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Booth 61 with Ricky Steele

technology entrepreneurs

Co-Chairs of TechBridge’s 2016 Digital Ball, Bryson Koehler CIO of The Weather Channel and Janet Sherlock CIO of Carter’s visit Booth 61

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Bryson Koehler and Janet Sherlock in Booth 61 at the 2016 Digital Ball 5 09 2016 2.jpgWhat a Special Treat for me to have two wonderful friends, technology icons and the Co-Chairs of  the TechBridge 2016 Digital Ball visit Booth 61 with Ricky Steele on Saturday night, May 7th. I have known Bryson Koehler and Janet Sherlock for many years and I promise you, they don’t make folks better than these two. Bryson and Janet are both super successful and well respected as the CIO of The Weather Channel and Carter’s. Even more so, they both have huge hearts for our community. Despite working long hours leading their technology teams, they commit hundreds of additional hours each year to a diverse group of not for profits. TechBridge and our entire technology community owe them both a great debt of gratitude. Although final numbers have not officially been announced, I believe that over 1.2 MILLION DOLLARS in cash and in kind was raised on May 7th at the 2016 Digital Ball. It would not have been possible without the tireless effort of Bryson and Janet. As a result, somewhere between 7 and 10 million people will have their lives improved in 2016 through the hundreds of not for profit agencies that TechBridge serves. I hope you will listen to their interview and whether you know them well or not, send them an email or a thank you note in appreciation of their dedication for co-chairing the 2016 Digital Ball.

Lisa McVey, Patti Dismukes and Denise Adamson of BioIQ visit Booth 61 at 2016 Digital Ball

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Lisa McVey. Patti Dismukes, Denise Adamson in Booth 61 at the 2016 Digital Ball 5 09 2016It is always a pleasure to spend time with old friends Lisa McVey and Patti Dismukes as well as meet a new friend, Denise Adamson. All three of these dynamic executives from BioIQ were gracious to stop by Booth 61 with Ricky Steele at the TechBridge 2016 Digital Ball. Lisa is a past Chairwoman of the Digital Ball and has been an active Board Member of TechBridge for many years. It was great to hear their views on the importance of the Digital Ball, the lives being touched and the exciting developments at BioIQ. Although this company only began rolling out their services in Atlanta in August of 2014, they are well on the road to screening 100 million people in 2016 and beyond. Our community welcomes BioIQ and certainly appreciates their support of TechBridge and the Digital Ball.

Ed Helton & Kim Rozycki, Leadership Institute at Columbus State University and the James Blanchard Leadership Forum, 7/16/2014

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Booth 61 with Ed Helton and Kim Rozycki 7 16 2014Booth 61 is always honored to host my friends from Columbus, Ed Helton and Kim Rozycki from Columbus State University. Ed and Kim are wonderful people who are creating leaders in Columbus and around the country. Columbus State University is a much different place in 2014 than it was in 1971 when I enrolled in what was then known as Columbus College. I think there were four buildings on campus. Now the campus is filled with beautiful buildings and the campus has expanded into downtown Columbus. Former Kennesaw State University Dean of Business and my good friend, Tim Mescon, is now the President of Columbus State University. Tim and his team are doing exciting work in Columbus and beyond.

The Leadership Institute at Columbus State University is a change agent for creating better leaders. One of the many initiatives of the Institute is the upcoming 2014 James Blanchard Leadership Forum. This year’s conference is probably the only conference in the world to include Mark Cuban, Sheryl Sandberg and Sara Blakely. The focus on Entrepreneurial Leadership will be inspiring. In addition, Ronald Heifetz, John R. Ryan, Geoffrey Canada and Marcus Buckingham will all share their wisdom to those gathered in Columbus on August 25th and 26th, 2014. I will be there and I encourage you to register: http://jblf.org. Whether you live in Columbus, Atlanta or the Silicon Valley, this is an event not to miss.

