Michael Kolowich
Encyclopedia
Michael Edmund Kolowich is an entrepreneur
, new media
and internet content
entrepreneur
, and documentary film
maker. He is founder and CEO of KnowledgeVision Systems Incorporated, is executive producer
of DigiNovations, a multimedia
production company
which he founded in Concord, Massachusetts
, and is a Board Member of Piper Aircraft Corporation and AmSafe
Inc. He was a partner at Bain & Company
, chief marketing officer for Lotus Development Corporation, founding publisher and columnist for PC/Computing
magazine, was founder and president of Ziff-Davis Interactive (now ZDNet
), served as president of AT&T
New Media, was chairman, president and CEO of Individual Incorporated, and co-founded NewsEdge Corporation.
, Kolowich is the eldest son of Raymund Frederick Kolowich and Marilynn Convery. After growing up in Michigan
, he attended Portsmouth Abbey School
in Portsmouth, Rhode Island
and received his A.B. in 1974 from Harvard College
, with a concentration in Engineering and Applied Physics/Computer Sciences
. While at Harvard, Kolowich was news director of WHRB
, Harvard Radio.
Kolowich later returned to Harvard to attend Harvard Business School
, from which he received an M.B.A. with distinction in 1980.
in Boston
as assignment editor. After a year at WPRI-TV
in Providence, Rhode Island
, Kolowich returned to WBZ-TV
as producer of "Eyewitness News at Eleven." In 1976, Kolowich became an on-air reporter for "The Ten O'Clock News" at WGBH-TV
in Boston, and was awarded an Emmy Award
for a series on aviation safety
.
After returning for two years of graduate school
at Harvard, Kolowich joined the management consulting
firm of Bain & Company
, where he was best known for his work during the turnaround of Chrysler Corporation and his leadership on the employee buyout of Weirton Steel Corporation
in 1983. He became a vice president and partner in the firm in 1984.
In 1985, Kolowich took a leave of absence from Bain & Company
to join the rapidly-growing Lotus Development Corporation as corporate vice president, marketing and business development. After a company reorganization in 1987, he took line responsibility for all of Lotus' non-spreadsheet products, including Freelance Graphics, Agenda
, Magellan
, and Manuscript
. He was responsible for negotiating and signing the development agreement with Iris Associates
that gave Lotus the long-term rights to market the pioneering groupware product, Lotus Notes.
In 1988, William B. Ziff, Jr.
personally recruited Kolowich to become founding publisher and columnist for a new computer magazine
for Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. Launched as PC/Computing
, the magazine reached a circulation of more than 1 million within five years.
In 1991, as he moved PC/Computing
's headquarters from Boston to Foster City, California
, Kolowich took over all of Ziff Davis
' electronic publishing efforts, consolidating them under the name Ziff-Davis Interactive. The most notable product of these efforts was ZDNet
, an online complement to Ziff-Davis' print publications, which later became the most valuable property in the Ziff-Davis portfolio. In 1994, when the Ziff family disposed of its publishing properties, Kolowich brought the company's online technology division, called the Interchange Online Network, to AT&T
, where Kolowich was named president of AT&T New Media Services.
In 1996, Kolowich was named chairman, president and CEO of Individual Incorporated, an internet news filtering company that earlier that year been one of the first web content
companies to go public
successfully. In 1998, Kolowich negotiated a merger-of-equals
with competitor Desktop Data, and co-founded NewsEdge Corporation, which was subsequently sold in 2001 to The Thomson Corporation.
In 2001, Kolowich founded DigiNovations as a multimedia
production company
that would apply video and multimedia technology to telling the stories of New England
companies, organizations, and educational institutions. He has produced corporate and institutional documentary film
s for, among other clients, Harvard University
, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, Museum of Science, Boston
, Sacred Heart University
, and Genzyme Corporation
. He is author of the "Web Video Expert" blog on video production
. He was architect and producer of Mitt TV, the internet TV channel of the Mitt Romney
2008 presidential campaign
.
, where he was vice-chairman of the Program Advisory Committee, serves on the President's Council of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
, and is past president of Concord-Carlisle Youth Baseball
& Softball
. He is also an officer of the National Professional Videographers Association and is a trustee emeritus of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council.
