GONG SZETO
696 E. Zia Rd.
Santa Fe, NM 87505
LinkedIn.com Profile
Curriculum Vitae
Updated 08/08
_____________________________________________________________________________
PROFESSIONAL
February 2005 – Present
Director of Design
OptionsHouse, Inc. / PEAK6 Investments, LP
Chicago, IL
OptionHouse, Inc. is a new stock and options online brokerage based in Chicago, IL. OptionsHouse was founded and is wholly-owned by PEAK6 Investments, LP, one of the most successful proprietary options trading firms in the U.S. Duties included the design of the OptionsHouse online stock and options trading product offering, integration with application and back-end technologies, strategic planning and positioning for the business, marketing and advertising concepts and execution, liason with Leo Burnett, OptionsHouse’s Agency of Record, liason with Weiser Group, OptionsHouse’s public relations agency. Additional duties included developing brand packages for PEAK6 Performance Fund, a new hedge fund launched in 2005, JustOptions, specializing in solutions for off-floor traders, as well as branding inititives for PEAK6 itself. Report directly to Co-CEO’s of OptionsHouse and founders of PEAK6.
May 2004 – January 2007
Partner
SBV Tranquility Base, LP
Austin, TX
SBV Tranquility Base, LP is a newly formed real estate development company whose mission is to develop affordable environmentally friendly housing and Live/Work solutions in high-growth medium-sized American cities, such as Austin, TX. Its $3.3MM pilot project is “Moon Units Live/Work”, a 10-unit development in south central Austin, slated to be completed in late-2007. Szeto Brothers Ventures, LLC was the sole investor in this development. SBV Tranquility Base, LP successfully completed the sale of the Moon Units development to Overture Properties in January 2007.
May 2002 – May 2003
Editor-in-Chief
GAIN Journal for Business & Design, American Institute for Graphic Arts
New York, NY
GAIN is an online journal focusing on the role of design innovation and business. Responsibilities included the editorial voice and content development for maiden issue, as well as coordinating interviews, articles, and other content development. GAIN is the editorial adjunct to the AIGA’s bi-annual GAIN conference on Business & Design, which attracts over 1200 attendees per year. http://gain.aiga.org
September 1998 – September 2001
Senior Vice President, Chief Creative Officer
Rare Medium, Inc. (NASD: RRRR)
New York, NY
Responsibilities include co-managing the design departments in Rare Medium’s 11 offices worldwide, collaborating with Rare Medium department managers in organizing and streamlining production and delivery processes, developing visual collateral for Rare Medium for promotion and sales purposes, public speaking in industry and design-related venues, approving procurement and reimbursable expenses for design department, and overseeing strategic and conceptual development of interface design projects through development and delivery. Reported directly to CEO, and had over 15 direct reports representing around 120 design staffers worldwide, meeting revenue targets over $30MM annually.
Co-Founded and Co-Managed Rare Medium’s Broadband and Wireless Solutions Group.
Rare Medium Clients included: Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Sony, XM Radio, Cablevision, Motient Corporation, Sony Corporation, Microsoft, New York Times
December 1994 - September 1998
Partner
i/o 360 digital design, inc.
New York, NY
As one of the five principals of i/o 360 digital design, inc. a highly recognized design firm specializing in interactive digital design solutions for the Web, CD-ROM, broadcast, broadband, enterprise intra-/extranets, my responsibilities ranged from operations, business planning, human resources, infrastructural and facilities management, to new business development, client services, public relations, strategic and tactical design for client projects, project management, and employee development and training, public speaking, and research and development initiatives of a growing 25+ person interactive design firm whose annual revenues approximated $2.1MM in 1998 prior to acquisition by Rare Medium, Inc. in September 1998 for $3.3MM.
i/o 360 clients included: Citibank, Dow Jones & Company, Sony Corporation of America, Time Warner, IBM, NorTel, Sotheby’s, Delta Air Lines, Viacom, Mitsubishi, Fujitsu, Microsoft, JP Morgan, The New York Times, Reuters, Merrill Lynch, Prodigy, CS First Boston, Barron’s, First Data, Compaq, Yahoo!, Time Inc., Ogilvy & Mather
September 1997 - December 1997
Associate Professor
Parsons School of Design, MFA Program in Interface Design
New York, NY
Taught Interface Design to Masters of Fine Arts students at Parsonss School of Design. Focus was on visual design, composition, interaction design, information design, and technology solutions for web and CD-ROM.
December 1993 - December 1994
Architect
Leers Weinzapfel Associates Architects
Boston, MA
Project Architect for the new Leers Weinzapfel Associates Architects offices, the design for the office of Mitchell Kapor (founder of Lotus Corp.) as well as public works projects for the Boston Transit Authority.
June 1990 - December 1993
Architect
Moore/Andersson Architects
Austin, TX
Project Architect for a number of building projects in the US and abroad including EuroDisney Housing Masterplan, Washington State History Museum, Kansas State University Art Museum, Christie Residence, Cotton Club Clothing Stores, Bowdoin College Student Center, Disney Celebration Civic Center, and Baltimore Public Library.
