Beware the Underdog, Mike Samson & Ross Kimbarovsky, crowdSpring

The Talk: We are witness to an underground creative community forming on the Internet, and they are becoming a force to be reckoned with. They're writers and inventors, photographers and designers, musicians and marketers. And there are sites where they can share their work with the world - from Wikipedia and Dell Idea Storm to iStockPhoto and Threadless.

The establishment has long held that these 'amateurs' - students and stay-at-home moms, freelancers and fed-up corporate refugees - are nothing more than a novelty and are not capable of competing with the 'professionals.' But this experiment in worldwide empowerment called the Internet has brought them together and the tide is turning. They come from every corner of the globe and every walk of life; their talent and creativity have been proven and now they are actively engaged in creating the world of tomorrow - they just need the tools that let them do it. The tension evident between this growing creative movement and centuries of tradition will disrupt and define the creative industries for years to come

Bios: Ross Kimbarovsky is an experienced intellectual property lawyer with more than thirteen years of experience counseling U.S. and international clients in complex disputes involving a wide range of intellectual property issues, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, designs, licensing and e-commerce. He has represented clients in state and federal courts and before the World Intellectual Property Organization. Ross emigrated with his family to the U.S. from Kiev, Ukraine. He holds a BA in Political Science and Philosophy from Northwestern University and a law degree from the University of Illinois.

Mike Samson has more than 20 years of experience in the creative field, as a senior manager, consultant and producer in both the publishing and film/television industries. He began his career as a Photo Editor at New York Magazine and his work in Hollywood includes numerous films such as Wall Street, Bull Durham, and Men in Black II, as well as television series, including New York Undercover and Third Watch. Mike has a BA in Mass Media from the University of Illinois and a MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

On CNMS: "We truly hope that Chicago can establish itself and a global hub for new media. Really, we do. And we also hope that there's a free buffet. But not necessarily in that order."

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Tags: chicago_convergence, crowdspring, mike_samson, ross_kimbarovsky
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Location: Chicago

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