Rob McNealy interviews Amal Graafstra, author of RFID Toys, about implantable RFID technology and his own RFID implants.

Download audio file (AmalGraafstra.mp3)

Amal Graafstra’s Bio

RFID Toys author Amal Graafstra, is the owner of several technology and mobile communications companies and a double RFID implantee. Amal loves thinking up interesting ways to combine and apply various technologies in his daily life.

Since learning about RFID technology used in cats and dogs for identification, Amal wanted to leverage that technology himself. Getting implants meant there was no need to carry an RFID access card around and he could implement his own RFID access control systems instead of buying expensive off-the-shelf products. Soon after getting his first implant and posting some pictures of the process for a few friends, word quickly spread over the Internet and soon he found himself talking to everyone from industry players to clergy to book publishers about RFID technology and its possibilities.

Amal has been interviewed about his adventures in RFID by television, print, and online news media from around the world, including the Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet program. He uses his RFID implants to log into his computer, access his front door and opening his car door.

Rob McNealy interviews author, entrepreneur, and venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki about his latest book, Reality Check and his internet projects including Alltop.com.

Download audio file (GuyKawasaki.mp3)

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Guy Kawasaki’s Bio

Guy Kawasaki was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1954. His family lived in a tough part of Honolulu called Kalihi Valley, where he attended Iolani School. After Iolani, he attended Stanford University, where he graduated in 1976 with a major in psychology - the easiest major he could find.

After Stanford, Kawasaki succumbed to the wishes of his Asian American parents, and enrolled in law school at UC Davis.  He only lasted a week before he left, but the following year he entered the MBA program at UCLA.  While completing his MBA, he worked for a fine-jewelry manufacturer called Nova Stylings, where he learned how to sell.

Guy remained at Nova for a few years, until he was bit by the computer bug and took a job with an educational software company called EduWare Services. After Peachtree Software acquired the company, he got a job at Apple with the help of his Stanford roommate, Mike Boich. He spent four years evangelizing Macintosh to software and hardware developers and led the charge against world-wide domination by IBM.

Kawasaki left Apple to start a Macintosh database company called ACIUS, which published a product called 4th Dimension. from there he moved on to pursue writing, speaking, and consulting.  Eventually, Guy returned to Apple as an Apple fellow, in order to help maintain and rejuvenate the Macintosh cult.

Currently, Guy is a founding partner at Garage Technology Ventures and co-founder of Alltop, as well as a husband, father, author, speaker, and hockey addict. In addition, he’s also written nine books, including his latest called Reality Check.

Rob McNealy interviews Sergio Stiberman, founder of LeaseTrader.com about how the idea behind LeaseTrader developed and what the company offers to consumers.

Download audio file (SergioStiberman-LeaseTrader.mp3)

Sergio Stiberman’s Bio

Sergio Stiberman is president and chief executive officer of LeaseTrader.com, a website that easily and affordably matches car buyers with owners looking to terminate their lease contracts. His decision to start the company grew out of his life?long entrepreneurial spirit that was developed at a young age.

A native of Argentina, Stiberman arrived in the United States at the age of 14.After taking several business courses at local colleges in Miami, Stiberman decided to venture out on his own to start a consumer electronics wholesale company. Leveraging his experiences and knowledge of the Latin American marketplace, Stiberman’s consumer electronics company catered to visitors traveling to Miami who were interested in purchasing electronics such as VCRs, televisions, radios and portable electronics devices. Stiberman realized many of these items were difficult to purchase at a competitive price in his customers’ native countries. Through the 80s and into much of the 90s, his operation grew to over five locations throughout South Florida.

Stiberman’s consumer electronics business reached a plateau in the mid 90s, and with the advent of the Internet, he decided to search for a new business venture that would leverage the internet’s power. Then one day the idea surfaced – using the Internet to help trade car leases between people who unexpectedly wanted, or needed, to terminate their contract to consumers looking to upgrade their current vehicle. As a result, he started LeaseTrader.com in 1998.

In nearly 10 years of operation, Stiberman has grown LeaseTrader.com to a complete lease transfer service spanning the entire country. His innovative ideas have helped LeaseTrader.com thrive, especially in the first few years when a majority of market research did not support the concept. Today, Stiberman continues to develop the company, working on patent?pending technologies that will revolutionize and streamline the entire lease transfer process.

Stiberman resides in Miami with his wife and two children.

Rob McNealy takes time out at Defrag Conference 2008 to interview George Athannassov of WordFrame about how he got his start in enterprise social media software, as well as technology outsourcing to Bulgaria.

