Chicago Tech Report

UC Booth MBAs Sponsor METSummit This Friday

University of Chicago Booth MBA students are sponsoring a Media Entertainment and Technology Summit this Friday, February 27 at the Harper Center on the Hyde Park campus. From the website, it looks like an interesting blend of digital advertising, startup technology, and creative industry folk converging for a one day offering of panel discussions and demos. For non-students, the cost is a pretty reasonable $75, given the amount of content and industry exposure you're getting access to for the day. Rishad Tobaccowala, CEO of Denuo, and Steve Seabolt, VP of Global Brand Development, Electronic Arts are the two keynoters. There will also be a demo of the Microsoft Surface device.

Executives' Club of Chicago Conference: Interview with Rob Bernard

As I mentioned in my last post, after the insightful and inspirational morning panels at the Executives' Club of Chicago Conference, I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Rob Bernard, Chief Environmental Strategist for Microsoft Corporation. What does the Chief Environmental Strategist do? Rob works with both internal and external constituents to help reduce their overall impact on the environment, whether it's software, hardware, or business processes. Here's a quick Q&A Rob was able to provide in between the morning panels and a client meeting he had to run off to.

1. So Rob, how did you get into this position and what were you doing prior to this position?
   I've been working at Microsoft for 11 years. I was working on a project called Project 2 Degrees at Microsoft before they created this position. Now, I work on an environmental sustainability team, which is a virtual working team across several different groups, totaling 100 people across the company.
   
   
2. Are you working with any hardware vendors to improve energy consumption?
   In terms of hardware, currently, we're working with the XBOX team to reduce energy consumption. Current generations of the XBOX use half as much power as previous generations. We're also working with waste companies to help recoup materials after they have reached the end of their life cycle even though a typical XBOX has a fairly long shelf life.
   

Executives' Club of Chicago Conference: Business Sustainability in a World in Crisis

Two weeks ago (I know, I've been busy), I was fortunate enough to attend the Executives' Club of Chicago's Conference entitled "Business Sustainability in a World in Crisis." The topic at hand could have quickly degraded into a shouting match where emotions quickly outpaced evidence. However, the speakers on-hand were some of the best I have seen in a very long time -- equally eloquent and charming without being overly verbose or alarmist. In all there were 11 panelists with Ali Velshi, Chief Business Correspondent at CNN, moderating.

Chicago Journalism Town Hall Brings Old and New Media Luminaries Together

Chicago's old and new media camps converged this past Sunday for a panel discussion in front of a packed audience of over 300 on the future of the journalism profession and newspaper industry. Representing the old guard were stalwarts like John Calloway and Carol Marin from WTTW and Eric Zorn from the Chicago Tribune. From the new media side were Geoff Dougherty from ChiTown Daily News and Andrew Huff from Gapers Block.

A lively three hour discussion ensued, covering issues like funding of newsroom operations, new business models to support investigative journalism, viability of online advertising, micropayments, and the role of community foundations in bridging the gap. No easy answers were formulated by the end of the day, but it was heartening to see a conversation beginning to form between experienced professional journalists and the young hotshot bloggers and technologists in the audience. There are several other interesting startups in the journalism space here in Chicago to watch that will help inform the future, whatever it may be, of media in this city.

For those who could not attend the event, WBEZ will be posting an audio recording of the event, and there will be a video rebroadcast on public access CAN-TV. Also see another take on this event.

Pre-SXSW Tweet-Up CHICAGO Edition

As a follow up to our post on January 10 regarding Chicagoans going to SXSW Interactive, a get together will be held on Wednesday March 4th for those who are attending (or interested in) the SXSW 2009 Conference. 

Schedule sheets will be available at the event for people to discuss conference panels and coordinate timing if desired.

In order to prepare sensitive Midwestern palettes for spicy Texan cuisine, the event will held at the Blue Agave Mexican Restaurant. (Corner of State/Maple near Dublins and Hunt Club)

If you're interested in attending, the Facebook event can be found here:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=53505598889

Date:	Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Time:	5:30pm - 11:00pm
Location:	BLUE AGAVE
Street:	1 W Maple St
City/Town:	Chicago, IL
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