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

If you missed an article, go here:
www.tmronline.com/A55951/tmrarticles.nsf/vwFullNewsletter
(BUT ALL REPORTS SINCE DECEMBER 2ND HAVE NOT BEEN POSTED YET ON THE TMRONLINE SITE DUE TO A TECNICAL ISSUE.)

Louis Brandeis: “Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.”
_________________________________
*************************************
The Backlinks Company is your trusted partner in building custom web application software for your business. We work will the latest programming technology including:
Andorid, Windows Phone and iOS
C# .NET, C++
JAVA
PHP / MySQL
Ruby on Rails
Javascript
JQuery
JQuery Mobile
Phonegap
AJAX
HTML5
Call Us for more Information at 312-288-8459 or email mikefreud@gmail.com or visit blcompany.com/programming.html
*****************************
___________________________________
TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Scoop section:

– Briefly noted, by Ron May
– Apps for Metro Chicago announces 20 Grand Challenge Finalists and 3 GO Finalists
– Local start-up seeks Kinect developer/enthusiast partner
– Steve Fisher: A 4th Dimension Software Expert
– Tonight: Friday, Dec. 16: Join lira and 61 others at “Coworking Holiday Social at The Coop!”
– Chicago Lean Startup Challenge Finals
– ExploreChicago Featured in new Google Currents App
– Did Cyberattack Bring Down The ‘Beast Of Kandahar’?
– In Memoriam: Christopher Hitchens, 1949-2011
– Irv Michaels: Provides his notes from the Howard Tullman and Harper Reed talks at the CEC Start-up event on Weds., Dec. 14th
– Taxi Share Chicago, the smart phone app created by local entrepreneur Dan Fedor and Uki Lucas (of CyberWalkAbout), was selected by popular vote as one of 5 (from a field of 31) to make the finals of the Apps for Metro Chicago Contest
– From TINC Mag: Chicago.com – New Version Offers Personalized Emails and Subdomains
– From TINC Mag: Chicago Tech Startup: SceneTap
– Another finalist in the Apps for Metro Chicago contest, OkCopay, also interviewed by the queen of templated newsletters Kathryn Born, or one of her minions, just known as “admin” — Kathryn, are these real interviews or just forms being filled out?
– Another Apps 4 Metro Chicago finalist, SpotHero, co-founded by my new buddy Mark Lawrence — well, except that he thinks Fred Hoch and Seth Kravitz are good guys but it’s not my job to tell him what to think — who wheeled me three blocks last night and got me into a cab, but he’s a bit of an event slut, having gone to Bloomingdale’s for the Geek2Chic runway walk, and this month he’s attended Technori Unwind at Nine (Seth, a bit fancy smancy, wouldn’t you say?), ITA at Fado’s, CEC Start-up, Lean Start-up Circle finals, I-Go’s Sharing party, some event starting with an M and I can’t read my own writing, and Chicago Loop Alliance and we can’t leave out his co-founder Jeremy Smith who appears to have been asleep last night before 10pm
– Cards Ron collected at VentureShot on 12/7/2011 at 744 N. Wells Street
– Marc Fest: Thank you & Good-bye from the Knight Foundation
_____________________________
The Scoop section:
____________________
Briefly noted, by Ron May

* Real fast since I have to shower asnd we have to bandage my foot which is healing well, but it is three months now since we started the bandaging for my big right toe.

The winner at last night’s Lean Start-up Circle finals was GoSoapBox.com, www.gosoapbox.com, run by John Pytel.

I wanted to go to three events last night, but that was not realistic. The event I did attend, the Lean Start-up finals had at least 200 people.

John Pytel will get a check for $25,000! and other prizes totaling $50,000 in in-kind help.
Here is what he has on his site:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Teach more effectively. SoapBox is a controlled digital space, designed to improve student engagement by breaking down the barriers students face when deciding whether or not to participate in class, and gives teachers a concrete assessment of student comprehension, in real time.
Take a tour and sign up for the beta
www.gosoapbox.com/tour/
Watch a video showing off SoapBox

What people are saying about SoapBox
I can’t imagine lecture without SoapBox. You guys have done a TREMENDOUS job here!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Three guys who left before they announced the winner told me they were convinced that Jennifer Thomas from www.travel720.com would win, but they left too early.
Jennifer’s team was there too. They felt that all the firms are at a beta stage and they had a very professional presentation, but as Todd Wyder pointed out in the Q&A, even if Jennifer were to get every one of the 300.000 young people who travel to subscribe for $10, that would only be $3MM in revenue, but as the Q&A brought out, there are many more potential revenue streams..

Traci Schaeffer from www.farmfixe.com has to get an award of her own for the largest group of friends and devoted fans. She must have had about twenty friends and supporters there. I think nit was Todd Wyder who said that she is a great networker.

Tonya Sims who played for the WBA is using machine learning to develop a model that will help coaches recruit college athletes. www.scoutmecoach.com and I notice on her card that she has TechNexus as her address. I want to put Tonya in touch with Bill Zangwill.

The judges and the audience asked good questions.

$25,000 is a lot of money for a pre-revenue start-up in my humble view.

I’ll have much more on this and the whole Lean Start-up model but for now let me get this out.

The SEMPO event had about 60 attendees and based on the note I got, they had 120 registered.

My info. from Bill Anthony (whom I called and asked to attend in case I could not make it) is that the investing event at Much Shelist was good (55 to 60 attendees and a big panel) with some excellent statistics. Much more to come.

Next on the hit parade:
More from the CEC event, SMCC and the boy chick, the ITA, Lean Start-up, and many more things.
Examples: Social Katy now has 14 people and 27 clients.
David Carman is involved with a British firm called www.innovatecv.com/
Logan LaHive, founder of www.belly.com, came out of Redbox
Nik Rokop wasd at the Lean Start-up Circle event
Mike Morasco used to work for Terry Kirch and with Curt Sahakian whose cousin Alan Sahakian is in computer science at Northwestern
Todd Wyder was COO of Closer Look after  they bought Rhumtech and his firm A-ha! Interactive was sold to Schoolnet in 2004.

and much, much more…
___________________________
Apps for Metro Chicago announces 20 Grand Challenge Finalists and 3 GO Finalists

www.appsformetrochicago.com/
Welcome to Apps for Metro Chicago, Illinois
Congratulations to A4MC’s 20 Grand Challenge Finalists and 3 GO Finalists!!
The Apps 4 Metro Chicago IL is coming to an end with over 70 amazing entries, 3500 public votes, amazing collaborations and even more inspirational stories! Now the moment we have all been waiting for!
The A4MC Top 20 Grand Challenge Finalists are ….
The Public has Spoken! With over 1200 votes the public’s Top 5 Finalists in no particular order are…..
Taxi Share- Taxi Share is an application designed to increase efficiency, reduce CO2 emississions and cut down on already congested streets and highways. The app allows users to find each other and share a cab to popular destinations around the city and to the major airports.
Crime Alert – Crime Alert is a cross-platform web application, resource page, blog, and SMS service that serves to alert users of crime in their community and surrounding area as rapidly as possible user-inputted addresses, and heavily customizable filters so that users only receive information that they believe to be relevant to their lives.
MassUp.us- is Chicago’s “Social Cycling System. ” It’s a Web App comprehensively meeting the needs of urban bicyclists. It features maps, directions, compass, ride recording, calorie counter, speedometer, weather and much more.
Make Green a Habit – This is a green social network with a simple goal: to inspire people and organizations to create a greener and sustainable habitat. Ghabit uses social media technology to allow users to create an online green community, track and compare green habits, and much more!
TreKing – The only Android app to support all four major transit systems in Chicago.
Judges Choice: Our expert panel reviewed all of our wonderful entries and their Top 5 are…
Chicago Lobbyists – Chicago Lobbyists is a web based app that is an open data, open government, and open source project intended to improve the transparency of interactions between the City of Chicago and lobbyists and their clients.
allSchedules- AllSchedules gives you access to a huge collection of transit schedules, for different transport modes (bus, metro,train, tram ferry, etc.), in multiple cities around the world.
OwtSee- OwtSee is an Android based and a web based application that presents information about the Chicago parks and community events in one convenient place.
Spot Hole – This app is a tool that improves the process of citizens reporting potholes and helps the city clarify and address those concerns.
Transit Stop: CTA Tracker – This mobile app gives you quick and easy access to bus and train (‘L’) arrival time estimates for every Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) bus and train stop.

Excellence Extended: The Top 5 Winners from the Transportation and the Community Round automatically make up the remaining 10 A4MC Grand Challenge Finalists and to refresh your memory they are…

Community Round:
IFindit Chicago- An android app that is designed to help low income and homeless residents connect with critical resources such as medical clinics, food pantries, shelters etc.
Mi Parque- is a bilingual participatory placemaking web and smartphone application that helps residents of the community contribute and share their vision for the future of Little Village’s new park. Community members can submit ideas about how to make this park, and other open spaces in the area, safer, greener and healthier places that meet community needs
Chicago Local Guide – is an android app is meant to help local people as well as tourists find: interesting places and points-of-interest near them; locate specials and promotions from local businesses; updates on cultural, social, and technology events around Chicago; and breaking local news .
OkCopay- A comparison search engine for medical care that allows users to search for the procedure they need, compare local providers, and view their actual prices.
Fixit!- A mobile app that allows Chicagoans to report issues, like public property damages, that require city attention.

Transportation Round:
SpotHero-Spothero efficiently connects parking demand and parking supply. We allow parking spot owners to earn income by renting their spot when it’s unoccupied
FasPark-Faspark helps drivers find street parking in real time.
InThirty- Use InThirty to see the Chicago city resources that you can access within a thirty-minute train, bus, or
TrailBlaze Chicago- TrailBlaze Chicago records and anonymously reports your bicycle tracks, allowing you to vote for new paths simply by carrying your phone while you bike.
GoChicago- With GoChicago, users can make a list of the places in Chicago they’d like to see, view directions to each place on a map, or call the place for more information.
Delta’s GO (Green Opportunities) Award Finalists: goes to the the best App designed to help users find, create, sustain or share green products, practices and programs in the City of Chicago
Light Bulb Finder- An app that estimates the energy savings from changing the bulb and how long it will take for the new bulb to pay for itself. It also calculates a home’s total energy savings potential and environmental impact for recommended bulb replacements.
Recycle City Chicago- This app shows the closest recycling center and the driving direction to that location to help residents of Chicago recycle.
Chicago Recycle Helper- Chicago Recycle Helper is a web application that helps people locate recycling drop-off points for various materials in the Chicago area.
Apps Newsletter from MCIC
See it here.
New Special Awards for Grand Challenge
The Delta Institute is offering a $2000 Green Opportunities (GO) award for environmentally-themed apps, and the Innovate Illinois Grand Prize will be $6000 this round. More information here.
Congrats to the Apps 4 Metro Chicago IL Community Round Winners!

The Apps 4 Metro Chicago Illinois Community Round was a grand success with over 30 wonderful entries, and 1200 + votes! T
The votes are in and you can view the complete list of Community Round, State and Placemaking Award winners here!
We invite software developers, community groups, businesses and individuals to build apps that solve problems and improve services in Metro Chicago. Our goal in this three-phased competition is to increase government transparency by facilitating the building of software applications that are creative, useful, and designed for long-term impact.
The key to winning this contest is to demonstrate that you have created something useful for our community. The judges are looking for apps that are built with the input and support of not-for-profits, community organizations and businesses. For more details check the judging criteria on the guidelines page.
Any and all software applications are eligible as long as they are for a platform widely available to the public like the web, smart phones, and SMS.
Support for this competition comes from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Illinois Science and Technology Coalition, the Motorola Mobility Foundation and The Chicago Community Trust.
________________________________
Local start-up seeks Kinect developer/enthusiast partner

For TMR: local start-up seeks Kinect developer/enthusiast partner
Inbox
X
Reply
from Semiautomatic Semiotics info@semiautomatic3d.com
to Ron May <ron@themayreport.com>
date Thu, Dec 15, 2011 at 12:44 PM
subject For TMR: local start-up seeks Kinect developer/enthusiast partner
mailed-by gmail.com
signed-by gmail.com
hide details 12:44 PM (20 hours ago)
Hi Ron,
Hope this message finds you well. Congrats on your website upgrade! As you probably recall, I am an entrepreneur with a start-up venture.
We are seeking to partner with someone with Kinect development interest. He/she does not need to be an expert. If interested, they can contact us via email at info@semiautomatic3d.com for additional information.
I appreciate it if you post this message on TMR.
Many thanks,
Zenah Khawaja
Semiautomatic Semiotics
_________________________
Steve Fisher: A 4th Dimension Software Expert

Two Things: Your New Site & A 4th Dimension Software Expert
X
Inbox
X
Reply
from Steven Fisher sfisher@thefishermediagroup.com
to ron@themayreport.com
date Wed, Dec 14, 2011 at 9:52 AM
subject Two Things: Your New Site & A 4th Dimension Software Expert
mailed-by gmail.com
signed-by gmail.com
Important mainly because of the people in the conversation.
hide details 9:52 AM (10 hours ago)
Ron,
Robbie Abed did a nice job of redoing your site and cataloguing it, especially in view of the aggravation that I am sure you put him through. Now that he has, you might want to take the time to proof it and correct the typos, i.e. on the Contact page, if you are going to capitalize Publisher as your title, then you need to capitalize Editor. Now that you have a legitimate website, you need to be mindful of things like that.
The reason for this email however is that I have a client that has an immediate need for someone who is familiar with 4th Dimension software. It is a cross platform relational database used by a lot of industries for jobbing, billing, etc. My client is unhappy with his current guy and is looking for someone that can put in a few hours a week, every week and make sure that they are making the best use out of the software. If you know of anyone, I would be grateful.
All the best,
Steve
Steven Fisher
The Fisher Media Group
sfisher@thefishermediagroup.com
847.274.6439
___________________________
Tonight: Friday, Dec. 16: Join lira and 61 others at “Coworking Holiday Social at The Coop!”

