Genius+Power+Magic

Celebrity Pitch for USA being selected for 2016 Summer Olympics

Please take a minute to forward & share this list of Celebrity messages to your contacts so all feel our enthusiasm & support!  In such a tight race, who knows, it could positively get to someone voting for the 2016 Olympic Host City this Friday, helping the United States of America to win!

“Friends” David Schwimmer www.achicagothing-davidschwimmer.tk
“Entourage” Jeremy Piven www.achicagothing-jeremypiven.tk
“Oscar Winner” Jamie Foxx www.achicagothing-jamiefoxx.tk
“Saturday Night Live” Dan Aykroyd www.achicagothing-danaykroyd.tk
“The Rachael Ray Show” Rachael Ray www.achicagothing-rachaelray.tk
“Lopez Tonight” George Lopez www.achicagothing-georgelopez.tk
“Grammy Winner” Common www.achicagothing-common.tk
“CSI” William Petersen www.achicagothing-williampetersen.tk
“Private Practice” Kate Walsh www.achicagothing-katewalsh.tk
 “America’s Got Talent” Nick Cannon www.achicagothing-nickcannon.tk
“Scrubs” Zach Braff www.achicagothing-zachbraff.tk
“American Idol” David Cook  www.achicagothing-davidcook.tk
“Destiny’s Child” Michelle Williams www.achicagothing-michellewilliams.tk
“The Late Show” Jimmy Fallon www.achicagothing-jimmyfallon.tk
“Green Mile” Michael Clarke Duncan www.achicagothing-michaelclarkeduncan.tk
“The Hills” Brody Jenner  www.achicagothing-brodyjenner.tk
“One Tree Hill” Sophia Bush www.achicagothing-sophiabush.tk
“Grammy Winner” John Legend www.achicagothing-johnlegend.tk
“Will & Grace” Sean Hayes  www.achicagothing-seanhayes.tk
“The Roots” Questlove www.achicagothing-questlove.tk
“Bizarre Foods” Andrew Zimmern  www.achicagothing-andrewzimmern.tk
“Cheers” George Wendt  www.achicagothing-georgewendt.tk
“Law & Order” S. Epatha Merkerson www.achicagothing-sepathamerkerson.tk
 “Grammy Nominated” Plain White Ts www.achicagothing-plainwhitets.tk
“NBA Star”  Dwayne Wade www.achicagothing-dwaynewade.tk
“Rescue Me” Daniel Sunjata  www.achicagothing-danielsunjata.tk
“Chicago Bear” Tom Thayer www.achicagothing-tomthayer.tk
“Nip/Tuck”  Joey Slotnick www.achicagothing-joeyslotnick.tk
“Chicago Bull” Luol Deng www.achicagothing-luoldeng.tk
“House” Peter Jacobson www.achicagothing-peterjacobson.tk
“Chicago Bears” Brian Urlacher www.achicagothing-brianurlacher.tk
“My Name is Earl” Nadine Velazquez www.achicagothing-nadinevelazquez.tk
“Sports Writer” Jay Mariotti  www.achicagothing-jaymariotti.tk
“Musicians” Josh Kelley/Ryan Cabrera www.achicagothing-joshkelley-ryancabrera.tk
“My Girl” Anna Chlumsky www.achicagothing-annachlumsky.tk
“White Sox/World Series MVP” Jermaine Dye www.achicagothing-jermainedye.tk
“Good Charlotte” Joel Madden www.achicagothing-joelmadden.tk
“Chicago Cub” Randy Wells www.achicagothing-randywells.tk
“Late Night With Conan O’Brien” Andy Richter  www.achicagothing-andyrichter.tk
“Greek” Spencer Grammer www.achicagothing-spencergrammer.tk
“Superbowler” Simeon Rice www.achicagothing-simeonrice.tk
 “90210” Christina Moore  www.achicagothing-christinamoore.tk
“Rescue Me” Larenz Tate www.achicagothing-larenztate.tk
“Roller Derby” The Chicago Outift www.achicagothing-chicagooutfit.tk
“At The Movies” At The Movies www.achicagothing-athemovies.tk
“Actor and Comedian” Bill Bellamy www.achicagothing-billbellamy.tk
 “Greek” Scott Michael Foster www.achicagothing-scottmichaelfoster.tk
“NBA Cheerleaders” The Luvabulls www.achicagothing-luvabulls.tk
“Malcolm in The Middle” Frankie Muniz www.achicagothing-frankiemuniz.tk
“My Boys” Reid Scott  www.achicagothing-reidscott.tk
“Melrose Place” Katie Cassidy www.achicagothing-katiecassidy.tk
“Criminal Minds”  Joe Mantegna www.achicagothing-joemantegna.tk
“Grammy Winner” Busta Rhymes www.achicagothing-bustarhymes.tk
“Keeping Up With The Kardashians” The Kardashians www.achicagothing.kardashians.tk
“Grammy Winner” Jermaine Dupri www.achicagothing-jermainedupri.tk
“WNBA Star” Sylvia Fowles www.achicagothing-sylviafowles.tk
“Access Hollywood” Billy Bush www.achicagothing-billybush.tk
“Community/ The Soup” Joel McHale www.achicagothing-joelmchale.tk
“Bones” David Boreanaz www.achicagothing-davidboreanaz.tk
“The Office”  John Krazinski www.achicagothing-johnkrazinski.tk

