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Derek Peterson,
Founding Partner
Derek Peterson
is an accomplished public relations, marketing
and business development executive with more
than twenty years experience in B2B and B2C technology
sectors. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Derek
is a co-founder of Skyya leading the agency’s
strategic direction while providing tactical
and strategic account leadership for Skyya clients.
With a background that includes more
than fourteen years in senior-level corporate roles
across the technology landscape, Derek is highly
experienced in developing and successfully launching
new companies and new products. His history includes
senior sales and marketing roles with Sprint/Nextel,
Onvoy, Allot Communications, and several technology
startups. Derek has spent much of the last ten
years in public relations and marketing agency
roles helping launch and grow dozens of pioneering
high-tech companies.
Derek’s technology expertise
spans telecom, networking, IT services, software,
network management, mobile services, e-commerce,
and an array of other IP-based technologies. He
is highly experienced in branding, product management,
business development and corporate strategy. Derek
has authored hundreds of key documents, including:
strategic plans, marketing plans, business plans,
and new product launch plans, and is the creator
of dozens of corporate collateral systems.
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Susan Donahue, Founding Partner
Susan Donahue has fifteen years experience in high-tech
and consumer technology public relations. She is
an award-winning news broker with a deep understanding
of technology markets and unmatched relationships
with the national and international technology
and business press core. Susan has worked with
more than 40 companies over her career from start-ups
to Fortune 1000 companies. She heads the press
bureau for Skyya Communications out of New York
City where she oversees national publicity for
Skyya clients in every office.
Susan leads business development and is responsible for driving agency growth.
She is also responsible for driving the strategic direction and day-to-day activity
for Skyya’s clients including brand-building, perception analysis, product
reviews, media relations, messaging and crisis communications, and financial
press relations.
Susan is a seasoned technologist with broad experience in telephony, networking,
Internet, GPS, mobile banking and software, and mobile marketing. She has extensive
experience in helping to launch dozens of technology companies and products/services,
with resulting coverage in many of the world’s most respected media outlets
including: The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Associated
Press, Financial Times, International Herald Tribune, USA Today, The
View, Travel & Leisure, Daily Candy, Fortune, T
Magazine, Red Herring, CNN, InfoWorld, Fierce VoIP,
CRN, eWeek, Network World, Business Week, Wired, RCR Wireless News, Wireless
Week, Advertising Age, Brand Week, Bloomberg, Esquire, Popular Science, and many others.
Prior to Skyya Communications, Susan held key positions with several national
strategic communications agencies including Text 100, Architek Communications,
For Immediate Release, and Lois Paul & Partners (LP&P). Prior to LP&P,
Susan was part of the communications “dream team” team at Sybase
(NYSE: SY).
Susan is active with Women for Women International and sits on the Advisory Boards
of SONODEA and Aphrodisio, where she unleashes her passion for music.
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Graeme Thickins,
Marketing & Social
Media Strategist
Graeme is a veteran marketing and communications
professional with more than twenty years experience,
and his expertise is instrumental in developing
and leading conversational marketing, social media,
PR and marketing programs for Skyya clients. Graeme's
background spans a wide variety of technology sectors,
with companies ranging from concept-stage Internet
startups to business units of Fortune 500 companies. Graeme
has served as an advisor to more than 100 ventures
that have achieved billions of dollars in shareholder
value, including such names as Secure Computing,
Net Perceptions, VTC (acquired by Lucent), Cartia
(acquired by Amazon), and Agiliti (acquired by
Vericenter).
He has written extensively
as a content development and blogging/new media
expert, with his perspectives and analysis appearing
in scores of publications and online media sites,
as well as hundreds of independent web sites
and blogs. Since 2005, he has authored a well-read
blog that reports on major technology conferences,
developing trends, and new Internet startups.
Early in his career, he held management positions
at Control Data, Medtronic, as well as serving
as an interim executive of Best Buy as Director
of Content for the launch of BestBuy.com.
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