Organization
With facilities in both Ottawa, ON, Canada and Ogdensburg, NY in the United States,
T-Base Communications services organizations across North America.
We invest in the most talented individuals and believe our success has resulted from the creativity, integrity and pure dedication of our personnel. T-Base applies a client-centric approach to building long-term relationships that recognizes, addresses and serves the unique needs of alternate format communication production, allowing our clients the valuable time to focus on organizational priorities.
From marketing and sales to development and production, individual members of the T-Base team, each possessing specialized knowledge and experience, assist clients through different phases of the process to meet unique communication needs. We believe our diversity provides us with a competitive advantage, which directly impacts our ability to deliver services to meet the requirements of a diverse global marketplace.
Executive Management Team and Board of Directors
An executive management team and a board of directors support the organization and are committed to the highest standards of privacy & security, cost effectiveness and quality control.
Executive Team
Jeff Potts, President and CEO
Sharlyn Ayotte, Chief Strategy Officer
Dan Whall, Director of Operations
Shannon Collier, Director of Worldwide Sales
Deanna White, Director of Marketing and Partner Relations
John Foliot, Manager of Web Accessibility Services
Board of Directors
Sharlyn Ayotte, Chief Strategy Officer
Alan Breakspear, Chair
Michael De Wilde, Director
Dave Longbottom, Director
Murray Shaw, Director
Executive Management Team
Jeff is a seasoned business executive with over 25 years experience and a proven track record of successfully managing companies across a range of industries. Most recently Jeff served as president of a financial consulting firm known as CFO4Results Inc. In his capacity as President, he managed the firm’s operations and also provided client CFO services to several companies including T-Base. Prior to that Jeff was the Chief Financial Officer of E-Cruiter.com, an eHRM firm, where he led the company to a public offering on NASDAQ in 2000.
As a well rounded business executive Jeff has many years of experience managing the entire range of operational functions including finance, IT, legal, human resources. He has acted as key negotiator on many customer, vendor and strategic partner agreements. On the financial side, Jeff has been instrumental in closing numerous equity financing from seed, to preferred share rounds to public offerings. He has led large debt transactions and has closed raised over $50M for start-up and early-stage companies.
Jeff graduated from Carleton University in 1985 with a Bachelor of Commerce degree (high honours). He earned his Chartered Accountant designation in 1988 at Arthur Anderson.
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Sharlyn Ayotte, Chief Strategy Officer
Sharlyn launched T-Base Communications resulting from a personal experience of being unable to decipher every day documents such as her monthly bills and bank statements without assistance. Through personal experience of the lack of communication materials available to her, Sharlyn Ayotte inspired the technology behind T-Base Communications, which provides organizations with alternate format communication materials to service their blind and partially sighted customers.
With over 30 years combined experience and education in the high tech sector, her drive to make accessible materials available to blind and partially sighted consumers resulted in the launch of T-Base, first in Ottawa, Canada, and soon, a second facility in Ogdensburg, NY. Specializing in producing accessible communication materials in braille, large print, e-Text and audio formats, T-Base Communications pioneered the standards and pricing models adopted by government and industry, quickly growing into a North American-wide company with an additional production facility in New York. Sharlyn attributes her success to a personal interest in provincial/state and federal legislation, along with her intimate knowledge of the services consumers seek. Her professional achievements include:
- Member of the SME Advisory Board to the Minister of International Trade from 2003 to 2008
- Acknowledged by the National Federation of the Blind Advocates for Equality for the significant contributions to the organized blind consumer movement in Canada
- Recipient of the SCOAP Award in 1998 for the world's first accessible banking machine with RBC, NCR Canada
- Received the 1999 IWAY award for the development of InfoTouch, an automated access and production system for publishing information in all formats
- Invited each year to provide the Government of Canada Standing Committee on Finance with personal and corporate perspectives as part of the Pre-Budgetary Consultation since 1998
- Active member of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business
- Member of the Council on Access to Information for Print-Disabled Canadians on behalf of Library and Archives Canada
- Active member of the Accessible Information and Communications Standard (ICS-DC) committee on behalf of the Ministry of Ontario
- Associate member of BANA - Braille Authority of North America
- 2009 Recipient of the prestigious Sara Kirke Award
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Dan Whall, Director of Operations
Dan Whall has an electrical engineering and technology background with over 20 years experience specializing in project management and quality assurance for public and private sectors. A Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and Microsoft Certified Trainer with several years of technical, teaching and supervisory expertise, Dan has provided leadership to organizations such as the Canadian Nuclear and Safety Commission, Zeligsoft and Optelian assisting them with technology solutions and policy development. He currently supports corporate policies related to operations and technology for T-Base Communications.