Fwd: Tomorrow: Join lira and 61 others at “Coworking Holiday Social at The Coop!”
X
ronaldmay@aol.com
X
Reply
from Bruce Montgomery tatvshow@yahoo.com
to ronaldmay@aol.com
date Thu, Dec 15, 2011 at 1:24 PM
subject Fwd: Tomorrow: Join lira and 61 others at “Coworking Holiday Social at The Coop!”
signed-by yahoo.com
Important mainly because of the people in the conversation.
hide details 1:24 PM (20 hours ago)
Images are not displayed.
Display images below – Always display images from tatvshow@yahoo.com
Title: Coworking Holiday Social at The Coop!
When: Sat Dec 17 12:30am – 2:30am (UTC)
Where: The Coop (230 W Superior 2F, Chicago, IL 60654)
Who: info@meetup.com*
Add to calendar »
Your Agenda for Sat Dec 17, 2011
No earlier events
12:30am Coworking Holiday Social at The Coop!
No later events
view my calendar »

Sent from my iPad
Begin forwarded message:
From: Refresh Chicago <info@meetup.com>
Date: December 15, 2011 12:35:31 PM CST
To: tatvshow@yahoo.com
Subject: Tomorrow: Join lira and 61 others at “Coworking Holiday Social at The Coop!”

TOMORROW
Coworking Holiday Social at The Coop!
Refresh Chicago
Friday, December 16, 2011
6:30 PM
The Coop
230 W Superior 2F
Chicago, IL 60654
I’m going
Change your RSVP
___________________________
Chicago Lean Startup Challenge Finals

Chicago Lean Startup Challenge Finals
Who will be crowned the Lean Startup Champion, and collect $75,000 in cash and prizes?
Come to the finals on Thursday, December 15, and watch the four finalist share lessons learned and pitch to a panel of judges and a select audience of 250 entrepreneurs, investors, designers an developers. Our judges will be Groupon’s Suneel Gupta, Northwestern’s Michael Marasco, IC Stars Eric Lannert, Broker Savant’s Todd Wyder and Pathfinder Software’s Bernhard Kappe.

December 15, 2011 6:30 PM – 218 attended
Chicago Lean Startup Challenge Finals: Four Startups Pitch for $75,000
Hughes Auditorium, Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center of NWU (map)
SELECTED BY: BERNHARD KAPPE
Who will be crowned the Lean Startup Champion, and collect $75,000 in cash and prizes?
Come to the finals on Thursday, December 15, and watch the four finalist share lessons learned and pitch to a panel of judges and a select audience of 250 entrepreneurs, investors, designers an developers. Our judges will be Groupon’s Suneel Gupta, Northwestern’s Michael Marasco, IC Stars Eric Lannert, Broker Savant’s Todd Wyder and Pathfinder Software’s Bernhard Kappe. This is a great opportunity to network with other members of the Chicago tech community over beer and wine, listen to 4 fantastic pitches, and ask the finalists your own questions while they are on the hot seat in real time via twitter.
The Finalists
FarmFixe helps local foodies discover and buy the best local artisanal foods. In doing so, FarmFixe helps local food producers find new customers and develop impactful brands.
ScoutMeCoach connects college coaches with student athlete prospects so they can recruit while they sleep. Say goodbye to filling out lengthy profiles and say hello to a more timely and cost effective recruiting experience, in a few clicks.
SoapBox is a controlled digital space, designed to improve student engagement by breaking down the barriers students face when deciding whether or not to participate in class, and gives teachers a concrete assessment of student comprehension, in real time.
travel720 is focused on providing funding solutions to students and travelers who want to study/volunteer/work abroad. We help the traveler earn their trip through through creating a budget & savings plan, then fundraise money through upcoming gift giving occasions (e.g. birthday, holiday, graduation) – turning gifts into educational experiences that are shared with family & friends!
About the Chicago Lean Startup Challenge
The Lean Startup Challenge is the opposite of a business plan competition. Instead of creating huge documents and proformas based on assumptions, contestants spend ten weeks making meaningful progress on their business based on real market feedback.
On October 1st, 146 startups answered the call, and entered “The Challenge”. After 9 weeks of accelerated experimentation we are down to 4 finalists.
Who will win? Join us on the 15th to find out.
Our Sponsors
We’re very grateful to our sponsors without who’s support we would not be able to put on the Chicago Lean Startup Challenge:
Pathfinder Software
The Farley Center for Entrepreneurship at Northwestern
The Pritzker Group
Stevens & Associates
Lean Launch Lab
Walker Sands Communications
Braintree
Code Academy
KISSMetrics
Unbounce
Illinois Launch
Joone Studios
VentureSHOT
TechNexus
TechWeek
Snap Engage
Heroku
Built In Chicago
Technori
Tech.li
E Liu
Any attendees interested in meeting up before hand and talking about the startups they’re working on?
Posted Wednesday at 11:04 AM
Richard Alesky
Liu…I like the idea of meeting a little early. What is your background? What time do you want to meet? Can we meet in the same hall as the event?
Posted Wednesday at 11:28 AM
E Liu
Hi Richard,
I’m a python dev working on a startup to provide online rental applications for landlords and leasing agents.
I’m game to meet at the event site early. Would be nice to go into the event knowing more than 0 people. We could just meet an hour before hand and see if anyone else wants to join in on the fun.
Posted Wednesday at 12:36 PM
E Liu
[Location Change] Lets meet at Tim O Tooles.
A few people have expressed interest, and I’m not sure what the situation is at the event site, so I propose meeting at Tim O Tooles (nearby pub) an hour before the event (5:30).
Tim O Tooles and LSC finals on a map:
bit.ly/tPbiC3
I’m working on a startup to provide online apartment applications for landlords. Interested in meeting people in the Chicago startup community.
–ezl
Posted Wednesday at 1:40 PM
Mary Ellen Moser
Hi Ed and Liu,
I am going to try and meet up with you before the event. I’ve been involved with one of the finalists so I’m pretty excited and eager to be there.
Mary Ellen
Posted Wednesday at 1:48 PM
Carl Foster
Looking forward to this.. i will try my self to get up there early and chat with you guys.. see you soon
Posted Yesterday at 9:06 AM
Kevin Lentz
I will try to meet early also. Looking to make more connections. We were part of the original 146 contestants.
Posted Yesterday at 9:36 AM
Elvin Rakhmankulov
Always interested to meet new people, I will join you guys at Tim O Tooles
Posted Yesterday at 10:32 AM
Warren Newhauser
1. Just wondering if the actual meeting starts at 6:30 or if that’s when the doors open?
2. Where is SpotHero?
Posted Yesterday at 10:35 AM
James Owen
Thinking about meeting up early as well….how should we find each other?
Posted Yesterday at 11:05 AM
Elvin Rakhmankulov
Excellent question James! E Liu, if you arrive there first can you tell the host that this table is for “Lean Startup Meetup”? or may be even reserve it in advance…
Posted Yesterday at 11:12 AM
Christine Boulware
I’ve just read this ‘chain’ of comments and I, too would really like to meet you guys…I’m a block from Tim O’Tools, may I join?
Posted Yesterday at 11:25 AM
E Liu
@James: I’ll get there extra early. I’m wearing a burnt orange shirt with the word “TEXAS” on it. short, pasty, asian — in some cultures i’m sure that’s considered dashingly handsome (not sure which culture that is yet, but if you know, do tell)
Posted Yesterday at 12:32 PM
E Liu
@Christine: Sure, the more the merrier.
@Elvin: Much better idea — I will get there before 5 and take a seat and tell the hostess.
Posted Yesterday at 12:33 PM
Richard Alesky
I’m here at t otooles and sitting at the bar.
Posted Yesterday at 4:55 PM
Andy O’Dower
If RSVPs are closed can I pay at the door?
Posted Yesterday at 5:41 PM
You must be a member to post a comment. Join or login
____________________________
ExploreChicago Featured in new Google Currents App

ExploreChicago Featured in new Google Currents App
Inbox
X
Reply
from Joyce Rowe joyce.rowe@explorechicago.org via prnews2.com
to ron@themayreport.com
date Thu, Dec 15, 2011 at 12:05 PM
subject ExploreChicago Featured in new Google Currents App
mailed-by prnews2.com
hide details 12:05 PM (21 hours ago)
EXPLORE CHICAGO PROVIDES
CHICAGO TOURISM AND TRAVEL CONTENT FOR
GOOGLE CURRENTS, A NEW MAGAZINE AND TRENDS READER
Special Explore Chicago edition features holiday fun, free events, neighborhood shopping, architecture slide show, YouTube videos & more
CHICAGO (December 15, 2011) ExploreChicago.org, the City of Chicago’s Official Tourism Website, is featured in Google Currents, Google’s new free magazine and trends reader for Android, iPhone and iPad users which launched in the U.S. on December 8. Google worked with ExploreChicago.org, managed by the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture, to feature its rich content. ExploreChicago.org is Chicago’s No. 1 travel and tourism website based on traffic volume.
In the Google Currents app under Explore Chicago, users will find an insider’s view of the city, special features about Chicago, multimedia content and the Explore Chicago blog. The first edition includes Holiday Fun in Chicago – ideas for winter events and activities and seasonal food and beverage recommendations; Things to Do This Weekend including a round up of the best ice skating rinks; Today’s Freebies; and photos showcasing Chicago’s world renowned architecture.
“We are thrilled that Explore Chicago has been selected to provide content for Google’s exciting new product,” said Dorothy Coyle, Executive Director, Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture. “This opportunity illustrates the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture’s commitment to working with private sector technology companies to broaden our reach and deliver even more information about the city to a wider audience.”
New content editions will be released regularly. To subscribe to Explore Chicago on Google Currents, download the free app, search Explore Chicago and subscribe. Other Google Currents content producers include mashable.com, the Huffington Post, Forbes and PBS. For more information, check out Google Currents on YouTube bit.ly/tIgOj8.
Visitors have come to rely on ExploreChicago.org as an extremely useful planning tool with features which are not available anywhere else. Year to date, Explore Chicago has registered nearly 6 million visitors, outpacing all other Chicago tourism sites. In June 2011 alone, the site logged a record 1.1 million visits.
According to a study conducted by Nichols Tourism Group and the National Laboratory of Tourism and eCommerce at Temple University, Explore Chicago has become a highly effective way of marketing Chicago’s cultural and tourism assets and significantly influenced $172 million in visitor spending and $3 million in local taxes last year.
More detailed highlights of Explore Chicago’s first edition for Google Currents include:
Holiday Fun in Chicago
Discover Chicago’s Ice Skating Rinks
Great Holiday Date Nights in Chicago
Try Seasonal Beverages From Around the World Without Leaving Chicago
Chicago’s Comfort Foods Warm You Up This Winter
Buy Local Guide – A Selection of Chicago’s Best Neighborhood Shops
Quirky & Kid-Friendly Shops
Gifts By Local Artisans
Experiential Gifts
Independent Bookstores
Explore Chicago Daily Blog Updates
Today’s Freebies
Things To Do This Weekend
Explore Chicago Takes On Christkindlmarket
Explore Chicago Gallery: A Selection of Photos Submitted by Visitors and Residents
Explore Chicago Architecture: Shots of the City’s World Renowned Buildings
YouTube Videos
Chicago Fashion Is…
Chicago Architecture
The Skydeck Chicago Experience
Welcome to the Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago Trolley Tour
Chicago Neighborhood Tours
ExploreChicago.org and Social Media
The Explore Chicago website offers visitors and residents a popular blog; games and social media; multimedia content; information on thousands of events, tours and attractions; visitor discounts; interactive maps and engaging profiles of Chicago’s 77 diverse neighborhoods.
An innovator in the use of cutting-edge technologies and social media, the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture promotes Chicago as a premier leisure destination. In addition to ExploreChicago.org, Chicago’s many cultural and tourism assets are marketed via an integrated social media strategy that maintains an active presence on Foursquare, SCVNGR, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.
Chicago’s Visitor Industry
There were nearly 40 million visitors to Chicago in 2010, three-quarters of which were leisure travelers. The Chicago visitor industry generates more than $11 billion in direct spending, $616 million in tax revenue, and sustains more than 124,000 jobs for the city’s economy.
Visitor Information Resources
Visitors and Chicagoans planning to entertain out-of-town guests can receive trip-planning assistance and information by visiting ExploreChicago.org. Brochures and information on Chicago’s exciting events and activities are also available at the Visitor Information Centers.
Friendly Visitor Representatives can answer questions and assist in planning an unforgettable itinerary. The visitor centers are located in two of the city’s most popular areas: across from Millennium Park in the Chicago Cultural Center, 77 E. Randolph Street; and at the historic Water Works pumping station, 163 E. Pearson Street at Michigan Avenue.
For daily alerts about fun and free things to do in Chicago, follow Explore Chicago on Twitter at twitter.com/explorechicago and on Facebook at facebook.com/explorechicago, where you can also weigh in on your Chicago favorites. Discover fun itineraries on our blog at explorechicagotourism.com and on Foursquare at foursquare.com/explorechicago. Get answers to your Chicago questions on the go, restaurant recommendations, and travel tips via the FREE Twitter Concierge Service @explorechicago available daily.
The Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture is dedicated to promoting Chicago as a premier cultural destination to domestic and international leisure travelers, providing innovative visitor programs and services, and presenting free world-class public programs.
###
Media contacts:
Joyce Rowe, joyce.rowe@explorechicago.org
312.742.2036
Christine Pundavela, christine.pundavela@explorechicago.org
312.742.1158
__________________________
Did Cyberattack Bring Down The ‘Beast Of Kandahar’?

