Executive Team

Leading Message Systems into the future is a team of industry innovators who possess a rare combination of real-world experience and visionary thinking. Their technology expertise, practical solutions and needs-driven approach ensure no-nonsense email solutions for clients of every size.

George Schlossnagle, President and Chief Technology Officer

George brings extensive knowledge and real-world experience managing large enterprise environments and live-data tuning to Message Systems. Before co-founding the company in 1997, he was lead systems administrator at iVillage. He also served as Director of Operations and principal architect of technical changes at Community Connect, Inc., where he helped increase traffic 100-fold and vaulted the company into the top five Nielsen ranked sites in member loyalty. George is an internationally recognized expert in the PHP language, has published numerous technical articles and a critically acclaimed book on the topic, and is a frequent speaker at industry events such as INBOX. Before pursuing his career, he served as a teacher in the Peace Corps for two years and earned an M.A. degree in mathematics from Johns Hopkins University and a Sc.M. degree in mathematics from Brown University.

Barry Abel, Vice President of Field Operations

Barry brings 18 years of enterprise software sales, product management and marketing experience to Message Systems. Previously, he was director of sales at Mindfabric, Inc., a supplier of enterprise-class natural language processing, knowledge management and business rule processing solutions. In this role, he was responsible for recruiting the company's first key reference customers, partnerships and venture capital initiatives. Prior to Mindfabric, Barry held executive sales, marketing and business development positions at high-tech companies including Critical Path, PeerLogic, International Computers Limited (ICL) and Cap Gemini America. He holds a B.S. degree in business management from the University of Maryland.

Erin Ickes, Director of Marketing

Erin has 18 years of experience in results-driven marketing, customer relationship management and business development. Before joining Message Systems, she held customer programs and trade show management positions with PeopleSoft, an enterprise software application company. She successfully created and managed customer programs and worked directly with user groups and industry advisory councils to promote PeopleSoft through marketing and public relations channels. Erin also served as manager of trade shows and business development with the American Nurses Association in Washington, D.C. She earned her B.S. degree from West Virginia University.

James Elder, Chief Financial Officer

James Elder brings 14 years of accounting and finance experience to Message Systems, where he serves as chief financial officer. An expert in financial modeling and analysis, process improvement and redesign, cash management and technology integration, he has deep understanding of financial reporting, analysis, forecasting, budgeting and controls. With diverse experience in the consumer goods, distribution and transportation industries in a variety of roles ranging from director of Planning to director of Financial Operations to audit manager, Elder has developed a talent for proactively identifying and resolving problems, implementing solutions, defining and implementing accounting and operations processes, maximizing productivity and delivering significant profit increases. Prior to joining Message Systems, Elder filled financial and accounting roles at 180s, Aether, Black & Decker and Deloitte & Touche. Elder holds a B.S. in Accounting from Towson University and is a Certified Public Accountant.