Vernon Irvin facts for kids

Vernon L. Irvin is a successful business leader. He was born near Pittsburgh. Currently, he is a top executive at Everbridge. This company helps keep people safe during emergencies. Before Everbridge, Mr. Irvin led a big part of CenturyLink. He also held important jobs at Time Warner Cable and XM Satellite Radio. He worked at companies like MCI and VeriSign too. He helped these companies grow and connect people.

Vernon Irvin's Early Life and Career

Vernon Irvin grew up in Braddock, Pennsylvania. This is a town near Pittsburgh. His father worked for US Steel, and his mother taught beauty care. After school, Mr. Irvin started working in the computer and phone industries. He quickly moved into leadership roles at big communication companies. These included MCI and Ameritech.

Helping MCI Grow

At MCI, Mr. Irvin started in sales. He then joined the marketing team. He helped create the "Friends & Family" plan. This plan made it cheaper for people to call each other. It helped MCI compete with bigger companies like AT&T. This plan brought many new customers to MCI.

Leading at British Telecom

In May 1999, Mr. Irvin joined British Telecommunications (BT). He became the President of their content and media division. His job was to build up this part of the company. It was a big challenge because it was very small at first. Mr. Irvin helped this division grow into a huge business. It made $500 million and had over 2,000 employees. He did this by buying other companies in France and Germany. He also set high standards for the business.

Working with American Management Systems

After BT, Mr. Irvin joined American Management Systems (AMS) in 2002. He was an executive vice president there. He worked to improve the company's communication business. He believed that companies needed to change. They had to move from old phone services to new internet and mobile services.

Vernon Irvin and Mobile Entertainment

Mr. Irvin later joined VeriSign, an internet security company. VeriSign was growing by buying other companies. They wanted to connect mobile phone networks safely. In 2004, VeriSign bought a company called Jamba. Jamba made mobile apps, games, and ringtones. Jamba was popular in over 40 countries.

The Rise of Jamster Ringtones

VeriSign saw that mobile phones were becoming very powerful. They had computer technology built in. This meant phones could be a new way to share content. Jamba became Jamster in the United States. Mr. Irvin helped find exciting content for it. He made a deal with Warner Music Group. This allowed mobile users to get early access to music. For example, people could get ringtones from hip-hop artist Mike Jones before his album came out. This helped Mike Jones's album become very popular. The Crazy Frog ringtone also became a huge hit in Europe.

Jamster's Big Success

Jamster grew incredibly fast. It went from making $15 million every three months to $150 million. In 2005, the company made almost $600 million. Jamster also offered more ringtones and content to people who downloaded one. However, some people were charged for these services without knowing. Because of this, there were investigations in the United States and Europe. Eventually, VeriSign sold Jamba/Jamster.

Joining XM Satellite Radio

In 2006, News Corporation bought a big part of Jamba. Soon after, in October 2006, Vernon Irvin joined XM Satellite Radio. He became their chief marketing officer.

Vernon Irvin's Board Memberships

Mr. Irvin has served on the boards of several important organizations. He is on the board of Reuters America. He also serves on the board for the William and Mary School of Business. He helps the Boys and Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley. He used to be on the board of CTIA–The Wireless Association. He also worked with the University of Southern California's Center for Telecom Management. Mr. Irvin helps with the Network Reliability and Interoperability Council. This group works with government agencies and communication companies. They focus on homeland security and emergency network issues.