- Professional
- Red Bull
- Background: As a Red Bull Student Brand Manager at Oregon State I learned the ropes of marketing a consumer product. I also had my first opportunity to organize a major sponsored event: as part of OSU's Sibling's Weekend, I coordinated Red Bull's involvement in a professional skate and rollerblade demonstration.
- Intel Corporation
- Background: I was selected as a high school intern in 1998 where I performed quality assurance on a software DVD product. In college I was asked to return to perform testing of gigabit-over-copper hardware and DSL modem installation software.
- Oregon State University
Background: I campaigned for and was elected to the position of Vice President of the Memorial Union at Oregon State. During my term I produced a free, world music festival featuring Eek-A-Mouse. I was subsequently awarded E.C. Allworth Leadership Award for my leadership and service to the student union's committees, programs and projects.
I also served two terms on the OSU Bookstore's Board of Directors, where I helped shape the planning of a major redevelopment of Bookstore property.
After graduating with a BS in Computer Engineering and a minor in Computer Science, I created an academic scholarship for any full-time undergraduate who has worked at or volunteered at the OSU Memorial Union.
My transition from college to the professional work-force was a topic in an article titled "Real World 101" published in the OSU Alumni Association's Fall 2006 print edition of the Oregon Stater. There's a great story in there about my stay in a hostel in Barcelona, Spain.
Read the article "Real World 101"
Read more about the Robert Banagale Scholarship
- Mentor Graphics
- Background: Working at Mentor gave me my first real experience adding value to a major software product in a corporate environment. In both my positions, I took care of both internal and external customers.
- Positions:
- Lead Development Specialist: I worked in pre-sales, administering outbound telebusiness and electronic marketing campaigns. I also fielded, qualified and passed on inbound leads to our inside sales team.
- Technical Writer: I wrote documentation for electronic design software. Interesting accomplishments include installing and training our team to use a wiki to communicate, and I put together a cross-functional team to coordinate information on a quarterly basis regarding software version updates.
- Graduate Student of Business, Babson College
- Background: I was admitted to the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business in the Fall of 2007. I am one of 160 students in the two year MBA program, which has been ranked #1 in entrepreneurship by U.S. News and World Report for 13 consecutive years. Babson was ranked #41 among the top MBA programs in the United States in 2007.
- Impacts:
- I have used my opportunity at Babson to its fullest extent possible by going beyond the expectations of the program. The two contributions I've enjoyed the most are with the Babson Entrepreneurial Club and the Babson Energy and Environmental club.
I've given two presentations to the community on website basics, and in addition to successfully pitching the Babson Wind Turbine, (see Projects and Consulting), I set up and have maintained the front and back-end of the Babson Entrepreneurial Energy Expo website. - During my first semester, I campaigned for and was elected to section representative. In this role I hosted section meetings with a classmate and offered feedback with the Babson's Graduate School Program Management.
Visit the Babson Energy Entrepreneurial Expo website
- Red Bull
- Projects and Consulting
- Babson Wind Turbine
- View Work Details:
- Innovation That Blows You Away
- Background: I was one of three students to create and present a proposal for a wind turbine on the Babson College campus.
- NonCarbonated, LLC.
- Project Description:
- This is an environmental start-up company I am working on launching. NonCarbonated offers services to consumers and businesses interested in reducing their environmental impact.
View the NonCarbonated webpage
- iPhone SDK Planning
- Project Description:
- Nugs.net handles distribution and sales of legal, live recordings by the Grateful Dead, Metallica, Phish, Widespread Panic and many others. I had performed research on the strategic implementation of an iPhone application pending the release of the official SDK, and Founder Nugs.net founder, Brad Serling, requested a report.
- The document includes a background on the status of unauthorized iPhone application development, preparation steps for rapid deployment of an application, development and marketing suggestions and threat assessment.
- This document may be available upon request.
