ABOUT
The world experts in "The Business of Exploration"
Explorer Consulting provides consulting services on "the business of exploration” to companies and individuals engaged in international exploration and adventure travel. "The business of exploration" is the how, what and why aspect of exploration or, in other words, the "nuts and bolts" aspect of turning an idea into reality. We offer everything from legal and operational advice to a complete fulfillment of the adventurer/explorer client’s vision of the experience of a lifetime. Services cover every aspect of the business of exploration, including:
-
Advising on the application of relevant domestic and international law.
-
Obtaining legal clearance and overcoming permit barriers.
-
Developing organizational structures, either non-profit or for-profit, and corporate registration.
-
Securing corporate sponsorship and strategic partnerships.
-
Negotiating film, television and literary agreements.
-
Securing media partnerships.
-
Protecting and maximizing the return on intellectual property.
-
Full-scale expedition planning.
-
Organizing logistics.
-
Chartering ships, aircraft and equipment.
-
Developing and implementing risk management plans and providing options such as on-site medical care, emergency evacuation coverage and alternative solutions.
-
Recruiting and hiring team members.
-
On-site expedition leadership.
While many of the company’s services are provided in-house, Explorer Consulting also offers services through its international network of world-class affiliates, including: experts in cinematography and photography, film and television production, travel logistics; ship, aircraft and equipment owners; providers of expedition medicine; search and recovery experts; and media and public relations professionals. The company regularly works with academics and scientists to develop project-specific material, including research designs, archaeology plans, educational material, and plans for artifact conservation and exhibition. In addition, Explorer Consulting has an in-house production company which produces programming for film and television.
To download a company bio, please click here.
David Concannon, Founder & Principal
David Concannon has more than 30 years of experience organizing and leading expeditions. He has served as a legal and operational advisor to several international expeditions, including ten expeditions to the R.M.S. Titanic, two expeditions to Mt. Everest, an expedition to explore the wreck of the German battleship Bismarck and the Atlantic Sands expedition. He has participated in or led numerous expeditions to remote parts of the world, including a climbing expedition in Africa in 1989 (before Western-guided climbs were common), five expeditions to explore the wreck of the Titanic using manned submersibles, an expedition that discovered the world’s deepest wooden shipwreck in the heart of the Bermuda Triangle, an expedition that discovered two well-preserved F4U-1 Corsair fighter planes in fresh water, and an expedition to explore the HMHS Britannic, sister ship of the Titanic. He organized and led the last expedition to explore the Titanic using the Russian Mir deep diving submersibles and the Apollo F-1 Engine Search & Recovery Project, which found and recovered the Apollo F-1 rocket engines that launched men to the moon.
David is a Fellow of The Explorers Club and a member of the Sea Space Symposium. He was among the youngest members inducted into both organizations, he recently served as a Vice President of The Explorers Club, and he has served on the Board of Directors of both organizations. David is considered one of the world's foremost legal experts on the issues affecting exploration. He has served as General Counsel to a number of organizations engaged in exploration, including the X-PRIZE Foundation, The Explorers Club, the Anglo-Dutch Maritime Archaeology Team and the Professional Shipwreck Explorers Association. His clients include climbers, divers, technologists, maritime, aviation and private space corporations, outdoor equipment manufacturers and a myriad of other explorers.
Matthew Charles, Law & Technology
Matthew Charles is an attorney, photographer and technology specialist. He has extensive experience in intellectual property law, technology, photography, sound and film production. Matt brings technical knowledge and experience with a variety of technologies including video and audio equipment, media software platforms, large scale data storage for media applications, communications, networking, logistics for technology in remote locations and general IT support.
Matt was integral to the success of the Apollo F-1 Search & Recovery Project. He helped organize and participated in the 2011 expedition that discovered the S-IC first stages from eight Apollo missions (Apollo 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 16), and the 2013 expedition that recovered the F-1 engines from several Apollo missions, including Apollo 11, at a depth of 14,000 feet/4,267 meters in the Atlantic Ocean. A scuba diver, Matt regularly counsels companies involved in underwater exploration. He spends his free time either on the water, making music or finding unique subjects to capture with his lens.
Kim Frank, Storyteller, Writer & Editor
Kim Frank is an award-winning storyteller, writer and editor whose work has been published in American Literary Review, Sidetracked Magazine: The Journal of Adventure, Expeditions and Exploration, Shadowgraph, DuPont Registry, Blackbird, Drunken Boat, Every Day a Century, Colorado Review, and monthly in SVPN Magazine. Whether writing about an expedition to explore the HMHS Britannic, kayaking remote rivers in China, setting the speed record for an electric vehicle, or documenting the nomadic Nenets of Northwest Siberia, Kim’s eye for story and gifted prose brings exploration and adventure to light.
Kim is a 2014 Idaho Literature Fellow with an MFA from the Warren Wilson Program for Writers and an MSW from the University of Pennsylvania. A 2013 UCross Artist Residency Fellow, her novel excerpt, "Our Red Thread," was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Kim served as the writer and editor for the Wild Born Project, and she recently completed two editing/writing book projects: Amaze by SeaLegacy’s Cristina Mittermeier and Born to Ice by National Geographic photographer, Paul Nicklen. Kim is a Writer and Editor for Maptia, crafting long-form stories with some of the world’s top photographers, together highlighting conservation, exploration, and adventure across the globe. She is currently working on magazine and book projects in India.
Our International Network of World-Class Affiliates
Explorer Consulting regularly works with an international network of world-class affiliates to offer customized solutions for each client's needs. The best example of our expertise in team-building to achieve unparalleled success is the Apollo F-1 Search & Recovery Project Team, which was awarded the 2014 Explorers Club Citation of Merit for "an outstanding feat of exploration." In receiving this award, the Apollo F-1 Project Team joined the ranks of other notable explorers that have received the same honor, including polar explorers Naomi Uemura and Will Steger, the 1963 American Mt. Everest Expedition; Gilbert M. Grosvenor, President of the National Geographic Society; and Robert Ballard, Ph. D., for the discovery of the Titanic.
Each project is different and therefore requires a different set of skills, from organizing or leading a large-scale expedition to a remote location to film a documentary to negotiating corporate sponsorship; developing a marketing and communications plan; chartering ships, equipment and aircraft; or navigating the myriad of legal and logistical issues that hinder explorers from getting into the filed. Whenever necessary, we have the ability to call on an unparalleled group of international affiliates to provide any area of expertise, from expedition medicine to search and recovery, archaeology, artifact conservation, aviation and documentary film production. Each team member is selected for the expertise and trustworthiness. Consequently, our teams have a proven track record of success.
LET'S GET GOING!
“We are an experienced consultancy in a complex field. We solve problems, and we relish helping our clients realize their dreams. We look forward to meeting you and your team and helping you define your goals, develop solutions - and realize them! We would be happy to help you. Just give us a call or send us a message."
David Concannon, Founder & Principal, Explorer Consulting