The May Report: 12/20/2010: Jason Rexilius on NowSpots; Chris Sweis on Junowallet; Ron Kirschner on All Cell and Kylin Therapeutics; Ara Berberian on HoodFind and what could have been ala Groupon; Tom Figel on Southern Wisconsin Start-Up Accelerator; Sears Holdings goings on; Ditto for the Tribune and 435 Digital; BMOV Media; Jason Shah of Mediafly; Jeffrey Hoffman of Priceline; and more….

Editor and publisher: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com, www.themayreport.com , 773-525-3944.

Assistant editor: Melanie Adcock, iPHONE: 312-259-0610, melanie_adcock@msn.com

If you missed an article, go here: www.tmronline.com/A55951/tmrarticles.nsf/vwFullNewsletter
___________________________
********************************************
The Backlinks Company is offering outstanding Holiday discounts that will help you build a strong online business.

WHEN: December 1, 2010 through January 31, 2011

Take advantage of these offers and give your business, a friend or loved one the gift of success with a brand new website with onsite and offsite optimization included. Included in these discounted packages will be free hosting and email for six months as well as a free yahoo directory listing.

When: December 2010 – January 2011

Where: Worldwide

To take advantage of these deals contact John Triantos:
trio@blcompany.com – 1-303-910-3018

www.blcompany.com.

Mention The May Report and receive an extra discount from The Backlinks Company:

Online marketing services include SEO: Onsite – site map, Google services, Offsite SEO with one or multiple keywords and SEO hosting, Mobile SEO campaigns, Special search engine submissions
Social media and press for SEO.

The Backlinks Company specializes in ranking small and large businesses with first page top search engine rankings in Yahoo!, Google and Bing, and are 100% Compliant with W3 standards.Our services have worked for some of the most successful websites online, and will move your site to the top.
*******************************************
___________________________
TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Scoop section:

– Breaking News: FCC poised to approve net neutrality rules
– Gerald Murphy: December 14 issue of Investors Business Daily
– Ara Berberian: Some interesting thoughts on HoodFind and other firms that may have been left out of the Groupon craze
– Briefly noted, by Ron May
– A parasitic phony that should be exposed
– Don Samuelson: Comments on TMR and local organizations and groups
– Brendan Tripp: Correction on Ron’s Willinger reporting
– Melanie Adcock: Introduction – BMOV Media – Chicago Entertainment Start-Up
– Bob Geras: He was in fact in Hong Kong
– Mark Levy: How well do you know the people you report on?
– Jack Curley: Where he’s been
– Tom Figel: Southern Wisconsin, Startup Accelerator
– Melanie Adcock: Signal (Formerly Interactive Mediums) is featured in QSR Online Magazine
– Sprint Announces Winners of The Sprint 4G App Challenge: Chicago is a Winner Again! This time in the Big Time World of Mobile, Congrats to Jason Shah of MediaFly!
– CHICAGO HIGH SPEED NETWORKING – Wednesday 12th January!
–High Tech and ‘Open Space” Featured at Upcoming LES Meeting February 10-11
– Free Shipping Day Punctuates Heaviest Week of U.S. Online Spending in History as Four Individual Days Eclipse $900 Million
– Gery Chico is now following you (@themayreport) on Twitter!
__________________________
***********************************************
GP Ventures is focused on M&A advisory services for technology companies. GPV has a wide range of industry contacts and experience, both national and international.

2010 has been a great year in terms of activity and it appears that 2011 will continue this trend. I will look forward to talking to you about your strategic goals.

Current projects include:

*Acquisition Programs in the fields of IT Services and Printed Circuit Boards (bare boards)

*Sell-Side Program for 40 Million euro Fiber Optics Company

*Business Development program for Japanese electronics distributor seeking new products in the fields of semiconductors and electronics

*Strategic Partner search for US “Green” device charger manufacturer and Canadian application mapping software firm.

Contact GPV to discuss a program for your technology company.

Tom Kastner
GP Ventures
847-431-3993
mail@gp-ventures.com

GP Ventures: M&A Advisory Services for high technology companies in Electronics, Equipment, IT services, Software, PCBs, Defense, Distribution
*********************************************
________________________________
The Scoop section:
_______________________
Breaking News: FCC poised to approve net neutrality rules

Subject: Breaking News: FCC poised to approve net neutrality rules
Date: 12/20/2010 3:48:01 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: newsletters@email.washingtonpost.com
Reply To: newslettersNFJNJL.845826@email.washingtonpost.com
To: ronaldmay@aol.com

—————————————-
Breaking News Alert: FCC poised to approve net neutrality rules
December 20, 2010 4:42:20 PM
—————————————-

The Federal Communications Commission is poised to pass new rules Tuesday that would prohibit Internet service providers from blocking or giving favorable treatment to certain Web sites. The rule has been the subject of intense lobbying and watched closely by public interest groups and Internet giants such as Google and Facebook.

For more information, visit washingtonpost.com
__________________________________
Gerald Murphy: December 14 issue of Investors Business Daily

From: Gerald Murphy
Subject: Re: The May Report: 12/18/2010: midVentures draws about 130; Social Media Club Chicago draws 150; Lean Tech Start Up draws about 80 and guess what? Stan ‘Howerton’ Laurel and Oliver ‘Hoch’ Hardy abandoned the S. S. ITA to go to The Sync while a major event was going on in their facility; Pyramid scheme of Jerry Mitchell or how Jerry “made off” with the MEF; What’s Gary Slack’s word worth? — Just 3 yrs, that’s all as Slack removes Barshinger from the door; New Life Community Health Center 1st at UIC’s C2V business plan competition; Exciton Systems 2nd; and Cab Tracker 3rd
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 2010 19:42:26 -0800 (PST)
To: The May Report

Dear Ron and Melanie:

In case you have yet to see an article about Silicon Valley, I am sending highlights an abridged version of the text, This article appeared in the December 14 issue of Investors Business Daily, which was on newsstands of December 12 (today).

Highlights:

* The R & D sector there has a commercial real estate industry vacancy rate that is near 21%;
* Late last month, Apple bought 98 acres near its Cupertino home base.
* The Valley has been hurt by the dot-com crash, a rise of offshore outsourcing, the recession, financial meltdown, and a stagnant job market.

Russell Hancock, CEO of the joint venture, Silicon Valley Network said, “It’s as bad as we’ve ever seen. There is enough vacancy to fill fifteen Empire State Buildings”. That group of civic and business leaders works to improve the area’s economy.”Someone told me that (the office) vacancy is enough to fill fifteen Empire State buildings.”

The Silicon Valley venture estimates that its (the office vacancy is 18.6%, manufacturing is at 7.3% and warehoouse vacancy is 10.3%.

James Detar, writer of of the IBD article ventured to state that the vacancy would instead be equivalent to 23-24 Empire State buildings. The local outlook and recent other developments indicated more local growth in the automobile, retail and other sectors. Google and Yahoo have taken substantial amounts of space.