The Perspiration Principles

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY PRESIDENT/CEO HOWARD A. TULLMAN - SUMMARY OF KEYNOTE AT EPIC CONFERENCE

HOWARD A.TULLMAN
Flashpoint Academy

In this talk I spoke from my long experience in starting and building entrepreneurial businesses and, more importantly, about my more recent work in turning around several failing institutions and the many challenges of effectively implementing and managing change in established businesses even in the face of existential threats to their continued well-being. Change is easy – overcoming the resistance to change takes a little more work and a great deal of patience and preparation. 

In applying the lessons from my various adventures to our industry’s present concerns and issues, I started with a simple suggestion. In today’s aggressively “dollar and sense” economy, where it is crucial to demonstrate and justify virtually every activity (and especially research and analysis) to senior management, it’s important to have a strategy and approach which makes the value and relevance of your activities apparent to the entire organization. 

My suggestion was that we turn the “tools of our trade” inward and we use our skills and strengths to support and help better inform and educate the teams trying to “sell” and manage the ongoing (and often radical) changes occurring within our own organizations. This transition is actually an easier and more doable task than it might first appear because the references and methodologies we employ are precisely the techniques needed today to allay organizational fears and to ease the path to progress (thru change) for our peers and ourselves.

My shorthand for the entire idea was: “I Have Seen this Movie Before”. The basic idea (discussed in more detail below) is that there are problems and issues that consistently occur at various times in every business and there are also discoverable, concrete, recurring and reusable methods and solutions for each of these problems. Our “new” job within our organizations is to find what has worked and what is working now and to identify and generalize these solutions and then to share and distribute these effective approaches throughout the rest of the business. Easy to say – hard, but important, to accomplish. 

The Perspiration Principles

In terms of some ground rules and concepts for implementing change within any organization, I presented what I call “The Perspiration Principles”:

1. Tell a Simple Story – Who are We? Where are We Headed? Why?

2. Solve an Important Problem – Increase Productivity or Save Time or Money – Pain Points

3. Keep Moving and Raise the Bar – Aim High - Feasibility Will Compromise You Soon Enough

4. Start with What You Have – Don’t Wait for Perfect – Successive Approximation

5. Make “Cheap” Mistakes and Make It O.K. to Make Mistakes

6. Make Room for People

7. Don’t Be a Slave to Your Model – The First Rule of Holes – If You’re in One, Stop Digging

8. You Can’t Add Value Unless You Have Values

9. Face the Facts and Expect the Worst

10. Work from the Inside Out

The Basic Methodology - Pattern Recognition

We live in an increasingly complicated world where simple is always better. In terms of the communication and the “sale” of changes, the basic objective is to demonstrate that what appears to be abrupt or radical change is actually and simply an extension from and the evolution of things we’ve done comfortably and successfully in the past. Gathering the references, assembling the examples and documenting the success stories of prior cases where things worked is a critical part of the process and one that relies heavily on the skills which our industry’s professionals regularly employ. Essentially, the pitch is that the more things change, the more they remain the same. 