Download audio file (GeorgeAtha.mp3)

George Athannassov’s Bio

George started his first private company in 1993 and since then he is constantly involved in the IT sector. One of his companies - ConsultCommerce has been nominated by ZDNet as the developer of one of the best financial applications on the planet - LoanAmortizer. ConsultCommerce and ITBrix, companies where George is a managing partner have over 20 applications and online services that have over 25,000 customers spread all over the world. Almost all major banks and financial institutions are clients of LoanAmortizer while major government security organizations use TalkSpread.

The applications and services developed by the companies George is involved with include but are not limited to working time management and payroll solutions with ManuPlus and AutoPayRoll Applications, Online communication and collaboration - TalkSpread, NewzSpread and iNetMail, business process and revenue management with Cash Control Manager and PMA - Project Management App, financial applications with LoanManager, FloorPlan and LoanAmortizer, QView and QStat for Cisco’s Unified Contact Center, Freight Expert Software and Mobile devices software solutions and many others…

George and ITBrix funded Blogtronix in 2005 and was an active COO of the company till December 2007 when he sold his shares.

George’s and ITBrix’ latest endeavor is WordFrame Community Platform. WordFrame Community provides an out-of-the-box solution that allows teams to create Web communities for information sharing and document collaboration, benefits that help increase individual and team productivity. WordFrame Community is based on Microsoft asp.net 2.0 Framework. It includes IT resources such as community workspaces, blogs, user profiles, e-mail, document management, wiki, audio and video publishing, all secure and easily managed via a feature-rich administration shell. WordFrame Community enables users to locate distributed information quickly and efficiently, as well as connect to and work with others more productively.

George holds a Master’s degree in Finance and Business from the University of Plovdiv and have been managing software development companies since 1995.

Rob McNealy interviews Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV about the wine business, and the success of his fantastically popular webcast, The Thunder Show.

Download audio file (GaryVaynerchuk.mp3)

Gary Vaynerchuk’s Bio

Gary Vaynerchuk (VAY NER CHUK) is a 32 year old self-trained wine expert who is revolutionizing the wine industry. His webcast, “The Thunder Show”, on www.winelibrarytv.com, attracts over 80,000 viewers each day and his email queue typically holds 1,000 messages from obsessed fans, self-named “Vayniacs”. Gary’s cult-like following is the result of his unconventional, often irreverent commentary on wine. In the name of “expanding one’s palate”, Gary convinced Conan O’Brien to lick salted rocks and shared samples of dirt and grass with Ellen Degeneres. He routinely pans popular wines (even ones he sells at his 3-story New Jersey store, Wine Library). He even interrupts his webcasts with rants about his beloved New York Jets. This is not your typical wine expert.

His roots in wine tasting come honestly – his Russian immigrant parents owned a liquor store when he was growing up. Bored at the cash register, Gary began reading The Wine Spectator and books about wine and realized collecting wine offered an allure similar to his previous hobby of collecting baseball cards. As a teenager, tasting wine was legally impossible, so Gary set out to train his palate “backwards”. To study various flavors associated with wine, Gary tasted obscure fruits and vegetables, along with earthly influences, including grass, dirt, rocks, tobacco and wood. “I probably consumed more New Jersey grass in my teens than any lawn mower.” By familiarizing himself with the numerous tastes that contributed to a specific wine, Gary was able to detect subtleties that an ordinary palate wouldn’t recognize.

With a wealth of knowledge and an entrepreneurial spirit, Gary spent every weekend of his college years at his parents’ store, rebranding the family business as Wine Library and establishing himself as a respected expert. As the store’s only wine buyer, he sampled every wine that entered the store. Customers depended on Gary for his advice and within a four year time period, Wine Library grew from a $4 million dollar business to a $40 million business.

The Thunder Show has taken on a life of its own, attracting fans from 12 to 90 years old and reaching the maximum limit of 4,999 Facebook friends. Gary’s key goals (after owning the New York Jets) are twofold. “First, I want people to try different wines. How can you have a favorite if you only know a few? Second, I tell people to trust their palates. If a wine appeals to your palate, then it’s a good choice. Don’t feel pressured to like popular brands or what experts recommend. Buy what ‘brings the thunder’ for you.” Comical expressions used on the show, such as “Sniffy sniff” and “The Oakmonster” add to Gary’s identity as “the wine guy for the Average Joe.” In addition to encouraging straightforward wine tasting, Gary educates viewers about the effects of regional factors (soil, sun, wind) on wine flavors, and how to buy wine. Debunking myths — red vs. white, big name brands vs. independent growers — is another feature in Gary’s webcasts.

