings. Jim also served as CFO for Tivoli Systems, a developer and marketer of systems management software for corporate IT environments worldwide, where he led a successful IPO in 1995. Tivoli was acquired by IBM in 1996 for $743 million. Jim currently serves on the Board of Community New Start, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the transformation of communities by addressing the economic, social, physical and spiritual needs of individuals and families one city block at a time. Jim has also served on the Board for the Texas American Cancer Society and was Chairman of the Board for the Texas chapter of AeA (formerly known as the American Electronics Association). Jim has an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin and a BS from Illinois State University. David Hart, Vice President of Operations
David holds a bachelors degree in Mathematics from Brown University and a masters degree in Engineering from the University of Texas. Gary Allison, Vice President, Engineering
Gary is active in the Austin community supporting the Austin Children's Shelter and volunteering at Gateway Community Church. Gary holds a master's degree in Software Engineering from the University of Houston Clear Lake and graduated magna cum laude from Texas A&M University with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science. Tom Krackeler, Vice President of Product Management
Before GetActive, Tom worked in the nonprofit sector at Environmental Defense as product manager for the Action Network and Scorecard web applications. He also has been a consultant at Accenture, where he specialized in large-scale system integrations for financial institutions. Tom has a BA in Political Science and Philosophy from Duke University and an MPP in Public Policy from UC Berkeley. Angie McDermott, Vice President, Human Resources
Angie is a seasoned human resources leader with two-decades of experience helping companies in all stages of growth attract, develop, and retain key talent — from young, fast-growing organizations to Fortune 500 firms. With in-depth expertise in leadership and team effectiveness, Angie blends the science of organizational development with the art of creativity, humor and practical, results-producing approaches. Angie's background includes six years at Dell, Inc., where she served in a variety of senior manager roles to help build talent and leadership capabilities as the company's employee population increased by five-fold — from 8,000 to 45,000. At Dell, she helped create innovative programs for global leadership development, and also for training, developing, engaging and retaining employees at all levels. Before Dell, Angie spent seven years as a consultant at Procter & Gamble where she played a key role in building scalable, global people systems for hiring the best talent and keeping employees involved and motivated to enhance the organization's effectiveness. Most recently prior to joining Convio, Angie founded and was president of McDermott Consulting, working with companies in the United States, Europe and Africa on leadership development as well as enhancement of executive and team performance. Active in the Austin community, Angie serves on the Board of Directors of the Austin Jewish Academy. She is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management and the Society of Industrial-Organizational Psychology, and has acted as the Continuing Education Chairperson. Angie received her Ph.D. in industrial-organizational psychology from the University of Houston, where she also completed her undergraduate and masters degrees in psychology. Dr. Bill Pease, Chief Scientist
Prior to joining Convio, Bill was Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of GetActive Software. Before GetActive, Bill was Director of Internet Projects at Environmental Defense, where he created scorecard.org, the Web's top-ranked site for localized environmental information, and actionnetwork.org, the Web's first coalition hub for advocacy organizations. Bill was trained as an environmental scientist, and has served on the faculty at the School of Public Health, University of California at Berkeley. He also spent ten years working as an organizer and campaign strategist with community organizations like ACORN. Bill holds a BA from Yale University, an MS in Energy and Resources, and a PhD in Environmental Health Sciences from UC Berkeley. He also was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, England. Randy Potts, Vice President of Sales
As his family has been touched by breast cancer, he has become increasingly active both as donor and as a volunteer for multiple organizations fighting the disease including The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and American Cancer Society. Likewise, believing that equal and easy access to quality education is key to a strong community and nation, Randy supports private schools that serve economically disadvantaged children. Dick Tusia, Vice President of Services
Prior to joining Convio, Dick served as Vice President of Professional Services at Austin-based United Devices where he was responsible for domestic and international customer support, professional services, technical services, training, pre-sales and information technology. He also played a key role in expanding United Devices into new vertical and international markets. Before United Devices, Dick was Senior Vice President of Worldwide Customer Services for PlanView, where he led a customer services team of more than 150 employees that was well-regarded by IT industry analysts and which became a strategic advantage for the company. Dick also has held senior support and services management positions with Pervasive Software, Trilogy Software, Cadence Design Systems, Tivoli Systems and Digital Equipment. Dick serves regularly at Gateway Community Church and also has volunteered at several Austin athletic events including the Lance Armstrong Foundation's Ride for the Roses, Danskin Triathlon and the Capital of Texas Triathlon. Najeeb Uddin, Vice President, Client Services
Before joining Convio, Naj served as Senior Vice President, Client Services at GetActive Software. Prior to GetActive, Naj was the general manager for the Oracle business unit and led the professional services group at USi, a global application service provider. He also led the client services, professional services, and data center operations for Appshop, a large Oracle applications service provider. Naj spent most of his career as a member of Andersen's services industry practice, where he worked with a number of clients, including nonprofit organizations. Naj's business expertise includes systems implementation and development projects, strategy development, operational effectiveness, and performance management. Naj earned his BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. Naj has worked closely advising a nonprofit group that offer counseling services for Asian Americans. Fred Waugh, Vice President of Marketing and Alliances
As a volunteer and donor, Fred has supported numerous organizations devoted to assisting children and those affected by cancer. Those organizations include the Make a Wish Foundation, The Susan G. Komen Foundation and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Fred holds an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh and a BS from Boston University. |
Gene is a Fortune 500 technology veteran, with two decades-plus of experience leading growth of young companies as well as major business units at global corporations. 
