Design : Innovation + Job News

G Philly: Region's new LGBT magazine more than just glossy

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, April 12, 2011

It's the lush lifestyle magazine you don't have to be gay to love. The premiere glossy issue of G Philly has just hit the streets and it's a beauty. The eye-catching publication in an eight-inch square package and a spinoff of Philadelphia magazine, sharing staff and offices. Natalie Hope McDonald has a brand new job as editor of both the print publication and the online blog that aims to cover everything lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered throughout the Delaware Valley. "Our aim is to showcase the best of gay life -- what's fabulous -- while also having conversations about same-sex marriage, parenting, politics, health and other hot-button issues that really impact lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgendered people we know," says McDonald, a longtime freelance writer and photographer who initially helmed the online component and took over the top post on the print side as well. "The G Philly blog kicked off in October of last year in advance of the launch of the first print issue, says McDonald. "It's where you'll find breaking news and interviews with famous folks, local movers and shakers, events, and issues that matter to LGBT readers."

The resemblance of the magazine to GQ is unmistakable, and McDonald concurs. "Philly deserves a gay magazine that looks as great as GQ but covers exactly what regional readers want to know about." In the past, Philadelphia's LGBT community relied on less aesthetically pleasing publications like the Philadelphia Gay News and Au Courant for its news. "We live in a time when the future of gay rights is unfolding every day," says McDonald. And, she adds, while G Philly is aimed at the LGBT community, you certainly don't have to be gay to pick up an issue. "Who doesn't want to know where to eat the best brunch or belt out your favorite show tunes, like, seven nights a week? Okay, so maybe that is kinda gay."

G Philly's relationship with Phillymag.com allows crossover: readers who come for the LGBT content can also click on the Health blog or the Philly Post of the parent publication. McDonald says that inclusive nature is what makes her job such fun. Look for the print publication at local shops and gay bars, sign up for an issue online, and find G Philly on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare.

Source: Natalie Hope McDonald, G Philly
Writer: Sue Spolan

Old Fishtown schoolhouse to host a variety of artists and their many visions

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, April 12, 2011

You've got your art. You've got your school. Put them together for a new kind of art happening called Experiential, Environmental, Educational. Opening this Thursday, April 14 at 6 p.m., a floor of classrooms plus the coatroom of a 19th century schoolhouse will offer a wide range of immersive environments, each discrete space representing a different artist's vision. Participants are curator Jerry Kaba, along with C. Pazia Mannella, Daniel Ostrov, Jacque Liu, Jessie Hemmons, Joanie Turbek, Katya Gorker, Mike Ellyson, Ryan W. Kelly, and Tim Eads.

Kaba, who holds an MFA from Tyler School of Art, admits the title is a mouthful, but he wanted to come up with a large enough umbrella for the concept that's been in his head for several months. The Old School Studios, an ornate Victorian red brick building constructed in 1891, has been purchased by David Gleeson, Richard Hricko and Nicholas Kripal, owners of the nearby Crane Arts Building. It's an extension of the artists' community at the former warehouse.

Kaba envisions a carnival-esque feeling at Experiential, Environmental, Educational, with what he calls active installations. Each room will provide an entirely new experience. In some rooms, there will be performance, and in others, video. Outside, yarnbomber Jessie Hemmons will be adorning the wrought iron front gates with hundreds of hot pink pom-poms.

"I like to bring people in with a playful theme, then give them something more serious to consider," says Kaba. "The people in this show are working like that. There's a degree of humor with more serious undertones." Ryan W. Kelly, whom Kaba terms a master of papier mache, is constructing a giant Teddy Roosevelt head and teddy bear. This levity is contrasted with Pazia Mannella's installation and performance "Indulgences," based on a harrowing experience in which she was locked in a Catholic school coatroom as child. And if you are looking for strange things to pick from trees, check out Joanie Turbek's 8-foot tall porcelain tree. For a small fee, you will be able to take home an object hanging from its cold white branches.

If you miss Thursday's opening, Kaba is happy to arrange viewings by appointment. He expects the show to run for about a month, depending on how soon permanent tenants start moving into the Old School Studios.