The local developer with the strongest track record, Ed Storm has participated in 110 real estate projects in Silicon Valley. He said, “No one is really busy right now. Job creation is everything.”

In another nearby article in the IBD paper, a strong trend is indicated that we are becoming a people of watchers (spillcams, snooki, ambushes, volcanic clouds, loil clean-ups, images from Facebook, self-watching Etc.).

Gerald Murphy
Oak Brook, IL
630-968-4448

— On Sat, 12/18/10, The May Report wrote:
___________________________________
Ara Berberian: Some interesting thoughts on HoodFind and other firms that may have been left out of the Groupon craze

Subject: Hey Andrew I hope that new angles such as Groupons serves you well
Date: 12/20/2010 9:19:05 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: ajb@hoodfind.com
To: ronaldmay@aol.com, ron@themayreport.com

Hi Ron,

If the subject line above sounds a little wacko, it’s because it comes from an exchange below that I had with Andrew Mason in October 2008 back when Groupon was still largely an idea:

www.screencast.com/users/doobadoo/folders/Jing/media/4c5fbaff-fcba-4462-9e7c-20e42a8325b6

This is a big piece of a story I would like to share with you – one that I think will resonate with your readers, particularly with your remark recently about how the local VC/tech community largely missed out on Groupon.

So what is this HoodFind that Andrew signed up to? As you may remember, HoodFind was a social commerce site that my best friend Terry Kavanaugh and I tried to launch beginning in 2007 before it was called social commerce. We felt that a great local discovery experience wasn’t about drowning in a sea of self-absorbed reviews and 3.5 stars like Yelp. Rather, we set out to design a site to answer the question “what are the best things that local businesses are offering?” and branded those results as Finds – deals, specials, unique services, products and even standout staff that both local businesses could promote and “HoodFinders” could share.

These Finds could change constantly and the big idea was that people would want to be kept in the loop (through the site, of course). But despite a great reception at Tech Cocktail back in February 2008, our service struggled to take off. We did receive some pats on the back from very respectable folks such as Lon Chow at Apex, who graciously told us that we were definitely on to something but that something was “only 3% there.” Greg Rudin, once COO at The Point and now VP of Strategy at Groupon, was another person who “got the idea” and who gave us solid encouragement back in April ’08, before Groupon even existed. That summer, we were also a runner-up to receive ITA’s Ilcelerate grant but that left us right where we began – without much traction.

My partner Terry, unable to see a clear path forward, felt like it was time take a break from the full-time push. By the fall of 2008, I was basically alone but still fighting – talking up the concept with folks like Andrew but unable to execute on the vision. The final blow came in early 2009 when a potential angel and another chief technologist walked away from a significant equity stake in HoodFind. In need of a new groove and staring at a mound of debt, I, like many entrepreneurs, put my dream on hold and went back to work in order to pay the proverbial “bills.”

So in a nutshell, HoodFind stalled out just when the whole idea of social commerce was really beginning to take off. If you go to HoodFind today, you’ll see our site frozen in time – a virtual mausoleum that hasn’t been updated since the summer of 2008 even though we’ve since designed a totally new approach after the demo. So why did it stall when ThePoint turned Groupon succeeded? The cold reality is that we simply failed to execute. And we learned the hard way that you can bootstrap a billion dollar idea to a point but without some capital infusion, a great team and a strong dose of luck, you will simply fail to iterate and evolve.

The funny thing in all of this is that there is STILL a glaring need in the market for more sites, apps and tools that help local businesses promote their BEST products and services that a Yelp, Foursquare, Facebook or Groupon still don’t address completely. And as entrepreneurs involved in a big idea, we still feel that we have the solution.

Our hope with this story is that it serves as yet another call to urge the Chicago community to provide material support to more little startups with big ideas, because you never know who might be the next Groupon. We could also use more folks like Harper Reed and Joe Jablonksi that lend real help and advice. And ultimately, may this story act as a tribute to all the Chicago entrepreneurs out there whose stories and struggles go unknown. Keep at the dream. Keep executing.

All the best,

Ara

PS – Maya Soderberg, your favorite Tech Cocktail 8 attendee sends her hellos.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: Terry Kavanaugh
Subject: Re: ?Hey Andrew, I hope that new angles such as Groupons serves you well.?
Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2010 18:41:44 -0500
To: “Ara J. Berberian”
Cc: ron@themayreport.com

Agreed Ara. Chicago is ripe to turn to turn the corner as an entrepreneurial hub. I see the successes and challenges of entrepreneurs here in New York and the one key element that Chicago has, that New York doesn’t right now, is operating in the immediate orbit of the fastest growing company in history. And if/when HoodFind obtains the right support structure to launch our re-design, no one would lump us in with the Attack of the Groupon Clones.

TK

On Tue, Dec 14, 2010 at 10:45 PM, Ara J. Berberian wrote:

?Hey Andrew, I hope that new angles such as Groupons serves you well.?
_____________________________________
Briefly noted, by Ron May

* I made a bet of sorts with Brad Flora of www.nowspots.com about how easy it would be for me to find out what his firm is up to. That confidence on my part was based on my years of experience that Jason Rexilius is the one thing we need in this business — a good talker.

So, Jason called this afternoon at 12:52pm and he told me that he is a partner in NowSpots along with Brad Flora and that they were introduced to each other by Harper Reed.

Tech guru and self-proclaimed expert Harper Reed was the CTO at www.Threadless.com and then he worked at Rackspace and is now freelancing, if I have that right. You can’t miss him at an event. He has a mohawk, tattoos and earings.

Jason explained that what NowSpots is doing is tying traditional website banner advertising into Facebook and Twitter so that there is a real time social media dimension to it. Their first major client will be online in early January, he said and he asked me to keep their name out of it until then.

I agreed — somewhat reluctantly.

So, NowSpots is not seeking publicity and we have to pull it out of them.

By contrast, our old buddy Chris Sweis called Melanie to tell her about Junowallet’s latest technology venture.

++++++++++++++++++
Subject: Sneak Leak about JunoWallet’s Reward for Likes Program
Date: 12/20/2010 2:05:19 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com

Chris Sweis told me that JunoWallet will turn Facebook likes into gift cards. Basically a person will be able to get something cool in exchange for liking a company’s fan page. The thinking around it is it costs companies $11 per person to acquire new fans, so why not use a gift card to entice more likes and acquire more fans? Sounds like an interesting concept. I’ll look forward to sharing the link and press release when it’s available. The May Report readers are hearing about this first. Another thing Chris told me was Junowallet is supporting a clean drinking water campaign and will donate some money to build a well. You can find out about all of that here: www.facebook.com/junowalletgiftcards

Melanie Adcock
Assistant Editor of The May Report
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/melanieadcock
Cell: 312-259-0610
E-Mail: melanie_adcock@msn.com
The May Report Facebook Page: on.fb.me/TheMayReport
Visit The May Report Archives: bit.ly/TheMayReportArchives
Subscribe to The May Report: bit.ly/TheMayReportSubscribe
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Sweis told Melanie that they are close to launching this new app, but not quite ready yet, and Melanie assured me that she has seen the preliminary link, and it is in fact close to ready to go.

