West Philadelphia : Innovation + Job News

Open Access Philly: Empowering the intersection of data and community

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Here comes the promise of Mayor Nutter. In less than two years, Jeff Friedman has revolutionized Philadelphia's role in connecting community engagement and technology. On Oct. 28, Friedman, manager of the Mayor's Office of Civic Innovation & Participation, hosted Crowdsourcing at the Intersection, a free all-day Open Access Philly conference.

Speakers at the Science Center's Quorum included crowd pleasers Robert Cheetham, Alex Hillman, Geoff Dimasi, Desiree Peterkin-Bell and Paul Wright, co-leader of the forum and Comcast's project manager for Local Media Development and the new Project Open Voice initiative.

Mayor Michael Nutter, who offered remarks right at the top of the program, announced that Philadelphia's efforts have won a top-10 place on the Public Technology Institute's list of Citizen Engaged Communities. "We are in the customer service business," says Nutter of the city government's outreach strategy, in which open data and constant communication is crucial. During his speech, Nutter tweeted a photograph of the audience to prove his point.

Friedman stated as his broad goal a movement without strict membership rules convened to articulate a shared vision for open access to data. Cheetham's company Azavea, in partnership with NPowerPA, Technically Philly, and The William Penn Foundation, created the Open Data Race, and Cheetham announced winners at the forum.

Out of dozens of contenders, first place went to Public School Notebook, which wants data on where Philadelphia public school students go after 12th grade; in close second place, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia requested information on bike thefts, and third place went to Conservation Pennsylvania for vacant land data. In addition to information, winners receive cash prizes of up to $2,000.

Source: Jeff Friedman, Mayor Michael Nutter, City of Philadelphia; Robert Cheetham, Azavea
Writer: Sue Spolan

Philly Tech Meetup's rapid growth bodes well for region's brightest startups

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, November 01, 2011

In a matter of months, Philly Tech Meetup has grown into a force to be reckoned with. Rohan Mehta, founder and organizer of the monthly event, says he was inspired by New York Tech Meetup, which regularly draws a crowd of a thousand. Judging by the rapid growth of the local Tech Meetup, Philly isn’t too far behind.

According to the PTM website, 233 attended the Oct. 26 evening gathering, held at Quorum inside the University City Science Center. A show of hands indicated that over half were first-timers. PTM already has almost a thousand members in total.

"PTM exists to advance entrepreneurship and innovation in the region," says Mehta. "Our focus is on hosting productive events that engage and inspire. Our goal is to build a sustainable tech ecosystem, and that begins by convening all stakeholders regularly to learn and share."

This month, Lokalty, Spling and Ajungo gave demos in front of a standing room only crowd that was overwhelmingly male, although diverse in age and ethnicity. Of the several hundred in attendance, about a dozen were women.

Lokalty, a cross referenced loyalty program, gave the example of going to a spa, then getting a discount at a nearby coffee shop. While the startup has plenty of competition, it differentiates its offer by allowing users to accumulate universal points. Currently there are seven participating retailers, all in Center City.

Ajungo officially launched at PTM. The initiative mashes up social media with travel; notably, sports fans who follow their teams to away games. Members can connect, post pictures and reviews, and in the future, earn rewards.

DreamIt Ventures company Spling announced it has received a Series A round of funding from a Menlo Park, California VC firm, even though the startup is still in pre-launch. Also social in nature, Spling participants share and discover online media. Founders Billy McFarland and Mac Cordrey say they already have 2,000 users in the closed beta.

Philly Tech Meetup has been the darling of local startups; since February, rapid growth companies including Launchrock, CloudMine, RezScore, Storably, and ElectNext have been among the presenters. There is also a brand new Philly Tech Meetup website.

Mehta also announced the upcoming Tech Arts Beer (TAB) Festival, to take place in Spring 2012, gathering entrepreneurs from all three disciplines. You can sign up for one of the planning committees.

The next Philly Tech Meetup will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 30 at the Quorum. It’s free to attend. Startups that wish to present can apply for a spot on the agenda.