The key here is to understand the old Hollywood idea of “high concept” presentations or pitches. Where metaphors and analogies are everything. “It’s Top Gun Underwater”. “It’s West Side Story in Outer Space”. Elevator pitches and shorthand stories all function in the same way – they are succinct ways of telling people what they want to hear. 

In times of anxiety and change, familiarity doesn’t breed contempt; it can mean comfort, company and confidence. Company is especially pivotal because most people don’t mind moving forward, they just don’t want to do it by themselves or be alone when they get there. The fact is that sometimes you just can’t see something right in front of you until it is put in the proper framework and context so that you can process and understand it in terms that you are already familiar and comfortable with. Analogies and references are the tools that provide the necessary context in business. A compelling analogy is worth hours of argument and pounds of proof.

The questions that drive this approach are simple: What Has Worked for Us Before? How Did We Solve a Similar Problem in the Past? Can We Adapt, Reuse or Copy a Prior Approach? Or better yet, Can We Steal Someone Else’s Really Good Idea/Solution? When you go with what has worked in the past and tweak it for the present, it’s easier to explain, it’s a proven answer in many cases, and it’s a cheaper, faster and more productive path forward. 

But be careful not to “mash the metaphor” since if you push things too far or stretch the connection too much, the reaction will be prompt and negative. Familiarity breeds comfort until it suddenly breeds contempt. Yesterday’s hero, etc.

The Implementation Process

As a set of basic guidelines, I offer the following suggestions for starting the process once you have identified the objectives and the solutions you will be implementing:

1. Gather Internal Support Before Making Major Changes (Unless There’s a Crisis)

2. Make All the Procedural Changes ASAP to Get Them Out of the Way

3. Rely Upon and Employ the Existing Management and Governance Channels – Not New Ones

4. Consult, Collaborate and Communicate – Slowly, but Continually & Aggressively, if Necessary

5. Incorporate and Absorb the Culture - Recruit and Listen Carefully to Internal Opinion Leaders

6. Develop a Vision of the Future that Everyone in the Organization Shares and Aspires to

7. Once You Have Done the Necessary Preparation, Don’t Wait. Act Immediately.

Convergence Partner Profile: Ruth Ratny

Convergence Partner Profile: Ruth Ratny 30 years later, still a pioneer in the media industry [Chicago, September 23, 2009] A filmmaker once said to me that I had been his biographer by having reported his company's activities and growth throughout my 30 years of chronicling the local film industry through my original Screen Magazine to its online successor, ReelChicago.com. Four-page newsletter "Screen Newsletter, the Indispensable Source of Production News," as it was immodestly labeled, bowed inauspiciously in January, 1979, during a ferocious blizzard and SAG strike. Chicago at that time was virtually nonexistent as a film production center, although it had been famous as the 16mm film capital of the world and now it was a flyover zone, like The New Yorker magazine's iconic map of the U.S. where the East Coast butts up West Coast and there's nothing in between. By the time I started Screen, spot production that had thrived here during the '60s had long ago fled to Hollywood, followed by an exodus of local talent. And plaguing the business for many decades was the onerous Second City Syndrome ("We're not as good as L.A. or New York, so why try") that hung over the business like a permanent London fog. Ruth Ratny of ReelChicago.com Since none of the film organizations at the time had thought to do it, little Screen decided we ought to know who's who and what's here. Starting with Screen's first issues, we began to list companies in different categories, a list that grew longer each year thereafter. We also provided a tally of the gross sales in each category, thanks to business owners being agreeable about sharing their sales figures, per category. Post-production was the leading category, with an estimated $100 million gross sales, for many years. Ad agencies annually produced about 10% of their commercials here, which added up to $40 million by the late '90s. Hollywood productions were simply part of the mix. As innovators as the community nexus, we created The Screen Bible, the first production directory; the first Screen's Film Expo; SchmoozaRama, the first annual industry networking party; the first ongoing film business-related seminars; the first to publish an Internet directory and so much more. By the late '90s, Chicago's total gross sales had reached an estimated $650 million -- before the devastating SAG strike of 2000, the tech bust and the overnight explosion of the Internet and new media. At this amazing and surprising 30-year juncture -- who knew? -- the Reel is again innovating and reinventing in concert with our mission to inform readers with relevant, exclusive content and, in doing so, continuing to promote Chicago's visual media industry. Starting in early November, ReelChicago.com will expand into a larger, important portal, targeted to our reader database of 45,000. With search engine optimization for the first time, we anticipate reaching countless thousands more throughout the world, who want to know about our diverse and thriving industry. New features will include more advertising real estate, a free and enhanced industry directory and a separate devoted to free classified advertising. We are also currently working on a TV version of the Reel, an "Access Hollywood" of Chicago. The show will mark the first a local visual media (outside of L.A.) has promoted itself to the general public. What makes the Reel important to the community is learning and sharing what everyone is doing. So as we've said for 30 years, don't be shy, tell us what's going on with you. We always welcome your news. Ruth Ratny ReelChicago.com Note: ReelChicago and The Chicago Convergence share a cross-promotion partnership that has existed since TCC's inception in April of 2008. Ruth has been a persistent champion for promoting the city as a media leader.

