Erik J Anderson LLC (2025)

09/07/2024

Chicagoland Tech Update

Last week, the Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA) announced a discharge of $504M to 12 of the 31 designated Tech Hubs across the United States.

The Bloch Tech Hub in Chicago requested $15M in Phase Two funding to support the State of Illinois $500M investment in Quantum Technology investment but lost out to the Elevate Quantum Tech Hub in Colorado on this round.

The EDA will distribute a total of $2B to 31 Regional Tech Hubs across the United States.

Illinois didn't lose out on this round entirely. The iFAB Tech Hub led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will receive $51M in Phase Two funds to position Central Illinois as a global leader in biomanufacturing and precision fermentation, supporting national security and economic growth.

27/06/2024

💰 Chicagoland Tech Report - The Qubits are Coming 💰

Illinois Creates Quantum Enterprise Zone, Extends Film Tax Credits

Illinois lawmakers passed and signed an economic development package into law yesterday that, among other things, creates the Quantum Enterprise Zone.

👉 The state hopes to create a quantum computing campus somewhere in Illinois with a combination of state money, federal money and private investment estimated to be over $30B, according WGEM.

Two locations being considered are the South Works site in South Chicago, and the former Texaco refinery in Lockport.

The package also extends the REV (Reimagining Energy and Vehicles) and clarifying the eligibility standards for the MICRO (Manufacturing Illinois Chips for Real Opportunity) program.

👉 In a press conference, Gov. Pritzker said it's important for Illinois to attract the resources for these industries at the early stages when few people can explain what quantum computing is.

Quoted in Capitol News Illinois, Pritzker said...

"We were poised in the early 90s and late 80s to be the leading state for development of the internet and most people had no idea what the internet was in 1990.

Nobody in the state had a strategy for ‘how do we keep those companies or the development of that industry in Illinois?’ There was no strategy and it got up and left.”

📽 For my friends in the production industry, the law also extends film industry tax credits.

Chicagoland Area
Photo Attribute SA 4.0
https://lnkd.in/gJCWuMTN
Original Image Modified to 16:9 by Erik J Anderson

26/06/2024

Work in the Event Production Business
Solve Problems - See the World - Meet New Friends

In 2008, I changed careers at 38. Industry. Role. The whole thing.
I went from Financial Services to Event Production.

From High School, I had had an inch that I couldn't scratch.
Working with AV, producing things.

My first job was at Elmhurst Public Schools, supporting events.
The first show was an award ceremony in the auditorium.

Eight mics, some lighting and projection.
The project lead showed me the audio mixer.

An analog Yamaha MG32.

I looked at all the faders and said...
'My God, how does anyone figure that out?'

But you do. Every show, every job.
You practice figuring things out, solving problems.

16 years later, I'm on a show - shading and switching cameras.

The S3 operator was a former driver who spent his spare time learning the Barco switchers and Event Master software.

It's a great business. You are constantly learning, going to new places, working with great people.

If you're considering a move, you can start anywhere. Call a local shop, and get going on set-up and strike.

Before you know it, you'll be calling shows.

14/06/2024

Fade it out
An effect the event business has had on my life.

If I’m listening to music in the car, I’ll fade the song out before I turn off the car.

It just seems rude to cut the artist off.
A slow fade is a nice touch.

It does add a couple seconds to every trip.

But the unintended benefit is, you don’t blow yourself up when you get back in the car.

13/06/2024

Who is the next Google?

Where is your next whale (sales)?
Where is the next unicorn?

In the late 70's my dad said, 'in a few years, there will be box on every TV that gets hundreds of channels.'
I thought he was cracked.

We got TV over the air then. Detroit. Rabbit Ears. Turning the TV channels on the console with pliers. The whole thing.

Channels 2, 4, & 7.
Channel 9 out of Windsor.
And UHF, Channel 50 with Bill Kennedy and Captain Kangaroo.

Then it happened. Cable TV. Hundreds of channels, just like he said.
MTV. Michael Jackson. Then pagers, then mobile phones, then the internet, the iPhone.

And then all this.
It happens over and over.
Change is the only constant.

So for people looking for the next big client, or investors looking to find the next unicorn
Who will be the next Google?

Who knows?

But chances are, it'll come from a company that doesn't exist today, from The Coming Waves of Technologies.
Here are a few of the keywords to keep your eyes on. Google them. Find the newsmakers and follow the money.

Applied AI & Generative AI
Machine Learning
Connectivity
Robotics
Web3
Biotech
Space Technology
Quantum Computing
Immersive Technologies

Happy hunting.

Image by Bing Chat or Copilot or whatever Microsoft is calling it.

