Management Team
Mark McCrery Founder and CEO
Mark believes in the grace of talent, the diligence it requires, and the partnership and collaboration that help it flourish. He understands the market for online shows and podcasts, the talented teams of individuals who create them, and advertisers who seek the most engaging environments for their brands.
Mark's success in growing the market for online shows and podcasts leverages his agency background at Grey Advertising New York, his advertising experience at Fortune 500 companies, and his startup experience. Mark founded companies that developed new markets and were acquired by Intuit, Reuters and others. Mark has a B.S. in Economics from Ohio State University.
Mark has assembled an exceptional team of individuals at Podtrac who are committed to the growth and success of its partner brands and content creators. Mark continues to work closely with brands and publishers to build strategic connections with audiences and positive ROI.
Robert Freeland Founder and CTO
Robert designs technology to make new markets work. He believes in building technology and businesses to serve the market today and developing responsibly to help facilitate movements in adoption.
Robert's work in growing Podtrac and its technology is based in experience gained at a start up acquired by Intuit and his earlier work with Alex Brown, Express Scripts and IBM. Robert has a B.S. in Physics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
At Podtrac, Robert works to understand the evolving technology needs of digital advertisers as well as the producers of online shows and podcasts. Robert's work serves the needs of all types of publishers and content creators including long-established media companies, emerging independents, and a new generation of large-scale independent producers Podtrac is enabling.
Velvet Beard Vice President, Product Management
Velvet manages markets and products to profitability by assessing market needs and conditions and developing product requirements to address them.
Velvet's experience in managing products for Podtrac's publishing and advertising partners leverages her prior experience in bringing other services used by Fortune 500 companies to profitability. These include services offered by Intuit and Thompson Financial. Velvet hold a Bachelor's of Science degree from Allegheny College and a MBA from Virginia Tech.
Since 2005, Velvet has managed Podtrac's publisher revenue accounts as well as Podtrac's online advertising and reporting system. Velvet continues to define Podtrac's next generation of products to help advertisers and publishers achieve their business objectives.
Jason DeFontes Senior Software Architect
Jason decides how software should work for businesses to achieve their businesses objectives. Jason distills business requirements, then designs and develops systems and applications that function and interact with end users and data services exceptionally well.
Jason's background in managing Podtrac's user experience and software architecture for Podtrac's publisher and advertiser partners comes from more than 15 years in design and development of complex systems at Intuit and several technology startups. Jason has a B.F.A. in Painting from Maryland Institute College of Art.
At Podtrac, systems Jason designs and develops give publishers insights into their audiences and provide advertisers with information for managing their advertising campaigns.
Beth Eloshway Director, Publisher Relations
Beth loves online shows and podcasts, and enjoys working with creative innovators to help them realize their potential in developing significant global audiences and revenue.
Beth has accumulated years of experience working with content creators since joining Podtrac in 2005. Beth has an avid talent for discovering creative talent honed by hours of listening and watching podcasts and online shows. In helping publishers understand audience trends and the intricacies of online advertising and audience measurement, Beth leverages her prior analytical experience with database design, programming and tech support for Eagle Research Group. Beth has a B.S. in Mathematics and Engineering Sciences from the University of Maryland.
At Podtrac, Beth is continuously on the look-out for quality shows so send her a note through Contact Us if you have a podcast or online show you think would be of interest.
Julia Price Director, Brand Planning, San Francisco
Julia is a brand strategist who identifies audience and content synergies between brands and online shows, develops custom media plans, and grows relationships with Podtrac's advertising and publisher partners resulting in positive ROI.
Julia's excitement and passion for strategic planning and building relationships comes from having her own marketing firm where she successfully launched more than 40 startups in the technology and Internet sector. Julia has a B.S. in Journalism with an emphasis in Advertising and Public Relations from California Polytechnic University.
Julia brings advertisers her entrepreneurial foundation of over 20 years as they realize the potential of podcasts and online shows. And Julia is thrilled to help Podrac's creative content producers from technology experts to comedians build their businesses.