John J. Kilcullen

JOHN J. KILCULLEN is Chairman and CEO of IDG Books Worldwide, Inc., a
subsidiary of $2 billion International Data Group, and the publisher of
Tom Hopkins’ critically-acclaimed ‘Selling for Dummies”, ‘Sales
Prospecting for Dummies” and ‘Sales Closing for Dummies” and Zig
Ziglar’s recently published ‘Success for Dummies”. As a member of the
four-person team that founded IDG Books Worldwide in 1990, Mr. Kilcullen
has led the company through eight consecutive years of record revenue
growth with 1997 global revenues surpassing $120 million. Mr. Kilcullen
created the idea for the world famous For Dummies’ brand and was awarded
the 1995 Advertising Age ‘Marketing 100’ award for his creative
marketing of ‘DOS for Dummies’ and the for Dummies series. Mr. Kilcullen
graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from Fordham
University. Mr. Kilcullen is currently on the Advisory Board of Cardinal
Spellman High School, Bronx, New York where he attended high school.
Before joining IDG Books Worldwide, Inc., Mr. Kilcullen spent nine years
in various sales and marketing management positions at publishing
industry leaders Prentice-Hall, the Bantam/Doubleday/Dell Publishing
Group and computer book publisher Que. Mr. Kilcullen has been a popular
guest lecturer on the subject of ‘Start-up Publishing for Dummies’ at
the Stanford Professional Publishing Course at Stanford University since
1992. He received IDG’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 1992 and IDG’s
Chairman’s Cup for Overall Management Excellence among all 89 IDG
business units in 1995. Mr. Kilcullen was also voted one of Irish
America Magazine’s 1996 Business 100 – an award which recognizes
outstanding corporate success in the Irish American community. In
addition, Mr. Kilcullen was recently awarded Fordham University’s 1997
Alumni Achievement Award. Under Mr. Kilcullen’s leadership, IDG Books
Worldwide, Inc. has won over 155 awards, including the 1997 Publisher’s
Marketing Association Award for overall editorial design and independent
publishing excellence. IDG Books’ top titles include ‘Windows 95 For
Dummies”, ‘Personal Finance For Dummies” and ‘Investing For Dummies”,
which have made such bestseller lists as The New York Times, USA Today,
Business Week and The Wall Street Journal. IDG Books’ list of celebrity
authors includes Tom Hopkins, Florence Griffith Joyner, CBS Television’s
Gary McCord, Stephanie Seymour, Charlie Trotter, Dr. Ruth Westheimer,
Kristi Yamaguchi and Zig Ziglar. Recently profiled in People magazine,
Mr. Kilcullen has also been profiled in The New York Times, San
Francisco Chronicle, USA Today, Personal Selling Power, Success, and
Southwest Airlines’ Spirit and San Jose Mercury News’ ‘West’ magazines.
Television appearances include CNBC, CNN, Bay TV, and Canada’s Dini
Petty Show. With major media appearances in England, Singapore,
Australia and a number of other countries to his credit, Mr. Kilcullen
travels as the ‘Ambassador’ for IDG Books Worldwide as the company
expands its licensing and publishing operations in books, music, board
games, television and Internet education and training.
STEVEN BERKOWITZ, is President and Publisher of IDG Books Worldwide,
Inc., a subsidiary of International Data Group. Mr. Berkowitz joined the
eight year old company in 1994 as chief financial officer and quickly
rose to the role of chief operating officer. In November of 1996, Mr.
Berkowitz was promoted to President and Publisher of IDG Books Worldwide
and continues to provide innovative leadership through both roles. In
the four years Mr. Berkowitz has been with the young company, he has led
an aggressive company-wide expansion, which has increased sales from $30
million to over $160 million in fiscal year 1997, making IDG Books
Worldwide one of the fastest growing publishers in the United States.
Mr. Berkowitz graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the State
University of New York at Albany. Before joining IDG Books Worldwide,
Mr. Berkowitz was publisher at both MIS Press and M&T Books in New York
City. As President and Publisher of IDG Books Worldwide, Mr. Berkowitz
is responsible for U.S. and export sales, marketing, publishing, and
worldwide operations for all book and online properties. Mr. Berkowitz
is a driving force behind IDG Books’ primary goal understanding the
customers’ needs and translating this into best selling books that
deliver the know-how people need to succeed at work and at home. His
mission is to continue to expand the intellectual property and domestic
& global reach of the company, which now publishes in 37 languages
around the world.