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Some days, Dan can be found surfing, climbing, or hiking off the beaten path. Most days, he is saved by rescue helicopter.
He loves films. He loves startups. He eats heftily. When he's not outdoors, he heads up Mentalpez's digital and viral marketing efforts. Recently, he was named one of Forbes Magazine's 30 under 30 in marketing and advertising, and one of the top six community managers of 2012 by Mashable.
Before co-founding Mentalpez, Dan led community building and marketing efforts for Pierre Omidyar's (eBay) latest startup, Honolulu Civil Beat. Before that, Dan worked as the Director of Digital for Hawaii's largest and most prestigious advertising agency. There he designed and managed marketing campaigns for teams at Microsoft, Sprint, Marriott, and Farmers Insurance.
Whether it's through film or marketing a startup, he'll help you tell your story. Preferably with funny mustaches.
Specialties: startups, film, audience building, engagement, digital marketing, analytics, branding, communications, behavioral targeting, contextual targeting, retargeting, social monitoring analytics, social media, business strategy, business development, management, project management, product development, product optimization, filmmaking, directing, producing, screenwriting, break-dance fighting
Experience- Feb 2012 - PresentCo-founder / Mentalpez
We're young, we're nerdy, and we love working with early-stage startups.
• Named one of Forbes Magazine's "30 Under 30 in Marketing and Advertising" (2012)
• Responsible for digital and social marketing, analytics, short films, project management, product development, and business development
• Honolulu Civil Beat (public-interest journalism)
• Daniel Young Skateboards (successful Kickstarter project)
• Tracky (productivity, and social collaboration)
• WannaDo (bucket list activities, and events)
• screen2play (a team of indy filmmakers) - Apr 2011 - PresentFounder / screen2play
A team of startup junkies launching independent films, animated shorts, startup videos and Kickstarter projects.
• Co-wrote, directed, and produced the short film “Hawaii Previous,” which was chosen as a top-ten selection at The Showdown in Chinatown Film Festival in Honolulu
• Co-directed, and produced a Kickstarter campaign for Daniel Young Skateboards, which exceeded its campaign goal of raising $35,000 in thirty days ($44,000)
• Directed and co-produced the about video for (eBay founder) Pierre Omidyar’s latest startup venture, Honolulu Civil Beat
• Acted as co-producer and interviewer for "Hawaii Bouldering," an in-flight entertainment documentary for Hawaiian Airlines - Sept 2007 - Dec 2012Advisor / CREPINI
The perfect blend between a French crepe, and a Russian blini.
• Helped with early product testing and development
• Coordinated and hosted events like The Fancy Food Show Expo (NYC)
• Initial branding, copyrighting, marketing, and business development - Jul 2010 - Mar 2012Marketing/Community Host / Honolulu Civil Beat
Civil Beat is a journalism startup out of Hawaii that eBay founder, Pierre Omidyar, and Washington Post's current Managing Editor, John Temple, launched together.
• Honored by Mashable as one of the “Top Six Community Managers of 2012”
• Launched a startup that had the ambitious goal of changing the mindset of the way online journal-
ism was published, consumed, and monetized
• Won thirteen awards in our first year including “Hawaii’s Best Overall News Site”
• Designed and implemented viral marketing strategies with online and
offline marketing components, that built a readership of 800,000 unique readers in two years
(Hawaii has a population of 1.3 million people)
• Created lasting strategic partnerships with local and national partners that included visibility on
Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, local TV, radio, and print publications
• Handled a variety of startup responsibilities that included brand development, marketing, web
analytics, product design, customer engagement, writing, and research and development - Jan 2008 - Mar 2012Keynote Presenter and Public Speaker / Events
I've had a blast meeting and working with the amazing people that have attended these events.
• American Marketing Association (AMA) of Hawaii
• Bytemarks Cafe KIPO 89.3FM
• Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii
• Conference of Nonprofit Communities of Hawaii
• Farmers Insurance Management Retreat and Panel
• Hawaii Business Magazine
• Hawaii Pacific University
• Hawaii Tourism Authority: Festivals & Events
• KHON Channel 2
• KITV Channel 4
• Na Lei Aloha Foundation
• Pacific Asia Travel Authority
• Pacific New Media – University of Hawaii
• Podcamp Hawaii and Wordcamp
• Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Hawaii
• Punahou School Brain Symposium
• Retail Merchants of Hawaii
• [re]think Hawaii
• SMEI Honolulu Leading EDGE Conference
• Social Media Club Hawaii
• Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) Hawaii
• TechHui
• The Star Bulletin
• ThinkTech Hawaii
• University of Hawaii
• Urban Beach Boys Radio Show
• U.S Department of Housing & Urban Development - Nov 2007 - Jul 2010Director of Digital Marketing / Anthology Marketing Group
Anthology Marketing is Hawaii's largest full-service advertising agency that also operates as a fully integrated marketing communications firm.
• Expanded the digital and social marketing division, and grew billings by 1,200% in the first year
• Won the AMA’s “Marketer of the Year Award” (2010), and “E-Marketer of the Year Award” (2009) for Marriott International
• Named “5 For the Future” by Hawaii Business Magazine’s “20 for the Next 20” issue (2010)
• Designed successful direct response and branding campaigns for more than a dozen clients that
include: Microsoft, Sprint, Marriott, Hawaiian Airlines, Farmers Insurance, Bank of Hawaii, Ha-
waiian Telcom, HVCB, National Kidney Foundation, and Polynesian Cultural Center
• Won a variety of international RFP submissions including agency of record for Microsoft and
Sprint Wholesale
• Spoke at more than fifty events (keynote speaker, panelist, television guest, magazines, and print)
that established thought leadership for Anthology in the technology space - Sept 2006 - Nov 2007Media Planner / Forex Capital Markets (FXCM)
FXCM is a leading Futures Commissions Merchant with over 100,000 live accounts being traded on their FX Trading Platform. Orders come from two hundred countries, with an average of 3,000,000 orders placed each month.
