Barby MacGowan

Background

About Barby MacGowan

Barby founded Media Pro International in 1988 to serve corporate entities developing marketing relationships with sailing and other recreational and professional sports. Today, Media Pro is known internationally as one of the marine industry's top specialists in the promotion of events, campaigns and products, with a focus on taking corporate messages beyond the industry and into the mainstream media. More recently, Media Pro has moved into the promotion of select motorsports events for Rolex Watch U.S.A, one of its primary clients in the yachting world. Barby has served as the U.S. Olympic Committee's press liaison for sailing at three summer Olympic Games (Atlanta 1996, Sydney and Athens 2004) and multiple Pan American Games and U.S. Olympic Festivals, in addition to the 1994 Goodwill Games held in St. Petersburg, Russia. From 1984-1987, she was Assistant Communications Director at US SAILING, the national governing body for sailing, and prior to that she co-published the successful 12-Meter Beat magazine, which featured the people and happenings surrounding the 1983 America's Cup. That year, when Newport, R.I, lost the Cup, it gained the Texas transplant. A sailing instructor from the age of 15, Barby had her captain's license by the time she was 22 and worked as an offshore instructor for the Steve Colgate Offshore Sailing School on Martha's Vineyard. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Advertising/Communications from the University of Texas.