John Uppendahl

Current

President at TRUE NORTH Network

Past

Vice President of Public Relations & Community Affairs at Classmates.com
Principal at Uppendahl Communications
Senior Vice President of Marketing & Corporate Communications at Rival Networks (Rivals.com)

Vice President of Communications & Online Business Development at Humongous Entertainment
Account Supervisor at Waggener Edstrom
Principal at Uppendahl Entertainment
Senior Account Executive at Solters/Roskin/Friedman

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Education

University of Oregon

Recommended

12 people have recommended John

Connections

500+ connections

Industry

Public Relations and Communications

John Uppendahl’s Summary

TRUE North Network, Inc. creates powerful business development, consumer engagement, social media, marketing and public relations programs that help your brand realize its business objectives and full potential. Visit www.TrueNorthNet.net.

John Uppendahl’s Specialties:

Business develpment; consumer engagement; social media; marketing and public relations; product placement in games, films and books; events, concerts and conferences; brand and identity development; corporate communications; issues management; community affairs; music; television; entertainment; Internet; computer gaming; online gaming; children's software and professional photography

John Uppendahl’s Experience

President

TRUE NORTH Network

(Internet industry)

November 2008 — Present (1 year 2 months)

See Summary above.
Vice President of Public Relations & Community Affairs

Classmates.com

(Public Company; UNTD; Internet industry)

April 2003 — October 2008 (5 years 7 months)

• Built Company’s Public Relations & Community Affairs department; reduced expenses and increased measurable results to help Classmates profitably grow its premium product line by 537% to surpass 4.3 million paid subscriptions and grow its total membership by 157% to more than 50 million people in the United States, Canada, Germany, France and Sweden.

• Negotiated positive editorial coverage including The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Dr. Phil, CNN, Time, People, CBS, USA Today, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, 60 Minutes II, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Wall St. Journal and The Associated Press among others.
Principal

Uppendahl Communications

(Public Relations and Communications industry)

September 2000 — April 2003 (2 years 8 months)

Led strategic communications campaigns for Siltanen & Partners Advertising, including its Baby Bob TV show on CBS and Gateway Computers account (www.SiltanenPartners.com); Neptune, Inc. (www.neptune.com) online video and photo sharing; and Hulabee Entertainment.
Senior Vice President of Marketing & Corporate Communications

Rival Networks (Rivals.com)

(Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Internet industry)

April 1999 — September 2000 (1 year 6 months)

• Hired, led and managed team of 10 people (corporate communications, PR, marketing, events and creative services), PR and advertising agencies.
• Built quality brand, product, community affairs and retail reputation of company, which grew to 180 employees and 700 affiliate partners in multiple locations including New York, Los Angeles, London (Rivals Europe with Chrysalis) and Tokyo (Rivals Japan with Yahoo!).
• Helped raise more than $80 million from investors including Hummer Winblad, The Phoenix Partners, Intel, News Corp. and SOFTBANK Capital Partners.
• Led corporate communications throughout initial public offering development and S-1 filing for an IPO with Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Chase H&Q.
• Negotiated analyst and media coverage that helped establish Rivals.com as the world’s largest network of sports team and affinity websites, attract seven million unique users a month, and build advertising, licensing, commerce and subscription revenues.
Vice President of Communications & Online Business Development

Humongous Entertainment

(Public Company; 201-500 employees; Computer Software industry)

May 1995 — April 1999 (4 years )

• Negotiated editorial coverage to help increase product sales by 300% in one year and make Humongous Entertainment the third largest educational software publisher in both dollars and units with 11 percent market share (surpassing Disney, Microsoft, Broderbund and Electronic Arts combined).
• Led worldwide public relations launch of Cavedog Entertainment, its Total Annihilation franchise and BoneYards online gaming community.
• Staffed and managed 11-person department including PR and Web teams (Humongous.com, Cavedog.com, TotalAnnihilation.com and BoneYards.com).
• Successfully helped position the company for its $76 million acquisition by GT Interactive Software Corp. in 1996.
• Led global corporate communications for alliances with Microsoft, Nickelodeon, Lancit Media Entertainment and Transposia to maximize editorial coverage.
• Managed program that secured more than 250 awards of excellence.
Account Supervisor

Waggener Edstrom

(Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Public Relations and Communications industry)

November 1993 — April 1995 (1 year 6 months)

Led Public Relations launch for Microsoft Complete Baseball, the world's first CD-ROM with an online feature, and Starwave (ESPN.com, Outside Online, Mr. Showbiz and CD-ROMs for Sting, Peter Gabriel, Clint Eastwood and The Muppets).
Principal

Uppendahl Entertainment

(Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Public Relations and Communications industry)

December 1992 — November 1993 (1 year )

Led Public Relations for Boyz II Men, Stevie Wonder and Motown Records that helped clients win Grammy Awards and sell millions of albums, concert tickets and merchandise. Daily Variety said: http://www.variety.com/article/VR104865.html?categoryid=16&cs=1
Senior Account Executive

Solters/Roskin/Friedman

(Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Public Relations and Communications industry)

June 1988 — November 1992 (4 years 6 months)

Led and contributed to Public Relations campaigns for The Grammy Awards, Star Search, Motown Records, Boyz II Men, Jay Leno, Bob Seger, Stevie Wonder, Steve Miller Band, MusiCares Foundation, Grammy in the Schools, etc.

Additional Information

John Uppendahl’s Interests:

Photography (Good Housekeeping April 2006 issue, "Against all odds" feature story), music, concerts, playing guitar, skiing, boating and travel.

John Uppendahl’s Groups:

YMCA of Greater Seattle, Marketing & Communications Advisor, 2008 to present
YMCA Lake Heights, Board of Directors, 2004 to present
YMCA Lake Heights, Partners With Youth Campaign Chairman, 2005 and 2006
WSA - Industry Achievement Awards and 20th Anniversary steering committees, 2003 to 2006