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Accomplishments

Accomplishments I'm proud of.

2023​

  • Asked to play the role of Teddy Roosevelt in the Disney musical "Newsies". The original actor left 9 weeks into a 12-week rehearsal schedule.

    With no prior acting experience I stepped in and went through an intensive three week course in acting, character development, memorizing lines, stage presence, and voice lessons.

    This was a professional production with a cast of 40 and a crew of 35 (costumes, lighting, orchestra, stage, etc.).

    A very satisfying experience in which I learned a lifetime of lessons, mostly from the cast.

    Acting is a learned skill, just like construction, software development, or surgery. Mastery comes from years of intentional practice.

2014​

2013​

  • Spoke to 400+ participants (in person) at Ignite, in Minneapolis, where the format is 20 slides in 5 minutes (15 seconds per slide).

    I explained the finances behind auto leasing and how to structure a lease that's satisfactory for both parties (the consumer and the dealer).

2012​

  • Toastmaster of the year award (Twin Cities, MN area).

    The Twin Cities Toastmasters club, which had been in existence since 1942, dwindled from 30 to 4 active members.

    I was instrumental in growing the club to 20 active members. Through a combination of leadership, speaking, and growing the club I was awarded the Toastmaster of the Year award.

    The club received the President's Distinguished Club award, which is achieved by roughly 10% of the 15,000 clubs worldwide.

2010​

  • My supply chain project took 3rd place in 3M's yearly innovation awards. The award competes with new products, patents, manufacturing innovations, and business process optimizations across all of 3M.

  • Featured colloquia speaker at Augsburg College (Minneapolis, MN). Colloquia is an academic conference or seminar.

    Spoke about being an entrepreneur, the challenges of perseverance, fund raising, and going from a concept to a fully-formed business.

2007​

  • Speaker at the PhoCusWright travel conference in Orlando, FL.

    The conference includes senior executives and key influencer's from travel, tourism, and hospitality sectors.

    I spoke about the challenges of improving the flight search experience by using 200,000 times more data than other search sites (Expedia, Priceline, et al.).

2006​

  • Technology I developed for Flyspy in 2003-2005 (pre funding) and 2008-2009, (post funding) was featured in TechCrunch.

  • Speaker at the PhoCusWright travel conference in Los Angeles, CA.

    The conference includes senior executives and key influencer's from travel, tourism, and hospitality sectors.

    I spoke about improving the flight search experience by using 200,000 times more data than other search sites (Expedia, Priceline, et al.).

  • Speaker at the annual Minnesota Venture Conference.

    I spoke about the challenges startups have when entering markets with large and well-financed incumbents.

2005​

  • Third engagement at Cargill (Istanbul, Turkey) to mentor senior executives from around the world.

    Championed by Cargill's Vice Chairman.

  • Second engagement at Cargill (Minneapolis, MN) to mentor senior executives from around the world.

    Championed by Cargill's Vice Chairman.

2004​

  • Filed multiple patents applicable to computing airfares and data visualization.

  • First engagement at Cargill (Minneapolis, MN) to mentor senior executives.

    My role focused on challenging a large organization to embrace an entrepreneurial mindset. The goal is to enable individuals and small teams to try new ideas and approaches. Senior executive need to be comfortable with harvesting learnings from failed attempts.

  • Speaker at the annual Minnesota Venture Conference.

2002​

  • Voting member of the InfiniBand Hardware Specification committee, which sets industry standards.

Pre-2000​

  • Climbed Gannet Peak (Wind River range, Wyoming) in February and made it to the summit. This was a 28-day expedition. It's 30 miles each way (winter skiing with full packs and supplies) from the trail head to the base, 17,000 feet of elevation gain, and most of the trip is spent above 10,000 feet.

    Gannett Peak is 13,810 feet (4,210 meters) and is the highest peak in the Rocky Mountains outside of Colorado. Gannett Glacier, on the north side, is the largest single glacier in the American portion of the Rocky Mountains.

    With the exception of Denali in Alaska, Gannett Peak is the most isolated and, arguably, one of the most difficult high-point climbs in the United States.

    Gannett Peak is in the heart of a remote and rugged wilderness. Because of this, its elevation, and extreme weather, it is often considered by mountaineers to be third most difficult high point to climb, after Denali in Alaska and Granite Peak in Montana.

    These two articles bring out the magnitude of climbing Gannett Peak.