Gil Namur – President / CEO
Gil has fourty+ 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.
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.
Dan L. Hays – Director Of Public Relations
Dan has a Marketing Degree, an MBA, and 30 years experience in the in the oil and gas and real estate title insurance industries. He has worked on projects ranging from oil rights acquisition teams to managing a large computer database network.
Dan has published a book which received a positive review by the New York Journal of Books. He has published numerous articles, regularly writes for his own blog and provides guest posts for other sites. He is a co-host of the radio show Dialogues With Dignity, and offers the inspirational messages Minute to Freedom.
If you are a publisher or publicist who would like to explore opportunities with Life As A Human, please contact Dan, he’d love to hear from you.
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.
Heather Hess – Associate Editor – Art Gallery and Photo Gallery
Heather is a free-spirited bohemian inspired by music, the arts, foreign films, genealogical research, ethnic cuisine, Aztec Astrology and Mayan Hot Chocolate.
Over the past several years, her nomadic lifestyle has motivated her to gain experience as a professional photographer, videographer, freelance writer and webmaster for a variety of websites.
Three years ago Heather created CanGoMexico.com and is presently developing a personal photography site.
You will find Heather at one of her favorite Victorian cafes dreaming of her next cultural trip to Mexico over a cigar-style coffee accompanied by a Latin American autobiography.
Carol Good – Associate Editor
Carol enjoys the simple life with her 3 Maine Coon cats. Hiking, photography and gardening are currently feeding her love of nature and the outdoors. She appreciates a good glass of wine and is in the midst of working her way through the WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) wine and spirits course, taking a very hands-on approach. She has always loved the solitude that writing offers, whether it’s lyrics for a song, the dying art of letter-writing or whether it’s just a random thought that gains momentum through pen and paper.
Shaun Carter – Associate Editor
Shaun Carter is a Masters student at the University of Manchester, England. His hobbies include writing, reading, playing sitting volleyball and listening to progressive music. If there was more time, he’d surely do more.
Advisory Board
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.
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
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.