MFORMA Appoints General Managers for MFORMA Americas, Europe, and Asia
31 May 2005
MFORMA, the world-leading publisher and distributor of mobile entertainment, has made three executive team appointments to help manage its growing worldwide operations: John Rousseau, former divisional president at publishing giant Primedia, has been named president and GM, Americas; Eric Hobson, former president of Blue Beck mobile game development studio that was acquired by MFORMA last summer, has been named president and GM, Europe; and Dave Arnold, former MFORMA CFO, has been named president and GM, Asia.
"In our quest to support our growth and global expansion with the best management team possible, we have appointed these accomplished executives to key positions on MFORMA's senior management team," said Jonathan Sacks, MFORMA president and COO. "Each of them possesses exceptionally relevant experience and skill that complements our existing team and enables us to fully execute our global strategy of delivering high quality mobile entertainment products to hundreds of millions of mobile users around the world."
John Rousseau, president and general manager, MFORMA Americas
Rousseau has joined MFORMA from Primedia, one of the world's largest media companies. He has more than 20 years' experience in management and sales for media and electronic entertainment companies, Rousseau has established a successful record of building brands and identifying and leading new product development which led to his being named one of the 21 most intriguing people in publishing in 2003 by MIN magazine. Prior to joining MFORMA, Rousseau was a divisional president at PRIMEDIA, where he was responsible for leading all aspects of the division's $90 million business. Prior to that, he was president and CEO of IDG Entertainment, where he grew the readership of the group's flagship brand, GamePro, to more than three million. Rousseau was a founding team member of the Electronic Entertainment Expo and is well-known throughout the video game and electronic entertainment industries.
Eric Hobson, president and general manager, MFORMA Europe
Eric Hobson has been appointed president & general manager, MFORMA Europe. Prior to joining MFORMA, Hobson was president and CEO of Blue Beck, the leading European mobile games development company he co-founded in 2001. Blue Beck was acquired by MFORMA in 2004, at which time Hobson became director of operations for MFORMA Europe. Prior to founding Blue Beck, Hobson spent many years as an international sales and marketing executive in the consumer goods industry. Hobson began his career with Unilever and then held senior management positions at the multinational consumer goods company, PZ-Cussons, and UK retail giant, The Boots Company.
David Arnold, president and general manager, MFORMA Asia
Dave Arnold has held executive leadership and investment roles with international and technology businesses for more than 20 years. Arnold was formerly MFORMA's CFO, while also managing director of eFund LLC, the early stage venture fund that founded MFORMA. Prior to that, Arnold was chief operating officer for N2H2, a public software company. Prior to that, Arnold was chief operating officer and then CEO of Intermind Corporation, developer of multimedia software products. Previously, Arnold was CFO, then president and CEO of Pacific Northern Inc., a $250 million energy distribution company operating in 65 countries and throughout Asia. Earlier, Arnold was senior corporate planner for Burlington Northern, Inc., a Fortune 500 energy and transportation company, then CFO of its telecommunications subsidiary.
The three new regional general managers are among the first senior management team appointments made by Jonathan Sacks, former president of AOL Interactive, who took over as president and COO of MFORMA last month. Rousseau, Hobson, and Arnold all report directly to Sacks. Rousseau is based in MFORMA's San Francisco office; Hobson is based in MFORMA's Manchester, UK office, and Arnold is based in MFORMA's Beijing office.
About MFORMA Group, Inc.
MFORMA is a leading global publisher and distributor of mobile entertainment. MFORMA provides wireless operators and their customers with the world's best content and brands, and provides developers and brand owners with the shortest route to market. MFORMA's customers include more than 100 of the world's leading wireless carriers in 40 countries. In addition to the industry's most comprehensive catalog of BREW, Java, SMS, MMS, and WAP games, MFORMA provides music, sports, lifestyle, and information services subscription products. MFORMA's carrier-grade platform manages the delivery of downloadable games and applications for some of the world's largest carriers and MFORMA provides wireless operators everything they need to deliver mobile entertainment products to their customers-tools, platforms, content. MFORMA is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, USA with facilities in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego; London and Manchester, England; Shanghai and Beijing, China; and Seoul, Korea. [www.mforma.com]
Press contacts:
Kimberly Tassin
MFORMA
(206) 654-1001
ktassin@mforma.com
Candice Yusim
mPRm for MFORMA
(323) 933-3399 x239
cyusim@mprm.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: MFORMA
Source: PR Newswire
All trademarks and copyrighted information contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
Related Articles
|
