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Steve Gehlen - Founder, Internet Strategy Forum
Steve Gehlen is an Internet strategy consultant, manages global professional networks and produces events associated with those networks through his company IndePlay, Inc. He is the founder of the Internet Strategy Forum & the Internet Partner Forum. He has been the top Internet strategist at companies such as Nike, Digimarc, Hollywood Entertainment (dba Hollywood Video) and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). He is also the founding producer of Inverge: the interactive convergence conference and author of the invergence blog and the Internet Presence Ecosystem blog.
He started his career in Information Technology, with almost 10 years of experience, first as a software developer, then later leveraging desktop computing and local-area networks to improve business processes at companies such as PacifiCorp and Nike.
Having studied both mass media and computer science at the University of Oregon, when the two started to converge in the mid-90's Steve shifted his career from IT to marketing and business development, focusing on digital technologies such as CD-ROM, online services and the Web.
He made this career switch at Nike and was mentored by two Marketing VPs during his time there, including Andy Mooney, currently Chairman of Disney Consumer Products. The Nike.com site Steve co-produced and project managed for the 1996 Olympic Games was technically innovative at the time, with every element on the page coming from a relational database. The site introduced the world to sprinter Michael Johnson's famous gold shoes via hi-res images distributed from the site and seen in media outlets around the world.
In 2000, while working at Hollywood Entertainment Corp., Steve took over management of Reel.com, a leading movie information and e-commerce Web site and up until that time a subsidiary of the company. He completed negotiations with Buy.com as the primary e-commerce partner for VHS and DVD sales and later was the architect of a deal with 800.com, adding a consumer electronics store to Reel.com. While under Steve's management, Reel.com's annualized sales volume was $12 million.
In 2002 Steve co-wrote the business plan for Nutcase Helmets (available at Target and Wal-Mart) as a consultant to Morrow Creative Group.
In 2004 Steve founded the Internet Strategy Forum as an organization and also developed the concept for and produced the first Internet Strategy Forum Summit conference that same year. In 2005 he developed the concept for the ISF's original research study, the Corporate Internet Strategist Survey, the first study to fully examine the role of in-house Internet strategist.
In 2007 Steve founded and produced Inverge: the interactive convergence conference.
In 2008 he began architecting the return of the well-respected Portland Creative Conference.
Steve is on the Board of Directors of Race for Peace, the Advisory Council for the InnoTech Conference & Expo and was a judge for the 2006 Yahoo! Big Idea Chair Awards.
A musician since age 15, Steve is the co-founder and Festival Director of the American Roots Music Festival, an annual event that celebrates original American music genres (folk, blues, bluegrass, jazz, gospel, etc.) and the importance of music education. The event is also a fundraiser for rural school music programs in Oregon's Willamette Valley. As an extension of that effort, in 2007 Steve founded Keeping the Beat, a nonprofit public charity dedicated to supporting K-12 music education in rural Oregon communities.
Prior to founding the Internet Strategy Forum, Steve held leadership positions with several other nonprofit organizations. In 1991, he established the Portland Chapter of the Microcomputer Managers Association and served as President through 1994. In 1998 he was asked to serve on the initial Portland State University Multimedia Professional Program Advisory Board. Later he was a founding Advisory Board member of the Oregon Multimedia Alliance (later merged with the Software Association of Oregon). In 2002 he was a founding Advisory Board member for RAINS-Net. Steve also served on the Board of Directors of the Portland Creative Conference from 1995 - 2001, including leadership roles in marketing and sponsorship.