Prompt: Can you make an image for a social post that represents the coming wave of technology?

11/06/2024

Just curious, why aren't you posting online for your business?
A call to action for the Gen X'ers who haven't hit publish.

In the 70's, the hot new tech was the Trimline phone by AT&T.
Low voltage was sent over the RJ11 jack to illuminate the keypad.

Oooowhooaa.

Then the pager.
Then the cell phone.
Then the internet.
Then everything.

Then this week, 24-year old Fidias Panayiotou won a seat in the EU parliament because of his millions of followers on TikTok and YouTube.

'I wasn't planning on voting, but since I've been seeing you on TikTok, I'll vote for you.' said a voter in Cyprus to Panayiotou.

Roll your eyes, but it's real.

So this is a call to action for our generation, for me, for you. Start posting for your business.

It's just a phone call with 5.35B people with a feedback loop.

Here's the outline...
1. What are you trying to do?
2. Who are you trying to reach?
3. What information might help them?
4. Write it, Say it or Record it.
5. Upload it and Post it
6. Monitor and Respond to the Comments
7. Rinse and Repeat

You got this.

08/04/2024

Eastern Michigan University is live streaming the 2024 Solar Eclipse from a Weather Balloon 80,000 feet about Earth.

Broadcast starts at 2p CT on the EMU APEx channel.
youtube.com/

EMU is among 70 other institutions selected to participate in this project sponsored by NASA.

If you're not going to a viewing site, you can watch the coverage from the EMU feed, weather permitting.

05/04/2024

Congratulations to Roz Varon of ABC News Chicago. She retires after 35 years as the first TV Traffic Reporter for the Channel 7 morning news.

Shout out to ABC News Chicago for the features and packages throughout the week recognizing her work and contributions to the Chicagoland community.

The Columbia College graduate first auditioned for the job along side several other radio personalities in 1988.

'I bombed.' she said.

But she recorded a second audition tape, sent it to the General Manager and got the job.

Score one for persistence, and not taking 'no' for an answer. Congratulations, Roz, on an outstanding career in broadcasting.

22/03/2024

Advice for Writers in the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Report

Writing for 3,000,000 by Writing for 1

Like Navin Johnson anticipates the new phone, I look forward to the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Report, because of the Annual Letter from Warren Buffett.

In his signature dressed-down style, Buffett is funny and insightful. And in this year’s report, Buffett talks about his approach to writing the letter, a letter that will be poured over and dissected by many for years to come.

Intention – Model – Goal

How does he approach this responsibility? He considers his audience and uses a mental model for what he intends to communicate.

Buffett says, "I am charged with writing a letter every year that will be useful to this diverse and ever-changing group of owners, many of whom wish to learn more about their investment."

Bertie Buffett – The Berkshire Audience Proxy

Buffett continues, and I'm paraphrasing, "Writers find it useful to picture the reader they seek. In visualizing the owners that Berkshire seeks. I am lucky to have the perfect mental model, my sister, Bertie. Every year Bertie will read what I have to say. My job is to anticipate her questions and give her honest answers."

I was delighted by this.

In bearing the responsibility of communicating to millions of people whose money he is responsible for, Buffett breaks down the scale and scope to one person, his sister Bertie.

It's the equivalent to giving a speech to thousands by delivering it to one person in the audience.

For Berkshire shareholders, the Annual Meeting will be held this year on May 4th at the CHI Health Center in Omaha.

But it is a true Hybrid Event, one of the best I can think of, in terms of the audience and brand engagement, for the on-site and on-line audience.

CNBC will again be the exclusive broadcast partner for the on-line portion of the event on its website. Becky Quick will lead the coverage live.

21/03/2024

Brand to Watch - Caleb Williams - Chicago Bears QB1
A Future Brand Leader for Gen Z & People Who Don't Like Sportball

If you are interested in brands but don't super-follow sports, I would like to introduce you to Caleb Williams, future starting quarterback of the Chicago Bears.

He is a modern athlete, the first group of college players to earn money playing in the NCAA, players who will start their career having been both amateur and professional.

Williams has reportedly earned over $10M in NIL money playing three years in college at blue-chip programs Oklahoma and USC.

He is also a modern athlete in terms of his generation, the beginning wave of Gen Z players to go pro and will represent this generation in their unique way as the world transforms itself over the next 30-40 years.

This will be the generation of The Coming Wave...

The generation of AI, Synthetic Biology, Nano-computing, Space Travel, Autonomous Vehicles and Robotics. Williams and other athletes in his generation will be the brand ambassadors for the companies in those industries who will lead the way in solving the problems they inherited.

The differences between generations can often be polarizing, and Williams breaks the mold in terms of style, business acumen, and interests.