Source: Rohan Mehta, Philly Tech Meetup
Writer: Sue Spolan

Why everyone loves CloudMine's backend solution for mobile apps

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, October 25, 2011

CloudMine is the developer's developer. The DreamIt Ventures backed company was the buzz of Philadelphia Startup Weekend. The fledgling company used the event as a platform to officially launch in open beta, providing the underlying structure for several mobile apps that were created during the 54 hour marathon. CloudMine's goal is to take care of backend programming for mobile apps so you don't have to. Their tagline is "The mobile developers' backend-as-a-service-done-right company."

Here's an analogy. When you get into a car for the first time, you have to figure out where the turn signal and lights are. Some manufacturers have standardized their design so these basic controls are always in the same spot. That's what CloudMine is doing for mobile apps. "The majority of what mobile developers need is the same," explains engineer Ilya Braude, one third of the CloudMine trio, which also includes engineer Marc Weil and Brendan McCorkle, who describes himself as the suit.

"We're doing a ton of extra work to make it plug and play for you," says Weil, who toys with the term productization to define CloudMine's server side operations function. While CloudMine counts among its competitors StackMob, Kinvey and Parse, Weil points out that CloudMine is the first to launch in open beta, and one of the leanest in terms of initial investment. The national blog TechCrunch gave big props to CloudMine's launch in a recent post, which subsequently increased customers from 50 to 380 in about 48 hours. There are now 410 customers on board.

CloudMine is free while in beta, and once billing begins, will make money with each API call, or single server request. While individual requests can cost as little as $0.0001, eight million of those add up to some serious money. CloudMine, which uses Amazon Web Services for cloud computing, is a disruptive technology. While there will still be need for front end developers to make mobile apps pretty, CloudMine aims to do the under the hood work, handling server maintenance and other tiresome tasks. Weil also points out that CloudMine is designed so that front end developers are not locked into any specific way of designing apps, adding and changing features easily.

The company is actively looking for first found funding, and is pitching both locally and nationally. Also on the agenda in the near future is team expansion, and has just added intern Tess Rinearson. CloudMine is operating out of DreamIt offices at the University City Science Center.

Source: Marc Weil, Ilya Braude, Brendan McCorkle, CloudMine
Writer: Sue Spolan

Local tech VP appointed to FCC's advisory committee on diversity

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Brigitte Daniel is on her way up, literally. By the time you read this, Daniel will be on a seven-week fact-finding mission through Southeast Asia funded by an Eisenhower Fellowship. But wait, that's not all. Daniel was just appointed to the Federal Communications Commission’s Federal Advisory Committee on Diversity in the Digital Age. We'll get back to that tour of India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore in a minute.

How about that FCC appointment? Daniel, an attorney and Executive Vice President of Wilco Electronic Systems, is one of the youngest appointees to the committee and the only representative from Philadelphia. The committee will meet in Washington, DC to ensure that minorities and low income communities get broadband access. "It's being reframed as a civil rights issue of the 21st century," says Daniel, who adds that increasingly, institutional interactions require internet access. If you want to apply for a job, apply to college, and get social services, you need the web.

Wilco is a family business founded by Will Daniel, Brigitte's father. One of Wilco’s primary missions is to provide low cost, high speed advanced telecommunication services to minorities and underserved communities in the Greater Philadelphia area. “One of the reasons I was appointed to the diversity committee for the FCC was because Wilco served as a catalyst to bring together the various partners and community groups that formed the Philadelphia Freedom Rings Partnership. Freedom Rings is a citywide consortium of educational institutions, municipalities, The City of Philadelphia, and Wilco, which had the goal of providing high speed access to underserved and economically stressed areas."

While Freedom Rings provides free access to participants, Daniel stresses that ultimately, the goal is affordable service. "When you start talking about free, it's hard to be sustainable. Someone will always have to pay for it." Daniel adds that if the service is free it will perceived to have less value. "Our whole point is to make it affordable." To prove that point, Wilco customers can get digital cable, high speed internet and a laptop for under $50 a month. "It's our version of the triple play," says Daniel.

