Viewpoint Names Dell and Sony Veteran Tony D'Anna VP and GM of Search Business
Friday, 26 May 2006
Viewpoint Corporation, an Internet marketing technology company, announced the appointment of Tony D'Anna as vice president and general manager of its Search Products Group.
In this role, D’Anna will draw on his past leadership experience at both Dell and Sony Electronics, to evaluate growth opportunities for Viewpoint's search business beyond the existing custom toolbar and Fotomat offerings. At Dell, he was responsible for many consumer and B-to-B businesses for leading multi-billion dollar technology companies.
D'Anna comes to Viewpoint from Dell Inc., where he directed a sales organization responsible for more than 150 Dell Direct Store locations nationally. In addition, D'Anna held several senior positions at Sony Electronics, including managing the operations for Sony's Direct Sales Business.
"Tony will leverage his wealth of experience in managing sales and operations for marquis technology companies to define a strategic focus that will drive growth in our search business," said Patrick Vogt, chief executive officer of Viewpoint. "We are confident that he will add tremendous value to our search business and our executive team."
"Viewpoint has a demonstrated track record of innovation and has huge growth potential," said D'Anna. "I look forward to playing a role as Viewpoint capitalizes on the growing market, relying on its proven technology legacy and strong business plan."
Viewpoint granted 150,000 options to purchase its common stock to D'Anna at an exercise price equal to the fair market value of Viewpoint's common stock on the date of grant. These grants were approved by Viewpoint's Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors and met the "employee inducement" exception to NASDAQ's rules adopted in 2003 requiring shareholder approval of equity-based incentive plans. The options have been classified as non-qualified stock options, have an exercise price equal to the fair market value on the grant date, have a seven-year term, and vest over 36 months, subject to continued employment and other conditions.