People are still buzzing about
Inside Business’ Power 100 issue. It’s also spurred a lot of discussion about the Tech elite in town — and complaints that the industry was so underrepresented. So I asked tech leaders (via social media, blogs, e-mail, Web) who they considered Northeast Ohio’s most powerful techies.
I asked them to consider: Who do you follow on blogs, Twitter or other social media? When you brag about the Cleveland tech scene, who are your examples? When you need a tech answer or connection, who do you call?
More than 250 names poured in, which is good news for Northeast Ohio because that’s probably double the number I would have received just five years ago.
And most of the nominees can lay legitimate claim to a spot on the list. Sure, there was some self-promotion and ballot stuffing (you know who you are!) and some sucking up (er, loyal readers) that caused yours truly to be No. 3 in the popular vote (thanks!), but in general the submissions were well thought-out.
By far,
A.J. Hyland, CEO of Hyland Software, was mentioned most. With $119.7 million in revenue and more than 900 employees in 1998, Hyland Software ranks 198 on Software Magazine’s list of the world’s 500 largest software and service providers, jumping 15 spots from the year before.
But the list is not just a popularity contest. Each nomination was researched, discussed with others in the industry and categorized. What follows is my list of the top tech professionals in Northeast Ohio.
Legends
Their impact often came earlier in the tech revolution, but many are serial entrepreneurs who are very active.
Marc Canter, founder, Macromedia, current CEO of Broadband Mechanics;
Jim Cookinham, founder, NEOSA;
Ron Copfer, Fathom, now Cardiometrics;
Stephen McHale, Everstream, now Explorys Medical;
Mario Morino, Legent Corp., now Venture Philanthropy Partners;
Tim Mueller, Vantage One, now Capital Acceleration Partners’;
Charles Stack, Flashline, now working on a new media platform.
Business Prime
Philip Alexander, CEO, BrandMuscle;
Gary Baney, CEO, Boundless Flight;
Bill Bradfield, CEO, PerceptIS;
John Bukovnik, president, Easy2 Technologies;
Leslie Carruthers, president, The SearchGuru.Com;
Alex Desberg, sales and marketing director, Ohio.net;
Fred Franks, vice president of IT, FIT Technologies;
Mark Geyman, founder, OhioBiz;
Kevin Goodman, managing director, BlueBridge Networks;
John Hill, CEO, Aztek;
King Hill, CEO, DigiKnow;
Cathy Horton, principal and CEO, Beta Strategy Group;
A.J. Hyland, CEO, Hyland Software;
Packy Hyland Jr., CEO, Workflow;
Michael Keresman, president, CEO and chairman, CardinalCommerce;
Joe Lamantia, owner, e-Ventus;
Wayne Largent, CTO, IdeaStar; Sage Lewis, founder and president, SageRock;
Len Pagon and
Brad Wertz, Rosetta;
Steve Potash, CEO, OverDrive;
Dan Rose, partner, Metrics Marketing;
Blake Squires and
Christopher Celeste, founders, Playaway;
David Stack, developer, MusicStack;
Jason Therrien, CEO, Thunder::Tech;
Gabriel Torok, president, PreEmptive Solutions;
Michael Trebilcock, chairman and CEO, MCPc;
Miguel Zubizarreta, CTO, Hyland Software
Big Business
Philip Cola, vice president for research and technology, University Hospitals;
Rick Fearon, vice chairman and chief financial and planning officer, Eaton Corp.;
Martin Harris, CIO, Cleveland Clinic;
John Kundtz, senior business development executive and manager, IBM Cleveland;
Ray Voelker, CIO, Progressive
Educators
Hamid Abdollahian, director, Cisco Regional Training Academy;
Nick Berente, founder and director, The Qube Lab;
Roy Church, president, Lorain County Community College;
Jim D’Orazio, moderator, Noon at Nance, Cleveland State University;
Lev Gonick, vice president for IT services and CIO, Case Western Reserve University;
Jim Sage, vice president for IT, University of Akron;
Cyrus Taylor, dean, College of Arts and Sciences, CWRU;
Greg Wilson, associate vice president for regional development and strategic partnerships, Kent State University
‘Other’ Tech Players
Gil Van Bokkelen, chairman and CEO, Athersys Inc.;
Michael Burke, CEO, Imalux;
Paul DiCorleto, chairman, Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute;
Frank Douglas, president and CEO, BioInnovation Institute in Akron;
Joseph Jankowski, associate vice president for technology management, CWRU;
Keith Kerman, managing director, Primus;
Valdis Krebs, founder, orgnet.com;
Mark Low, managing director, Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center, Cleveland Clinic;
Fred Lisy, COO, and
Robert Schmidt, CEO, Orbital Research Inc.;
Richard Lubinski, president, Think Energy Management;
Jonathan Murray, managing director, Early Stage Partners;
Baiju Shah, president and CEO, BioEnterprise
Social Media/Web 2.0
Anita Campbell, CEO, Small Business Trends;
Heidi Cool, web strategist and designer, heidicool.com;
Michael DeAloia, business development, LNE Group;
Matt Dickman, senior vice president, digital marketing, Fleishman-Hillard;
Tom Eston, security blogger, spylogic.net;
Brad Kleinman, director of education, WorkSmart;
Jim Kukral, consultant;
Eric Meyer, principal consultant, Complex Spiral Consulting;
Thomas Mulready, founder, CoolCleveland;
George Nemeth, founder, Brewed Fresh Daily;
Jeff Rohrs, chief blogger, Subscribers Rule;
Chris Seper and
Mary Vanac, co-founders, MedCity News
Organizers and Professionals
Jim Cossler, CEO, Youngstown Business Incubator;
Michael Cremeans, senior vice president, Britton Gallagher & Associates;
JJ DiGeronimo, enterprise manager, VWware, and founder of Tech Savvy Women;
Warren Goldenberg, co-chair intellectual property & technology team, Hahn Loeser;
Ray Leach, CEO, JumpStart;
Dominic Litten, founder, Social Media Club – Cleveland;
Dan McMullen, IT practice chair, Calfee, Halter & Griswold;
Brad Nellis, director, NEOSA;
Scot Rourke, president and CEO, OneCommunity;
Jennifer Thomas, director, Civic Innovation Lab
Whew! Quite an impressive list. If Cleveland doesn’t prosper, it’s not because of a lack of tech leaders. Gotta go. A.J.’s on the line.
Tell entreprenerd Dan Hanson who he missed, and why, at
hanson@inside-business.com.