The May Report: 2/16/2011: Kris Hammond and sidekicks Larry Birnbaum, Owen Youngman, and Rich Gordon — sorry about having reversed that name in the header — have gotten a $4.2MM grant from the Knight Foundation to help local journalists do their jobs more effectively; Meanwhile Hammond’s $700K grant to come up with jokes is ridiculed by John McCain in a list of 100 wasted Stimulus Package programs and grants; Appolicious adds $500K to its total of funds raised; Are Terry Howerton’s fingerprints all over the proposal by Rahm for the next mayor to function as a cheerleader for Chicago with students all over the state?; Put this in your pipe and tweet it: Social Media Club Chicago advertises TWO different locations for their Thursday night event.

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
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_________________________________
TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Scoop section:

– Editor’s note, by Ron May
– Cheap thrills: Chicago long a hotbed for online coupons, discount deals – Pool of tech workers, Midwestern sensibility get credit for market strength
– Kris Hammond, Owen Youngman, Larry Birnbaum, and Rich Gordon get a $4.2MM grant from the Knight New Foundation
– From midVentures’ newsletter: Appolicious Secures $500,000 in VC Funding
– Hammond defends his $700K grant for software that tells jokes: More Wasted Tax Dollars brought to you by the Obama Stimulus…$700,000 for computer software that tells Jokes
– Tonight’s Tech Pitch at The Sync: Feb. 16th
– AgileThought’s New COO Will Focus On Expanding Chicago Office
– Bill Moller: WGN Radio guest request
– Note from UIC not confidential
– It’s Tonight – Join the Resume Revolution! 2011: Tuesday 2/15 at 8pm EST/7pm CST
– Emanuel wants to bring college kids here to sell them on city
– Groupon co-founder to head state innovation panel
– This Thursday – Improve your Elevator Pitch @ Entrepreneur Commons
– Bill Anthony: A Watson Victory? This is About a Contest, Not Science
– Consumer Reports for Ad Agencies: Steve Lundin: Mediapost
__________________________________
The Scoop section:
__________________
Editor’s note, by Ron May

* No time today for a summary of the MIT-EF meeting last night. Let me say nothing right now. I called a number of people about the meeting today and will have their comments or non-comments for you.

I will say this.

Kris Hammond has not been doing work under the appellation DevLab for some time now.

He made a bet with an audience member for $500 that within five years a computer written story or article will win the Pulitzer Prize.

He also said that the space for figuring out what is going on with Twitter and Facebook a la things like the Egypt situation or the Groupon Super Bowl ad controversy is very busy right now.

He is also very excited about Watson and the new direction of work in the AI field away from being run by logicians and toward those focusing on search and natural language processing.

* socialmediaclub.org/event/now-revolution-book-launch-party-amber-naslund

The inability to cross t’s and dot i’s couldn’t be clearer: JW’s Social Media Club Chicago announced two different locations for their Thursday night event – one of them on their own website! Depending on where you looked, this event is either at the Union League Club or the Sync. These people get a D- in execution – and the funniest part about this – is that the speaker for this particular event is a founding member of this chapter of the club! They corrected the mistake on the website but JW has yet to own up to whom made it.

Willinger is a wussy guy as usual here in that when I asked him how this foul up happened, he did not know. He said it could be any one of the five committee members who goofed it up. Jeff, own what’s yours. It is your organization. Take some responsibility for once instead of Texas Two Stepping.

___________________________________

Cheap thrills: Chicago long a hotbed for online coupons, discount deals – Pool of tech workers, Midwestern sensibility get credit for market strength

Subject: Cheap thrills: Chicago long a hotbed for online coupons, discount deals – Pool of tech workers, Midwestern sensibility get credit for market strength
Date: 2/12/2011 3:41:55 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: ed.longanecker@techamerica.org
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com
CC: melanie_adcock@msn.com

Great story. We need to support this industry and its continued growth in Illinois.

Chicago long a hotbed for online coupons, discount deals:

tiny.cc/3x7wx

Best regards,

Ed Longanecker

Executive Director, Regional Vice President

TechAmerica

630-282-4332

ed.longanecker@techamerica.org

www.techamerica.org

AeA & ITAA have merged to form TechAmerica

Where the future begins

_____________________________________

Kris Hammond, Owen Youngman, Larry Birnbaum, and Rich Gordon get a $4.2MM grant from the Knight New Foundation

www.knightfoundation.org/news/press_room/knight_press_releases/detail.dot?id=377624

Knight News Innovation Laboratory launches at Northwestern University
Feb. 03, 2011

Unique journalism-engineering partnership seeks to speed local media innovation.
Evanston, Ill, February 3, 2011 – Responding to the critical need for dramatic improvements in the digital tools used by journalists and community news and information providers, Northwestern University and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation today announce a four-year, $4.2 million grant to create the Knight News Innovation Laboratory at Northwestern.

The Knight Lab, the first of its kind in the country, is a joint initiative of Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism and the Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern. It will bring journalists and computer scientists together to accelerate local media innovation by creating new digital tools, building partnerships with media organizations and expanding the media innovation community.

“To advance journalism excellence in the digital age, we must use the tools of the digital age,” said Eric Newton, vice president of the journalism program at Knight Foundation. “We hope this pioneering partnership between a school of journalism and a school of engineering will demonstrate how a major university can speed up media innovation in its surrounding community.”

