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Who's Who: L. Kelly Jones

Variety - from jurisprudence to pub-grill management - has spiced the career of GameCom/Ferris's chief executive officer.

February 21, 2002

For most people, the trajectory of a career is a series of sequential moves, gradual expansions, and additions to one's realm of business experience. The move from sales representative to sales manager to general manager to chief executive officer is one example of a logical process.

But in the case of GameCom/Ferris Inc. chief executive officer L. Kelly Jones, the path has been much more circuitous: from lawyer to restaurateur to chief executive officer of a virtual reality company.

"It's been a long and winding road," Jones said with a laugh, quoting his favorite band, The Beatles.

It is a road that has led him to the virtual reality and gaming/entertainment kiosk business. And he is quite happy with his current station in life.

Member of the bar, owner of the bar

Jones graduated with a Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas in 1978, and became a practicing attorney. In 1980 he started his own firm, Jones & Cannon, which is still actively practicing.

But several years later, he was introduced to the restaurant and pub business through a good friend.

"Everything in life goes back to vices," he said. "I spent a lot of time in Colorado and befriended the owner of a brew pub there. And we decided that if Texas law ever allowed us to put in a brew pub there, we would. So we did."

GameCom/Ferris chief executive officer L. Kelly Jones has overseen an expansion of the company's holdings and interests.

It was during his time managing and building his pub (Hubcap Brewery & Kitchen, which stayed open until the late `90's) that Jones got interested in the kiosk and virtual reality business.

"We had the brew pub and thought, how can we differentiate ourselves from others," Jones recalls. "And we came upon interactive computer gaming in a social setting. So we started building our kiosks."

Out of this work, GameCom was born. The company was founded in 1993, and Jones became chief executive officer four years later.

Jones has also been civic-minded; he served on the city council in Arlington, Texas, from 1985 through `89, and sat on the board of regents at Stephen F. Austin State University from 1987 through `93.

"Kelly's very much the brainchild of this company," said Steven Haag, GameCom/Ferris vice president of business development. "It basically started with an idea that he had, and he has the unique ability to take an idea like this, something that's kind of abstract, and surround himself with key people who are experts in those areas and has the unique ability to motivate them to work in concert toward that abstract goal.

"No matter what he does, whether it's in law or private business or politics, I've seen this same trait," he continued.

Growing pains

As GameCom grew and developed, Jones looked for a way to make that growth happen more smoothly. He found it in a virtual reality company called Ferris Productions Inc.

"We wanted a partner a bit further along than we were, and that's when we ran across Ferris," he said. "It was a partnership from the very beginning - what Ferris was weak in, we were strong in, and vice versa. It's truly been a merger where one plus one equals three."

But the merger was not easy. The letter of intent was signed on April 18, one day after Ferris terminated a similar letter with Entertainment Technologies & Programs Inc. (ETPI). ETPI filed suit to block the move, but GameCom filed a motion to have the suit dismissed and went ahead with the merger during the final week of September after it was approved by GameCom's shareholders.

Jones' legal background made him especially effective during this period of time, Haag said.

"To have a CEO who is an attorney - talk about not having to wait for legal to give us advice," he said. "I think because that mindset is integrated into him, it's very beneficial - he brings to the table an understanding of contractual agreements and business deals. It's ever present, and I really think it gives you a confidence to move ahead in a direction that he's given for us."

GameCom/Ferris announced a net loss of $649,384 for the third quarter of 2001 ending Sept. 30, on revenue of $941,672. At the time, the company said that it would continue to market its own GameLink line of interactive/Internet/kiosk games while counting on the success of Ferris products to generate revenue.

But in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, GameCom/Ferris has added another string to its corporate bow, taking on national security consulting. The company has developed a multimedia training and simulation services division and hired two security consultants to work on the project.

"I've said publicly that we have been engaged in dialog at the highest levels with representatives of homeland security. I can't say anything more at this time, but I think that our company is about to undergo a dramatic change," Jones said.

"The events of Sept. 11 have greatly changed our government's reliance on training, and using technology for simulation training purposes," he added. "So we're trying to change our business plan to focus more on the simulation opportunity. There's a special opportunity right now - it's a very unique time in the area of training."

Away from the office

Jones said that his business success has taken years of hard work and, like many professionals, he is somewhat stoic about how time spent at the office is time away from his family. With a daughter who recently moved away to attend college, family has been on his mind recently.

"But I have a strong philosophy about that - everything in life has a price," he said. "I have paid the price and chosen to be very active and successful in the field of law, and now I have chosen to try to build this company into a very viable company on a major stock exchange. Those things don't just happen - you have to pay a price with that. Part of the price I pay is with time taken from my family, part of it is less sleep, and part of it is a higher golf handicap.

"There have been ample opportunities to walk away from this corporation," he added. "When I took it over, it was nothing more than records in a shoebox. But we've brought it a long way, and there's a huge amount of pride in seeing that done. But it doesn't come easily."

Despite his busy schedule, Jones makes it a point to indulge in his hobby of choice - golf - twice a week. He is also a passionate Beatles collector; he owns two of their gold records and has traveled to Liverpool and many sites relevant to a devoted Beatle-phile (Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, etc.).

"My favorite thing is my 1963 autographs," he said. "They were obtained in Sweden a few weeks before `Meet the Beatles' was released. It was right before they really hit in England, and it's just a great set of autographs."