As the youngest winner of Marketwatch’s Business Award, Market Watch Leader at 27 and his recently launched first book, 101 Wines Guaranteed to Inspire, Delight, and Bring Thunder to Your World, Gary Vaynerchuk is an icon in his industry. In addition to stellar “street cred” among his fans, Gary is also highly respected in the wine industry and the corporate world. “Wine is a dynamic category that offers a new set of flavors and standards each year. There is so much to learn and appreciate regardless of price.” Gary’s unique identity as both a wine expert and a “real person” has reinvented the concept of wine tasting for a new generation.

Rob McNealy takes time out at Defrag Conference 2008 to interview Puneet Gupta about enterprise social networking software and his company, Connectbeam.

Download audio file (PuneetGupta.mp3)

Puneet Gupta’s Bio

Puneet brings over 16 years of enterprise software experience to Connectbeam. Prior to founding Connectbeam, Puneet served as CEO of CourseCafe, an online social collaboration application company for researchers around the world to collaborate around academic and coursework related research. Prior to CourseCafe, Puneet was Director of Product Marketing at Selectica (NASDAQ: SLTC) - an enterprise sales and solutions pricing software company. During Puneet’s tenure the company grew from 70 employees to over 900, and had one of the top ten IPOs in Nasdaq’s history. Prior to Selectica, Puneet spent several years at Peoplesoft and Oracle Corporation in engineering and product marketing roles where he brought several new products to market. He received the Best Innovative Product of the Year award at Oracle.

Puneet holds a B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from Ohio State University, Management of Technology from UC Berkeley, and MBA from Columbia University in New York.

Rob McNealy interviews b5media co-founder, Jeremy Wright, about blogging as a business, social media and the b5media blog network.

Download audio file (JeremyWright-B5Media.mp3)

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Jeremy Wright’s Bio

Jeremy Wright is a serial entrepreneur, some have even said “blogpreneur” for his focus on communications-oriented ventures. He is an internationally recognized authority on blogging who has helped hundreds of people and many high profile companies develop strategies to incorporate blogs into their business plans.

In 2005, Jeremy teamed up with fellow professional bloggers Darren Rowse, Duncan Reilly and Shai Coggins to form b5media, a blog network that has more than tripled in size and seen over 2000% growth in revenue in less than three years.

Jeremy also consults on blogging, communication, IT and time management and is the author of the book Blog Marketing, which is designed to help businesses come to grips with blogs and really start engaging with their audience, customers and consumers on a 1-1 basis.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper opened the event by describing the rough and impoverished childhood that Desmond Tutu endured as a young black child in South Africa.

Desmond Tutu spoke about how the entire would is connected and that no man is “self-made” but is rather made by others.  He also spoke about how as a boy he was inspired by the first black American baseball players.

It was an amazing event, and I am thankful that I was invited.  I would also recommend that if you in Denver, that you check out the rest of the series.  It will be well work the time and money.

Yesterday, I was visiting a blog that I read regularly where I learned about an Omaha Steaks deal layed out by another blogger named Catherine.  The deal was a little complicated, but to sum it up, there was a $25 Omaha Steaks e-gift card being offered by GEICO, as a reward for signing up for their GEICO Privileges program (a reward program with discounts to various retailers). On top of that, Omaha Steaks was offering 12 free steak burgers with your first purchase, via a promotion that Omaha Steaks shoppers were explicitly invited to pass along via email and Facebook and Myspace widgets.

Put together, that was going to make for a pretty sweet deal.  So, I signed up, got my $25 gift card code, and clicked through the email link to snag my free burgers.

After everything was said and done, I placed the order that’s summarized below.  As you can see, I got an order of sausage and 12 burgers, for a total of $1.98 after my “Reward Gift Card” was applied, and I was happily awaiting my package to arrive on October 24th.

Today, I got an email from Omaha Steaks customer service stating that they were confident I’d be “delighted” with my order, but I wasn’t getting my free burgers. Whatever made them think I’d be delighted about not getting part of my order, I’m not sure. Apparently, it was stated on the free item promotion that it couldn’t be combined with any other offer - said offer being a gift card received from another merchant.  In addition, a quick check of the Omaha Steaks website showed that my new order arrival date had been pushed back to October 29th.

I responded back, stating that neither my GEICO gift card, nor their free burger offer had made any statements about combining anything, and this was the oh so helpful response I got back:

Dear Ms. McNealy,

Thank you for contacting Omaha Steaks. We apologize for any
inconvenience.