Source: Jerry Kaba, Experiential, Environmental, Educational
Writer: Sue Spolan

Safeguard drops $25M on chip-enabled eyeglasses

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Eyeglasses are about to change dramatically, thanks to a major investment by Safeguard Scientifics. The Wayne-based holding company, in an effort to expand its footprint in life sciences investments, announced that it has provided $25 million plus an additional $10 million in venture debt to PixelOptics, a medical technology company in Roanoke, Va., for its emPower! line of chip-enabled glasses aimed at bifocal and progressive lens wearers, of which there are a total of 100 million in the US alone. Safeguard's Senior Vice President and Managing Director in the Life Sciences Group, Gary Kurtzman MD, notes that investment in life sciences start ups is shrinking, and Safeguard is seeking new opportunities by getting into consumer-driven companies like PixelOptics.

Rather than divide eyeglasses so that the top section is corrective and the bottom section is for reading, emPower! glasses rely on a chip embedded in the frame which electronically transforms the focus of the entire lens from corrective to reading power at a touch. The chip is powered by a battery which lasts at least two years and requires recharging every three days.

Kurtzman says the new eyeglass technology has significant near term potential both as a product and for revenue, citing a low regulatory bar, a big market, and the fact that the product is ready to go to market. "We think it has all the features of an ideal investment," says Kurtzman of PixelOptics' new product, the result of 12 years of research.

Kurtzman, who is already wearing a pair of the glasses, is impressed that he can use the entire lens for either purpose. "There is a small liquid crystal embedded in the glass of the lens. If I need it, I turn it on and it's there." He reports that the glasses are the same weight as their conventional counterparts, and the company is initially rolling out 36 different frames, competitively priced, in a variety of shapes and colors. Kurtzman says emPower! frames will be available in the Philadelphia area within six months.

Source: Gary Kurtzman MD, Safeguard Scientifics
Writer: Sue Spolan

Wallquest's World: Wayne wallcoverings firm wins small biz award for exports, hiring up to 40

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Wallquest has China covered. Dubai, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and India, too. The Wayne-based wallcoverings firm was just named Small Business Exporter of the Year by the Export-Import Bank, and received an award this week in Washington, DC. Wallquest's exports rose 76 percent to more than $17 million since 2008, thanks to robust sales overseas. Jack Collins is Vice President of the family-run company, which he runs along with his brother and father, who acquired Wallquest in 1985.

While the original customer base was domestic, big box retailers and toll free sales left no one to sell to in the United States, and Collins says Wallquest had to go overseas around 2005, now selling environmentally-friendly products in more than 50 foreign markets. With a good brand name in America, the company has had great success in emerging markets in Asia and the Middle East, and the trend is toward American design.

"You wouldn't think someone in Saudi Arabia or China would want American country style, but they do," says Collins, who explains that among affluent Chinese homeowners, a big wooden kitchen table is a sign of wealth, and American design dovetails with that table.

While Wallquest is a relatively small company, says Collins, its line is more extensive than competitors', with around 35 collections coming out this year.

"Our business used to be more seasonal, and now it's not because of our international clients. When the US market is strong in winter and spring, it's Chinese New Year, and in the summer, when the US market is down, the Chinese and Middle East markets are coming up."

Collins is grateful to both Ex-Im Bank and PNC Bank for playing an essential role in the company's global growth. Wallquest wallcoverings are made with water based inks and the highest quality printing technology in the main manufacturing facility in Wayne; recently, the company acquired and retooled two other factories in New York and New Jersey, bringing the total number of employees to 150. Later this year, Wallquest plans on opening another facility in King of Prussia, hiring an additional 30 to 40 employees.

Source: Jack Collins, Wallquest
Writer: Sue Spolan

Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts kicks off this week with giant squid

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Dan Schimmel's head might be in augmented reality, but the picture is pretty clear to him.

"Right now there's a giant, 100 foot squid hovering over the falls at Boat House Row," says the director of Breadboard, the art and technology program at Science Center that oversees the Esther Klein Gallery. Breadboard is participating in the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA) with the free citywide VPAP@PIFA, the Virtual Public Art Project. Granted, explains Schimmel, you need a smartphone or other mobile device to see the Augmented Reality squid. "That's somewhat foreign to people, but this is where society's headed."