A record-setting storm in Chicago has forced the cancellation of a formal launch event scheduled for today. But Newton and the management team of the Knight Lab will be hosting an online question-and-answer session at 4 p.m. CT/ 5 p.m. EST today at kflinks.com/NorthwesternLaunch.

The Knight Lab’s mission is to improve the news and information people use to run their communities and their lives. It will partner with media organizations in the Chicago area to test, deploy and refine technologies that help them create and package content, engage audiences and improve their capacity to finance an improved flow of local news and information. The lab will work with all kinds of organizations – from large commercial media companies to nonprofit organizations that serve niche audiences – to foster an environment of innovation that can be replicated elsewhere.

Among the Knight Lab’s goals is to maximize use of open-source software already developed through the Knight News Challenge, a $25 million worldwide media innovation contest now in its fifth year, as well as from other grantees from Knight Foundation’s $100 million media innovation initiative.

Those include projects such as Open Block, an aggregator of public information; Document Cloud, for managing and displaying original documents; Public Insight Journalism, which helps newsrooms tap the wisdom of the community to find better news sources; and Spot.Us, a new way of “crowd-funding” journalism.

The Knight Lab will review the News Challenge software, identify projects with the greatest value for local publishers and improve the technology so it can be easily deployed. The lab will also work on technologies originally developed at Northwestern and elsewhere.

The Knight Lab’s work will be carried out under the auspices of the Medill-McCormick Center for Innovation in Technology, Media and Journalism, created in 2009 to be a driver for the development of innovative ideas, media technologies, people and products. The lab is a natural extension of work fostered by the center. To date, this has included a series of classes enrolling journalism and computer science students, in which cross-disciplinary teams have generated several news and information applications currently under development, as well as a scholarship program enabling people with computer programming backgrounds to earn a master’s degree in journalism from Medill.

Medill Dean John Lavine said the Knight Lab’s work is important because innovation in technology is one of the major forces driving the evolution of journalism and media. “Medill’s expertise in audience understanding and the management of media enterprises can inform technology innovation to ensure that it yields results that are meaningful for journalists, citizens and communities,” Lavine said.

McCormick Dean Julio M. Ottino emphasized the interdisciplinary nature of the Knight Lab’s work.

“Today the greatest innovations happen at the boundary of disciplines,” Ottino said. “Northwestern is a university that embraces interdisciplinary work, and the McCormick School is a place where computer scientists and experts in areas such as journalism can collaborate to shape the future.”

The focus of the Center and the Knight Lab is not just innovation, but also impact. The lab will assess how news and information flowing through the new digital tools and platforms better engages communities.

Northwestern will recruit a full-time executive director to run the Knight Lab’s day-to-day operations. It also will hire a director of software engineering and several full-time software developers. The lab will also serve as a home for industry professionals and Northwestern students – undergraduates, master’s students and doctoral candidates – working on technology innovations relevant to media and journalism.

The lab will be overseen by four Northwestern faculty members, two from journalism and two from computer science:

Kristian Hammond, professor of electrical engineering and computer science in the McCormick School, is director of Northwestern’s Center for Innovation in Technology, Media and Journalism. His work focuses on intelligent information systems that attend to user context in automatically searching for information, and provide results in powerful and interesting new ways.
Owen Youngman, the Knight Professor of Digital Media Strategy at Medill, is associate director of Northwestern’s Center for Innovation in Technology, Media and Journalism. He was the first director of interactive media for the Chicago Tribune, where he directed the creation and launch of such print and online news and information services as chicagotribune.com, metromix.com, RedEye, and TribLocal.
Larry Birnbaum, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science in the McCormick School, is a member of the management committee of Northwestern’s Center for Innovation in Technology, Media and Journalism. His research focuses on information diversity in search and on technologies for applying human editorial judgment at web scale.
Rich Gordon, professor and director of digital innovation at Medill, launched the school’s online journalism program and serves on the management committee of Northwestern’s Center for Innovation in Technology, Media and Journalism. Before joining Medill, he was the first online director for The Miami Herald. In 2007, he won a Knight News Challenge grant to award scholarships to software developers interested in studying journalism at Medill.
A document with answers to common questions about the Knight News Innovation Lab is available at kflinks.com/KnightLabFAQ.

About the Medill-McCormick Center for Innovation in Technology, Media and Journalism

The Medill-McCormick Center for Innovation in Technology, Media and Journalism was established in 2009 as a vehicle for change. Working together with news, media and technology organizations, it seeks to drive the development of innovative ideas, technologies, people and products. As part of a major research university, it educates the next generation of leaders who will create the new technologies, distribution models and narrative forms that will integrate news ever more deeply into people’s lives. The center has initiated a series of classes for journalism and computer science students, creating cross-disciplinary teams that have generated innovative technologies.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation advances journalism in the digital age and invests in the vitality of communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Since 1950, the foundation has granted more than $400 million to advance quality journalism and freedom of expression. Knight Foundation focuses on projects that promote informed and engaged communities and lead to transformational change. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.

