Management Team
Elliot Noss, President and Chief Executive Officer
As president and CEO of Tucows Inc., Elliot Noss leads the company's business strategy and vision. He is responsible for overseeing operations for the company's domain registration, domain portfolio, email and retail lines of business.
During his tenure, Tucows has grown to become the largest wholesale provider of domain names. Under Elliot's leadership, the company has rapidly expanded the wholesale service line to include email services, SSL certificates, and enhanced domain name offerings which are sold through a growing international reseller channel.
Elliot has been a leader in the Internet industry for over a decade. He champions areas of vital interest to the service providers and Internet users including privacy, ICANN reform and registrar matters, and the implications of emerging technologies.
Elliot chairs the University of Toronto's Department of Computer Science Advisory Board and is a distinguished graduate of the University of Toronto where he earned a BA. He earned an MBA and LLB from the University of Western Ontario.
Michael Cooperman, Chief Financial Officer
Michael Cooperman has more than 20 years of experience in the financial and general management fields, primarily as a senior financial executive in the technology industry. Prior to joining Tucows, Michael worked at Archer Enterprise Systems Inc., a provider of SalesForce Automation Software. He also served as CEO, Chief Operating Officer, President and member of the board at SoftQuad International Inc., a leading provider of content publishing tools for the Internet and corporate Intranets.
Previously, he spent eight years as the CFO, Secretary-Treasurer and a member of the Board of Directors at Delrina Corporation where he directed all financial management and regulatory activities. Delrina pioneered the development of PC fax software and became a world leader in the communication software market during this period. Michael was a member of the management team that saw Delrina grow over 2800% in revenue. Prior to joining Delrina, he was VP of Finance at Ingram Software Ltd. Michael holds a Bachelor of Accounting Sciences Degree from the University of South Africa.
Carla Goertz, Vice President, Human Resources
Carla Goertz brings to Tucows more that 20 years of human resources experience, primarily in the Technology sector. She has held several senior roles, as VP Human Resources and Administration at Systems Xcellence Inc., and Castek Software Inc., as well as Director of Human Resources at Tech Data Canada Corp. Carla received her CHRP in 1994 and was educated at Sheridan College.
David Woroch, Vice President, Sales
David Woroch brings to Tucows extensive experience in the technology field. Before joining Tucows, he worked for 13 years in a variety of roles including sales, marketing, finance and strategic planning at IBM Canada. He successfully managed a national sales and marketing team for one of IBM's product divisions.
David joined Tucows as Director of Sales in March 2000, and was promoted to Vice President of Sales in June 2001 responsible for all sales activities. He assumed responsibility for customer support in March 2004 and Domain Direct, the online retail department, in February 2005. In June 2005, he was given responsibility for the marketing deparment and became Vice President Sales and Marketing. David holds an Honours Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario.
Ken Schafer, Vice President, Marketing and Product Management
Widely seen as a pioneer of Internet marketing in Canada, Ken has tirelessly promoted the Net as a significant force in business and culture.
Ken conceived and oversaw Sony Music Canada's early online initiatives. From their first site in 1995, Ken's team built a global web presence for 25 Canadian artists, by pioneering viral and email marketing, rich media, and community building long before they had become buzzwords.
In 1996 he co-founded (AIMS) where as President he helped it become Canada's largest organization for Internet decision-makers. In 1997 he co-authored the online portion of the Canadian Marketing Association's Code of Ethics. More recently, Ken developed the curriculum and taught the 14-week CMA's Certificate in E-marketing program and founded One Degree, one of Canada's leading web sites for Internet marketing professionals.
Ken received his degree in Mathematics from the University of Waterloo and lives outside Toronto with his wife, parenting expert Alyson Schafer, and their two children.
Ross Rader, Director of Research and Innovation
Ross has been with Tucows virtually from the beginning. He was the Director of Marketing at Canada's largest independent Internet Service Provider, Internet Direct. When Internet Direct acquired Tucows, Ross managed the implementation of OpenSRS. He became the Director Research and Innovation in 2001 with the responsibity to explore new lines of business and opportunities for Tucows' channel of wholesale providers.
Ross has published articles on software, domain name registation and domain name policies and spoken at numerous industry events. He was educated at the University of Winnipeg.
Andy Walker, GM/Executive Producer Tucows.com/butterscotch.com
Andy Walker is one of North America's leading technology journalists and online media experts. He has written for almost every major media outlet in Canada, and is the author of four books. An in-demand speaker; he most recently appeared at Blogworld 2009 in Las Vegas.
Andy is a recognized TV personality specializing in technology. He was a co-host of the internationally syndicated technology show Call for Help on G4Techtv. He appears on TV most weeks as a tech guru including BNN, CBC Radio, CP24, CBC Newsworld, and recently the Slice Network's new show "Princess". He was also the Internet expert and featured guest that Peter Mansbridge turned to when he wanted an update on how far the Internet had come in the fall of 2008 on the show Mansbridge: One on One.
He has been instrumental in building some of Canada's biggest online news brands including Canada.com and MSN.ca. He is a technology advisor to Lieutenant Governor of Ontario David Onley. Andy runs the charity Little Geeks Foundation that he co-founded in 2006. He is General Manager of the famed Internet download site Tucows.com and its new sister site butterscotch.com. More info at www.andywalker.com
Bill Sweetman, General Manager of YummyNames
A self-confessed domain name fanatic, Bill registered his very first domain in 1994 and has been perfecting his “Domain Name Karate” moves ever since. Bill has provided strategic domain name advice to companies around the world, and he has overseen the buying and selling of thousands of domain names.
Bill is also one of the Internet marketing industry's most respected authorities and his innovative work over the last 15 years has been recognized by numerous awards, including the prestigious Internet World Impact Award for Communications.
Bill has overseen hundreds of Internet marketing campaigns for companies such as Alliance Atlantis Communications, Bell Mobility, CBC, Dupont, General Motors, Harlequin Enterprises, Hewlett-Packard, Pfizer, and RBC Royal Bank.
Bill is a regular contributor to various trade publications and blogs, including his own acclaimed Internet marketing blog, Sweetmantra, located at http://www.sweetmantra.com/.
A member of the Association of Internet Marketing and Sales (AIMS), Bill also serves on the Digital Marketing Conference Committee for the Canadian Marketing Association (CMA).
Bill is the General Manager of YummyNames, a yummy service from Tucows that offers marketers the ability to purchase or lease premium domain names.