Vinay founded Convio in April 1999 after volunteering at a public television pledge drive and being struck by the opportunity to leverage Internet technology to drive better fundraising results. Today, as chief strategy officer, Vinay oversees corporate strategy development and client success services.
Before co-founding Convio, David was a senior consultant at Trilogy Software. At Trilogy, David was responsible for designing, building and deploying large-scale e-commerce systems for Fortune 500 technology companies. Before Trilogy, David ran a data center for the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence, where he provided an integrated computing environment ranging from desktops to supercomputers.
With more than 25 years of experience in the technology industry serving in progressive CXO positions, Jim has a strong record of scaling companies, maximizing revenue growth, driving profitability and strengthening marketplace leadership.
David brings 20 years of engineering leadership experience to Convio. He joined Convio from Tivoli Systems (an IBM company). Most recently he held the role of Consulting Engineer, reporting directly to the Chief Technology Officer, where he was responsible for the technical direction and architecture for the company across multiple business units. He previously held the role of Development Director, where he led large engineering teams of up to 80 people across different locations. Prior to Tivoli, David spent 15 years at GTE Data Services and Northern Telecom.
Gary brings 20 years of engineering leadership experience to Convio. He joined Convio from Simdesk Technologies, Inc., where he was Senior Vice President for Software Development, Data Center Operations and Customer Service. In that role, he was responsible for the technical direction, architecture and delivery of enterprise-level highly scalable on-demand computing services designed to serve millions of individuals and small businesses in the United States and internationally. During his tenure, he was the co-inventor of several proposed patents involving secure on-demand services. He previously held the role of Vice President of Engineering and Customer Service for Pervasive Software, where he drove product delivery and had an increasing span of responsibility for customer satisfaction and product quality.
Tom oversees Convio's product strategy, product definition and the product planning process. Prior to joining Convio, Tom was Senior Vice President of Products of GetActive Software, where he was responsible for developing product strategy as well as overseeing the company's product management and user experience teams. 
Bill is a leading Internet strategist for the national nonprofit community, with more than 20 years of experience as an organizer, scientist and manager working with public interest organizations, universities and government. He is a frequent speaker on email deliverability, online constituency development, and data security for nonprofit organizations.
Randy is focused on building a seasoned software sales team into a dominant force in the CRM marketplace for nonprofit organizations. Previously, as Vice President of Sales at Internet recruiting company, Careerbuilder.com, Randy was a key player in starting and building the sales organization, taking the company public, executing and integrating acquisitions and getting Careerbuilder profitably sold. While leading a 160-person sales force, Randy exhibited an ability to hire, train and retain excellent sales talent and inspire them to excel. Prior to his five years at Careerbuilder.com, he spent 15 years in sales and sales management roles with IBM, Goal Systems, Legent and Platinum Technologies — all providers of systems software and services, working both domestically and internationally. During his tenure at those companies, he also managed marketing teams, aggressively opened new markets and managed complex direct/indirect sales channels. 
With more than 25 years of experience in enterprise software deployment and professional services, Dick has a strong track record of building and leading worldwide services organizations at high-growth technology companies. His background includes 17 years of international experience, eight years executive experience, and 16 years in high tech management.
Najeeb (Naj) leads Convio's client services group, which is focused on assisting clients with effectively configuring and deploying Convio's software to meet their business needs. Naj is additionally leading Convio's client migration efforts as clients on the GetActive platform transition to the Convio platform. He has significant experience in the software as a service industry.
Fred leads the marketing and business development functions at Convio, which include corporate marketing, product marketing, corporate communications and partner relations. Fred joined Convio in 2000, with more than 15 years of experience in successfully bringing technology solutions to market. Fred joined Convio from Tivoli Systems (an IBM company), where he was responsible for strategy and marketing around Tivoli's line of Internet and messaging management products. Fred has also held product management and marketing positions at Compaq Computer, Sun Microsystems and Farallon Communications. He began his career as a business journalist. 
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