Randal Birkey
Managing Director – Web Strategist
312.768.7450
Randal began his early career as a freelance illustrator in 1980, creating custom architectural illustration and technical illustrations for customers nation-wide for 16 years. He founded BIRKEY.COM as an illustration portfolio site in 1996. By 1999, he has transitioned into web design and merged his creative web practice with a software development firm located in Chicago’s western suburbs where he managed the growth of the BIRKEY.COM division for eight years. He sold his partnership in that business in 2007 and started Headstand Media as a web 2.0 Chicago-based web design company. In July of 2009, BIRKEY.COM became Randal’s illustration portfolio site again.
Benjamin Nelson
Creative Director
312.768.7451
Benjamin joined Headstand Media with a background in web user interface and experience design with firms such as ClickCommerce, ShopLocal.com and freelance experience as Someday Soon Design. While at ShopLocal, Benjamin was part of a creative team that developed the Digital Punch TV vlog, a digital video viral marketing campaign which gained some notable traffic on YouTube and other video blog sites. Benjamin is also a musical director, teacher and improv actor with Second City.
Kyle Williams
SEO Specialist
312.768.7452
Since 1997, Kyle has been creating content driven sites with a focus on revenue generation from advertising, and search engine traffic. What started as a hobby, selling strategy guides for a popular video game through the Amazon.com website, lead to the development of Survive Outdoors, Inc., an informational portal on various wilderness survival topics. At Headstand Media, Kyle will combine his experience in search engine marketing with Web 2.0 methodology to further enhance and grow client businesses.
Matt Ritsman
Media Designer
312.768.7453
Matt joined Headstand Media with experience in web, multimedia and print design. His college experience included film-making within a degree in Studio Art and Communications. In previous jobs he has worked on projects for Sara Lee Corporation, United Stationers, Northwestern University and the American Bar Association.
Taylor Birkey
Content Analyst
312.768.7454
Taylor graduated in 2005 from Taylor University with a Bachelor’s Degree in English. He has worked freelance over the past 10 years for a number of clients, including Elegant Packaging, C. Grant & Co., the Willow Creek Association, HBN Design, and Headstand Media. Taylor specializes in the writing- and content-driven aspects of web strategy and creativity, helping clients to communicate their unique story to the world. He loves people, and especially enjoys creative thinking and problem solving. His writing portfolio includes general marketing and business copy, brand tag lines, product descriptions, articles, newsletters, search engine optimized web copy.
In his spare time, Taylor writes two blogs: Birkey Review, which focuses on movie reviews, and a personal blog. He also publishes music and movie reviews at the online webzine Stereo Subversion.
Paul W. Ford
Senior Technology Expert – STA Group
Paul is a technology management expert who partners with Headstand Media on Day Software CQ consulting and development. Paul has extensive background in the creative agency world and brings that expertise and experience to help Headstand Media deliver a balanced creative+technology solution.
Tim Schwaar
Programming and Technology Specialist
Tim has many years of Microsoft and database technology programming experience in the architectural, engineering and property management markets. He has also worked as a lead developer on programming teams at Abbott Laboratories. Tim helps Headstand Media manage our Microsoft based customer sites as well as provides general programming and technical customer service and support.
Derek Taylor
Web Design and Technology Specialist
Derek graduated from the University of Illinois and began a web design career in 1997. In the years since, he has worked for clients including Microsoft, LaSalle Bank and CARS.COM. Derek assists Headstand Media and customers in the area of open source PHP and mySQL development on a project by project basis. One of Derek’s current projects is: http://www.chitowndining.com
Headstand Media is extending this combined expertise and partnership experience to serve public and private organizations and corporations with a wider range of creative and technology solutions, strategic web consulting, Web 2.0 integration, project management and search engine optimization services. Headstand Media LLC was formed in October 2007 by Randal Birkey and the Dillon Kane Group, located at 333 W. Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois.