Our Board
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Blair Adamson
Chairman of the Board, Vitrium Systems
San Francisco, California
Blair Adamson is a co-founder of Vitrium Systems. A member of the Board of Directors since 2005, he was elected Chair in 2009.
As a marketing thought leader, Mr. Adamson has extensive experience connecting strategy to marketing and designing effective customer experiences for global B2B and B2C companies. Mr. Adamson’s work has won numerous awards, including at the Merit One and Silver One shows, and the MC Icon Awards in 2001. Previously the Director of Marketing and Communications for McDonalds Restaurants in Copenhagen, Denmark, Mr. Adamson now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and two children.
Mr. Adamson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, with a concentration in International Economics and Trade, from Carleton University.
Geoffrey Adamson
Collingwood, Ontario, Canada
Geoffrey Adamson is a financial services industry veteran with a deep understanding of how businesses can benefit from digital information distribution. He formerly served as Vice President of e-Commerce at Bank of America, where he helped to establish the bank as the world's number one online financial service. Mr. Adamson came to Bank of America from Stanford Business School, where he worked with industry and academic leaders, analyzing how information technology change can impact business.
Mr. Adamson holds degrees from The University of Western Ontario and the London School of Economics.
Bernhard Fischer-Appelt
Managing Director, FischerAppelt Kommunikation
Hamburg, Germany
Bernhard Fischer-Appelt is a founder and Managing Director of the communications agency group fischerAppelt Kommunikation, which has offices in Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart and Munich. Between 1996 and 2002 he was a member of the chairmanship of the Gesellschaft der Public Relations Agenturen (Society of Public Relations Agencies). He is the author of two books and several essays about communications and change management.
Mr. Fischer-Appelt studied political economics and political sciences at the University of Hamburg. In 1989 he graduated from the London School of Economics with an MSc in Economics, Industrial Relations and Person
nel Management.
Michael Cabot
Director, Corporate & Industry PR, Autodesk
San Francisco, California
Michael Cabot is the Director of Corporate and Industry PR at Autodesk, the world leader in design software. Prior to his position at Autodesk, Mr. Cabot was the vice president of marketing & communications at Visionael, a Palo-Alto based ISV selling solutions to communications service providers. Before that, he was director of communications at Nokia, where he successfully helped reposition the company as a leader in secure business mobility and remote working. He has also held senior management positions in marketing and communications at Palm, Reebok, Sony and Sanyo.
Mr. Cabot has earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in Political Science/International Relations from the University of Cincinnati, the Institute of Political Science (Paris, France) and the University of Paris.
Dr. Terry Coatta, PhD
Chief Technology Officer, Vitrium Systems
Vancouver, Canada
In 2007, Terry Coatta assumed the position of Chief Technology Officer for Vitrium Systems Inc., and has been instrumental in the development and release of three of Vitrium’s products. Dr. Coatta is primarily responsible for the strategic focus and direction of Vitrium’s technology, software development and evaluation, and management of the software development group. His expertise in software architecture and process development has successfully enabled him to identify technological trends that can be effectively applied to Vitrium’s products. Under Dr. Coatta’s guidance, Vitrium’s software development group produces innovative software that is delivered on-time and on-budget to its customers.
Dr. Coatta has extensive experience with entrepreneurial software companies. Prior to joining Vitrium, he was a founding partner in Network Software Group Inc. (acquired by Open Text Corporation, 1996). Dr. Coatta was also Director of Software Development at GPS Industries Inc.
In addition to his professional duties, Dr. Coatta has published several works, most recently The (not so) Hidden Computer and Traipsing through the QA tools desert, both published in ACM Queue Magazine. He also serves on the ACM Professions Board and Queue Magazine Editorial Board.
Terry Coatta received his Ph.D. in computer science from the University of British Columbia.
Murray Flanigan, CA, CFA
Chief Financial Officer, Yalian Steel Corp.
Vancouver, Canada
Murray Flanigan has a strong background in corporate finance, mergers & acquisitions, international taxation, risk management, banking, treasury and corporate restructuring. Currently, Mr. Flanigan is the Chief Financial Officer for Yalian Steel Corporation, a publicly traded international steel company with operations in mainland China. Previous to joining Yalian Steel, he served as Chief Financial Officer for Qwest Investment Management where he closed multi-million dollar debt and equity financings and oversaw the design, implementation and launch of various financial products and services. Mr. Flanigan has served in a number of other senior financial roles including Vice President of Corporate Development for Adelphia Communications Corporation, overseeing its financial restructuring and ultimate sale to Time Warner Inc. and Comcast Corporation. He is also a former board member of the National Cable & Telecommuncations Association of America.
Mr. Flanigan holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of British Columbia and holds a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
Alan Grossert, P.Eng.
General Manager, Facilities and Planning,
Provincial Health Services Authority
Vancouver, Canada
Alan Grossert has developed considerable expertise in project and operational management during his years working with Canadian provincial health authorities. Before taking up his current position with the Provincial Health Services Authority of British Columbia, he provided industrial engineering and management consulting services throughout the healthcare system in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Mr. Grossert´s specialty is the optimization of business processes and the delivery of efficient customer-focused services.
Mr. Grossert graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova S
cotia.
Peter Nieforth
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Vitrium Systems
Vancouver, Canada
Peter Nieforth’s aptitude for raising capital and securing financing, along with his passion for software innovation has combined to successfully establish Vitrium Systems Inc. Vitrium Systems is a leading software developer of “Smart Document Technology” for portable document format (PDF) files. Under Mr. Nieforth’s guidance since 2007, Vitrium has successfully created a marketplace need for knowledge about the use of PDF documents and the value of their content. The company’s strategic focus is to expand smart document technology, changing previously static files into dynamic and useful tools for a limitless variety of applications.
In the last year and a half, Mr. Nieforth has seen a huge growth in revenues and an exponential expansion of Vitrium’s customer base. In 2008, Vitrium’s product, Docmetrics, was named to the Gartner Research list of Cool Vendors in CRM Marketing and Analytics, establishing Vitrium as a leading vendor of innovative marketing technology.
Before taking over as CEO, Mr. Nieforth was Vitrium’s CFO and Director of Sales. With extensive experience as an investor and financial specialist, he was Director of Investment at Loreto Bay Company, an Investment Specialist for BMO Bank of Montreal, and a Financial Advisor with Merrill Lynch. Mr. Nieforth also serves on the board of directors and audit committee of the publically listed Knightswood Financial.
Peter Nieforth studied at Acadia University with a focus in political science. He has also studied with the Canadian Securities Institute, successfully completing several securities, investment, and portfolio management courses.