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, new media
New media
New media is a broad term in media studies that emerged in the latter part of the 20th century. For example, new media holds out a possibility of on-demand access to content any time, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community...
and internet content
Content
Content or contents may refer to:* Contentment, a state of being* Content , the highest common factor of a polynomial's coefficients* Content , an additive real function defined on a field of sets...
entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, and documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
maker. He is founder and CEO of KnowledgeVision Systems Incorporated, is executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
of DigiNovations, a multimedia
Multimedia
Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...
production company
Production company
A production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...
which he founded in Concord, Massachusetts
Concord, Massachusetts
Concord is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 17,668. Although a small town, Concord is noted for its leading roles in American history and literature.-History:...
, and is a Board Member of Piper Aircraft Corporation and AmSafe
AmSafe
AmSafe Inc. is a manufacturer of air safety and securement products to the aerospace, defense, and ground transportation industries and maker of aircraft seatbelts. AmSafe makes the Aviation Inflatable Restraint , a seatbelt airbag approved by the FAA designed to improve occupant protection from...
Inc. He was a partner at Bain & Company
Bain & Company
Bain & Company is a global management consulting firm headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Bain is considered one of the most prestigious consulting firms in the world, with 47 offices in 30 countries and over 5,500 professionals on staff globally...
, chief marketing officer for Lotus Development Corporation, founding publisher and columnist for PC/Computing
PC/Computing
PC/Computing was a monthly Ziff Davis publication that for most of its run focused on publishing reviews of IBM-compatible hardware and software and tips and reference information for users of such software and hardware.Established under the guidance of founding publisher and columnist Michael...
magazine, was founder and president of Ziff-Davis Interactive (now ZDNet
ZDNet
ZDNet is a business technology news website published by CBS Interactive, along with TechRepublic and SmartPlanet. The brand was founded on April 1, 1991 as a general interest technology portal from Ziff Davis and evolved into an enterprise IT-focused online publication owned by CNET...
), served as president of AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
New Media, was chairman, president and CEO of Individual Incorporated, and co-founded NewsEdge Corporation.
Background and education
Born in Detroit, MichiganDetroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, Kolowich is the eldest son of Raymund Frederick Kolowich and Marilynn Convery. After growing up in Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, he attended Portsmouth Abbey School
Portsmouth Abbey School
Portsmouth Abbey School is a private, coeducational boarding and day school for grades 9 through 12, located in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. Founded by the Benedictine monks of Portsmouth Abbey in 1926 as Portsmouth Priory School, the school offered a classical education to boys...
in Portsmouth, Rhode Island
Portsmouth, Rhode Island
Portsmouth is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 17,389 at the 2010 U.S. Census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water. Most of its land area lies on Aquidneck...
and received his A.B. in 1974 from Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
, with a concentration in Engineering and Applied Physics/Computer Sciences
Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
The Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Science , a school within Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences , serves as the connector and integrator of Harvard's teaching and research efforts in engineering, applied sciences, and technology.Engineering and applied sciences at Harvard...
. While at Harvard, Kolowich was news director of WHRB
WHRB
WHRB is a commercial FM radio station in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It broadcasts at 95.3 MHz and is operated by students at Harvard College.-History:...
, Harvard Radio.
Kolowich later returned to Harvard to attend Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
, from which he received an M.B.A. with distinction in 1980.
Career
After college in 1974, Kolowich joined the news staff at WBZ-TVWBZ-TV
WBZ-TV, virtual channel 4, is a CBS owned-and-operated television station, located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WBZ-TV's studios and office facilities, shared with sister station WSBK-TV , are located in the Allston-Brighton section of Boston, and its transmitter is located in Needham,...
in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
as assignment editor. After a year at WPRI-TV
WPRI-TV
WPRI-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for the state of Rhode Island and Bristol County, Massachusetts that is licensed to Providence. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 13 from a transmitter on Homestead Avenue in Rehoboth, Massachusetts...
in Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
, Kolowich returned to WBZ-TV
WBZ-TV
WBZ-TV, virtual channel 4, is a CBS owned-and-operated television station, located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WBZ-TV's studios and office facilities, shared with sister station WSBK-TV , are located in the Allston-Brighton section of Boston, and its transmitter is located in Needham,...
as producer of "Eyewitness News at Eleven." In 1976, Kolowich became an on-air reporter for "The Ten O'Clock News" at WGBH-TV
WGBH-TV
WGBH-TV, channel 2, is a non-commercial educational public television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WGBH-TV is a member station of the Public Broadcasting Service , and produces more than two-thirds of PBS's national prime time television programming...
in Boston, and was awarded an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for a series on aviation safety
Air safety
Air safety is a term encompassing the theory, investigation and categorization of flight failures, and the prevention of such failures through regulation, education and training. It can also be applied in the context of campaigns that inform the public as to the safety of air travel.-United...
