Creative Industries Forum: May 1, 2007, Jamaica

Horace Madison

Horace Madison is a founding Principal of MadisonSmallwood. He supervises investments and financial planning, focuses on new business and continues to provide client service on various accounts.

Horace has over 15 years of financial planning, insurance, and investment experience. His extensive skills and experience in individual portfolio management and knowledge of the market has helped him provide exceptional professional services to his clients.

Horace began his financial career at one of the country’s largest financial firms, IDS/American Express Financial Services. There he worked as an IDS financial planner and an American Express financial advisor and obtained his insurance and stockbroker licenses.

After three successful years at American Express, the lure of Wall Street brought Horace to Bear Stearns & Co., where for three years he excelled in the Private Client Services area as a stockbroker, earning his own desk.

Horace’s performance attracted the attention of a Senior Managing Director from Oppenheimer, who recruited him from Bear Stearns. In his new position, Horace helped starts a new subsidiary money management firm. It was there Horace began to sege into the entertainment industry.

Working with Burton Goldstein, the business manager and accountant for well-known groups Aerosmith and Phish, as well as, at that time, rising star Sean “Puffy” Combs of Bad Boy Records/Entertainment. Horace was able to learn accounting as it applied to the music and entertainment industry. He was also given the opportunity to be exposed to the deal side of business management. The rapid rise and success of Bad Boy created a tremendous opportunity for Horace. He picked up key clients such as Ma$e, and a contingent of Puffy’s producers called the “Hit Men”. Horace’s growing client base led him to one of the largest and most prestigious business management firms, Provident Financial Management. Under the tutelage of John Meneilly (Provident) Horace took his level of service to another level, to match the ever-growing level of clients. It did not take long for other firms to notice. Horace was recruited by Vernon Brown, and eventually joined V. Brown & Co. in early 1999.

After working in the capacity of Managing Director of the New York office for V. Brown & Co., Horace was able to gain significant additional knowledge and experience. His dedication to his clients and desire to show them the importance of smart business and money management led him to start his own business management firm. He partnered with Solomon Smallwood, the former Managing Director of V. Brown & Co. Atlanta office, who was also looking to venture out on his own. Together , in 2000, they founded Madison Smallwood Financial Group. 7 years later, MadisonSmallwood has grown to one of the most recognizable and respected Business Management firms in the industry. Most impressively they have expanded their client base way beyond music, to sports, entertainment and small businesses.

Ivan Berry

Michie Mee… Dream Warriors… Keshia Chanté… Tom Green… Glenn Lewis… Wyclef… These artists have all benefited from Ivan Berry’s guidance.

Berry is a winner and he works with winners. The artists he’s worked with have sold millions of records worldwide and have collected countless industry honours, including JUNO awards (Canada’s Grammy equivalent), SOCAN Awards, Much Music Video

Awards, Canadian Urban Music Awards and a number of certified Gold & Platinum plaques.

Throughout his career as an entrepreneur, artist manager, record label owner, talent development executive and music publisher, Berry has been a trailblazer, and a model of consistency and success.

Through his management company, iB Entertainment, Berry currently counts rising R&B

star Keshia Chanté, songwriter Rupert Gayle, Pop/Rock singer/songwriter Alonzo and

pioneering Hip-Hop group Dream Warriors among his roster of artists. In summer 2006, he began blazing a new trail in the world of music publishing when he launched his co-venture with ole, a global destination for world-class songwriters, composers and management talent. In this partnership, Berry acquires urban song catalogues and develops urban songwriters, which is an evolution of the role that he played as role’s Senior Partner International since late-2004.

A proud native of St. Kitts, Berry is actively involved in the development of the music

business infrastructure across the Caribbean. Berry is co-creator of the annual St. Kitts

Music Festival, which takes place each June and has attracted international superstars

such as Kool & The Gang, Chaka Khan, Ludacris, DMX, Hugh Masekela, Boyz II Men

and many more….

Dr. Denise-Margaret Thompson
Professor, Centre for Innovation, Development, Enterprise and Strategy

Dr. Denise-Margaret Thompson is the Programme Professor in the Center for Innovation, Development, Enterprise and Strategy, C-IDEAS, having previously served as an Associate Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies at Norfolk State University, VA and Associate Director of its Entrepreneurship Center. She was Marketing Editor for NSU’s Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship; a Founding Member of the Virginia Consortium for International Development; a member of the U.S. Department of Commerce MBDA Minority Enterprise Development National Planning Committee; and represented NSU on the boards of directors for the Hampton Roads Technology Incubator and the Virginia Business Incubation Association. Her teaching and applied research areas include technology entrepreneurship in underserved communities and creativity and innovation management.

Professional Areas of Expertise

• Business incubation and support network
• Technology or engineering entrepreneurship education and curricula
• Economic development and entrepreneurship
• Creativity and Innovation Management