Back to that whirlwind trip to the other side of the globe: Daniel is a 2011 Eisenhower Fellow. The India and Sri Lanka segments of her seven week trip are funded by the fellowship; she added the other destinations in order to gather even more knowledge of emerging technologies and policies for connecting impoverished populations.

Daniel returns in December and begins a two-year term at the FCC while remaining at Wilco. "Whatever we recommend, I hope it's taken to heart. At Wilco, we are on the ground, in the trenches. If the FCC takes our policy recommendations seriously, that's exciting."

Source: Brigitte Daniel, Wilco Electronic Systems
Writer: Sue Spolan

DreamIt-backed data mashup startup Metalayer hiring

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Matthew Griffiths and Jon Gosier dream of clean data. The pair formed Metalayer to sort and visualize any kind of information gleaned from just about any source. The DreamIt Ventures backed company grew out of Gosier's 2007 company Ushahidi, founded in Africa to collect and map eyewitness reports of violence in the aftermath of the disputed presidential election.

Griffiths and Gosier met in Uganda, and although neither is Ugandan, both profess a love for all things African. "We met two years before Metalayer, working to find signal in noise," says Griffiths. "We identified key bits of information in times of crisis." Ushaidi's SwiftRiver project was awarded the 2011 Knight News Challenge.

Both came to the United States this year, where Gosier was raised (Griffiths hails from the UK), and realized that Ushaidi's algorithm could have verticals in other industries, particularly journalism. "Our passion is tools for better data narratives." For example, you might want to mash up a real time Twitter feed with XML, email, and a document you downloaded onto your hard drive. You might be looking for certain keywords.

Once Metalayer gathers data from diverse sources, the user can create infographics or visualize it on a map. Griffiths recalls that the whole process began by going through the motions of research themselves to understand the steps that human brains take. Gosier put together a video to explain the way the application works.

As far as revenue, Gosier says the idea is to package the technology. "We plan to offer the underlying APIs to developers. The application will be available for businesses or individuals to use." One potential revenue source is governments, which could use Metalayer to pre-empt or respond rapidly to uprisings and crises.

Gosier says Metalayer has virtually no competition because the only other companies doing this kind of data mash up are at a very high level, working for the military. "In that landscape, there are a couple of key players at the top."

Metalayer, now in talks with investors, is looking to hire in the area of business development. In addition to being a DreamIt company, Metalayer is also supported by the Comcast Minority Entrepreneur Accelerator Program.

Source: Jon Gosier, Matthew Griffiths, Metalayer
Writer: Sue Spolan

State of Young Philly has never looked better

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, October 18, 2011

If you want to know how young Philly's doing, let me sum it up for you: smart and good looking. From the highest reaches of government right down to our youngest up and comers, there's never been a more attractive bunch of people in charge.

The second annual State of Young Philly, convened by the all-volunteer Young Involved Philadelphia for a two-week run, was a series of six events designed to engage, connect and represent citizens. Targeting community engagement, education, sustainability and the creative economy, State of Young Philly drew close to 1,000 young professionals and representatives from over 50 organizations in the city, according to organizers. From the first packed event at World Cafe Live on Oct. 4 to the standing-room only crowd at the finale at The Gershman Y, the crowd was diverse in age and background and alike in its forward-thinking approach.

Claire Robertson-Kraft, Young Involved Philadelphia Board Chair, says, "When I first moved to Philadelphia just over a decade ago, I was initially struck by the negativity of the city. But the spirit in the discussions over the course of the past few weeks has been very different than that initial perception I got when I first moved here. Rather than focusing solely on what was in need of improvement, each of the discussions was as much about how to build on already existing innovation and assets the city has to offer."

