2008 Speakers
The Creative/Tech Career Jam is a meeting of minds. There were two concurrent speaker series throughout the day.
In one theater, leaders of the state's most successful businesses explained how they use technology to stay competitive — in Vermont.
In a second, state-of-the-art performance space, you learned about academic programs in Vermont that will ready you for careers in robotics, e-gaming, green technology, architecture or computer science.
Business Speakers:
- Dave Contois, owner, Contois Music
- Meredith Haff, New Customer Development, Concept2
- Nate Herzog, information systems, JDK Design
- Julie Lerman, owner, The Data Farm
- Kelli Pippin, Marketing Director, groSolar
- Bill Schubart, co-founder & CEO, Reso.com
After he attended the Berklee School of Music in Boston, Dave Contois came back to Vermont and took over the family business. He's in charge of e-commerce development and retail operations at Contois Music in Essex Junction. He's always been interested in technology — his dad worked at IBM — and began marketing the Yamaha Portable Keyboards to homes and schools using the personal computer before anyone else in the industry. Now he's using Guitar Hero to teach aspiring guitar players. Dave plays in a local jazz trio.
While she was rowing at Cornell University, Meredith Haff never imagined she'd end up working for the world's premiere manufacturer of rowing machines — in Morrisville, Vermont. She went on to earn an MBA in Global Management from Babson College. To date, her career has included international sales, integrated marketing, advertising and communications experience with companies went on to work for companies such as Saucony, Telecom New Zealand, and Mullen Advertising. Meredith's athletic interests have expanded to include triathlons, marathons, and skiing.
Nate Herzog is the director of Information Services at Jager Di Paola Kemp Design in Burlington, where he leads a team responsible for the technology that enables the innovative design for which JDK is known. Clients include Burton Snowboards, Segway, MTV and Patagonia. The firm recently designed the packaging for Microsoft's XBox 360. Prior to JDK, Herzog worked at MIT in Massachusetts and 3M in Minnesota. www.jdk.com www.livingbrand.com
Julie Lerman, of The Data Farm, is an independent consultant and .NET Mentor who has been designing and writing software applications for more than 20 years. She interacts with many of the development teams at Microsoft. She is a prolific blogger, a frequent presenter at technical conferences and author of articles for MSDN Online, MSDN Magazine and other well-known technical publications. In Vermont, Julie runs the Vermont.NET User Group. You can read her blogs at www.thedatafarm.com/blog and devsource.com.
Kelli C. Pippin is an integrated marketing professional with more than 10 years experience in traditional and e-marketing. In her job at groSolar, she is responsible for the marketing efforts of the company's three sales channels: commercial, residential and distribution. A graduate of Wesleyan College, she came to groSolar after five years as marketing director at Simon Pearce in Windsor. She has also founded two of her own virtual companies centered on ecommerce sales and consulting.
William Schubart is chairman, founder and chairman of Resolution, Inc., a fully integrated e-commerce services partner, offering web commerce design and integration, channel-specific call and email customer care centers, Media Just in Time' manufacturing, fulfillment, distribution and information and revenue management. Major clients include National Geographic Society, Annenberg Media, WGBH, WNET, A&E/The History Channel, 'A Prairie Home Companion,' NPR and Discovery. Schubart has served on the boards of the Vermont Arts Council, the Vermont Folklife Center, the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, Vermont Public Radio and Fletcher Allen Health Care.
Academic Speakers:
- Kevin Bell, Academic Technology, Marlboro College Graduate Center
- Frank Canovatchel, Web Development, Champlain College
- Wendy Cox, Architecture, Norwich University
- Craig Damon, Computer Science, Vermont Technical College
- Ann DeMarle, E-Gaming, Champlain College
- Jeff Frolik, Wireless Communications, UVM School of Engineering (SoE)
Kevin Bell is the academic director of the Marlboro College Graduate Center, based in Brattleboro, Vermont. He came to the States in 1999 from Japan, where he lived and worked for eight years. In the U.S. he was based in Boston as the web manager for one of Europe's largest wireless Internet content providers. Prior to his current position, he worked as director of academic technology at New England College. Kevin graduated from the Analysis of Science and Technology program at Manchester University in the U.K. before taking his Master of Arts in Teaching with Technology at Marlboro.
Frank Canovatchel is an associate professor of web development at Champlain College and a managing partner at KGS Software Engineering, LLC. He began his career as a financial analyst on Wall Street, where he developed financial models using the first IBM AT and XT computers. After leaving Wall Street, Frank started teaching: His areas of expertise include economics, computer applications and web programming — specifically, systems analysis, XML, PHP and database development. Frank has a special interest in technology's impact on market efficiency and the costs of production. He is currently a PhD candidate in Economics at Fordham University.
Wendy Cox teaches architecture at Norwich University and Yestermorrow Design-Build School. She has been recognized for her work in green design, socially responsible architecture and energy efficiency. She's been a 'guest critic' at Dartmouth College and Ecole Polytechnique in Paris.
These days, Craig Damon wears two hats: one as department chair and program coordinator at Vermont Technical College; the other as chief technical officer for the Burlington software start-up PIEmatrix Corporation. Craig joined VTC to develop the Software Engineering and Information Technology programs — now, under his leadership, the fastest-growing programs at VTC. Prior to joining VTC, Dr. Damon was a popular teacher at UVM, where he led the graduate programs in computer science including the introduction of the PhD program. Dr. Damon holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor's degree in philosophy and physics from Bowdoin College.
Ann DeMarle is the director of the Emergent Media Center at Champlain College. In 2006, she became the first recipient of the Roger H. Perry Endowed Chair, established to support initiatives promoting innovation, change and entrepreneurship at the college. Founding director of its successful trio of cross-disciplinary Game Development Bachelor's programs and the Multimedia & Graphic Design degree, Ann used the endowment to create an on-campus center dedicated to emergent media. Core components of the center's mission include project-based learning, industry partnerships, academic exchanges, education impacting emergent technologies, and creation of games that create positive change. champlain.edu/centers/emc
Jeff Frolik is an assistant professor in School of Engineering at the University of Vermont (UVM). He received his BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of South Alabama, his MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California and his PhD in Electrical Engineering - Systems from the University of Michigan. He has industrial experience as a satellite systems engineer with Hughes Aircraft and as a consultant. At UVM he conducts research in the area of sensor networks and wireless communications. In addition he is interested in engineering education reform and has been supported by NSF, HP and Microsoft Research in these efforts.
