Bruce Kingma, Syracuse University School of Information Studies (iSchool) Associate Provost of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, was quoted in an ABC News Campus Chatter Blog post about SU’s contract with Brand-Yourself.com. The contract awarded six-month Brand-Yourself licenses to all 2010 graduating SU students.
“I sort of kicked myself for thinking of it so late,” Kingma was quoted as saying. “I should have thought of this so long ago. This is really what we want for our graduates.”
In the current job market, employers and recruiters are increasing using Google searches and Facebook profiles in order to filter clients, but Brand-Yourself also ensures that members are able to promote themselves as well by burying irrelevant search items and promoting relevant content within Google searches. Brand-Yourself, unlike other reputation management services, also allows its members to build their own web sites.
Brand-Yourself.com is an SU student startup founded by iSchool student Pete Kistler ’11, CEO; iSchool alumnus and current graduate student Robert (RJ) Sherman ’09, G’11, CTO/CFO; Whitman School of Management student Evan Watson ’11, Chief Evangelist; and Newhouse School of Communications alumnus Patrick Ambron ’09, CMO. In 2010, Brand-Yourself was listed as one of the five finalists in New York’s Creative Core Emerging Business Competition in which they were competing for $200,000.
As Associate Provost for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Professor Kingma leads initiatives at Syracuse University in entrepreneurship and community engagement. Kingma’s portfolio of responsibilities includes the Syracuse Campus-Community Entrepreneurship Initiative (Enitiative)—a collaborative partnership of six institutions and five community foundations made possible by a $3 million grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and $15 million in matching funding. He also directly oversees The Center for Experiential Learning in Entrepreneurship (ExCEL); the award winning Web-based Information Science Education (WISE) Consortium; The South Side Initiative (SSI); and the Mary Ann Shaw Center for Public and Community Service.