Intel & Cyber
Did Cyberattack Bring Down The ‘Beast Of Kandahar’?
By Carlo Munoz
Published: December 15, 2011

defense.aol.com/2011/12/15/did-cyberattack-bring-down-the-beast-of-kandahar/?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D120600
WASHINGTON: Speculation on how Iran was able to capture the Pentagon’s stealthy RQ-170 unmanned aircraft has consumed defense and intelligence insiders for weeks. But recent reports based on sources in Tehran claim the highly-classified drone was brought down by an Iranian cyberattack.

For more news and information on the swiftly-changing defense industry, please sign up for the AOL Defense newsletter. For the quickest updates, like us on Facebook.

Iranian engineers were allegedly able to hack into the unmanned aircraft’s control systems and trick the drone’s guidance systems to think it was landing in U.S-held territory in Afghanistan. In fact, Iranian hackers guided the CIA-operated aerial drone to land in Iran, according to today’s story in the Christian Science Monitor. The so-called ‘Beast of Kandahar’ was conducting intelligence operations over Iran at the time of its capture. Gaps in the plane’s global positioning system allowed Iranian military officials to take control of the plane from its CIA handlers. Iranian intelligence learned about the GPS vulnerabilities by examining other American drones captured by Tehran, according to the story.

If such claims are true, a cyberattack would explain the remarkable condition the RQ-170 was in when Iranian military leaders put their trophy on display live on television. The lack of damage on the aircraft led many to believe the drone was a fake. Retired three-star general and former head of Air Force intelligence David Deptula wouldn’t comment whether the RQ-170 was taken down by a cyber attack. (Deptula is a member of AOL Defense Board of Contributors) But this is not the first time America’s fleet of unmanned aircraft have been exploited in the cyber realm.

In 2009, Taliban forces were able to hack into live video feeds coming from Air Force Predator drones by using commercially-produced hardware. Air Force officials at the time said those gaps did not extend into the aircraft’s control systems. Further, service officials claimed the data encryption and security standards built into the U.S. aerial drone fleet couldn’t be cracked by the Taliban or any other adversary.
___________________________
In Memoriam: Christopher Hitchens, 1949-2011

Subject: In Memoriam: Christopher Hitchens, 1949-2011 | Blogs | Vanity Fair
Date: 12/16/2011 8:07:11 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: bconnolly@furthermore.com
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com

www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2011/12/In-Memoriam-Christopher-Hitchens-19492011
____________________________
Irv Michaels: Provides his notes from the Howard Tullman and Harper Reed talks at the CEC Start-up event on Weds., Dec. 14th

Subject: RE: Irv, please send me your notes on Howard Tullman and the first half of Harper.
Date: 12/15/2011 9:10:52 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: Irv.Michaels@insperity.com
Reply To:
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com

Ron,
More of an outline than notes. Hope it helps.
Howard Tullman
Hypr box
1. Hyper personalization -Free is not enough
Buy from and sell to people not strangers
2. Know before you go
3. SoLoMo social, local & mobile
4. New behavior models
5. Low barriers to entry
New micro transaction

Harper Reed former cto threadless
Nine words that will help you build a great team
1. Pruning
2. Closing
3. Trust
4. Truth -quisition
5. Tech-fast
6. Hobbies
7. Measure everything succees
8. Success
9. Credit -give credit
Best regards,
Irv
Irv Michaels
Office: 847.233.3732 | Fax: 866.366.1017 | Mobile: 847.207.3155
________________________________
From: RONALDMAY@aol.com [RONALDMAY@aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 2:16 PM
To: Irv Michaels
Cc: ronaldmay@aol.com
Subject: Irv, please send me your notes on Howard Tullman and the first half of Harper.
__________________________________
Taxi Share Chicago, the smart phone app created by local entrepreneur Dan Fedor and Uki Lucas (of CyberWalkAbout), was selected by popular vote as one of 5 (from a field of 31) to make the finals of the Apps for Metro Chicago Contest

Press Release
X
Inbox
X
Reply
from Dan Fedor dfedor73@gmail.com
to “ron@themayreport.com” <ron@themayreport.com>
cc Uki Dominque Lucas <ukidlucas@gmail.com>,
ncantemir@gmail.com
date Thu, Dec 15, 2011 at 1:54 PM
subject Press Release
mailed-by gmail.com
signed-by gmail.com
Important mainly because of the people in the conversation.
hide details 1:54 PM (4 hours ago)

Taxi Share Chicago, the smart phone app created by local entreprenneur Dan Fedor and Uki Lucas (of CyberWalkAbout), was selected by popular vote as one of 5 (from a field of 31) to make the finals of the Apps for Metro Chicago Contest www.appsformetrochicago.com/ . An additional 5 apps from the field of 31 were selected by the core judges to also make the finals. Now, a panel of local “celebrity” tech players www.appsformetrochicago.com/about/judges will determine the top 10 winners from the final 20 candidates (10 entrants having been automatically entered after finishing in the top 5 of the first 2 rounds of the contest). There is also an award for the best “Green” app being given out by The Delta Institute ($2000) and a State Award ($6000) for the best app using State provided data sets. In addition to Taxi Share (a cooperative effort with co-creator Dan Fedor), CyberWalkAbout also has a home grown app (Chicago Local Guide) in the race.
–
Sincerely,
Daniel J. Fedor, Esq.
(312) 476-9196 Direct
(312) 276-4030 efax
___________________________
From TINC Mag: Chicago.com – New Version Offers Personalized Emails and Subdomains

tincmag.com/2011/12/13/chicago-com-%e2%80%93-new-version-offers-personalized-emails-and-subdomains/
Chicago.com – New Version Offers Personalized Emails and Subdomains
By admin • on December 13, 2011
Chicago.com Emails

The initial news broke when the New York Times wrote about Chicago.com offering email addresses that ended with @chicago.com. This would allow you to buy John@chicago.com , technology@chicago.com, shop@chicago.com, etc.

It’s a “pure” email/digital identity service, so you buy john.doe@chicago.com, it ties into your email provider of choice, like Yahoo!, Gmail, AOL, Outlook, or Hotmail.

Individuals, companies and organization can request an invite by writing to commerce@chicago.com. And there are limits; you can’t, for example, get Cubs@chicago.com (or trademarked names like Sox/Blackhawks/Bulls/Bears) until IP issues are discussed and resolved.

Chicago.com Subdomains

But the bigger story may be the subdomain digital real estate that Chicago.com is launching. This will create of a new and different Chicago.com site, filled with subdomain content created by individuals in Chicago. (An example of a subdomain would be sports.chicago.com.)

If the content of the subdomained sites is done well, the sites will boost each other’s SEO, creating a built-in audience for subdomain owners, and an ecosystem that has the capacity to grow and become a grassroots, almost crowdsourced, city/community website. Chicago.com will be launching a brand new hotels section in concert with Priceline at hotels.chicago.com, are planning a wedding section at weddings.chicago.com. This summer, they created segway.chicago.com in partnership with Bike & Roll.

Another curated subdomain, idea.Chicago.com, will become a launching platform that allows selected individuals to showcase an idea they want to build. The Chicago.com team will provide the technical infrastructure and consulting to help them launch what they want to launch.

CEO Josh Metnick

CEO Josh Metnick

Metnick and his team have spent nearly a year in development of the system. It’s the first website for which he’s been overseeing development since he launched Guitar.com in 1999, a site that climbed to over a million uniques/month in about six months, and was later sold. He was not heavily involved in any of the previous three Chicago.com versions, but that has changed with the new site.
____________________________
From TINC Mag: Chicago Tech Startup: SceneTap

tincmag.com/2011/11/18/chicago-tech-startup-scenetap/
2828641111254
Chicago Tech Startup: SceneTap
By admin • on November 18, 2011
Recently, TINC Magazine contacted SceneTap, a Chicago company that uses on site people counters and facial detectors to give users an accurate demographic of the bars they want to go to. Cole Harper, co-founder and CEO of SceneTap, answered our questions.

TINC: Startup vs. Growth Company AKA – What stage are you in? Series A (early stage) or “Growth Mode”?

Cole Harper: We’re still relatively early on in the game, but we’re in growth mode. We launched in Chicago in July, and we’re in the process of rolling out to other big markets around the United States.

TINC: Give us your Elevator Pitch! What’s your story and business model?

CH: I was sick of spending money on cabs to show up at bars that weren’t what I wanted. Our technology gives users real-time info on the bar scene – male/female ratio, average age, crowd size, specials, and more – from within our app. We provide bar owners with demographic data and a way for them to measure their marketing and promotional efforts. For consumers, we’re the ultimate nightlife resource, and for bar owners, we’re the ultimate service.

TINC: Can you go into detail as to the full scope of the services your company provides and how it works?

CH: Bars in the SceneTap network have small facial detection and people counter devices installed near the entrances. These devices count and track the gender and approximate age of the individual and feed the data to the aggregate totals in the app. It’s all non-intrusive; no one has access to the feed and nothing is recorded. Also, the devices can’t recognize individuals, so privacy isn’t an issue.

Bar goers can use SceneTap to check out the scene at bars near them, purchase deals, and interact with other users on the bar’s profile page.

TINC: What kind of product do you make?

CH: SceneTap offers a website as well as iPhone and Android applications, all for free. Blackberry and Windows compatibility are in the works.

TINC: What industries would you most closely align SceneTap with?

CH: We work heavily in the food and beverage industries, and within the nightlife and technology sectors.

TINC: What are common problems you see with the companies that your firm works with? How does your firm work to assist businesses with these problems?

CH: Venue operators have never had an accurate way to measure their marketing and promotional efforts. Now they can track the demographics of the crowd at all times, and from anywhere. Business is slow? They can use SceneTap to send out a deal to bring in foot traffic.

TINC: What makes you ‘special’? How is your product different from the other guys?

CH: A couple other companies out there actually put live video feed from bars in their apps or on their websites. In addition to the obvious privacy issues this brings up, the video feed is grainy, bandwidth-heavy and overall not that useful. We give users the data they want in real time, and the ability to search for bars nearby that meet their specifications.

TINC: Who holds your top level positions? How many people do you employ?

CH: I serve as chief executive and manage the overall business operations. Our co-founder and CIO is Marc Doering, who serves as the technology guru. We have 50 employees, and we’re currently hiring some developers.

TINC: What is your technical approach that makes your platform better? How are you getting the details right or working in a more optimized way?

CH: We’ve combined the best elements of a variety of social media platforms into one place. We’re also providing venue operators the ability to control their own material. For example, unlike Yelp, SceneTap allows venue operators the ability to remove damaging comments from their forum.
_____________________________
Another finalist in the Apps for Metro Chicago contest, OkCopay, also interviewed by the queen of templated newsletters Kathryn Born, or one of her minions, just known as “admin” — Kathryn, are these real interviews or just forms being filled out?

tincmag.com/2011/12/12/chicago-tech-startup-okcopay/

Chicago Tech Startup: OkCopay
By admin • on December 12, 2011
OkCopay’s site allows users to browse and compare medical procedures by type, location, price, and doctor credentials to save money and streamline the process of finding health care services.

TINC: What growth phase is your company in currently?
Pre-A Series

TINC: Give us your Elevator Pitch.
OkCopay is a ground-breaking comparison engine for medical procedures. We do for those seeking medical care, what Kayak.com does for travelers. Give them the ability to look across providers and compare on the basis of price, convenience, and credentials.

