Mike Feerick CEO & Founder of ALISON

Summary: Among other topics, Mike discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:<br> <br> * The genesis of the idea behind ALISON<br> * The strategy behind ALISON’s focus on corporate and vocational training content online<br> * ALISON’s revenue model and key performance indicators used<br> * The rationale behind ALISON’s lack of affiliation with universities<br> * Why platforms like ALISON cannot compensate for learning through others and networking, as Mike experienced at Harvard<br> * How ALISON functions as a filter for the content that exists online in the vocational space<br> * Eye on the Trends: There will be great emphasis on skills-based hiring in the future, a departure from the traditional route that heavily weights an applicant’s college or university name,  and ALISON is positioning itself to provide employers with such candidates<br> <br> Mike Feerick’s Biography<br> Mike is the founder and CEO of ALISON (Advance Learning Interactive Systems Online), a MOOC-based e-learning platform headquartered in Galway, Ireland.<br> ALISON is considered by some to be the first ever MOOC, as Mike launched the company in 2007, which has since became a noted global provider in the e-learning community, and in September of 2013, ALISON was announced as one of six winners at the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) awards, an initiative of the Qatar Foundation.<br> Prior to founding ALISON, Mike founded YAC, a unified messaging/telecoms company (acquired by J2COM NASD in July of 2007), and he also founded Advance Learning, a global provider of interactive multimedia courseware for IT literacy. Mike also served as Acting MD of Interactive Investor and on the Board of BMG Music UK.<br> Mike holds a BBS (University of Limerick) and MBA (Harvard University).<br>  <br>