INVENTABLES 3D CARVER GIVEAWAY

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HERE'S THE LINK: https://www.inventables.com/50states

CHICAGO MADE AT SXSW

Emanuel leads entourage of Chicago ‘makers’ like Harper Reed, Chance the Rapper to SXSW

posted by Carlin Sack

 

on 03/06/2014 

Chicago music and tech leaders alike are heading down to SXSW this weekend to represent Chicago and its ‘makers’ at the famous Austin music, film and tech conference that kicks off tomorrow.

“The idea is to have a coordinated presence there,” organizer Philip Nevels, executive director of ChicagoNEXT at Chicago World Business said. “We want to come together and provide a cohesive image.”

To represent Chicago’s tech scene, Howard Tullman of 1871, J.B. Pritzker of New World Ventures, Harper Reed of Obama’s re-election campaign and Zach Kaplan of Inventables will be heading down to Austin for the festival along with Mayor Rahm Emanuel and many others.

The group will have a booth set up on the interactive floor and, on Tuesday, they will be hosting a VIP reception before a music showcase featuring only Chicago musicians such as Chance the Rapper and The Hood Internet.

The reception has “no formal programming,” besides “just talking to people about Chicago” to give them a taste of the city and its leaders, Nevels said.

“It’s really going to be about showcasing Chicago’s makers,” Nevels said. “It’s not ‘rah, rah, look how great Chicago is.’ We are not trying to compete for attention down there.”

Getting these movers and shakers on board for this trip to Austin was just a matter of Nevels and other organizers like Choose Chicago’s Melissa Cherry asking them to join, they said. Now, their plan is in full motion: the organizers are expecting 300 to 350 at the music showcase event and thousands more to pass through the booth. The goal, Nevels said, is to make this an annual SXSW event for Chicago.

If you’re heading down to pitch at or attend SXSW, you can find your fellow Chicagoans at the music showcase and reception on March 11, at the Chicago booth on the interactive floor or at Razorfish’s digital campground throughout the festival.

Emanuel to lead first 'coordinated' Chicago contingent at SXSW

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is photographed at the White House during an East Room talk on manufacturing innovation. (Alex Wong / Getty Images / February 25, 2014)

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By John Carpenter, @ScoopCarp, Blue Sky Reporter
Feb. 26, 2014, 5:08 p.m.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel will anchor the first-ever organized team of Chicago business officials and musicians to descend upon South By Southwest, the annual music, film and interactive conference and festival in Austin, Texas.

The Chicago contingent will be organized around the theme Chicago Made, focusing on Chicago's emerging prominence in new manufacturing and highlighting local music and culture.

Philip Nevels, executive director of ChicagoNext, a part of World Business Chicago, said city officials, along with Chicago companies and artists, have been attending SXSW for years, "but we haven't had a coordinated effort at this event before," he said. "We said 'Let’s all work together and focus on representing the city of Chicago in a cool way.'"

The festival runs March 7-16. Mayoral spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton confirmed that Emanuel will attend for one day. She would not specify a date but said Emanuel would "have a role on the main stage."

Chicago companies and artists will get particular attention on March 11, the last day of the interactive portion of the festival, which focuses on tech innovation. Featured speakers will include Zach Kaplan, CEO of Chicago-based Inventables. He's set to unveil a new software platform for the company’s recently released desktop milling machine.

Inventables CEO hopes new milling machine helps shape trend

That day also is the start of the SXSW Music Festival, a showcase for up-and-coming musical acts. Dylan Rice, director of creative industries and music for the city's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, said the date was chosen as a focal point for the Chicago efforts, since it straddles the two conferences.

Chicago's SXSW contingent is a collaboration of Choose Chicago; World Business Chicago, a not-for-profit economic development booster; the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events; and the Illinois Tourism Council. 

"We want to promote Chicago both as a center of innovation and as a center of entertainment," said Melissa Cherry, vice president for cultural tourism and neighborhoods at Choose Chicago, the city's official tourism organization.

SXSW started as a music conference in 1987. It has emerged as an important date on the tech calendar, having hosted the unveiling of companies including Twitter andFoursquare.

Chicago Made's space at the show will feature appearances by business leaders including Kaplan and 1871 CEO Howard Tullman.

The Chicago contingent will host an invitation-only networking event Saturday evening, led by Tullman, "Obama 2012" chief technology officer Harper Reed and others.

Why Harper Reed isn't worried about Chicago inventing the next floating robot

That will be followed by a musical showcase that will highlight several local musical artists, including Chance the Rapper; Wilco bassist John Stirratt's side project, The Autumn Defense; The Hood Internet; Archie Powell & the Exports; My Gold Mask; Bonzie; ShowYouSuck; and ProbCause.

Rice said his sales pitch to SXSW attendees will focus on Chicago's music scene as well as its startup scene — and will emphasize a cost of living that's attractive compared with tech centers on both coasts. Rice said he wants people to leave Austin thinking about Chicago not just as a good place to visit but as a good place to live and perhaps even start a business.

"I want them to walk away thinking that Chicago is a really innovative place," he said. "This (Chicago) is a taste-making place in the world. We want to keep Chicago in mind as a place to invest in, as well as a place to travel to."