As stated in the free item promotions, the free items cannot be combined
with any other offer.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to email us or contact
us at 1-800-329-6500. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Julie Davis
Omaha Steaks Customer Care

Hmm. Good thing I saved a screen capture of my offer.  I sent another email back, including said screen capture.  I’m still waiting for a response.

While I was at it, I went back to the original blog post where I found out about this deal, and found dozens of other commenters, many of whom are bloggers, who had also had their orders altered or even canceled by Omaha Steaks. Of course this happened after they received order confirmations and some people had had their credit cards charged.

Now obviously, Omaha Steaks made a mistake.  They didn’t expect so many people to jump on these two deals.  That’s ok - everybody makes mistakes (wait, isn’t that a Hannah Montana song??).  The problem lies in how they handled it.  When the two promotions went awry, they could have ended the free burger offer, or changed the terms for subsequent offers.  Instead, they chose to ruin their relationship with new customers over the cost of 12 burgers (now selling on their site for $14.99).  Seriously, how much do those burgers even cost Omaha Steaks?  Is it worth saving a few bucks per order to end up with dozens of negative blog posts and hundreds of blog comments scattered over the internet?

If Omaha Steaks had taken a step back and really thought about this, instead of running off and changing a bunch of confirmed orders, they could have mentally written off the burgers as an unexpected marketing expense.  Had that been the case, these new found happy and satisfied customers could have gone on to order holiday gifts (December is right around the corner…) and tell their friends how great their experience was.  Instead, these customers are spending time taking down those cute little widgets Omaha Steaks told them to post, they are talking and blogging about the total lack of customer service they’ve received, and they are convincing their friends never to order from Omaha Steaks again.

Congratulations Omaha Steaks, instead of creating raving fans, you’ve just pissed off a bunch of mommy bloggers.

Rob McNealy interviews Melodie Reagan, CEO of Auromira^TM Executive Advantage and President of TiE-Rockies, about what the Rockies chapter of TiE is doing to foster entrepreneurship in Colorado.

Download audio file (MelodieReagan.mp3)

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Melodie Reagan’s Bio

Melodie Reagan, CEO of Auromira^TM Executive Advantage, a national  recruitment, staffing and workforce management firm, is an international business leader and entrepreneur, having led teams throughout the US, Europe and Asia. Her 20+ years of Communications and Information industry experience includes line of business management with profit and loss accountability, product management and development, marketing, eCRM, and systems development. Previously, she was Sr. Vice President of Global Marketing and Sales Operations and Sr. Vice President of Transport Services for Level(3) Communications; a global practice leader and industry analyst with Telechoice; and she held marketing leadership positions with Wiltel, Sprint, and US West.

Her business achievements span starting and leading a successful staffing and recruitment firm, having up to $1 billion product line responsibility serving consumers, all size businesses and government, and leading a top performing international consultancy. Melodie has managed operating budgets of up to $35 million, directed technical and non-technical staffs of more than 130 throughout the globe (US, EU and Asia). She has consistently won performance awards including President’s Club, Women Legislator’s Outstanding Women of Colorado, and NAFE’s Women of Excellence for Outstanding Entrepreneur Achievement.

Melodie has a passion for serving her community.  In addition to regularly speaking on leadership, workforce trends and career development, she founded WBE (Women Business Executives), served as a judge in both 2005 and 2006 for Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Awards - Rocky Mountain Region, was Board Director for ACG (Association for Corporate Growth) Denver and is currently President of TiE-Rockies.  Melodie graduated magna cum laude with a BSBA in Marketing, Management Information Systems and Management Science from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She has two wonderful sons, Aaron and Bryce.

At that point, I stopped, and asked my daughter, “What could the people in the town do to get more money.” She made me proud when she answered “sell things and start a business.”

We’ve all heard stories about amazingly successful entrepreneurs who used their last dollar to turn their lives around and ended up making it big. Real estate investor Armando Montelongo of Flip This House fame is one example that comes to mind.  Sometimes the success stories are smaller, but no less awe inspiring, like the people who have brought themselves out of poverty by starting businesses with microloans from places like Kiva.

Entrepreneurship is amazing.  It can allow people in the worst circumstances to overcome the odds in a way that a minimum wage retail job never will, allowing them to bring THEMSELVES out of poverty.

Rob McNealy interviews internet security expert Monte Robertson about spyware, trojans, worms, hacking and more for cyber security month.

Download audio file (MonteRobertson.mp3)

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Monte Robertson’s Bio

Monte Robertson is the president and CEO of Software Security Solutions (SSS). He founded the Colorado-based company in October of 2001. With more than 16 years of experience, Robertson helped establish the Spyware industry. He helped expose the threat before most people even knew it was “out there” in early 2002 while working with the world’s first commercially available Anti-Spyware, a start-up product called PestPatrol.

