The Company Founder, Eric Petersen

Eric has been intimately involved in web design, development and Internet marketing since the very first commercial web browser (NCSA Mosaic 1.0) launched, about fifteen years ago. He has performed a variety of Internet functions, ranging from highly creative to highly technical. Eric is considered an authority on e-commerce, web development and Internet marketing and has presented at several Internet-related conferences, both here in the United States and in Europe.

Prior to starting his own business, Eric was the Manager of Web Development for Magellan's, America's Leading Source of Travel Supplies. While at Magellan's, Eric was responsible for the design and development of the Magellans.com e-commerce website, here in the United States, and Magellans.co.uk, in the United Kingdom. Eric was also responsible for the design of all company promotional materials and advertisements and he helped orchestrate all marketing activities for the company. During his last year with Magellan's, online revenue nearly doubled and the percent of web sales increased from 24% to 40%.

Before working at Magellan's Travel, Eric was the Executive Producer of e-Business at NetLojix Communications. In this role, Eric was the team leader, project manager and client liaison, overseeing the design, development and maintenance of several large web projects. Clients included Sony Musiclub, Nexxus Haircare Products, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and many others.

Before NetLojix, Eric was the Web Marketing Manager for The Territory Ahead, a 100+ million-dollar catalog clothing company. In this position, Eric was responsible for the design and development of a million-dollar e-commerce website at Territoryahead.com. Eric was also responsible for all web marketing programs including search engine optimization, pay per click advertising, E-mail campaigns, and affiliate programs. While at The Territory Ahead, Eric was also on the e-commerce advisory board for Cornerstone Brands, Territory Ahead's 500 million-dollar parent company. In this capacity, Eric worked closely with several large catalog brands including TravelSmith, FrontGate, Garnet Hill, Smith & Noble and others to help define and deploy various Internet marketing programs.

Prior to joining The Territory Ahead, Eric was the Manager of Design and Online Development for Maps.com. In this role, Eric was responsible for the design, development and marketing of Maps.com, one of the most popular travel and educational sites, world-wide. While working for Maps.com, Eric also helped develop the educational resource, Maps101.com, and created websites for such organizations as the State of California Department of Tourism, The National Map Centre in London, and Santa Barbara County Parks.

During the past thirty-or-so years, Eric has also worked as a graphic designer, illustrator, computer systems and network administrator, 3-D animator, bug tester, software trainer, air quality technician, sailing instructor, charter boat captain, marine rigger, scuba diver, bartender, waiter, busboy and gas station attendant :-) Eric has an Associate degree in Graphic Design and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Arts from the University of California, Santa Barbara.