Harry Fox Appoints Chief Info Officer

The Harry Fox Agency has appointed Samuel Gilchrist as chief information officer. He will be in charge of the IT Client Solutions department in New York, reporting to president/CEO Gary Churgin.

Gilchrist comes to HFA from ProLink Communications, a business and consulting firm for communications and media companies such as Sprint/Nextel, Verizon and Discovery Communications. Prior to joining that company last year, he was director, technology and international development, for the RIAA and SoundExchange from 2001 to 2005. He was the chief technologist for the creation of SoundExchange, the designated agent for the U.S. Copyright Office to collect and distribute digital audio transmission performance royalties to artists and sound recording copyright owners.

"Sam has the perfect combination of IT knowledge and specific music industry expertise to guide our course as we look to build on the technology transformation we achieved over the past two years to create a new platform of services for music publishers," Churgin says. "We're particularly enthusiastic about the opportunity to create a new licensing program for online music services which may arise from Congressional review of proposed changes to the copyright law, and Sam's experience with SoundExchange will be invaluable to HFA in this area."

Gilchrist's professional experience also includes the creation of two business and technology consulting practices, four years with British Telecom, and 10 years of service in the US Army. He has a B.S. in Computer Information Science from the University of Maryland, and completed several Advanced Leadership Training programs while in the Army.

Gilchrist is also on the advisory board of Verve Wireless, and is a founding member of the international mobile media think tank Mobile Media Mondays. Gilchrist is replacing Frank Wander, who left HFA in April to become CIO of Guardian Life Insurance's Group Division.