Kathy Carter is Executive Vice President of Soccer United Marketing, a position which oversees the commercial and marketing aspects of the business for Major League Soccer’s commercial subsidiary. Carter and her group are responsible for all sales and servicing for some of the premier soccer properties in the United States, including Major League Soccer, the Mexican National Team and famed Mexican club team Chivas de Guadalajara’s rights in the U.S., domestic Mexican club tournament InterLiga, the SuperLiga tournament, Women’s Professional Soccer, multiple CONCACAF properties and U.S. Soccer and all of its National Teams.

Carter serves as the U.S. representative on FIFA’s Committee for Women’s Football and the FIFA Women’s World Cup. She is also a standing member of the SUM Business Development Committee, a group charged with the commercial development of MLS.

Carter served as Vice President, Sales and Marketing for Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) prior to her position with SUM. At AEG, Carter worked to sign major partnership deals with The Home Depot Center, as well as oversaw the sponsorship sales division for AEG, which included the then six AEG-operated MLS teams; the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings; the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour Championships; and the Home Depot Track & Field Invitational.

Prior to her work with AEG, Carter was a vice president for Envision, where she opened and managed the firm’s New York office, with a primary focus on facility representation. Carter joined Envision from ISL United States in 2001. As Vice President, Sales and Marketing for ISL U.S., Carter was responsible for partnership and advertising sales for the Tennis Masters Series, the Association of Tennis Professional’s (ATP) premier series of men’s professional tennis tournaments. 

Carter served as Major League Soccer’s Vice President of Corporate Marketing from the League’s inception until late 1999. Carter’s five years with the League office came on the heels of two years with the World Cup USA 1994 organizing committee. 

Carter is a recipient of both the SportsBusiness Journal and Crain’s New York Business Forty Under 40 awards, as well as the 2009 Women in Sports and Events (WISE) award.

A graduate of the College of William and Mary, she was a starter on the nationally ranked woman’s soccer team. Carter resides in New York City.

 

David P. Good,Chief Representative, North America Tata Sons, Ltd.

David Good joined the Tata Group on February 1, 2005, as their corporate representative in North America after completing a 34-year career with the U.S. Department of State.  His last position with the State Department was Director of the Office of India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives Affairs, following a three-year stint as American Consul General in Mumbai (Bombay), India from 1999-2002.  During his career in the Foreign Service, he also served as Public Affairs Officer at the American Embassies in Tel Aviv, Israel; in Amman, Jordan; in Kuwait City, Kuwait; and at the American Consulate General in Jerusalem. 

From 1997-1999, Mr. Good was Director of the Office of North African, Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs at the U.S. Information Agency in Washington, and responsible for U.S. Government education, exchange and information programs across the Middle East and South Asia.  From 1989-1991, he was Spokesman and Director of Public Affairs at the Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs Bureau of the State Department.  He served in previous assignments in Calcutta and New Delhi, India and in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. 

 

 

 

Often hailed as the most powerful man in media, Gotlieb is CEO of giant media buying agency GroupM, a job that gives him control of 27 percent of worldwide advertising spending. It serves as the parent company to WPP media assets including MAXUS, MediaCom, Mediaedge:cia and MindShare. 

Born in China after his parents fled Russia in 1939, Gotlieb spent his formative years in Japan and in 1970 moved to New York, where he spent some time cutting stones in the Diamond District. A tech whiz who pioneered the use of computers in media buying and planning, Gotlieb taught himself Fortran, and in 1977 built his own modeling software at Benton & Bowles when the agency told him the system he wanted was cost-prohibitive. He stayed with the media giant for 22 years, rising to CEO of the TeleVest group in 1993, before leaving for Mindshare in 1999. As Mindshare's CEO, he consolidated the media buying units of WPP giants Ogilvy & Mather and J. Walter Thompson. In 2003, when Mindshare and Mediaedge:cia were rolled up under the even larger GroupM umbrella—now representing more than $120 billion in annual ad spending—he took the reins at GroupM. Since then growth has continued and GroupM under his leadership continues to be the leader in the media investment management space.

