Rick Feldman

Rick Feldman has been actively engaged in technology commerce and business since 1990 when he co-founded his first business producing economic analysis software, specialty data-base software, and regional planning consulting. In 1994-95 he completed the first study of technology and knowledge based businesses in western Massachusetts, showing it to be a major force in shaping the region's economy. He founded the Western Massachusetts Software Association (WMSA), the first industry association in the region, and the second in New England, to represent the newly emerging creative, inventive and productive industry. He served as Executive Director until he helped form the Regional Technology Association which then took over the role of WMSA. He also supported the formation of Hidden-Tech, attending the initial meetings to help ensure its foundation. Since then, Rick has formed and sold two companies, and has been an executive in both the not-for-profit human service arena and a consultant to many companies in the region. He's currently (2007) President of the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce, President of the Northampton Center for the Arts (he's also been involved for over 30 years in public art, and regional arts organizations), a Board member of Northampton Rotary, and a founding member of the E2M.ORG and E2M Regional Economic Council, both created to facilitate community re-investment. He's currently an organizational and executive coach and organizational development consultant as a managing partner of the Hassett Feldman Group and the TMI Consulting Group.  

Claudia Gere 

Claudia Gere helps smart people become outstanding authors (tm). She is president (also called high gear) of Claudia Gere & Co. LLC. She has over 25 years of experience in all aspects of high-tech, educational, and traditional publishing. She has held positions as diverse as vice president of marketing, managing editor, program manager, and project director for Fortune 100 technology companies and privately owned entrepreneurial endeavors.

Her work and the work of those she has managed, edited, and promoted has been published by major publishers including Houghton-Mifflin, McGraw-Hill, and Wiley among others. She has successfully secured industry-recognized literary agents and publishing contracts for first-time authors.

She holds a bachelor's degree in English and a master's in management; and currently sits on the board of directors for Hidden-Tech. You can learn more about her and her work at www.ClaudiaGereCo.com and www.GerePublishing.com. 

Silvana Gravini

Silvana Gravini, principle of Silvana.Net, is a Web site designer and SEO specialist located in Northampton, MA. Since 1996, Silvana.Net has successfully assisted a broad range of clients realize growth and profitability objectives through applied Internet technologies.

Ms. Gravini is native to Western Massachusetts and graduated Cum Laude from Smith College, Northampton, MA. In addition to her work on the Steering Committee for Hidden-Tech, she is a member of the Technology Enterprise Council (TEC), the Regional Technology Corporation (RTC), and is a member of the Board of Directors for Women In Technology International (WITI) Invent Center at Smith College. Ms. Gravini is also a member of The Ad Club of Western Massachusetts and The Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce.

Richard Roth

Richard Roth, CEO of TnR Global, has been in the computer field for almost 40 years and has been involved in development and marketing software products for personal and larger computers since 1977. He is an expert in software product design and in cross-platform computer technology; has started 7 companies; has written numerous software products and articles and given many speeches for technical and user groups.

He has been a user of the Internet and on-line services from their inception and started On-the-Net, in 1994 to apply the collected experience of himself and a number of experts to develop practical business uses of the Internet.

Since 1994, Mr. Roth and On-the-Net, and then TnR Global (c 2003), has advised ISPs and Web site developers in system design and server architecture. In 1996, they introduced the first of a new form of Internet application, a remote hosted CGI system. This is a full server side system for novice web site developers, including an online user assist guru at i-Depth. They now run or manage over 3000 Internet domains of all sizes and shapes. This includes the largest online industrial catalog (ThomasRegional.com), a dozen Industrial publications (like www.plasticsnews.com), both developed in conjunction with cmg.net and various industry groups like Hidden-Tech.net.

Jon Reed

A Board Member of Hidden-Tech since its inception, Jon is a Hampshire graduate (1991) who found himself happier with entrepreneurial life than academia. The founding editor of the Valley Optimist in the early 1990s, Jon started his current company, eCruiting Alternatives, Inc., right after the 2000 dotcom crash. Although his timing was questionable, Jon continues to enjoy running his own business, which focuses on web publishing and content development, specifically in the SAP arena.

Jon has been publishing on SAP software trends for the last decade, and his main clients include SAPtips, a subscription-based publication for SAP end users. Jon also runs www.JonERP.com, an online career center for SAP consultants featuring Jon's podcasts and his SAP Career Blog. Jon's long term goal is to focus solely on publishing his own books, primarily on a print on demand basis. His company published The SAP Consultant Handbook, and Jon's second title, Resumes from Hell (www.resumesfromhell.com) a guided tour of the worst resumes ever made, came out in November 2004. Jon's next book, Free From Corporate America (www.freefromcorporateamerica.com), is "a strongly-worded tribute to the entrepreneurial life in the era of global outsourcing." Inspired by his involvement in Hidden Tech, the book was written online in blog format and a final version will come out in book format early 2008. Jon also publishes his own essays and rants against commercialism on his web site (www.jonreed.net), a site that has little hope of generating income but may have other redeeming qualities. Apart from Hidden-Tech, Jon has absolutely no social life, free time, or hobbies of any kind.

J. Sheldon Snodgrass

Helping you get a dollar out of every dime spent on sales & marketing!

Sheldon launched his professional career out of a Military cargo plane as a
Junior Officer at the US Army Airborne School in 1987. He then cut his
teeth as a commission-only sales representative in Boston where his success
led to a promotion as a sales trainer for the world's third largest travel
franchise company (Uniglobe Travel). Throughout the 90's Sheldon was
recruited to a variety of sales and marketing leadership positions.
Ultimately he decided to settle in the Pioneer Valley, where he had
discovered boundless opportunities to provide big-business sales and
marketing know-how to small companies. Along the way he earned an MBA from
UMass Amherst, and became a certified Entrepreneurial Business Planning
Instructor through the NxLevel Educational Foundation. He has parlayed his
affection for small businesses, his corporate sales and marketing
experience, and continuous professional development to create his own
consulting firm called The Steady Sales Group. He now specializes in
helping people get a dollar out of every dime spent on sales and marketing.
Lest he be too consumed with work, his two young daughters and roles as a
ski instructor and white water rafting guide keep him focused on matters of
the heart. Mr. Snodgrass also volunteers his time as a support group
facilitator for the Men's Resource Center of Western Massachusetts 

Afranio Torres Neto

Afranio Torres Neto, a native of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, is a long-time resident of Western Massachusetts. Mr. Torres has a degree in Communications and Mathematics from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst as well as a Master's degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from Emerson College, Boston, MA. Mr. Torres has held media positions locally with The Daily Hampshire Gazette; WMUA - 91.1 FM; WGBY - TV 57; UVC - TV 19; and Comcast. He has also worked with Wiggin & Company, Emerson College, Target and the Amherst Pelham Regional School. Furthermore, Afranio volunteers Webmaster services at UMass-Amherst to the following organizations: S.A.M.B.A (Brazilian RSO); the Student Government Association(SGA); and the Student Chapter of the Wildlife Society. In addition to his work with Hidden-Tech, Mr. Torres also serves on the board of the following organizations: Paradise City Media Collaborative (PCMC) and Leisure Services and Supplemental Education (LSSE) for the town of Amherst, Ma.