Special shout out to Sandy Ellingson and Jess Jones for joining us in the studio to Live Tweet and help share the message through social media.

 

Margaret Martin, Founder and CEO of Merlin Mobility, visits Booth 61 at the Atlanta CEO Council 3/03/2014

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Booth 61 at Atlanta CEO Council with Margaret Martin 3 03 2014I love days when I meet someone new especially when they are as smart, energetic, and successful as Margaret Martin. Blake Patton was kind to introduce me to Margaret at the Atlanta CEO Council meeting last Monday. Margaret agreed to join me in Booth 61 to talk about her very exciting company, Merlin Mobility. Merlin is a Georgia Tech Innovation Institute company located in the Atlanta Technology Development Center (ATDC), at Georgia Tech. Merlin Mobility’s cloud-hosted Augmented Reality (AR) platform enables companies to create, host, deliver, manage and track mobile AR-based content and customer data. The platform is available in both Software as a Service (SaaS) and Enterprise versions. The most fascinating thing I learned is that Margaret has been leading Merlin for over 5 years without any venture or angel investment. Merlin’s funding has been generated from their clients which in my book is as good as it gets. I am sure you will enjoy hearing Margaret share her story.

Blake Patton, Managing Partner of Tech Square Ventures visits Booth 61 at the Atlanta CEO Council 3/3/2014

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Booth 61 at Atlanta CEO Council with Blake Patton 3 03 2014I really enjoyed my friend, Blake Patton, dropping by Booth 61 earlier this week at the Atlanta CEO Council event. I first met Blake about 8 or 9 years ago during one of his earlier entrepreneurial ventures. Today, Blake is the Managing Partner of Tech Square Ventures, Atlanta’s newest and very exciting early stage venture fund. Blake was most recently the General Manager & Entrepreneur-In-Residence at the ATDC, one of the oldest and one of the premier technology incubators in the country. Blake knows how to spot an early stage company that has the greatest chance of success. I believe Blake will be very successful and his investors delighted with the results of Tech Square Ventures. Listen to Blake’s interview and you will understand why I and many, many other people are bullish on the Atlanta technology scene.

Bill Winter and Ned Coker with CCP Games Take Booth 61 Into Outer Space and What A Great Trip It Was: 10/23/2013

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Booth 61 with Bill Winter and Ned Coker 10 23 2013 1Words will hardly describe or explain all I learned on Booth 61 with Bill Winter and Ned Coker from CCP Games. Bill and Ned took me on a trip that was out of this world. I was entertained and I learned a tremendous amount about the wonderful world of Online Gaming. CCP Games is a very successful creator of online games including one of the world’s best known, EVE ONLINE. The levels of sophistication, detail, and depth of their game opened my eyes to a world I had not experienced and it makes the original Star Wars movie seem like Etch a Sketch.

CCP Games is an international company with a heavy presence in good old Decatur, Georgia. I could write about my experience with Bill and Ned for another 25 paragraphs and not capture the excitement, insight, and joy I felt being in the studio with them. There was one thing I meant to tell them but our time slipped away too quickly so I will do it now. I was blown away with their passion for their industry, their company, their games and even for one another. During our time in the booth, I felt like I had drifted into an old fashioned tent revival. I am a firm believer that passion is what separates the extraordinary from the ordinary in the game of life. Bill and Ned are passionate people and you will experience their passion while listening to our broadcast. I believe Bill and Ned would work without a paycheck if necessary to be around their team of fellow dreamers.

Enough of my commentary, please listen to this interview and then pass it along to your friends especially to those who enjoy online gaming. They will thank you for introducing them to Bill, Ned, and CCP Games.

IT United Way Campaign featuring Becky Blalock and Karl Jennings September 11th, 2013

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Booth 61 with Becky Blalock and Karl Jennings 2Booth 61 on Wednesday, September 11th was a blast. My guests, Becky Blalock and Karl Jennings shared all of the exciting things happening in the technology community for the United Way of Atlanta. This year’s IT United Campaign is off and running with an A+ team of leaders and is being chaired by Becky and Jay Ferro, CIO of the American Cancer Association.