So, there are two scoops for TMR so far today, one provided by Melanie and one provided by me.

Tom Figel called about 11:10am and suggested that we have lunch at Ann Sather’s. That did not give me much time to get ready, but I made it over there (on Belmont near the L).

My regular busboy, — I’m not kidding — Alderman Tom Tunney, and the owner of Ann Sather’s, was not there today.

But quite by coincidence, sitting at the table next to our’s was Ron Kirschner of Heartland Angels. Ron was talking to two young men, both lawyers at Wood/Phillips, Joe Zucchero and Adam Wolek.

I did not want to let the chance meeting with Kirschner go to waste, so I asked him about his hottest investments. Right at the top is All Cell, he said. All Cell, lithium ion battery technology out of IIT, is getting hot. Ron said that he can’t reveal confidences right now but press releases will be forthcoming in 2011 about major deals with auto manufacturers. Boy did he have a big smile on his face, like the cat who just ate the canary. I sense that he senses it may be payoff time for All Cell.
++++++++++++++++++

www.universitytechnologypark.com/mediaroom/index.html

September 30, 2010
AllCell and Matra Debut Sustainable Mobility Energy Storage System at Paris Auto Show
AllCell is a UTP graduate company
AllCell Technologies has designed and developed for Matra Manufacturing Services the Matra Solar Flow-R energy storage system (ESS). The system stores solar energy in an array of high energy lithium-ion battery modules using AllCell’s exclusive, patented PCM technology. Electric scooter and light electric vehicle drivers can swap depleted battery modules from their vehicles with fully charged battery modules or charge the vehicle directly through the power plugs located on the front panel of the ESS. An extra option allows the solar grid-integrated system to supply energy to utility customers during high-rate and peak demand periods, reducing energy costs and increasing renewable energy usage.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The other hot firm Kirschner is invested in, out of West Lafayette, Indiana, is Kylin Therapeutics which provides RNI transport systems.

www.manta.com/c/mmsk1dv/kylin-therapeutics-inc

www.medcitynews.com/2009/12/indianas-kylin-therapeutics-looking-to-raise-2m/

* I have been putting together the data points on Sears Holdings which have recently been coming my way.

Sears Holdings data points
1. Uki Lucas does Droid apps on contract with Sears Holdings.
2. Ariel Randolph whom I met at Tech The Halls does game development there?
3. Hope Bertram is working with Kenmore on social media and consumer research.
4. Former Razorfish employees who were cut are at Sears Holdings now.
5. Bob Tripathi who moderated the SEMPO meeting works there.
6. The hedge fund guy who runs the place out of Connecticut is doing micro-managing, I hear.
7. Parallels to Motorola in 2006 and 2007.

And on the subject of what is going on at the Tribune

1. It is a massive revolving door.
2. They formed a firm called 435 digital and moved Brent Payne there.
3. Possible conflicts of interest here.

435digital.com/services/

Bill Adee – Vice PresidentHave one of the dream jobs in Chicago as VP of digital stuff for @coloneltribune. Was a sports guy until The Colonel enlisted me for digital duty.

Follow on Twitter @bill80

Pedro Castro – Social Media ConsultantSocial Media Consultant, SEO gunslinger and Video Producer for Tribune’s 435 Digital. I also direct videos for youtube.com/bigdogeatchild

Follow on Twitter @pedroRcastro

Jennifer Ciminillo – Art DirectorCreative chameleon and strategist specializing in Facebook customization, web development, brand management. More than decade experience, including Sundance Film Fest & Hollywood Reporter.

Follow on Twitter @jenciminillo

Carly Keenan – Digital Account AssociateMy love affair with Chicago Media has included cool jobs at fun places like: @979TheLoop @Q101Chicago @TribuneMediaGroup @435digital

Follow on Twitter @carlykeenan

Katie Kohler – Sales RepresentativeChicago native returning home after stint as US Senate staffer and two decades in Philly. Former editor @ndsmcnews. Sales Rep @435Digital.

Follow on Twitter @KathleenKohler

Bob McDonald – Director of SalesDigitally focused sales guru with ties to HuntingNet.com, MyFoxChicago.com, ChicagoNow.com, ChicagoTribune.com and now 435 Digital.

Follow on Twitter @bmcd72

Brent D. Payne – SEO & Social Media DirectorSEO & Social Media Director // SEO Speaker // Twitter Addict // Works Hard, Plays Hard // Proud BaldSEO // Spends Too Much Time on a Plane

Follow on Twitter @BrentDPayne

Tracy Samantha Schmidt – Editorial DirectorWriting about & teaching classes on all things digital for @435Digital. In previous lives, editorial director @ChicagoNow & reporter @Time.

Follow on Twitter @tracysamantha

Hana Yi – Social Media InternSocial media consultant for @435digital. Formerly a SM intern for @prsarahevans, Marketing for @ChicagoRedCross and PR for @Bloomingdales.

Follow on Twitter @@hanayi

* Also attending the midVentures event on the 16th at The Sync were Darren Marshall and Phil Tadros from Doejo and Kit Mueller from I know not where these days. He did help me get into the building.

* We have not forgotten the ITA and the huge degree of inconsistency in their so-called policies which are really ad hoc positions infested by mercurial and capricious actions taken by any and every ITA staff member and/or manager. There will be a special report on the ITA soon.

* I have also not forgotten Mr. Willinger and is ten minute radio interview on Saturday morning on WGN at 11am. Much to say about that.
_______________________________________
A parasitic phony that should be exposed

Subject: A parasitic phony that should be exposed
Date: 12/18/2010 9:14:42 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: Name withheld upon request
To: ronaldmay@aol.com, ron@themayreport.com

Mr. May,
With all the other “investigative reporting” scoops you claim to do (ITA, Howerton, Oofora [sic: Efoora], MEF etc) you are an enabler for one of the biggest snake oil salesmen to march into this town….one Jeffrey Hoffman….THE self proclaimed “FOUNDER of Priceline” HAH !!! Did you do any checking to verify that claim? Did you do any checking about this fraud’s track record? Did you look into what happened to his latest gigs? Evidently not. You, Mr. May, just repeated what you were told, just like a ventriloquists dummy, without doing a single bit of checking. And you claim to be a truth seeker? What a laugh! You have potentially your biggest expose in years at your fingertips, if you’d do just some BASIC checking (google, etc. ) and instead, you irresponsibly parrot the blatant misinformation about this turkey, thereby becoming his accomplice in hoodwinking the local community with his gross misrepresentations.

FORSHAME ON THEE! GO….REPENT. DO SOME BASIC HOMEWORK MR. “INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER”
A disgusted member of the local business community and part time MBA student.