.
After returning for two years of graduate school
Graduate school
A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...
at Harvard, Kolowich joined the management consulting
Management consulting
Management consulting indicates both the industry and practice of helping organizations improve their performance primarily through the analysis of existing organizational problems and development of plans for improvement....
firm of Bain & Company
Bain & Company
Bain & Company is a global management consulting firm headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Bain is considered one of the most prestigious consulting firms in the world, with 47 offices in 30 countries and over 5,500 professionals on staff globally...
, where he was best known for his work during the turnaround of Chrysler Corporation and his leadership on the employee buyout of Weirton Steel Corporation
ISG Weirton Steel
ISG Weirton Steel was once a fully integrated steel producer and one of the world's largest producers of tin plate products. Founded by Ernest T. Weir in 1909 as Weirton Steel, the company later became part of the National Steel Corporation. In 1983, employees agreed to purchase the operation...
in 1983. He became a vice president and partner in the firm in 1984.
In 1985, Kolowich took a leave of absence from Bain & Company
Bain & Company
Bain & Company is a global management consulting firm headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Bain is considered one of the most prestigious consulting firms in the world, with 47 offices in 30 countries and over 5,500 professionals on staff globally...
to join the rapidly-growing Lotus Development Corporation as corporate vice president, marketing and business development. After a company reorganization in 1987, he took line responsibility for all of Lotus' non-spreadsheet products, including Freelance Graphics, Agenda
Lotus Agenda
Agenda is a DOS-based personal information manager, designed by Mitch Kapor, Ed Belove and Jerry Kaplan, and marketed by Lotus Software.Lotus Agenda is a "free-form" information manager: the information need not be structured at all before it is entered into the database...
, Magellan
Lotus Magellan
Lotus Magellan was a groundbreaking DOS-based desktop search package, conceived and developed by Bill Gross and released in the 1980s by Lotus Development Corporation, most famous for Lotus 1-2-3....
, and Manuscript
Lotus Manuscript
-External links:**...
. He was responsible for negotiating and signing the development agreement with Iris Associates
Iris Associates
Iris Associates was a software development company founded in Littleton, Massachusetts on December 7, 1984 by Ray Ozzie to build the software ultimately known as Lotus Notes. Tim Halvorsen and Len Kawell, who joined Iris shortly afterwards in January 1985, met Ray Ozzie years before when all of...
that gave Lotus the long-term rights to market the pioneering groupware product, Lotus Notes.
In 1988, William B. Ziff, Jr.
William B. Ziff, Jr.
William Bernard Ziff, Jr. was an American publishing executive. His father, William B. Ziff, Sr., was the co-founder of Ziff Davis Inc. and when the elder Ziff died in 1953, Ziff took over the management of the company. After buying out partner Bernard G...
personally recruited Kolowich to become founding publisher and columnist for a new computer magazine
Computer magazines
This is a list of magazines marketed primarily for computer and technology enthusiasts or users. The majority of these magazines cover general computer topics or several non-specific subject areas, however a few are also specialized to a certain area of computing and are listed separately.-General...
for Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. Launched as PC/Computing
PC/Computing
PC/Computing was a monthly Ziff Davis publication that for most of its run focused on publishing reviews of IBM-compatible hardware and software and tips and reference information for users of such software and hardware.Established under the guidance of founding publisher and columnist Michael...
, the magazine reached a circulation of more than 1 million within five years.
In 1991, as he moved PC/Computing
PC/Computing
PC/Computing was a monthly Ziff Davis publication that for most of its run focused on publishing reviews of IBM-compatible hardware and software and tips and reference information for users of such software and hardware.Established under the guidance of founding publisher and columnist Michael...
