Gil Namur – President / CEO 
Gil has thirty three years experience in sales, marketing and management in the consumer electronics, software and computer hardware industries. He has owned and operated five successful businesses in the Victoria BC area, was the sales manager for Western Canada for DEC’s PC Business Unit and has held VP Sales and Marketing roles at DSG Communications and Victoria-based Tactex Controls Inc.
Involved in internet-based initiatives since 1996, Gil continues to develop web properties through his business Synaptic Systems Inc. He also provides consulting services to companies in the areas of management, sales, marketing, web development and product development strategies.
Chris Holt – V.P.
Chris Holt has ten years of technology research, development and sales in the public, private and community sectors. Chris co-founded LogicLynx Technologies Inc. to bring best-in-class electronic case management and public health IT solutions to government and NGO organizations. Chris led a team of business analysts and programmers to develop SectorLynx, an enterprise framework for the rapid application development of case management systems for government human and health services departments. As well, Chris developed the first fully configurable Case Management ASP Service for Community Based Human Services Providers.
Vivian Pura – VP Administration and Human Resources
Vivian joined Abebooks.com while still in its infancy; assisting in the overall management of the company, running the Finance department in the earlier years and later becoming the VP of Human Resources. Previously Vivian worked for a number of years as a consultant, writing technical documentation to a variety of audiences. Vivian graduated with Master of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Manitoba.
Lochinvar Roome – Software Development Manager
Lochinvar is a computer scientist and software engineer. A technical architect with a wealth of experience in systems architecture, Lochinvar has repeatedly proven his worth for numerous private and public sector clients in application development, web development, documentation, project management, business analysis, process development and much more. He is proficient in multiple programming languages, code optimization as well as systems and database design. Lochinvar holds a B.Sc., Computer Science, with Co-op and Software Engineering from the University of Victoria.
Will Winter – Photo Site Editor
Will Winter is a passionate documentary photographer/photojournalist based in Victoria, BC.
Deciding to put his talents to a better use, Will has dedicated his life to using photography to create a positive impact on this world. It is Will’s hope that his photos will help to open people’s eyes, not only to the problems, but also the triumphs of this world.
As both an artist and a photojournalist, it is Will’s goal to create images that are both aesthetically and emotionally moving, with the hopes of compelling not sympathy, but action.
As the Photo Site Editor, it is Will’s goal to further explore and create dialogue about “Life As A Human”.
Will is also pursuing work locally with non-profit groups as well as overseas within the NGO community. If you are aware of any opportunities, please get in touch with him here.
Christine Shaw Roome – Associate Editor
Born on Alberta soil, Christine made her way to British Columbia to attend the University of Victoria 20 years ago and has not looked back. Why? Because the government of British Columbia truly got their rhetoric right when they said BC is “The Best Place on Earth”.
Christine dreams up story ideas and marinates them with her Master’s Degree in History. One day, these ideas will come to fruition when she has more than five-minute intervals in which to write. She writes and edits in the mean early hours of morning, during children’s naps, on coffee and lunch breaks, as she’s falling asleep in the evenings, and in any other nook and cranny of time and space that she can carve out.
Christine reigns as queen over her household of boys which includes her husband, Loch, her five-year-old, Corbin, and her nearly three-year-old son, Hamish. She works as a professional fundraiser for the University of Victoria and spends her free time working as writer and assistant editor for Life As A Human.
Sarah Gignac - Associate Editor
Having a hard time deciding what to be when she grows up, Sarah has worked in a variety of different fields. She has dabbled in theatre, customer support, e-commerce, and of course the old standbys of waiting tables and making coffee.
She has worked as a freelance writer for several years, and has experience editing works ranging from medical texts, academic papers, novels, memoirs and comic books.
In June 2009, Sarah began her blog Raggedy Threads to chronicle her move from the rat race into a lazy life of travel and self discovery. She is currently living, writing, and teaching yoga in Halifax, NS.
Advisory Board
Kerry Slavens – Branding Adviser
Kerry Slavens served as Life As a Human’s editor in chief since July 2009 before before accepting the position in Fall 2011 as editor of YAM (You and Me :: Living Smart), Victoria’s lifestyle magazine. Her former creative agency created the logo and branding for Life As a Human. Kerry also worked with LAAH’s president and team to define the direction of LAAH and recruit more than 80 international writers.
Kerry is an experienced brand strategist and a well-published writer whose genres include fiction, poetry, and non-fiction. For 15 years, Kerry served as creative director of Artemis, an international award winning PR and design studio. She graduated with a BA in Writing from the University of Victoria and went on to teach creative non-fiction, journalism and creative writing. She has been a feature writer and editor of numerous publications and has ghostwritten several books for CEOs and inspirational speakers.
Follow Kerry on LinkedIn
Rick Pura – Technical Adviser
Rick co-founded Abebooks.com, the world’s largest marketplace for new, used, out-of-print, and antiquarian books, boasting an inventory of over 100 million books and over 13,000 booksellers. Previously he had concentrated on using the power of distributed communications to effect business solutions serving small and medium sized business. Within 6 months of launch, BC Online, his initial effort, grew to be the largest civic network in the world. Rick’s combined technical and business skills enable him to envision and create easy to use, streamlined solutions to business problems. Rick graduated Honors Computer Science from the University of Manitoba.
Breen Liblong – Technical Adviser
Breen Liblong has more than 20 years of advanced technology and executive management experience in the creation of Internet search and enterprise product technologies. Most recently, in a consulting role as VP Product Development for Wurldtech Security Technologies Inc., Breen developed the product strategy, plans and roadmaps for the Achilles Satellite Security Analysis Platform and Achilles Delphi Security Vulnerability Database, and built out the development team and processes for sustainable delivery of quality products. Prior to Verano, Breen served as Director of both Desktop and Specialty Searches at AltaVista Company, a world leader in search technology. Breen holds B.Sc. (Dist.) and M.Sc. degrees in Computer Science from the University of Calgary.
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