Executive Interviews

In 2007 and 2008 I interviewed several top executives in the eLearning industry for a publication called Evoke News. The approach integrated industry talk with personal conversation to let the audience become more familiar with the person wearing the suit. A selection of favorite interviews is reserved here for posterity.

The interviews provide rare glimpses into these top executive’s lives, examining their hobbies, what they do while on vacation and what motivates them to excel. I’ve been told that people who worked closely with my subjects learned more about them from the interview they had on their own in years!

I began with the top CEO’s in the industry, Frank Russell of GeoLearning and Jim Riley of Learn.com. It was an amazing opportunity to connect with high-level overachievers and enjoy a practical, unpretentious chat.

The biographical approach presented a great public relations opportunity and no one seemed to understand this better than John Ambrose of Skillsoft. With a background in mass communications himself, John’s responses to some of my inquiries were brilliant.

I was very excited to interview Lee Pryor of Flying Fish Creative Services after having read his book The Savvy Entrepreneur. Lee later consulted with me to create a new name for his company and I came up with Portico Learning Solutions. Using the improved brand Lee has been leading the company to new horizons.

My favorite interview is perhaps with Jeremy Tillman of TrainUp.com. Jeremy has tremendous energy and a wonderful sense of humor. I found his family commitment especially inspiring. For more information or to LISTEN to these interviews CLICK HERE. You can also use the player below.

Special thanks to LIZ ANAH for the music.

Volunteering

Maybe it’s cliché but I get a lot of satisfaction from helping others, particularly doing what I can to develop high school and college students. I do not pretend to be the smartest guy in the room but I do have a few skills I can try to pass along to the next generation.

When returning to school for more journalism training I really enjoyed sharing some of my life experience with my younger classmates. I would prod them to expand beyond their current capabilities and encourage them to get comfortable outside of their shell, whether it meant finding that unique camera angle or approaching complete strangers for an interview. Maybe my young protégés didn’t entirely realize what was happening, but I learned that I really enjoy working with bright young minds.

So I started tutoring English as second language students to develop their writing skills and I have enjoyed every minute of it. It’s an incredible opportunity to show motivated pupils how to organize their thoughts and see what they produce! I learn from them as much as I hope to be teaching.

A school teacher recently approached me to judge this year’s DECA competition in Santa Clara, and I jumped at the opportunity. (Check out http://www.deca.org/ and http://www.californiadeca.org/index.asp?page=9005 for info.) It was a ton of fun and frankly quite inspirational. The kids are alright, so to speak.

The experience reminded me of my last judging opportunity for the Brandon Hall Awards. That was cool! E-learning is a cutting-edge field that demands respect, both from the scholastic and corporate training fronts, and it was amazing to see the various ways companies exploit the intersection of technology and education to train their employees.