SPARKt 3 was held on February 26, 2010 at The Playground Theater (3209 N. Halsted) in Chicago and deemed and overwhelming success!! Thank you for your involvement and participation.
Posted below are the speakers’ presentation decks for download in PDF.
To view the speakers bios click here.
* Download Jennifer Baumann’s presentation deck on How to Protect Yourself (and your ideas) Online
* Download Alan Warms‘ presentation deck on How to make Mobile Apps work for You
* Download Mark Michuda’s presentation deck on How to Leverage Mobile Marketing in Real Estate
* Download Ryan Wynia’s presentation deck on The Science of Social
* Download Scott Murphy’s presentation deck on How to Add CLING to a STATIC Brand
(remaining presentation decks coming soon)
Join our mailing list or follow us on Twitter to receive special updates on future conferences and workshops.
WHAT IS SPARKt?
Now in its third year, SPARKt is nationally recognized as a innovation and technology conference event focused on the real estate industry. Showcasing emerging trends and methodologies, the Conference provides real estate professionals with exclusive access to some of the most critically acclaimed entrepreneurs, technology masterminds, and thought leaders from around the country. Drawing on an intimate attendance of just over 100 people, the Conference provides attendees with inspiring perspectives on the impacts of technology, changing business models, and the revolution of social media on the real estate industry.
WHAT’S UP WITH THE NAME SPARKt?
SPARKt is often more easily understood when said (”Sparked”) rather than as it’s written. We develop and host each Conference as a catalyst for innovation. Our belief is that creating such a forum for bright people and actionable ideas in an interactive format, can create tremendous change in not only real estate – but any industry.
WHO CAN ATTEND THE CONFERENCE?
Anyone. If you’ve gotten to this site, and something struck a cord, you’re most likely in the right ballpark. Professionals from a broad cross section of the real estate space that share the desire to learn more about how innovation can benefit the way we do business comprise the bulk of our attendees, but it doesn’t stop there. The inaugural event even included attendees from the advertising, interactive and media spaces, in addition to several notable entrepreneurs.
HOW DO I PURCHASE A CONFERENCE PASS?
The entire event is a collaboration, and we hope to provide an increasing amount of value as the event date nears, so we stagger our pricing so that it is more affordable the earlier you commit. As we announce more information about the event as it comes together, the discount levels decrease. Bottom line – the earlier you’re on board, the more you save. Conference Passes can be purchased in advance on this web site by clicking here or at the door for $109.00 (pending sell-out).
WHAT CAN I EXPECT?
The Conference is presented in a series of short (18 min), direct (non-sales-y), interactive (ample Q&A) sessions throughout an afternoon. We include several breaks not only for you to get caught with the home office, but to interact and connect with the speakers and fellow attendees. These breaks are deputy moderated by volunteers to further immerse guests in the creative process.
WILL THERE BE WI-FI AVAILABLE?
Yes, and much more.
HOW CAN MY COMPANY BE INVOLVED WITH SPARKt?
First and foremost – attend! In addition, we have several options if you’d like to have your firm featured. Click here for more info on sponsorship opportunities available or email kit@SPARKt.org
WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH THE PRE-PARTY?
We’ve gleaned from experience that as much (if not more) actual business can be done in informal settings as in the boardroom or in a conference like ours. Plus, since we believe that having fun is a key part to a well rounded life, we always include a party for both attendees and speakers in conjunction to our events. This year, and because we are having the Conference on a Friday, we’ve decided to do a pre/launch party for the Conference on the Thursday night before Friday’s event. This will give attendees an opportunity to check-in early, mingle with fellow attendees and get pumped for the next day’s Conference. This event is FREE with your paid advanced registration. Colleagues are also welcome, but the costs is $20 if not attending the Conference.
Anything else you need to know? If so, please contact us with any/all questions/comments at kit@SPARKt.org. Thanks!
SPARKt
601 N. Western Ave.
Chicago, IL 60612
Email: info@sparkt.org
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
SPARKt would not be possible without the support and partnership of our sponsors. These visionary supporters are committed to bringing innovation to the masses. Thank you for your leadership in helping SPARKt present a world-class event in the city of Chicago.
PRESENTED BY
PREMIER SPONSORS
PRINCIPAL SPONSORS
PROMOTIONAL SUPPORTERS
. 