Convergence Partner Profile: Daisy Whitney

Convergence Partner Profile: Daisy Whitney Cross Promotion Partnership with The New Media Minute A Note from Daisy Chicago has long been one of the key media capitals in the United States especially because of its cluster of media agencies serving advertisers in the midwest. Many of the most important retailers and consumer packaged goods companies are located in the midwest and Chicago effectively serves as the epicenter for their work and their connectedness to each other. Also, I have seen a number of creative minds in Web video rise up from that area and bring terrific ideas to the national scene, folks like Thatcher Kamin and Billy Parisi come to mind. John Patterson invited me to produce a video for the Chicago New Media Summit last year and that got me even more interested in the work happening in Chicago. Also, as we started cross-promoting each other's work, I asked John if he would want to become a distribution partner for the New Media Minute and carry my weekly Web report on the Chicago Convergence site. He said yes and it's been a wonderful partnership -- I've interacted with many new viewers via Chicago Convergence and have also met sources for articles and stories. I think Chicago will only grow as a new media locus especially with its bid for the 2016 Olympics games, which itself is likely to be a huge new media event, given the online video efforts in the 2008 games. My strategic plan for the New Media Minute is to continue to use it as a vehicle to report on trends, news and analysis in the new media business all with an eye towards why this matters. I aim to give the context behind trends, to explain why to keep an eye on new developments and what they may signify about where money is coming from down the road. The show has already grown tremendously in viewership this year through new distribution partnerships with Chicago Convergence, Beet.TV and the Huffington Post, as well as my production partnership with NATPE -- the National Association of Television Program Executives --- which brought my new advertiser The Platform into the fold along with charter sponsor Digitalsmiths. My goal is for TV, production, new media, VC executives as well as producers, creators, agents and others to turn to the New Media Minute for the context and meaning behind the new media business.  About Daisy Whitney Daisy Whitney specializes in covering Internet video, social networking, YouTube, iTunes and other forms of online and new media distribution of content. As a multimedia reporter she is one of the first journalists to launch her own online newscast that covers the business of Internet video. Her work is regularly read and watched by executives across the television, cable, advertising and Internet businesses. [more]

Convergence Member Profile: Tim Jahn, Beyond the Pedway

Beyond The Pedway started back in April of 2009 when Tim Jahn, an active Chicago Convergence Member, decided to launch the web series to discover and showcase creative talent not known by everyone. While Chicago is home some of the largest advertising, marketing and creative agencies in the world, it also hosts many smaller creative companies that don't get as much recognition as the big guys.

