John David Balla
2080 W. Trail Blazer Dr.
Cottonwood, AZ 86336
928.300.7675
jballa@msn.com
Summation:I excel in solving complex problems because I love the challenge and have decades of
experience doing just that. I am not easily intimidated. Not afraid to roll up my sleeves, be it in an executive, upper-management, or “for hire” consultant capacity. With a very diverse background (spanning 30 years), including but not limited to, system integration, project management, marketing, legal, consulting, I am comfortable working with all levels within any hierarchy, be it technical, non-technical or otherwise. As I bring a myriad of horizontal and vertical skills unlike anyone I know, my talents are best suited in an environment that is dynamic; one that provides the requisite creative space so I can contribute to my full potential.
I am available for select freelance and employment opportunities.
Experience:
April-July 2015 Chief Operating Officer, Chief Technology Officer (acting), and Chief Marketing Officer (acting) for a daily fantasy sports startup company, BukBuk, Inc. Responsibilities included:
✓ Writing business and marketing plans
✓ Formulating financial models
✓ Evaluating various 3rd party vendors, i.e., data center, xml sports feeds, sports contests newsfeeds, software development
✓ Overseeing social media campaign, both free and organic
✓ Lead generation
✓ Wordpress CMS integration to .NET gaming software application
✓ Coordination between design team and development team
✓ PowerPoint presentations
✓ Press Releases
✓ Market Research
2001-Present Internet Marketer and Business Consultant: Leveraging my past experience as an eBusiness analyst and consultant (see below), I advise large and small companies alike in the following…
✓ Marketing Strategy and Planning
✓ Requirements Analysis, drafting RFPs, and vendor selection
✓ Systems analyses
✓ Implementation Planning and Product/Service Rollout
✓ Pricing Model and Analysis
✓ Promotional Development, including complete development of creative, i.e., copywriting, graphics, video, scriptwriting, for the print, radio, television, web and stand-alone video (DVD) mediums.
✓ Complete eMarketing Strategies and Implementation, including press releases, website development, e-commerce integration, email marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), blogs, forums, articles,
autoresponders, link building/exchanges, video deployment, affiliate marketing programs, eLearning, eCoupons, etc.
✓ Video and music production.
✓ MultiMedia eBook/iBook production, distribution and marketing. Positions held with recent or current clients:
✓ Special consultant and systems integrator for The Midi Store, a Pro Audio online shop which sells over 2,500 Music and other Pro Audio products worldwide.
✓ Co-founder: Cathedral Rock Publishing, a full service MultiMedia eBook production, distribution and marketing company. I produced the world’s 1st MultiMedia novel …Cathedral of the Senses… with it’s own self-contained music soundtrack, including producing the album. I also wrote the world’s 1st scholarly exegesis …The Big Bite and the Shocking
Truth About Original Sin… the first analytical work that includes it’s own music video interpretation of said analysis, available on Amazon.com.
✓ VP of Marketing: VideoGuitarLessons.com – Markets online guitar lessons for a fraction of the cost of traditional lessons.
✓ Director of Marketing, Flesch, Preschler and Piebler – An integrated marketing communications firm based in Sedona, AZ.
✓ Director of Marketing: MooresMarauders.org – A nonprofit 501-C3 organization dedicated to finding and recovering the some 78,000 servicemen who remain “Missing in Action” (MIA) from WWII.
✓ Special Consultant: ManicMaids.com – Chicago maid service started in the early in 1990s and now is one of Chicago largest maid services. I have been with this organization since day one.
✓ VP of Marketing and Business Development: VirtualOnRamp – An Internet startup company focused developing video asset management products and services to small to midsize businesses.
Volunteer: Yavapai County Correctional Center; Counsel inmates on alcohol and drug addiction issues.
Columnist: “Memoirs of a Technocratic” for Knowledge Management Magazine (Defunct)
• Memoirs of a Technocrat, Part I
• A Sorcerer’s Perspective
• The ‘Other’ Knowledge
• Disco Innovation
1998-2001: Principal Analyst, Business Consultant and Director of eContent and Community Practice Group
Doculabs, (Downtown Chicago)
Analyst/Director Responsibilities: Creating and implementing research agenda for the eContent and Community Practice Group, managing staff regarding same and overseeing benchmark studies regarding same. Hands-on assessment of various software applications, with all major software vendors participating, including Microsoft, IBM, Xerox, Documentum, Autonomy, Oracle, FileNet, and many others. I also assisted Venture Capitalists and Angel investors in assessing market viability and overall potential of startup companies and their value propositions.
Noteworthy Accomplishments: Authored several books and articles on collaborative technology and its role in the supply chain, knowledge
management, document management, distance learning (eLearning), integrated EDMS as well as a variety of white papers and articles on same; Number one revenue producer among analysts in 1999 and 2000.
Business Consultant Responsibilities: Advising primarily Fortune 500 companies on eBusiness initiatives and strategies, including defining requirements and selecting vendors.
Notable Clients: The Principal Financial Group (Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Division), New York City Employee Retirement Systems (NYCERS), The United State Postal Service (Washington, D.C. headquarters), Chase Manhattan Bank, Kaiser Permanente, The Georgia State Assembly, etc.
