We will have printed copies available, as well as digital copies on memory sticks, sponsored by NWN. You will also
be able to download an on-line digital copy after January 25th.

Catalyst 2012 is full of amazing articles. We can’t thank all our
contributors enough! We thought you might like a few excerpts
from just SOME of the many articles.

Be sure to register for the Membership Meeting and pick up your
new issue of Catalyst. Below is a small sample of just a few of
the many great articles.
Enjoy!

Supporting the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
Vic Gatto • Managing Director at Jumpstart Foundry • Partner at
Solidus Company

“As most technologists know, the barriers to entrepreneurship
have crumbled over the last few years.  Today, it is easier and cheaper
to launch a company due to many factors that include: open source
software, lean start-up methodology, cloud based computing,
distribution through exiting consumer networks.”

Belmont University and Nashville Technology Council Get Social
Steve Chandler • www.chandlerthinks.wordpress.com

“We were embarking on the first ever social media marketing class for the Belmont University Massey
School of Business.  If we are going to create an environment that fosters the principles of social media,
such as sharing and complete transparency, then live in-class tweeting was fair game.  In fact, we
designated an official student representative to update the official Facebook page each class session. 
Our Twitter hashtag was #BelmontSoMe.”

Protect What You Have as Best You Can
Robert Preininger • www.survivalpartners.biz

“Uncertainty:  We all have to deal with it every day in our personal and professional life. Production
workers, managers and executives all share a common threat to their physical and financial wellbeing. 
The world is a risky place to live and if that wasn’t bad enough, add to a risky world the fact that time
never stands still.  Threats to family, business and our nation are continually evolving in complexity,
emerging from ever changing natural, technological and man-made points of origin. 
So what can be done to protect what is important to us?”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – October 6, 2011 – The Nashville Technology Council today announced that Mark Rowan, President of Griffin Technology, will be the keynote speaker at the 2011 Technology Awards Gala. The Gala, which features a “red carpet” entrance, VIP reception, dinner and presentation of 12 prestigious awards, is being held on October 27th at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Downtown Nashville.

Liza Lowery Massey, President and CEO of Nashville Technology Council, commented, “We are delighted that Mark agreed to join us at the Gala and make our keynote remarks. He is a delightful, creative person who typifies success in Nashville’s tech community.”

Among the awards are recognition of individuals as CIO, CTO, CISO, Programmer/Engineer, IT Student, and Innovator of the Year, with organizations being recognized for their efforts in being green and promoting the use of technology. NTC also recognizes a member of the tech community for volunteerism. Awards presented at the Gala include Start-up Company of the Year and Social Media Person of the Year.    The Technology Lifetime Achievement award rounds out the event by recognizing an individual who has made significant contributions that have a lasting impact on the technology field.

“It’s a great honor to be invited to speak at the Awards Gala,” said Mark Rowan, President of Griffin Technology. “I look forward to sharing some thoughts on the current tech climate and exploring how Nashville’s tech community will help shape the future.”

This year’s Gala is sponsored by XO Communications. In addition to individual award sponsors, Lincoln is sponsoring the Gala’s VIP Reception and tw telecom is sponsoring the After Party.
The Nashville Technology Council is a nonprofit organization devoted to helping the Middle Tennessee technology community succeed. Membership is open to technology companies, technology employers, service providers, educational institutions, and non-profit companies interested in supporting the growth of technology businesses and those businesses that rely on technology in Middle Tennessee. To learn more, visit www.technologycouncil.com.

Founded on Paul Griffin’s kitchen table in 1992, Griffin Technology Inc., is today one of the world’s foremost creators of accessories for home, mobile, and personal technology. Unique products such as iTrip®, PowerMate®, iFM®, iMic® and Evolve® Wireless Speaker System have broken new ground in consumer electronics and created loyal fans the world over. Today, Griffin products are conceived, designed and developed in-house and continue to push the envelope of the industry they helped create. Learn more about Griffin’s entire range of ingenious designs at www.griffintechnology.com, facebook.com/griffintech and twitter.com/griffintech.

Download the Press Release here.

Kris Rattner is the man behind the video for the NTC Awards. He generously donates his time and talent to the Nashville Technology Awards and makes us look pretty awesome! Recently, I got a “sneak peek” at what he has in store for the 2011 “Feel The Beat” Gala. I don’t want to give too much away, but I saw some of the videos he is working on for the NTC Awards Gala, and they look amazing. Needless to say, I was impressed and I wanted to know more about what he does and how he does it.

How did you get started in video production and post production? Was it something you learned on your own or went to school for?