TINC: To quote your website, “This site will provide you with objective information so that you can make better health care choices. OkCopay does not offer reviews, recommendations, or medical advice.” Can you tell our readers more about the process and reach of the product or service you provide?
When people have information, they make good decisions. Historically, health care pricing has been a “black box,” where we only find out the costs when the bill arrives. Even the most diligent person has no idea how much a given medical procedure will cost, because that information is simply not available. Most of us will happily spend 30 minutes shopping for a digital camera, but we dedicate almost no time looking for health care providers. We believe if given the tools, people will shop around on the basis of cost, quality, and convenience.

Now, through OkCopay’s comparison engine, you can quickly and easily know your potential costs BEFORE receiving treatment.

Also, due to cost or simply not knowing where to go, many go without recommended care. This lack of care leads to declining health, wasted resources, and higher future costs (for all of us). OkCopay hopes to be a trusted resource all Chicagoans can use to find the medical care they need.

TINC: What industry would you most closely align your company with?

Primarily we are focusing on medical procedures that are commonly not fully covered by insurance. This is a large market that includes cosmetic procedures, dentistry & vision, and diagnostic imaging.

TINC: How is your product different from the other guys? What makes your company unique to the scene?
OkCopay has the unique advantage of offering doctor-level pricing data. This is completely new to health-care as consumers will now have the ability to “shop,” as they do in every other industry. Comparison shopping enables consumers to uncover more value in their medical care spending.

There are a ton of websites that offer health information. Others offer doctor ratings and reviews. Our focus is on collecting pricing data and objective information to help consumers make better health decisions. Call me crazy, but I like to know the prices of things before I purchase them.

TINC: How many employees do you have on board right now?
1-10

TINC: Who are the founders and CEO’s of your company?
Toure McCluskey is the founder and CEO.

TINC: When was your company established? What is the official founding date?
I’ve had the idea since 2010. The company was formed in July 2011.

TINC: Tell us about development platforms you may be using, or what you’re coding this in.

We’re coding in PHP and due to our enormous data needs and have designed a flexible database architecture.

TINC: What is your technical approach that makes your software better? How are you getting the details right or working in a more optimized way?
Our process is very simple. We create and ship rather quickly and then rely on user feedback to test and make changes.
______________________________
Another Apps 4 Metro Chicago finalist, SpotHero, co-founded by my new buddy Mark Lawrence — well, except that he thinks Fred Hoch and Seth Kravitz are good guys but it’s not my job to tell him what to think — who wheeled me three blocks last night and got me into a cab, but he’s a bit of an event slut, having gone to Bloomingdale’s for the Geek2Chic runway walk, and this month he’s attended Technori Unwind at Nine (Seth, a bit fancy smancy, wouldn’t you say?), ITA at Fado’s, CEC Start-up, Lean Start-up Circle finals, I-Go’s Sharing party, some event starting with an M and I can’t read my own writing, and Chicago Loop Alliance and we can’t leave out his co-founder Jeremy Smith who appears to have been asleep last night before 10pm

tincmag.com/2011/11/04/chicago-tech-startup-spothero/

Chicago Tech Startup: SpotHero
By admin • on November 4, 2011
For this installment of the TINC Interview Series, we hit up SpotHero, a website that allows venues and lot operators to list parking spots throughout the city of Chicago for drivers to locate and reserve.
TINC: Startup vs. Growth Company AKA – What stage are you in? Series A (early stage) or “Growth Mode”?

We are getting down and dirty in bootstrapping startup mode.

TINC: Give us your Elevator Pitch!

We are the StubHub of parking spots. We help you find the parking spot you want, whether you’re going to a ball game or going downtown for the day.

TINC: Can you tell our readers more about the process and reach of the product or service you provide?

We are currently operating solely in Chicago. We provide parking for many downtown and sporting venues along with providing daily parking options for the downtown.

TINC: What industry would you most closely align your company with?

We are a lot like the hotel industry. One person may rent a spot today, while another person can reserve that same spot tomorrow.

TINC: What are common problems you see with the companies that your firm works with? How does your firm work to assist businesses with these problems?

Our partners are large parking lot operators who usually have extra inventory that goes unused in a given day. They are looking for a way to bring in more users to their lots to help boost cash flows and also show new customers their great product. We help by finding new people in cyberspace and guiding them to our partners’ parking lots.

TINC: What makes you ‘special’? How is your product different from the other guys?

Jeremy Smith and Mark Lawrence, co-founders of SpotHero

We see parking as an everyday problem that we all deal with. We provide parking options for those people going to various parts of the city everyday who might not know where they can find a safe, reliable and affordable place to park.

TINC: How many employees do you have on board right now?

We currently have four motivated and committed employees.

TINC: Who holds your top executive level positions? Why those roles?

Both of the original founders Mark and Jeremy hold the top executive level positions. It makes sense for the business as we have been around since the inception and have worked tirelessly learn the shape of the industry along with developing a business model to bring a product to market that people want. Plus we are the guys who have had more parking problems than you could ever imagine, so we know the problems that we want to solve.

TINC: When was your company established? What is the official founding date?

SpotHero was officially founded Oct 15, 2010.

TINC: Our differentiator is that we’re more technical, we talk about business and we “cover the code” in our editorial. So that said, tell us about development platforms you may be using, or what you’re coding this in.

We are coded up in Python. We chose this language because it is a good high level coding language with a really strong community in Chicago. We were told by peers to look into the language, and that led us to meet Brian Ray and the whole Chicago Python Organization. It was more a selling point of a strong community who has taken the time out to help and grow our startup.

TINC: What is your technical approach that makes your software better? How are you getting the details right or working in a more optimized way?
Our software has the flexibility to allow multiple and tiered anytime parking reservations in addition to event parking online reservations.
____________________________
Cards Ron collected at VentureShot on 12/7/2011 at 744 N. Wells Street

Cards Ron collected at VentureShot on 12/7/2011 at 744 N. Wells Street

H. Charles Kaplan, MD
Research Director
K Edge Technologies
hckaplan1@hotmail.com

Julia Miller
www.dongletap.com
julian@dongletap.com

Lev Slavin
Chicago Booth
lslavin@chicagobooth.edu

Edgar Olmos
IT Professional
edgar_olmos@hotmail.com

Jim Kelly
jimkelly67@yahoo.com

John C. Sedej
President
LDI Business Group
www.sedej.com
john@sedej.com

A.J. Noronha
Co–Founder & Director of Business Development
Citrics BioMedical
www.citricsbiomedical.com
anoronha@citricsbiomedical.com

Bernhard Kappe
CEO
Pathfinder
bkappe@pathf.com

Joseph DeLaGarza
joseph_delagarza@yahoo.com

Mark Lawrence
Co-Founder
SpotHero
www.spothero.com
mark@spothero.com

Dylan Morgan
VP
Prairie
www.prairiebiz.com
dmorgan@prairiebiz.com

Tina Kayne
Citron Real Estate

Bruce Montgomery
VP of Business Development
4BlackYouth
www.4blackyouth.com
bruce@4blackyouth.com

Aren rieck
VP
American Chartered Bank
www.americanchartered.com
arieck@americanchartered.com

Jeffery Smith
Founder
Property Panda
www.propertypanda.com
jeff@propertypanda.com

Dave Church
Small Business Advisor
www.thebusinesskey.com
dchurch@thebusinesskey.com

Christopher Whitaker
Public Servant
christopherpaulwhitaker@gmail.com

Brendan Tripp
btripp@gmail.com

Brendan Teague
Client and Field Support Manager
Cydcor
bteague@cydcor.com

Max Crowley
Uber
uber.com
max@uber.com

Steve Veach
Managing Member
Clarity Performance
www.clarityperformancealliance.com
steve.veach@clarity-p-a.com

Jennifer R Thomas
Founder
www.travel720.com
jennifer.thomas@travel720.com

Bill Hurley
General Manager
Empirical Brewery
www.empiricalbrewery.com
bill.hurley@empiricalbrewery.com

Lisa Ackerman
President
Luxe Life
www.shopluxelife.com
lisa@shopluxelife.com

Craig C. Bradley
Partner
Edwards Wildman
www.edwardswildman.com
cbradley@edwardswildman.com

Eyal Amir
CEO
FasPark
www.faspark.com
eyal@faspark.com

Glenn Gottfried
Operating Partner
Gentry
www.gentryfc.com
ggottfried@gentryprivatecap.com

Robert McKune
Director
RecoverySolutions

Araceli Corona
Insurance Broker
CC & Associates
aracelery@gmail.com

Michele Kehrer
CEO/Physical Therapist
LifeStyle
michele@balancechicago.com

David Cason
Consultant
MicroStrategy
www.microstrategy.com
dcason8@gmail.com

Julian Pretto
Founder
Chicago Micro
julian@chicagomicro.com

Lauren Uyeshiro
luyeshiro@gmail.com

Natalie Manning
President
Natalie’s Deals
www.natsdeals.com
natam99@yahoo.com

Jennifer Fortney
Cascade Communications
jfortney@cascadecomms.com

Bob Brill
bob@bobbrill.net

Jason Gonzales
Founder & CEO
AquaVida
jason@aquavida.org

Andrea Moran
Managing Director
Marengo Hampshire Partners
www.marengohampshire.com
andrea@marengohampshire.com

Shiwali Varshney
Director
AEG Partners
svarshney@aegpartners.com

Chris Drew
Pocket Literacy Coach
www.pocketliteracy.com
chris@pocketliteracy.com

Doug Schaaf
Co-Founder & CEO
www.theslingshot.com
doug@theslingshot.com
___________________________
Marc Fest: Thank you & Good-bye from the Knight Foundation

Thank you & Good-bye
ronaldmay@aol.com
X
Reply
from Marc Fest fest@knightfoundation.org
to ronaldmay@aol.com
date Thu, Dec 15, 2011 at 12:22 PM
subject Thank you & Good-bye
hide details 12:22 PM (21 hours ago)
Dear friend -
It’s time to say good-bye, and to thank you for allowing me to send you the many, many messages over the last five years about Knight Foundation’s efforts to foster informed and engaged communities.
I’m leaving the foundation to lead a new social portal, one based on the idea of joy: wwww.Joy.net (yes, it is a whimsical project).
Please extend a warm welcome to Andrew Sherry whose first day at Knight will be January 9. The foundation is lucky to have him join its executive team as vp/communications. Below is a news release.
And one last time, allow me to recommend that you follow Knight at twitter.com/knightfdn.
Thank you so much!
Marc.
PS: As a leave-behind, I’ve created www.messagehouse.org to share my favorite “secret communications sauce” that we’ve been using at Knight. And, if I can ever be of help, please just drop me a line at marc@messagehouse.org. Be well.

++
NOTE: High resolution photo of Andrew Sherry: www.kflinks.com/sherryphoto
Knight Foundation Appoints Andrew Sherry Vice President of Communications
Leadership transition reinforces focus on digital technology
MIAMI – Dec. 15, 2011 – The trustees of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation have elected Andrew Sherry as vice president of communications. He will be a member of the foundation’s Executive Committee and report to Knight Foundation President and CEO Alberto Ibargüen.
As vice president, Sherry will lead the foundation’s strategic communications and marketing functions, ensuring that Knight’s programs to build informed and engaged communities attract the strongest potential applicants and partners, and the impact of these programs is communicated both externally and internally.
The leadership transition reinforces Knight’s focus on digital technology. Sherry was senior vice president, online communications at the Center for American Progress. He was previously director, online ventures at USA TODAY and vice president of a Hong Kong-based travel technology start-up, after a journalism career that included serving as AFP correspondent in Vietnam and Cambodia and regional editor of the Dow Jones-owned Far Eastern Economic Review.
“Andrew has a track record of building technology, editorial and interactive marketing platforms. Combined with his entrepreneurial and journalistic background, this makes him perfect for leading the communications side of our mission to create informed and engaged communities,” said Alberto Ibargüen, the foundation’s president and CEO. “Communication is at the core of what we do at Knight, which makes our communications department a crucial partner in all of our initiatives.”
Sherry’s responsibilities will include press outreach, government relations and managing the foundation’s offline and online communications platforms, including web strategy and social networking. He will be integrating a metrics-driven approach to communications into all of the foundation’s initiatives.
“Knight has evolved a high-performance culture that reminds me of the tech start-up world,” said Sherry. “The staff clearly feels a strong sense of responsibility to make sure the foundation’s resources have the greatest possible impact. I’m delighted to be joining an organization that has journalism in its DNA, digital innovation as its focus, and a market-oriented approach to grant-making designed to ensure its positive impact on communities is sustainable.”
Sherry succeeds Marc Fest, who is leaving the foundation to lead social portal Joy.net. Sherry will take over from Fest on Jan. 9, 2012.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation is dedicated to the ideal that democracies thrive when communities are informed and engaged. The foundation supports transformational ideas that engage communities, promote quality journalism and media innovation and foster the arts.
Contacts:
Marc Fest, vice president/communications (interim), (305) 908-2677, fest@knightfoundation.org
High resolution photo of Andrew Sherry: www.kflinks.com/sherryphoto
This message was sent to ronaldmay@aol.com from:
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation | 200 South Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 3300 | Miami, FL 33131
___________________________
END OF REPORT