PROMOTIONAL AFFILIATES
Chicago Anytime Assistants | ToweLocs | The Northwest Passage
HOW TO MAKE MOBILE APPS WORK FOR YOU
ALAN WARMS [ Blog | LinkedIn | Twitter ]
Alan Warms founded Appolicious Inc. in May, 2009 to help consumers find iPhone apps they’ll love, and to help corporations drive adoption of their mobile apps. Prior to founding Appolicious, Alan worked at Yahoo! as Vice President, General Manager Yahoo! News, Tech, and Education from the sale of BuzzTracker which his firm, Participate Media, developed. BuzzTracker.com is a news aggregation platform that uses the top 100,000 blogs to automatically determine the top headlines for hundreds of thousands of content topics. While at Participate Media, Warms led an investment in RealClearPolitics.com eventually taking over as Publisher.
Prior to founding Participate Media, Alan was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Participate Systems, Inc., a provider of enterprise software and online community management services founded by Alan in 1997. Participate Systems developed enterprise software and managed online communities for more than 100 corporations, including TiVo, palmOne, Logitech, Microsoft, Cisco Systems, General Electric, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young and IBM. Alan also pioneered the development of hard ROI models around online community via a series of whitepapers he co-authored. Participate Systems was sold to OutStart , an eLearning enterprise software company, in November, 2004.
In 2001, the World Economic Forum selected Alan as one of its 100 Technology Pioneers. Also in 2001, the editors of Crain’s Chicago Business recognized Warms as one of forty executives under the age of forty who have significantly contributed to building Chicago’s economy. Alan serves on the Board of Directors of Yidio.com, Viewpoints.com, and the Chicago Dancing Festival.
HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF (AND YOUR IDEAS) ONLINE
JENNIFER BAUMANN [ LinkedIn | Twitter ]
Jennifer Baumann is an attorney with the international law firm DLA Piper and concentrates her practice in the areas of information technology, intellectual property, new media, licensing, e-commerce and outsourcing . Early in her career, Ms. Baumann worked on multiple domain name, copyright and trademark infringement cases, including several trademark keyword advertising cases that analyzed intellectual property protection in the internet context. Since that time, she has represented a top 50 brand owner in its deals to produce and distribute content and develop its on-line e-commerce platform and a large, international food and agriculture company in licensing software valued at over $1 billion. Most recently, she has been counseling and speaking on the legal risks with respect to social media and assisting public and private companies develop policies and strategies that mitigate those risks. Ms. Baumann was recently named a 2010 Rising Star by Illinois Super Lawyers and is a member of the bar in both Illinois and California.
Download Jennifer Baumann’s presentation deck on How to Protect yourself (and your ideas) online.
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR REACH ON TWITTER
PEK PONGPAET [ Blog | LinkedIn | Twitter ]
Pek Pongpaet is the founder of Tweetlytics, a social media monitoring and analytics platform. Pongpaet’s expertise ranges from product design and development, user experience, and martial arts. Prior to founding Tweetlytics, Pongpaet worked at Accenture Technology Labs in the research department coming up with next generation user interfaces. At Roundarch, a technology and strategy consulting firm, Pongpaet’s work included envisioning and designing the dashboard of the future for the Tesla Model S electric car. He has given talks at Northwestern University, DePaul University, and University of Chicago on topics such as Design, Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship.
Pongpaet is a world class martial artist and performed motion capture work for 6 Mortal Kombat video games. He also won Silver and Bronze in international competition in Beijing and currently teaches at two martial arts schools.
HOW TO MAKE ‘LOCATION’ BOTH CREATIVE & RELATIVE
PHIL THOMAS DIGIULIO [ Blog | LinkedIn | Twitter ]
Phil Thomas Di Giulio attended Pennsylvania State University for a BA in Integrative Arts. After studying multimedia and mass communications, Di Giulio worked at prominent New York advertising agencies such as Avenue A/Razorfish and Atmosphere/BBDO. There he built interactive video content for many Fortune 500 companies like MSN Video, Johnson & Johnson and eTrade.
Di Giulio is the Director of Digital Media for New York Television Festival (NYTVF), the first industry recognized independent television festival. Additionally, Di Giulio organizes the Future of Local Media Meetup, a venue where bloggers, video producers, filmmakers, web producers, designers, and real estate agents/brokers come together to discuss guiding their physical communities to the internet community via online video.