Our first “public” event will be Wednesday, October 16th at AGL Resources hosted by the AGL CIO, Joe Surber. This is an event for companies who are either running an employee campaign or having leadership contributions exceeding $5,000.00. The panel is A++ with CIO superstars sharing their wisdom and wit including Jean Holley from Brambles, Karen Kreider from the Automotive Parts Group at Genuine Parts, and Janet Sherlock from Carter’s. This is a DO NOT MISS event for every service provider in the IT community. We will also have a special presentation from Ms. Blalock on her new book, DARE, which will be published on October 3rd.

Julie Bryant Fisher and Larry Williams, Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, August 21st, 2013

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Booth 61 with Julie Bryant Fisher and Larry WilliamsWhat a great day in Booth 61 with long time friend and Atlanta Media Maven, Julie Bryant Fisher and Atlanta Chamber of Commerce Vice President of Technology, Larry Williams. Julie and Larry shared the exciting story of Atlanta’s thriving and growing Mobility market place. As an Atlanta native, I am so proud of everything our Chamber is doing to promote the Atlanta entrepreneurial, start-up technology community. The results are powerful.

They also shared all of the exciting news about the upcoming Mobility LIVE event on October 1st at the Woodruff Arts Center. There are less than 500 available seats. This is a DO NOT MISS EVENT! My company, Hunter Technical Resources will bring a crowd so if you want tickets, you should order them yesterday. 🙂

Dr. Eloisa Klementich, Managing Director of Invest Atlanta August 14th, 2013

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Booth 61 with Dr. Eloisa Klementich 4 8 14 2013Booth 61 hit an academic milestone on 8/14 with Dr. Eloisa Klementich. Dr. Klementich has three MBA’s and a PhD. I have not had the opportunity to be around that kind of “Book Learning” too often in the past. It was quite refreshing and my personal IQ must have doubled during our time together through osmosis. The best part is that although it was very obvious that Dr. Klementich is brilliant, she was very down to earth and great fun being with during the show. I predict you will be hearing her name many times in the future.

Dr. Klementich is the Managing Director at Invest Atlanta which is the economic development arm of the City of Atlanta. As a native of Atlanta and a great lover of all things Atlanta, I was excited to hear about all of the forward thinking initiatives the City is doing to promote economic growth. The most exciting part was what the City is doing to help the start up business community.

Invest Atlanta is going to be publishing a blog geared to the Start Up Community beginning Monday, August 19th. To celebrate the launch, Invest Atlanta is hosting an event on Wednesday, August 21st at Atlantic Station. The panel includes three Atlanta technology legends, Reggie Bradford, Charles Brewer, and Sig Mosley. The moderator is Atlanta Technology King, John Yates. You must register to attend.

I am quite proud of this show and of all the innovative programs my hometown is doing to insure growth for Atlanta’s future.

Ricky Steele

Hunter Technical Resources

ricky@htrjobs.com

 

 

David Lilenfeld, Founder of Sterling Funder 7/31/2013

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Booth 61 with David Lilenfeld 7 31 2013 2July 31st was an exciting Booth 61. David Lilenfeld, Founder of Sterling Funder, took us to school on crowd sourcing and crowd funding. This new form of financing for early stage companies is growing rapidly and David is a pioneer in the field. What was wonderful to me as an Atlanta, Georgia native was to learn how progressive our State has been in this area. Georgia is one of the first two states to approve crowd funding and Sterling Funder was the platform for the first offering of this kind in the United States. I am personally registering to be an investor and I would encourage others to follow suit. This will not be for everyone and with every investment, there is risk. However, I am confident there will be some real winners in this space. You can register and learn a lot more about crowd funding by visiting www.sterlingfunder.com.