I have mentioned John Patrick many times in this space. John is now a member of the Board of Directors of Jupitermedia Corporation. But his real claim to fame is being the "father of all things Internet" at IBM. John started leading the charge Internet-wise at IBM back in 1993. I first met John at Internet World in San Jose, California in June 1994. John went on to be the key Internet advisor to CEO Lew Gerstner during IBM's financial turn around in the mid-1990s. Now John is "retired" but more active than ever. His blog is a great read and he serves as a consultant to a variety of companies. Finally John is in constant demand as a speaker.

If you have time watch John's presentation at a trade show in Vienna, Austria last week. There are many insights in this presentation about the future of the Net. And all of this comes from someone who was present at the creation of the original Internet boom.