
Karl W.
Conner develops effective teams and strong organizations. He is a sought
after negotiator, personal coach, and interviewer because of hands-on experience
in progressive companies. Currently he heads operations for
Ageless Learner,
a think-tank and consultancy focused on learning across the life span, and
has recently built a house in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.
Conner
was U.S. General Manager for a London-based technology education company,
opening their sales, marketing, and business
relationships with corporate accounts, value added resellers, as well as
retail and education channels throughout the United States. He hired,
trained, and managed all U.S. staff, worked with firms resulting in
$5,000,000 first year sales, and implemented all business policies and
procedures that a foreign company requires to do business in the U.S.
(Eventually also conducted closing business process when the International
operation was purchased).
He was Director of Sales and Marketing for Redmond
WA-based Microsoft Press, managing the sales ($25,000,000/year) and
marketing ($5,000,000/year) departments. He doubled revenues and customer
satisfaction levels, was responsible for all forecasting and budgeting, and
developed business plans for implementing new strategies.
Conner was District Manager for the Mid-Atlantic region of
Microsoft Corporation, managed all channels of sales, marketing, and support
(education, resellers, corporate accounts and OEM) and managed and hired
over 50 managers, sales reps, marketing reps, systems engineers,
administrative and part-time personnel in the region covering Virginia,
Maryland, District of Columbia, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. He managed a
budget of $4,000,000 and sales quota of over $15,000,000 (always achieved at
least 150% of quota), and was nominated for US “Manager of the Year.”