Rod Holmes

Current

• Principal & Managing Editor at The Chicago 77
• Partner at Chicago Style SEO

Past

• Independent eLearning Curriculum Developer at Self-employed
• VP Marketing & Sales at The Homestead Group & Sudler | Sotheby's
• Office Manager & Assistant Broker at Habitat Company Brokerage Division

• Partner at Attain Brokerage
• Founder & CEO at Eight13 LLC
• Head Corporate English Trainer & Curriculum Developer at Sumitomo 3M
• Director of Accounting at Cannondale
• Purchasing Manager at Cannondale

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Education

• South Dakota State University
• South Dakota State University

Recommended

4 people have recommended Rod

Connections

86 connections

Industry

E-Learning

Rod Holmes’s Summary

I have a diverse background in everything from e-learning to real estate (I'm a broker) to corporate training to manufacturing. The central skill sets I possess which link these industries are: IT fluency and very strong communication and interpersonal skills.

Rod Holmes’s Experience

• Principal & Managing Editor

  The Chicago 77

  (Real Estate industry)

  January 2009 — Present (1 year 3 months)

  Principal and managing editor of the online web site dedicated to comprehensively covering the Chicago real estate market from all angles.

• Partner

  Chicago Style SEO

  (Marketing and Advertising industry)

  2007 — Present (3 years )

  Partner in this Internet marketing firm, focusing on search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), and social media marketing (SMM).
  
  We also develop all types of web sites, from the most complex to extremely simple.

• Independent eLearning Curriculum Developer

  Self-employed

  (E-Learning industry)

  August 2008 — November 2008 (4 months)

  • Working with ExecuTrain as an outsourced expert.
  • Developing curriculum to support the global roll out of Hewlett Packard's customized Saba LMS.
  • Developing 60 to 120 minute courses that can be instructor led at a distance or taught in a classroom.

• VP Marketing & Sales

  The Homestead Group & Sudler | Sotheby's

  (Real Estate industry)

  December 2007 — August 2008 (9 months)

  • Responsible for developing marketing systems for large apartment rental service.
  • Develop new web site strategy and implement its design, development, evaluation, and optimization.
  • Create and implement online and offline marketing strategies.
  • Negotiate and manage all contracts with suppliers such as publications and web-site development.

• Office Manager & Assistant Broker

  Habitat Company Brokerage Division

  (Real Estate industry)

  November 2005 — December 2007 (2 years 2 months)

  • Responsible for developing and maintaining all infrastructure of three offices with a total of 200 agents including: phones, computer network, license management, vendor management, e-mail, and other office equipment.
  • Managed a staff of ten: receptionists, transaction services coordinator, accounting, and marketing.
  • Helped develop new web site strategy and implement its design, development, and optimization.

• Partner

  Attain Brokerage

  (Real Estate industry)

  June 2004 — November 2005 (1 year 6 months)

  • Responsible for sales and marketing of condo developments.
  • Work as a buyer-agent for clients.
  • Developed highly effective online advertising campaign that provided all referrals necessary for the brokerage.
  • Developed all back-end systems to run the business.

• Founder & CEO

  Eight13 LLC

  (E-Learning industry)

  January 1999 — November 2004 (5 years 11 months)

  • Founded the company in 1997 and sold it in 2005.
  • Conceived of The OnEd Engine (a complete e-Learning platform including LMS and authoring tools), designed, and managed its development.
  • Raised seed capital from a large Japanese corporation.
  • Recruited and managed developer team located in Vancouver, Canada via e-mail and IRC chat.
  • Recruited, trained, and managed 13 teachers located all over the world: US, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, and Japan.
  • Developed elearning curriculum using The OnEd Engine, including Attain Online—a popular business-writing course for non-native English speakers.
  • Developed and maintained partner and customer relations.

• Head Corporate English Trainer & Curriculum Developer

  Sumitomo 3M

  (Consumer Goods industry)

  1996 — 2000 (4 years )

  • Coached top executives in all aspects of working in English with Americans: negotiation, cross-cultural issues, presentation, etc.
  • Taught presentation skills, cross-cultural skills, negotiation skills, e-mail writing skills, meeting skills, reading skills, and conversation.
  • Researched and wrote all textbooks used for in-house English-skills training.
  • Managed and trained other training staff.

• Director of Accounting

  Cannondale

  (Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Sporting Goods industry)

  March 1988 — April 1989 (1 year 2 months)

  • Supervised accounts receivable and accounts payable staff of 12 in a $40 million corporation.
  • Responsible for all financial reporting: cash flows, general ledger, and daily bank reports.
  • Responsible for collection of most difficult accounts.

• Purchasing Manager

  Cannondale

  (Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Sporting Goods industry)

  September 1986 — March 1988 (1 year 7 months)

  • Responsible for all aspects of purchasing over $5 million in domestic and international goods annually. Solely responsible for the largest 6061-T6 aluminum contract in North America.
  • Helped in developing quality assurance and just-in-time delivery systems with suppliers.

Rod Holmes’s Education

• South Dakota State University

  MA , Education , 1991 — 1992

  Completed 50% of Master's in Education. Was offered a position in Tokyo and left before completing the degree.

• South Dakota State University

  BS , Math, Computer Science, Education , 1981 — 1985

  I earned a BS in mathematics, a minor in computer science, and an endorsement to teach both topics in Jr. and Sr. high school.

Additional Information

Rod Holmes’s Interests:

Spending time with my family, travel, tandem bicycles, bicycles, traveling by bicycle, Macintosh computers, web technologies, new technology in general, cats

Rod Holmes’s Groups:

Secretary of the Local School Council for Nettelhorst Elementary School
Chicago Association of Realtors
Illinois Association of Realtors
National Association of Realtors
Institute of Real Estate Management
Kappa Delta Pi - International Honor Society in Education

•    Founders Network
•    Japan Intercultural Consulting
•    The Chicago 77