PIFA is about to overtake the city like a giant encornet (that's French for squid) with over 135 events, running from April 7 to May 1. If bright lights in the big city get you going, check out the 81 foot Eiffel Tower replica at the Kimmel Center, which serves as festival headquarters, with a light show daily at 7 and 10 p.m. The theme of PIFA is Paris 1911, tying in with the recent French-flavored Philadelphia International Flower Show. All over the city, you can catch performances, lectures, dance parties, installations, readings, a fashion show and eleven French chefs in residence at area restaurants.

The $10 million extravaganza showcases local and international talent. Visit a day-long free Parisian street fair April 30 on Broad Street where you can ride a giant Ferris Wheel and enjoy a multitude of acts including Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. PIFA is also sponsoring daily wine tastings, crepe samples, free concerts, and French lessons.

Philly-Paris Lockdown, on April 17 at 8 PM at the Kimmel, features Philly's own ?uestlove of The Roots along with singer-songwriter Keren Ann, followed by an underground afterparty. Fourth Wall Arts hosts a special Salon on April 23 at the newly opened National Museum of American Jewish History on Independence Mall, featuring Ursula Rucker, Mimi Stillman and muralist David Guinn.

JJ Tiziou's How Philly Moves, which just raised $26,000 in a Kickstarter Campaign, will be projecting massive images of Philadelphia's dancers on the side of the Kimmel throughout the festival. Hope: An Oratorio, is a work PIFA commissioned by composer Jonathan Leshnoff, to be performed April 24, performed by The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, along with four soloists, the Pennsylvania Girlchoir and the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia.

The Painted Bride, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Slought Foundation, the African-American Museum in Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, WXPN, Philadelphia's Magic Garden, and the Independence Seaport Museum are just a few of the many PIFA sponsors and event hosts. Get detailed program information, tickets, and download a festival brochure at the PIFA website. PIFA, along with the GPTMC, is also offering hotel and ticket packages for the festival.

Source: Dan Schimmel, Breadboard; PIFA; GPTMC
Writer: Sue Spolan

Global reach, local team: Empathy Lab takes digital advertising from Conshy to NY, Paris

Flying Kite Media Monday, April 04, 2011

There's a powerful global interactive agency right here in your backyard. You've probably never heard of it, but that's by design. Empathy Lab, based in Conshohocken, is set to break $14 million in revenue this year with clients you've definitely heard of, including Sony, Nautica, Kipling, Saucony, Clarins, Lexmark, Comcast and Verizon. The digital agency, founded in 2005, employs around 70 people in its suburban Philadelphia headquarters, and unless you're in the know, you'd pass right by.

"We don't necessarily focus on the region as our target for clients," says Kevin Labick, CEO of Empathy, explaining Empathy's local low profile. "We made a decision to be world class in two areas: eCommerce, and media and entertainment as it pertains to the digital channel."

Empathy's target companies are in New York, Los Angeles, Paris and the Netherlands, with just a few in Philadelphia. Its secret to success is an intimate approach to customer needs and motivations.

"Everything we do revolves around understanding the customer's point of view," says Labick. "Almost every project we work on involves contextual inquiry. We go into people's homes and offices, and sit with them on the way to work in their cars, to understand how they use our clients' brands."

Labick cites research for David's Bridal eCommerce platform that involved peering over the shoulders of brides to be as they perused potential gowns on the web. With the growth of destination weddings, Empathy discovered that brides want to know what the bottom of the dress looks like so they can judge its performance on a sandy beach.

Another growth area for Empathy is digital media and entertainment. While many brick and mortar stores were closing down, Empathy positioned itself at the forefront of digital media delivery. One example is Sony's newly released My Daily Clip for Apple mobile devices. Empathy's strategic placement has paid off. While other agencies have struggled through the economic downturn, Empathy's growth is impressive: in 2009, company revenue was $8 million, in 2010, revenue jumped to $12 million, and this year's projections show more of the same.

Empathy's low profile is going to have to change, says Labick, whose staff spends the great majority of its time on client campaigns, not self-promotion. "We are growing and we need people. We don't want to open offices everywhere. We want people to be based here, and have lives here."

Labick attributes Empathy's success to deep partnerships within the industry, working closely with developers and software companies to deliver innovative channel solutions to clients. Earlier this year, SmartCEO Magazine selected Empathy as a Future 50 Company in recognition of its tremendous employee and revenue growth over the past three years.

Source: Kevin Labick, Empathy Lab
Writer: Sue Spolan

Philly solar conversion company among highlights of Cleantech Investment Forum

Flying Kite Media Monday, April 04, 2011

Clean technology is a big draw for potential investors. Several hundred people gathered at the Academy of Natural Sciences on March 31 for the 3rd Annual Mid-Atlantic Cleantech Investment Forum. Sponsored by Blank Rome Counselors at Law, the Academy and Cleantech Alliance Mid-Atlantic, investor panels discussing the future of renewable energy, clean water, recycling and waste disposal were followed by presentations from area entrepreneurs.

On hand were members of the Greater Philadelphia Innovation Cluster for Energy Efficient Buildings. Williams J. Agate leads the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, developing and managing the Philadelphia Navy Yard, which is now in the process of creating a smart grid energy master plan.

The Fostering Cleantech Investment Panel included Kevin Brophy, of Meidlinger Partners, who talked about the future of clean water investment, and said that while innovation in the field came from the middle cap, the greatest opportunity for future investments is in the huge lower cap market. Also on the panel were Gary Golding, from Edison Ventures, who addressed rapidly improving awareness of water issues, Arun Kapoor of SJF Ventures, who mentioned 100 percent Pennsylvania wind provider Community Energy, and Josh Wolfe, the founding partner of Lux Capital. Wolfe described Lux as an early stage high risk venture fund valued at $100 million, and had a different take on the market than his fellow panelists, explaining that Lux focuses on companies that are long on human ingenuity and short on government rationality. Passing on biofuel, nuclear and natural gas investments, Lux is instead investing in nuclear waste management, calling it the energy industry's biggest unsolved problem.

The only presenting entrepreneur based in the immediate Philadelphia area is solar power conversion company Alencon Systems, Inc. Now in the research and development stage, Alencon addresses the problem of energy efficiency with large scale photovoltaic systems, which are currently created by aggregating multiple small systems. Alencon, which was borne of research at Rowan University, aims to simplify solar and wind power systems from distributed harvesting to centralized conversion. With a prototype already built and tested, Alencon slates projected sales of its streamlined systems at $45 million by 2014.

Source: 3rd Annual Mid-Atlantic Cleantech Investment Forum
Writer: Sue Spolan

Rowan University gallery set to become South Jersey contemporary art hub

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, March 29, 2011

South Jersey could become the area's next contemporary art hub, if Mary Salvante keeps up the good work at Glassboro's Rowan University Art Gallery. The Program Director and curator of the space opens a show tonight that melds a multitude of disciplines. Artist Beverly Semmes' exhibit, entitled The Feminist Responsibility Project, combines installation with live performance and video to explore what Salvante terms the third wave of feminism.

"The title is heavy handed in a way. It's a response to the weight of feminism and the role it has s played in culture and politics. It's meant to be ironic and paradoxical as well," says Salvante, who is in her second year as gallery director. The installation, which includes a massive white cloud made of fabric, altered pornographic images, a video of a woman kicking pink potatoes across a white frozen lake, and a performance piece involving two archetypes: The Bitch and the Super Puritan, who sit down to a puzzle made from an altered pornographic image. These elements are meant to juxtapose the last wave of feminism, now considered somewhat over the top, with the attitudes of young women today.

Salvante first saw Beverly Semmes at The Fabric Workshop in Philadelphia, and says she was drawn to the way Semmes uses fabric as a sculptural material,and how the multimedia aspect of the work adds to the tension of what she is trying to communicate. Semmes lives in New York City and has exhibited internationally, brings a new level of quality to Rowan's offerings, offering the South Jersey institution the opportunity to expand the size of its regional cultural community. The Feminist Responsibility Project opens tonight, Tuesday March 29, from 5 to 7:30 p.m., with a talk and live performance, and runs through May 14.

Source: Mary Salvante, Rowan University
Writer: Sue Spolan

Make room for the Aerotropolis: Drexel's Mobilities in Motion conference explores 'logistics' cities

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Mobility. The word conjures up a multitude of meanings. The ability to move. Mobile devices. Passing through physical and virtual space. Remaining motionless. Social networks and location based apps. Handicapped access. Planes, trains, automobiles, and skateboards.
Drexel's Center for Mobilities Research and Policy, or mCenter, headed up by sociology professor Mimi Sheller, offers a new way to group ideas not previously considered connected under one umbrella. The mCenter is the first in the United States to study mobilities, drawing on the many disciplines of arts, design, social sciences, engineering, computer science, business, law, media, environmental studies and public health.

