Speakers shine for N.B.'s IT Rising Stars

Rising Stars has been a a major sponsor and contributor of Geeks on Ice over the years. It's a great mentorship program that has contributed to the career development of NB's best and brightest. Look for more news from GOI and Rising Stars in the future and I would encourage everyone to visit their website and become involved in this wonderfull program. www.risingstars.ca

Trevor Macausland
Geeks on Ice Organizer
W: 506-855-0005
H: 506-852-8096
Email: tmacausland@gmail.com
www.GeeksonIce.com


NB Telegraph-Journal | Technology
As published on page C4 on December 10, 2005

TECHNOLOGY
Speakers shine for N.B.'s IT Rising Stars
Subhead
By Kevin Barrett
Telegraph Journal

FREDERICTON - Jason MacLean arrived in Fredericton ready to roll.

Funny thing, he's been rolling for some time now, whether it was as the director of marketing for Poley Mountain, a senior marketing consultant with Innovatia or in his current role as an e-marketing manager with Aliant.

And it all revolves around information technology through the growth and potential of the Internet.

"The web is what floats my boat," said the 29-year-old Mr. MacLean, one of approximately 15 top knowledge industry talents who travelled to Fredericton Friday for the province's Rising Stars year-end event.

Earlier this year, Mr. MacLean, who was born in Bathurst, grew up in Sussex and now lives in Saint John, was selected one of the province's Rising Stars because his work with Innovatia.

As a result, he's been involved in regular on-line forums regarding issues in the industry, invited to events in Saint John and Fredericton to hear from voices of experience and recognized as a leader in a key sector of the economy.

For example, Friday the guest speakers were Dr. Nancy Mathis, CEO of the Fredericton-based Mathis Instruments, who spoke on innovation, and John Thompson, CEO of Enterprise Moncton, who discussed the retention of IT talent in New Brunswick.

In May, the rising stars travelled to Saint John where they heard from executives with T4G and CenterBeam.

"That is essential because I want to know how those companies developed, how they have succeeded and how I can apply that to my company," said Mr. MacLean.

The Rising Stars program is nearing the end of its third year, mentoring 37 of the brightest talent in the knowledge industry in that period.

It started in 2003, as an initiative developed by the Greater Moncton Knowledge Industry Network to recognize top talent in the industry, provide them with opportunities to learn from experts, such as Ms. Mathis and Mr. Thompson and to network with one another.

"They are narrow and very deep," said program chair Steve Palmer of the specific expertise each of the stars possesses.

"They are all very talented but they don't necessarily know what a colleague is doing in Moncton, Fredericton or Saint John," he said. "It is intended to allow IT people to get recognition, broaden their business knowledge and to learn from each other. I would view it as very successful."

Mr. MacLean has a number of great stories to share from his development of cusatomer relationship management application - salesforce.com - with Innovatia to his earlier work at Poley Mountain, when he gained true appreciation of the power of the Internet.

There, he helped intensify the marketing presence of the mountain on the web and the results were significant, with over 400-per-cent growth in web visits and, more importantly, a rise corresponding rise in visits and profits at the hill.

"It was amazing," he said. "We started to see the level of engagement and it was incredible."

The 15 Rising Stars were selected from a initial list of 30 finalists.

The other winners are Edgar Babineau of Fredericton (CGI Inc.); Dale Betts of Moncton (Propertygoys.com); Pam Chapman of Moncton (Atlantic Lottery Corporation); Amit Chattoraj of Moncton (OAO Technology Solutions); Betty DeMerchant of Moncton (OAO Technology Solutions); Denis Desrosiers of Paquetville (CIPA Inc); Greg Doyle of Saint John (CGI Inc.); Steve Fournier of Caraquet (federation des Caisses populaires acadiennes); Gino Legacy of Moncton (Pepsi Bottling Group); Christopher Mackay of Sackville (Tantramar Interactive Inc.); Gerlad Paulin of Shippagan (Caisse populaire de Shippagan); Mark Steeves of Moncton (DOVICO Software); Rob Stote of Moncton (Whitehill Technologies Inc.) and Kim Thompson of Moncton (OAO Technologies).



The GMKIN is a group of private sector companies working in the Knowledge Industry in the Greater Moncton region that have come together (with the help of Enterprise Greater Moncton) in an organized fashion to help promote the sector. GMKIN's mission is to ensure the continued health of the knowledge sector, to promote the human capital and other knowledge assets of the region and to foster innovation in the community.

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For further information please contact;

Stephen Palmer
Chair, Rising Star Program
506-855-0005
spalmer@whitehilltech.com

Nancy McGrath
Mentorship Chair, Rising Star Program
506-443-0838
nancy.mcgrath@cgi.com

Pictures from the event will follow...