Ron Evans
Executive Director
Ron Evans joined Interex in 2001 as the company's Executive Director. Reporting to the Board of Directors, Evans is responsible for the overall management of Interex, its staff and activities.
Previously, Evans was President of editSource.com, Inc., an online business-to-business editorial content service provider. Before joining editSource, Evans was President and Contract Publisher for the Brookfield Group, a Boston-based contract management business serving the publishing industry.
Evans also served as Publisher of BYTE Magazine and concurrently as Chief Executive of National Software Testing Laboratories at McGraw-Hill, where he was responsible for the global expansion of both entities, as well as the BIX Online Exchange. Evans has also held a variety of key leadership roles, including President of Fischer Press, President of Morgan-Grampian, and various positions at IDG, CMP Media, Digital Equipment Corp. and Raytheon.
Evans holds a BS in Industrial Technology from Northeastern University in Boston. He is affiliated with the Turn Around Management Association, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the Association for Corporate Growth.
Manuel Villareal
Director, Finance & Administration
Manuel Villareal joined Interex in 1994 and has served as the organization's Controller and Director of Finance. As Director of Finance & Administration, he is responsible for accounting, treasury and financial reporting functions. Villareal manages Interex's budgets, monthly financials, payroll, cost accounting reports and accounts receivable and accounts payable.
With 18 years of accounting experience, Villareal held the position of Corporate Controller for Pentasonic Imaging Group, Pancommand Systems and Morpheus Lights. Additionally, he began his career as an accountant for Deloitte & Touche.
Villareal received a BS in Commerce from Santa Clara University and is a Certified Public Accountant and member of the California Society of CPA's.
Gayle Crossley
Volunteer Services Manager
Gayle Crossley joined Interex in 1991 and developed the recruitment, training and retention programs for the Interex volunteer constituency. This group of more than 100 dedicated volunteers contributes to Interex through definition of conference programs, support of local user groups, worldwide advocacy and volunteer development.
Crossley also runs Human Resources for Interex, including employment, employee relations, benefit administration, salary administration, employee counseling and management training. She also supports the Board of Directors and Executive Director as Assistant Secretary of Interex.
Prior to joining Interex, Crossley was the National Events Team/Communications Coordinator for the Beyond War Foundation where she coordinated activities for worldwide, multiple site satellite teleconferences of world political leaders.
Crossley has an AA from the College of San Mateo and has completed extensive coursework in management training from the University of California at Santa Cruz and San Diego State University. She is a member of the Association for Volunteer Administration and the Northern California Human Resources Council.
Alex Sapiz
Marketing Director
Alex Sapiz returned to Interex as Marketing Director in 2001 and is responsible for the company's marketing strategy, branding and PR/media relations.
A senior marketer with 12 years experience in building brands, Sapiz has a background in marketing strategy, advertising and event management. Prior to joining Interex, Sapiz was Senior Brand Manager for Women.com, a leading online company for women's media. During her tenure, Sapiz helped grow traffic on the Internet network three-fold to nearly 10 million unique monthly visitors.
Sapiz has also held marketing positions at InfoWorld Media Group (an IDG publication) and in Brazil with Mantel Media Group and Victori Telecommunications. She holds a BA in Marketing from the University of Helio Alonso in Rio de Janeiro and is a member of the American Marketing Association.
Debbie Lawson-Kirkwood
Director, Customer Advocacy and Technical Events
Debbie Lawson-Kirkwood joined Interex in 1994 and is responsible for determining training needs of the Hewlett-Packard technical community and creating technical training conferences (HP-UX, Linux and MPE) unparalleled in the industry.
Through developing effective advocacy channels into HP at all levels from technical to strategic, Lawson-Kirkwood ensures the top needs of Interex's community are identified and communicated to HP.
Prior to joining Interex, Lawson-Kirkwood was a finance manager for R&D; and Marketing at Hewlett-Packard and a CPA for Arthur Anderson.
Mike Elgan
Editorial Director
Mike Elgan joined Interex as Editorial Director of Interex in July, 2001 and is responsible for the appearance, content, tone and direction of all Interex print and electronic publications. Since joining Interex, Elgan has launched one electronic publication, "Inside HP", and revamped two existing publications, "HP World" and "HP Hot News Digest".
Before joining Interex, Elgan was an independent Silicon Valley-based editorial consultant. Previously, Elgan was vice president and editorial director of Portable Life and editor of Windows Magazine.
Elgan is a frequent speaker at Comdex, PC Expo and other industry events. He has been interviewed by CNN, CNBC, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR and hundreds of other media, as a leading expert on enterprise computing, mobile computing, personal computing and the Internet.
Elgan holds a BA in Political Science from the University of California at Los Angeles.
James P. Keller
Director, Information Technology
James Keller joined Interex as Information Technology Director in 1995 and has provided the technical logistics for Interex's conferences, including its premier annual event, HP World Conference and Expo. Keller's work has supported 10,000 registration attendees and 3,000 exhibitors within 400 companies. His group developed and maintains more than 15,000 pages of information on its information and portal Web sites.
A 20-year technology veteran, Keller has provided support in hardware, software and telecommunications needed across many diverse industries, such as semiconductor tool manufacturing, shipping container leasing, public trust/public guardian, school district, county coroner and international banking.
Keller's responsibilities include support internationally where he provided software development, system administration and user support for offices in Europe, MidEast, Far East and Australia. He implemented and maintained a worldwide datacom network, connecting offices in Europe, Australia, Far East and North America for Trans Ocean, LTD, an international container leasing company, headquartered in California.