Tasked with studying movement as a social science, the one year old mCenter drew an international crowd to its conference, Mobilities in Motion: New Approaches to Emergent and Future Mobilities. Held March 21-23, presenters considered scales of mobility, migration, borders, mobile phones, and all kinds of ways to get around, from the skateboard as urban transportation, to air travel, to creating an avatar and traversing virtual environments. Participants from a dozen countries, including France, Japan, the UK, and Brazil, as well as from more local addresses in the United States, spoke on emerging concerns like surveillance and privacy, the continually accelerating cycle of mobile device obsolescence, ethics and social rights, borders, sustainability and more.

Sheller, who is also co-editor of the international journal Mobilities, said, "The event has been incredibly successful, even beyond my expectations. We had excellent keynote presentations and very high quality papers in all of the sessions. People felt a real sense of dynamic interaction and stimulating dialogue across different disciplines and research approaches."

One highlight was keynote speaker Rina Cutler, Philadelphia's Deputy Mayor for Transportation and Utilities, "who gave an incredibly lively and entertaining talk about major infrastructure projects in the city, including her plans for developing an 'aerotropolis' at Philadelphia Airport." The idea that an airport can become a major urban hub, sometimes extending to a radius of up to 60 miles, was coined by professor John Kasarda (not in attendance), whose new book, Aerotropolis, The Way We'll Live Next, describes the next phase of globalization. With the rapid rise of logistics, global business networks, overnight shipping and increased travel, the new metropolis will have a massive airport at its center, with the city designed around it. Kasarda writes that logistics cities are now growing in Seoul, Amsterdam, Dallas and Washington, DC.

Sheller said participants, who included many PhD students as well as professors, were treated to presentations by artists and went on walking tours and as well as a mural tour. Aharon Kellerman, professor emeritus at Haifa University, remarked, "The most striking dimension of the conference was the young age of most of the participants. This is an encouraging trend by itself, notably in North America."

Source: Mimi Sheller, mCenter
Writer: Sue Spolan

The Social Knitwork: Philly's yarn bomber in talks with Mural Arts

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Jessie Hemmons embraces the city, literally. You've probably walked past this new form of public art and wondered who's behind the colorful knit webs that wrap trees, bike racks, and recently, subway seats on the Market-Frankford Line.

Hemmons is a yarn bomber, a growing network that subverts the old fashioned craft of knitting to put a feminist stamp on underground street art. When she's not riding her bike, Hemmons goes by the handle "ishknits" and spends hours working big needles and skeins of acrylic yarn on public transit. Hemmons, who's also a therapist for families facing drug and alcohol addiction, is not the first person to engage in yarn bombing nationally. The practice originated in Austin, when a failing yarn shop's overstock became fodder for public art. Hemmons says she is the only yarn bomber in Philadelphia, with 30 installations to date, including one commissioned by Urban Outfitters for the company's Navy Yard headquarters. She's also selling knits on etsy.

Consider the masculine spray of graffiti, as opposed to the warm womanly embrace of knitwork. "I am feminizing street art," says Hemmons, who is now entering talks with the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. "My whole goal is to empower communities. The ideal yarn bomb would be to wrap an abandoned house." Public knitting is passive intervention, and a way for Hemmons to communicate that someone is paying attention to blighted neighborhoods.

Source: Jessie Hemmons, ishknits
Writer: Sue Spolan

Philly Tech Week promises a printer-smashing good time

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, March 22, 2011

In the spirit of Philly's other well-known celebrations like Beer Week and Restaurant Week, one of the main goals for Philly Tech Week, happening April 25 to 30 in locations across the city, is to have fun. Organized by Technically Philly, the week is meant to connect the many different segments of the Philly technology community, from hackers to Comcast and everyone in between, according to TP co-founder Chris Wink.

At this point, there are about 35 events on the schedule, with more to come. WHYY will serve as headquarters. Wink says the media outlet will host a daily lunchtime speaker series throughout the week, as well as the final big event Friday night. Tech Week coincides with two other major citywide happenings: The Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA) and The Philadelphia Science Festival. As a result, says Wink, some gatherings will carry all three labels, such as Augmented Reality Check: Seeing The Future Now, looking at the intersection of art, technology and science, to be held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 26.