Contacts

John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Marc Fest fest@knightfoundation.org
Northwestern University

Wendy Leopold w-leopold@northwestern.edu
Northwestern University Center for Innovation in Technology, Media and Journalism

Kristian Hammond, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, McCormick hammond@eecs.northwestern.edu
Owen Youngman, Knight Professor of Digital Media Strategy, Medill School: (847) o-youngman@northwestern.edu
Larry Birnbaum, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, birnbaum@eecs.northwestern.edu
Rich Gordon, Professor and Director of Digital Innovation, Medill School: 224-558-8812, richgor@northwestern.edu

Filed under: Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism Rich Gordon

________________________________

From midVentures’ newsletter: Appolicious Secures $500,000 in VC Funding

Appolicious Secures $500,000 in VC Funding
February 10th, 2011

Chicago-based Appolicious has just landed $500,000 in new venture capital funding, according to an announcement last week. Appolicious is the social mobile app directory startup that made big waves in 2010 with a Yahoo! partnership, the acquisition of Appvee, and the launch of several new features. It certainly hasn’t lost momentum in 2011.

Founded in 2009 with the goal of making it easy for users to wade through the enormous sea of mobile applications in order to find choices they’d love, Appolicious is part social networking, part journalism, and part technology. In a recent New York Times article, reporter Bob Tedeschi dubbed it “the most useful of the app search engines I tried.”

Appolicious is not affiliated with any particular mobile device maker or provider. Because of this feature, it offers unbiased sharable app reviews, recommendations, and lists on topics ranging from business to travel to photography to games. The founder and CEO Alan Warms likes to weigh in as well. During his own family trips, Warms posted his own Appolicious list of the top five apps for kids.

“It’s all about finding ‘what is a really good app for X category,’” said Warms, a seasoned entrepreneur who sold his startup Buzztracker to Yahoo in 2007.

The latest venture capital funding is not the first or largest amount secured by the app recommendation program. In December, it landed $1.5 million from Apex Venture Partners and James Crouthamel. Before that, it had received $500,000 in seed funding from Apex. There is no word yet on how Appolicious intends to use the new $500,000 cash infusion.

For more information about the company, visit Appolicious.com.

__________________________________

Hammond defends his $700K grant for software that tells jokes: More Wasted Tax Dollars brought to you by the Obama Stimulus…$700,000 for computer software that tells Jokes

scottystarnes.wordpress.com/2010/09/04/more-wasted-tax-dollars-brought-to-you-by-the-obama-stimulus-700000-for-computer-software-that-tells-jokes/

More Wasted Tax Dollars brought to you by the Obama Stimulus…$700,000 for computer software that tells Jokes
The joke is this feckless President. He is the biggest joke ever played upon America. It’s not a knee-slapper, it’s a vomit-producing joke.

The irony: Your tax dollars, stolen by Obama’s $862 billion stimulus, were used to create a computer software program that tells jokes. Un-fucking-believable.

ABClocal.com reports:

A research professor at Northwestern University is defending a more than $700,000 stimulus grant he has received to create computer software that tells jokes.

Professor Kristian Hammond says it’s serious work. But some critics say using stimulus money for this type of research is no laughing matter.Critics say the project is simply a waste of taxpayer money. But the man behind this next-generation software say those detractors, which include Senator John McCain, have never bothered to call and ask him what his work is all about.

In a building at Northwestern in Evanston, computer sciences professor Kristian Hammond is trying to make computers funny.

“Understanding what makes humor, what makes irony, what makes interesting juxtapositions, to understand what that means we can actually create it. We can create new material,” said Hammond.

It’s all heady, academic stuff, but Hammond is trying to give computers intuition.

The next-generation software looks at news stories and social media, and brings words together to form original lines of thought – a joke, if you will.

The material generated so far is not exactly killer standup material, and Hammond’s critics certainly aren’t laughing.

The project has received more than $700,000 in federal stimulus money. Recently, Senator McCain singled out Hammond’s project, calling it a “joke machine,” one of many examples, he said, of wasteful spending.
_____________________________________

Tonight’s Tech Pitch at The Sync: Feb. 16th

Subject: Re: TechPitch/Feb 16
Date: 2/15/2011 11:28:57 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: davidcarman@sbcglobal.net
To: dcarman@bnchicago.com

BNC “TechPitch”

Two startups pitch to an audience of angel investors, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, bloggers and tech enthusiasts.

If you are an early-stage tech company and want to present at “TechPitch,” contact David Carman at: 312-943-6376 or dcarman@BNChicago.com.

Presenters:

1. Cloakworks (www.cloak-works.com)-

A revolutionary new technology that adds specific 3D special effects to video games.

2. Front Brake Light (frontbrakelight.com)

The next revolution in auto safety. A forward-facing warning light that reveals the intention of oncoming motorists and simultaneously reduces the likelihood of rear-end accidents.

Interview:

George Deeb (redrocketvc.com) is a serial entrepreneur. In 1999, he founded iExplore.com, the #1 adventure travel website with over one million visitors per month. From 2009-2010, George acted as the CEO of MediaRecall, a B2B digital video services and technology company. He led the sale of MediaRecall to Deluxe in February 2010, generating a 10x return on invested capital. George provided growth capital prior to the sale. Between 1991 and 1999, George was an investment banker with Credit Suisse First Boston and completed over 50 corporate finance and M&A transactions.

Details:

Date-Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Time-5:30 – 8 p.m.

Location-Sync Technology Center, 322 S. Green Street, 3rd floor (1 block west of Halsted and 1 block south of Jackson in the heart of Greektown, just west of the Loop. Dial 0300 to enter.)