Alain Joinville, Public Affairs Coordinator for the city's Department of Parks and Recreation and a Young Involved Philly board member, adds, "It was easier to get partnering organizations involved. The State of Young Philly series is the biggest and most audacious project our organization has undertaken in its 11-year history, and we did it pretty well last year, so we are seen as a credible organization in the eyes of the City's leaders and leading organizations."

Robertson-Kraft points to several initiatives that launched in the lead-up to this year's State of Young Philly: a local version of the online web portal Change By Us,a partnership with United Way to improve Philadelphia public education, entry into the Open Data Philly challenge, and social media hashtags #WhyILovePhilly and #PhillyArts.

But ultimately, the draw of State of Young Philly is the promise of doing good combined with a commitment to fun. Reports Robertson-Kraft, "Let’s just say that the after-party went into the late hours of the night. At all of our events, we strive to achieve that perfect balance of meaningful conversation and a good time."

It's a whole new take on a thousand points of light.

Source: Claire Robertson-Kraft, Young Involved Philly
Writer: Sue Spolan

Audaciousness Alert: Eff the PPA emerges a winner from Philly Startup Weekend

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, October 18, 2011

If you want to get ahead in the startup world, it helps to be audacious. Startup Weekend Philadelphia took place this past weekend, and the winner was Eff the PPA, a mobile app for finding parking, preventing tickets, and fighting parking tickets for a mere $5 fee. Second place went to HangPlan, a mobile app and website that helps people make plans with friends. Third place was awarded to Intro'd, a simple mobile app for connecting your colleagues.

Philly Startup Weekend (Twitter hashtag #phlsw) took place at the Earle Mack School of Law at Drexel University, thanks to law professor Karl Okamoto, who was also a participant in the 54-hour event. Okamoto's initiative, ApprenNet, with the Law Meets project, grew out of the first Philly Startup Weekend in February and is already in use in 60 law schools as a way to leverage peer learning, with potential vertical applications in other kinds of businesses. In fact, Okamoto and team will be meeting with a national restaurant chain this week to see if the Meets model can translate to hospitality management.

But back to the winners. Eff the PPA draws its rebel energy from the team of Drexel Law student Hans Smith and entrepreneurs Ted Mann and Ashwin Dhir. In short order, the team built a powerful app that even includes a geolocation function and timer so you don't lose track of your vehicle or the time left on your meter. The team exhorts, "It's time to beat the parking authority at their own game. This app gives you the inside scoop on how to score a legal spot. And if you are still socked with a ticket, it gives you a quick and easy way to get it thrown out." While judge Tracy Welson-Rossman voiced her concerns about the name, saying she didn't want to sign up for the startup's twitter feed, the group got the most audible and hearty audience response of all presenters.

HangPlan, which came from the mind of Melissa Morris-Ivone, who recently made an impression at Ignite Philly with her presentation about the Operation Nice blog, is a way to streamline social gatherings. Rather than find out after the fact about a great party, HangPlan, endorsed by Philly Party Ambassador, lets users get the scoop before the first toast. "We not only created a web app, mobile app, and an API, but we developed a brand, gathered research, and put together a social media presence," says Morris-Ivone.

You can see a full list of all 20 startups that presented this weekend. Brad Oyler, one of the organizers of the weekend, thinks the more full-time presence of mentors made a big difference and he's looking forward to the next startup weekend in April.

"Also, a lot of the teams focused on customer feedback to help shape their business," says Oyler. "A few teams, like SME Brain and ApprenNet, even had meetings with some serious clients."

Source: Karl Okamoto, Brad Oyler, Melissa Morris-Ivone, Philadelphia Startup Weekend
Writer: Sue Spolan

Take me to your leaderboard: Gamification growing up

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, October 11, 2011

It's pretty much impossible to surf the web these days without coming across some kind of gamelike feature. Do a Google search and a glinting +1 button accompanies each result, beckoning you to click. What's all this about? It's called gamification, and it's the hot topic for web design. There's only one problem. No one really knows how gamification works. There is no formula for fun.

