Chicago is My Home

30
Jan

‘Contraption’ Examines Mad-Scientist Intersection Between Invention, Insanity

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Theater

CHICAGO – There’s a fine line between being batty and being brilliant. If there’s anything the world’s most brilliant inventors have taught us, it’s that most world-altering creators blurred that very line or visited the crazy farm before the world acknowledged their genius.

Generated by a thought current from the Christian Bale film “The Prestige,” previous writer and first-time Chicago theater director Bilal Dardai created “Contraption” so society’s often-portrayed mad scientist could question the burdens and the blessings of his own devices.

In his Chicago play at The Neo-Futurarium, Dardai examines a titular character like we’ve seen in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” who is part “nutty,” part “absent-minded” and perhaps “sobered by tales of arrogant inventors who should have known better than to clone velociraptors” all while being made aware of his fanatical nature.

It wouldn’t stretch your imagination to imagine the passionate rage inherent in both Thomas Edison when he was creating direct current and Nikola Tesla when he was competing with alternating current. You could imagine they’d become so fixated on their creative divinations that missing meals or forgetting to bathe wouldn’t be alien.

But would they notice? Would their aptitude to blaze a path completely unknown to the world exceed their own ability to recognize the personal costs of their actions?

Are these people ever content or do they live a life full of frustration, failure, regret and loneliness? Are they just like the rest of us but shoved to an extreme? Dardai realizes: “How much difference is there between an inventor, an artist and somebody experiencing hallucinations? All three see things that aren’t there.”

In a vaudeville-style, screwball-comedy format, Chicago actor Kurt Chiang is Dardai’s science puppet who’s haunted by being forced to question his own sanity. Like real-life predecessor Wallace Carothers (the inventor of nylon), Chiang’s “Figure A” character also carries a vial of cyanide around his neck in preparation for suicide. Would he die for his pursuit for perfection?

Chicagoan Erik Newman sets him on a quest for the answer through the design of a convoluted machine that performs a hilariously simple action. Chiang’s perfectly panicky, unnerved character builds Newman’s pre-designed contraption before your very eyes.

While we won’t reveal whether the doohickey works or what it’s designed to do, the very action of creating the doodad sends Chiang on the brink of insanity and the border of bliss. He’s goaded by an antagonist (played by Joe Dempsey), guided by a curious conscience (Dina Connolly) and aided by an accomplice (Dana Dardai) in erecting a thingamabob he himself doesn’t understand all because he think his destiny is to do so.

Scripted into motion by his four human stage props, Dardai brings to life a wildly entertaining and thought-provoking play that’s cognizant of its own reality and consistent with the intersection between innovation and insanity. We’re left sympathetic to the dual-edged sword of genius and we’re reminded to respect so much we enjoy that came at such great cost.

“Contraption” runs through March 1, 2008 at The Neo-Futurarium at 5153 N. Ashland in Chicago. 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Tickets cost $15.

By Adam Fendelman

30
Jan

250 Free Tickets Available For Advance Chicago Screening of ‘The Spiderwick Chronicles’

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Film

We just received word that 250 advance-screening tickets are now available for a free Chicago screening of “The Spiderwick Chronicles”. These tickets will surely go quickly, so if you’re interested in this film, follow the steps below with haste.

This Chicago screening is on Feb. 12, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. at AMC River East 21 (322 E. Illinois St.).

“The Spiderwick Chronicles” is suitable for parents and their children ages eight and up. These tickets are being offered by GoFobo.com in partnership with FilmMetro.com.

You’re allowed up to one guest. As tickets are given on a first-come, first-served basis, you are advised to arrive early to the theater. Here’s how to snag your free pass:

1) Go to http://www.gofobo.com/rsvp
2) Enter RSVP code FMTO9679
3) Create an account
4) Print your tickets
5) Attend the screening

By Adam Fendelman

29
Jan

Salaries Rise in Chicago Technology Firms, Other News of Interest

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Technology

There is still money in technology. A survey released last week by the Illinois Information Technology Association (ITA) showed a forecast of significant salary increases across the board for workers and managers at Chicago technology firms. Of the 119 organizations queried, 83 percent expected staff salaries to increase greater than the rate of inflation.

On average, respondents predicted a 12.2 percent salary increase for staff positions and a 10.7 percent increase for managers. The survey revealed that the average salary for a CIO or CTO from participating companies was $204,000 in 2007 while their directors of sales took home on average $208,000. The survey can be downloaded here.

Bits & Bytes

TECH cocktail returns to Chicago on Feb. 21 with another soirée at John Barleycorn in Wrigleyville. The free, mostly quarterly networking event attracts entrepreneurs, investors and technology executives seeking liquidity in both the sale of company assets and multiple libations. To register and learn more, visit here.

Songza – the online jukebox launched in the fall of 2007 by Chicago-based Humanized, Inc. – in early Jan. 2008 expanded its catalog to include 28 million songs available for free and on demand. Additionally, Humanized founder Aza Raskin and two other employees have joined Mozilla Labs to work on the Firefox browser.

Sarah Spain – the Lake Forest, Ill. native who a year ago attempted to auction herself on eBay in exchange for Super Bowl tickets to see her beloved Chicago Bears – has signed on for a trial run with Playboy SIRIUS Radio to host its Bedtime Sports program. Bedtime Sports can be heard on SIRIUS channel 198.

By Brad Spirrison

29
Jan

Reporter’s Notebook: An Entrepreneurial Stimulus in Chicago

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Business, Technology

Innovation doesn’t fluctuate with market gyrations and few new ideas are generated from a cut in interest rates or rebates from Uncle Sam. A prolonged down economy, however, can have a positive impact on new business development. As corporations reduce their headcounts, talented professionals have more incentives to start something on their own.

“When the macro economy declines, entrepreneurialism is on the incline,” said John Noel, who on Jan. 21 was named president of the Illinois Technology Development Alliance (ITDA). “People get laid off and then want to start their own companies.”

Noel – who is 41 and grew up in Hillside, Ill. – made a Bud Selig-like transition from prolonged interim president to head honcho of the ITDA. He believes his group, which spun out of the Illinois Coalition in 2005, can provide performance-enhancing opportunities for entrepreneurs by introducing them to public- and private-capital sources and by offering advice on strategy and sales development.

The nine-employee ITDA, which has offices at 549 W. Randolph and the DuPage National Technology Park in West Chicago, is funded in part via contracts with NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense and the Small Business Administration.

The group puts on quarterly Monday Morning Meetings that showcase new business plans to local investors and help larger corporations like Caterpillar bring new technology-based divisions to the market. Noel – who previously directed the NASA Illinois Commercialization Center – says the ITDA will be more active in partnering with local organizations and universities along with other “more visible” changes.

“I don’t know how well known the ITDA has been over the past several years,” Noel said. “It is time to get more integrated.”

The ITDA is not alone in chartering new waters in 2008. TiE Midwest, which is part of a not-for-profit global network that fosters innovation and entrepreneurship, earlier in Jan. 2008 named Kristi Lafleur as its new executive director. Previously chief of staff for Jack Lavin at the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity, Lafleur believes economic recovery should start at home.

“As we are seeing some tumultuous activity in the U.S. markets, there is a tremendous opportunity for us to focus on homegrown companies that have the ability to grow into global companies,” Lafleur said.

Lafleur – who is 33 and also advises the University of Chicago Hospitals – previously was the Midwest director for the Council for Regional Equity and a managing director for Wilhelm & Conlon Public Strategies. The Nebraska native has a strong background in helping entrepreneurs access capital in underserved markets.

One of her missions with TiE Midwest is to better connect the Chicago chapter with the group’s international initiatives through mentorship programs and educational and networking events.

By Brad Spirrison

25
Jan

Podcast: Chicago’s ‘Check, Please!’ Extending Tech Arms

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Food, Podcast, Technology, Television

CHICAGO – In this podcast, Adam Fendelman and Brad Spirrison discuss Chicago TV show “Check, Please!” and how it’s extending its tech arms.

Listen now!

By Adam Fendelman

25
Jan

Chicago Cubs Sell Off New Box Seats to Highest Bidder

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Business, Sports

The new 70 box seats along the third-base line at Wrigley Field will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. In the past, comparable seats on the right-field side have been sold at a set price.

The auction will involve a corporate sponsor. The exact details of the auction are expected to be announced in a couple weeks. It has not yet been determined if the box seats will be sold on an individual game basis or as a whole season package.

The revenue to be generated from the sale is expected to exceed $1 million and could generate even more funds from the corporate sponsor.

By Stephanie Huls

25
Jan

Chicago Home Sales See Growth, Illinois Home Sales See Decline

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Business, Real Estate

While single-family home sales nationwide have seen the steepest decline in 40 years, Chicago median home prices have not been affected by national trends. In Illinois, home prices fell 0.05 percent while Chicago real estate sales grew about 2.4 percent for the year.

Though there was growth in sales, there was a decline in the number of sales. Sales fell 20.5 percent on the year and 33.2 percent for December.

By Stephanie Huls

25
Jan

Sears Holdings in Chicagoland Plans to Reorganize Units

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Business

Sears in Chicagoland – blaming a slowdown in the housing market, consumer credit fears and competition growth – will reorganize to try and invigorate the slumping retailer.

The restructuring will create different units of management for its real-estate division and the Diehard and Craftsman brands. The retailer, which includes Kmart stores, has faced stiff competition from Wal-Mart in recent years. The details of the reorganization are not yet clear for more than 3,800 stores nationwide.

By Stephanie Huls

25
Jan

Employees of Chicago Corporations Face Wide-Ranging Layoffs

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Business, Technology

Four Chicago-area companies have cut employees in the past week. The layoffs come during U.S. economic recessionary concerns.

The Sun-Times Media Group laid off 17 reporters and editors at the Chicago Sun-Times on Wednesday via phone calls. The new pink slips bring total layoffs for the newspaper in recent memory to 36. The cuts come as a way for the company to try to return to profitability.

Telecommunications company Westell Technologies announced on Thursday that it will be letting go of 58 employees. The Aurora, Ill.-based company began outsourcing overseas last May to help cut costs. Shares of Westell rose 2 cents per share after the announcement.

One group of employees hit hard from layoffs in Illinois is those employed by electronic components maker Methode Electronics. The company announced on Thursday the cuts of 700 employees in its domestic automotive division. The company said in an effort to remain competitive it must move operations away from the U.S.

Another telecommunications company – Telltabs in Naperville, Ill. – will layoff 225 employees to save on costs. The company previously laid off 125 people in Sept. 2007.

By Stephanie Huls

22
Jan

Chicago Technology Advisor Dick Reck Has a Musical Heart

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Business, Technology

CHICAGO – After spending 30 years advising several of Chicago’s most prominent technology companies as a partner with KPMG, Dick Reck today is as likely to focus on R&B as he is P&L (profit and loss).

The guy who helped Andrew Filipowski take Platinum Technology, Inc. public and later sell the software company to Computer Associates for more than $3.5 billion in 1999 is now happy to work for relative beer money as the manager of the decades-old country rock band Heartsfield.

“It is not very financially rewarding, but it is a labor of love,” said Reck, 58, who left KPMG in 2002. “I’m an old rock and roller from the 1960s. I set aside music for 30 years.”

Though Reck first saw Heartsfield play live in the 1970s, he didn’t meet the band’s frontman (Perry Jordan) until a few years ago. Heartsfield has performed live with the likes of Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac and more recently Lyle Lovett.

The group mostly plays in the Chicago area at places like FitzGerald’s in Berwyn and the Beverly Arts Center of Chicago.

Reck does everything from helping the band book gigs to pushing for the release of its next CD. He added: “Making music is like painting with oils and writing code. You just need to say ‘done’. Perry has a number of songs that are really good. We just need to finish them and put our marketing plan together.”

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