John Koetsier

Technology exec with 16 years progressive growth leading web and software initiatives for consumer, education and enterprise markets; extensive social media understanding and participation; significant marketing and branding experience.

High-level business development with Fortune 100 companies and global clients (Intel, Disney, HP, ASUS).

Exceptional presenter with experience speaking at major international conferences; trained facilitator.

Always learning, always growing, with a strong consultative leadership style that respects people's needs and goals.

Opened North American beachhead for European software company. Global business development with partners in Europe, Asia, North America, and Africa. Managing projects with partners such as Disney, ASUS, and Intel.

* Managing marketing & branding initiatives
* High-level business development with major clients and partners
* Oversee development of student and educator software for the Classmate PC for Intel's EMPG (Emerging Markets Platform Group)
* Hiring and managing team of software developers
* Coordinate international development team with members in Rome, Ukraine, Shanghai, Cairo, Vancouver, and Oslo
* Source and manage outsourced resources: accounting, benefits, banking, payroll, etc.

Led product, web, and innovation initiatives for an educational publishing division of School Specialty.

* Launched a web2.0 learning management system for 45,000 schools and 25 million students by customizing Moodle
* Shortened development time and reduced costs by blending open source software (Linux, PHP, Apache, MySQL, Moodle) with a proprietary layer
* Oversaw creation of new video and web training product with Coach John Wooden that resulted in $3M+ first-year revenue
* Managed $1.5 million product development budget for over 500 SKUs; trimmed expenses by 33% by increasing bidding and expanding vendor lists
* Hired and led international team: writers & content developers in Canada, and development managers in the US
* Spearheaded development of a revolutionary new (and trademarked) planning system for students

Product manager for 4 product families with $75+ million annual business.

* Researched clients and competitors to gather market intelligence, analyze client need, and segment our clients and prospects
* Created competitive differentiation by tightly tying products to clients' actual as well as felt needs
* Customized client marketing strategy around key purchase drivers
* Managed product portfolio to an average 55% gross margin
* Realized $25 million in business with an updated product launch
* Achieved a 10% increase in margin on an aging product line by revitalizing the brand, functionality, and design

Built a web-based consumer products division from scratch.

* Launched new division with a cross-functional team including IT, Finance, Operations, Customer Service, Marketing, and Product
* Created user-friendly web-to-print consumer products site using Ajax, Perl, MySQL, Linux; automated PDF builds and printer work allocation
* Increased sell-through rates 27% by eliminating UI/UX bottlenecks
* Led lab and real-world usability testing regime to ensure web application was intuitive as well as powerful
* Ensured reliability and scalability by negotiating burstable hosting and uptime agreements with multiple service providers
* Created marketing strategy and collateral
* Trained sales force via in-person live presentations as well as online events and printed material

Led a web applications development department.

* Architected a social learning/groupware web application using Perl, Mason, Linux, PostgreSQL that reached 500,000+ users
* Led development of an online product configuration wizard that simplified extremely complex (thousands of options) products
* Exec produced dozens of multimedia projects in Flash and Java
* Managed development of a proprietary learning management system using Joomla/Mambo
* Helped company drive 20% annual growth by integrating lead generation and visit data analysis into marketing website

Led marketing projects.

* Created and executed marketing strategy for an early stage growing company
* Helped drive 20% annual growth by leading marketing collateral creation
* Ensured successful product launches by planning and leading sales consultant training

* Wrote content for numerous educational publications used by over 20 million students
* Wrote copy for first company website
* Wrote marketing copy for brochures and ads

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/johnkoetsier
Portfolio: http://johnkoetsier.com

Blog: http://sparkplug9.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/johnkoetsier

SFU Open Scholarship 1990-1994
Successful & Outstanding Blogger, 2006

Leadership skills
- Crystallizing vision
- Setting goals
- Consensus development
- Creative problem-solving
- Inspiring a team
- Sharing knowledge
- Listening

Soft skills
- Strong work ethic
- Positive attitude
- Communication: written & verbal
- Facilitation (trained facilitator)
- Multi-tasking
- Flexible, adaptable
- Work well under pressure

Management skills
- Strategy
- Innovation
- High-level business development
- Hiring/firing
- Multinational experience (Europe, Asia, Africa, North America)
- Project management
- Resource allocation
- Team building, motivating
- Kaizen, TPS, Toyota Production System, Lean Manufacturing, Continuous improvement, systems thinking
- Testing, prototyping

Social media, web 2.0 participation/expertise
- Wiki
- Blogs, blogging
- Social networks
- Buzz monitoring
- Microblogging, Twitter
- Podcasting
- Photoblogging

Marketing, Marketing2.0
- Market intelligence
- Researching, surveying
- Branding
- Adwords
- Search engine optimization, SEO
- Search engine marketing, SEM
- Community-building
- White papers
- Screencasts

Technology
- User interface development, UI
- User experience design, UX
- Software architecture, IA
- Digital textbooks, ePub, e-books, eBooks, e-readers
- Wireframing, mock-ups
- Requirements, PRD
- Specifications, specs
- Usability testing
- LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP/Perl)
- PostgreSQL
- Mason
- Mambo, Joomla
- Wordpress
- Web-to-print, PDF creation
- Content management, CMS, ECM
- Word, Excel, PowerPoint
- Photoshop
- Acrobat
- FTP, SSH
- Terminal, Bash
- Learning management systems, LMS, CMS, Moodle, WebCT, Blackboard
- Student information systems, SIS