1996-1998: Project Manager/Technical Writer/Software Development Manager, Training Coordinator, Optika Certified Engineer
Avalon Technologies, Inc. (defunct) (Downtown Chicago)
Responsibilities: Overseeing all systems integration projects for several Fortune 500 companies. Specifics included…
• Project management
• Needs assessment and requirements definition
• Project planning
• Acceptance plans and testing
• Interfacing with internal and external software developers and upper management
• Maintaining “scope” of said projects
• Resolving problems not anticipated in planning phases
• Writing technical manuals to train client IT departments
• Training of client IT departments
• End user training
• Build vs. Buy decisions
• Technical support
Noteworthy Accomplishments: Created and implemented universal client training program; established standards and protocols for customer support center; oversaw major systems integration projects involving a plethora of legacy (mainframe) systems and new client/server and web clients.
1993-1996: Director, Corporate Imaging & Print-on-Demand Center
Chicago Legal Copies a/k/a IKON Business Systems (Downtown Chicago)
Responsibilities: Oversaw corporate facilities management of imaging (claims processing) and print-on-demand (software training manuals) applications as well as off-premise print-on-demand center; managed in excess of a hundred people.
Noteworthy Accomplishments:
• Sold, secured and implemented first corporate imaging facilities
management application, a first-of-its-kind solution that utilized CD-ROM storage media instead of optical disk Write Once Read Many (WORM) media. Solution had to be custom built and subsequently was added as a true product offering
o Responsible for all phases of project, sales and marketing, implementation, project management, project planning, project
test plans and acceptance plans, writing custom specifications and testing them, training both end users and IT staff
• Implemented first-of-its-kind corporate print-on-demand facilities management application
o Oversaw the software development and wrote specs
o Trained staff, both IT and end user
• Established off-premise print-on-demand center.
o Involved integrating legacy postscript files with Xerox Docutech printers.
o On-the-fly file concatenation
o Several unique and challenging customer specifications, including custom print media size, 600 dpi, tab inserts, etc. 1987-1993: Litigation Assistant
Jenner & Block (Downtown Chicago) 312.222.9350
Responsibilities: Market and secondary research to support a variety of litigation cases, including antitrust, criminal, insurance, defense and telecommunications.
Noteworthy Accomplishments: Successfully defended client facing the death penalty; ruling was subsequently reversed as plaintiff was found not guilty based on the evidence presented during the appeals process
Business Proficiencies, et al.:
My vertical experience includes, but is not limited to the following:
My line-of-business (LOB) experience includes, but is not limited to the following:
My extended applications experience includes, but is not limited to the following:
My software application experience (horizontal applications) includes, but is not limited to the following:
Noteworthy Customers (users):
I have extensive experience with both blue-chip and startup companies in a variety of industries, including but not limited to the following:
• Manufacturing • Government (Federal & State)
• Banking • Electronic components
• Retail • Insurance
• Telecommunications • Defense
• Accounts Payable • Claims
• Sales • Marketing
• Configuration Management • Fulfillment
• Supply Chain Management • Collaborative Commerce
• Marketplaces • Exchanges
• Portals • Electronic Commerce
• Content management • Knowledge management
• e-Learning • Document Management
• Process Automation • Commerce Applications
• Portal Applications • Product Lifecycle Management
• The Principal Group (CRE) • Partminer.com
• Kaiser Permanente • Navistar International
• US Postal Service (D.C.) • Georgia State Assembly
• Blue Cross/Blue Shield of NE • John Hancock Managed Care Division
• NYCERS • Chase Manhattan Bank
• AT&T • Van Kampen Funds
I also have extensive experience advising software companies on a variety of development issues, including feature/function development, standards, pricing, competitive positioning and marketing, including but not limited to the following:
My current skill sets, as they pertain to the user community, include but are not limited to the following:
My current skill sets, as they pertain to the vendor (software) community, include but are not limited to the following:
Publications:
I have also published an assortment of articles in a variety of magazines concerning the issues surrounding enabling technologies in general and how to best position them for success.
Publications include but are not limited to the following:
Microsoft Corporation IBM/Lotus Corporation Sun Microsystems (iPlanet) Open Text Corporation
Xerox PARC Documentum
Task Application
• Strategic Planning &
Positioning • Extended Enterprise Management
• Pre-Implementation Consulting • Data Management
• Implementation Consulting • Content Management
• Post-Implementation
Consulting • Process Management
• Technical Writing • Software Development; Process Management
• Business Plans and Financial
Models • Startups and startups seeking venture capital
• Competitive Analysis • Product Development
• Strategic Marketing (positioning) • Product Assessment
• Sales Training • Vertical Assessment
In addition, as the Director of Doculabs’ eContent and Community Practice group, I was also a frequent speaker at industry trade shows and user conferences concerning the aforementioned topics.
I graduated from Blackburn College in 1986 with a BA in Psychology and
Sociology. 1985 recipient of Blackburn’s prestigious “Citizenship Prize,” awarded annually to the student whose impact on the community at large has been most outstanding.
References: Available upon request. For more information, visit
JohnBalla.com
✓ Information Week ✓ Knowledge Management Magazine
✓ KM World ✓ Group Computing
✓ Red Herring ✓ Inform
✓ TeleRead ✓ Good eReader
✓ PR Movie News ✓ DLB Marketing