Last Monday (Oct. 3), Penn's Wharton School hosted Gamification: Practical Advice from Game Developers. Ultimately, practical advice was trumped by theory. Panelists and speakers agreed that gamification is a nearly undefinable term. We know it when we see it. But how to achieve it?

If you think about the kids today and their incessant videogaming, refocusing the online experience to act more like a game makes sense. "Ninety-seven percent of kids 12 to 17 play videogames," cited Wharton professor Kevin Werbach, referring to a recent Gartner study. The mobile check-in service Foursquare is the poster child for gamifying, he said, with its point system, leaderboards, badges and fun little icons. Werbach also pointed to FoldIt, which was developed by researchers to crowdsource the process of protein folding. Werbach's current provisional definition of gamification: "The use of game elements and game design techniques in non-game contexts."

It's plenty easy to define what gamification is not. But getting to a place of practice is quite another challenge. Panelists included Frank Lee from Drexel University's gaming program who comes from a psychology background; Playmatic's Margaret Wallace; Ethan Mollick, an assistant professor at Wharton; Jesper Juul, who writes The Ludologist blog and is a visiting prof at NYU; and 30 year gaming veteran Eric Goldberg, managing director of Crossover Technologies.

Mollick, who wrote the book Changing The Game, said that the billions of hours spent online playing games are a powerful message to business. "It's a reality is broken approach," explained Mollick. "Life is boring. Games are fun." One thing all agree upon: if gamifying a site is purely a marketing ploy, it will not fly. Chris Grant, editor in Chief of Joystiq, posited to the panel that no one is fooled by a crass attempt at commercialization. Gamifying cannot be unethical, immoral, or exploiting people's time.

Eric Goldberg responded, "Games are an art form, like movies and fiction. One of the core lessons game developers learn early on is that we are in the crack cocaine business. It's the manipulation of people. Manipulation, like any other tool, has the potential for evil and good."

So, back to practical advice. Mollick concluded, "Fun is hard to theorize about. Competition is fun. Randomness and art are fun. The best way to figure out what is fun is through development, testing and gathering data on how to get closer to fun." Because fun is good. And quite possibly lucrative.

Source: Kevin Werbach, Ethan Mollick, Eric Goldberg, Chris Grant, Wharton Gamification Conference
Writer: Sue Spolan

Open Data Race lets you vote for data sets that are most fit for public consumption

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Data collection and dissemination: how much fun is that? If you are participating in Philadelphia's Open Data Race, you might actually squeeze a good time out of otherwise flat statistics. Voting in the Open Data Race is open to the public until Oct. 27, and currently, you can make your opinion known on which of 24 data sets you would like to see made public.

"We hope to generate excitement around open data," says Deborah Boyer, project manager at Philadelphia-based Azavea. Nominations contributed by non-profit organizations were reviewed by OpenDataPhilly partners, namely Azavea, NPower Pennsylvania, The William Penn Foundation, and Technically Philly.

It's probably too early to judge, but right now the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia's request for stats on reported bike thefts is atop the rankings with 55 votes, followed by Demographic Info for Individuals Accessing Shelter Services submitted by Back on My Feet with 50 votes. Other organizations represented in the voting ranks include the Committee of 70, The Urban Tree Connection and The Sustainable Business Network.

Boyer says, "Public participation has been a key feature of OpenDataPhilly and is also crucial to the Open Data Race. We encourage people to submit data sets for inclusion in OpenDataPhilly or nominate data they would like to see made available."

Boyer points to difficulties municipalities might have in identifying which data is most needed. "Through Open Data Race, non-profit organizations have the opportunity to let the city and OpenDataPhilly partners know what information they need to fulfill their missions."

Winners, to be announced on Friday, Oct. 28, will receive cash prizes. First place gets $2,000, second place gets $1,000, and third receives $500. At that point, the fun really begins, when OpenDataPhilly works with the city to unlock the requested sets and then hosts hack-a-thons to create applications that use the data.