Admission Price–$20 online, $30 at the door (Online price does not include registration fees)

Registration link: bnctechpitch.com

Online registration ends at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Evening Agenda:

5:30 – 6:00 p.m. Registration

6:00 – 6:30 p.m. 2 companies pitch

6:30 – 7:00 p.m. Interview

7:00 – 8:00 p.m. Open networking

“TechPitch” is hosted by the SYNC Technology Center (www.synctechcenter.com), Chicago’s hottest new incubator for promising startups. The SYNC Technology Center provides the infrastructure (office space, legal counsel, marketing strategy, software development, contacts, etc.) necessary to nurture and accelerate the growth of early-stage companies.

For more information about BNC, visit our website at: www.bnchicago.com

To learn about the BNC Venture Capital Group, go to: www.bnchicago.com/VC

________________________________

May here. I hurriedly dug up this info. from the TMR archives. It may help refresh George Deeb’s memory when David Carman interviews him.

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

11/28/2001

Version:
Readers’ Comments and Responses

More on iExplore

From: Name withheld upon request.
Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2001 13:19:02 EST
Subject: Anonymous- iExplore
To: ron@themayreport.com

Ron,
As you had previously reported, the ex-iExplore employees have still not been compensated their rightful paychecks.

Not only that, but George Deeb is fraudulently displaying “experts” on his website and travel features (even E-mailing features containing stories about them in Newsletters to scores of consumers). So what happens if you call to ask for one of them? The consumer is probably lied-to, of course. You should call asking for one of them- just pick one from the website and chances are they’re not there anymore.

So Ron, These “EX-perts” would like to know where he gets off exploiting them this way, while at the same time refusing to pay them their hard-earned money!

Anonymous
+++++++++++++++++
From: Name withheld upon request.
Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2001 18:17:39 EST
Subject: iexplore
To: ron@themayreport.com

The phone is still ringing at iExplore. the website portal still “appears” to be braving the cold travel consumer world. The doors are still open though.

please keep my name anonymous

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

11/16/2001

Version:
Readers’ Comments and Responses

iExplore/George Deeb

[an anonymous fax received at the TMR office on Nov. 15]
Hi Ron,
A few of the ex-iExplore employees would like you to ask Mr. Deeb if he ever truly plans on paying us. As of September 18, 2001, virtually the entire staff was laid off. Since then, the office has moved locations and the company has continued to operate (in some form). Apparently, several people were asked to stay on and are being paid as consultants. We were promised that we would be paid by a check iExplore was expecting from a supplier. Now months have passed, but no money has been paid to us. Reliable inside sources say that check did in fact come in, but Mr. Deeb did not keep his word. What he spent that money on and how he can continue to operate is a big mystery. We knew the day we left that George’s word was worth nothing….now he has proven it to us (again). Maybe George doesn’t, but some of us really need the money. To lose your job is one thing, and to not be paid for 2 weeks and 2 days work is another. We are tired of his promises and ready to take action! Enough is enough George.
Anonymous
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

11/11/2000

Version:
Scoop

iExplore cuts may be much greater than we thought

Usually when a story is “corrected” in this report, the revised story turns out to be less dramatic (or less worse) than the original report. In this case it is the opposite. We got a call early this afternoon stating that 30% of the staff was cut at iExplore. Tonight I received another voicemail from an anonymous caller stating that 75% of the entire staff that was let go today with “heavy emphasis on the development and support technology groups.” If the staff is 100, that leaves 25 people which is effectively the decimation of the company. George Deeb, can you let us know what is going on here?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

7/30/2001

* On Friday night I was sitting over at the Walgreen’s pharmacy, getting a prescription filled, and the woman sitting a few chairs down from me mentioned that my shoelace was untied. Of course, as you know, it’s always untied, but this turned out to be a good conversation starter. She added that circumferential shoelaces come untied more easily than flat ones. I thought, gee, that’s an interesting choice of words — “circumferential,” not “round.” So, I struck up a conversation with her, which I probably would have done anyway. I love it when I’m talking to somebody who’s never heard of The May Report, has no idea about who I am, and certainly has no concept of my dastardly methods. It turns out that this woman works for iExplore. She asked me if I was Larry Yamron, which I thought was very amusing, since Larry’s last name is my name, backwards. She then proceeded to tell me that she had heard that Larry went off to the Caribbean to start a porn island. In fact, I believe Larry was the COO at iExplore. I “innocently” asked her what she thought of George Deeb, and she told me that she had very little contact with him, and that he really doesn’t interact all that much with the employees. Her exact words were, “he’s dismissive.” She added that he has the attitude that he has a company to run and make successful, so he doesn’t mind being somewhat aloof and removed. At this point in the conversation, I had mentioned The May Report, but she thought it was some kind of financial report. Before she left, I explained to her, “not exactly.” The fact is that she never would have said what she said about George if she had really known who I was. She did say that the employees try to have fun, and that she enjoys working there.

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

11/15/2000

Version:
Scoop

iExplore comments and more info. I got today

From: Name withheld upon request.
To: ron@themayreport.com
Subject: IExplore comments
Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2000 03:53:55 GMT

Ron,
Please don’t use my name or address. Thanks!

