UNI Entrepreneurship Symposium 2006
The John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center was pleased to present the UNI Entrepreneurship Symposium on February 15, 2006, in Maucker Union on the University of Northern Iowa campus. This event was designed to raise awareness among students, staff, and faculty of entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship in small businesses and at the University. We were joined in person by 50 and 27 people attended via the live webcast.
February 15, 2006
Maucker Union Ballroom
University of Northern Iowa
| 2:30 p.m. - 3 p.m. | Registration Check-in | |
| 3:05 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. | Welcome and Introduction of Eric Schaefer Randy Pilkington, Executive Director Business and Community Services |
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| 3:15 p.m. - 3:50 p.m. | Eric Schaefer WebMD |
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| 3:50 p.m. - 3:55 p.m. | Introduction of Chris Pirillo Randy Pilkington, Executive Director Business and Community Services |
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| 3:55 p.m. - 4:20 p.m. | Chris Pirillo of Lockergnome via videoconference from Seattle | |
| 4:20 p.m. - 4:25 p.m. | Introduction of Andrew Van Fleet Randy Pilkington, Executive Director Business and Community Services |
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| 4:25 p.m. - 4:55 p.m. | Andrew Van Fleet Darning Pixels |
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| 4:55 p.m. - 5 p.m. | Concluding Remarks Randy Pilkington, Executive Director Business and Community Services |
| SPEAKERS | Our three speakers for this year's UNI Entrepreneurship Symposium are UNI alumni. We are pleased to have them return to campus, physically or technologically, to share their experiences and thoughts with us. One speaker graduated from the College of Business Administration and the other two graduated from the College of Humanities and Fine Arts. |
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Eric J. Schaefer is Executive Vice President of Payer Sales for WebMD Business Services. Mr. Schaefer, along with the Joe DiMartini, Dru Schmitt and Dan Schmitt, started ABF in October 1997. He spearheaded ABF's software vendor partnerships, accounting for 20 strategic alliances with claims system vendors over the past 5 years. Mr. Schaefer played the leading role in the sales of the first 50 ABF clients, as well as the initial implementation cycles for those 50 clients. He took sole responsibility for the sales function in mid-1998, taking ABF from 15 clients to nearly 600 as of July 2004. ABF was purchased by WebMD Corporation on July 17, 2003. Mr. Schaefer, along with Mr. DiMartini and Mr. Dru Schmitt, were retained to continue and extend the ABF business model inside of WebMD. This culminated with the creation of WebMD Business Services in June 2004. Mr. Schaefer now has responsibility for all payer sales functions within the new WebMD Business Services organization. Mr. Schaefer's areas of expertise are his overall knowledge of the health administration marketplace, health administration operations, strategic alliances and systems integration. In addition to managing the sales function, he is a key visionary within WebMD and the future of WebMD's product line and industry initiatives. Prior to starting ABF, Mr. Schaefer worked in asset management for Wells Fargo Mortgage. Outside of WMD, Mr. Schaefer has been active in coaching soccer and basketball ,and his other interests include, golf, basketball and weightlifting. Mr. Schaefer studied finance and international business at the University of Northern Iowa, graduating in 1991. He did postgraduate work in finance at Drake University and St. Louis University. |
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| Chris Pirillo is a geek among geeks: technologist, television host, magazine columnist, blogger, author, and entrepreneur. In short, he's a technology renaissance man for the 21st century. Chris is the founder and publisher of LockerGnome.com, a technology website and content publishing company with over 1,000,000 subscribers worldwide. Formerly the host of an internationally-broadcast live daily show on personal computing, he is one of the Internet's best known and respected speakers on technology topics ranging from desktop software to e-business. Every month, his columns can be read in Computer Power User and PC Today Magazine. He recently authored 'Online! The Book' with John C. Dvorak. Chris's annual tech convention (Gnomedex) continues to draw record crowds, and he's recently launched The Chris Pirillo Show online audio broadcast for tech enthusiasts from around the world. | |
| Andrew Van Fleet is the president and creative director of Darning Pixels, Inc. which he founded in 2001. Darning Pixels is the premier graphic design and Internet services firm in the Midwest. Andrew has grown the (Waterloo) Iowa-based company to more than 50 clients worldwide. Darning Pixels, Inc.'s expertise includes creation of infographics for board presentations, newspapers and magazines, all facets of graphic design, development of sophisticated Internet-based applications and User Interface consulting. In 1997, Andrew began his career as a User Interface Designer at TEAM Technologies, an Internet services company in Cedar Falls, Iowa. He designed Internet application flow diagrams and designed web interfaces for clients including; The Principal Financial Group, GuideOne Insurance, Oldsmobile, Northrup King Seeds and Hy-Vee Food Stores. In 1999, Andrew parlayed his user interface expertise into a Senior User Interface Designer position at Minneapolis-based IT-Radar, an online IT services marketplace. At IT-Radar he designed the Internet applications graphical interfaces, frequently user tested the application's user efficiency and developed the company's brand identity. Andrew was also instrumental in integrating IT-Radar's Internet application with strategic partners including, Gartner Group, C|Net and Compaq. Andrew graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, IA with a B.A. in Graphic Design and a Business Minor in 1998. |