December 16, 2011 The May Report: 12/16/2011: John Pytel and GoSoapBox.com wins $25,000 in cash prize at the Lean Start-up Circle finals Thursday night before an audience of 200; apps for Metro Chicago announces finalists and some companies we’ve been following are included: Taxi Share, SpotHero and FasPark; Traci Schaeffer from farmfixe.com has to get an award of her own for the largest group of friends and devoted fans — she must have had about twenty friends and supporters there; Mark Lawrence of SpotHero has attended as many events as I have; RIP Christopher Hitchens; Happy birthday Ludwig; btw Kevin Willer wanted to know from the panelists what their first rock concert was Editor and publisher: Ron May, ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com, www.themayreport.com, 773-525-3944. If you missed an article, go here: www.tmronline.com/A55951/tmrarticles.nsf/vwFullNewsletter (BUT ALL REPORTS SINCE DECEMBER 2ND HAVE NOT BEEN POSTED YET ON THE TMRONLINE SITE DUE TO A TECNICAL ISSUE.) Louis Brandeis: “Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” _________________________________ ************************************* The Backlinks Company is your trusted partner in building custom web application software for your business. We work will the latest programming technology including: Andorid, Windows Phone and iOS C# .NET, C++ JAVA PHP / MySQL Ruby on Rails Javascript JQuery JQuery Mobile Phonegap AJAX HTML5 Call Us for more Information at 312-288-8459 or email mikefreud@gmail.com or visit blcompany.com/programming.html ***************************** ___________________________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS The Scoop section: – Briefly noted, by Ron May – Apps for Metro Chicago announces 20 Grand Challenge Finalists and 3 GO Finalists – Local start-up seeks Kinect developer/enthusiast partner – Steve Fisher: A 4th Dimension Software Expert – Tonight: Friday, Dec. 16: Join lira and 61 others at “Coworking Holiday Social at The Coop!” – Chicago Lean Startup Challenge Finals – ExploreChicago Featured in new Google Currents App – Did Cyberattack Bring Down The ‘Beast Of Kandahar’? – In Memoriam: Christopher Hitchens, 1949-2011 – Irv Michaels: Provides his notes from the Howard Tullman and Harper Reed talks at the CEC Start-up event on Weds., Dec. 14th – Taxi Share Chicago, the smart phone app created by local entrepreneur Dan Fedor and Uki Lucas (of CyberWalkAbout), was selected by popular vote as one of 5 (from a field of 31) to make the finals of the Apps for Metro Chicago Contest – From TINC Mag: Chicago.com – New Version Offers Personalized Emails and Subdomains – From TINC Mag: Chicago Tech Startup: SceneTap – Another finalist in the Apps for Metro Chicago contest, OkCopay, also interviewed by the queen of templated newsletters Kathryn Born, or one of her minions, just known as “admin” — Kathryn, are these real interviews or just forms being filled out? – Another Apps 4 Metro Chicago finalist, SpotHero, co-founded by my new buddy Mark Lawrence — well, except that he thinks Fred Hoch and Seth Kravitz are good guys but it’s not my job to tell him what to think — who wheeled me three blocks last night and got me into a cab, but he’s a bit of an event slut, having gone to Bloomingdale’s for the Geek2Chic runway walk, and this month he’s attended Technori Unwind at Nine (Seth, a bit fancy smancy, wouldn’t you say?), ITA at Fado’s, CEC Start-up, Lean Start-up Circle finals, I-Go’s Sharing party, some event starting with an M and I can’t read my own writing, and Chicago Loop Alliance and we can’t leave out his co-founder Jeremy Smith who appears to have been asleep last night before 10pm – Cards Ron collected at VentureShot on 12/7/2011 at 744 N. Wells Street – Marc Fest: Thank you & Good-bye from the Knight Foundation _____________________________ The Scoop section: ____________________ Briefly noted, by Ron May * Real fast since I have to shower asnd we have to bandage my foot which is healing well, but it is three months now since we started the bandaging for my big right toe. The winner at last night’s Lean Start-up Circle finals was GoSoapBox.com, www.gosoapbox.com, run by John Pytel. I wanted to go to three events last night, but that was not realistic. The event I did attend, the Lean Start-up finals had at least 200 people. John Pytel will get a check for $25,000! and other prizes totaling $50,000 in in-kind help. Here is what he has on his site: +++++++++++++++++++++++++ Teach more effectively. SoapBox is a controlled digital space, designed to improve student engagement by breaking down the barriers students face when deciding whether or not to participate in class, and gives teachers a concrete assessment of student comprehension, in real time. Take a tour and sign up for the beta www.gosoapbox.com/tour/ Watch a video showing off SoapBox What people are saying about SoapBox I can’t imagine lecture without SoapBox. You guys have done a TREMENDOUS job here! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Three guys who left before they announced the winner told me they were convinced that Jennifer Thomas from www.travel720.com would win, but they left too early. Jennifer’s team was there too. They felt that all the firms are at a beta stage and they had a very professional presentation, but as Todd Wyder pointed out in the Q&A, even if Jennifer were to get every one of the 300.000 young people who travel to subscribe for $10, that would only be $3MM in revenue, but as the Q&A brought out, there are many more potential revenue streams.. Traci Schaeffer from www.farmfixe.com has to get an award of her own for the largest group of friends and devoted fans. She must have had about twenty friends and supporters there. I think nit was Todd Wyder who said that she is a great networker. Tonya Sims who played for the WBA is using machine learning to develop a model that will help coaches recruit college athletes. www.scoutmecoach.com and I notice on her card that she has TechNexus as her address. I want to put Tonya in touch with Bill Zangwill. The judges and the audience asked good questions. $25,000 is a lot of money for a pre-revenue start-up in my humble view. I’ll have much more on this and the whole Lean Start-up model but for now let me get this out. The SEMPO event had about 60 attendees and based on the note I got, they had 120 registered. My info. from Bill Anthony (whom I called and asked to attend in case I could not make it) is that the investing event at Much Shelist was good (55 to 60 attendees and a big panel) with some excellent statistics. Much more to come. Next on the hit parade: More from the CEC event, SMCC and the boy chick, the ITA, Lean Start-up, and many more things. Examples: Social Katy now has 14 people and 27 clients. David Carman is involved with a British firm called www.innovatecv.com/ Logan LaHive, founder of www.belly.com, came out of Redbox Nik Rokop wasd at the Lean Start-up Circle event Mike Morasco used to work for Terry Kirch and with Curt Sahakian whose cousin Alan Sahakian is in computer science at Northwestern Todd Wyder was COO of Closer Look after  they bought Rhumtech and his firm A-ha! Interactive was sold to Schoolnet in 2004. and much, much more… ___________________________ Apps for Metro Chicago announces 20 Grand Challenge Finalists and 3 GO Finalists www.appsformetrochicago.com/ Welcome to Apps for Metro Chicago, Illinois Congratulations to A4MC’s 20 Grand Challenge Finalists and 3 GO Finalists!! The Apps 4 Metro Chicago IL is coming to an end with over 70 amazing entries, 3500 public votes, amazing collaborations and even more inspirational stories! Now the moment we have all been waiting for! The A4MC Top 20 Grand Challenge Finalists are …. The Public has Spoken! With over 1200 votes the public’s Top 5 Finalists in no particular order are….. Taxi Share- Taxi Share is an application designed to increase efficiency, reduce CO2 emississions and cut down on already congested streets and highways. The app allows users to find each other and share a cab to popular destinations around the city and to the major airports. Crime Alert - Crime Alert is a cross-platform web application, resource page, blog, and SMS service that serves to alert users of crime in their community and surrounding area as rapidly as possible user-inputted addresses, and heavily customizable filters so that users only receive information that they believe to be relevant to their lives. MassUp.us- is Chicago’s “Social Cycling System. ” It’s a Web App comprehensively meeting the needs of urban bicyclists. It features maps, directions, compass, ride recording, calorie counter, speedometer, weather and much more. Make Green a Habit - This is a green social network with a simple goal: to inspire people and organizations to create a greener and sustainable habitat. Ghabit uses social media technology to allow users to create an online green community, track and compare green habits, and much more! TreKing – The only Android app to support all four major transit systems in Chicago. Judges Choice: Our expert panel reviewed all of our wonderful entries and their Top 5 are… Chicago Lobbyists - Chicago Lobbyists is a web based app that is an open data, open government, and open source project intended to improve the transparency of interactions between the City of Chicago and lobbyists and their clients. allSchedules- AllSchedules gives you access to a huge collection of transit schedules, for different transport modes (bus, metro,train, tram ferry, etc.), in multiple cities around the world. OwtSee- OwtSee is an Android based and a web based application that presents information about the Chicago parks and community events in one convenient place. Spot Hole - This app is a tool that improves the process of citizens reporting potholes and helps the city clarify and address those concerns. Transit Stop: CTA Tracker – This mobile app gives you quick and easy access to bus and train (‘L’) arrival time estimates for every Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) bus and train stop. Excellence Extended: The Top 5 Winners from the Transportation and the Community Round automatically make up the remaining 10 A4MC Grand Challenge Finalists and to refresh your memory they are… Community Round: IFindit Chicago- An android app that is designed to help low income and homeless residents connect with critical resources such as medical clinics, food pantries, shelters etc. Mi Parque- is a bilingual participatory placemaking web and smartphone application that helps residents of the community contribute and share their vision for the future of Little Village’s new park. Community members can submit ideas about how to make this park, and other open spaces in the area, safer, greener and healthier places that meet community needs Chicago Local Guide - is an android app is meant to help local people as well as tourists find: interesting places and points-of-interest near them; locate specials and promotions from local businesses; updates on cultural, social, and technology events around Chicago; and breaking local news . OkCopay- A comparison search engine for medical care that allows users to search for the procedure they need, compare local providers, and view their actual prices. Fixit!- A mobile app that allows Chicagoans to report issues, like public property damages, that require city attention. Transportation Round: SpotHero-Spothero efficiently connects parking demand and parking supply. We allow parking spot owners to earn income by renting their spot when it’s unoccupied FasPark-Faspark helps drivers find street parking in real time. InThirty- Use InThirty to see the Chicago city resources that you can access within a thirty-minute train, bus, or TrailBlaze Chicago- TrailBlaze Chicago records and anonymously reports your bicycle tracks, allowing you to vote for new paths simply by carrying your phone while you bike. GoChicago- With GoChicago, users can make a list of the places in Chicago they’d like to see, view directions to each place on a map, or call the place for more information. Delta’s GO (Green Opportunities) Award Finalists: goes to the the best App designed to help users find, create, sustain or share green products, practices and programs in the City of Chicago Light Bulb Finder- An app that estimates the energy savings from changing the bulb and how long it will take for the new bulb to pay for itself. It also calculates a home’s total energy savings potential and environmental impact for recommended bulb replacements. Recycle City Chicago- This app shows the closest recycling center and the driving direction to that location to help residents of Chicago recycle. Chicago Recycle Helper- Chicago Recycle Helper is a web application that helps people locate recycling drop-off points for various materials in the Chicago area. Apps Newsletter from MCIC See it here. New Special Awards for Grand Challenge The Delta Institute is offering a $2000 Green Opportunities (GO) award for environmentally-themed apps, and the Innovate Illinois Grand Prize will be $6000 this round. More information here. Congrats to the Apps 4 Metro Chicago IL Community Round Winners! The Apps 4 Metro Chicago Illinois Community Round was a grand success with over 30 wonderful entries, and 1200 + votes! T The votes are in and you can view the complete list of Community Round, State and Placemaking Award winners here! We invite software developers, community groups, businesses and individuals to build apps that solve problems and improve services in Metro Chicago. Our goal in this three-phased competition is to increase government transparency by facilitating the building of software applications that are creative, useful, and designed for long-term impact. The key to winning this contest is to demonstrate that you have created something useful for our community. The judges are looking for apps that are built with the input and support of not-for-profits, community organizations and businesses. For more details check the judging criteria on the guidelines page. Any and all software applications are eligible as long as they are for a platform widely available to the public like the web, smart phones, and SMS. Support for this competition comes from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Illinois Science and Technology Coalition, the Motorola Mobility Foundation and The Chicago Community Trust. ________________________________ Local start-up seeks Kinect developer/enthusiast partner For TMR: local start-up seeks Kinect developer/enthusiast partner Inbox X Reply from Semiautomatic Semiotics info@semiautomatic3d.com to Ron May <ron@themayreport.com> date Thu, Dec 15, 2011 at 12:44 PM subject For TMR: local start-up seeks Kinect