MarinaMartinHeadshot
Marina Martin

Seattle’s Marina Martin has been named chief technology officer at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Martin, who organized the Startup Weekend GOV edition in Seattle last year and was the owner of the consultancy shop The Type-A Way, has yet to be formally introduced in the new role.  For the past year, she has lived in D.C., working as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Department of Education and then as a Senior Advisor to US CTO Todd Park.

In Seattle, she served on the City of Seattle’s Citizens Technology and Telecommunications Advisory Board for three years.

Martin declined to comment on the specifics of the job, and said a more formal announcement about her appointment will bet set in the coming weeks. But Martin, who wrote her last book, Business Efficiency for Dummies, at Uptown Espresso and Top Pot Donuts in Seattle, said she’s excited about the role she can play in government.

“Working on technology policy in the White House naturally led to other opportunities, and I’m thrilled to continue to be able to help use technology to make a real difference in the lives of everyday Americans,” she told GeekWire.

Martin replaces Peter Levin, who had filled the CTO role at the Veterans Affairs Department for the past three years.

Bob Bemis
Bob Bemis

—Bob Bemis, who was hired by Zillow in February 2012 to serve as vice president of partner relations, has left the Seattle online real estate company. Zillow declined to comment on the departure. But in an in-depth story on real estate news site Inman, Bemis said he left the company in part because of a frustration building relationships with multiple listing services. “Most MLSs didn’t see a great advantage in setting up direct data feeds,” Bemis said. “I just don’t think we’re there yet.”

Bemis, who was named one of the 100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders by Inman News in 2011, is the former chief executive officer of the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service.

Historically, Zillow has encountered a rocky road with multiple listing services, especially as it relates to obtaining direct data feeds of new property listings. Those direct feeds can help real estate hubs like Zillow post more complete and timely information, critical in a fast-paced real estate market. In fact, last October, Seattle real estate brokerage Redfin published results from a survey which indicated that Zillow and Trulia lacked comprehensive listings when compared to brokerages. Bemis, 65, told Inman that his departure from the company was a mutual decision and he left on good terms.

—Public relations and digital marketing firm Atomic has established a new office in Seattle under the direction of Nick Olsson, a Seattle native who had previously worked in San Francisco. Other new hires in the office include Ali Kramer and Cheryl Valdez. Atomic has worked with Seattle area clients such as Clipboard, Contour, K2 Software, Sidecar and SURF Incubator.

Derrick Mar
Derrick Mar

—Derrick Mar has been named senior vice president of engineering and client services at Scout Analytics, an Issaquah company that specializes in business analytics. Mar has more than 20 years of experience in the tech industry, working for companies such as IBM, McAfee, Microsoft and TIBCO. He is the former CTO of Varolii Corporation and GridStat. 

“Scout Analytics’ sophisticated predictive analytics has become the leading technology for orchestrating sales, marketing, customer success, and support to retain and grow customer relationships,” said Mar in a statement. “As business demand for predictive analytics continues, I look forward to advancing the Scout Analytics platform and ecosystem integrations that will allow the company to capitalize on a tremendous market opportunity.” Mar holds a B.S. in computer science from the University of Washington, as well as an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.

—Redmond-based Data I/O Corporation has named Rajeev Gulati as vice president and chief technology officer. Gulati — who holds a Master of Science in Electrical & Computer Engineering from the University of Texas, Austin and a degree in Electrical Engineering from the Delhi College of Engineering — is the former director of software engineering at AMD.

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