SSS continues to research, evaluate and bring new products to its customers and is a reseller for only best-in-class independent security solutions. He believes in solutions that anticipate new threats rather than reacting to them. As a Security VAR, SSS is under constant attack. Monte uses the very products he recommends to protect his company. Before the end of the year, SSS will be announcing a new product, under development at the company, to defeat exploits. Robertson is a RCDD, has a certificate in Project Based Management from the University of Denver. He has presented to numerous associations on computer security related topics and is relied on as an industry resource for Business Solutions and CRN magazines.

Rob McNealy interviews co-author of the the Twitter Handbook, Warren Whitlock, about tips for using Twitter.  Warren also shares some book marketing tips.

Download audio file (WarrenWhitlock.mp3)

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Warren Whitlock’s Bio

Warren Whitlock is the Marketing Results Coach. He is a #1 bestselling author, and his mission is to help authors and businesses improve the results of their marketing programs.  In addition, he is a publisher, and the editor of dailywarren.com, a blog focused on book marketing, as well as Potter Marketing Secrets - Marketing Lessons Learned from Harry Potter.

Warren is an entrepreneur in the computer and imaging industries, with several offline businesses and internet properties. He started his career in broadcast advertising, developing cross promotions between two or more businesses, and has used the same strategies in direct mail and other media.

Over the past decade, Warren has taught thousands of small businesses, authors and individuals how to use proven direct marketing principles to promote product or service, started a trade association for manufacturers in the imaging products industry and served on several executive boards.

Rob McNealy interviews Todd Beckman, president and founder of MassageLuxe International, a highend massage therapy franchise, about franchising.

Download audio file (ToddBeckmanMassageluxe.mp3)

Todd Beckman’s Bio

In addition to being the founder of MassageLuxe, Todd Beckman is also the founder of The Tan Company, one of the country’s fastest-growing tanning salon concepts and one of the five largest franchisors in its industry. When Beckman first entered the tanning industry he thought he could improve its professionalism while bringing first-rate facilities and unparalleled customer service. A similar motivation got him into the massage therapy industry.

The OtterBox for iPhone® 3G Defender™ Series follows in the Defender Series tradition by offering stylish and sophisticated protection. First, a thin, clear membrane covers your Touch Screen to help prevent scratches and dings. Second is a hard, strong Polycarbonate skeleton that surrounds your device.

At Startup Story, we’re longtime fans of OtterBox products.  We first discovered their waterproof cases back when we began SCUBA diving, and I use one of their cases on my Blackberry.  Like all of the other OtterBox products we’ve had our hands on, these iPhone cases are durable, well made and look cool.  They even have silicone plugs that let you access the ports in your phone so you can sync or charge it in the case.  The ones we’ve got are black, but they even come in pink for breast cancer awareness.

We love the iPhone® 3G Defender™ Series case, and we’d like to share it with 3 of our lucky visitors.  If you’d like to keep your iPhone safe with an OtterBox case, leave a comment below sharing your startup story.  Don’t have a startup story yet?  Share what’s holding you back from going it on your own.  Three lucky winners will be chosen at random on  Monday, October 13th, and if we like your story, who knows, we might even interview you!

Rob McNealy interviews podcaster and security analyst, Goldie Katsu, about the Thin Air Summit, a new media conference happening in Denver from November 7-9.

Download audio file (GoldieKatsu-TAS.mp3)

Sponsor:  Try GotoMeeting free for 30 days! For this special offer, visit www.gotomypc.com/podcast

About the Thin Air Summit

The Thin Air Summit, which is being organized by Goldie Katsu and Kit Seeborg, was born from the idea that getting Colorado’s New Media professionals and out-of-town guests in the same venue for two days of intensive learning and collaborating is a win-win for the area’s New Media community!  Conference speakers include Dave Taylor, Jeremiah, Owyang, and Startup Story’s own Rob McNealy.

The conference is organized in three tracks - blogging, audio and video.  An optional introductory workshop on new media will be presented on Friday.  Seating for the conference is limited to 100 attendees, in order to provide a comfortable and intimate setting for attendees to ask questions and engage in discussions on any number of topics. The opportunities to interact with presenters and fellow attendees are endless.

Register for the Thin Air Summit now.  Don’t wait.  Seats are filling fast, and this event WILL sell out.

