Closing the Deal

Ira Cohen is the recipient of the CCH ‘Special Award for Outstanding Contribution to HR in China and Hong Kong”; and the World Institute for Action Learning 2013 Global Research Excellence Award.

As Executive Vice-President of Universal Ideas, Ira leads a management consultancy firm that specializes in selling, marketing, market research, coordination and business development for training initiatives from seminars to comprehensive management of EMBA programs. UI is widely recognized for the “Training Services in China Directory” now in its 19th year of publication with more than 190,000 copies in circulation to HR managers throughout China. Cohen is well versed in street vending, education, training and travel service sales.

Ira is honored to be a current elected member of the American Chamber of Commerce China 2012-2016 Board of Governors. Cohen holds a BA and MA in Communication Arts, Postgraduate Diploma in International Business Management, an MBA degree and PhD (12/15) with a dissertation focus solving the business challenges and developing the innovation competencies of Chinese SME entrepreneurs through the application of action learning.

He has lived and also held entrepreneurial and sales oriented positions in the UK, Holland, Canada, the US and has been a resident of Beijing since 1991. In 2004, Ira became the first North American to be trained in China and receive a Chinese issued helicopter private pilot’s license recognized worldwide. So he really does have a helicopter view of doing business in China.

Eric Hirsch joined Jones Lang LaSalle in 2004 and is the head of Jones Lang LaSalle’s Commercial business in Beijing. As one of the foremost commercial property experts in the Beijing real estate market, Eric has over 20 years of experience in both the China and US market. His expertise covers marketing consultancy of major commercial developments, portfolio leasing, general market agency and tenant representation. He has worked on major projects in New York and Beijing including representing tenants such as AP, ABN AMRO, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, BHP Billiton, Baker & McKenzie, Cisco Systems, Dewey Ballantine, DLA Piper, Honeywell, KPMG, Sony Ericsson, Marsh McLennan and Volkswagen since then. He has been involved in over USD 1 billion worth of office leasing transactions during his career.

Eric holds a BA in History from the Pennsylvania State University. He has also won several industry and internal company awards. Eric Hirsch is the Chairman of the Real Estate Forum at the American Chamber of Commerce in China (Beijing) and on the Board of Directors of the Surmang Foundation.

Zhe JIA (Jason) is a seasoned sales and marketing professional with more than 10 years’ experience both in China and North America.

He worked in Greater China area and also North America with his unique experience in Canada for six years holding senior sales and marketing positions to cover global sales and marketing initiatives for international organizations.

Jason graduates from Peking University holding Economics and Literature degrees. He earned his MBA from Peking University and post graduate in Finance from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Eric L. Schmidt is the CEO of EventBank, an enterprise engagement marketing automation SaaS platform. Founded in 2013,‎ the company now has offices in Silicon Valley and Beijing. Eric is also the Chairman and Founder of China Entrepreneurs, which he started in 2003 as an informal resource for entrepreneurs in China and it has grown to become the leading platform for entrepreneurship in China. He has worked with Chinese venture capital and private equity investments and incubated start-up technology companies. Mr. Schmidt co-founded 1 Lacrosse LLC (a sports equipment company) and successfully exited in 2009, as well as Ivy Discovery Institute (an educational services company).

Eric has traveled to over 50 countries and in 2004, sponsored by Nike and Phillips, he traced Marco Polo’s route, cycling 100 days from Beijing, China to Venice, Italy. Eric holds both a M.S. with a focus in Technological Entrepreneurship and a B.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). Mr. Schmidt has been featured on media such as the BBC, The Wall Street Journal, Baron’s, CCTV, China Daily and numerous other outlets.

Sai Yan has a wealth of experience both in military and civilian life with respect to motivation and negotiation skills. These skills also extend across both Eastern and Western cultures. Prior to working with ClarkMorgan she was working in both China and the USA and has both solid academic and practical skills.
Sai Yan is also ClarkMorgan’s Business Development Director and manages a team of sales professionals across China. Last year, her motivational Sales & Negotiation Training was well appreciated by Toyota sales team. Most recently, she has been involved in training sales and negotiation skills to over 75 newly hired Chinese employees for British firm, Kingfisher (B&Q’s parent company), ‘world’s first’ interactive 4D store, known as VIVID.