Source: Deborah Boyer, Azavea/OpenDataPhilly
Writer: Sue Spolan

Rutgers-Camden prof gets $500K call, 'genius' status

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Jacob Soll was on his way to the library, which is one of his favorite places in the world, when he got the call that changed his life. "It was raining. I was suffocating. I thought, 'Oh God, what's this?' I thought it was a joke."

No joke: it was the MacArthur Foundation informing Soll that he was the recipient of the so-called genius grant, a $500,000 no strings attached gift. It was all quite unexpected. Soll, a professor of history at Rutgers University-Camden and West Philadelphia resident, says, "I just think it's really lucky. I work in a really interdisciplinary way, in all different fields and countries."

While the selection process is shrouded in mystery, Soll points to his 2009 New York Times Op-Ed piece as a possible call to attention for the Macarthur committee. Soll's research, at its most elemental, is about the juncture of numbers and letters. Beginning with Louis XIV's finance minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Soll redefines history, tracing the relationship between libraries and accounting and tracing the birth of information technology. The 16th to 18th century is where large scale libraries are invented, and where, says Soll, the modern computer comes from.

"It's the most fascinating thing," he says. "Colbert was an accountant by training. Accountants keep massive amounts of books. They're basically financial librarians. Colbert understood he could harness a library system for power. It's an incredible vision -- kind of dark -- it was used for repressive power. It was completely innovative. This guy invented the modern world."

These days, Soll laments that for the first time in history we are not that interested in our libraries. While he terms our country's founders 'real book people,' and points out that the Library of Congress sits across from the U.S. Supreme Court, the push is toward digitization. "Today, we're having financial crises, and no one asks how good are your accounting skills. Our founders thought that without that kind of knowledge, you wouldn't be effective at running an enlightened state. Political currents are running counter to those of the original founders."

While at the moment, Soll is overwhelmed with a life that "is literally like something out of a movie, "with 800 forms of people contacting me," he expects to be able to settle into a very comfortable routine of reading and writing, without having to worry about the electric bill, or paying the babysitter. "It's not just the money. It's also the moral force and the publicity. I've received a hundred emails from former students. They're all great emails, and make me feel like everything was worth it. I'm not going to second guess myself as much."

Soll is now at work on a book that traces the entwined history of politics and accounting, and is allowing himself to admit aloud that his dream is to write a series of books on how states work and what politics actually mean.

Source: Jacob Soll, Rutgers University
Writer: Sue Spolan

What's all this about LevelUp? Help your mom figure it out

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, September 20, 2011

My mom called. "What's this LevelUp? I got an email on my BlackBerry that I have two dollars off at Miel." When a brand new tech company already has the attention of the 70-somethings, it's got to be good.

LevelUp, which has a rapidly growing presence in the Philadelphia area, is a new kind of customer loyalty program for local business. Rather than carry around a walletful of punch cards, says launcher John Valentine, who has just been promoted to VP of LevelUp for the east coast. The company is hiring here in Philly, with two positions open in implementation and sales. Each city is slated to have a total of six employees.

Currently, says Valentine, there are 129 businesses in the LevelUp community, with 10 new merchants signing up each week. Here's how it works: Customers sign up online with a credit card. Participating businesses have a device, which is really a smartphone on a lucite platform, which reads a QR code on your phone screen (Valentine says the next generation of readers will be smaller and more streamlined). LevelUp then charges your card, bypassing the shop's cash register, and every 24 to 48 hours, says Valentine, LevelUp sends payment to merchants. As the customer, you receive several dollars off each purchase, and LevelUp tracks your activity, rewarding you for repeat business.

LevelUp evolved out of SCVNGR, a DreamIt Ventures funded startup. The location based scavenger hunt game led to a desire to solve the loyalty piece of the puzzle. "How do we get someone to frequent a place?" asks Valentine.

LevelUp is growing concurrently in Philadelphia and Boston, with plans to take over the world. New York is next, then Atlanta, Washington DC and Miami. "There's been enough validation for what we're doing in Boston and Philadelphia that we need to scale up fast." Valentine, who calls it sticky, says those who start using the program come back for more. "Within the next two weeks, 49% use LevelUp again."

Aside from the novelty factor, says Valentine, LevelUp gives businesses several advantages: the loyalty program brings people back more, brings in new customers, and has the added effect of incentivizing people to spend more money. Because shoppers are getting 5 to 15% back, they're actually spending more, according to Valentine. If you'd like to try LevelUp, Valentine is offering $10 in global credit to Flying Kite readers. Just use the code TECH when you sign up.

Source: John Valentine, LevelUp
Writer: Sue Spolan

Natural killer cells and a microscope that breaks the laws of physics at CHOP

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, September 20, 2011

The more you know about the way the body works, the more wondrously mysterious it all seems. Researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, using super high resolution microscopes, now have far more understanding of the way the immune system works. Focusing on one type of cell in particular that naturally fights viral infections, Dr. Jordan Orange says his lab is using a Stimulated Emission Depletion (STED) microscope to break the laws of physics and see particles smaller than 200 nanometers. To put that into perspective, one human blood cell measures about 5000 nanometers.

The results are fascinating. "The cell in my lab naturally fights viral infections, and seeks out and destroys cancer cells without the need to be trained. These cells are an important part of keeping us healthy," says Orange. "They carry around very small sacs of poison inside and move them to a contact point within a dangerous cell." The poison is released and the cell is destroyed, explains Orange, explaining this effective means of maintaining our health.

"One of the things we've now learned from the use of this technology is that these sacs have a rather elegant interaction with the structural framework of the cell." Orange, who is fond of analogies, says that the former understanding could be compared to getting something into the cellar by blowing a giant hole in the floor and dropping it down. "What this microscope has allowed us to determine is that in reality it's like opening a small vent in the floor to move the object that's almost the same size as the vent."

Orange and his team's findings about these natural killer cells have just been published in the journal Public Library of Science (PLoS) Biology. Orange says that going forward, the findings will contribute to fighting all kinds of cancers and infections. It's also interesting to note that CHOP, where the ongoing NIH funded study is taking place, is one of the first institutions in the country to have the STED microscope.

Source: Jordan Orange, MD/PhD, Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia
Writer: Sue Spolan

Crowdsourced education comes to Philly with Skillshare

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, September 13, 2011

What do you know? There's a new way to make money based on your particular set of skills and talents. It's called Skillshare. Launched in Philadelphia last month with national headquarters in New York City, Skillshare allows anyone to teach anything and get paid for it. Brendan Lowry has been in charge of launching the program in Philadelphia. "Every city is a university, all the restaurants and cafes are classrooms, and our neighbors are our greatest teachers," says Lowry, whose title is Special Operations.

Here's how it works: Say you are really good at knitting. Sure, you could sell your stuff on Etsy. But with Skillshare, you can also hold knitting class at a location of your choice. Set your own price per student, and get paid through PayPal. Skillshare deducts 15 percent of every ticket sold.

Skillshare, on a mission to democratize and redefine education, launched in New York in May of this year, and is now operating in Philadelphia and San Francisco, with hopes for setting up in cities across the US. Each city needs to be unlocked by popular vote. When the vote count surpasses 500, a team is created to get the word out. "We've targeted the tech community. It's one of the first industries we tapped into, but we don't want to fall exclusively in that category," says Lowry, who says right now there are over a hundred classes on offer in the Philadelphia area, ranging from The Art of the Cold Call to Beer 101. Teachers post credentials and a feedback process is designed to ensure a quality learning experience (full disclosure: I am teaching Communications for Startups on Sept. 20).

"Our marketing budget is literally zero dollars," says Lowry, who has done outreach through social media and word of mouth. There is also a newly created, limited time $1,000 scholarship fund which encourages more people to take classes in Philly and SF. Skillshare is set to launch next in Boston, Washington DC and New Orleans.

