Speaker Profiles


August 2017 • Rob Sketcherman

Rob Sketcherman is an artist from Hong Kong who has been using the iPad as his main creative workhorse for the past four years. Urban Sketcher, artist, and professional illustrator, Rob also holds workshops around the globe to teach his app of choice, Procreate, and is currently in the US to draw and explore the country as he runs a series of workshops.


March 2014 • Miguel Almena

Miguel Almena is a designer, educator, and advisor on education in 3D Printing to government, non-profits, education and art sectors. He was formerly a designer for The Walt Disney Company and brings over a decade of experience to 21st Century Learners. His goal is to help schools and organizations routinely create opportunity for themselves by cultivating their creative identities through emerging cutting edge technologies that increase student/employee performance, motivation, engagement, and retention. Currently his work involves a student collaboration on the enhancement between physical and digital environments by applying design principles inspired by nature, and implementing them in emerging digital design technologies. Areas of application include product, architectural design, digital fabrication, and construction.


Chris Miller
Paton Group


July 2013 • Garry Margolis

Garry Margolis is a consultant to audio, video, and cinema manufacturers and distributors. He represented Philips Intellectual Property and Standards in North America during the development of DVD-Video, Super Audio CD, Blu-ray, and Digital Cinema, and he is now North American Marketing Director for Acoustic Control Systems, developer of electronically variable acoustics for performance spaces, houses of worship, etc. He’s a Life Member and Fellow of the Audio Engineering Society and serves as its Treasurer.

In his other life, he is an Apple-certified computer consultant, working with individuals and small businesses, and is a member of the Apple Consultants Network.


May 2013 • Barry Rein
Online Security Expert

Barry Rein has worked in IT for over thirty years, and in information security for over a dozen. He holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from USC, and a CISSP certification – Certified Information Systems Security Professional.

After working at JPL on the Galileo mission to Jupiter, Barry moved into the security field. He has held a range of positions in security, from doing IT audits to managing firewalls to doing a security analysis for NASA.

Barry is the principal at Barian Information Systems LLC, a security compliance consultancy, and is currently developing security policy at the LA County Department of Public Health.



April 2013 • Sid Newman
Executive Vice President – Sales

Sid is a successful business executive and entrepreneur with a history in sales, operations, business development, market planning, sales management and training. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts with degrees in Mathematics and History, Mr. Newman began his career with RadioShack and quickly rose to District Manager. He then was a co-founder of Time Energy Systems where he directed the design, construction, software development and operation of a telecommunications center that controlled and monitored over 1,000 remote computer based facilities. He spent the next six years consulting start-up companies in need of marketing, distribution and financial strategies. He assisted one of these through its initial public offering and the opening of over 100 franchised locations over a three-year period.

In 1992, Mr. Newman joined the rapidly growing Incredible Universe chain and held a number of positions of increasing responsibility from General Manager to head of Operations. In 1998, he became a principal in Resource Concepts, an asset recovery company specializing in the computer and electronics industry, which grew under his direction to $30 million in annual sales. He went on to become VP of Retail for Cambridge Soundworks with responsibility for all sales and marketing operations for the company-owned retail showrooms generating $50 million in sales of high-performance home stereo, home theater, and multimedia systems. Leveraging his strong retail and business development background, Mr. Newman then joined Buxton, the industry leader in customer analytics providing strategic decision-making information for retail site selection and targeted marketing.


Mark Ross
VP of Customer Service

A seasoned management and operations executive, Mark brings cross-functional expertise to the Dolly Drive team. Having owned and managed several national companies in both technology and retail, he understands the balance required to design and support industry leading customer care. With significant leadership in designing customer service and support systems, Mark’s responsibilities encompass supporting Dolly Drive’s customer base for new and existing clients in addition to closely working with engineering and development teams.



October 2011 • Steve Shepard

Our guest speaker is Steve Shepard, the CEO and the developer of Storyist. He’s a Silicon Valley veteran with 20+ years of experience in media technologies. A night and weekend writer for many years, he took a year off in 2002 to finish a novel. Not finding the writing tools he wanted, Steve developed Storyist software in 2003.

Prior to launching his own company, he held engineering positions at Liberate Technologies, Silicon Graphics, Apple Computer, and New England Digital. Steve has a BS in Engineering and Music from the University of Hartford and an MSEE from Stanford University. He holds two United States patents.



July 2011 • Michael Stern
Professional Photographer, Radio Host, Author

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Michael has lived life in the shadows of the entertainment industry. His mission is to “strive to be helpful and entertaining so you too can make your living as a self-employed creative professional”.

Michael broadcasts a weekly radio show, which you can access via his Web site: Build A Better Photograph.



May 2011 • Barry Rein
Online Security Expert

Barry Rein has worked in IT for over thirty years, and in information security for over a dozen. He holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from USC, and a CISSP certification – Certified Information Systems Security Professional.

After working at JPL on the Galileo mission to Jupiter, Barry moved into the security field. He has held a range of positions in security, from doing IT audits to managing firewalls to doing a security analysis for NASA.

Barry is the principal at Barian Information Systems LLC, a security compliance consultancy, and is currently developing security policy at the LA County Department of Public Health.