Tribune reporter Melissa Harris contributed.

– jccarpenter@tribune.com

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New CEO Tullman sees 1871 as boot camp for Internet startups

Online companies should focus on generating revenue – it's 'up-or-out,' says veteran Chicago entrepreneur

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Veteran Chicago entrepreneur Howard Tullman on Jan. 6 will become the chief executive of 1871, the city’s marquee hub and co-working space for Internet startups. (Jose M. Osorio, Chicago Tribune /November 20, 2013)

Melissa HarrisChicago Confidential

November 24, 2013

Veteran Chicago entrepreneur Howard Tullman says starting an online company at 1871 should be like joining the Marines.

And this hard-charging style, Tullman said, will define how he runs the city's marquee hub and co-working space for Internet startups as its new chief executive, starting Jan. 6.

"One of the focuses now is going to have to be up-or-out," Tullman said. "We're not just a hobby. We're not a place for people to go to feel good about attempting to be an entrepreneur. We're about people committed to building businesses."

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Within two years of 1871's founding at the Merchandise Mart, the 50,000-square-foot facility has become home to more than 240 small companies. When these companies grow to between five and 12 employees, they graduate and move on to a larger space. About 15 companies have graduated thus far, according to an 1871 spokeswoman.

Leading 1871 is akin to serving as the public face of Chicago's technology community. And Tullman said he's through with hearing boasts about how much money member companies have raised from investors.

"It should be about: How many revenue-generating businesses have we created?" Tullman said. "How much money have we generated for those investors? That's a much more important metric as we mature."

It has been 10 months since outgoing CEO Kevin Willer announced his departure for a venture capital firm. Round one of the search for a successor ended unsatisfactorily. Executive search firm Spencer Stuart was brought in and approached Tullman for input.

At 68, he is something of a godfather of the city's tech scene. The businesses he has launched, led, invested in or turned around are too numerous to list.

He started his career as a lawyer, retiring from that profession in 1980 to become an entrepreneur.

He sold his first startup, CCC Information Services, for about $100 million in 1987. He also turned around Kendall College, moving it to downtown Chicago from Evanston and converting it from a nonprofit to a for-profit college. Another company, the Cobalt Group, where he served as a longtime board chair and was an early investor, sold in 2010 for more than $300 million.

Tullman has been in the startup world so long he once founded and led a company that made CD-ROM games. The New York Times predicted one of them would become "the big (Christmas) gift in 1994."

He most recently stepped away from another business he founded, the Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy, and started his own venture capital firm, G2T3V. Tullman said he will be open about his conflicts of interest, disclosing G2T3V's investments to the board of 1871's parent entity, the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (CEC), and on G2T3V's website.

At Chicago Ideas Week, Tullman was running around showing off an app called MagicTags that recognized a logo on a package of sweetener and then played a video about it, a seamless transition from a physical product to a digital pitch. MagicTags is one of G2T3V's portfolio companies.

"You and I could have talked four months ago, we wouldn't have said, 'Everybody, hey, let's call Howard Tullman,'" said J.B. Pritzker, a billionaire investor whose money, influence and ideas got 1871 off the ground. "We would have imagined Howard Tullman is busy and has other commitments and that 1871 …" Pritzker paused. "You know, it just didn't dawn on me. And when he raised his hand, you know, it's terrific. But he still went through a process."

That included a presentation to the search committee.

The center faces competition — it's no longer the only option for new companies. Just a few days ago, Chicago venture capital firm Lightbank announced a new co-working space for startups in its River North offices, called The Warehouse.

Among the ideas Tullman proposed for 1871 was working with Zach Kaplan, the CEO of Inventables, to bring a rapid prototyping lab (which includes 3-D printers and other equipment) to 1871 and building office suites to accommodate bigger companies.

"We want to be able to get a better understanding of who's really a member and who's really a hanger-on," Tullman said. "Are they paying what they're supposed to be paying? Are they participating in a way they're supposed to be participating? Right now there isn't a provision for expanding beyond four to five desks. The next iteration may be suites. If you're a company of five to 15 people, we can offer spaces that are a little more private."

The position was not easy to fill, largely because of the requirement that it be an entrepreneur. Parent entity CEC is a nonprofit — that means 1871's leader gets no stock options, equity or the potential for a multimillion payout upon a sale or public offering.

"I happened to be old enough that I'm not looking for my next three jobs," Tullman said.

And the job requires an enormous amount of glad-handing with local and state politicians and prominent visitors. Pritzker, Willer, CEC board Co-chairman James O'Connor Jr. and 1871 staff have all served repeatedly as tour guides. Tullman is accustomed to playing host. His office/art gallery on the West Side is itself a de facto VIP party venue.

"People may think (1871) is a sleepy nonprofit, but our vision of it already is that it's going to be a big (expletive) deal," Tullman said. "It's going to have a national presence. A hub for people to come from all over the country. And it's not going to be a real estate play: 'Oh, gee, here's where I rented some space.' We want it to be like, 'Here's where I went to boot camp, where I joined the Marines.' It'll be a place you'll be from and (will be) a credential."

Melissa Harris can be reached at mmharris@tribune.com or 312-222-4582. Twitter @chiconfidential