• Increased the average number of new accounts by an average of 125% per month
• Implemented and maintained an annual digital marketing budget in excess of $30 million dollars
• Developed and executed the media strategy, implementation, analysis, and optimization of over
one hundred partner sites that were part of multi-national advertising campaigns
• Managed marketing strategies and budgets with leading financial portals like, Yahoo Finance,
CNN Money, NASDAQ, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Reuters - May 2005 - Aug 2006OPT Trips Director / Indian Head Camp
The OPT program at Indian Head is an outdoor adventure program that shows and teaches kids ages 6-16 about the great outdoors. They are taken on 3-7 day trips into the Adirondack region where they are taught about hiking, camping, rock climbing, cliff jumping, spelunking, and other extremely awesome things to do outside.
• Organized and directed outdoor adventure trips to the Adirondack region
• Hosted groups (20-30 people) through various actvities including rock climbing, cliff jumping, kayaking, and hiking
• Equipment management, budgeting, and leadership training
• Had the time of my life - Jun 1999 - Jan 2005Sales Manager / Trainer / Bally Total Fitness
Bally's is a chain of health clubs that can be found throughout the states.
• Met and exceeded nineteen consecutive monthly sales quotas
• Trained and developed over a dozen employees; two of whom became General Managers
• Established strategic partnerships for event fund raising (St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital)
Education-
2002 - 2006Johnson and Wales UniversityBS in Entrepreneurship; International Business
Activities: Providence Rugby Club -
2004 - 2004University of Southern QueenslandEntrepreneurship in Asian Pacific Economics
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2002 - 2002IHM Business SchoolBS in Entrepreneurship, International Business
Additional Information-
Websites:
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Interests:Film, Startups, Surfing, Climbing, Hiking, Break-Dance Fighting
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Posts
First day I wake up with @lanticsurf as a neighbor, and he gets me back in the water. Feels awesome to be back.
First time I ever went paragliding, and it was over gorgeous Torrey Pines. Again, thank you #sony #klout
2.62 miles for Boston, with the awesome folks from Active and WannaDo. We’re thinking about you Boston, go get em, be safe.
I finally have no excuses to not get back out on that dance floor. Thanks for the motivation @lanticsurf, and the awesome birthday present.
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Tweets
- RT @ariannahuff: Thank you @pierre for an enlightening conversation on how the media can create social impact #onef13 http://t.co/K96JzZiJDSMay 25, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Sorry man, I have a tendancy to be a dumbass at times @CaseyNeistat. It's fixed. Your name is tricky with the whole, "i before e" rule. ;)
- Stop selling, and tell your story — Where Advertising Is Headed (and why @CaseyNeistat is doing it right) http://t.co/3Bxx6nVsUN #startupsMay 24, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- "We are all works in progress." Amazing Career Advice From @LinkedIn's Billionaire Founder, @reidhoffman — http://t.co/dL9q67QhKN #startupsMay 23, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- A very personal story about the origins of Tumblr, and its new relationship w/ Yahoo. The 1-Person Product — http://t.co/bc6PsK11ai #startupMay 22, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Cool list of awesome people. (Could be more engaging/interactive though). Most Creative People 2013 — http://t.co/kP2LiNWROc #startups
- Thanks man, @SoulTapestry!
- Proud to be on the founding team for the Student Movement Against Cancer, & knowing that $1,000,000+ has been raised. http://t.co/QY4yXvYi90May 22, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- So many good movies this year! Early Buzz: ‘This Is the End’ Delivers Apocalypse-Sized Laughs — http://t.co/4xYx1kw8cu #film
- I would've added a round of Dance Dance Revolution, but that's me. 8 Things Productive People Do During The Workday. http://t.co/U7WYLGEZVJ
- RT @levie: Yahoo owned tech news today. That hasn't happened since, like, 1995.May 21, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Not a bad list to have handy when your pitch is locked up. The 19 Best Enterprise Venture Capitalists — http://t.co/KQC54KQrbJ #startups
- Thanks for the reccomendations on my @Medium articles, @hughmcfall. I really appreciate you checking them out.May 20, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- RT @GeekGirlCamp: #SanDiego Ladies, who wants to learn #Javascript? #GeekGirl is a sponsor for @sandiegojs & Hack Night tomorrow night http…May 20, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- A Recovering Startup Junkie (and his thoughts on what works and what doesn't). http://t.co/uXPtDm60gu #startups via @srcasm
- Some shared learnings from my road to 10,000 tweets, w/ mentions & inspirations from @garyvee & @pierre — http://t.co/2o1Qrtnpiv #startupsMay 20, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- I love backyards. http://t.co/7f9eDfzpg5
- Sun, horseshoes, and tasty drinks. http://t.co/uvRuiPszEh
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Photos
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Videos
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Startups
- We're young. We're nerdy, and we love working with early-stage startups.Mentalpez.comDAN'S PROJECTS
- WannaDo — Your bucket list just got a whole lot lighter.
- Micro-Documentaries (short films to help change the world)
- SportUp (coming soon)
- Daniel Young Skateboards — A successful Kickstarter project.
- Tracky — Connect, collaborate, done.
- screen2play — A team of startup junkies launching independent films, animated shorts, startup videos and Kickstarter projects.
- Civil Beat — Hawaii's source for true public-interest journalsim.
OTHER MENTALPEZ PROJECTS- RollTech — The most powerful tool in bowling.
- GiveAwayScoop — The fun and easy way to find the best giveaways.
- Hawaiian Airlines — Hawaii starts here.