Source: Brendan Lowry, Skillshare
Writer: Sue Spolan

Secrets of Philly Startup Weekend 2.0 revealed

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, August 30, 2011

It's a super awesome Startup Weekend 2.0. Tickets are almost sold out for the Oct. 14 event. On the heels of the first wildly successful Startup Weekend held in January, 2011, the second gathering has a new venue, better food and more caffeine, according to organizer Brad Oyler.

"We sold 95 tickets in two weeks," he says. "The business development tickets are already sold out. We want to balance it out with developers and designers."

This time, Startup Weekend moves west and will be held at Drexel University's Earle Mack School of Law, in a brand new building with a big auditorium and the use of a dozen classrooms, says Oyler, who helped create the first weekend at University of the Arts, which drew national attention for winner Jameson Detweiler and his team's Launchrock.

"This time around, there's a lot more hype," says Oyler. "People have taken notice, and we've got all the biggest venture capital firms supporting Startup Weekend and getting involved."

The biggest change in programming, according to Oyler, is a new collaboration with the newly launched Skillshare, resulting in classes throughout the weekend instead of just speakers all day. Also, the Drexel Law venue provides several private rooms for top secret entrepreneurial exchanges.

Otherwise, says Oyler, the program will follow a similar curriculum to the previous weekend. Friday night pitches will start earlier. Saturday and part of Sunday will be devoted to building in teams comprised of designers, developers and entrepreneurs. The weekend ends with demos, judging, and awarding of prizes, which include 4 to 5 Dell Boomi tablets and computers, plus legal services from Morgan Lewis to each of the top three winning teams.

As far as judges, the well-rounded list keeps getting bigger, says Oyler, and currently includes Gil Beyda, Managing Partner at Genacast Ventures, Basecamp Business founder Mel Baiada, Morgan Lewis attorney Stephen Goodman, Boomi CEO Bob Moul, Tracey Welson-Rossman from Chariot Solutions, and Ellen Weber, executive director of Robin Hood Ventures.

While attendance is currently capped at 120, Oyler says that's a conservative figure and may open up in the coming weeks. Currently, a few limited ticket types are still available and range in price from $40 to $75.

Source: Brad Oyler, Startup Weekend Philadelphia
Writer: Sue Spolan

Growth surge for Philly construction risk management firm working on Panama Canal

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Massive construction projects need a specialized kind of management to avoid pitfalls, and that's where Talson Solutions steps in. "For most of our clients, construction is not their business. When we work for a hospital, health care is their business, not building a new hospital." Ditto other massive undertakings like Citizens Bank Park, the Comcast building and the Panama Canal, just a few of Philadelphia based Talson Solutions' clients.

Robert Bright, President of Talson, sees these multimillion dollar efforts as jigsaw puzzles. With nearly 20 years experience in construction litigation and management prior to founding Talson, Bright found an opportunity to build a business overseeing projects at risk. Talson has grown 371 percent in the past five years, according to Bright, and doubled its staff, now employing 12 people at its Old City headquarters.

Leading up to Talson, Bright spent seven years as an expert witness in construction litigation for Price Waterhouse and a dozen years working for Exxon, building large capital projects around the world. "Exxon does it well. They might spend 15 to 20 billion dollars on a capital project. I enjoy that. One might say I have an owner's perspective. It's a different mentality than a contractor. With these types of construction projects, there's a way of doing it right, to identify and anticipate risk." Bright says his strength is letting people know where concerns may lie, whether it is in the design, the quality of materials, or leadership. "We identify the missing pieces, support that effort, and drill down from there."

Talson's largest project right now is auditing the $7 billion expansion of the Panama Canal, but Bright stresses that every project, no matter what the cost, represents risk. Because of Talson's involvement in the Canal project, Bright is likely going to open a satellite office in Panama, and is also considering expansion to New York as well.

Talson just celebrated its 10th anniversary this June. Bright reflects on the past decade, during which his two children, for whom the company is named, grew proud of their father's legacy. Bright's daughter, Taylor, is a rising star in her own right, a promising singer/songwriter who recently toured the US as the star of the musical Annie.

Source: Robert Bright, Talson Solutions
Writer: Sue Spolan