Goldie Katsu’s Bio

Once an explorer always an explorer.  Goldie Katsu has been playing with technology since her childhood.  She first explored social networking and “new media” back in the dark ages of the network through usenet newsgroups and UNIX system forums. In the latest incarnation of social networking and new media she has been an early adopter and explorer of how to use and benefit from social networking tools and new media. On her blog she explores themes in technology, society, law and how all this relates to our increasing public and connected world.

In addition to writing she is actively involved in web video on streaming video sites such as Blogtv and Ustream, stored video sites like Viddler, and conversational video sites such as Seesmic and 12seconds.tv, and was an early user of many of these sites.

Her participation and content is valued by others and she has been an integral part of the growth of new media. In a recent newsletter Chris Brogan stated in reference to Goldie’s blog  “Goldie’s Gabs - Want a grab bag of thoughtful, personal, touching, and insightful stories? In video, text, and beyond, Goldie Katsu delivers. She’s a great producer of content, and someone you feel you know after just a few posts.”

Located in Boulder, Colorado, Goldie joined the Denver Area Podcaster’s meetup. It was at this meetup that the idea of a new media conference for Colorado first came up. Inspired by the idea she gathered a team of interested community members and this has become the Thin Air Summit.

Goldie Katsu can be found on twitter.com/goldiekatsu and at her blog at http://blog.goldiesgabs.com.

Rob McNealy interviews Marketing genius Ben Mack about NLP, fnords, memetics and persuasion, and their uses in marketing.

Download audio file (BenMack.mp3)

Ben Mack’s Bio

Ben Mack is the marketing genius credited with having sold a quarter-billion-dollars in yo-yo’s in two years.

Ben has received two national awards from the American Marketing Association; the Effie for
his highly successful strategy on YoMega Yo Yos and the Edison award for the launch of the Michael Jordan Cologne.

Two years ago Ben left the corporate life as Senior Vice President at BBDO, Director of Brand Strategy on Cingular, where he was lead strategist on a half-billion-dollar advertising budget.

He is the author of a wide variety of books from his highly acclaimed business book Think Two Products Ahead, to the best selling book on fire eating ever published, How To Eat Fire With Little or No Pain.

As a kid, Ben spent three days interviewing R. Buckminster Fuller for the book Fuller’s Earth: A Day With Bucky And The Kids.

Currently, Ben Mack consults with and coaches established entrepreneurs and successful business owners about how to maximize profitability by thinking two products ahead.

Rob McNealy interviews Elizabeth Weiland, President and Founder of the Insight Speaker Series, about her experiences working with cross-cultural teams, and how she got started with her monthly speaker series in Denver.

Download audio file (ElizabethWeiland-InsightSpeakers.mp3)

Elizabeth Weiland’s Bio

Elizabeth Weiland has had an eclectic, entrepreneurial career with an international emphasis.  She started in Colorado exporting beef to Japan, was Vice President of the Association of Brewers (managing the Great American Beer Festival for several years), then was responsible for global marketing for two teleconferencing firms.

Weiland then launched her own international marketing and management consulting firm, assisting a variety of firms from candle makers to face cream manufacturers in strategic marketing, creating profitability and effective entrepreneurial management.  In the Fall of 2007 she dreamed of and created the Insight Speaker Series, bringing global perspectives to Denver audiences – www.insightspeakers.com.  Upcoming speakers in the series include Desmond Tutu, Reza Aslan and Charles Barkley.

As part of our short series on biotech in Colorado, Rob McNealy interviews Chris Shapard, interim director of the Colorado Bioscience Association about BioWest and why biotech is thriving in Colorado.

Download audio file (ChrisShapard-ColoradoBioscienceAssociation.mp3)

Chris Shapard’s Bio

In January 1999, Chris Shapard was appointed as Deputy Director to the Colorado International Trade Office to focus on international inward investment. In that capacity, she promoted Colorado for foreign investment and helped to organize overseas trade missions and trade shows. She successfully helped arrange Governor Owens’ trade missions to England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Japan, Mexico and Germany.

In 2004, Chris became the Director of Biosciences and Emerging Technologies, a business development position focusing on the biotech, medical device, nanotechnology and photonics sectors. Her biotechnology involvement has included helping to draft and implement the statewide biotechnology plan, leading the Colorado delegation at BIO, leading the BioWest 2005 effort and helping to conceptualize the Bioscience Colorado magazine. Other responsibilities include producing the Colorado bioscience and emerging technology e-newsletter, helping to organize the Colorado Nanotech group, assisting the Colorado Photonics Industry Association to advance the organization, helping to draft legislation to support Colorado’s emerging industries.

Chris graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish and Political Science from Grove City College in Western Pennsylvania and during her junior year spent a semester of study in Madrid, Spain. In early 2002 she received the Certificate in International Trade from the World Trade Center Denver and Metro State College.