It sounds like a cliché, but things happen when you least expect them too. In 1994 was in college working at a comedy club adjacent to the University of Missouri-Columbia. The club owner needed a way to transition between live television and the stage so I volunteered my time to experiment with video. I got a demo copy of a video editing program, however I didn’t own a video camera, so I ended up flying the club logo in a few times using a different transitions and overlaying some slap bass for a sound track. The club owner loved it and began using it immediately.  One night the owner of the area’s top production company was in the audience, saw the simple work I created, and asked me to visit his studio the following week. One week later I was producing intro bumpers for some of his top clients. Within a year, I was trained on Lightwave and Adobe After Effects  mixing  those post production tools with studio footage to produce full production spots. Finally, by year two I was producing, shooting, and editing national broadcast commercials. I realized that I had a unique ability to generate emotional responses from my clients through my work and decided to form a company focusing on the post production side of the business, though it wasn’t until 2011 that the company officially became a registered corporation known as Dreamline.

The name Dreamline goes back to 1997 when I needed to name my hobby production studio to bid on some work. I had just watched a movie produced by DreamWorks and Newline Cinema, the two leading production houses at the time, and then it hit me. Take half the name of each and combine into one name. Dreamline was born! There was a time when I thought about changing the name to my last  name, but a very good friend (we’ll call her T ), really helped me see the uniqueness of Dreamline and the name stayed!

I actually went to school for Computer Engineering and was convinced I was going to develop a microprocessor that would interface with our brains. My lack of interest in differential equations and imaginary numbers helped me see that my future was in my passion, which was in production. Ironically this passion wouldn’t be reached right away either. I spent 17 years in various positions of Sales Management in companies like Sprint, Time Warner Telecom, and Comcast before taking the plunge as a business owner. I think this experience really sets my understand of company branding and messaging apart from traditional production houses and teams. By taking what I learned about my abilities early on and combining them with my corporate understanding, I can create impactful experiences for my clients. That’s a very important trait to have in today’s social branded world.

How did you get involved making the Awards videos for the Tech Council?

I joined the NTC in 2007 as a committee member of the Awards Gala. In the meeting I heard all the “wants” for a new type of tech award program. Past shows had become stale using static PowerPoint as the primary media but I had a different idea. My idea was to turn this into an Academy awards night with  graphics and sound that will literally knock your socks off.  It was 2 more years (and a dozen name changes later) before that show became a reality. Naturally, I offered my talent up to create the content for the show, but soon realized that in order for the show to display properly I needed control, so I became the show director. This role is similar to the guy or gal who calls the camera shots at an NFL game in the control booth, but as you know the shows are flawless, (knock on wood) we’ve had a 100% success rate with them, plus since the first show, they remain the most talked about event in the NTC history. Unfortunately, we keep getting tasked with raising the bar. This year is by far the best graphical experience you’ve ever seen. I’m not sure what we will do in 2012!

What inspires you when making the videos for the NTC Award Gala and other events?

I’ve been asked many times over the years to help teach our youth to do what I do. That inspires me to continue to look for new ways to create experiences that move people. I believe our passion is what we are here to do, my passion is to create experiences through video. The NTC Award Gala  and some of the other events that I produce are game changers in their space.

What software do you use for creating and editing the videos?

In my studio I have what is known in the industry as a mini render-farm. The farm is really an 80 inch rack filled with 9 Intel i7 servers all processing in tandem. This gives me the ability to render at resolutions up to 1080p in near real time. Related to my software the post production animation is created with Adobe After Effects and more recently Cinema 4D. I became master trained in AE in 2007 which opened up more opportunities for me to educate beginners into the business. Cinema 4D is a recent addition to my portfolio which has become a rival to the popular 3D Studio and Lightwave  programs of the 90’s, though in my opinion Lightwave and 3DS still produce some of the best Kinetic animation today. I’ve become proficient on the AVID and in Premiere Pro over the years, but found the professional version of Sony’s Vegas extremely efficient. That may surprise a lot of people reading this, that I settled on a prosumer application to render my final videos however I believe one should use the tool that best suits them and the job. Vegas Pro has a lot of features, which when used correctly, can outwit, outlast, and outperform many of the larger fish in the sea. It may also surprise you to know that the Awards Gala is run 100% directly out of Vegas. I was actually contacted by Sony to demonstrate this to a group of their engineers because they never saw anyone operate the program like that, and  it’s a piece of cake for the application. It’s like having a 256 channel video switcher at my finger tips for 1 ten thousandths the cost!

The videos I’ve seen all have music or interviews with people. Are there other programs you use for sound recording and editing?

I use Sony ACID to create many of audio tracks that require special effects however most of my audio is purchased through a service to keep our copyright and  artist friends happy.

Once again, I have to say that I was impressed with your skills, as I am sure others will be. How can people get in touch with you?

