Oct 12th 6p  - Entrepreneurs Unpluggd is a new event in Chicago that brings together successful entrepreneurs to share their lessons from actual experiences in an intimate, “unpluggd” format.  Tonight's session -  "Creating and Growing an Awesome Company Culture".

Startups are known for having unique company cultures, but how do you instill something so intangible from an early stage and keep it consistent throughout a company’s growth?

Learn from 3 founders who have scaled successful companies while making sure their employees always had fun at work. Hear about how a culture can change throughout the stages of company growth and which practices these entrepreneurs have adopted to make sure their culture maintains its coolness and consistency.

Kevin Willer - Co-Founder, Google Chicago Office.  Kevin is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center. Previously, Kevin co-founded the Google Chicago office in late 2000.

In his over 10 years with Google, Kevin helped grow this office to more than 400 professionals. He led the Telecom Industry practice where his teams managed the Google marketing partnerships with several of the largest telecommunications corporations including AT&T, Sprint, and Motorola. Kevin is actively involved in several civic and charitable organizations including being Director of The Economic Club of Chicago and a Trustee of his alma mater, Loyola Academy College Prep.

Kevin earned his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business where he serves on the Advisory Board for the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship. He has a Bachelor’s degree from Boston College and studied at the London School of Economics. Kevin, his wife Victoria, and their children, Jacqueline, Max and Lizzie, reside in Chicago.



Amanda Lannert - CEO and Founding Member, Jellyvision:  Amanda Lannert is CEO of The Jellyvision Lab, the Interactive Conversation company. Jellyvision creates virtual advisers who help clients attract customers, train employees and reduce the costs of customer service.

In her role as President, Amanda is principally responsible for business development and operations the company, which currently partners with more than 75 primarily Fortune 500 companies. Prior to joining Jellyvision, Amanda managed global brands for Kellogg's while at Leo Burnett.

Amanda received a B.A. in English Literature from Haverford College in Pennsylvania and a concentration in Augustan to Romantic Literature from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Amanda has served on the board of the Chicago Improv Festival, mentors local start ups and often waves to people she doesn’t even know on the street just to be encouraging.

She has climbed several mountains, including Kilimanjaro and Space Mountain, birthed a gaggle of daughters and is known to award limitless slabs of grilled meats to coworkers who grow ironic mustaches for her birthday.



Ed Scanlan - Founder and CEO, Total Attorneys.  Ed founded Total Attorneys at the age of 25 with just a credit card, laptop, cell phone, and passion for building websites. He has since bootstrapped the company to $10's of millions in annual revenue. He has managed to grow the business while maintaining a company culture that seeks to reinvent the day job by providing an autonomous and exciting environment.

Total Attorneys now services 1000's of law firms nationwide with an integrated web-based product suite of cloud practice management software, performance-based marketing, and a virtual services.

Ed and his company have been featured in multiple publications including the New York Times, Business Week, Inc., Smart Money, Crain's Chicago Business, and the Chicago Tribune. He was inducted into the Chicagoland Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame in 2009, was a Midwest finalist for the Ernest and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2009, and named to Crain’s 40 under 40 list in 2010. Total Attorneys has been listed on the Inc. 500 list at #169 (2008) & #219 (2009), and the Crain’s Fast 50 list at #2 (2009) and #4 (2010).