Chris lives with her husband Evander in Denver.

As a part of our short series on Colorado biotech, Rob McNealy interviews David Allen, associate vice president of technology transfer at the University of Colorado, about the University of Colorado’s role in the biotech industry in Colorado and the nation.

Download audio file (DavidAllen-CUTechTransfer.mp3)

David Allen’s Bio

David N. Allen became the University of Colorado’s assistant vice president for technology transfer in February 2002. In June 2003 he was promoted to associate vice president. As AVP he has responsibility for intellectual property and technology licensing matters across the three CU campuses. Dr. Allen’s primary objective is to continue the momentum that has led to a turn around of the CU technology transfer operation so it becomes one of the top technology transfer operations in the U.S.

Previously, Dr. Allen was the assistant vice president for technology partnerships at Ohio State University. In this role, he had responsibility for the Offices for Technology Licensing, Technology Partnerships and Business and Industry Contracts. Before coming to Ohio State in 1997, Dr. Allen was assistant vice president for technology and economic development at Ohio University, Athens. From 1991 to 1997, he managed two OU technology development programs: the Innovation Center Program and the Technology Transfer Office. Additional duties were assumed from July 1992 to October 1995 when he was the director of Ohio University’s Edison Biotechnology Institute.

Prior to working at Ohio University, he was a public policy and business administration professor at Pennsylvania State University, University Park. While at Penn State he was a consultant to a seed venture capital firm. He earned a PhD from Indiana University, Bloomington, in political economy in 1980.

Rob McNealy interviews Allan Young, co-founder and CEO of ShelfGenie, about franchising.

Download audio file (AllanYoung-ShelfGenie.mp3)

Allan Young’s Bio

Allan has been the Chief Executive Officer of ShelfGenie since its formation on November 29, 2007. Prior to ShelfGenie’s formation, Allan has served as the CEO and President of several successful start-up companies. He was also a Commander in the United States Army and served in Operation Iraqi Freedom in a Special Operations Group as their Operations Officer. Allan understands strategic hyper-growth of start-up businesses and how to position companies to succeed. He holds a bachelor degree from the University of Richmond and a Masters in Administration from Central Michigan University.

Rob McNealy interviews Chris Brogan, a new media expert and co-founder of PodCamp, about using new media to build connections in business.

Download audio file (ChrisBrogan.mp3)

Chris Brogan’s Bio

Chris Brogan is a new media guru with ten years of experience using social media and technology to build relationships for businesses, organizations, and individuals. He is also the co-founder of the PodCamp conference series, which explores the use of new media community tools to extend and build value.  Chris’ own blog, where he works with all kinds of new media, is in the top 200 on Technorati.

Chris Brogan currently serves as VP Strategy & Technology at CrossTech Media, an integrated media and events business. He frequently speaks at and attends marketing and social media events, sharing his passion for all things social media. In fact, you can catch both Chris and Rob in a panel discussion on blogging as a business at Blog World Expo on September 21st.

Prior to working in the media and events space, Chris had over 16 years of telecommunications experience in wireless and landline technologies.

Rob McNealy interview Mike O’Neil, founder of Integrated Alliances (IA) about the social media training courses offered by IA.

Download audio file (MikeONeil.mp3)

Mike O’Neil’s Bio

Mike O’Neil, 48, is a technologist, a visionary and a leader in the world of technology, on-line social media and the application of these important elements to the area of business in 2008 and beyond. He has a BSE in Industrial Engineering, is a Cisco Certified Design Associate and he resides in Denver, Colorado. Mike is also a graduate of the Dale Carnegie program.

Mike started Integrated Alliances (IA), a business and social networking and training company, in 2003. At IA, Mike has taught over 100 LinkedIn Workshops and Webinars.

Mike O’Neil got started in speaking and training in the mid 80’s. In the 90’s, Mike worked with computer and related manufacturers to deliver internal training to the large systems integrators. Mike also spoke at annual conventions as a technology expert.

As the industry matured and networking expanded into telecom and Internet, Mike began to deliver internal training on technology, telecom and Internet related topics. Mike also taught channel partners on how they could incorporate his company’s solutions with the offerings of the channel partners. These trainings were to the executive teams, the partner managers, the sales team and often to the technical staff.

Mike has been repeatedly featured in the press on the topic of technology, LinkedIn, recruiting, sales training and business networking. Mike usually has his picture included in the stories. Mike is near completion on a book about using LinkedIn for Sales and Marketing.

Mike can be reached at moneil@integratedalliances.com or by phone at 303-683-9600. Integrated Alliances can be found on the web at www.integratedalliances.com.