Di Giulio co-founded WellcomeMat with partner Christian Sterner (SPARKt 2 Speaker) in 2005. He is WellcomeMat’s resident video evangelist, continuously working to both inform and connect real estate professionals, local business owners, marketers, and video production companies.
HOW TO CREATE AN ONLINE ‘FUNNEL’ WITH SEO
BRENT PAYNE [ Blog | LinkedIn | Twitter ]
Brent is the Director of Search Engine Optimization at Tribune Company. As an in-house SEO with over seven years of experience, Brent has doubled Tribune’s visits from search engines from 2007 to 2008 (y/y), since he joined the company in February 2008. With more than a million visits per day to Tribune’s network of websites, Brent drives traffic not only to Tribune’s newspaper sites (including the L.A. Times, Chicago Tribune, and Baltimore Sun) but also to Tribune’s dozens of broadcast sites (including KTLA, WGN, and WPIX). He is an in-house SEO authority with experience and expertise in CMS challenges, duplicate content mitigation, page-rank funneling, Google News, and Google index rates. He has also trained large editorial teams regarding SEO and, in so doing, created a groundswell of SEO support within the Tribune organization.
HOW TO ADD CLING TO A STATIC BRAND
SCOTT MURPHY [ Blog | Twitter ]
As a Social Engagement Manager for Sears Holdings, Scott Murphy is responsible for both strategy and day to day Social Media operations across multiple social platforms. Primarily he drives strategy and engagement on Facebook and through the MySears and MyKmart Blogs. He is a member of the Social Media Team at Sears.
As a member of the Civil Air Patrol, he has held several positions within the organization including Wing Director of Logistics and Squadron Commander. Scott is a fully rated Ground Team Leader and has been the Training Officer for the National Emergency Services Academy, Basic Ground Search and Rescue School. He is currently working to form The Chicago Composite Squadron, a brand new squadron headquartered at the Union League Club Chicago that will work in partnership with the Air Force Academy High School.
As one of the founders of the Chicago Nerd Social Club, Scott helped launch the group and continues to participate when he can.
HOW TO REACH YOUR CUSTOMERS WITH 98% OPEN RATE
MARK MICHUDA [ LinkedIn | Twitter ]
Mark Michuda is the founder and CEO of TextHub, a Mobile Marketing platform. Mark focuses on strategy behind just about everything. He is an Informaticist which researches the art, science and human dimensions of IT. This is a concept focusing on solving real world problems with IT by focusing on the root cause…never the problem itself. At age 20 he did IT security consulting for Indiana University. At age 22 he was hired as a contractor for a Fortune 100 global conglomerate (Motorola). At age 25 Mark helped roll out encryption technology and strategies for some of the worlds largest companies and government agencies. Using the novel technology for mobile marketing he invented, Mark helps small, medium, and large organizations meet their objectives via mobile phone around the world.
HOW TO ‘BE YOUR OWN BRAND’ WITH SOCIAL MEDIA
RYAN WYNIA [ Blog | LinkedIn | Twitter ]
Ryan Wynia leads social brand innovation at a soup-to-nuts social brand consultancy called Firebone. Beyond social technology, marketing and traditional brand consulting, Firebone teaches organizations to leverage personalities, strengths and character qualities to shape brand ethos and culture. Ryan’s study of communication innovation and experience as a practitioner serve as a foundation to create meaningful brands—helping organizations onboard social technologies and strategic thinking to achieve branding objectives and implement immediate marketing initiatives.
SPARKt 2 VIDEOS
.
The Playground Theater
3209 North Halsted Street
Just north of Belmont Avenue [View Map]
Please Note: The venue has changed! SPARKt will not be held at The Royal George, but rather at the more intimate Playground Improv Theater at the intersection of Belmont and Halsted.
About The Playground Theater: Founded in 1997, The Playground Improv Theater is the nation’s first and only not-for-profit co-op theater dedicated to the performance and instruction of improvised comedy – an art form for which Chicago is internationally renown. The Playground’s 140 affiliated actors work on a 100-percent volunteer basis to perform and operate the theater. Home to fourteen member ensembles and welcoming guest ensembles from across Chicago and around the world, the theater also offers children’s programs, fundraising benefit shows, improv masters classes and customized comedy shows for corporations and other groups.
Public Transportation: The Belmont St. stop for the Purple Express, Brown, and Red CTA rail routes is only 1.5 blocks west.
Parking: Limited street parking (metered) is available. Garaged and lot parking is also available.