James Tenser, VP of Consumer & Retail Strategy

A retail industry veteran, James is responsible for the development of the consumer and retail strategy.

Since forming his consultancy firm, VSN Strategies, in 1997, James has assisted such clients as: Dial Corporation, American Express, Del Monte Fresh Produce, Eastman Kodak, DemandTec, Tree of Life/Gourmet Award Foods, PRN Networks, Cisco Systems, HP and many more. He is a founding member and director of the In-Store Implementation Network. James was principal of the Retail & Consumer Products practice at Nexgenix, Inc. In this capacity he led business opportunity assessment, strategy and delivery for clients in this sector. He was responsible for the company's commerce and content management, customer relationship management, and marketing analytics services offerings. He is frequently quoted in national and international media and trade publications and contributes to periodicals such as Supermarket News, Progressive Grocer, RetailWire.com, CPGmatters.com, Marketing@Retail and Chain Store Age. He has made numerous television and radio appearances, and is a frequent speaker at industry trade shows and conferences.

James earned his undergraduate degree from Cornell University and studied Media at New York University and Consumer Behavior at the University of Arizona's Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing.

Andrew Karl, VP of Business Development

Andrew is responsible for managing partnership growth and assisting with corporate strategy formation.

Andrew has previously consulted for several startups including an internet market analytics venture.  He has also worked as a lead engineer for Carrier Corporation, a division of United Technologies (NYSE:UTX), helping launch one of the company’s biggest products to date.

Andrew earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Evansville and completed an MBA at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business with a focus on new ventures and entrepreneurial management.  He has also studied abroad in England at Harlaxton College.

Advisory Board

 

 

David Holmes

Recognized as an industry thought-leader, David has been instrumental in bringing NFC technology into the US market. He is currently Vice-President and General Manager at SCM Microsystems Americas (NASDAQ:SCMM), the leading provider of OEM contact and contactless smart card reader technology. David is often a guest speaker at various industry conferences such as CTIA Wireless and CTST. Prior to SCM, David was Marketing and Business Development Manager at NXP Semiconductors where he led NXP's marketing and business development efforts in the Americas for NFC, Security ICs and Contactless Services. Prior to NXP, Holmes held a variety of sales, marketing and engineering positions with Philips Semiconductors, Vishay Intertechnologies and Lucent Technologies.

 

 

Elizabeth West

With over 30 years in the healthcare IT industry, Elizabeth is a well-respected healthcare IT industry veteran. Prior to starting her consultancy firm, West HIT Consulting LLC, Elizabeth was VP of Corporate Relations for the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS), the leading Healthcare IT industry association. She is also a former executive for Misys Healthcare Systems where she worked as VP of Product Management, Government Relations and Industry relations. Prior to Misys, Elizabeth was VP of Product Management and Marketing for Per-Se Technologies, Inc. She began her career at TDS Healthcare where she worked as Director of Marketing and Business Development. She took on responsibilities for international strategies when she became Director of International Business Development in 1995. Elizabeth holds a BHA in Healthcare Administration from St. Mary’s College.

 

 

Ron Fischer

With over 20 years of experience in the promotion business, Ron is a true coupon industry veteran. He is a former President of the Association of Coupon Professionals (ACP). Ron started his career in the industry with Lever Bros (now Unilever). Since 1989, Ron has been an active member of the ACP with Lever and with Redemption Processing Representatives, Inc (RPR). Ron chaired several committees and in 2001 was a recipient of the ACP Industry Impact Award. He served as President of the ACP from 2003 through 2005 and currently is Chairman of the Coupon Guidelines Committee. Ron's company, RPR, is based in New Jersey and provides coupon services to Retailers, Manufacturers, and other companies involved with coupons. RPR is providing customer service for several retail clearing houses representing over 10,000 US retailers for their coupon processing activities.