From Roberta Katz, Senior Research Scholar at Stanford’s Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences, Gen Z is...

‘The first generation never to know the world without the internet. They value diversity and finding their own unique identities. They are not coddled. They are highly collaborative, self-reliant, and pragmatic.’

And soon he will be the starting quarterback for the Chicago Bears, the founding member of the NFL, and #5 most valuable franchise according to Forbes.

The Bears will stand-up a new stadium in the next 4-5 years, and William will help build it, just like Peyton Manning did in Indianapolis with Lucas Oil Stadium.

From this platform, Williams will soon become the brand ambassador for his generation from the world of sports, like Jack and Arnie, like Tiger and MJ before him, especially if he brings a Super Bowl to Chicago and breaks the curse of Sid Luckman.

For those not familiar with Caleb Williams, if you are interested in brands, I encourage you to follow his trajectory in his career in sports and business, even if you don't like Sportball.

20/03/2024

Resilience is the Practice of Making Things Fun-Bad

If you work in the event business, you are an expert in making the best out of bad situations.

It’s problem solving, it’s the art of figuring it out.
The term psychological term for it is resilience.

Last weekend, I was moving things out of the garage into a new shed because the old shed was torn down by a utility company because it had been installed originally on their easement (not by us).

So, all the shed-stuff went into the garage next to it’s siblings the garage-stuff, so we had too much stuff in too little space and it was not great. Everyone should have these problems.

Boo-hoo, Poor Me

While we’re doing that my son lets me know that the basement is flooding. A cracked pipe water pipe from the winter leaked water into the basement while we were power washing outdoor furniture.

I really didn’t want to be dealing with this. This time was targeted for doing the garage/shed thing so we could get ready to host and now we’re flooded.

My attitude wasn’t great. I caught myself getting angry at the situation instead of working on solving the problem - angry at myself, the expense, the time wasted, everything that needed to be done. Boo-hoo. Poor me.

My son looked at me and said, ‘This is awful. Let’s make it fun-bad.’

Within a few minutes we were crawling around the soaked carpet, tearing it up and getting it out. It was fun-bad.

Fun-Bad

In the event business, I’m used to figuring things out and making the best of bad situations, but in this case, my thoughts slipped into a less than helpful mindset.

After my son prompted me out, the work went by quickly. In live events, you have to deal with situations all the time, so falling into an unproduction mindset stood out to me.

Resilience

This wasn’t a life-or-death problem.
Why did I react negatively initially instead of getting on with it?

What is the name of the mindset that figures things out?
The word is resilience.

That’s it! Go figure. I thought it’d be something fancy, but it’s not.
Just plain ol’ resilience. 'Get on with it.' as my Brit friend would say.

Make the best of a bad situation.
Make it fun-bad.

19/03/2024

Selling Principles 101 - Freelancing in the Event Industry & Describing Your Business to Aunt Joan

This is my Aunt Joan, my Godmother.

She sends me handwritten letters every month with clipped newspaper stories, crossword puzzles and colored pencil drawings. She’s lovely.

But when I stepped down from my staff job recently, and went into business for myself, she was worried.

‘What are you going to do for money!?’ she asked.

I went on and on about the corporate event business and how a lot of work is done by freelancers for different roles especially for the jobs I do like project managing, supporting breakout rooms, on-site encoding, video switching, producing, and managing hybrid events and webcasts…

She cut me off. She said…

‘Look, I don’t know what any of that means. I just need you to tell me what you are going to do clearly, so I know what to pray for.’

I understood. She needed the elevator speech.

There was an extended benefit. For my own clarity, or for business copy on a webpage, or in talking to future customers, I had to be able to explain it clearly (and quickly) to Aunt Joan.

So, I worked on the language, and made it a mouthful, not a platter full of word salad.

Here’s what v1 looked like…

I am an on-site encoding engineer for hybrid and virtual events, I manage projects and support breakouts, and I develop business for the corporate event industry.

She liked that.
The super distilled version, v2, was…

I tech, manage and sell for the corporate event business…but that was too lean.

It’s hard enough to explain what we do in the corporate event business, but I workshopped the Aunt Joan Model – v1, this past weekend at a family get-together, and it played well - lots of head nodding and non-verbal affirmations, which was good. I needed people to get it enough.

I had anticipated this, and prepared my story as best I could before getting started, but when I was asked by Aunt Joan, I was caught off and fell a little short.

If you are considering going on your own, or updating your product and service mix, I would encourage thinking of explaining your business to Aunt Joan, a variation of the elevator speech, as a useful mental model for communicating your business clearly and getting closer to the sale.

Erik J Anderson LLC