Outside Events

Alec Sharp
The University of Maryland Division of Information Technology hosted a senior consultant to discuss
process improvement. Alec Sharp, a founder of Clariteq Systems Consulting Ltd., highly rated
conference speaker, bestselling author, and a consultant with over 35 years of experience spoke for a
few hours for a small group of students and faculty. I was invited to go as an applicant for the QUEST
program, and I was very excited to hear him speak. My father is a consultant, so I have heard him
speak on numerous occasions about his profession, but it was fascinating to hear an accredited
professional speak about consulting from another point of view. Sharp talked about his experience
with several companies and their quest to reengineer their business processes. Sharps main idea was
that many processes are outdated for the fast-paced world we live in today. There were five key points
that were addressed during the course of the presentation.

1. It's essential to have clarity on what a business process really is

2. Existing performance measures are often functionally aligned and work against
business processes
3. Enterprise system implementations must include a business process perspective
4. Success with business processes depends on taking a holistic view in which six
enablers are considered
5. Business processes can't be great at everything a single strategic differentiator
must be chosen1

Graphic obtained from the PowerPoint presentation by Alec Sharp

Sharp used real world examples that were familiar to us, for example, the process of college
admissions. Everyone in the room had gone through the process and knew how frustrating college
admissions can be. Sharp also stressed that the experience on the other end, for the schools, was almost
as frustrating as it was to apply as a student. Each individual department had optimized their
processes, but they didnt flow together cohesively. Clariteq consulting was hired to help reengineer
the admissions process for a college. Each individual yellow process in the chart is a category of
individual task that the department must go through. The yellow processes were grouped together by
department, and when Clariteq came in, they were able to meet their final goal, admit and onboard a
student, quickly and efficiently.

Mark Ciardi
On Thursday April 16, I attended a talk hosted by the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship. The
Dingman center has recently launched their Speaker Series, which aims to give University of
Maryland students the opportunity to interact with established entrepreneurs on an intimate level. The
guest speaker of the day was Mark Ciardi2, a famous producer, entrepreneur, former MLB baseball
player, and Maryland alum. Ciardi graduated the University of Maryland with a BS in Business, and
closed a successful career as a pitcher on the University of Maryland varsity baseball team. After
playing for Milwaukee for a short time, he retired at age 26 and traveled for a few years. During this
time he had a few gigs modeling and acting, but he eventually decided that he wanted to produce
movies.
In 1998, Ciardi moved to LA with his partner. The pair spent about
two years working out of a garage, making a grand total of $36,000.
Their first big hit was The Rookie, which was followed shortly after
by The New Guy. After these years of grueling work with not much
success, these two movies gave them the big break that they needed.
They signed a studio deal, and then two years later, they signed a
deal with Disney. There Ciardi and his partner produced Game Plan,
Secretariat, Million Dollar Arm, The Tooth Fairy, and more.

You either adapt or you go away

Recently, Ciardi has decided to split from his partner to form his
own company, Apex Entertainment. He had a realization after
shooting the short film Big Shot, part of the 30 for 30 series run by
ESPN. While on set, he asked himself why he was doing what he was
doing. His answer? He had his own brand emotionally capturing the journey of athletes. His

2

Picture obtained from the Apex Entertainment Website: http://apexentertainment.com/

Outside Events 2

experience as a college athlete and an unlikely MLB player had given him the eye that he needed to
produce a series of successful films. His ability to adapt and learn to the environment around him gave
him the confidence to finally take his own brand to a new level.

I left with nothing but I felt like I got everything

Ciardi left his partner with only five or six projects, but he left with the promise of working with
prominent executives he had met while on the set of other films. He felt that he needed to do this
because they times were changing, and he was
adapting to them. Though the company, Apex
Entertainment3, is new, he has great hopes for doing
something much more than the movies has worked
on previously. Ciardi is excited to begin producing
short films, TV shows, and even web clips. His goal is to create more content as an investor content is
what sells in the movie industry. He is thrilled to be finally pursuing his dream of becoming an
entrepreneur; he says that creating a company was always his endgame. Check out their website:
apexentertainment.com.
Ciardi left us with a few pieces of advice that he has accumulated over the years. First: live in New
York at some point; he claims that New York is the capital of the world. Secondly, go to Europe, he was
inspired by the culture in Europe, and it makes you more worldly. He emphasized the risk-reward
philosophy, and told us not to have fear, because everything always works out in the end. Finally,
continue to take in your inspiration from the world around you. Learn, explore, and have faith in
yourself.

Graphic obtained from the Apex Entertainment Website: http://apexentertainment.com/

Outside Events 3