Washington D.C. – The Application Developers Alliance announced today the promotion of four key members of the global membership team: Laura Bolos, Mike Schwartz, Keir Ferris, and Lauren Smith, and the appointment of Jon Bassford as General Manager. The Apps Alliance, which now includes more than 200 corporate members and a developer network of more than 50,000, launched in January of 2012 and initiated European operations and membership services in April 2014.
“We measure Alliance growth and success by the number of members we proudly serve, the quality of the team working to support our members, and the value we provide. On all three counts, I am proud of our team and the service we deliver,” Apps Alliance President Jon Potter said. “Laura and her team have worked tirelessly with and on behalf of our members and the developer community to support their work. Developers have a limitless desire to build, they work without geographic borders, and with a constant eye toward innovation. We are doing our best to follow their example.”
Global Director of Membership – Laura Bolos, who has managed U.S. membership activity since 2012, will lead the global membership team and oversee all membership acquisition, service and programming. Apps Alliance membership now includes 214 companies and a network of more than 55,000 developers from 141 countries. In 2015 more than forty events – including 30 App Strategy Workshops – have already been scheduled in the U.S. and Europe.
Director of Developer Relations – Mike Schwartz, based in San Francisco, leads Apps Alliance activity that supports individual developers. Mike’s team is responsible for engaging and serving developers, growing the Apps Alliance developer network, and managing our DEVSBUILD.IT platform.
Director of Membership, Europe – Keir Ferris, based in London, has led Alliance programming and content for our expanding European membership. As Director of Membership, Europe, Keir will now oversee both the membership team and the event and programming team.
Program and Events Manager – Lauren Smith is a member of the Alliance team that produced more than 20 events in 2014. Her expanded responsibilities include content development, strategic partnerships, and event programming.
General Manager – Jon Bassford has been Alliance Director of Operations and Administration since 2012. In his new role Jon will oversee global operations and administration (including Legal, Finance and Human Resources) and will also coordinate Alliance Working Groups.
The Application Developers Alliance is a non-profit global membership organization that supports developers as creators, innovators, and entrepreneurs. We promote the continued growth of the industry and advocate on behalf of our members on public policy and industry issues. The Apps Alliance serves a growing membership of tens of thousands of developers and hundreds of companies including: mobile app publishers, platforms, wireless carriers, hardware manufacturers, ad networks, enterprise tools and service providers.