's headquarters from Boston to Foster City, California
Foster City, California
Foster City is an affluent planned city located in San Mateo County, California, 94404. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 30,567. Forbes ranked Foster City #10 on their 2009 list of America's Top 25 Towns to Live Well. Money has also recognized Foster City multiple times as...
, Kolowich took over all of Ziff Davis
Ziff Davis
Ziff Davis Inc. is an American publisher and Internet company. It was founded in 1927 in Chicago by William B. Ziff, Sr. and Bernard G. Davis. Throughout most of its history, it was a publisher of hobbyist magazines, often ones devoted to expensive, advertiser-rich hobbies such as cars,...
' electronic publishing efforts, consolidating them under the name Ziff-Davis Interactive. The most notable product of these efforts was ZDNet
ZDNet
ZDNet is a business technology news website published by CBS Interactive, along with TechRepublic and SmartPlanet. The brand was founded on April 1, 1991 as a general interest technology portal from Ziff Davis and evolved into an enterprise IT-focused online publication owned by CNET...
, an online complement to Ziff-Davis' print publications, which later became the most valuable property in the Ziff-Davis portfolio. In 1994, when the Ziff family disposed of its publishing properties, Kolowich brought the company's online technology division, called the Interchange Online Network, to AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
, where Kolowich was named president of AT&T New Media Services.
In 1996, Kolowich was named chairman, president and CEO of Individual Incorporated, an internet news filtering company that earlier that year been one of the first web content
Web content
Web content is the textual, visual or aural content that is encountered as part of the user experience on websites. It may include, among other things: text, images, sounds, videos and animations....
companies to go public
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
successfully. In 1998, Kolowich negotiated a merger-of-equals
Mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities that can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector or location of origin, or a new field or...
with competitor Desktop Data, and co-founded NewsEdge Corporation, which was subsequently sold in 2001 to The Thomson Corporation.
In 2001, Kolowich founded DigiNovations as a multimedia
Multimedia
Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...
production company
Production company
A production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...
that would apply video and multimedia technology to telling the stories of New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
companies, organizations, and educational institutions. He has produced corporate and institutional documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
s for, among other clients, Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
, Museum of Science, Boston
Museum of Science, Boston
The Museum of Science is a Boston, Massachusetts landmark, located in Science Park, a plot of land spanning the Charles River. Along with over 500 interactive exhibits, the Museum features a number of live presentations throughout the building every day, along with shows at the Charles Hayden...
, Sacred Heart University
Sacred Heart University
Sacred Heart University is a Roman Catholic university located in suburban Fairfield, Connecticut, United States. Sacred Heart was founded in 1963 by the Most Reverend Walter W. Curtis, Bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Sacred Heart University was the first Catholic university in...
, and Genzyme Corporation
Genzyme
Genzyme Corporation is a fully owned subsidiary of Sanofi-Aventis. Before its acquisition, Genzyme was an American biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 2010, Genzyme was the world’s third-largest biotechnology company, employing more than 11,000 people around the world...
. He is author of the "Web Video Expert" blog on video production
Video production
Video production is videography, the process of capturing moving images on electronic media even streaming media. The term includes methods of production and post-production...
. He was architect and producer of Mitt TV, the internet TV channel of the Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
2008 presidential campaign
Mitt Romney presidential campaign, 2008
Mitt Romney was a Republican Party primary candidate in the 2008 United States presidential election. On January 3, 2007, two days before he stepped down as governor of Massachusetts, Romney filed to form a presidential exploratory committee with the Federal Election Commission...
.
Civic and Professional Affiliations
Michael Kolowich is trustee of Museum of Science, BostonMuseum of Science, Boston
The Museum of Science is a Boston, Massachusetts landmark, located in Science Park, a plot of land spanning the Charles River. Along with over 500 interactive exhibits, the Museum features a number of live presentations throughout the building every day, along with shows at the Charles Hayden...
, where he was vice-chairman of the Program Advisory Committee, serves on the President's Council of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association is a Frederick, Maryland-based non-profit political organization. Incorporated on 15 May 1939, AOPA's membership consists mainly of general aviation pilots in the United States...
, and is past president of Concord-Carlisle Youth Baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
& Softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
. He is also an officer of the National Professional Videographers Association and is a trustee emeritus of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council.