Since 1986, Dan has provided information technology advice in support of various IT projects and contingency planning for the City of Ottawa, E-Cruiter.com and the Department of National Defence. In 2003, Dan received General Managers Commendations for IT Strategy, Emergency and Protective Services and Business Licensing System, By-Law Services.
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Shannon Collier, Director of Worldwide Sales
Shannon Collier has over 25 years experience in sales and business development in the technology field accountable for revenue growth and client relations for both the private and public sectors, as well as the telecommunications industry.
His expertise lies within solution-based interactions with corporate clients - building valued relationships and partnerships at the executive level. Shannon has held a variety of senior sales positions providing strategic guidance for companies such as Telus Mobility, Speechworks, Nortel Networks, Tandem Computers and Digital Equipment. Shannon has received eight Presidents Club awards throughout his professional career and is a past member of the Canadian Telecommunications Advisory Board in California.
Shannon is Director of Sales for T-Base Communications Inc, responsible for fostering and developing relationships with key clients for all business lines and manages the Canadian and US sales activity for the organization.
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Deanna White, Director of Marketing and Partner Relations
Deanna White has several years' agency-side experience and over ten years progressive experience with retail category leaders and not-for-profit organizations, devising and executing marketing plans. The focus of those plans has been on brand development, marketing and communication strategies for consumer, business-to-business and trade markets on local, national and international levels.
In 1993, Deanna joined Budget Rent a Car and was responsible for national marketing and communications programs and the implementation of new product launches for Park'N Fly across Canada. A lifestyle change in 2001 resulted in a move to Canada's National Capital where she chaired the Communications Committee of The Ottawa Little Theatre and spent two years overseeing the implementation of fundraising and marketing programs for The Easter Seals Society in eastern Ontario.
For the past several years, Deanna has been assisting various Ottawa based organizations with their media relations and marketing plans including T-Base Communications, where she is responsible for developing and implementing branding and corporate communications initiatives for the North American market. She has served on the board of the Canadian Marketing Association as Vice President and Director of Public Relations, and currently sits on the External Communications Committee for the Women's Business Network of Ottawa.
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John Foliot, Manager of Web Accessibility Services
John is an Internet consultant, website developer, and corporate trainer, who has been creating and managing websites for over 8 years. With numerous local and national websites in his portfolio (including bilingual development), he takes pride in clean, efficient, valid HTML development. Cross platform compatibility and accessibility is of a primary concern in all projects he undertakes, and it is an issue that he does not take lightly.
In the Spring of 2003, John co-founded WATS.ca, an internationally recognized Web Accessibility consultancy based in Ottawa, Canada, with numerous clients including Communication Canada, Department of Social Development (HRDC), the Canadian School of Public Service (HRDC), Queen's University, QualiLife Canada Inc. and more, focusing on Accessibility issues and compliance. Prior to that he advised and recommended Federal government departments on issues of web accessibility as an advisor to the Treasury Board Secretariat John has also developed and delivered seminars on Accessibility and Common Look and Feel for the Canadian Space Agency and the Supreme Court of Canada, Human Resources Development Canada, and the National Research Council, as well as numerous speaking engagements to both the public and private sector.
An eight month tenure at Entrust Technologies as a Lead Website Developer saw him working in the areas of e-commerce, internet security, and multi-language site offerings (English, French, Spanish, Korean). John's former background also includes many years of sales and marketing, allowing him to bring a unique perspective to every project he approaches.
John has worked closely with T-Base over the past 5 years and joined the T-Base Communications team as Manager of Web Accessibility Services in the spring of 2006.
Board of Directors
Alan Breakspear, Board Chair
Alan Breakspear had a distinguished 30-year career in Canada's federal Public Service, followed by consulting practice from 1994. He founded Ibis Research Inc. in 1997, served as its President and CEO until September 2007 and remains an active partner. Ibis Research provides professional services in Competitive Intelligence, Knowledge Management, Strategic Early Warning and Enterprise Risk Management to client organizations in Canada and around the world.
Alan is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario (English and French) and an alumnus of Canada's National Defence College. He served in government as analyst and manager in intelligence, policy, program and resource management functions, and as senior manager (up to Assistant Deputy Minister level), in several departments and agencies including the Communications Security Establishment, Privy Council Office, Treasury Board Secretariat, Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the Solicitor General Secretariat.
