Tech Innovator and Entrepreneur Chris Hamer joins Dolan School as Entrepreneur-in-Residence

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (October 20, 2015) — Chris Hamer has joined the Dolan School of Business at ��ý��Ƶ��ƹۿ� as the school’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence this fall. Hamer is a highly experienced digital executive, and founder and CEO of CrowdFlik, Inc.

CrowdFlik is a mobile video app that synchronizes multiple mobile smart phone video feeds at events. The app uploads and organizes the video streams so that users can easily assemble and share their own custom edits using all of the best angles and scenes.

Prior to founding CrowdFlik, Hamer served as Senior Vice President of Clear Channel Entertainment; Managing Director of Oakview Strategic Advisors, a marketing consultancy that worked with Frontier Communications and College Sport Television; Senior Vice President of Sony BMG, where he led integrated marketing campaigns; and as Marketing Director for Cadillac, as well as other positions with General Motors and Priceline.

He is also the founder of Chris Hamer Media Partners LLC, “a Launchpad incubation platform for new media convergent start-ups.”

“I am lucky to have been involved with a wide variety of great companies over the past 25 years and now can apply these experiences to a range of entrepreneurial ideas,” Hamer said of his company. “We provide seed funding, strategic direction, workspace and the room to grow and build great ideas.”

"Having Chris here as our EIR is significant for the Dolan School," said Donald E. Gibson, dean of the School. "He'll be working directly with students and will provide a vivid example of how high motivation, clever ideas, and a good sense for business can lead to a very successful start-up. Having him here is a game-changer for us."

The Dolan School unveiled the Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) program in 2012 to develop opportunities for students to learn about starting their own business. The program was created in response to growing interest from current and prospective students to understand what it means to be an entrepreneur in today’s business landscape. The School hosts a highly accomplished professional to serve as EIR for a one-year term and is selected for documented success in launching and managing successful enterprises.

Hamer will be engaging with students in a variety of ways, including involvement with Dr. Carl Scheraga’s Technology Ventures course, mentoring “StagUp” Business Plan Competition student teams, and coaching new businesses in the ��ý��Ƶ��ƹۿ� Accelerator and Mentoring Enterprise (FAME).

Hamer explained he decided to take the role as EIR because of the spirit of the student body. “When I attended a Business Plan Competition event two years ago I was so impressed with how dialed-in the students were. They were there at 9:30 am, wearing business attire, eager to network and engage.”

So far Hamer has spent much of his time working with students in the classroom. He kicked off the school year by pitching real ideas he’s prepared to fund that students will work to develop throughout the semester.

“Chris has added tremendous value in my classroom, said Dr. Carl Scheraga. “There are basic entrepreneurship principles that need to be learned but so much of it is intuition and instinct, and Chris has brought hands-on experience that is critical for students to understand when learning what it means to be an entrepreneur in today’s business landscape.”

The idea is to simulate research, discussion and work that students would be doing if they were employees of CrowdFlik. “The students are working on ideas I’ve brought to them that I’m prepared to take to market. It’s really exciting to be able to offer students the chance to be a part of my business and give them experiences that will set them apart from other candidates when they go on their first job interview,” said Hamer.

The EIR program was made possible from generous seed funding from Robert and Laura Coleman, P'13.

#Vol. 48, No. 33

��ý��Ƶ��ƹۿ� is a Jesuit University, rooted in one of the world’s oldest intellectual and spiritual traditions. More than 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students from 36 states, 47 foreign countries, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are enrolled in the University’s five schools. In the spirit of rigorous and sympathetic inquiry into all dimensions of human experience, Fairfield welcomes students from diverse backgrounds to share ideas and engage in open conversations. The University is located in the heart of a region where the future takes shape, on a stunning campus on the Connecticut coast just an hour from New York City.

������ý��Ƶ�����ƹۿ�

Tech Innovator and Entrepreneur Chris Hamer joins Dolan School as Entrepreneur-in-Residence

��ý��Ƶ��ƹۿ