Here are some things you could have found out in two minutes….IF you had only tried:

On HIM being Priceline’s “Founder”

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priceline.com

cornellsun.com/section/news/content/2009/04/17/priceline-founder-named-entrepreneur-year

His adept self-promotion and puffery

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Hoffman#cite_note-ubid1-0

THE FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF ENABLE DURING HOFFMAN’S REIGN AS CEO

finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=ENAB.PK+Income+Statement&annual

blog.auctionbytes.com/cgi-bin/blog/blog.pl?/comments/2009/11/1258753718.html/2/20#comments

YET, WITH A TRAIL OF FINANCIAL DISASTERS IN HIS WAKE, HE CONS UIC, UofC, and others to have him pitch to their unsuspecting audience on how to successfully build and run a business????? That’s like having Bernie Madoff teach a course on Ethics. Doesn’t anybody do any checking anymore?? Don’t they have a responsibility to do at least a basic minimal verification of someone they’re going to risk their reputation on by having him speak at their high profile function representing him as a respected and successful expert in the field on which he’s to pontificate???? What’s wrong with this picture?

As just one example: This is from your Report

Date: 12/17/2010 2:35:19 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: darcyevon@sbcglobal.net
To: ronaldmay@aol.com
UIC C2V Business Plan Competition Attracts Priceline Founder as Keynote

Jeff Hoffman, THE FOUNDER and former CEO of Priceline, gave his insights to entrepreneurship along with some great advice on how to discover the-next-big-thing at the 2010 UIC Concept-2-Venture (C2V) business plan competition on December 14, 2010. According to the inveterate Chicago entrepreneur, you should read everything going on in current events far from your comfort zone and then connect the dots. After reading about inefficiencies in airline ticket sales and segmenting the market to identify the most price-conscious consumers, Hoffman came up with the idea for Priceline. His current startup is a venture accelerator called ColorJar.com designed to help you achieve your dreams.

Just a simple Google search would tell you who THE FOUNDER of Priceline really was. But, no one bothered….AMAZING!!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Subject: Re: Darcy, you started this thing with your press release. What is up?
Date: 12/19/2010 4:59:02 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: darcyevon@sbcglobal.net
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com

www.jeffhoffman.com/biography/

Ron, he was a founder and he was the CEO of Priceline, see his biography above. The mistake is a “the” instead of an “a”. The rest is correct.

Darcy

— On Sun, 12/19/10, RONALDMAY@aol.com wrote:
________________________________________
Don Samuelson: Comments on TMR and local organizations and groups

From: DSSA310@aol.com
Subject: Re: The May Report: 12/18/2010: midVentures draws about 130; Social Media Cl…
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 2010 17:23:03 EST
To: ron@themayreport.com

Ron:
I read your 12/18/10 report from start to finish. Much more readable than in past years. Found the material and your point of view interesting.

It was hard to keep all the names of the people, businesses and organizations straight – like the problems with reading a Russian Novel or the Steig Larsson backdrop themes in the Millenium trilogy if you aren’t Swedish. Nonetheless a useful exercise for the mind.

A short question. Do you have a good overview of the landscape of the people and associations involved in tech startups and incubation, telecom providers and applications and the groups seeking to build businesses out of the new BTOP/BIP supported broadband networks in Illinois?

Many of them may already be on your mailing list but may not appreciate the benefits that other groups could provide to their member interests – like developing a VENN diagram approach to the ITA, ITP and the Partnership for a Connected Illinois (PCI).

Onward. Or sideways.

Don Samuelson
847-420-1732
++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: DSSA310@aol.com
Subject: Your advice to the Mayoral Candidates
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 2010 17:34:23 EST
To: Ron@themayreport.com
Cc: len_bland@conceptequity.com, onepresence@yahoo.com

Ron:

What advice would you and your network give to the mayoral candidates regarding ways that the City could support the grown of tech/Internet/broadband companies in meaningful ways, and to use the new Tech Center announced by the Mayor for Michael Reese as a center and symbol of the new Chicago economy?

Don

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hi:

You can skim the May Report for style and flavor – informal and irreverent. Ron does cast a very large net into the tech community in Chicago – most of the people that the Tech Center at Michael Reese could draw upon if it were to advance its interests.

As you know, the president of Groupon, the Facebook founder and lots of others in the digital/Internet wunderkind world come with very different styles, approaches and expectations. The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and big Chicago business represents the old Chicago economy. No one has yet put their mind around the new tech/Internet/broadband economy and figured out a way to that government could support their efforts, within the culture within which they would accept help.

Don

From: DSSA310@aol.com
To: ron@themayreport.com
Sent: 12/18/2010 4:23:04 P.M. Central Standard Time
Subj: Re: The May Report: 12/18/2010: midVentures draws about 130; Social Media Cl…

Ron:

I read your 12/18/10 report from start to finish. Much more readable than in past years. Found the material and your point of view interesting.

It was hard to keep all the names of the people, businesses and organizations straight – like the problems with reading a Russian Novel or the Steig Larsson backdrop themes in the Millenium trilogy if you aren’t Swedish. Nonetheless a useful exercise for the mind.

A short question. Do you have a good overview of the landscape of the people and associations involved in tech startups and incubation, telecom providers and applications and the groups seeking to build businesses out of the new BTOP/BIP supported broadband networks in Illinois?

Many of them may already be on your mailing list but may not appreciate the benefits that other groups could provide to their member interests – like developing a VENN diagram approach to the ITA, ITP and the Partnership for a Connected Illinois (PCI).

Onward. Or sideways.

Don Samuelson
847-420-1732

In a message dated 12/18/2010 2:17:44 A.M. Central Standard Time, ron@themayreport.com writes:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: DSSA310@aol.com
Subject: Fwd: Your advice to the Mayoral Candidates
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 2010 17:38:55 EST
To: melanie_adcock@msn.com, Ron@themayreport.com

Melanie:

I tried to call Ron today. He picked up once, said hello weakly and the called was dropped. Tried twice more and NA.

Just wanted to say on the phone that I enjoyed reading The May Report today and to say I was sending an email.

Alas, no luck.

Don

847-420-1732
….
______________________________________
Brendan Tripp: Correction on Ron’s Willinger reporting

From: Brendan Tripp
Subject: Re: The May Report: 12/18/2010: midVentures draws about 130; Social Media Club Chicago draws 150; Lean Tech Start Up draws about 80 and guess what? Stan ‘Howerton’ Laurel and Oliver ‘Hoch’ Hardy abandoned the S. S. ITA to go to The Sync while a major
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 2010 06:21:06 -0600
To: The May Report

Ron …

Just a note on one thing in last night’s report …

Jeff said that he is writing this himself and the publisher is Wiley. Two friends of his, one being Scott Stratton, had books published by them. Stratton’s book was called On Marketing.

That should be Scott Stratten and the book is UnMarketing (a great read, by the way!) … he was the featured speaker at the SMC event last month (Nov. 3 at Rockit).

- B.T.

