Josh Metnick
joshua@chicago.com
A Chicago native, Josh Metnick is Founder and Chairman of Chicago.com, Inc. His love of computers started when he was 9 years old and introduced to the TI99/4A. At 12, he coded a game called "Mario's Pizza" and won a local video game programming competition. Josh has been involved with software in one way or another for the last 28 years. Josh sold his first startup, AIS.net, Chicago's largest business ISP at the time, to Exodus Communications in January of 1999.
Josh serves on the Board of Trustees for the Chicago Chapter of the Awesome Foundation for the Arts and Sciences, is a Director of Networking Research Group, Inc. (an algorithmic software company), and is a co-inventor on US Software Patent No. 8,195,495, "Computer System and Method for Handling Encounters." Josh holds a B.S. from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana.
Cedric Hurst
cedric@chicago.com
Cedric Hurst is our Technical Lead and CTO. An adolescent Chicago transplant by way of
Peoria, IL, he is a passionate software engineer and technical architect by trade. Starting at
Spyglass, Inc. at age 16, Cedric was the youngest software development intern in the history of company, rubbing shoulders with the creators of the pioneering MOSAIC web browser. He went on to become a Senior Web Architect at UNETY Systems, where he also had the opportunity to share his expertise in the form of a 10-week web development masterclass at the Illinois Institute of Technology, teaching his first college class just a few days before starting college himself.
Cedric founded and leads Spantree Technology Group, LLC, a boutique Chicago consultancy focused on delivering high-quality software solutions to real-world problems. Spantree specializes in search engine design, interactive web experiences, data mining, rules engines, and planning systems. He continues to serve on the Board of Trustees of the Chicago Chapter of the Awesome Foundation. Cedric earned his B.S. in Information and Decision Sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Rebekah Jacobs
editor@chicago.com
Rebekah, our trusty editor, is a Chicago native who has lived in Austin, Boston, New York, Washington DC, and Sicily, Italy. She loves to travel and write -- even with two small children.
She holds a master's degree in Language and Literacy from Harvard University which has been gathering dust in its frame for the last few years while she's been making mac n' cheese and searching for perfect activities to do with kids in the city. When her kids aren't busy knocking over each other's Lego towers, they enjoy museums, plays, concerts, and the beach.
Vujadin Milinovich
vujadinp@chicago.com
Vujadin, our Chief Financial Officer, hails from Montenegro but over the past decade and a half has slowly assimilated to Chicago winters and is proud to call this his home. He has been working at Chicago.com, Inc. since April 2004. An entrepreneur at heart, he is comfortable wearing many hats that go beyond managing the numbers and money, ranging from product management and operations, to conducting business development and integration of Chicago.com partners, including Nashville.com, NewOrleans.com, TelAviv.com, and Brookline.com. In his spare time, Vujadin co-manages a domain name holding and development company and is enjoying newlywed life. He has a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Illinois at Chicago
Gary Turovsky
turovsky@chicago.com
Gary is one of our Senior Software Engineers and his philosophy of creating intuitive and practical software solutions to complex problems is at the essence of Things To Do. Gary previously provided network services at The Plus Group and maintained a customer-facing site simultaneously with a homegrown CRM application while at iNest Realty. Gary also spent time working on Mortal Kombat 9 while at Netherrealm Studios, at that time better known as Midway Games, and renowned for additional titles such as Spy Hunter, Tron, and NBA Jams.
Gary is a member of the elite software engineers at Spantree, focusing on smartypants stuff like algorithm design, performance optimizations, and build tools. He holds a B.S. and is working toward his Ph.D., both in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Roberto Uris Guerra
roberto@chicago.com
Roberto is a Senior Software Engineer who is passionate about Open Source and obscure programming languages that challenge his way of thinking. He brings great breadth of industry experience from both military and public service in his native Belize. Roberto helped the Belize Ministry of Health launch and maintain its Health Information System for country-wide public health facilities. He also designed the network that connects all the military bases in Belize.
Roberto is now part of the Spantree team of world-class engineers. He is a proud pet owner and enjoys soccer and independent films. Roberto has been involved in the Chicago tech scene from afar for years and is counting down the days until he can visit again -- preferably in the summer. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Escuela Militar De Ingenieros in Mexico City.