developer/enthusiast partner mailed-by gmail.com signed-by gmail.com hide details 12:44 PM (20 hours ago) Hi Ron, Hope this message finds you well. Congrats on your website upgrade! As you probably recall, I am an entrepreneur with a start-up venture. We are seeking to partner with someone with Kinect development interest. He/she does not need to be an expert. If interested, they can contact us via email at info@semiautomatic3d.com for additional information. I appreciate it if you post this message on TMR. Many thanks, Zenah Khawaja Semiautomatic Semiotics _________________________ Steve Fisher: A 4th Dimension Software Expert Two Things: Your New Site & A 4th Dimension Software Expert X Inbox X Reply from Steven Fisher sfisher@thefishermediagroup.com to ron@themayreport.com date Wed, Dec 14, 2011 at 9:52 AM subject Two Things: Your New Site & A 4th Dimension Software Expert mailed-by gmail.com signed-by gmail.com Important mainly because of the people in the conversation. hide details 9:52 AM (10 hours ago) Ron, Robbie Abed did a nice job of redoing your site and cataloguing it, especially in view of the aggravation that I am sure you put him through. Now that he has, you might want to take the time to proof it and correct the typos, i.e. on the Contact page, if you are going to capitalize Publisher as your title, then you need to capitalize Editor. Now that you have a legitimate website, you need to be mindful of things like that. The reason for this email however is that I have a client that has an immediate need for someone who is familiar with 4th Dimension software. It is a cross platform relational database used by a lot of industries for jobbing, billing, etc. My client is unhappy with his current guy and is looking for someone that can put in a few hours a week, every week and make sure that they are making the best use out of the software. If you know of anyone, I would be grateful. All the best, Steve Steven Fisher The Fisher Media Group sfisher@thefishermediagroup.com 847.274.6439 ___________________________ Tonight: Friday, Dec. 16: Join lira and 61 others at “Coworking Holiday Social at The Coop!” Fwd: Tomorrow: Join lira and 61 others at “Coworking Holiday Social at The Coop!” X ronaldmay@aol.com X Reply from Bruce Montgomery tatvshow@yahoo.com to ronaldmay@aol.com date Thu, Dec 15, 2011 at 1:24 PM subject Fwd: Tomorrow: Join lira and 61 others at “Coworking Holiday Social at The Coop!” signed-by yahoo.com Important mainly because of the people in the conversation. hide details 1:24 PM (20 hours ago) Images are not displayed. Display images below – Always display images from tatvshow@yahoo.com Title: Coworking Holiday Social at The Coop! When: Sat Dec 17 12:30am – 2:30am (UTC) Where: The Coop (230 W Superior 2F, Chicago, IL 60654) Who: info@meetup.com* Add to calendar » Your Agenda for Sat Dec 17, 2011 No earlier events 12:30am Coworking Holiday Social at The Coop! No later events view my calendar » Sent from my iPad Begin forwarded message: From: Refresh Chicago <info@meetup.com> Date: December 15, 2011 12:35:31 PM CST To: tatvshow@yahoo.com Subject: Tomorrow: Join lira and 61 others at “Coworking Holiday Social at The Coop!” TOMORROW Coworking Holiday Social at The Coop! Refresh Chicago Friday, December 16, 2011 6:30 PM The Coop 230 W Superior 2F Chicago, IL 60654 I’m going Change your RSVP ___________________________ Chicago Lean Startup Challenge Finals Chicago Lean Startup Challenge Finals Who will be crowned the Lean Startup Champion, and collect $75,000 in cash and prizes? Come to the finals on Thursday, December 15, and watch the four finalist share lessons learned and pitch to a panel of judges and a select audience of 250 entrepreneurs, investors, designers an developers. Our judges will be Groupon’s Suneel Gupta, Northwestern’s Michael Marasco, IC Stars Eric Lannert, Broker Savant’s Todd Wyder and Pathfinder Software’s Bernhard Kappe. December 15, 2011 6:30 PM – 218 attended Chicago Lean Startup Challenge Finals: Four Startups Pitch for $75,000 Hughes Auditorium, Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center of NWU (map) SELECTED BY: BERNHARD KAPPE Who will be crowned the Lean Startup Champion, and collect $75,000 in cash and prizes? Come to the finals on Thursday, December 15, and watch the four finalist share lessons learned and pitch to a panel of judges and a select audience of 250 entrepreneurs, investors, designers an developers. Our judges will be Groupon’s Suneel Gupta, Northwestern’s Michael Marasco, IC Stars Eric Lannert, Broker Savant’s Todd Wyder and Pathfinder Software’s Bernhard Kappe. This is a great opportunity to network with other members of the Chicago tech community over beer and wine, listen to 4 fantastic pitches, and ask the finalists your own questions while they are on the hot seat in real time via twitter. The Finalists FarmFixe helps local foodies discover and buy the best local artisanal foods. In doing so, FarmFixe helps local food producers find new customers and develop impactful brands. ScoutMeCoach connects college coaches with student athlete prospects so they can recruit while they sleep. Say goodbye to filling out lengthy profiles and say hello to a more timely and cost effective recruiting experience, in a few clicks. SoapBox is a controlled digital space, designed to improve student engagement by breaking down the barriers students face when deciding whether or not to participate in class, and gives teachers a concrete assessment of student comprehension, in real time. travel720 is focused on providing funding solutions to students and travelers who want to study/volunteer/work abroad. We help the traveler earn their trip through through creating a budget & savings plan, then fundraise money through upcoming gift giving occasions (e.g. birthday, holiday, graduation) – turning gifts into educational experiences that are shared with family & friends! About the Chicago Lean Startup Challenge The Lean Startup Challenge is the opposite of a business plan competition. Instead of creating huge documents and proformas based on assumptions, contestants spend ten weeks making meaningful progress on their business based on real market feedback. On October 1st, 146 startups answered the call, and entered “The Challenge”. After 9 weeks of accelerated experimentation we are down to 4 finalists. Who will win? Join us on the 15th to find out. Our Sponsors We’re very grateful to our sponsors without who’s support we would not be able to put on the Chicago Lean Startup Challenge: Pathfinder Software The Farley Center for Entrepreneurship at Northwestern The Pritzker Group Stevens & Associates Lean Launch Lab Walker Sands Communications Braintree Code Academy KISSMetrics Unbounce Illinois Launch Joone Studios VentureSHOT TechNexus TechWeek Snap Engage Heroku Built In Chicago Technori Tech.li E Liu Any attendees interested in meeting up before hand and talking about the startups they’re working on? Posted Wednesday at 11:04 AM Richard Alesky Liu…I like the idea of meeting a little early. What is your background? What time do you want to meet? Can we meet in the same hall as the event? Posted Wednesday at 11:28 AM E Liu Hi Richard, I’m a python dev working on a startup to provide online rental applications for landlords and leasing agents. I’m game to meet at the event site early. Would be nice to go into the event knowing more than 0 people. We could just meet an hour before hand and see if anyone else wants to join in on the fun. Posted Wednesday at 12:36 PM E Liu [Location Change] Lets meet at Tim O Tooles. A few people have expressed interest, and I’m not sure what the situation is at the event site, so I propose meeting at Tim O Tooles (nearby pub) an hour before the event (5:30). Tim O Tooles and LSC finals on a map: bit.ly/tPbiC3 I’m working on a startup to provide online apartment applications for landlords. Interested in meeting people in the Chicago startup community. –ezl Posted Wednesday at 1:40 PM Mary Ellen Moser Hi Ed and Liu, I am going to try and meet up with you before the event. I’ve been involved with one of the finalists so I’m pretty excited and eager to be there. Mary Ellen Posted Wednesday at 1:48 PM Carl Foster Looking forward to this.. i will try my self to get up there early and chat with you guys.. see you soon Posted Yesterday at 9:06 AM Kevin Lentz I will try to meet early also. Looking to make more connections. We were part of the original 146 contestants. Posted Yesterday at 9:36 AM Elvin Rakhmankulov Always interested to meet new people, I will join you guys at Tim O Tooles Posted Yesterday at 10:32 AM Warren Newhauser 1. Just wondering if the actual meeting starts at 6:30 or if that’s when the doors open? 2. Where is SpotHero? Posted Yesterday at 10:35 AM James Owen Thinking about meeting up early as well….how should we find each other? Posted Yesterday at 11:05 AM Elvin Rakhmankulov Excellent question James! E Liu, if you arrive there first can you tell the host that this table is for “Lean Startup Meetup”? or may be even reserve it in advance… Posted Yesterday at 11:12 AM Christine Boulware I’ve just read this ‘chain’ of comments and I, too would really like to meet you guys…I’m a block from Tim O’Tools, may I join? Posted Yesterday at 11:25 AM E Liu @James: I’ll get there extra early. I’m wearing a burnt orange shirt with the word “TEXAS” on it. short, pasty, asian — in some cultures i’m sure that’s considered dashingly handsome (not sure which culture that is yet, but if you know, do tell) Posted Yesterday at 12:32 PM E Liu @Christine: Sure, the more the merrier. @Elvin: Much better idea — I will get there before 5 and take a seat and tell the hostess. Posted Yesterday at 12:33 PM Richard Alesky I’m here at t otooles and sitting at the bar. Posted Yesterday at 4:55 PM Andy O’Dower If RSVPs are closed can I pay at the door? Posted Yesterday at 5:41 PM You must be a member to post a comment. Join or login ____________________________ ExploreChicago Featured in new Google Currents App ExploreChicago Featured in new Google Currents App Inbox X Reply from Joyce Rowe joyce.rowe@explorechicago.org via prnews2.com to ron@themayreport.com date Thu, Dec 15, 2011 at 12:05 PM subject ExploreChicago Featured in new Google Currents App mailed-by prnews2.com hide details 12:05 PM (21 hours ago) EXPLORE CHICAGO PROVIDES CHICAGO TOURISM AND TRAVEL CONTENT FOR GOOGLE CURRENTS, A NEW MAGAZINE AND TRENDS READER Special Explore Chicago edition features holiday fun, free events, neighborhood shopping, architecture slide show, YouTube videos & more CHICAGO (December 15, 2011) ExploreChicago.org, the City of Chicago’s Official Tourism Website, is featured in Google Currents, Google’s new free magazine and trends reader for Android, iPhone and iPad users which launched in the U.S. on December 8. Google worked with ExploreChicago.org, managed by the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture, to feature its rich content. ExploreChicago.org is Chicago’s No. 1 travel and tourism website based on traffic volume. In the Google Currents app under Explore Chicago, users will find an insider’s view of the city, special features about Chicago, multimedia content and the Explore Chicago blog. The first edition includes Holiday Fun in Chicago - ideas for winter events and activities and seasonal food and beverage recommendations; Things to Do This Weekend including a round up of the best ice skating rinks; Today’s Freebies; and photos showcasing Chicago’s world renowned architecture. “We are thrilled that Explore Chicago has been selected to provide content for Google’s exciting new product,” said Dorothy Coyle, Executive Director, Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture. “This opportunity illustrates the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture’s commitment to working with private sector technology companies to broaden our reach and deliver even more information about the city to a wider audience.” New content editions will be released regularly. To subscribe to Explore Chicago on Google Currents, download the free app, search Explore Chicago and subscribe. Other Google Currents content producers include mashable.com, the Huffington Post, Forbes and PBS. For more information, check out Google Currents on YouTube bit.ly/tIgOj8. Visitors have come to rely on ExploreChicago.org as an extremely useful planning tool with features which are not available anywhere else. Year to date, Explore Chicago has registered nearly 6 million visitors, outpacing all other Chicago tourism sites. In June 2011 alone, the site logged a record 1.1 million visits. According to a study conducted by Nichols Tourism Group and the National Laboratory of Tourism and eCommerce at Temple University, Explore Chicago has become a highly effective way of marketing Chicago’s cultural and tourism assets and significantly influenced $172 million in visitor spending and $3 million in local taxes last year. More detailed highlights of Explore Chicago’s first edition for Google Currents include: Holiday Fun in Chicago Discover Chicago’s Ice Skating Rinks Great Holiday Date Nights in Chicago Try Seasonal Beverages From Around the World Without Leaving Chicago Chicago’s Comfort Foods Warm You Up This Winter Buy Local Guide - A Selection of Chicago’s Best Neighborhood Shops Quirky & Kid-Friendly Shops Gifts By Local Artisans Experiential Gifts Independent Bookstores Explore Chicago Daily Blog Updates Today’s Freebies Things To Do This Weekend Explore Chicago Takes On Christkindlmarket Explore Chicago Gallery: A Selection of Photos Submitted by Visitors and Residents Explore Chicago Architecture: Shots of the City’s World Renowned Buildings YouTube Videos Chicago Fashion Is… Chicago Architecture The Skydeck Chicago Experience Welcome to the Art Institute of Chicago Chicago Trolley Tour Chicago Neighborhood Tours ExploreChicago.org and Social Media The Explore Chicago website offers visitors and residents a popular blog; games and social media; multimedia content; information on thousands of events, tours and attractions; visitor discounts; interactive maps and engaging profiles of Chicago’s 77 diverse neighborhoods. An innovator in the use of cutting-edge technologies and social media, the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture promotes Chicago as a premier leisure destination. In addition to ExploreChicago.org, Chicago’s many cultural and tourism assets are marketed via an integrated social media strategy that maintains an active presence on Foursquare, SCVNGR, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr. Chicago’s Visitor Industry There were nearly 40 million visitors to Chicago in 2010, three-quarters of which were leisure travelers. The Chicago visitor industry generates more than $11 billion in direct spending, $616 million in tax revenue, and sustains more than 124,000 jobs for the city’s economy. Visitor Information Resources Visitors and Chicagoans planning to entertain out-of-town guests can receive trip-planning assistance and information by visiting ExploreChicago.org. Brochures and information on Chicago’s exciting events and activities are also available at the Visitor Information Centers. Friendly Visitor Representatives can answer questions and assist in planning an unforgettable itinerary. The visitor centers are located in two of the city’s most popular areas: across from Millennium Park in the Chicago Cultural Center, 77 E. Randolph Street; and at the historic Water Works pumping station, 163 E. Pearson Street at Michigan Avenue. For daily alerts about fun and free things to do in Chicago, follow Explore Chicago on Twitter at twitter.com/explorechicago and on Facebook at facebook.com/explorechicago, where you can also weigh in on your Chicago favorites. Discover fun itineraries on our blog at explorechicagotourism.com and on Foursquare at foursquare.com/explorechicago. Get answers to your Chicago questions on the go, restaurant recommendations, and travel tips via the FREE Twitter Concierge Service @explorechicago available daily. The Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture is dedicated to promoting Chicago as a premier cultural destination to domestic and international leisure travelers, providing innovative visitor programs and services, and presenting free world-class public programs. ### Media contacts: Joyce Rowe, joyce.rowe@explorechicago.org 312.742.2036 Christine Pundavela, christine.pundavela@explorechicago.org 312.742.1158 __________________________ Did Cyberattack Bring Down The ‘Beast Of Kandahar’? Intel & Cyber Did Cyberattack Bring Down The ‘Beast Of Kandahar’? By Carlo Munoz Published: December 15, 2011 defense.aol.com/2011/12/15/did-cyberattack-bring-down-the-beast-of-kandahar/?