LikeMe Networks: Wisdom of the Like-Minded    [Print This Page] Time: 10:20-10:40 a.m. Date: Friday, Sept. 12 Place: Neff Auditorium, 204 Neff Hall The wisdom-of-crowds concept is a maturing technology direction on the Web in connecting individuals with more relevant content. In this presentation, Jeff Giarraputo, a founder of LikeMe Networks, and his colleague, Mietra Ghaffari, BJ '03, will demonstrate content discovery between like-minded individuals within a large membership base. While many existing and new media companies have been offering consumer-generated reviews of products, restaurants, bars, hotels and entertainment activities for some time, the majority of these services do not offer next generation collaborative filtering. LikeMe Networks matches members seeking recommendations to other members similar in profiles and lifestyles. Media partners and sponsors also become more relevant within the LikeMe eco-system through similar collaborative filtering. Presenter: Jeff Giarraputo Founder LikeMe Networks Jeff Giarraputo, a founder of LikeMe Networks, is a digital business architect. He is a founder of FactoryLabs and Beatport, both Denver-based leading-edge digital businesses. FactoryLabs is the advertising and digital agency for such premium global brands as Audi USA, The North Face, Oakley, Happy Madison, Paramount Studios and others. Beatport has been described as the "iTunes of Dance Music." It is the dominant digital music marketplace for more than 5,000 music labels producing dance music for all professional and amateur DJs. With the launch of LikeMe Networks, Giarraputo is architecting joint ventures with leading lifestyle and entertainment media companies and brands. Presenter: Mietra Ghaffari Account Supervisor Factory Design Labs, Denver Mietra Ghaffari, BJ '03, an account supervisor at the Denver-based agency Factory Design Labs, leads Factory's development, operations and user interface execution for LikeMe Networks. In her four years at Factory, Ghaffari has worked on top global brands such as Palmer Snowboards, SCARPA North America, SCARPA Italy, Walt Disney Pictures, JUMP Mobile, ManiaTV! and Exclusive Resorts. Additionally, she has served as Factory's business development manager in the client strategy sector of the business. Prior to Factory Design Labs, she spent two years in the account services department at Karsh + Hagan. About the Technology Summit The Technology Summit is an action-packed exhibition of the ideas, trends, tools, technologies and companies that are leading the way into 21st-century journalism. Leading technology experts and industry pioneers will preside over interactive presentations divided into three tracks: Digital Storytelling, Disruptive Technologies and Web 3.0 Economics. Guests will have the chance to see new technologies at work and visit with those who are shaping tomorrow's media. Technology Summit Advisers Kim Garretson General Partner Realist Ventures & Advisory Services Blog: Realist Kim Garretson, BJ '73, is a general partner in Realist Ventures & Advisory Services. He advises venture capital firms, early-stage consumer digital media companies, retailers and media companies on disruptive innovation. Previously, Garretson was the liaison to the venture capital industry for Best Buy's Corporate Strategy & Innovation division. Prior to that, Garretson co-founded NOVO Media Group, which was the fourth-largest digital agency at its sale to Leo Burnett in 2001. Garretson also has been a partner in the upper Midwest's largest marketing and public relations agency. He began his career as a senior editor and technology columnist for Better Homes and Gardens. Mike McKean Director of the Futures Lab Reynolds Journalism Institute Mike McKean is the Futures Lab director at the Reynolds Journalism Institute and a professor at the Missouri School of Journalism, where he has taught for 22 years. McKean created the School's convergence journalism program and chaired the convergence journalism faculty from 2005-2008. He is a leader in teaching with technology at the local, national and international levels. Winner of the MU's Innovator Award, McKean is chairing the campus Information Technology Committee; coordinating partnerships with Apple, Inc., AT&T and Adobe Systems; and helping establish convergence curricula at Moscow State University in Russia and Shantou University in China. McKean also has chaired the radio-TV news faculty at Missouri, served as Web director at KOMU-TV and news director of KBIA-FM. Before joining the School of Journalism, he was managing editor of KTRH NewsRadio in Houston and assistant news director at the Missourinet in Jefferson City. Close Window