SAIC Corporate Partners Luncheon

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saic corp ptnts lunch

I thoroughly enjoy photographing events for The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Not only do I reconnect with one of my Alma maters, I also meet fascinating people.

This particular event was the Corporate Partner’s Luncheon. Prior to the scheduled programming, I wandered photographing various guests mingling. I came upon a gentleman who asked me about the retro look of my camera and what it was all about. We spent a few minutes chatting and he asked me for advice on a camera for himself. Twenty minutes later when he was introduced as a panelist, I realized that he was Charles Adler, a co-founder of Kickstarter !

Aeroterm at O’Hare International Airport

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aeroterm

This was an adrenaline charged assignment; I had only 90 seconds to capture the most important aspect of it.

My client, Aeroterm, is a property developer of cargo facilities at the largest airports throughout the United States and Canada. Aeroterm had recently completed a $35 million cargo facility, one of the largest for DHL, at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. A dedication was taking place and I was hired to cover the event on behalf of Aeroterm. My primary directive was to be certain to capture several images of the Aeroterm executive with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Under normal circumstances, this would be an easy assignment. However, our executive and the Mayor would only be together for about 90 seconds or so. To further complicate matters, there was a hoard of photographers and television station crews covering the event. I was now in the middle of a press scrum. Commodities traders in a live auction pit are more genteel.

While competing with a group of journalists to photograph the Mayor was true fun, the second adrenaline rush was even more exhilarating. It’s not often that as an adult, I experience a memory of the innocence, wonder and excitement of myself at five years old. Stepping onto the tarmac to photograph big beautiful airplanes outside of Aeroterm’s facility made me as happy as my child self at Christmas.

Rise Capital

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It’s not difficult to walk away feeling impressed when meeting Nazar Yasin. He holds a combined J.D. and MBA from Northwestern University. He’s the founder of Rise Capital, a venture capital firm that funds internet related business within emerging markets. He previously was a co-head of European internet coverage at Goldman Sachs.

Nazar hired me to cover The Entrepreneurship Law Conference at Northwestern Law School. He moderated the event, delivered a keynote speech and was recognized for his work and contribution.

As robust as his business credentials and accomplishments may be, what impressed me most about Nazar were two things: his enthusiasm for launching MarcoPolo Learning, and his gracious demeanor towards everyone he met.

MarcoPolo Learning is a mobile-based, early childhood education company. The company serves greater than 5 million children in more than 150 countries, creating premium animated content for pre-school aged children. The curriculum covers core literacy and math skills within a full STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) curriculum.* The applicaiton is unique in that it encourages parental participation. I sensed that Nazar invested more than money into this company. Clearly, he’s emotionally invested and passionate about offering an educational head start for everyone at a reasonable cost.

I observed him interacting with people ranging form AirBnB executives to graduate students. In each case, he was gracious, approachable, an outstanding listener and willing to extend himself. I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with him. His approach reminded me of how important it is to respect everyone we meet in our daily interactions.

* Source:marcopololearning.com

rise capital

Raising Cane’s

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Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers are new to Chicago Metro but very popular in the South. The chain, founded in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1996, now consists of over 370 locations.

https://www.raisingcanes.com/It’s a unique corporate culture with chants, cheers and team camaraderie. I photographed their first two store openings in Chicago and on both occasions, found long lines hours before the grand opening. The first customer in line receives a complimentary meal for a year. Once opened, the restaurant was packed through lunch.

 

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