On Sat, Dec 18, 2010 at 2:03 AM, The May Report wrote:
______________________________________
Melanie Adcock: Introduction – BMOV Media – Chicago Entertainment Start-Up

Subject: Introduction – BMOV Media – Chicago Entertainment Start-Up
Date: 12/19/2010 9:18:23 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com

Chris gave me a call the other day to ask about what events were going on. We started talking and he told me all about his company. I am glad he called in about networking events because getting out there to introduce yourself is always helpful when you start a company. Here is what he wrote in below.
-Melanie
Melanie AdcockAssistant Editor of The May ReportLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/melanieadcockCell: 312-259-0610E-Mail: melanie_adcock@msn.comThe May Report Facebook Page: on.fb.me/TheMayReportVisit The May Report Archives: bit.ly/TheMayReportArchivesSubscribe to The May Report: bit.ly/TheMayReportSubscribe

Attention: Melanie Adcock, Assistant Editor, The May Report
From: Chris Maloney, Founder, BMOV MediaRegarding: BMOV Media – Chicago Start-Up IntroductionHi Melanie,Nice talking with you today about my start-up BMOV Media, a Chicago digitalentertainment company that produces original multi-platform movie-themedcontent under the brand name BMOV. BMOV – an acronym for BestMoviesOnVideo -places a special emphasis on the home viewing experience.The flagship of the company is BMOV.com, an interactive social movie sitetargeted to launch in early 2012.BMOV.com will be unique from every other major movie-themed site (YahooMovies, IMDB, MovieFone, etc.) because it will feature original andexclusive content including a potential monster break-out social game – BMOVThursday Night Trivia Showdown.As I said, I am currently exploring potential partnerships with Chicago Webdesigners / creatives to help build out a relatively simple BMOV “proof ofconcept” site that can be presented to possible investors, marketers such asCoca-Cola, and major Hollywood companies.Attached is a brief summary of BMOV Media along with bios. I would love totalk again after the Holidays. You seem to be well-connected to the Chicagotech / creative scene.Take care.Chris MaloneyFounder, BMOV Media773-856-0912312-607-1969
______________________________________
Bob Geras: He was in fact in Hong Kong

From: vcmaven
Subject: Re: The May Report: 12/15/2010: Holiday parties in full bloom: MIT-EF revelry was on a big ship moored to the harbor and no one got sea sick; We’re back again to the non-transparent and irksome ITA policies with respect to meeting and party attendance; Greg Brown of Motorola Solutions one of 20 CEOs to meet with President Obama today; January 4, 2011 is the big stock split day for MOTO — if you paid $4 a share, you’re sitting pretty; OK, what is SCRUM?; Bob Geras rumored to have been in Hong Kong recently
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2010 17:22:12 -0600
To: The May Report

No rumor, Ron. I really WAS in Hong Kong last week. I learned one thing. Egg rolls are MUCH better here.
Bob

Sent from my iPhone

On Dec 15, 2010, at 4:58 PM, “The May Report” wrote:
_____________________________________
Mark Levy: How well do you know the people you report on?

From: “Mark E. Levy”
Subject: RE: The May Report: 12/18/2010: midVentures draws about 130; Social Media Club Chicago draws 150; Lean Tech Start Up draws about 80 and guess what? Stan ‘Howerton’ Laurel and Oliver ‘Hoch’ Hardy abandoned the S. S. ITA to go to The Sync while a major eve
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 2010 07:41:12 -0600
To: The May Report

Paul,

How well do you know the people you report on? I notice that a lot of articles touch on funding for startups. About three years ago, I started a new company, Enterprise Technology Associates. I own 50% of the company. Our purpose is to provide could computing resources to SMB. Take a look at our website www.etaent.com. We’re struggling along on a shoestring. We have our infrastructure in place and signed up a few customers, but we need some serious money for marketing if we’re going to get anywhere. Could computing is going to be the next Internet, and the time to hit it is now. Can you help?

Thanks!

-Mark

Mark E. Levy, Managing Partner

Enterprise Technology Associates, LLC

847-510-0225 main
847-510-0227 direct
847-510-0229 Trouble Reports
847-412-1916 fax
www.etaent.com

Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.
-Warren Buffett
____________________________________
Ron May here. Mark, just FYI, it is I, Ron May, who publishes this report and my brother Paul May who hunts heads.
______________________________
Jack Curley: Where he’s been

Subject: Re: Jack, where have you been? No MIT-EF, no MEF, no midVentures, no Funding Frenzy
Date: 12/19/2010 8:59:11 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: jackcurley@sbcglobal.net
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com

Ron, just behaving like the semi-retired guy that I am. I was a semi-final judge at the UIC bizplan competition last week, but had to leave after the elevator pitch session. Working with a patent client, and fairly busy with SCORE. Also work at a food pantry 1/2 day a week.
I’ll still be around … but sparingly.
Happy Holidays!

——————————————————————————–
From: “RONALDMAY@aol.com”
To: jackcurley@sbcglobal.net
Cc: ronaldmay@aol.com
Sent: Sun, December 19, 2010 10:22:46 AM
Subject: Jack, where have you been? No MIT-EF, no MEF, no midVentures, no Funding Frenzy
____________________________________
Tom Figel: Southern Wisconsin, Startup Accelerator

Subject: Southern Wisconsin, Startup Accelerator
Date: 12/20/2010 3:34:47 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: tfigel@lake-effect.com
To: ronaldmay@aol.com

December 20, 2010

Ron,
Entrepreneurs seeking some advice and interaction with peers should enjoy the Saturday, January 22, 2011 Startup Accelerator event taking place in Milwaukee. Mark Huber and the other planners have the events down to a good process. The web site for registration (no charge) is startupaccelerator.org/.
This program, the fourth held, will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Milwaukee facilities of Bucketworks, which is a smart location overseen by James Carlson. The URL is www.bucketworks.org. I haven’t seen the new facility yet but the previous one was a large, flexible space where entrepreneurs could either have steady tenancy or occasional use. In addition, the space was available for art shows, dramatic presentations and happenings.
While the mix of businesses aborning at the Startup Accelerator is similar to the mix at gatherings in Chicago and elsewhere, the program affords an opportunity for visting with Mark Huber, Dan Stulac and others who are attuned to the entrepreneurial climate in Milwaukee and the six counties of Southeast Wisconsin.
Mark and Dan are friends and sometimes team on projects. Mark spent time in Poland with a new venture there, while Dan is a veteran of public accounting. Their emails are markhuber_wi@yahoo.com and dfstulac@yahoo.com.

Thomas Figel
Lake Effect Communications, LLC
211 West Wacker Drive, Suite 1150
Chicago, IL 60606
312-223-9536 x. 301
www.lake-effect.com
__________________________________________
Melanie Adcock: Signal (Formerly Interactive Mediums) is featured in QSR Online Magazine

Subject: Signal (Formerly Interactive Mediums) is featured in QSR Online Magazine
Date: 12/19/2010 7:54:18 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com

Signal (Formerly Interactive Mediums) is featured in QSR Online Magazine.

www.qsrmagazine.com/news/cross-channel-mobile-tool-geared-toward-local-marketing

December 20, 2010
INDUSTRY NEWS | December 16, 2010
Cross-Channel Mobile Tool Geared Toward Local Marketing

Printer-friendly version
Read More About
Loyalty, Marketing, Social Media, Promotions
With social media and other online tools becoming increasingly popular among quick-serve customers, and with smartphones continuing to permeate every demographic, one mobile marketing provider is tying together all channels of communication in such a way to boost quick serves’ local store marketing efforts.

