SOCIAL

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LIAR

by Howard Tullman – We say what we’ll do and then we do what we said we’d do. It couldn’t be more straightforward. You don’t get to be truthful some of the time or at some later time.

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ORDINARY EXTRAORDINARY

Innovation in Offering the Ordinary in an Extraordinary Way

by Kenneth C. Bator – Let’s talk about a product that nobody wants to need. Can you transform the customer experience and make shopping for it enjoyable? Now that would be an innovation!

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YOUR WORK IS NOT YOUR LIFE

by Howard Tullman –You can’t be all things to all people; you can’t dance every dance; and, throughout your life, you’ve got to make hard choices, sacrifices, and compromises, and then you’ve got to live with them through thick and thin for a very long time.

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INJURIES TREATED BADLY

by John Jonelis – Kids are dropping dead on the athletic field. Dead! These are our kids—those highly cherished and precocious little brats, grades K-12. Just a few years back we suffered a miserable year—120 deaths. Here’s a huge problem waiting to get fixed. Tonight I get to see Tyrre Burks, founder of TEAM INTERVAL tell us what he proposes to do about it.

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YOUR BUSINESS AND YOUR CHILDREN

by Nick Arvis – “Why am I doing this?” That’s the question dominating a President’s Advisory Committee board meeting (PAC). None of the members—all business owners—intend to give or sell their business to their children. Instead, in a reversal of traditional social norms, all of them plan to use their wealth to empower their children on whatever paths the kids happen to choose.

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TALENT HIDES

by Loop Lonagan – I ain’t never seen no event like TechBash before. Right away, I gets hit with pounding music, flashing lights and maybe a couple thousand er more people. Place is fulla bigshots—I never seen so many C-level execs at one party—mosta them CIOs o’ big corporations. And the food and open flowing bar. I mean, this is a HUGE party that puts Dennis Koslowski and Tyco to shame—but this one’s legit. Lemme tell you about it:

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TOUGH LOVE

by John Jonelis – This is a story about raw love. Tough. Rugged. Unashamed. “I think that at the end of the day,” She says, “there are three things that you should know about us: We’re an opportunity, not a charity. Rather than exploit our interns, we exploit our CIOs. We’re funded by the technology industry—not the government.”

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HIGH TECH HIGH TEA

by John Jonelis – “As the tea makes its rounds, I hear well-crafted introductions. Mannerly. In-depth. Heartfelt. Spoken by people who have known each other during months of intense struggle. It’s more like introducing family than a business meeting. You can’t help but be moved by the way they describe each other.

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THE APPRENTICE MEETS DIGITAL BOOT CAMP

by John Jonelis – “Technology is a tool of transformation. We teach technology because it’s creative. It doesn’t know what you look like but at the end of the day you can be a rock star. We’re searching for people who are fighting for something bigger than themselves. Our whole program is built on the premise that people who have overcome adversity have developed resiliency. Resiliency is the number one thing.”

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GIVING BACK

by Loop Lonagan – Christmas is all about givin’ to other people and I say we keep it that way. There’s an outfit right here in Chicago that keeps the spirit o’ giving alive all the yearlong. They find people with talent, creativity, intelligence, hard knocks ‘n’ plenty o’ moxey. Then they pay ‘em to train fer big-time jobs. That’s one o’ the nicest gifts you can give a person with them kinda attributes—a chance to use what they got inside themselves. Think about it—all that potential just waitin’ to burst out so bad a guy could explode.

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HEART OF GOLD

John Jonelis – The JB2BN – I knew something outstanding was going on, but when a friend raved about it, I had to stop procrastinating and find out more.

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KILLING IT

Jeff Segal – message therapist – Less than a year ago, I asked a prominent figure in the startup community about investor interest in the social enterprise model. She told me flatly, “No one cares.” Well, they care now.

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ARISE 2.0

by Loop Lonagan- Whadaya think happens when 15,000 people get behind the entrepreneurs in their own neighborhood? Good things—that’s what happens! Energy. Enthusiasm. Stuff gets done! Lemme tell you about it:

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WHAT’S GOOD?

Loop Lonagan – special correspondent – Dis is somethin’ dat can change da world. I saw this gal charge-up a roomfulla sleepy thought leaders with the energy of an oxyacetylene torch. Ideas and plans fly off her like da Fourth o’ July. She’s the reason I’m here. So I stagger outa my cab into da Chase Auditorium to hear IMPACT ENGINE rev it’s cylinders.

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VAST PILES OF MONEY

Jeff Segal – Message Therapist – On the one hand we have millions of hard-working, poorly paid people getting the shaft from the corporate banking establishment. On the other hand, we have vast piles of money. It’s a textbook opportunity for a social enterprise solution.

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THE TWO WHEELS OF CHANGE

Loop Lonagan – special correspondent – We’re gathered here to get richer by makin’ all them other poor slobs around the world prosper! This I like! The auditorium’s packed with serious investors. Over 500 o’ them rascals. They’s all squealin’ ‘n’ squirmin’ to get a piece o’ the action. Sheesh—I ain’t seen so much money in one room since I…well I ain’t s’posed to talk about that so lemme move on.

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THE FUTURE OF LEARNING

Loop Lonagan – special correspondent – Hey, I’m all for anything that blows away the status quo in American education. What we got is broke. Ever’body knows it’s broke. And we’re fallin’ behind the rest o’ the world. Even Cuba’s got a better educational system fer heaven sakes.

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LIGHT UP A CONTINENT

Loop Lonagan – special correspondent – Here’s what makes it so exciting: The best way to solve a social problem is to find a way t’ make money while yer fixin’ it. That way the solution becomes whacha call self-sustaining. They call it social entrepreneurship. I like da sound o’ that phrase.

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GIVE IT AWAY

Loop Lonagan – special correspondent – It ain’t easy fer these companies to get this far. Most startups just grub fer money. These guys gotta make money BY DOIN’ GOOD. And these is da ones Impact Engine picked to do the job.

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WHAT’S CLEAN

Loop Lonagan – special correspondent – I’m at a place where my natural greed ‘n’ avarice can do some good fer dis poor worn-out world. This is the Chicago CleanTech Competition—what you might call a race between high-tech global janitorial services. Ten distinguished judges will pick the best o’ da best—companies that’re really doin’ somethin’ to deal with the mess we’re makin’ outa our little corner o’ God’s creation. What we got here is da last ten finalists in our great city and tonight that gets cut down to five.

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CLEANTECH COMPETITION

Loop Lonagan – special correspondent – This is a real simple story. I’m watchin’ ten green companies go head-to-head. Hey, dis old world needs a good scrubbin’, doncha think? I’m here, trying to use my natural greed on somethin’ constructive fer a change. I glance around and see a company I know has da potential. We’re gonna hear some good stuff.

MAY IS GONE

John Jonelis – We lost Ron May. There’re those that are bitter and those that’ll weep. There’s those that always revere him and swear by his widely circulated May Report—and then there’s the others that still feel the sting. Everybody has a powerful opinion, but I got more than one reason for liking the guy

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