I have some additional info about IExplore: It’s funny hearing Mr Deeb lie
through his teeth. I was present at a recent presentation of his. He didn’t
mention one of the benefits of his new systems was reducing staff! It’s one
thing to feel that you are better off with less staff but to admit it with
the level of glee he does is another. I wouldn’t worry about the IExplore
people who got layed off. They are walking across the hall to Centrifusion
to interview for new jobs. Some rumblings about Centrifusion having cash
flow problems as well. It’s funny that ex-IExplorers wouldn’t have a
problem working at Centrifusion because before the layoffs hit IExplore had
a policy not to work with Centrifusion.
___________________
I got a call today from a person who was cut at iExplore Friday. He told me
that it was great place to work, his exact words were “spectacular” and
that there was a high level of internal communication and assistance. He
said that the company has estimated the revenues of $1MM for this year. He
also said that 50 people out of 124 were cut and that many of the
production people are not needed, while the emphasis is more now on trips
and customers. Their call center, manned by people who like to travel but
are not paid a lot, may spend an hour-and-a-half on one call, he explained.
I asked him to send a note anonymously explaining the business better and
he said he would. Naturally, I asked about George Deeb and he said that in
meetings George would often say, “None of this leaves the room.” He said
that the employees knew about the National Geographic deal for ages before
it was announced and he was surprised that it did not leak. He said that
other similar deals are in the works now, but he would not tell me what
they were, even though he indicated that he knew. More on this later. Don’t
say that I am not trying to offer a balanced view.

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

Adventure-Travel Company Gets First-Round Funding

CHICAGO — iExplore, which is developing an online adventure travel service, said it received first-round venture-capital funding from Tribune Co., the large media firm, and Bear Ventures, a New York equity investment fund. The amount wasn’t disclosed. The company’s site is expected to launch by the end of next year’s first quarter. The company said its chief executive is George Deeb, previously a vice president in the investment banking department of Credit Suisse First Boston, where he was a specialist in consumer retailing. Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer Dave Tobiasz joined iExplore from Galileo International, a large computer reservation systems, where he served as vice president-finance. www.iexplore.com
___________________________________

AgileThought’s New COO Will Focus On Expanding Chicago Office

AgileThought’s New COO Will Focus On Expanding Chicago Office
|
Jenny Nielubowicz

show details 12:09 PM (22 hours ago)

Please see release below. AgileThought, Inc. has previously or is currently providing services for the following Chicago area companies:
Chicago Trading Company
Kirkland & Ellis
Navigant Consulting
Sidley Austin, LLP
United Center

NEWS RELEASE
Contact:
Jenny Nielubowicz
Nielubowicz & Associates, Inc.
941-924-5077
jennyn@naiagency.com

AgileThought’s New Chief Operating Officer Will Focus On Expanding Company’s National Presence

Jeff Alagood Will Implement Strategies For Increased Growth And Enhanced Software Delivery
TAMPA, FL (February 15, 2011) – Jeff Alagood has joined AgileThought, Inc., a leading national provider of custom software solutions for Fortune 500 companies, as its new Chief Operating Officer and a member of the management team. He will be based at the company’s headquarters in Tampa, Florida. Prior to joining AgileThought, he was the IT Development Leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers and was responsible for staffing and managing 300-400 developers worldwide. He was also previously employed as the Vice President of Corporate Development at First Advantage, where he was in charge of all operating platforms.

In his new position with AgileThought, Alagood will manage the company’s overall operations with an emphasis on service delivery and resourcing strategies for long-term growth and implementing initiatives to enhance client engagement experiences with the most effective and scalable development processes.

“At AgileThought I’m enjoying working with top level software professionals, including a growing number of Microsoft MVPs. Much of the success in our industry depends on our team’s skills and professionalism, so our current staff and structure puts us in a great position to expand and scale our capabilities, while continuing to hire top level talent. Having first class staff allows me to focus on growing AgileThought’s presence in other national markets,” says Alagood. “One of our immediate goals is to expand our Chicago office by adding more staff to accommodate our existing clientele and to prepare for future growth in that region.”

David Romine, President/Chief Executive Officer of AgileThought, comments, “Jeff is well known in this market for his leadership skills and his focus on execution. He brings a level of expertise to our company that will enable us to increase our overall standards of excellence while planning for continued growth in existing and new markets. Our business philosophy has always been to employ the most talented software professionals who embrace the entrepreneurial spirit, and now we want to scale what we do without jeopardizing that culture. Jeff has the proven experience to help us accomplish both goals.”

About AgileThought, Inc. – AgileThought, Inc. is a full service provider of software development and implementation services, with specializations in custom software development, business intelligence solutions, application lifecycle management, and enterprise portal solutions. Formed in 2004, the company is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and an Agile Alliance Corporate Member. Its corporate headquarters is located in Tampa, Florida, and it serves clients nationwide from offices in Tampa, St. Louis, Chicago and New York. It was recently recognized as an Inc. 500 company and was ranked #5 by Florida Trend magazine as one of the best companies to work for in Florida. It has also been included on the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s 2008, 2009 and 2010 Fast 50 list as one of the fastest growing, privately held companies in the Tampa Bay area. For more information, visit www.agilethought.com or call 813-514-9180.
###

_____________________________________

Bill Moller: WGN Radio guest request

from Moller, Bill
to “ron@themayreport.com”
date Tue, Feb 15, 2011 at 5:31 PM
subject WGN Radio guest request

WGN Radio guest request
|
Moller, Bill
to me

show details 5:31 PM (17 hours ago)

Ron:

I host a show on WGN Saturdays from 9 to 1 and have a tech segment just after the 12:30 news.