Gib Bassett, director of marketing for Signal, says the company’s latest solution creates for brands a customer database that captures customer data points across several different channels, like mobile and social media.

The solution can use Twitter and Facebook to encourage customers to opt in to a mobile marketing system, which then sends deals to customers through text and, eventually, e-mail. Brands that use Signal’s tool can either let individual store operators craft deals themselves or create a cache of deals that operators can take advantage of for their local marketing.

“It’s a combination of local execution, repository or corporate-controlled offers that the local store can execute, corporate oversight of the entire system, and then cross-channel promotion to get people into the program, remain opted into the program, and then drive traffic, drive sales, and promote new menu items,” Bassett says.

Bassett says one company using Signal’s solution, a 400-unit quick-serve chain, chose to keep the deal creation process within headquarters in order to keep the entire system on point.

“In mobile marketing, there’s a lot of standards around what the messages have to say, so they don’t people making mistakes and being out of compliance by making their own offers,” he says. “So they kind of centralize that intelligence at corporate. What’s customizable is the frequency with which the individual locations can employ those offers to help drive traffic and help promote things.”

Signal’s tool sends customers to a landing page on the quick serve’s website where the customer fills out a profile and opts in to receive deals, Bassett says. By using the customer database that captures various data points from the consumer, he says, store operators can direct their deals more specifically to consumers.

“The whole idea here is to create a unified customer profile that really goes beyond the typical mobile marketing campaign, and [doesn't] just collect opt-in permission and numbers to blast generic messages, but to, over time, get better at targeting,” he says.

Mobile marketing in the future will continue to focus on specific targeting of customers, Bassett says. He says the next wave of mobile will craft deals around check-in technology-like that used by Foursquare-and “geo-fencing,” which can push deals to customers who are within a certain geographic area.

To make mobile marketing work, though, Bassett says quick serves must find a balance between frequency and quality of deals.

“Every marketer that gets engaged in this, that is going to take it seriously and be held accountable for the return on investment, has to look beyond just getting people to opt in to the club … and have a longer-term strategy,” he says.

By Sam Oches
_____________________________________
Sprint Announces Winners of The Sprint 4G App Challenge: Chicago is a Winner Again! This time in the Big Time World of Mobile, Congrats to Jason Shah of MediaFly!

From: Bruce Montgomery
Subject: Sprint Announces Winners of The Sprint 4G App Challenge
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 2010 18:21:35 -0800 (PST)
To: Ron May
Cc: Melanie Adcock

Hey Ron,

Chicago is a Winner Again! This time in the Big Time World of Mobile.

Congrats to Jason Shah of MediaFly!

Bruce

Sprint Announces Winners of The Sprint 4G App Challenge

Sprint Partnered with WIRED, Reddit and Ars Technica to challenge developers to create innovative 4G Apps

CHICAGO, IL — As the first national wireless carrier in the United States to offer 4G service to its customers, Sprint (NYSE: S), with partners WIRED, Reddit and Ars Technica, today announced the winners of the Sprint 4G App Challenge. Throughout the Sprint 4G App Challenge, developers could enter their innovative apps in five categories ? entertainment, gaming, productivity, social networking and multimedia.

?These innovators developed applications that truly harness the fast Sprint 4G data speeds and enable consumers to do even more with their mobile phones.?

Submissions were based on four criteria ? creativity, intuitive navigation, functionality and design. The judges? panel was composed product and technology executives from Sprint, editors from WIRED and its partners at Reddit and Ars Technica. All the winning apps are available in the Android Market.

Sprint 4G App Challenge Winners:

Entertainment
Andrei Goumilevski, Tallahassee, Fla. ? NASAImages
NASAImages showcases 4,000 space images from the NASA APOD site. Because the images are large, Sprint 4G enables customers to download them quickly.

Gaming
Rob Miley, St. Charles, Mo. ? Say What? Mobile Game
Say What? is the mobile version of the kids game Telephone, where one person whispers a phrase in someone’s ear and then that person would repeat what they heard to the next person. Once the game is complete, players can hear the beginning and ending phrase. Players are randomly connected to active games. Interaction with the app and the game server is frequent, so the Sprint 4G Network provides a fast and reliable Internet connection for optimal play.

Productivity
Rajan Singh, San Jose, Calif. ? Recipe Search
Recipe Search is a reverse recipe finder app. The user simply speaks the ingredients they have in their refrigerator or pantry and they will see a display of meals with directions that they could cook. Sprint 4G will reduce latency and deliver results quicker.

Social Networking
Carmen Delessio, Pound Ridge, N.Y. ? BFF Photo ? Facebook Upload
BFF Photo brings Facebook photos to the user?s phone. Consumers can use the app to view photo albums, friends? albums and take and upload photos and videos. The app fully uses the bandwidth and reliability of the Sprint 4G Network to manage the connection to Facebook and the speedy media download to the customer.

Multimedia
Jason Shah, Chicago, Ill. ? Mediafly
With Mediafly Mobile, users can organize and discover podcasts, audio, video, radio and streams from their Android phone. The Sprint 4G Network makes watching streaming video on this app easy and enjoyable.

Prizes:

In addition to bragging rights, winners in each category took home a $50,000 grand prize, a choice of an HTC EVO? 4G or Samsung Epic? 4G with one year of Sprint service (includes applicable taxes and surcharges), a one-year membership to the Sprint Professional Developer Program (including 250 hours in the Virtual Developer Lab) and an invitation to WIRED?s VIP party during the 2011 International CES in Las Vegas.

?We are excited to announce the winners of the Sprint 4G App Challenge,? said Todd Rowley, vice president of Sprint 4G. ?These innovators developed applications that truly harness the fast Sprint 4G data speeds and enable consumers to do even more with their mobile phones.?

Sprint offers a growing portfolio of 4G-enabled devices, including HTC EVO 4G, the nation?s first 4G-capable handset, and the Samsung Epic 4G. Both operate on the Android? platform. These products are part of a large selection of 4G-capable modems, mobile hotspots, routers and embedded devices that enable the 4G advantages of rapid mobile downloads of large files, high-quality streaming video and high-speed Web browsing.

Developers can learn more about developing 4G apps with the Sprint 4G developer guide from the Sprint ADP website. The Sprint 4G developer guide provides details on developing for an Android handset and how to take advantage of HTC EVO 4G and Samsung Epic 4G unique hardware and software capabilities and the Sprint 4G network. Visit www.sprint.com/developer to learn more about the Sprint Application Developer program and to take advantage of the resources and tools available to developers.