_____________________________________________________________________________
EDUCATION
July 2003
Business Perspectives for Design Leaders
Certificate
Executive Education Program
Harvard Business School
Cambridge, MA
September 2001 – August 2002
Macro/Microeconomics
Accounting & Finance
Real Estate Finance
Intellectual Property Law
Marketing Strategy
Small Business Management
Certificate
New York University School of Continuing Education
Stern School of Business Extension
New York, NY
September 1995 – December 1995
Data Structures and Programming Algorithms
New York University
New York, NY
January 1993 – June 1993
C/C++ Programming
Certificate
The Lowell School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA
September 1985 – June 1992
B.Arch
University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture and Planning
Austin, TX
_____________________________________________________________________________
PUBLICATIONS
Editor, Designing Interactive Web Sites, Hayden Books, USA
I.D. Magazine, USA
Form, Germany
REWIRED, Germany
De:Bug, Germany
Graphis, USA
Webmonkey, USA
Web Developer, USA
Communication Arts, USA
How Magazine, USA
MacWeek, USA
AdWeek, USA
Internet World, USA
Blueprint, UK
Nikkei Design, Japan
Idea, Japan
Eye, Japan
Axis, Japan
Print, Japan
"Mapping Cyberspace", Martin Dodge and Rob Kitchen, UK
_____________________________________________________________________________
DISTINCTIONS
U.S. Patent #6,282,713 B1 “On Demand Advertising for Interactive Television”,
co-invented with Sony Corporation, 2000
Wired Magazine, RGB Gallery, 1999
Communication Arts, Interactive Annual, 1998
Graphis, Interactive Annual, 1998
Art Director’s Club, Silver Medal, 1998
Art Director’s Club, Young Guns Show, 1997
American Center of Design, Annual 100 Show, 1997
Net Tech Award, ChannelSeven, 1997
Net Tech 21, Mecklermedia, 1997
CASIE Award, 1996
I.D. Magazine, Top 40 Design Firms in US and Europe, 1996
I.D. Magazine, Honorable Mention, Interactive Design Review, 1995
Samsung Braintrust Campaign, 1995
_______________________________________________________________________
PUBLIC SPEAKING
Experience Design Seminar Panel
AIGA Verge Conference, Parsons School of Design, New York, March 2001
“Explaining Design in Business Terms”
AIGA GAIN Conference, New York, New York, October 2001
“Online Selling: SIG Panel, Design Track”
Seybold ‘99, Javitz Center, New York, March 1999
“Creating Effective User Experiences: from Whiteboard to Website Panel”
AIGA/UDA Design Series, Apple Market Center, New York, January 1999
“Work Toys and Play Tools”
Doors of Perception 5 Conference: PLAY, Netherlands Design Institute, Amsterdam, December 1998
“Web Design Issues”
AIGA Advance on Design Workshop, Nantucket, November 1998
“My Info to Go: The New York Today Website, A Case Study: Future of the Web Panel”
Macworld ‘98, San Fransisco, September 1998
“Future Interfaces for the Web and Beyond”
Seybold ’98, Javitz Center, New York, September 1998
“Web Design Issues Panel”
Metamorphosis, Type Director’s Club, New York, June 1998
“i/o 360 digital design, inc. Projects”
Signs of Trouble Lecture Series, Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, May 1998
“Parasite Email Technology in Knowledge Management Enterprises”
Knowledge Maps Workshop, Netherlands Design Institute, May 1998
“Interface Technology”
Seybold Seminars, Boston, October 1998
“Parasite Email Technology”
Milia ’98, Cannes, Febrauary 1998
“On Interface Design for the Web”
AIGA National Conference, New Orleans, November 1997
“Interaction Design Workshops: Push Technology”
Doors on Tour ‘97, Netherlands Design Institute, Amsterdam May 1997
“i/o 360 digital design inc. Projects”
Magazine Publisher’s of America Conference, New York, January 1997
_____________________________________________________________________________
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
American Institute of Graphic Arts, Former National Board Member
Van Alen Institute for Public Architecture, Former National Board Member
Design Management Institute
American Center for Design
Art Director’s Club
Association for Computing Machinery
SIGCHI
New York New Media Association
Former faculty of University of the Arts, Parsons School of Design, United Digital Artists
_____________________________________________________________________________
PERSONAL
Date of Birth: May 18, 1967
Place of Birth: Hong Kong
Residing: Mesilla, NM and Santa Fe, NM
Lived: Boston MA, Houston TX, Austin TX, Cambridge MA, New York NY, Brooklyn NY, Taos NM, Mesilla NM, Santa Fe NM, Chicago IL
Family: Married to writer Bonnie Schwartz; two pointer mixes Juliette and Waylon; thoroughbred horse named Raise Your Last Glass
Interests: Design, Art, Technology, Business, Innovation, Sustainable Development, dogs, horses, motorcycles
Favorite Tools/Toys: Quad-core MacPro 2.66, Dual-core MacBook Pro 17, 30GB Video iPod, Toshiba Portege TabletPC, Sony PSP, Blackberry Pearl, NAD tuner (circa 1983), Grado SR60's, '06 Buell Ulysses XB12X motorcycle, Bell&Ross BRO1 Replica, Leatherman Juice, Gerber Paraframe, #2 Pencil(HB)