• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, October 6, 2015

Remembering someone special through a memorial fund pays it forward through a tribute. What's "it"? Whatever expertise and kindness the person gave to the community. In this case, Bill Caspare gave much of his time to developing a budding online advertising industry.

Caspare, both a founding member and strategic visionary, stood behind several successful digital ventures including db Ad Strategies, The Fifth Network, and Oggifinogi. 

Collective CEO Joe Apprendi says Caspare named the company Oggifinogi with partner Michael Hyman. "Oggifinogi in Italian basically means 'today we finish it'," Apprendi says. "No matter what Collective brought to market, Bill had a seat at the table on the executive team." 

The fund created in memory of the former Collective senior executive and industry innovator with more than 15 years experience in new media and digital advertising supports diversity in the new media, data science and product development within advertising and media. It provides a variety of resources such as scholarships that allow students and young professionals of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds to explore careers in new media, data science and product development.

Caspare also got back together with his prior partner, Hyman to co-found Vidible. Within 24 months after forming the company it was sold to AOL.

The scholarship not only honors a respected industry executive, but provides unique opportunities for budding media students. Carl Desir, VP of talent initiatives at the 4As, says this particular fund is a bit different in that it will start with college students and later offer scholarships in the future to high school students. This also is the first scholarship fund expanding to include lesbian, bi-sexual, gay, and transgender individuals.

Annually, the fund will award a maximum of three $6,000 scholarships to eligible students pursing careers in new media, data science and product development. The Fund will accept applications Tuesday, Oct. 6, through Tuesday, Nov. 10. The 4A's Foundation will manage the approval process and administer distribution of the scholarships.

To learn more about how to apply, visit the scholarship Web site. The advisory group will notify the recipients of the Fund Wednesday, Nov. 25.