Rob McNealy interviews Kenton Kuhn, founder of Blacktie, an organization that provides event planning tools that help nonprofits gain visibility and improve and streamline fundraising efforts.

Download audio file (KentonKuhn-Blacktie.mp3)

Kenton Kuhn’s Bio

Kenton Kuhn is an online pioneer who started his first online service in 1986 - well before the advent of the commercial internet.

In 2002, Kenton met Georgia Imhoff, a well known Denver philanthropist. Together they started the Blacktie concept. Now Blacktie is active in 10 American cities and works with nonprofit organizations, individual philanthropists and preferred businesses.

Kenton lives in Denver with his wife Nancy and two rescue Shelties.

Rob McNealy interviews Melanie Romero, founder of She-Edison, LLC and inventor of the SnapBagger.  Melanie shares how she went from an idea all the way to a product which is scheduled to be offered nationally on a popular home shopping television program.

Download audio file (MelanieRomero-SheEdison.mp3)

Melanie Romero’s Bio

Melanie Romero has a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her work experience began heavily weighted in the engineering and design field as she has worked for a large national aeronautics company in Langley, Virginia, a large Chemical and Plastics company in Midland, Michigan, a prominent National laboratory in Albuquerque, NM, and finally one of the government’s sixth largest defense contractors in Dallas, Texas.

In the past 10 years she has rounded out her experience by transitioning from mechanical design into a technical sales manager role with the leading manufacturer of severe service pneumatic actuation equipment (www.KinetrolUSA.com). This position has allowed her to broaden her core competencies to include sales and marketing. Relationship selling, channel sales, distributor and rep selection and management, and customer care are an integral part of her skill set. Melanie is currently the West Coast Regional Sales Manager for Kinetrol USA, Inc. and is responsible for growing sales in a 13 state region.

The combination of a technical background coupled with extensive sales and marketing experience, has equipped Melanie with the necessary skill sets to pursue her true passion which is inventing products and bringing them to the marketplace. This is an endeavor that started as a hobby but has evolved into a second carreer. Melanie’s first invention is called the SnapBagger and she has obtained a US Patent, established manufacturing in China, and landed a selling deal with a major National sell on TV retailer.

She established She-Edison, LLC “Bright Ideas for Busy People”, to bring products like the SnapBagger and others to market. Melanie enjoys helping other inventors that are not as far a long with their process as she is, as well as seeking mentorship from those that are further along. Melanie serves on the Board of Directors of the Rocky Mountain Inventors Association, and is a member of the United Inventors Association.

Rob McNealy interviews Rod Adams of the Adams Atomic Engines about alternative energy and safe, clean nuclear power.

Download audio file (RodAdams-NuclearInsights.mp3)

Rod Adams’ Bio

Rod Adams has been fascinated with energy production systems since the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973.

Rod graduated with distinction from the US Naval Academy in 1981 with a BS in English. After graduation, Admiral Rickover accepted him into nuclear power training. He served a junior officer on board USS Stonewall Jackson and as Engineer Officer on board USS Von Steuben. He also earned an MS in Systems Technology (Command, Control and Communications) from the Naval Postgraduate School.

His energy interest areas have included large storage batteries, hydrogen generators, diesel engines, gas turbines, wind propulsion, solar thermal and nuclear fission. He left active duty, joined the Naval Reserves and founded Adams Atomic Engines, Inc. in 1993 to design and market nuclear powered gas turbines.

AAE, Inc. is now focused on providing valuable information and analysis about the energy industry. The company’s publications include Atomic Insights, the Atomic Insights Blog and The Atomic Show, hosted by The Podcast Network.

While building the company, Rod maintains a day job as a professional staff officer in the US Navy. His recent assignments include financial programming and budgeting, training systems analysis, ship maintenance, enterprise information systems, and instructing in systems engineering at the US Naval Academy.

What: Colorado Free University Class: Social Networking For Business and Marketing

When: Tuesday, August 19th from 6-9pm

Where: CFU Lowry Campus at 7653 East 1st Place, Denver, CO 80230

Fee: $58 Non-Member / $49 Member / $5 materials fee payable in class

Click here to register.  Note:  The CFU website is being updated, so if the page doesn’t load correctly the first time, hit the refresh button on your browser, and that should fix the problem.  Also, the website currently lists Ashley Kingsley as the course instructor.  I’m taking over for Ashley due to an unforeseen scheduling conflict.

If you can’t make it tomorrow, check back from September class dates and times!

Rob McNealy interviews Dylan Trooien, founder of the websi