Among his many achievements, Irwin is a three time Adweek/Mediaweek All Star, including a President’s Award in 1997.  He is also a double Advertising Age Media Maven honoree and in February 2000 was named as the Media Player of the Year by Advertising Age – the only occasion that this award has been given.  In October 2006, he became the first advertising / media agency executive to be inducted into the Broadcast & Cable Hall of Fame.

Gotlieb and his wife, Liz, divide their time between Manhattan, LA and Briarcliff Manor. A pianist and self-confessed tech-geek, he spends his spare time building audio systems and assembling custom racing bikes. He is an expert cook and when not traveling across the globe can be found knife in hand preparing sushi.

 

John Seifert, Chairman and CEO, Ogilvy & Mather North America

John is a 30-year veteran of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide. He’s a member of the company’s Worldwide Executive Committee and Board. John was appointed Chairman of all O&M operations in North America in January 2009.

Previously, John was the Chairman of Ogilvy’s Global Brand Community, where he oversaw a portfolio of 25 global clients representing nearly $1 billion in income across O&M’s multiple communications disciplines. 

John has worked throughout the Ogilvy worldwide network in client leadership and general management positions in Los Angeles, Chicago, Bangkok, Singapore, and New York. He dropped out of the University of Southern California after three years to join O&M Los Angeles as a summer intern in 1979. He was transferred to O&M Chicago in 1983 to run several divisions of the Sears retail business, including the launch of Sears Business Systems Centers, an early entry into the personal computer revolution.

In 1986, he began an international tour joining O&M Thailand as General Manager/Director of Client Service. In 1988, John was promoted to Country Manager of O&M Singapore -- the region’s most recognized creative agency, responsible for Ogilvy’s advertising, direct marketing, public relations, and sales promotion businesses. While in Asia, he led a wide array of global, regional, and local clients across many business sectors, including: packaged goods, retail, luxury, industrial, financial services, IT, travel and entertainment. In 1992, he moved to New York to lead the American Express account globally. Since 1999, John has led multi-discipline global brand teams, including BP (John led the development of the “Beyond Petroleum” corporate campaign), DuPont, Siemens, and many others.

John is a frequent lecturer at universities and business forums around the world on the subject of “new age” branding. He’s a passionate student of history, interior design, and neoclassical architecture.

 

Eelco has more than 15 years experience in global [sports] marketing, most recently as Global Director, Sports & Entertainment at the world’s largest brewer, AB InBev. Previously, he was Head of Marketing at FIFA (2004-2007), the world governing body of football, and held senior marketing positions at leading global brands including MasterCard (1995-2003) and Canon (1990-1995).  

Eelco started his career in the early 90’s at Canon Europe based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. As Communications Coordinator, and later as Sponsorship Manager, he managed Pan-European marketing programs for the company’s fax, camera, copier and printer divisions with a focus on leveraging the company’s extensive sponsorship portfolio including the 1994 FIFA World Cup USA, Williams F1 racing, Wimbledon and Roland Garros.

As Vice President Global Sponsorships & Promotions for MasterCard, Eelco negotiated sponsorship contracts with various properties and managed sponsorship activations that focused on supporting the global “Priceless” campaign.  He created and implemented integrated marketing programs including TV, print, outdoor, promotional campaigns, PR and new media in all key global economic markets. He was respectively based in London (’95-‘96’), Paris (’97-’98) and New York (’99-’03).

As Head of the Marketing Division made up of over 50 marketing and sales professionals, and a member of FIFA’s Management Board, Eelco was responsible for all FIFA’s marketing programs. Based in Zürich, Switzerland, he oversaw the organization’s US$1 billion sponsorship portfolio, Brand Management, Marketing Services, Marketing Strategy and Event Marketing Operations. During his time at FIFA, Eelco also launched two new events, the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup and the FIFA Interactive World Cup. In addition, Eelco was responsible for the re-launch of the FIFA brand in 2007. However, the crown on his work at FIFA was the commercial delivery of the highly successful 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™.

In addition to his role at AB InBev, Eelco provides consultancy to the HollandBelgium Bid committee for the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cup.

A native of The Netherlands and a 1987 graduate of the Institute for Business Administration & Economics in Rotterdam, Eelco speaks Dutch, English and German. He resides with his wife and two children in Westfield, NJ.