CEO at Posro Media/Managing Director at My Image Studios
Greater New York City Area
- Current
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- CEO at Posro Media LLC
- Managing Director at My Image Studios
- Past
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- Vice President, Application Development at Swiss American Securities
- Vice President Technology at Swiss American Securities Inc., a Credit Suisse Group Company
- Vice President at StreetLine
- Principal Software Engineer at New Era of Networks
- Research & Development Manager at Comverse
- R&D Senior Software Engineer/Development Manager at Comverse Technology Inc
- Development Manager at Comverse Network Systems
- Programmer/Analyst at Dow Jones
- Programmer at AT&T
- Education
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- New York Institute of Technology-Old Westbury
- Brown University
- Connections
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105
connections
- Industry
- Entertainment
- Websites
Roland Laird’s Summary
Critically acclaimed author and entrepreneur and a former senior manager at a wholly owned subsidiary of a Global Fortune 100 firm. While I have over 15 years leadership experience in technology, my current ventures have me immersed in convergent entertainment offerings with a specialty in African American culture. My book "Still I Rise: A Graphic History of African Americans" was released by Sterling Publishing on February 3, 2009.
Roland Laird’s Experience
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CEO
Posro Media LLC
(Entertainment industry)
2008 — Present (1 year)
Posro Media is a convergent entertainment company specializing in African American culture.
Previously Posro Inc, founded in 1989, Posro was one of the first black-owned independent comic book companies publishing the hip hop-infused series MC Squared. Today the company produces projects in a variety of formats, including comics, books, video, and film. Posro projects' positive imagery is designed to stand in sharp counterpoint to the mass media's often unrealistic and misleading portraits of the African American community. The company's fresh, and historically accurate perspective on topics ranging from slavery, to sports, politics, Hip Hop and superheroes have garnered praise from many national media including The New York Times, The Source, Entertainment Weekly, NBC's The Today Show, and MTV. -
Managing Director
My Image Studios
(Entertainment industry)
2008 — Present (1 year)
My Image Studios is a ten million dollar entertainment venue based in Harlem and scheduled to open in late 2009. This multifaceted 20,000 square foot venue will feature the art and culture of the African, Latino Diaspora and include 3 screening rooms, a restaurant, cafe and post-production facility. MIST is located in the Kalahari Condominiums, a 250 unit mixed income LEED certified "green" building. MIST will be the first green convergent entertainment complex in the United States.
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Vice President, Application Development
Swiss American Securities
(Financial Services industry)
2003 — October 2008 (5 years)
SASI is a wholly owned independent division of Credit Suisse focused on global execution, clearing, custodial services and stock loan/borrow services.
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Vice President Technology
Swiss American Securities Inc., a Credit Suisse Group Company
(Entertainment industry)
2002 — 2008 (6 years)
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Vice President
StreetLine
(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Information Technology and Services industry)
2001 — 2002 (1 year)
StreetLine was an ASP which provided white label Internet trading services to small and medium sized public and private financial institutions globally. It was owned by Swiss American Securities.
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Principal Software Engineer
New Era of Networks
(Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; NEON; Computer Software industry)
1999 — 2001 (2 years)
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Research & Development Manager
Comverse
(Entertainment industry)
1994 — 1999 (5 years)
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R&D Senior Software Engineer/Development Manager
Comverse Technology Inc
(Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; CMVT; Telecommunications industry)
1997 — 1999 (2 years)
Developed 10-10-321 for MCI WorldCom which involved creating a proprietary signaling server. By 1999 this server handled 88 million calls per month and was the key piece in the success of a $5 million dollar project. [When company was Amarex, later acquired by Comverse.]
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Development Manager
Comverse Network Systems
(Computer Software industry)
1994 — 1997 (3 years)
Projects managed include three interactive voice response systems for Chase Mellon Shareholder Services. [As Amarex Technology]
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Programmer/Analyst
Dow Jones
(Public Company; 5001-10,000 employees; DJ; Publishing industry)
1987 — 1994 (7 years)
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Programmer
AT&T
(Public Company; T; Telecommunications industry)
1986 — 1987 (1 year)
Developed software for the Subpoena Tracking and Reporting System (STARS) using C and Informix
Roland Laird’s Education
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New York Institute of Technology-Old Westbury
MS , Comupter Science , 1984 — 1986
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Brown University
AB , Mathematics , 1978 — 1982
Additional Information
Roland Laird’s Websites:
Roland Laird’s Honors:
2005 Writer-in-Residence, Miami Dade College
2004 Certificate of Recognition, US Mission to the United Nations
2004 Winner of the Week, Tavis Smiley, TavisTalks.com
2003 Spokesperson, NJ Gov. Jim McGreevey's Early
Literacy Initiative
2001 Honoree, 101 Best Graphic Novels, Nantier Publishing for Still I Rise
1998 Honoree, One of the Best Books in Print, New York
Review of Books Readers Catalog (Still I Rise)
1994 MC Squared becomes first contemporary comic book
archived in National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum for its literary
focus on the Negro Leagues
Roland Laird’s Contact Settings
Interested In:
- career opportunities
- new ventures
- job inquiries
- expertise requests
- business deals
- reference requests
- getting back in touch