I thought maybe you’d have some ideas for a guest or topics from the world of gadgetry that would be interesting to the station’s audience.

Something timely or that looks around corners to emerging trends.

Let me know your thoughts.

Bill Moller
Host
WGN Weekend
c (630) 988-5800

___________________________________

Ron May here. Interesting conversation with Bill Moller this afternoon. I called him based on the email and he said that he was hired back three months ago after having been fired 20 months before that. The change was the change at the top of the Tribune Company and when they fired Randy Mott (is that right?) they decided to go back to a non-contentious and non-controversial approach to news content and stylistically, they are also toning it down. There is a new program director at WGN Radio and I believe Bill said that they will have a staff meeting next week. He’s booked with entrepreneurs through April but he wanted to know if I could think of someone who might have something to offer his audience and the focus is on tech.

___________________________________

Note from UIC not confidential

UIC not confidential
|
Innovation Highway
to me

show details 9:21 PM (12 hours ago)

from Innovation Highway
to ron@themayreport.com
date Tue, Feb 15, 2011 at 9:21 PM
subject UIC not confidential
mailed-by gmail.com
signed-by gmail.com

hide details 9:21 PM (12 hours ago)

Hi Ron,

I saw the gray book www.uillinois.edu/foia/Documents/GrayBook2010-11.pdf and see that Mark Krivchenia is the senior tech manager at UIC with many years of tech transfer experience, and Jeremy Hollis was hired as a Technology Manager at UIC only in Oct 2010. But at any networking event I have only seen Jeremy with Nancy Sullivan. Also, the OTM site otm.uic.edu/uic_leadership looks kind of funky. Jeremy Hollis alongside Nancy Sullivan with the senior tech managers below. Add to that we have the Kathy Liu story and Brenda Russell chairing the committee to hire her gal pal Nancy Sullivan – hmm, it seems there is just a small group of people with itchy backs and committed help on that front!

__________________________________

Ron May here. My information is that Nancy shows overt favoritism toward Jeremy Hollis and that seems to have ruffled many feathers as it has had an effect on office morale. Nancy has cloistered herself off with Jeremy and they go to lunch together just about every day. Meanwhile, others like Mark K. who are higher on the org chart than Jeremy or Connie Cleary who had the title Associate Director were pushed aside. Cleary left after breaking down and crying — my info. is several times — have been treated as second tier citizens in the department. Connie’s exit was facilitated by David Gulley, I hear, who adamantly opposed Nancy’s being hired, I also hear from my sources, and David called Matt Raymond at Rush to get Connie the job there so she just had to switch parking lots. Much more to come.

__________________________________

It’s Tonight – Join the Resume Revolution! 2011: Tuesday 2/15 at 8pm EST/7pm CST

Subject: It’s Tonight – Join the Resume Revolution! 2011: Tuesday 2/15 at 8pm EST/7pm CST
Date: 2/15/2011 2:18:33 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: phil.rosenberg@ResumeWebinar.com
To: ronaldmay@aol.com

Resume Revolution! 2011 Tuesday 2/15/11 at 7:00pm CST
Hi,
You’re receiving this as a subscriber to my job search blogs/groups or because you’re in my Linkedin network (If you don’t want to receive these emails, just click unsubscribe at the bottom of this email).

Please join me tonight, Tuesday 2/15/11 at 8:00pm EST/7:00pm CST for my Resume Revolution! webinar (enroll at ResumeWebinar.com at no charge) when reCareered presents live job search assistance and career help.

You’ll Learn All This At Resume Revolution!

* Actionable tips to use in your search NOW!
* How to empower yourself in job search
* How to optimize your job search and resume to 2011′s market realities
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* Why strategies that worked in your last job search aren’t working today

… plus

* Come for the Webinar – Stay for the Q & A with job search experts

Seats are limited – Enroll now at ResumeWebinar.com .

Thanks and good luck in your 2011 job search!

Phil Rosenberg
President, reCareered
Group Manager, Career Central
Email: phil.reCareered@gmail.com

reCareered.com

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__________________________________
Emanuel wants to bring college kids here to sell them on city

Emanuel wants to bring college kids here to sell them on city

Bruce Montgomery
to me, Melanie, Reg

show details 9:41 PM (16 hours ago)

from Bruce Montgomery
to Ron May
cc Melanie Adcock ,
Reg Dunlop
date Tue, Feb 15, 2011 at 9:41 PM
subject Emanuel wants to bring college kids here to sell them on city
mailed-by yahoo.com
signed-by yahoo.com

Emanuel wants to bring college kids here to sell them on city

Bruce Montgomery
to me, Melanie, Reg

show details 9:41 PM (12 hours ago)

from Bruce Montgomery
to Ron May
cc Melanie Adcock ,
Reg Dunlop
date Tue, Feb 15, 2011 at 9:41 PM
subject Emanuel wants to bring college kids here to sell them on city
mailed-by yahoo.com
signed-by yahoo.com

Emanuel wants to bring college kids here to sell them on city

BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter Feb 12, 2011 12:33PM

Story Image

Mayoral hopeful Rahm Emanuel discusses his plans to attract and cultivate what he calls the next generation of innovators in the city at EveryBlock.com, 1802 W. Berteau, Friday, Feb.11, 2011. He was shown the company’s website by founder Adrian Holovaty, 30. | Rich Hein~Sun-Times

Like a football coach luring blue-chip players, mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel said Friday he would host college juniors and seniors from across the Midwest for a special weekend in Chicago to convince them to start their careers and businesses here.

