Erik Butter
President of Mr. Gay World and Chairman of the Board

ERIC BUTTER, a philanthropist, graduated with a degree in Pharmacy and a Master's degree in Management and worked in the pharmaceutical industry before pursuing one of his passions - obtaining his Commercial Pilot's License. His greatest interests are not only aero planes, collecting watches, orchids, playing soccer and fast cars but he also has an innate passion for Art and the culinary interests.

He is fluent in the English and Spanish languages and after travelling for leisure and extensively throughout the world visiting 67 countries, he made Sydney, Australia his home.

Eric, 36, who is often described by his friends as the perfect balance of an entrepreneur and a gentleman of leisure, likes to work closely with the Gay Community and enjoys life the true Aussie way. He can be found in Sydney's renowned and famous Bondi Beach, in any of Australia's fine dining restaurants, racing cars or in the heart of the world's most beautiful city, Sydney.

Eric as a child had an immense passion towards international and multi cultural competitions like the Olympics, Soccer World Cup and of course, the Miss Universe Pageant. Now as an adult he felt the need to pursue this passion and having gained experiences in this field for the last three years, he decided to be surrounded by a very talented and gifted group of people and create the Mr. Gay World Competition. Eric has been part of the jury, amongst other competitions and events, at  Mr. Gay Australia 2007, Mr. Gay USA 2007, Mr. Gay International 2008, Mr. Gay Canada 2008, Mr. Gay Ireland 2008 and Mr. Gay Australia 2008. 

Dean Nelson
Director of the Board

DEAN NELSON is the Chief Executive Officer of Alpenglow Productions which produces one of the largest annual Gay Ski Weeks – WinterPRIDE.  This past season 2007/08 Gay.com and PlanetOUT named GayWhistler’s WinterPRIDE the #1 Gay Ski Week on the planet as well as the Out Traveler naming WinterPRIDE the #1 Lesbian welcoming Ski Week in the world. 

Dean also holds an active seat on the Vancouver Pride Society which produces Western Canada’s largest single day event – the Vancouver Pride Parade & Festival with over 530,000 guests in attendance.  Dean is also the Executive Producer of Mr. Gay Canada which is his vehicle to help groom Canada’s next gay leaders as we continue our fight for global equality for all humans.

Tore Aasheim,
Managing Director and Director of Communication /Media

TORE AASHEIM has an international Diploma in Journalism and has been working with every field in the media, from being a news stringer and freelancer to Editor in Chief for a radio station, a newspaper and several lifestyle magazines.

He has been the Managing Director of two various model agencies and an acting school which also trained models for international careers in Milan, Paris and New York. Tore has produced several shows for film companies and record companies, co-produced events for political parties and different junkets alike. Tore has also worked in television with a national music show and interactive TV shows, everything from public service to gay lifestyle.

Aasheim is the chairman of the cultural committee in one of the city districts in Oslo, he works for Starlounge, Europe’s fastest celebrity site and in addition of being the executive producer of MGE he is responsible for the press relations and marketing of the competition.