Bruce Eric Montgomery
Executive Producer & Host
Technology Access Television
200 S. Wacker Drive, 15th Floor
Chicago, IL 60606-5865
(312) 725-8601
tatvshow@yahoo.com
www.tatv.org
www.twitter.com/techaccesstv
www.facebook.com/brucemontgomery
_________________________________________
CHICAGO HIGH SPEED NETWORKING – Wednesday 12th January!

Subject: CHICAGO HIGH SPEED NETWORKING – Wednesday 12th January!
Date: 12/20/2010 2:12:55 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com

Networking For Professionals presents
CHICAGO HIGH SPEED NETWORKING
BUSINESS NETWORKING EVENT

WEDNESDAY 12th JANUARY 2011

Place: Sullivan’s Steakhouse

Address: 415 North Dearborn Street Chicago, IL 60654

Cost: Online in advance: Members $20, Non-members $30.
At the door: $35 everyone. Cash only at the door.

Time: 6.00pm – 8.00pm

MORE INFO AT: www.networkingforprofessionals.com/eventlistings.php?event=HSNCH
FORWARD THIS EMAIL ON TO YOUR FRIENDS AND CONTACTS SO THEY CAN GET A DISCOUNT BY SIGNING UP ONLINE! BY SIGNING UP ONLINE THEY’LL ALSO RECEIVE THE LIST OF ATTENDEES THE NEXT DAY!

Event Description:

* With HIGH SPEED NETWORKING you can make more new business contacts in one evening than most people will make in 6 months!

* Network with other professionals, one on one, a few minutes at a time.

* Leave with a pocket full of business cards and a ton of new business connections!

* Chances are you’ll meet lots of people you wish you had more time with. Sign up online in advance and after the event we will email you the list of attendees and what they’re looking for so that you can follow up with your new contacts.

*Only those who sign up in advance receive the list, so BOOK NOW!

Includes: Complimentary nibbles and drink specials. Cash bar.

Don’t forget your business cards!

ADVANCED BOOKING RECOMMENDED Attendance is capped, so don’t miss out!

FIND OUT MORE AT: www.networkingforprofessionals.com/eventlistings.php?event=HSNCH

BOOK NOW AT: www.networkingforprofessionals.com/basket.php?event=HSNCH

INVITE YOUR FRIENDS AT: www.networkingforprofessionals.com/eventlistings.php?invite=HSNCH
___________________________________________
High Tech and ‘Open Space” Featured at Upcoming LES Meeting February 10-11

From: “Lydia Steck”
Subject: High Tech and ‘Open Space” Featured at Upcoming LES Meeting
Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2010 16:30:14 -0600
To: “Lydia Steck”

Text Box:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE!

Contact: Lydia Steck, (847) 323.3893 or TheCommunicator@comcast.net

LES (USA & Canada) to Host High Tech Meeting of the Year in Silicon Valley on February 10-11 Leveraging State-of-the-Art Meeting Format Focused on Collaboration

‘Open Space’ Allows Attendees to Customize their Meeting Experience to Meet Individual and Company Needs

Register by Dec. 23 for Super Early Bird Rate

WASHINGTON, December 16, 2010-The Licensing Executives Society, (U.S.A. and Canada), Inc. Winter Meeting, February 10-11 at the San Jose Marriott in California, will focus on the challenges and opportunities facing intellectual property (IP) licensing and business professionals related to new developments in the high technology arena. The meeting will also use a unique mix of traditional and new “Open Space” conferencing formats to deliver a high-energy interactive environment where attendees can customize their conference experience to meet their individual and company needs.

“The high-tech space is filled with exciting developments, from cloud computing and mobile platforms, to the nascent IP landscape in China — the largest manufacturer for both U.S. and non-U.S. companies,” said Tanya Moore, LES (USA & Canada) 2011 Winter Meeting Chair and General Manager of Outbound IP Licensing for Microsoft. “The Winter Meeting Committee, in coordination with the LES High Tech Sector and the Silicon Valley Chapter, has put together a most informative and compelling program that addresses these and other topics that are not only affecting high tech IP professionals, but are permeating our business and are ‘top-of-mind’ for licensing and IP business professionals and companies across industry sectors.”

The first day of the Winter Meeting will feature valuable insights from IP leaders about how they’re driving their companies’ IP businesses. Panelists will include executives from ARM, Cisco, Garmin,

GE, Intel, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Netsuite, Nielsen, Nokia, Oracle, Rockwell Collins, RIM, Saleforce.com, Schlumberger, Visa and many more. Interactive panel discussions will cover:

* Hot Topics From the Top: Business and IP Leaders Discuss What’s Important to Them
* Cloud Computing: Protection, Licensing, and Interoperability on the Cutting Edge
* Nanotechnology IP: Implications of the Very Small
* IP on the Move: Opportunities and Challenges in the Mobile Device Arena
* Digital Content: How it’s Being Created, Exploited, Licensed, and Protected Online
* Changes in Semiconductor Licensing: Hot Topics for an Evolving IP Landscape
* High-Tech Companies in China: Deconstructing the IP Landscape.

On the second day of the meeting, attendees will participate in the “Un-Conference,” or “Open Space,” format where they will set their own agenda by either hosting a small-group discussion on a question or topic of their choosing or sampling from a diverse pool of ongoing discussions, guided by internationally recognized professional facilitator, Lisa Heft. A content “reporter” will be onsite to synthesize the day’s discussions in an effort to capture the issues and views addressed throughout the day for distribution to the conference attendees.

“All too often new ideas and solutions to the puzzles and challenges of business happen at the coffee breaks or in hallways at meetings,” said LES (USA & Canada) President Michael Lasinki. “The ‘Open Space’ conferencing movement is being embraced around the world because it’s a dynamic and freeing way for attendees to learn what they want to learn through open dialogue with richly experienced colleagues.”

In addition to the unique format, attendees will have the opportunity to hear thought-provoking insight from three featured speakers, including: Damon Matteo, Vice President and Chief Intellectual Property Officer of the Palo Alto Research Center (formerly Xerox PARC); Nola Masterson, Founder and Managing Director of Science Futures, Inc.; and Bruce Lehman, former Under Secretary of Commerce for IP and Commissioner of the USPTO.

Register by December 23 for the Super Early Bird Rate. CLE and CLP credits are available for meeting attendance.

# # #

About the Licensing Executives Society (U.S.A. and Canada), Inc.

Established in 1965, the Licensing Executives Society (U.S.A. and Canada), Inc. is a professional society comprised of 5,000 members engaged in the transfer, use, development and marketing of intellectual property. The LES membership includes a wide range of professionals, including business executives, lawyers, licensing consultants, engineers, academicians, scientists and government officials. Many large corporations, professional firms, and universities comprise the Society’s membership.

