MAUMEE, OHIO�Bill Bales, CEO of AboutGolf®�a 19-year-old company that has become the world leader in indoor simulator technology�will participate in a unique round-table conference, "Topics, Techniques & Technologies," on November 8-9 at The Mill Street Inn in Newport, Rhode Island.
The group of innovative participants was assembled by Karl Gude, a visual journalism instructor at Michigan State University. Prior to taking that position last year, Gude spent a decade as the director of information graphics at Newsweek magazine. Gude, who has always been curious about how other experts outside his specific field worked, believed others would share his curiosity. This sparked Gude’s theory that if he could entice one or two interesting people into a room to discuss their work, then he could get 10 more who would also wanted to be there. The upcoming symposium proves his theory correct.
"Next week 12 fascinating people who work in the field of visual communication and interaction will get together in a small room to discuss what they do and how they do it," Gude says. "The object is to share, to learn and to grow. Seated around the table will be an innovative and exciting group, people like the chief cartographic designer for National Geographic magazine, the art director of the CIA, the exuberant founder of the wildly successful TED conference, the Science Times graphics editor for the New York Times and the founder of a unique interactive golf gaming experience."
Bales is the founder Gude refers to, and Bales’ innovative leadership and vision has led AboutGolf to tremendous growth. Since 2003, the company’s approximate sales figures have jumped from $900,000 to $9.1 million last year. The 2006 numbers rose 100 percent over 2005’s $4.5 million, and profits increased five-fold. AboutGolf Ltd.’s goal is to hit $20 million by 2009.
Thanks to its incredible success, AboutGolf was the highest-ranked golf company on the 2007 Inc. 500 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies in Inc. Magazine’s September issue. AboutGolf was 252nd overall, and sixth among Computer and Electronics companies.
Bales and AboutGolf also have gone outside the box by recently launching a unique golf commentary Web publication, TheNext500Years.com. The website’s primary mission is to speak to the golf establishment through essays, stories and editorials that openly discuss golf’s challenges and what the game’s future holds.
"I’m really looking forward to sitting down with this fascinating group in Newport," Bales says. "Not only will this be something different for me, but it is also an honor to be included in what promises to be a tremendous opportunity to share ideas that can only serve to help each of the participants to learn different ways to do our own jobs better."
For more information on the "Topics, Techniques & Technology" conference, go to www.igconference.org
AboutGolf is a 19-year-old Maumee, Ohio based company that has been dedicated to golf for its entire history. AboutGolf has produced Microsoft Golf, Greg Norman Ultimate Challenge Golf and World Tours, which is the world’s most-widely-distributed golf simulation, and now is the world leader in indoor golf simulator technology. AboutGolf® is a registered trademark of AboutGolf Limited, Maumee, Ohio.
Contact:
Mary Beth Lacy at: 760-346-6942, email: mb@mblacy.com
