MUSE, The MBA's Smith Entrepreneurship Club and the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business kick off the "Compcierge Challenge" on Tuesday, April 21 at 5 p.m. in 1415 Van Munching Hall.
The Compcierge Challenge is a two-part event series that features a networking event with Tom Fong, founder and CEO of Compcierge on April 21. and a business competition on May 1 that will put your entrepreneurial skills to the test!
Meet the Entrepreneur: Tom Fong '83
Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 5 p.m.
VMH 1412
- Learn about Compcierge USA: the business strategy, the technology, and how it was started.
- Ask Tom Fong about how he built an idea into reality.
- Learn about the details of the competition on May 1st, 2009.
- Learn more about how to compete for a chance at $1,000!
Business Competition
Friday, May 1, 2009 at 9:30 a.m.
VMH 1412
RSVP in person at April 21 event
- Formally present your ideas/strategies to Tom Fong on which new industries the Compcierge technology can be used for.
- Winners receive $1,000!
Please contact Laura Lin with questions at laura.lin@rhsmith.umd.edu.
Thomas Fong, President and CEO of Compcierge USA
Fong is the founder of Compcierge USA. His entrepreneurial energy and vision have shaped the city intelligence opportunity into a saleable, sustainable business product. He has 20 years experience in database and systems support serving both the private and public sectors. Fong got his undergraduate degree in finance and economics and a M.A. in information systems and business management from the University of Maryland. He began his career working for companies consulting in the federal sector. Specifically, he supported the FAA for several years in database management and technology evaluation. Much of his early research involved data storage media as well as hypertext markup language (HTML) linkages to access text data. On his own time, he began developing a rudimentary city intelligence system with a back end database in dbIII+ and a user interface driven solely by the arrow keys on a keyboard. The easy navigation of the system of a database populated with substantial amount of city information (primarily restaurants) intrigued several hotel property general managers in the Washington, D.C., area. Compcierge USA was taking its first steps in the hospitality marketplace.
Media Contact
Greg Muraski
Media Relations Manager
301-405-5283
301-892-0973 Mobile
gmuraski@umd.edu
About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and flex MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, business master’s, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.