- Babson Wind Turbine
- Web and Media
- Weekly Davespeak
- View Work Details:
- Weekly Davespeak, DMB Fan Site
- Background: I created Weekly Davespeak in 2004 as an experiment in internet marketing. Since then it has become the second most visited Dave Matthews Band fan website on the web.
- Podcastinople
- View Work Details:
- Podcastinople, Podcasting for the masses.
- Background: I served as Product Manager on this full-service web 2.0 solution to podcasting.
- "The Package"
- View Work Details:
- The Package, a film by Rob Banagale and Doug Britt.
- Background: This was an experiment in managing and executing on a professional film production.
- Weekly Davespeak
- About
- Brief Background On Me
- A Sense of Adventure
-
In August of 2006 I climbed to the top of Uhuru Peak on Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa. The six day adventure followed the Machame Route. The climb was not only an experience of a lifetime but a great example of my sense of adventure and willingness to take on tasks and challenges well outside my everyday comfort zone.
- Love of Great Software
-
My deep understanding of software features and interface comes from my personal involvement in some of the best software launches of the past few years.
I was a first round beta user of Writely, which was later acquired by Google and shaped into Google Docs. As a Pho List member, I applied for and received a beta invite to Joost from Fredrik de Wahl when it was still called The Venice Project. I joined Flickr in April 2005, and immediately recognized the simple brilliance that helped define what Web 2.0 is today. I am an active beta user, offering feedback on my experiences.
Along the way, I've tested a myriad of other web applications such as Jumpcut which have helped me understand what it means to deliver great features through a web browser. Currently, I am a beta user of Aviary, a new software as a service that offers a suite of graphic and video editing tools.
I interact with and use many traditional software applications and platforms every day. From the Linux install that keeps my dedicated server humming to QuickBooks to community-contributed Firefox extensions. I look for and make use of the right tool for whatever job I am working on at the moment.
- Going the Extra Mile
-
I began writing about the steps necessary to prepare for a marathon in a technical writing class at Oregon State. Before I knew it, I was actively training and completing the Portland Marathon in 2000 and 2001. These days in the sports world, I keep a pretty low profile, hitting up Mt. Hood for powder whenever I have an opportunity. However, my successful completion of the marathon is symbolic of my willingness to pursue a challenge all the way to the finish line.
- Where I'm Headed
- Where to now?
- With a background in computer engineering / CS and a newfound embrace of the business world, I am interested in project management of innovative content delivery and productivity applications.
- Contact Information and Resume
Resume: Download
Email: rob at banagale.com
Blog: banagale.com
- Brief Background On Me
Background and Technical:
I first created WeeklyDavespeak.com in the winter of 2004 as a Dave Matthews Band fan email newsletter. Realizing a need to create web destination to send traffic to, I initially designed and implemented my own custom content management system and began publishing news, and content related to DMB.
Over time I established a community using the vBulletin forum software product and the site eventually grew to need a more flexible content engine. After some research I settled on the open-source CMS, Drupal. To keep the branding of the site in place, I created customized PHP/CSS theme template to match the original look and then performed a transition to the Drupal's database-driven solution.
In managing Weekly Davespeak, I've also had to cope with changes in internet best-practices. For example, when strict new measures were taken by ISPs regarding spam reports I needed to transition my sizable email newsletter list from the GNU-licensed mailing software running on my server to a professional mailing solution, Constant Contact.
An increase in traffic also required me to scale my hosting solution, meaning I had to migrate the site from a shared to a dedicated server. I currently maintain all technical aspects of my server, occasionally upgrading or tuning Apache, Linux, PHP and MySQL to get the features or performance I need.
Creating and Managing a Virtual Team:
Weekly Davespeak is run by an active staff of 13 volunteers. With little exception, all grew out of the community I created and I personally trained over the web to handle their new roles. I now manage a senior moderator and a content editor who control day-to-day operations freeing me to concentrate more on strategic planning for the website and valuable industry relationships.