The Licensing Executives Society (U.S.A. & Canada), Inc. is a member society of the Licensing Executives Society International, Inc. (LESI), with a worldwide membership of over 11,000 members in 32 national societies, representing over 90 countries. For more information on LES, see www.lesusacanada.org.
___________________________________
Free Shipping Day Punctuates Heaviest Week of U.S. Online Spending in History as Four Individual Days Eclipse $900 Million

From: Melanie Adcock
Subject: FW: Free Shipping Day Punctuates Heaviest Week of U.S. Online Spending in History as Four Individual Days Eclipse $900 Million
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 2010 20:58:57 +0000
To: ,

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO RESPOND TO THIS EMAIL WITH ANY QUESTIONS PERTAINING TO ITS CONTENT AT PRESS@COMSCORE.COM ?To ensure delivery of comScore news releases, please add news@comscore.com to your safe senders list.??Greetings:

comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 47 days of the November ? December 2010 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $27.46 billion has been spent online, marking a 12-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. The most recent week (week ending Dec. 17) reached $5.15 billion in spending, an increase of 14 percent versus the corresponding week last year, with four individual days surpassing $900 million, led by Green Monday (Monday, December 13) with $954 million and Free Shipping Day (Friday, December 17) with $942 million. Free Shipping Day achieved a 61-percent increase versus the corresponding shopping day last year, highlighting the appeal and success of the promotion in which more than 1,500 merchants offered free shipping.??To view the full press release, please visit:

tinyurl.com/2asm4mf

Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to speak with an analyst. ??Thank you,?Andrew Lipsman ?comScore, Inc. ?press@comscore.com?+1 312-775-6510?
Press Release
Contact Us by Phone
Contact Us Online

Free Shipping Day Punctuates Heaviest Week of U.S. Online Spending in History as Four Individual Days Eclipse $900 Million
Cyber Monday, Which Remains Only Billion Dollar Day on Record , Likely to Become Heaviest Spending Day of the Year for First Time
RESTON, VA, December 19, 2010 ? comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 47 days of the November ? December 2010 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $27.46 billion has been spent online, marking a 12-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. The most recent week (week ending Dec. 17) reached $5.15 billion in spending, an increase of 14 percent versus the corresponding week last year, with four individual days surpassing $900 million, led by Green Monday (Monday, December 13) with $954 million and Free Shipping Day (Friday, December 17) with $942 million. Free Shipping Day achieved a 61-percent increase versus the corresponding shopping day last year, highlighting the appeal and success of the promotion in which more than 1,500 merchants offered free shipping.
2010 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2009
Non-Travel (Retail) Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Total U.S. ? Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.

Millions ($)
2009
2010
Percent Change
November 1 ? December 17
$24,504
$27,460
12%
Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 25)
$318
$407
28%
Black Friday (Nov. 26)
$595
$648
9%
Cyber Monday (Nov. 29)
$887
$1,028
16%
Green Monday (Dec. 13)
$854
$954
12%
Free Shipping Day (Dec. 17)
$586
$942
61%
Week Ending Dec. 17 (Dec. 11-17)
$4,644
$5,509
14%
*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (November 2 thru December 18, 2009)
?Free Shipping Day punctuated an exceptional week in which consumers spent more than $5.5 billion online, representing a 14-percent increase from last year,? said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. ?While no individual days during the week surpassed $1 billion in spending, we saw strength throughout the week beginning with Green Monday and ending with Free Shipping Day on Friday. At this late juncture in the online holiday season, we have likely already witnessed the peak spending day of the year, which means that Cyber Monday should emerge as the season?s heaviest online spending day for the first time in history.?
Free Shipping Surge Remains Strong during Final Online Sales Push
comScore?s analysis of e-commerce transactions including free shipping indicated that consumers took advantage of the offer later into the season this year, in part due to the appeal of Free Shipping Day on Friday, Dec. 17. Each of the past five weeks has seen free shipping on at least half of transactions, while that threshold was reached only once during the 2009 season. For the five-day week ending with Free Shipping Day, the percentage of transactions with free shipping reached 52.7 percent, 12 percentage points higher than the corresponding time period last year, the most sizeable gap observed this season.
Weekly Holiday Free Shipping Analysis
Non-Travel (Retail) Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Total U.S. ? Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.
Week Ending
Percent of Transactions with Free Shipping
2009*
2010
Point Change
11/7/2010
40.9%
44.8%
3.9
11/14/2010
47.1%
45.2%
-1.8
11/21/2010
50.2%
50.1%
-0.1
11/28/2010
45.6%
55.1%
9.6
12/5/2010
43.8%
51.4%
7.6
12/12/2010
44.5%
51.6%
7.1
12/17/2010**
40.6%
52.7%
12.1
*Weeks based on corresponding shopping days for 2009?**Based on five-day week (ending Friday)
“Free shipping has certainly become one of the prevalent themes of the 2010 holiday season,” added Mr. Fulgoni. “Since the week before Thanksgiving, we’ve seen the majority of online retail transactions use free shipping, which confirms the appeal of the offer for consumers. Free Shipping Day also appears to have driven a sustained late-season response, with free shipping transactions accelerating in importance in 2010 whereas they actually began to decline during the same period in 2009.”
Top Growing Retail Categories
Computer Hardware ranks as the top growing category for the holiday season to date with a 25-percent increase versus last year. Purchases of handheld devices (such as Apple iPads and e-readers) and laptop computers drove much of the growth. Attractive pricing on flat panel TVs continues to drive growth in consumer electronics, which grew 22 percent to rank as the second fastest-growing category. Books & Magazines (up 21 percent), Computer Software excluding PC Games (up 16 percent) and Toys (up 15 percent) rounded out the top five gaining categories.
Top Growing Online Retail Product Categories
Nov 1 ? Dec 17 2010 vs. Corresponding Days in 2009
Non-Travel (Retail) Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Total U.S. ? Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.
Retail Category
Percent Change
Computer Hardware
25%
Consumer Electronics
22%
Books & Magazines
21%
Computer Software (excl. PC Games)
16%
Toys
15%
*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (November 2 thru December 18, 2009)
About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital business analytics. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.
Contact:?Andrew Lipsman?Senior Director, Marketing Communications?comScore, Inc. ?+1 312 775 6510?press@comscore.com
____________________________________
Gery Chico is now following you (@themayreport) on Twitter!

From: Twitter
Subject: Gery Chico is now following you on Twitter!
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 2010 19:07:28 +0000
To: ron@themayreport.com

Twitter
Gery Chico (@GeryChico) is now following your tweets (@themayreport) on Twitter.
Gery Chico followed you using TwitBird.
Chicotwitter_normal
Gery Chico
@GeryChico
Chicago
Bio I have been building parks, schools, communities and coalitions for over 20 years.
376 501 386
tweets following followers

You follow 3 users who follow @GeryChico:

*

Amy Simons
@amysimons
*

DanJohnsonWeinberger
@djwinfo
*

Dawn Reiss
@DawnReiss

@GeryChico follows 3 users who follow you:

*

BreakingChiNews
@breakingchinews
*

The Chicago Grid
@ChicagoGrid
*

CUB Illinois
@cubillinois

You do not follow Gery Chico.

What’s Next?

* • Find out more about Gery Chico on @GeryChico’s profile page.
* • Send Gery Chico an @ reply.
* • Send Gery Chico a direct message.
* Phone2 On your mobile? Learn Twitter for Mobile.
_______________________________
END OF REPORT