He has recently served as a Sessional Lecturer in political science, teaching intelligence studies at University of British Columbia and University of Victoria, and has served as an adjunct professor in the University of Ottawa's School of Management. He has taught Competitive Intelligence in many settings, including the University of Ottawa's EMBA program and the training programs of several federal departments and corporate clients.
Alan has been a member of several professional societies. He is currently active in the Canadian Association for Security & Intelligence Studies (CASIS) and is President of the Victoria Branch of the Canadian International Council (CIC). He relocated from Ottawa to Victoria in August 2007.
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Michael De Wilde, Board Member
Michael has over 30 years of experience in the field of corporate identity, product development and corporate communications. Throughout his professional career, Michael has developed a deep understanding of the motivational issues required to deliver on a service promise and a thorough understanding of the challenges in implementing strategy to both internal and external audiences. He has been associated with T-Base Communications for over ten years and a Board member for the last five.
Over the past ten years, he has been a key member of corporate identity and product development teams on projects such as Canadian Pacific Ltd, Aramco Saudi Arabia, Air Lanka, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Aeromexico, Qantas and Gulf Air. Prior to becoming a management consultant in 1993, he held a number of senior management positions at Air Canada, including Senior Director for Corporate Identity, General Manager United States and Senior Director of Product Development.
As a consultant, Michael has provided organizational, communications and project management services to a number of companies around the world. Clients include, Avcorp Aerospace Industries, Air Miles, Canadian Pacific Railways Ltd, Federal Government of Canada (HRDC), Insight International Tours, The Sabre Consulting Group, and T-Base Communications.
A graduate of the Executive Program at the Harvard School of Business and the Royal Aeronautical Society Air Transport management course, Michael has also attended professional programs at McGill and Oxford in financial planning and transport management, respectively.
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Dave Longbottom, Board Member
An active advisor to his clients, Dave is a customer-focused executive with over 25 years of technology management experience. Now Principal at Hot Towel Strategies, Dave is helping a number of local companies grow and develop, including Zeligsoft (where he is Chairman), T-Base Communications (board member), GridIron Software (Chairman), Thyme and Again Creative Catering, among others. Dave studied electrical engineering and holds a bachelors degree from Queen's University and holds a US technology patent for networking technology.
Most recently he was President and CEO of Chrysalis-ITS, where he successfully turned around the failing security appliance maker, attracting an acquisition by Rainbow/Safenet (NASDAQ:SFNT) in late 2003. Prior to joining Chrysalis, he helped SpeechFront, a speech recognition application company, raise financing and develop their go-to-market strategy. SpeechFront completed a successful acquisition transaction with Nuance (NASDAQ: NUAN) after only 6 months of operation.
Between 1995 and 2000, Dave helped to build and grow ObjecTime, a maker of advanced software development tools, serving first as Vice-President, Sales and Marketing, and ultimately COO. ObjecTime completed a successful combination with market gorilla Rational Software (NASDAQ: RATL, now IBM) in early 2000. Prior to this, he held positions of increasing scope and responsibility at BNR/Nortel across a range of functions including software development, product management, marketing and sales.
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Murray Shaw, Board Member
For 35 years, Murray Shaw has provided leadership and advice in Strategy and Business Development. His international career covers a wide variety of business sectors, but generally involves the simultaneous application of technology and common sense. Retired from full-time employment, he continues to work directly with a number of CEOs and Boards of Directors in an advisory capacity.
Most recently, he spent a year at Eforma, in Zurich, Switzerland, providing strategy, business development and marketing advice to the CEO's of major printing and document management companies in 28 countries.
His five previous years were spent as a Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at Moore Corporation, where his duties included responsibility for all corporate research, as well as the successful leadership of a corporate project team charged with restructuring the company's business processes to reduce costs by at least $100 million.
The four years before Moore were spent as Vice President of Business Development at Crain Drummond (now Relizon Canada), with direct bottom line responsibility for a portfolio of growth products and services which grew from under 30% to over 50% of total revenues and profits under his leadership.
Earlier responsibilities have included Strategy and Business development leadership at Canada Post Corporation, the CIO and Financial Planning Controller positions at Export Development Canada and a series of senior analytic and advisory positions in the Canadian Public Service.
Doctorates of Chemistry (U of Waterloo, Canada) and Biochemistry,(U of Marseille, France), as well as an MBA, (U of Ottawa, Canada), provide fluency in French as well as a solid foundation in quantitative problem solving and financial analysis.
