Cecilia D. Mason, a native to the Washington area, joined ERA as an accountant in August of 2005. Cecilia comes to ERA after serving 34 years in a major Washington area bank where she managed the Accounts Payable Department, the Fixed Asset Department and worked with the General Ledger Department in account reconciliations and daily financial statements.

Marcel Avargues has been executive director of the Electronic Retailing Association’s European bureau since 2001. His responsibilities include the development of tailored activities and services for the European members of the association. He also serves as the ERA’s institutional representative in Brussels, and manages relationships with national Direct Marketing and Interactive Television Associations. Additionally, Marcel is responsible for the coordination of ERA conference programming and membership development marketing in Europe. An internationally-recognized expert on electronic retailing and direct marketing issues, Marcel is a frequently-requested speaker at conferences around the globe sponsored by organizations including the European Institute for Direct Marketing, the Direct Marketing Association and the Institute for International Research, and more recently Conferences on Interactive Television in Sofia, Bucharest and Lisbon. Marcel’s marketing and management spans three decades. He began his career at Fingerhut France as vice president, marketing & product development, later holding the positions of vice president, international, and later vice president, marketing and finance for the Direct Marketing Association in New York. In 1987, he became the director of marketing & international for COREF (now Experian) France and later served as the managing director of Hachette Livre/Grolier Direct marketing division. Most recently Marcel was the marketing vice president of Correo Argentino, National Argentina Postal Services, in Buenos Aires.

Julie Coons is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Electronic Retailing Association. ERA represents over 400 direct to consumer retailers that utilize, radio, television and online technologies to reach consumers across the globe. Ms Coons is the chief advocate for the ERA membership working with policy, legislative and media audiences. In addition she provides strategic leadership focused on delivering member benefits that grow the industry and the association. Prior to joining ERA, Ms. Coons served as president and CEO of the Tech Council of Maryland. During her four-year tenure at TCM, Ms. Coons was known for turning the association back to being a regional powerhouse of influence. She oversaw a merger and re-branding of the organization, as well as successfully led an up hill legislative battle credited with taking the association to new heights.

Before joining TCM, Ms. Coons was executive vice president at PCIA-The Wireless Infrastructure Association, a trade association representing companies that develop, own, manage and operate facilities for all types of wireless, broadcasting and telecommunications services. Her time there was distinguished by the creation and growth of the pre-eminent industry trade show for the wireless infrastructure industry.

Ms. Coons is an active member of a number of professional organizations, including Women in Technology and the American Society of Association Executives. She graduated cum laude from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., with a B.A. in economics and Japanese language and literature.

Kim Lewis has been designing for 15 years, with 13 years in publishing. She has been recognized with one of
publishing’s most prestigious honors as an 35-time Maggie award finalist and a six-time winner for categories such as Best Feature Layout, Best Cover Design, Best Overall Design and Best New Trade Publication. Lewis worked with Advanstar Communications on titles such as America’s Network, E-Learning, Customer Interface, Brew Connection and Dealernews. She also supported the creative services department, handling marketing materials for both magazines and trade
shows.Prior to that, Lewis served as Art Director for Nailpro Magazine at Creative Age Publications. She also assisted with other publications there such as Dayspa Magazine, Today’s Image and Dialysis and Transplantation.

Debbie Skerly joined ERA as advertising sales and sponsorship manager of Electronic Retailer magazine in November
2007, bringing with her over 11 years of sales management experience. As show manager at Advanstar Communications, she was responsible for the sales, operations, marketing and promotions for trade shows in the powersports industry. Skerly is a three-time recipient of the Advanstar Sales Achievement Award and a winner of the Chairman’s Award.Most
recently, she served as vice president of operations for a mortgage broker, where she was a founding manager instrumental in the successful establishment of the corporation. Skerly has a Bachelor of Arts degree in advertising from Michigan State University.She began her career in publishing at Advanstar Communications

Ruth Wheeler brings with her over 18 years of experience in event management. As Group Show Director at Advanstar Communications, Ruth was responsible for the development, production, sales and marketing of major trade shows and conferences in industries such as Call Center/CRM, e-learning, and Powersports. Ruth is a two time
award winning recipient of Advanstar Communications’ President’s Club for high achievers in sales. Most recently, Ruth oversaw the operations for a VC start up organization and helped them decrease operating expenses by 35%. She
has an undergraduate degree from the University of Phoenix in Business Management.Ruth also worked in the U.S. Senate in Washington, D.C. during the Reagan Administration and represented U.S. Senator S.I. Hayakawa,
junior Republican from California at various constituent events. She also worked for the Technology Director of the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles, California.

Debbie Duhn joined ERA as production manager/account manager in August 2004, bringing with her 15 years of
combined production management and sales experience in the publishing industry.Debbie previously worked at Advanstar Communications, Inc., where she worked on many high-profile magazines within a broad spectrum of different industries, including: Geospatial Industry, Chromatography, Post Production, AutoCAD, Pharmaceutical, and
Direct Response Marketing.

Ashley Cavell joined ERA in April 2008 as the Education Coordinator. Her previous work experience includes three
years with The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers in its Strategic Resources Department as well as a year with the Women’s Studies Department at VA Tech as a Student/Research Assistant. She is a 2004 graduate of VA Tech where she studied history and political science.

Patrick Cauley joined ERA in July 2006 as a technology and communications specialist and as assistant editor of
Electronic Retailer. He is a recent graduate from the University of South Carolina with a degree in print journalism. While in school, he wrote for the student publications The Gamecock and The Carolina Reporter. Cauley’s other experience includes a marketing internship with the Pittsburgh Steelers, a congressional internship with U.S. Rep.
Mike Doyle and public relations work within the Kerry/Edwards campaign.