COVER STORY

CONTACT:

INGRID CHRISTENSEN is president of INGCO International: 612.605.8006; hello@ingcointernational.com; www.ingcointernational.com; in/ingridbchristensen

BELO CIPRIANO owns Oleb Media: 612.568.1013; info@olebmedia.com; www.olebmedia.com; in/belo-miguel-cipriani

DAVID GRAVES is president and CEO at MetroConnections: dgraves@metroconnections.com; www.metroconnections.com; in/David-graves-9b309634

MIKE GRAVES is chief operations officer and chief financial officer at MetroConnections: mgraves@ metroconnections.com; www.metroconnections.com; in/mike-graves-91250886

TOM MCCULLOCH is chief marketing officer at MetroConnections: tmcculloch@metroconnections.com; www.metroconnections.com; in/thomasmcculloch

TAMARA PRATO is CEO and founder of Connect the Dots LLC: 651.955.7372; connect@tamaraprato.com; www.tamaraprato.com; in/tamaraprato to reinvent ourselves.” says Cipriani, adding that such companies were among the first sectors to try to become accessible to those with disabilities. “They had to retrofit their hotel rooms and lobbies and everything to make things accessible to wheelchairs and so on. So, when I approached them and said, ‘Is your website accessible,’ they said ‘No, please help us.’ It was an easy way for us to set up our company in 2018.”

When the pandemic hit, Oleb began working with educational companies, who suddenly had to refine their online presence for Zoom and other online meetings. It also brought Cipriani back to his roots as a teacher — he has a doctorate in education.

So, where most of the hospitality companies wanted Oleb Media to simply do the work for them, the vast majority of his clients now are looking to be taught how to do the work themselves.

I feel like I really found my spot,” he says. “Now, the clients we are serving really match my value system.”

About 80 percent of his clients are now in education and most of the rest are nonprofits, largely in the arts, where much of his training revolves around helping them with the educational components of their displays.

Cipriani says an upside of being forced to change during the pandemic was being forced out of his comfort zone and into getting creative about diversifying revenue streams. He has created an online academy that launches in December where he’ll constantly be designing new products spinning forward what’s next.

“I want a dedicated time and space where I am looking at what’s next,” he says.

Catching Up

by Andrew Tellijohn