Emanuel described the job of recruiter – and salesman-in-chief – as an “evolution to the job” of Chicago mayor.

No longer can the city’s chief executive sit back and hope that Chicago’s beauty, cultural and ethnic diversity and rich night life will be enough to attract a talented, and technologically-savvy workforce.

The mayor has to go out and visit campuses and recruit that talent – like a coach who travels the country and hosts weekend campus visits.

“One of the jobs of a new mayor is something that’s changed in the mayor’s responsibilities over the years. It’s an evolution to the job. It’s a requirement now. You have to run your city. … But, you also have to market your city around the country and around the world to … investors, companies and future employees,” Emanuel said.

“I will convene a weekend where we bring the juniors and seniors – not just from Champaign and Purdue where we have good engineers – but recruits within the six-state area. … We’re gonna have one weekend where we market and sell Chicago’s technology companies so we have the best talent … capable of working in this new technology. Rather than thinking of going to Boston or California, Chicago [will be] seen as the center of where the new web designers want to come.”

Recruiting trips for prospective college athletes or top law school grads normally involve weekends of wining, dining and partying, all-expenses paid.

Emanuel did not say how many students he planned to host, if elected mayor. Nor would he say who would pick up the tab or what the itinerary would be.

He would only say that Chicago’s “night-life and cultural life” would be showcased. So would his plan to add 100 miles of bicycle paths over four years because that’s the mode of transportation favored by so many techies.

“Young people are looking for a city that’s got a quality of life and a capacity to build a career and, maybe one day your own company. All of those aspects are gonna be what I use to market the city,” he said.

After a town-hall meeting this week at the Chicago office of Google, Emanuel also vowed to work “both sides of the street” – by convincing technology companies with a strong Chicago presence to hire local talent.

“As I told the head of the office here in Chicago, I expect Google to be a corporate citizen,” Emanuel told a news conference at Everyblock, a Ravenswood-based news website.

“While I will do my job as mayor to go around and make sure that talent comes and moves to our city, I expect them to also hire our kids, make ‘em interns, go into the City Colleges, find the talent, bring ‘em along and hire them. I want Google to be in the future as kids are going through their high schools in the city, that they think they can get a job at Google.”

On another matter, Emanuel reacted coolly to Mayor Daley’s cost-saving plan to hand Taste of Chicago off to the Park District and fold the city’s four least-popular music festivals into the Taste with local artists only, instead of big-name talent.

“This is a step for this coming summer. It’ll be something I’m gonna evaluate for myself in my first year,” he said, when asked whether it would have been better to charge an admission fee and preserve the current structure.
____________________________________
Groupon co-founder to head state innovation panel

from Bruce Montgomery
to Ron May
cc Melanie Adcock ,
Paula Robinson
date Tue, Feb 15, 2011 at 6:03 PM
subject Groupon co-founder to head state innovation panel
mailed-by yahoo.com
signed-by yahoo.com

hide details 6:03 PM (16 hours ago)

Groupon co-founder to head state innovation panel

By Alejandra Cancino
Posted yesterday at 6:41 p.m.

Gov. Pat Quinn is expected to announce during his budget address Wednesday the creation of an innovation council to be headed by Groupon co-founder Brad Keywell.

Part of the council’s job will be to determine what kind of projects the state needs to support to be able to compete in the global market place, such as developing new technologies in agriculture, finance or in a combination of industries.

“We will bubble up provocative ideas that (the government) will hopefully listen to,” Keywell said.

The council will be made up of 12 business executives and university leaders who will meet each quarter to develop ideas to make Illinois more friendly toward innovation.

The council members – which include Jay Walsh, vice president of research at Northwestern University; Larry Schook, interim vice president at the University of Illinois; and Lisa Freeman, vice president for research at Northern Illinois University – will report to Quinn.

Keywell said it is too early to say exactly what Illinois’ strategy should be, but, as a start, the state needs to be more friendly toward entrepreneurial ideas.

“Capital investment has historically not been as plentiful (in Illinois) than in other states, especially in the West Coast,” Keywell said.

Keywell said Quinn reached out to him a few months ago to “talk about some of the things the state is trying to do” and asked him to lead the council. He underlined that he took the job because he is passionate about the topic.

“I am doing this because I want to help,” Keywell said. “I’m not doing it because of my political affiliations.”

A report published last summer by the state’s Economic Recovery Commission found that while ideas are be born in Illinois, few entrepreneurs decide to stay in the state.

Illinois, the report says, has failed to develop a “culture of innovation — an ecosystem of people, capital and public and private organizations that build upon each other’s successes to foster a nurturing environment for emerging industries.”

To change that, the report recommended the creation of an innovation council.

“The governor recognizes that (the state) is at a crossroads,” said Annie Thompson, Quinn’s spokeswoman.

The council is scheduled to have its first meeting in March.