Adsense, Adwords, Funding and Costs
In the early days of the website I ran Adwords campaigns to fill out the newsletter subscription list and generate traffic to the site. Simultaneously, I ran adsense campaigns inline with my content to help pay for the hosting costs, software licenses and some promotional materials. When it became apparent that I would need a dedicated server, I shifted the monetization model to an annual $3000+, month-long fundraiser. With staff and funding in place, the website is now completely self-sustainable and does not run advertisements anymore.
Dave Matthews Band Facebook Application:
I recently wrote and released a Facebook application (pictured above) that allows fans to display the DMB shows they have attended on their profile. This was my first application for the Facebook platform, and is written in PHP/MySQL. See my blog entry below for more information.
Press Credentialing and Concert Photography:
One of the greatest rewards for the hundreds, if not thousands of hours I've put into creating this website is a relationships I've established. I regularly apply for press credentials to concerts and festivals that are in the AAA-format or common musical genre that Dave Matthews Band falls under. I've been credentialed at Farm Aid, Bonnaroo and several Dave Matthews Band dates.
I took the above photo at the Dave Matthews Band performance at the Las Vegas MGM Grand Arena. The photos were released under the Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license. I subsequently used some of my photos in the my DMB Facebook application, finding it a great way to tie two my services and content together.
January 2008 Site Statistics:
- 31,664 Visits
- 15,370 Absolute Unique Visitors
- 5:20 Average Time On Site
- 4,888 double opt-in email newsletter subscribers
- 23,500 registered forum members
- 1,176 active Facebook Application installs
View my work:
- View Weekly Davespeak
- View my Dave Matthews Band Facebook Application (blog entry)
- View my Dave Matthews Band Concert Photos
Podcastinople began as a concept developed with my good friend, Dave Peixotto over pancakes one morning. Living as roommates at the time, we had been wanting to begin a new web application project for the summer.
The application offers a streamlined solution to the sometimes awkward task of posting podcasts online. Dave developed the web application in Ruby on Rails, and our .Net client was developed by Dan Broschart. As product manager, I made decisions on all aspects of the product planning including user interface, layout, and feature complement.
We developed the website to full functionality but ultimately decided to focus on different projects. We had overestimated the demand for podcasting solutions, and watched as direct competitors such as Odeo and Wild Voice found their traffic going flat.
Interesting Project Facts:
- Used Professional development environment
- Subversion, TRAC, Tortoise SVN, instant deployment
- Windows-based .net client communicates via web services
- We're all still friends, even though it didn't work out
- A private login to test the application is available upon request
View the Podcastinople website
My colleague, Doug Britt and I decided we wanted to create a best-in-show video for the Babson MBA follies in the fall 2007 semester. Doug and I worked together to find and handle our talent, script and shoot the film. I handled all aspects of the editing and music selection for the film. The video was a huge success.
My production tools included:
- Sony Vegas: Video editing, post-production visual effects
- Sony Soundforge: Audio editing
- Sony DVD Architect: DVD Authoring
- Adobe Photoshop: Still image editing
- Adobe Flash: Web conversion
- A Canon HV-20: High definition video camera
Watch "The Package"
I worked with two other graduate students on behalf of the Babson Energy and Environmental Club to create and pitch a wind turbine project to Babson College. I created the Babson Magazine mock-up pictured above as part of the marketing plan portion of our written proposal.
We pitched the project in December of 2007 and it was subsequently accepted. A groundbreaking ceremony will be held on March 27th, 2008.
The Babson Wind Turbine's purpose is to serve as a symbol of Babson College's ongoing efforts towards sustainability and to help connect the FW Olin Graduate School of Business with the burgeoning cleantech industry clustered around New England.
The installation of the turbine is a big step for Babson College and will put the school on a short list of institutes of higher education across the United States that have chosen to invite wind power onto their campuses.
Our team strongly believes that demonstrating a commitment to sustainability now is in the long-term best interests of Babson College, the surrounding community and greater Boston area. The Boston Globe agreed, and featured an article about the project in their February 24th print and online editions.
For more information:
