Joseph Ungoco set to be a Guest Speaker at KMR’s 4-Day Intensive Fashion Photography Workshop

(THIS WORKSHOP HAS ALREADY HAPPENED: LOOK HERE FOR OUR NOVEMBER 2010 WORKSHOP)

New York City - 4 Day Intensive Fashion Photography Workshop with Kevin Michael Reed

Mr. Ungoco’s Biography:
Born and raised in sunny Southern California, Joseph A. Ungoco moved to the east coast in 1986. At Boston University, he completed his bachelor's degree in Medical Sciences in two years and went on to complete a Master's degree in Medical Sciences after writing his Master's thesis on Nutrition and HIV infection. Following that, Mr. Ungoco went on to complete his Master's of Business Administration in Healthcare Management, with dual foci in healthcare marketing and healthcare finance.

In 1994, Mr. Ungoco moved to Washington, D.C., to pursue a career in federal health policy, the logical extension of his advisory work in healthcare policy at the state level in Massachusetts. In his five years in DC, Mr. Ungoco dedicated both his professional and personal lives to the advancement of health policy and the provision of healthcare to underserved populations. Professionally, he consulted on Federal health policy from development to implementation. Personally, he volunteered to assist local AIDS-related charities with everything from stuffing envelopes for fundraising campaigns to serving on, and occasionally chairing, steering committees for fundraising events.

In 1999, Mr. Ungoco made a conscious decision to improve his quality of life. Having pioneered the virtual office concept for his employer while traveling under contract to the U.S. Navy, he took full advantage of the ability to simultaneously travel for pleasure, spend time with friends and family, and telecommute to the office. Yearning for his native beach culture, he moved his base of operations to a Long Island, NY, beach community in the summer of 1999 and began laying the groundwork for his eventual move into New York City. By Fall of 1999, he had completely moved his base of operations into the Lower Fifth Avenue neighborhood of Manhattan. Wanting to take financial advantage of the technology boom without becoming a full-fledged dotcom staffer, Mr. Ungoco instead chose to meld his investment savvy, his thrill-seeking nature, and his relatively high risk tolerance and began managing his investments fulltime. Riding the technology wave, although lucrative, proved to be just a prelude to Mr. Ungoco's next professional endeavor, opening his own consulting firm to share his expertise and experience in general and healthcare-specific management consulting. Switching to longer term, lower involvement investment strategies just as the technology boom went bust, Mr. Ungoco launched ICON Consulting Services, Inc. (ICS) in January of 2001. Since then, he has expanded the products and services offered by ICS to include the recently launched BRANDWRANGLER line of brand strategy, communications, and public relations services.

Mr. Ungoco remains committed to human rights, healthcare, and HIV/AIDS in his volunteer work. He continues to seek out opportunities to lend his management and fundraising talents to worthy causes. Believing fully in C.W. Post's motto, "Mix altruism with your business and business with your altruism", he takes great pleasure in assisting charities in raising funds, planning gala events, and developing long-range strategic development plans. He strongly believes that the volunteer who stuffs envelopes today can be cultivated into a regular donor and perhaps someday a major donor. Helping charities to implement these plans is a source of tremendous satisfaction to him.

Himself an accomplished classical pianist, Mr. Ungoco takes full advantage of the many opportunities New York has to offer in the field of music appreciation. The Metropolitan Opera and Carnegie Hall are among his favorite haunts. Mr. Ungoco also enjoys sailing, fencing, and marksmanship. Furthermore, like all good Southern Californians, he is working on a screenplay — the plot of which he is currently living out, fast and furiously.

Mr. Ungoco is also the former style editor of Zink Magazine. While at Zink he pushed not only for excellence in the quality of the editorials that graced the pages but for an active and dynamic website that could not only fill the space in between printed editions but also become a driving force in and of itself. He wanted to update the existing site to something that would meet this new and hostile ear of media head on and strengthen the image and cuture of the magazine in the process.

He now works for WhatsWear.com, a fully integrated online fashion publication. WhatsWear.com combines quality fashion journalism and high end photo editorials with a way for consumers to achieve the looks that grace the pages in only three clicks. This site manages to link alll members of the industry together from stylists to designers to photographers and consumers.

Mr. Ungoco serves on the adjunct panels for the senior fashion thesis collections at both Parsons and Pratt. He describes his envolvement, “As much as I love and wear the big names of fashion, I am simply obsessed with tomorrow’s fashion stars. Encouraging new talent is just a part of who I am.”

In his own words, “My personal style has always been “functional”, rather than “aspirational” – but functional relates to my lifestyle at any given time. When I wore Versace exclusively in the late 80s and early 90s, I was partying in Miami all the time. When I started wearing Prada in the 90s, I was working as a Defense Contractor and living in Washington, DC. The clothes fit the lifestyle I was living – OK, so they pushed the edge a little bit. True style is matching your clothes to the life you live and the person you are.”

Click Here For more information on the 4-Day Intensive Fashion Photography Workshop in New York City – December 2009.