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.twitter.com/techaccesstv
www.facebook.com/brucemontgomery
______________________________________
This Thursday – Improve your Elevator Pitch @ Entrepreneur Commons

from Bruce Montgomery
to Ron May
cc Melanie Adcock
date Tue, Feb 15, 2011 at 6:08 PM
subject Fw: This Thursday – Improve your Elevator Pitch @ Entrepreneur Commons
mailed-by yahoo.com
signed-by yahoo.com

hide details 6:08 PM (16 hours ago)

Images are not displayed.
Display images below – Always display images from tatvshow@yahoo.com

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

—– Forwarded Message —-
From: Entrepreneur Commons
To: tatvshow@yahoo.com
Sent: Tue, February 15, 2011 8:58:20 AM
Subject: This Thursday – Improve your Elevator Pitch @ Entrepreneur Commons

Can’t see this email? Click here:

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Entrepreneur Commons – Chicago Chapter – February 17,… Logo
You are invited to the following event:
Entrepreneur Commons – Chicago Chapter – February 17, 2011

Date:
Thursday, February 17, 2011 from 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM (CT)

Location:
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__________________________________________
Bill Anthony: A Watson Victory? This is About a Contest, Not Science

Fwd: A Watson Victory? This is About a Contest, Not Science

William D. Anthony
to Ronald, me

show details 4:17 PM (22 hours ago)

from William D. Anthony
to Ronald May ,
The May Report
date Tue, Feb 15, 2011 at 4:17 PM
subject Fwd: A Watson Victory? This is About a Contest, Not Science
mailed-by gmail.com
signed-by gmail.com

Fwd: A Watson Victory? This is About a Contest, Not Science

Inbox
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Reply
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William D. Anthony
to Ronald, me

show details 4:17 PM (18 hours ago)

from William D. Anthony
to Ronald May ,
The May Report
date Tue, Feb 15, 2011 at 4:17 PM
subject Fwd: A Watson Victory? This is About a Contest, Not Science
mailed-by gmail.com
signed-by gmail.com

hide details 4:17 PM (18 hours ago)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: William D. Anthony
Date: Tue, Feb 15, 2011 at 4:16 PM
Subject: A Watson Victory? This is About a Contest, Not Science
To: “William D. Anthony Jr.”

www.readwriteweb.com/enterprise/2011/02/a-watson-victory-this-is-about.php?sms_ss=gmail&at_xt=4d5afb18301e3c69%2C0

MAYBE MIT-EF SHOULD PUT ON BECK AND O’REILLY AS WELL………

–
William D. Anthony, Jr., Attorney at Law
20 North Wacker Drive, Suite 2520
Chicago, Illinois 60606, Telephone (312) 332-6405, Facsimile (312) 332-2657
___________________________________
Consumer Reports for Ad Agencies: Steve Lundin: Mediapost

Consumer Reports for Ad Agencies

Steve Lundin: Mediapost

www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=144982

Used to be you could count on the value of a big brand name when selecting an agency. Want cartoon animals for a new cereal? Go to Leo Burnett. Got a funky foreign car? Go to DDB. However, the Groupon debacle that made Crispin Porter + Bogusky the latest poster child for mismarketing raises the question: can you really believe an agency’s own branding? If the goal of advertising is to embarrass your client, then the Crispi are clearly the geniuses they purport to be. But is this the kind of outcome that companies are looking for? It’s time the marketing world had its own Consumer Reports, so that potential clients can get a little kiss before they get screwed.

How many people would buy a car today without looking at professional assessments, as well as those from other consumers? The information is easy to find, but that’s not the case in marketing. This allows agencies to trade heavily on their brand names, not their track records.

For example, when a salesperson (excuse me — Account Executive) from Edelman goes into a new business meeting, they will point to being PR Week’s Agency of the Year, but they won’t discuss their notorious WalMarting Across America fake blog debacle. Did Edelman fire all the geniuses behind that one, like a car company dumping a bunch of leaky brake calipers? Probably not — so what guarantee does a client have that they won’t be receiving the same “defective parts” during their engagement?

And if size matters, isn’t legendary DraftFCB — the largest ad agency in Chicago — a sure bet? You might think so, but State Farm Insurance didn’t: they fired the agency less than a year after hiring them. The agency has lost most of its work at Kraft Foods; and S.C. Johnson & Son Co., their oldest client, is searching for a new agency. These facts just aren’t easy to find on the DraftFCB Web site, with all the clutter on industry awards and self-administered accolades for creative genius. It just seems that a brand name doesn’t mean what it used to.

The solution to this problem is easy; we could call it AdSumer Reports, an assessable database on all the pluses and minuses of all the ad agencies in the country — from the Kias to the Escalades. This database would feature information that any potential client should be interested in but would probably never be able to find: What campaigns cost and what they returned in revenue; how many times have campaigns caused clients to publicly apologize; how many clients has an agency lost for failing to deliver sales; how many times has the agency come forward in the media and taken responsibility for failed or embarrassing campaigns? Agencies could be rated on “Worth the extra money,” “Best buy,” “Value,” and “Avoid at all costs,” just to keep things simple.

Marketing is not a licensed profession, like healthcare, plumbing or cosmetology — so anything goes. Consequently, the problem with this proposed system is that it involves invoking the word that is tantamount to a silver cross or a garlic wreath for most agency people: accountability. Why would an agency want to be
transparent and honest about its track record? That might spoil its carefully crafted brand! When it comes to marketing, the agencies have really saved the best stuff for themselves; after all, they’ve managed to hide the Caveat Emptor sign under a big, flashing Green Light Special.
____________________________________
END OF REPORT