Brad Spirrison has his finger — make that fingers — firmly on the pulse of Chicago’s converging Internet, media, and technology scenes. When he’s not hammering out his weekly Tech Matters column for the Sun-Times, Spirrison juggles multiple roles as president of Midwest Business Inc. and publisher of MidwestBusiness.com and SpeedNetworking.com.
And you thought you were overextended?
CC thanks Spirrison for taking a break from his frenetic schedule to field a few questions.
CC: Mayor Daley has been proactive in advancing eco-friendly initiatives in Chicago. Do you think he’s done enough to forward Chicago as a city that’s on the leading edge of technology?
Spirrison: While it is the job of those in the sector to do the heavy lifting as far as advancing the local tech job, I think the mayor does an admirable job promoting innovation, which is the engine of new business generation. It all starts with education, of which the mayor is a huge advocate. I think he recognizes that the quality jobs of today and tomorrow will require higher fluency from all as it applies to managing information. Beyond attending to that base interest, programs like the Mayor’s Council of Technology and Innovation Week do a good job bringing together leaders from the private sector to share best practices with city hall.
CC: If you were the mayor of Chicago, what actions would you take to improve the city’s techno quotient?
Spirrison: This city has a lot of assets. Whether it be elite universities, global 500 corporations, and the several emerging organizations that support local technology companies and entrepreneurs. The trick is to get everybody — private sector, universities, public sector — on the same page to advance the cause. Chicago, with its diversified economy, will never be a global tech leader a la Silicon Valley. That’s fine. But there is a fair amount of improvement that can be done. A mayor can only do so much. But if there are incentives to get people from these constituencies to sit at the same table, I think we’d be better off. Easier said than done, however.
CC: What’s the best website that nobody knows about?
Spirrison: I’ll be shameless and plug MyCampFriends.com. It is the place on the web where summer never ends and is a Facebook-like website focused entirely on the summer camp experience and the relationships built in those years. I started it a couple years ago with a high school friend who is a writer/director with The Second City.
CC: What Chicago-based tech-related companies do you see as being poised for tremendous growth over the next five to ten years?
Spirrison: There are a number of companies based at 600 W. Chicago (old Montgomery Ward Building) started by the same pool of entrepreneurs that seem to have a pretty successful business model. InnerWorkings is already public, Echo Global Logistics just filed and a third — MediaBank — just raised $30 million in venture capital. All of these companies develop web-based services that dis-intermediate the printing, logistics and media/advertising industries, respectively. They are founded by the same group that started Starbelly.com, which was the poster child for dot-com excess during the bust. Seems like they’ve learned a few things since. A dispersed storage company called Cleversafe and a number of startups in the “Fin-Tech” area also deserve a close look in the years to come.
CC: If you had to choose between an iPhone and a Blackberry, which would you choose and why?
Spirrison: You know, I haven’t succumbed to a PDA or web-based email/Internet yet. That is the last thing by attention span needs at this point. That said, I’m a big iPod fan and am slowly becoming an Apple guy (although I use a PC for work). I’d have to say iPhone.
CC: What’s the best thing about covering the tech beat in Chicago?
Spirrison: I get to focus on the human side of technology, focusing on the Chicago-based entrepreneurs who are trying to make money using technology to solve market problems. It is a joy to meet these people and learn their stories first hand. The Internet in particular offers such fertile ground for innovation, and Chicago-based entrepreneurs in particular have our own unique take on this. It takes a while to write it all down sometimes, but every time a file a story I feel smarter.
CC: If the Internet had never been invented, where would you be at this moment and what would you be doing?
Spirrison: Probably working at a TV station. I was pretty late to the Internet game and registered for my first AOL account in 1998 when I was 24. Right out of college, I produced a live sports talk show in Atlanta. I then moved to New York City to start a big TV career. Within a year, I realized by the time I “made it” in that industry, it would be a shell of what it once was due to the Internet. YouTube is just the first chapter in how television and web will converge. The fun right now is to try to contribute to follow-on chapters in that story and perhaps make a buck or two along the way.
Brad’s insanely smart, and I can always say I saved him from the boob tune and put him on the Interwebs.