Ken Freirich '90 to be first 'entrepreneur in residence'

Ken Freirich, a 1990 Skidmore graduate, serial entrepreneur and executive who is currently executive vice president of Health Monitor Network, the nation's leading patient education publishing and technology company, will speak on "Entrepreneurship, Intrapreneurship, and Using Creativity to Follow Your Passion in the Field of Your Choice" this Thursday, Oct. 14 at 1 p.m. in Emerson Auditorium.

But that's not all.

During his presentation, Freirich will announce what he calls a "student entrepreneurship/creativity exercise," the winner of which will receive two luxury suite VIP passes to a New York Giants or Jets football game, whichever the winner prefers. Other prizes -- including an iPad -- will be awarded Friday, Oct. 15 in what Freirich is calling the "Creativity Exercise Presentations and Awards Ceremony", taking place from 9 to 11 a.m. in the Payne Room at the Tang Museum.

Freirich, who is coming to the campus as an "entrepreneur in residence," started his first company as a sophomore at Skidmore and has been building, running, and selling companies ever since in the publishing, health care, technology, and Internet business sectors both domestically and internationally. A Fortune 100 executive by age 29 and a drummer who has played with many rock stars, he credits his Skidmore experience as being an instrumental platform for his success.

Freirich oversees all functions and operations for Health Monitor Network which, based in Paramus, N.J., has a business platform that consists of relationships with 120,000 physician offices, 360,000 doctors, and 40 million patients. The company's products include magazines, custom publications, innovative pharmaceutical marketing solutions, Web sites, iPad/iPhone applications, and digital television screens.

HMN is rapidly expanding and Freirich is looking for Skidmore students who might want to be a part of it, either as interns or full-time employees. Following Thursday's presentation, he'll meet with students in an informal networking session, discussion opportunities at HMN in such areas as writing and editing, marketing, sales and public relations, graphic design, Web design, technology development, finance, and Web, mobile, and gaming applications. That session will run from 2:15 to 3:30 p.m. in Emerson Auditorium.