There are a couple of ways. Our website: www.dreamlinecinema.com

Or by email: Kristopher.rattner@dreamlinecinema.com

Or give me a call: 615-887-7141

The 2011 Nashville Technology Awards Finalists are as follows:

CIO of the Year, Sponsored by KPMG
• Andy Flatt, HealthSpring
• Brian Loflin, Iasis Healthcare
• Kim Lewis, HCA
• Mark Gilliam, Ardent Health

CISO of the Year, Sponsored by Core BTS
• Craig Zimberg, BMI
• Kyle Duke, HealthSpring

Company of the Year, Sponsored by XO Communications
• Centresource
• CHS
• LetterLogic
• Qualifacts
• Teknetex
• Vaco

CTO of the Year, Sponsored by Vaco
• David Stevens, LetterLogic
• Gregg Boyle, Qualifacts
• Janice Malaszenko, Nissan

Green Company of the Year, Sponsored by HealthSpring
• Dsi
• HPA
• Novacopy
• Sims Recycling

Innovator of the Year, Sponsored by Healthcare Productivity Automation
• Bill Moran, Williamson Medical Center
• Bill Grana, Pure Safety
• John Pisciotta, MusicSynk
• Matt Reed, redpepper
• Stephen Hau, Shareable Ink

IT Student of the Year, Sponsored by HP
• Rachelle Holloman, Belmont
• Jordan Bennett, Belmont

Social Media/ Blogger of the Year, Sponsored by RJ Young
• Bernard Health
• Lyndsay Rush, Centresource

Software Programmer of the Year, Sponsored by Comcast
• Brandon Valentine, Centresource
• Daniel Mendek, Healthcare Productivity Automation
• Matthew Motsinger, LetterLogic
• Michael Golden, LetterLogic
• Rickey South, CHS
• Billy Wayne Boyte, Transformations

Start-Up Company of the Year, Sponsored by Baker Donelson
• Dataium
• Gubbins Light & Power Company
• Healthcare Productivity Automation
• Mobile Active Defense
• Parental Health
• Rockhouse Partners
• Stratasan

Volunteer of the Year, Sponsored by HCA
• Andy Flatt, HealthSpring
• Haden McWhorter, Healthways
• Jerome Oglesby, Deloitte

Congratulations to all our nominees!

David Jarrard- “ACOs Today”

Keith Cox- “Statewide HIE”

Harry Reynolds- “ACO Considerations”

Online registration is closed, but don’t let that stop you.  You can pay at the door with cash or check!

Red Rooster

1530 Demonbreun Street

5:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.

Please bring cash or check only.

PARKING: We have secured LOT R at LP Field for your parking convenience.  The lot is just across the Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge from our office.  You do not have to park here, but is a free alternative to downtown parking and will probably be much easier in light of the Predators game going on.   Please visit ParkItDowntown if you would like to view a map to all areas available to park in the downtown area, including Lot R at LP Field.

5:30-7:30 p.m.

105 Broadway
Suite 200
Nashville, TN 37201

Take the elevator to the rooftop and we’ll see you there!

Thank you to our Sponsor:

Nashville, Tenn. (April 26, 2011) – The Nashville Technology Council will host its 11th annual Technology Nashville Conference from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, May 4th at the Nashville Convention Center.

Technology Nashville is a celebration of the thriving technology industry in Tennessee, and its purpose is to highlight the region’s technology companies, in addition to showcasing tech innovation, talent acquisition, and entrepreneurship. This full day conference features two industry renowned keynote speakers, economic development updates, and breakout sessions highlighting technology from both an enterprise perspective and an entrepreneur perspective in four key regional industries: health care, transactions, music/publishing, and commerce.

Featured speakers include Harry Jacobson, Managing Partner of TriStar Technology Ventures, music industry expert Hunter Williams, Senior Vice President, Strategic Development/Distribution and Research Operations, SESAC, and Dr. John Doulis, Assistant Professor Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University.

Technology Nashville is being underwritten by Zycron (Platinum) and our Gold Sponsors include Comcast Business Class, TWTelecom, and Level 3.

“Technology Nashville is the premier technology conference in the region,” said J. Tod Fetherling, President/CEO of the Nashville Technology Council. “The conference represents the best of Nashville.  It is truly representative of the city’s thriving culture.” 

In addition to a line-up of speakers, the conference will feature an IT exposition with over 25 Middle Tennessee companies, showcasing the latest technology products and services for businesses.  The day will conclude with a reception at the Bridge Entertainment Center at the Renaissance.

Last year, this event attracted over 350 technology industry professionals.  This year, we expect an even higher attendance.  To register, click here.

Joe Ferro founded the company in August of 1998. While Mr. Ferro was working as a hospital revenue cycle consultant, ClaimTrust started as a conversation between Mr. Ferro and his wife Kathy, a healthcare software developer. Together they pioneered web-based automated claims and coding compliance, which is now widely accepted in the healthcare industry. Prior to ClaimTrust, Mr. Ferro worked for QuadraMed, Zimmerman & Associates, Inc., and Health Communication Services, a division of Trigon Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Mr. Ferro received his B.B.A. in economics from Middle Tennessee State University.