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D120600 WASHINGTON: Speculation on how Iran was able to capture the Pentagon’s stealthy RQ-170 unmanned aircraft has consumed defense and intelligence insiders for weeks. But recent reports based on sources in Tehran claim the highly-classified drone was brought down by an Iranian cyberattack. For more news and information on the swiftly-changing defense industry, please sign up for the AOL Defense newsletter. For the quickest updates, like us on Facebook. Iranian engineers were allegedly able to hack into the unmanned aircraft’s control systems and trick the drone’s guidance systems to think it was landing in U.S-held territory in Afghanistan. In fact, Iranian hackers guided the CIA-operated aerial drone to land in Iran, according to today’s story in the Christian Science Monitor. The so-called ‘Beast of Kandahar’ was conducting intelligence operations over Iran at the time of its capture. Gaps in the plane’s global positioning system allowed Iranian military officials to take control of the plane from its CIA handlers. Iranian intelligence learned about the GPS vulnerabilities by examining other American drones captured by Tehran, according to the story. If such claims are true, a cyberattack would explain the remarkable condition the RQ-170 was in when Iranian military leaders put their trophy on display live on television. The lack of damage on the aircraft led many to believe the drone was a fake. Retired three-star general and former head of Air Force intelligence David Deptula wouldn’t comment whether the RQ-170 was taken down by a cyber attack. (Deptula is a member of AOL Defense Board of Contributors) But this is not the first time America’s fleet of unmanned aircraft have been exploited in the cyber realm. In 2009, Taliban forces were able to hack into live video feeds coming from Air Force Predator drones by using commercially-produced hardware. Air Force officials at the time said those gaps did not extend into the aircraft’s control systems. Further, service officials claimed the data encryption and security standards built into the U.S. aerial drone fleet couldn’t be cracked by the Taliban or any other adversary. ___________________________ In Memoriam: Christopher Hitchens, 1949-2011 Subject: In Memoriam: Christopher Hitchens, 1949-2011 | Blogs | Vanity Fair Date: 12/16/2011 8:07:11 A.M. Central Standard Time From: bconnolly@furthermore.com To: RONALDMAY@aol.com www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2011/12/In-Memoriam-Christopher-Hitchens-19492011 ____________________________ Irv Michaels: Provides his notes from the Howard Tullman and Harper Reed talks at the CEC Start-up event on Weds., Dec. 14th Subject: RE: Irv, please send me your notes on Howard Tullman and the first half of Harper. Date: 12/15/2011 9:10:52 A.M. Central Standard Time From: Irv.Michaels@insperity.com Reply To: To: RONALDMAY@aol.com Ron, More of an outline than notes. Hope it helps. Howard Tullman Hypr box 1. Hyper personalization -Free is not enough Buy from and sell to people not strangers 2. Know before you go 3. SoLoMo social, local & mobile 4. New behavior models 5. Low barriers to entry New micro transaction Harper Reed former cto threadless Nine words that will help you build a great team 1. Pruning 2. Closing 3. Trust 4. Truth -quisition 5. Tech-fast 6. Hobbies 7. Measure everything succees 8. Success 9. Credit -give credit Best regards, Irv Irv Michaels Office: 847.233.3732 | Fax: 866.366.1017 | Mobile: 847.207.3155 ________________________________ From: RONALDMAY@aol.com [RONALDMAY@aol.com] Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 2:16 PM To: Irv Michaels Cc: ronaldmay@aol.com Subject: Irv, please send me your notes on Howard Tullman and the first half of Harper. __________________________________ Taxi Share Chicago, the smart phone app created by local entrepreneur Dan Fedor and Uki Lucas (of CyberWalkAbout), was selected by popular vote as one of 5 (from a field of 31) to make the finals of the Apps for Metro Chicago Contest Press Release X Inbox X Reply from Dan Fedor dfedor73@gmail.com to “ron@themayreport.com” <ron@themayreport.com> cc Uki Dominque Lucas <ukidlucas@gmail.com>, ncantemir@gmail.com date Thu, Dec 15, 2011 at 1:54 PM subject Press Release mailed-by gmail.com signed-by gmail.com Important mainly because of the people in the conversation. hide details 1:54 PM (4 hours ago) Taxi Share Chicago, the smart phone app created by local entreprenneur Dan Fedor and Uki Lucas (of CyberWalkAbout), was selected by popular vote as one of 5 (from a field of 31) to make the finals of the Apps for Metro Chicago Contest www.appsformetrochicago.com/ . An additional 5 apps from the field of 31 were selected by the core judges to also make the finals. Now, a panel of local “celebrity” tech players www.appsformetrochicago.com/about/judges will determine the top 10 winners from the final 20 candidates (10 entrants having been automatically entered after finishing in the top 5 of the first 2 rounds of the contest). There is also an award for the best “Green” app being given out by The Delta Institute ($2000) and a State Award ($6000) for the best app using State provided data sets. In addition to Taxi Share (a cooperative effort with co-creator Dan Fedor), CyberWalkAbout also has a home grown app (Chicago Local Guide) in the race. – Sincerely, Daniel J. Fedor, Esq. (312) 476-9196 Direct (312) 276-4030 efax ___________________________ From TINC Mag: Chicago.com – New Version Offers Personalized Emails and Subdomains tincmag.com/2011/12/13/chicago-com-%e2%80%93-new-version-offers-personalized-emails-and-subdomains/ Chicago.com – New Version Offers Personalized Emails and Subdomains By admin • on December 13, 2011 Chicago.com Emails The initial news broke when the New York Times wrote about Chicago.com offering email addresses that ended with @chicago.com. This would allow you to buy John@chicago.com , technology@chicago.com, shop@chicago.com, etc. It’s a “pure” email/digital identity service, so you buy john.doe@chicago.com, it ties into your email provider of choice, like Yahoo!, Gmail, AOL, Outlook, or Hotmail. Individuals, companies and organization can request an invite by writing to commerce@chicago.com. And there are limits; you can’t, for example, get Cubs@chicago.com (or trademarked names like Sox/Blackhawks/Bulls/Bears) until IP issues are discussed and resolved. Chicago.com Subdomains But the bigger story may be the subdomain digital real estate that Chicago.com is launching. This will create of a new and different Chicago.com site, filled with subdomain content created by individuals in Chicago. (An example of a subdomain would be sports.chicago.com.) If the content of the subdomained sites is done well, the sites will boost each other’s SEO, creating a built-in audience for subdomain owners, and an ecosystem that has the capacity to grow and become a grassroots, almost crowdsourced, city/community website. Chicago.com will be launching a brand new hotels section in concert with Priceline at hotels.chicago.com, are planning a wedding section at weddings.chicago.com. This summer, they created segway.chicago.com in partnership with Bike & Roll. Another curated subdomain, idea.Chicago.com, will become a launching platform that allows selected individuals to showcase an idea they want to build. The Chicago.com team will provide the technical infrastructure and consulting to help them launch what they want to launch. CEO Josh Metnick CEO Josh Metnick Metnick and his team have spent nearly a year in development of the system. It’s the first website for which he’s been overseeing development since he launched Guitar.com in 1999, a site that climbed to over a million uniques/month in about six months, and was later sold. He was not heavily involved in any of the previous three Chicago.com versions, but that has changed with the new site. ____________________________ From TINC Mag: Chicago Tech Startup: SceneTap tincmag.com/2011/11/18/chicago-tech-startup-scenetap/ 2828641111254 Chicago Tech Startup: SceneTap By admin • on November 18, 2011 Recently, TINC Magazine contacted SceneTap, a Chicago company that uses on site people counters and facial detectors to give users an accurate demographic of the bars they want to go to. Cole Harper, co-founder and CEO of SceneTap, answered our questions. TINC: Startup vs. Growth Company AKA – What stage are you in? Series A (early stage) or “Growth Mode”? Cole Harper: We’re still relatively early on in the game, but we’re in growth mode. We launched in Chicago in July, and we’re in the process of rolling out to other big markets around the United States. TINC: Give us your Elevator Pitch! What’s your story and business model? CH: I was sick of spending money on cabs to show up at bars that weren’t what I wanted. Our technology gives users real-time info on the bar scene – male/female ratio, average age, crowd size, specials, and more – from within our app. We provide bar owners with demographic data and a way for them to measure their marketing and promotional efforts. For consumers, we’re the ultimate nightlife resource, and for bar owners, we’re the ultimate service. TINC: Can you go into detail as to the full scope of the services your company provides and how it works? CH: Bars in the SceneTap network have small facial detection and people counter devices installed near the entrances. These devices count and track the gender and approximate age of the individual and feed the data to the aggregate totals in the app. It’s all non-intrusive; no one has access to the feed and nothing is recorded. Also, the devices can’t recognize individuals, so privacy isn’t an issue. Bar goers can use SceneTap to check out the scene at bars near them, purchase deals, and interact with other users on the bar’s profile page. TINC: What kind of product do you make? CH: SceneTap offers a website as well as iPhone and Android applications, all for free. Blackberry and Windows compatibility are in the works. TINC: What industries would you most closely align SceneTap with? CH: We work heavily in the food and beverage industries, and within the nightlife and technology sectors. TINC: What are common problems you see with the companies that your firm works with? How does your firm work to assist businesses with these problems? CH: Venue operators have never had an accurate way to measure their marketing and promotional efforts. Now they can track the demographics of the crowd at all times, and from anywhere. Business is slow? They can use SceneTap to send out a deal to bring in foot traffic. TINC: What makes you ‘special’? How is your product different from the other guys? CH: A couple other companies out there actually put live video feed from bars in their apps or on their websites. In addition to the obvious privacy issues this brings up, the video feed is grainy, bandwidth-heavy and overall not that useful. We give users the data they want in real time, and the ability to search for bars nearby that meet their specifications. TINC: Who holds your top level positions? How many people do you employ? CH: I serve as chief executive and manage the overall business operations. Our co-founder and CIO is Marc Doering, who serves as the technology guru. We have 50 employees, and we’re currently hiring some developers. TINC: What is your technical approach that makes your platform better? How are you getting the details right or working in a more optimized way? CH: We’ve combined the best elements of a variety of social media platforms into one place. We’re also providing venue operators the ability to control their own material. For example, unlike Yelp, SceneTap allows venue operators the ability to remove damaging comments from their forum. _____________________________ Another finalist in the Apps for Metro Chicago contest, OkCopay, also interviewed by the queen of templated newsletters Kathryn Born, or one of her minions, just known as “admin” — Kathryn, are these real interviews or just forms being filled out? tincmag.com/2011/12/12/chicago-tech-startup-okcopay/ Chicago Tech Startup: OkCopay By admin • on December 12, 2011 OkCopay’s site allows users to browse and compare medical procedures by type, location, price, and doctor credentials to save money and streamline the process of finding health care services. TINC: What growth phase is your company in currently? Pre-A Series TINC: Give us your Elevator Pitch. OkCopay is a ground-breaking comparison engine for medical procedures. We do for those seeking medical care, what Kayak.com does for travelers. Give them the ability to look across providers and compare on the basis of price, convenience, and credentials. TINC: To quote your website, “This site will provide you with