About

Thanks for stopping by. You’ve reached the #1 fansite of David LaPlante dedicated to my millions few fans, or at least my two kids and the rare occasion that my wife bobbles through.

Rules! Yes, there’s rules!

  1. Stop reading if you don’t like what you’re reading.
  2. I don’t approve anonymous comments.
  3. I only approve comments that make me look smart and/or you look smart/stupid.
  4. I’m not writing for the New York Times, so save your grammar corrections for the newspaper editor. I drink better when I write!
  5. Finally, I write when I feel like writing. Don’t expect this to be a daily affair. My intention is to leave a few thoughts for my kids to chew on after I kick it and to help support the ideas, brands, people and organizations I care about. I’m not here to get 100,000 Twitter followers or dominate the blogosphere. I have clients that pay me to do that for them ;-)

That said, here is a rundown of all that I’ve amounted to in life thus far: 

Entrepreneur | Dad | Skier | Cyclist | Speaker | CEO

Currently:

Notable Awards/Recognitions:

Past:

Some Recent Speaking Engagements:

Interestingness about me/my world…

The Obligatory “Why I blog” section:

So, what we have here is a blog –dating back to 2003 — on things I am compelled to feed in to cyberspace. Like you, I click on ‘About’ pages hoping to discover some perspective, connection or commonality with the writer.

First and foremost I love marketing and the mediums in which marketing travels, particularly of the following flavors: mobile marketing, email marketing, relationship marketing and social marketing. I practice what I preach. Therefore I blog. I wouldn’t advise anyone — client or friend — on anything I haven’t tried myself.

Second, I love branding. Particularly branding as it pertains to transforming online reputation and translating offline brands online and vice versa. Managing brand reputation offline and online – particularly among business leaders – is increasingly a challenge that occupies a lot of my time and attention. I’ve got a knack for it.

Third, I’m an entrepreneur. Every personality test I’ve ever taken shows that I am down to my very core an improvising creative entrepreneur. I’m addicted to creating things. Speaking in vision-tongue. Love to push my vision on people. Always excited about change and the “new”. I’m an idea-a-minute kinda’ guy. It’s who I am. Can’t help it.

Fourth, I’m a parent raising kids in a Web 2.0 world. Being a Dad is what I enjoy most in life right now. I like to write about being a Dada and my family. Because I’m an early-adopter of anything tech, my kids enjoy opportunities to engage with technology much more than most. Thus, I derive unique perspectives and insights that I hope other parents can benefit from. In other words, I gave my kids cell phones when they were five.

Fifth, I love skiing, riding bikes, climbing, flyfishing, climbing, mountaineering, hunting and camping. If it’s ski season, you can expect me to be up in Tahoe every day I possibly can with the kids. If it’s not ski season, I spend as much time as I can on bikes or out in the Nevada desert or Sierra Nevada with the family.

Finally, I love Nevada. Particularly greater Reno-Tahoe, but there’s not too many places in this great state that I am not stoked to be in. I can go from being covered in powder or playa dust to being ‘covered’ at most clubs in Vegas in a day. It’s a good dynamic…it’s a good life. Better than most.

Speaker’s Biography:

David LaPlante is a Reno-Tahoe based entrepreneur, blogger, dad, cyclist, ceo, brand marketer, and a skier. As CEO of interactive marketing agency and web applications developer Twelve Horses, David assists businesses in translating and transforming their offline brands to the online medium. Twelve Horses makes software and provide services (wetware) for businesses that want to communicate more effectively with the relationships that matter to them, particularly on web, email, mobile and social marketing.

Previous to Twelve Horses, David LaPlante was a partner in Aztech Cyberspace, a Nevada-based Internet design and development agency that navigated the uncharted Internet between 1995 thru 2002 as a recognized leader in marketing automation. In 2002 Twelve Horses and Aztech merged. Prior to the Internet, David began his post-college career as one of the youngest marketing executives in the Nevada casino gaming industry. He worked for the Fitzgeralds Group, which owned and operated several casino/hotels nationally, including the world-famous Harold’s Club brand. In addition to managing multi-property marketing, advertising and public relations efforts, David was fortunate to be involved with the gaming industry’s initial CRM revolution where designed and developed the first player tracking system integrated with hotel property management and point-of-sale systems.

David was named “Marketer of the Year” by the northern Nevada American Marketing Association in 2004 and to northern Nevada’s inaugural “20 Under 40″ in 2007. Twelve Horses has been recognized as “Business of the Year” in northern Nevada in 2005, and most recently as “technology Company of the Year” by Nevada’s Technology Business Alliance. Additionally, each year Twelve Horses receives dozens of awards for its clients in marketing, advertising and public relations.

The State of Nevada Commission on Economic Development appointed David LaPlante as a founding board member for Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology in 2005 and he currently serves as Chairman of that organization. NCET fosters the State’s annual angel and venture capital conferences, statewide business plan competitions, and dozens of entrepreneur, technology and clean energy focused social and learning events.

David serves on several community Boards, including: Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology; Reno-Tahoe chapter of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization; Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada; Reno’s Holland Project.

When not online, he can be found skiing, cycling, camping, climbing, hiking, hunting and fishing with his family.