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26 SIDELINES FEBRUARY 2011 FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE H O R S E S H O W

Five Questions for Jon Kassel

By Rebecca Walton

Over the last decade, Jon Kassel has become a well-known fgure in equestrian circles as the gatekeeper of online horse show production. As the founder of Network Identity, Jon has helped develop groundbreaking technology for the horse world. The developer of many equestrian websites and a horse show management program, he is probably best known for his role providing computer services at several prominent shows, most notably those produced by Showplace Productions and Pat Boyle. Jon grew up surrounded by ponies in Virginia but started his professional life working at the Chicago Board of Trade. Drawn back to the horse world through his wife Katie Kappler, he has never looked back.

Sidelines: When and how did you start Network Identity? Where did you get the idea?

JK: In the late ‘90s I was working as the senior clerk for a commodities trader at the CBOT. It was a demanding, high stress position but it had its moments. I was interested in computers so I fnagled some for the offce. I started using the web to check up on agricultural news and weather forecasts for work, but it didn’t take long to discover all the other interesting stuff being put online. I thought it would be cool to build a little website to promote my girlfriend (now wife) Katie’s business, Kappler Farms. Katie, her mother, and I also had an idea for an equestrian news site called the Digital Paddock, so I started using my free time to learn HTML.

There was a dad at Katie’s barn starting a new business and he let me know that if I started freelancing as a web designer he’d be my frst client. That was the birth of Network Identity. I built an offce in an empty garage at Kappler Farms, ordered two phone lines and a desk from Ikea and then went at it with my little Toshiba Satellite laptop.

Sidelines: How has Network Identity grown and changed over the years?

JK: I started out doing just web design and one of my frst clients was an equestrian business. I discovered that I really enjoyed programming. Knowing a little bit about horse shows, it seemed there was a real need for organizing results and calculating points for organizations. That ended up becoming my niche and it sustained me through the bursting of the technology bubble.

Sidelines: When did you meet Pat Boyle and how did you begin a partnership together?

JK: The summer after I graduated from Virginia Tech I was working jump crew. I was working a show in Northampton, Massachusetts that put on a team penning themed exhibitor party. They brought in the horses, cows, everything. Pat was judging there and he and I were on the staff team together. We ended up handily beating all the exhibitor teams and when we were celebrating later I learned that he managed some shows in the Midwest. I mentioned that I’d just met a girl with a barn near Chicago and he agreed to try to give me a little work out there while I searched for a “real” job.

During the three years that I worked in Chicago I’d also

work at Ledges for Pat on the weekends. There was a lot of down time at Ledges in the winter and we would play computer games in Pat’s offce. Pat thought we needed to be more ambitious than that and Ledges needed new jumps. There was workshop space in a hayloft there. I was starting to teach myself to draw on the computer so I’d design the jumps on it and then go up to the shop with the crew and build them. We’d get called on the radio to make course changes and then run back up to the hay loft.

That initial experience building jumps was my frst creative partnership with Pat and it’s grown and evolved since. Now I design and maintain the ShowplaceProductions.com website, produce all of Showplace’s advertising, prize lists, and marketing materials, provide the entries management software, and help with competition management in a variety of support roles.

Sidelines: How has your partnership beneftted Showplace Productions and how has it grown since its inception?

JK: Pat has always allowed me a lot of creative freedom on the job and in return Showplace Productions benefts from always being on the leading edge in using technology and new ideas in producing competitions. Showplaceproductions.com was one of the frst sources of dedicated results and news for a show series online.

Sidelines: What are your hopes for the future of Network Identity and Showplace Productions?

JK: I hope that the equestrian world always looks to see what Showplace Productions is doing and that they’ll know I had a hand in it. I hope that we are always known as innovators who put exhibitors frst. Based on what I know we have planned for 2011 and on our exciting expansion into Colorado this summer, I have complete confdence that both Pat and I will sustain that vision.

Jon Kassel

Photo by Phelps Media Group