objective information so that you can make better health care choices. OkCopay does not offer reviews, recommendations, or medical advice.” Can you tell our readers more about the process and reach of the product or service you provide? When people have information, they make good decisions. Historically, health care pricing has been a “black box,” where we only find out the costs when the bill arrives. Even the most diligent person has no idea how much a given medical procedure will cost, because that information is simply not available. Most of us will happily spend 30 minutes shopping for a digital camera, but we dedicate almost no time looking for health care providers. We believe if given the tools, people will shop around on the basis of cost, quality, and convenience. Now, through OkCopay’s comparison engine, you can quickly and easily know your potential costs BEFORE receiving treatment. Also, due to cost or simply not knowing where to go, many go without recommended care. This lack of care leads to declining health, wasted resources, and higher future costs (for all of us). OkCopay hopes to be a trusted resource all Chicagoans can use to find the medical care they need. TINC: What industry would you most closely align your company with? Primarily we are focusing on medical procedures that are commonly not fully covered by insurance. This is a large market that includes cosmetic procedures, dentistry & vision, and diagnostic imaging. TINC: How is your product different from the other guys? What makes your company unique to the scene? OkCopay has the unique advantage of offering doctor-level pricing data. This is completely new to health-care as consumers will now have the ability to “shop,” as they do in every other industry. Comparison shopping enables consumers to uncover more value in their medical care spending. There are a ton of websites that offer health information. Others offer doctor ratings and reviews. Our focus is on collecting pricing data and objective information to help consumers make better health decisions. Call me crazy, but I like to know the prices of things before I purchase them. TINC: How many employees do you have on board right now? 1-10 TINC: Who are the founders and CEO’s of your company? Toure McCluskey is the founder and CEO. TINC: When was your company established? What is the official founding date? I’ve had the idea since 2010. The company was formed in July 2011. TINC: Tell us about development platforms you may be using, or what you’re coding this in. We’re coding in PHP and due to our enormous data needs and have designed a flexible database architecture. TINC: What is your technical approach that makes your software better? How are you getting the details right or working in a more optimized way? Our process is very simple. We create and ship rather quickly and then rely on user feedback to test and make changes. ______________________________ Another Apps 4 Metro Chicago finalist, SpotHero, co-founded by my new buddy Mark Lawrence — well, except that he thinks Fred Hoch and Seth Kravitz are good guys but it’s not my job to tell him what to think — who wheeled me three blocks last night and got me into a cab, but he’s a bit of an event slut, having gone to Bloomingdale’s for the Geek2Chic runway walk, and this month he’s attended Technori Unwind at Nine (Seth, a bit fancy smancy, wouldn’t you say?), ITA at Fado’s, CEC Start-up, Lean Start-up Circle finals, I-Go’s Sharing party, some event starting with an M and I can’t read my own writing, and Chicago Loop Alliance and we can’t leave out his co-founder Jeremy Smith who appears to have been asleep last night before 10pm tincmag.com/2011/11/04/chicago-tech-startup-spothero/ Chicago Tech Startup: SpotHero By admin • on November 4, 2011 For this installment of the TINC Interview Series, we hit up SpotHero, a website that allows venues and lot operators to list parking spots throughout the city of Chicago for drivers to locate and reserve. TINC: Startup vs. Growth Company AKA – What stage are you in? Series A (early stage) or “Growth Mode”? We are getting down and dirty in bootstrapping startup mode. TINC: Give us your Elevator Pitch! We are the StubHub of parking spots. We help you find the parking spot you want, whether you’re going to a ball game or going downtown for the day. TINC: Can you tell our readers more about the process and reach of the product or service you provide? We are currently operating solely in Chicago. We provide parking for many downtown and sporting venues along with providing daily parking options for the downtown. TINC: What industry would you most closely align your company with? We are a lot like the hotel industry. One person may rent a spot today, while another person can reserve that same spot tomorrow. TINC: What are common problems you see with the companies that your firm works with? How does your firm work to assist businesses with these problems? Our partners are large parking lot operators who usually have extra inventory that goes unused in a given day. They are looking for a way to bring in more users to their lots to help boost cash flows and also show new customers their great product. We help by finding new people in cyberspace and guiding them to our partners’ parking lots. TINC: What makes you ‘special’? How is your product different from the other guys? Jeremy Smith and Mark Lawrence, co-founders of SpotHero We see parking as an everyday problem that we all deal with. We provide parking options for those people going to various parts of the city everyday who might not know where they can find a safe, reliable and affordable place to park. TINC: How many employees do you have on board right now? We currently have four motivated and committed employees. TINC: Who holds your top executive level positions? Why those roles? Both of the original founders Mark and Jeremy hold the top executive level positions. It makes sense for the business as we have been around since the inception and have worked tirelessly learn the shape of the industry along with developing a business model to bring a product to market that people want. Plus we are the guys who have had more parking problems than you could ever imagine, so we know the problems that we want to solve. TINC: When was your company established? What is the official founding date? SpotHero was officially founded Oct 15, 2010. TINC: Our differentiator is that we’re more technical, we talk about business and we “cover the code” in our editorial. So that said, tell us about development platforms you may be using, or what you’re coding this in. We are coded up in Python. We chose this language because it is a good high level coding language with a really strong community in Chicago. We were told by peers to look into the language, and that led us to meet Brian Ray and the whole Chicago Python Organization. It was more a selling point of a strong community who has taken the time out to help and grow our startup. TINC: What is your technical approach that makes your software better? How are you getting the details right or working in a more optimized way? Our software has the flexibility to allow multiple and tiered anytime parking reservations in addition to event parking online reservations. ____________________________ Cards Ron collected at VentureShot on 12/7/2011 at 744 N. Wells Street Cards Ron collected at VentureShot on 12/7/2011 at 744 N. Wells Street H. Charles Kaplan, MD Research Director K Edge Technologies hckaplan1@hotmail.com Julia Miller www.dongletap.com julian@dongletap.com Lev Slavin Chicago Booth lslavin@chicagobooth.edu Edgar Olmos IT Professional edgar_olmos@hotmail.com Jim Kelly jimkelly67@yahoo.com John C. Sedej President LDI Business Group www.sedej.com john@sedej.com A.J. Noronha Co–Founder & Director of Business Development Citrics BioMedical www.citricsbiomedical.com anoronha@citricsbiomedical.com Bernhard Kappe CEO Pathfinder bkappe@pathf.com Joseph DeLaGarza joseph_delagarza@yahoo.com Mark Lawrence Co-Founder SpotHero www.spothero.com mark@spothero.com Dylan Morgan VP Prairie www.prairiebiz.com dmorgan@prairiebiz.com Tina Kayne Citron Real Estate Bruce Montgomery VP of Business Development 4BlackYouth www.4blackyouth.com bruce@4blackyouth.com Aren rieck VP American Chartered Bank www.americanchartered.com arieck@americanchartered.com Jeffery Smith Founder Property Panda www.propertypanda.com jeff@propertypanda.com Dave Church Small Business Advisor www.thebusinesskey.com dchurch@thebusinesskey.com Christopher Whitaker Public Servant christopherpaulwhitaker@gmail.com Brendan Tripp btripp@gmail.com Brendan Teague Client and Field Support Manager Cydcor bteague@cydcor.com Max Crowley Uber uber.com max@uber.com Steve Veach Managing Member Clarity Performance www.clarityperformancealliance.com steve.veach@clarity-p-a.com Jennifer R Thomas Founder www.travel720.com jennifer.thomas@travel720.com Bill Hurley General Manager Empirical Brewery www.empiricalbrewery.com bill.hurley@empiricalbrewery.com Lisa Ackerman President Luxe Life www.shopluxelife.com lisa@shopluxelife.com Craig C. Bradley Partner Edwards Wildman www.edwardswildman.com cbradley@edwardswildman.com Eyal Amir CEO FasPark www.faspark.com eyal@faspark.com Glenn Gottfried Operating Partner Gentry www.gentryfc.com ggottfried@gentryprivatecap.com Robert McKune Director RecoverySolutions Araceli Corona Insurance Broker CC & Associates aracelery@gmail.com Michele Kehrer CEO/Physical Therapist LifeStyle michele@balancechicago.com David Cason Consultant MicroStrategy www.microstrategy.com dcason8@gmail.com Julian Pretto Founder Chicago Micro julian@chicagomicro.com Lauren Uyeshiro luyeshiro@gmail.com Natalie Manning President Natalie’s Deals www.natsdeals.com natam99@yahoo.com Jennifer Fortney Cascade Communications jfortney@cascadecomms.com Bob Brill bob@bobbrill.net Jason Gonzales Founder & CEO AquaVida jason@aquavida.org Andrea Moran Managing Director Marengo Hampshire Partners www.marengohampshire.com andrea@marengohampshire.com Shiwali Varshney Director AEG Partners svarshney@aegpartners.com Chris Drew Pocket Literacy Coach www.pocketliteracy.com chris@pocketliteracy.com Doug Schaaf Co-Founder & CEO www.theslingshot.com doug@theslingshot.com ___________________________ Marc Fest: Thank you & Good-bye from the Knight Foundation Thank you & Good-bye ronaldmay@aol.com X Reply from Marc Fest fest@knightfoundation.org to ronaldmay@aol.com date Thu, Dec 15, 2011 at 12:22 PM subject Thank you & Good-bye hide details 12:22 PM (21 hours ago) Dear friend - It’s time to say good-bye, and to thank you for allowing me to send you the many, many messages over the last five years about Knight Foundation’s efforts to foster informed and engaged communities. I’m leaving the foundation to lead a new social portal, one based on the idea of joy: wwww.Joy.net (yes, it is a whimsical project). Please extend a warm welcome to Andrew Sherry whose first day at Knight will be January 9. The foundation is lucky to have him join its executive team as vp/communications. Below is a news release. And one last time, allow me to recommend that you follow Knight at twitter.com/knightfdn. Thank you so much! Marc. PS: As a leave-behind, I’ve created www.messagehouse.org to share my favorite “secret communications sauce” that we’ve been using at Knight. And, if I can ever be of help, please just drop me a line at marc@messagehouse.org. Be well. ++ NOTE: High resolution photo of Andrew Sherry: www.kflinks.com/sherryphoto Knight Foundation Appoints Andrew Sherry Vice President of Communications Leadership transition reinforces focus on digital technology MIAMI – Dec. 15, 2011 – The trustees of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation have elected Andrew Sherry as vice president of communications. He will be a member of the foundation’s Executive Committee and report to Knight Foundation President and CEO Alberto Ibargüen. As vice president, Sherry will lead the foundation’s strategic communications and marketing functions, ensuring that Knight’s programs to build informed and engaged communities attract the strongest potential applicants and partners, and the impact of these programs is communicated both externally and internally. The leadership transition reinforces Knight’s focus on digital technology. Sherry was senior vice president, online communications at the Center for American Progress. He was previously director, online ventures at USA TODAY and vice president of a Hong Kong-based travel technology start-up, after a journalism career that included serving as AFP correspondent in Vietnam and Cambodia and regional editor of the Dow Jones-owned Far Eastern Economic Review. “Andrew has a track record of building technology, editorial and interactive marketing platforms. Combined with his entrepreneurial and journalistic background, this makes him perfect for leading the communications side of our mission to create informed and engaged communities,” said Alberto Ibargüen, the foundation’s president and CEO. “Communication is at the core of what we do at Knight, which makes our communications department a crucial partner in all of our initiatives.” Sherry’s responsibilities will include press outreach, government relations and managing the foundation’s offline and online communications platforms, including web strategy and social networking. He will be integrating a metrics-driven approach to communications into all of the foundation’s initiatives. “Knight has evolved a high-performance culture that reminds me of the tech start-up world,” said Sherry. “The staff clearly feels a strong sense of responsibility to make sure the foundation’s resources have the greatest possible impact. I’m delighted to be joining an organization that has journalism in its DNA, digital innovation as its focus, and a market-oriented approach to grant-making designed to ensure its positive impact on communities is sustainable.” Sherry succeeds Marc Fest, who is leaving the foundation to lead social portal Joy.net. Sherry will take over from Fest on Jan. 9, 2012. About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Knight Foundation is dedicated to the ideal that democracies thrive when communities are informed and engaged. The foundation supports transformational ideas that engage communities, promote quality journalism and media innovation and foster the arts. Contacts: Marc Fest, vice president/communications (interim), (305) 908-2677, fest@knightfoundation.org High resolution photo of Andrew Sherry: www.kflinks.com/sherryphoto This message was sent to ronaldmay@aol.com from: John S. and James L. Knight Foundation | 200 South Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 3300 | Miami, FL 33131 ___________________________ END OF REPORT