David Robarts - Online Publisher Fred

Having worked my way up from selling ties for Austin Reed in Cheapside to completing the in house Management Training course I became deputy manager of the Windsor branch.

In 1988, shortly after getting married, I decided on a career change that would help finance the newly acquired wife and a job away from the giddy world of retail and, more importantly, retail hours and so became the night manager of Romeike Media Intelligence's overnight press clipping bureaux. To the uninitiated this involves reading the National newspapers whilst the ink is still hot and extracting articles to client specifications, then delivering them to said clients desks by 7am in the morning. On paper it looks like the frying pan to the fire but it was surprisingly successful.

Having built this into an extraordinarily successful business (even though I say it my self - but it was) the parent company was sold to a Swedish conglomerate in 2000. After many nervous months awaiting the axe I was made manager of the London branch of the "standard" service (the standard service read something ludicrous like 5000 print, online and broadcast publications and delivered them weeks after publication). Anyway to cut a long story short I ended up as the Production Director responsible for both the London and Peterborough sites.

I decided on a six month career break at the end of 2002 that strangely turned into a 17 month break. I filled the time with gardening and online research into streaming media and php hosting, which was in its infancy at that time. In March 2004 I produced the IFE04 Online Preview and have since produced a further 11 Online Previews or Reviews and associated products across a range of trade events.

For those of you who enjoy the personal touch I live and work in God's country, North Essex, with my four children who free range from 3 to 14 and I mainly work from home. Expect, therefore, when you ring after twelve to be answered by my 3 year old receptionist and after four by anyone - be warned!