Tims passion for video interviews allows him to capture the emotion and character of a person during an interview. His goal with Beyond The Pedway is to give viewers a personal insight into the people behind their companies.

Each interview aims to answer three simple questions:

Who are the people in the company?
What do they do?
Why do they do it in Chicago instead of anywhere else?

The theme behind the weekly series is 'creative companies'; video/audio production, public relations, marketing, advertising, web startups, interactive agencies, casting, writing, and more. Each webisode is backed by the soundtrack of a different Chicago musician or band.



















Andrew Mason of Groupon, on Tim Jahns Beyond the Pedway

Tim found a partnership with The Chicago Convergence, sponsoring the video series as a means of helping to showcase the city. Each week, The Chicago Convergence promotes a new company by hosting Beyond the Pedway on its home page and broadcasting the series each Friday morning to its thousands of members.

His mission is to show the world and the rest of Chicago our amazing creativity. Every week, Tim searches through the neighborhoods of Chicago to find all the amazing creative companies lurking...Beyond the Pedway.

Launching the series has introduced him to some truly creative people, helped his identity as a community and business leader and expanded his own opportunities by bringing attention to his own interactive and web services.

If you are interested in finding out more or would like to be featured in the series, please contact Tim Jahn and tell him a little bit about your company.

http://www.BeyondThePedway.com and twitter @timjahn.

Patterson returns to the Convergence

A note from the Founder This is a note from me, John Patterson (pictured), about the future of The Chicago Convergence.  For those of you that don't know me, I am the founder of The Chicago Convergence and was President until May of 2009.  I moved to Los Angeles after Marc Williams, my partner of nine years, was transferred in Dec 2008 and I resigned as President. I was Dir of Business Development for Pixel Brothers, who saw my LA move as advantageous to its future, and began working independently packaging and selling reality television for Pixel and developing and financing motion pictures in with my lifelong friend, Kirkland Tibbels of Hollywood Farms. I am announcing my return to guiding the future of The Chicago Convergence*. Why return?  a) When I left Chicago, I was not responsible for making sure it was set-up to win in my absence.  The impact was frustrating for all those who were left wondering "what the hell is going on, is this thing happening or not?" For that frustration, uncertainty and disappointment, I apologize.  I know the heartbreak that comes with failure is taxing.  I also know that failure is an important step in anything of merit and have always said that success is moving from failure to failure without any loss of power. b) I have currently acquired financing and will be producing a group of motion pictures, some of which we intend to film in Chicago.  These are mainstream motion picture comedies with large budgets that would showcase the city and bring jobs to its creatives. I have worked with thousands of people over the last twenty years to produce notable projects. I have directed and managed large-scale chaotic masses of people to produce results for a single company or an entire city. I have the skills, insights and competence to be an executive producer for motion pictures and the executive producer for The Chicago Convergence. Both are about directing the financial, creative and production ambitions of independents; working together to produce a great show. What is the future of The Chicago Convergence? It has always been my intent that it: Is guided by a small, influential and active board Is influenced by a diverse and collaborative leadership team Empowers the leaders within the community to build a cohesive force Adds gasoline to the spark of invention and genius found in Chicago Has an annual note-worthy event professionally sponsored and produced Becomes an important conference of national merit and size Serves sponsors with an uncommon opportunity for influence and growth Can I manage this from LA? It's a digital organization - perhaps by now, we all know you can live and work anywhere. The Chicago Convergence will hold a board meeting to discuss concrete plans for its future.  *It should be noted that my participation will be contingent on board approval of an offer I will make to manage the organization and its annual event. I will unveil those plans as soon as they are available and upon approval. I look forward to finding out how we can work together to showcase Chicago.  Let me know your thoughts.  You can email me directly at john@hollywoodfarms.com. Best Regards, John Patterson Convergence Founder The Chicago Convergence website will be getting an overhaul from ad agency Cramer-Krasselt after a year was spent to build a 'brand world' worthy of global attention.  That new site will be unveiled in the coming months and speaks to "the genius in all of us" and "a spark in the city of Gotham". The Chicago Convergence Brand World, by Cramer-Krasselt