Friday, March 16
Van leaves from Eliot Circle at Noon

We have an opportunity for a hosted tour on the Nike campus! Brett Kron '97 Sociology, and Roger Chen '97, Economics will host 10 Reedies on Friday, March 16. The van leaves at noon from Eliot Circle. The tour should go from 1 to 3:30 p.m. or so.* You will have the opportunity to talk with your hosts about as Brett says, "any topic including product design, the current job market, or how Nike works."

We can only accommodate ten guests, so we need to hear back from you by Tuesday, March 13. Please send your RSVP to Julie Kern Smith not later than 3 p.m. on the 13th.

Take this opportunity to get an insider's view of this amazing Portland-based company.

*Return time is approximate, given tour length, travel time, and traffic.

Brett Kron, ’97, Sociology
brett.kron@nike.com
Area of professional interest: Product Creation and Information Technology 
Current: Nike Production Creation Operations Manager (IT) 
  What I do: I manage operations for Nike’s Product Creation IT team. We work closely with Nike designers (the people who dream up new product), developers (the people who figure our how to make product) and planning (the people who coordinate product with marketing and manufacturing) to build and support systems and processes. I manage a team of engineers who keep it ticking. We deal with CAD programs for footwear and apparel, 3D rendering systems, global planning, and distribution systems, and just about everything in between. I work at the Nike Headquarters in Oregon with travel to various locations including China. 
  How I got here: After Reed I worked as a web designer, programmer and 3D animation artist. eCommerce was a huge growth area at the time so I decided to focus on designing and architecting systems that support online transactions. I specialized in this field, and as an IT architect I worked with several major brands including Gap, Esprit, and Nike. The culture of innovation and similarities between the energy of the Nike campus and Reed were attractive so I quit the consulting business and was hired on full time. I have been working at Nike for 11 years in several roles. 
  I am happy to talk to students about any topic including product design, the current job market, or how Nike works. I have done many things well and made some mistakes along the way. The key for me has been constantly learning and growing and trying not to jump out of the same hole twice!

Roger Chen ’97, Economics
cmail4me@yahoo.com
  I head up technology innovation for Nike's product design, development and R&D organizations. My career has varied from R&D at Intel to creating new digital consumer experiences for agencies, Oprah and Nike.  I've led creative and technical teams in building out new physical and digital spaces.  My focus is blending design and technology to create simple new intuitive experiences, and being the first to bring new ideas to the marketplace.  My career has been built around challenging institutional knowledge and what is and isn't
possible, but balancing it with corporate culture and expectations.