Katz on the Loose; Silicon Valley PRSA Leader and CommPRos Founder Seeks New Career Home

Gary Katz, immediate past president of the Silicon Valley Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America and founder of the 800-person CommPRos Network on Ryze.org, is now a free agent and actively seeking a leadership role in corporate marketing, corporate communications, public relations or related areas. Katz, whose position at Aplix Corporation was eliminated at the end of last year, was most recently director of corporate marketing with the Tokyo-based enterprise software company.

Santa Clara, CA (PRWEB) January 31, 2004 ---Gary Katz, immediate past president of the Silicon Valley Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America and founder of the 800-person CommPRos Network on Ryze.org, is now a free agent and actively seeking a leadership role in corporate marketing, corporate communications, public relations or related areas.

Katz, whose position at Aplix Corporation was eliminated at the end of last year, was most recently director of corporate marketing with the Tokyo-based enterprise software company. Aplixs sales grew 25 percent while I was with the company, enabling it to complete a successful IPO on the Mothers Tokyo Stock Exchange last month, said Katz. The CEO told me I did a very good job but they were shutting down the entire international marketing operation - which was basically my position -- because the financial community in Japan had a negative view of international marketing and public relations spending."

Before joining Aplix in July 2002, Katz endured a lay-off from Insignia Solutions, a Fremont, Calif. -- based software company traded on the NASDAQ under the stock ticker, INSG. During his 2-1/2 years at Insignia, Katz led global corporate communications, public relations and investor relations initiatives. I saw the company almost double its sales one year, then trim its marketing staff from 12 to two people the next. I was the second-to-last person in the group to go. A year later, the last person, my former boss, was given his walking papers, which enabled me to hire him as a contractor to manage a major Aplix trade show.

Before Insignia, Katz founded a public relations firm, Public Relations Solutions, Inc., and a marketing/public relations consultancy, Katz Business Communications. He also held account leadership roles with many technology public relations firms and marketing communications agencies as both an employee and preferred subcontractor. His 20-year plus career encompasses work with a diverse mix of more than 125 companies in enterprise software, networking, storage and semiconductors including E-Tech Research, Finisar, Interlink Computer Sciences, LaPine Technology, Luminate Software, Micrel Semiconductor, Racal-Vadic, RadioMail, RAM Mobile Data, Siemens Business Communications and Terastor. He has also lent his communications expertise to industry associations such as the Embedded Linux Consortium, Java Community Process, Systems Performance Evaluation Cooperative (SPEC), Technology Executive Roundtable and the X.400 API Association.

My career is definitely a bit off the beaten path compared to the typical marketing and public relations professional," commented Katz. Ive been self-employed half the time. I evolved into the chief company spokesperson in my last two positions. Ive co-presented with a CEO (Insignia) during financial analyst tours that ultimately netted investments exceeding $20 million. Ive founded three different professional networking groups. Ive led an organizational diagnosis team for a customer support group at Cadence and acted as a technical facilitator for Sun University."

In describing his ideal next position, Katz half-way quipped, Id be happy to find a company that can afford me long enough to benefit from my strategic planning, messaging, facilitation, entrepreneurial and leadership abilities over the long haul."

Katz holds a Masters degree from the University of San Francisco in Human Resource Management and Organization Development and a Bachelors degree in Public Relations from San Jose State University. He lives in Santa Clara, Calif. with his wife, Melissa, and nine-year old daughter, Miranda.

For more information, contact Katz directly at 408-243-7853 (h), 408-421-2421 (c) or katzgary@comcast.net. Resume and references available upon request. Job and consulting leads, as well as referrals to new industry contacts are appreciated.

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