Another exciting Tech Week gathering is The Future of Music featuring musician and producer RJD2, coordinated by Tayyib Smith, owner of Little Giant Media, which publishes two.one.five magazine. Smith hopes to draw like minded people actively engaged in creating, promoting and distributing music to envision the role technology will play in the future of music. "I am an analog person who is fronting like I am digital," says Smith, who hopes to get as much out of the discussion as any of the other attendees.

Local firm Azavea, which builds geographic analysis software, happens to be rolling out several projects that same week, and plans to show off the brand new goods. "One is Philly Tree Map," says President and CEO Robert Cheetham, whose goal is to create a crowdsourced urban tree inventory. Two other Azavea projects, Open Data Philly and PhillyHistory.org, will be showcased during Tech Week.

For those who have ever fantasized about going ballistic on your devices, be sure to attend the Office Space Printer Smash, co-sponsored by Nonprofit Technology Resources and The Hacktory. As the title indicates, participants will be encouraged to turn unrecyclable printers into a pile of mangled plastic and metal.

Source: Christopher Wink, Technically Philly, Tayyib Smith, Little Giant Media, Robert Cheetham, Azavea
Writer: Sue Spolan

Kensington's Perfect Prototype creates new realities

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, March 15, 2011

A three dimensional rendering of a human heart is beating atop a card you hold in your hand. It's not reality, it's Augmented Reality, the latest method of bringing two dimensional images into a 3D world. Augmented Reality images exist only on the screen of a computer or mobile device, but with the addition of a live camera feed, viewing the virtual sculptures feels astoundingly real.

Perfect Prototype describes itself as an interactives company, "telling stories with innovative technology to create engaging, educational experiences for people," says Matthew Browning, company president. Located in the Crane Arts building, Perfect Prototype flies under local radar but is creating a national splash with projects for educational and corporate clients, such as a museum exhibit that lets you hold a virtual brain in your hands, a locomotive simulator that provides the virtual experience of operating a train, and a presentation to a corporate audience that integrates 3D animations. And if you are in the mood for some new fashioned hand to hand combat, Browning says Perfect Prototype has come up with a device that allows people across the country to arm-wrestle.

Browning, who is working overtime along with ten independent professionals to meet customer need, says clients range from museums such as Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, to corporations including Norfolk Southern and Hyundai, along with the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins.

Perfect Prototype is at the forefront of a rapidly growing technology that has implications across many sectors. Browning says of the technology that is still in its infancy, "There is so much untapped potential in Augmented Reality. It's a joy to push the limits and create new and innovative uses." And, he adds, with increased computing power on mobile and stationary devices, Perfect Protoype continues to give people a new experience, and a new way of looking at the world around them.

Source: Matthew Browning, Perfect Prototype
Writer: Sue Spolan

When you're underemployed, turn to The Front Section

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, March 15, 2011

What does an urban planner do while looking for a job? If you're Dan Casey, you create a dense daily digest of news with a focus on what people are not reading. The Front Section, says Casey, "is a byproduct of being direly underemployed and spending too much time online. I got tired of reading about America and American debates, and realized that I was following a lot of international news that my friends weren't." The Front Section is a densely packed and far more graphically pleasing alternative to web pages like The Drudge Report. Casey drew his inspiration from "a venerable site called Arts & Letters Daily that has a pleasantly tweedy high-culture tone and is all about Big Serious Ideas. When you load up the page, you start smelling pipe smoke and leather patches grow on your elbows.

"A faint taste of port creeps into your mouth; it's uncanny," says Casey, who felt he could fill a niche for a younger audience that is "decidedly to the left" of the Arts & Letters readership, but is still interested in good writing about the rest of the world. Casey says he took off from the overall A&L concept, but shifted its center of gravity. And added rap videos.

The site, based in Philadelphia and updated daily, attracts about a hundred visitors on an average day, but can draw thousands when it's linked from another site. Casey says the site is hosted by a generous friend, and is more of a community service than a money making proposition. Casey says his state of being underemployed may be about to change: "If I get one of these 'jobs' that I've heard so much about, maybe I'll have the chance to slow down and focus my reading, and rebuild my attention span, so the blog will probably change too. Stay tuned."

