Scot Wingo has a reputation as one of the Triangle's more fun-loving CEOs, and he proved it again at the close of this year's Catalyst conference in Durham.

Catalyst, in its 10th year, brings together retail and tech professionals to discuss the best practices, innovations and strategies that retailers are using in the e-commerce world. It is hosted by Wingo's ChannelAdvisor, a RTP company that designs software that allows retailers to sell and market goods online.

At the conclusion of the final session today, the lights in the ballroom of the Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club went dark and the video screens flickered on. What followed was a ChannelAdvisor spoof of this year's popular Super Bowl ad touting Detroit and featuring Eminem.

ChannelAdvisor has promoted one of its executives to handle more of the daily operations at the fast-growing Morrisville technology company.

David Spitz, right, who joined the company four years ago and is now chief operating officer, will take the title of president, and oversee global sales and marketing.

The move will give CEO and co-founder Scot Wingo, left, more time to spend with customers and "to chart the strategic path of the company," said spokeswoman Delisa Reavis.

ChannelAdvisor develops software and services that helps more than 3,000 retailers sell products online.

The mood at ChannelAdvisor is significantly brighter than it was a year ago.

Last January, the Morrisville-based technology company reported it was cutting about 50 workers, its second round of layoffs in four months.
 
This morning officials announced that they plan to hire about 60 salespeople, engineers and other employees in 2010. That's on top of more than 50 hired in the second half of last year as the economy and ChannelAdvisor's business recovered.

The company sells software and services to help retailers sell products online. ChannelAdvisor last year added new customers such as Lenovo, Newport News and Spiegel, and saw record volume during the recent holiday shopping season.

The private company doesn't disclose financial results, but finished 2009 with a profit, CEO Scot Wingo said in a prepared statement. "We're the most efficient we've ever been and have set the stage for solid, profitable growth in 2010."

When you're a tech company CEO in Research Triangle Park looking to hire 25 new sales staff and other employees, some free national publicity can't hurt.

The Wall Street Journal, in its front-page story this morning about July's U.S. jobs report, cited ChannelAdvisor as an example of employers that are slowly returning to growth mode.

The story also quotes ChannelAdvisor CEO Scot Wingo about his plans to add about 25 new employees by the end of the year.

ChannelAdvisor is hiring. A few years back, that wouldn't be stop-the-presses sort of news.

But this is the great recession, after all. And it is the same technology company that in January announced its second layoffs in four months, cutting about 50 workers, including 25 at its headquarters in Research Triangle Park.

Now its business has improved and the company is hoping to hire 20-25 people, mostly in sales but also a few engineers.

"In January, we were sitting there looking over a cliff and we didn't know what was at the bottom," said CEO Scot Wingo. "The word a lot of our partners are using is 'stabilized,' which is good."