Columbus, OH–Life|ware’s vice president of marketing, Michael S. Seamons, left the company on March 26, 2008, to join the product marketing team in the eHome division at Microsoft Corp. Life-ware’s director of operations, Bret Fitzgerald, has assumed the role of vice president of marketing.
Seamons, who had been with Life-ware from its inception in 2004, helped build the brand from scratch in the CEDIA channel and beyond, serving as the face of the company to the press. In the process, he emerged as a leading industry expert on Microsoft Windows Media Center, upon which the groundbreaking Life-ware digital entertainment and automation platform is based.
We will miss Mikes energy, enthusiasm and boundless drive to evangelize Life-ware, said Seale Moorer, CEO and founding partner of Life-ware. Mike played a major role in our effort to firmly establish the Life-ware brand, philosophy, and product line among dealers, consumers, manufacturing partners, the media and the industry at large.
Life-ware views 2008 with great optimism. The company, with more than 100 employees and growing, is shipping its full line of products to an expanding network of dealers and installers, and recently revealed that it has topped the 1,000-licensee mark. Life-ware has partnered with Disney, along with Microsoft, HP, and Taylor Morrison Homes, in the design and development of the new Disney Innoventions Dream Home, a 5,000-plus square-foot home, scheduled to open in May as a new attraction at Disneyland in California.
It has been a tremendous ride, Seamons said. As I move on to another big challenge, I leave behind a company that is better positioned for great things than ever before. Life-ware has entered a phase now that goes beyond brand-building, where the focus has rightly shifted to supporting the 600-plus dealer network weve built and the homeowners whose lives are enriched by our products every day. This company is fully prepared and eager to tackle the new and exciting challenges that lie before it.
Seamons’ replacement, Bret W. Fitzgerald, also has played a key role with Life-ware for the last two years as the companys director of operations. In that role, he was responsible for developing and implementing strategies regarding daily operations, and was heavily involved with business development, marketing, and training.
Fitzgerald started his career in marketing and previously worked as an associate at Snapp Norris Group public relations agency representing various high-tech firms. In 2005, he joined Vantage Controls as its director of public relations and marketing before joining Life-ware in April 2006.
We are highly confident about entrusting our marketing program to Bret, Moorer said. His organizational and operational strengths, along with his vast knowledge of the electronics marketplace and keen management skills, result in a unique skill set that I expect will serve us very well.
I am tremendously excited about Life|wares bright future and all the opportunities ahead, Fitzgerald added. The Life-ware brand has definitely been established and I look forward to expanding that brand to both consumers and dealers alike.