Source: Dan Casey, The Front Section
Writer: Sue Spolan

FLYING BYTES: Microsoft in Malvern, Art in the Open and the Canal

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Flying Bytes is a roundup of innovation nuggets from across the region:

OPEN UP TO ART
The second annual Art in The Open exhibit has been announced for June 9-12, 2011. The citywide exhibit features a juried selection of artists who will create site specific work along the Schuylkill Banks, from Bartram's Garden in Southwest Philly, and as far north as the Fairmount Park Waterworks. The result is a giant outdoor studio, with art stations for the public to get into the creative process. AIO co-founder Mary Salvante reports that all 2011 artist applications have been received, and the 40 winners will be announced shortly.

A CANAL PROPOSAL
The Manayunk Canal Towpath is about to get an art facelift. The Mural Arts Program, in association with the Manayunk Special Services District (MSSD) and the Manayunk Development Corporation, is calling for proposals to transform the disused canal into a temporary public art location with a focus on sustainability, incorporating water. The canal is the last surviving segment of a waterway that once ran as far as Schuylkill County, bringing coal from the mines into Philadelphia. The installation will coincide with this September's Manayunk Eco-Arts Festival. For more information, send email here.

MALVERN GETS 'SOFT
This week Microsoft opened a new 17,500 square foot Technology Center in Malvern. In attendance at the opening ceremony were Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. The Philadelphia area tech center is the tenth in the United States, and joins 21 similar technology centers globally. According to Microsoft, "the center is designed to help companies throughout the mid-Atlantic region improve their use of technology to grow their businesses, add jobs, and strengthen their local communities."

PHILLY'S GONE DIGITAL
Digital Philadelphia and Code for America reports that our local team of fellows is working hard to get government data to citizens. Jeff Friedman says the Philly CfA team conducted over a hundred interviews in February, polling government and city workers, civic leaders including heads of non-profits, block captains, civic developers, and citizens. CfA Philly also held three Friday "hack" events to encourage local developers to engage with government data, an Open Data Forum with help from Young Involved Philadelphia, Technically Philly, and the City, and an open data camp where developers built out four functional mini-apps based on city data.

Source: Mary Salvante, AIO; Microsoft Technology Center, Jeff Friedman, CfA Philly
Writer: Sue Spolan

UArts' Corzo Center awarding creative dollars to help spur creators' profits

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, February 15, 2011

A degree in fine arts doesn't often come with instructions on how to take economic control of your creations. The Corzo Center for the Creative Economy at the University of the Arts steps in with a rescue plan, applying the concept of enterprise funding to creative business ideas. With a grant from the Dorrance Hamilton Foundation, UArts professor Neil Kleinman developed The Creative Incubator, a $10,000 opportunity open to graduating students and recent alumni to "give students in arts and media economic control over their lives."

On a recent Wednesday, Kleinman and associate Todd Hestand welcomed a dozen hopefuls to an orientation in preparation for the March 21 proposal deadline. "Some of you are here only for the money," said Kleinman, "Some of you are interested in getting self-positioned, to learn more about how to put an idea out there, and make it continue." Kleinman plans to give two to three applicants with sustainable ideas $10,000 each, divided into three payouts: a third up front, another midway, and the final payment after the project is complete, with the idea that once the $10,000 runs out, profitability is well underway. Last year, says Kleinman, about eight smaller grants were given out, but only one reached the final payout. "Many fell prey to the very problems we were afraid of: no sustainable plan, and lack of awareness about underlying costs." This year, there will be fewer grants and more competition, with greater scrutiny of applicants' business plans, budget, marketing structure and audience.

One applicant is Michael O'Bryan, a 2007 graduate of UArts, who is attempting to create workshops for marginalized youth, combining artistic exploration with civic engagement. He says he got the idea while working two jobs: as a Youth Services Coordinator at The Salvation Army, and as Music Department Coordinator and Community Outreach liaison at the New Freedom Theater.

The Corzo Center offers applicants like O'Bryan, as well as all community members regardless of application status, full entrepreneurial support, including assistance developing proposals and business plans, workshops, special programs, and real world business contacts. Eventually, says Kleinman, the Center hopes to expand its funding to include creative entrepreneurs citywide.

Source: Neil Kleinman, Michael O'Bryan, University of the Arts
Writer: Sue Spolan