Ron Boyd

I provide the gray hair at 1969. Before jumping into the Internet business, I spent over twenty years working with a handful of major national advertising agencies. The last place I hung my hat was as Director of Client Services for D'Arcy/Los Angeles (DMB&B), where I worked for over ten years.

Just before helping to form 1969, I was Managing Director of Magnet Interactive's West Coast office. In the rough tumble Wild West days of the new economy between 1998 and 2001, we grew Magnet's annual revenue to over $10,000,000. We built portals, introduced cars and owner retention programs for Nissan and Infiniti, created on-line catalogs for clients like Quiksilver, and launched nearly a dozen dot-coms.

While in the advertising business, I worked with many types of clients selling products and services to nearly every imaginable target audience. I helped to introduce Honda Preludes and CRXs at Rubin Postaer, and to sell Ore-Ida and Hunt Wesson new products at Foote, Cone and Belding. I got kids of all ages excited about seeing Shamu at Sea World, and helped first-time computer buyers get to the Gateway's Silicon Prairie at D'Arcy. While running account management and new business at D'Arcy, I worked with the Australian Tourist Commission, Makita Power Tools, MoneyGram Payment Systems, Lockheed Martin, NBC and Paramount Pictures, among others.

At D'Arcy I helped rebuild GM brand equity and market share in California by introducing Value Pricing. The program's success led to the introduction of a bold, comprehensive Internet strategy for all of GM's divisions, namely GM BuyPower.

I love learning about new businesses and their customers to meet a marketing challenge.

I'm a major movie fan and collector. Currently, my personal movie library has nearly 1,500 titles. My wife Barbara thinks I should open a video store. When we meet, I'll be glad to provide a copy of Ron's Nifty Fifty…my recommendations to take to a desert island.