Innovation + Job News

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

The developers formerly known as Slash7 are happier than ever. So happy that they are rebranding, and will soon be known as Cheerful Software, complete with a new address in Old City.

While husband and wife team Amy Hoy and Thomas Fuchs have been at Indy Hall, they will be moving around the corner to 113 Arch Street between Front and 2nd.

"We'd love to be in Indy Hall, but there's no room for us," says Hoy of her four-employee team, which also includes Kara LaFleur and Jess Victor. Nonetheless, Slash7/Cheerful maintains close ties with Indy Hall, and our meeting takes place in one of the coworking space's conference rooms.

Slash7's two big products are Freckle, a time management software program with a total of 12,000 users, of which about 20 percent are premium subscribers, and the brand new customer support program known as Charm, the biggest focus of their business, according to Hoy.

"I am a developer. I have some theories about the way software should treat people who use it," says Hoy.

LaFleur adds, "Good software is cheerful software. It should serve you."

While it may seem that software development is primarily a men's club, Hoy will not go there.

"It's not a gender thing," she says. Hoy does admit to influencing at least one aspect of the Slash7/Cheerful suite of offerings. "We teach programming in a very different way. It's more people centric and personal," says Hoy. Next on offer is a JavaScript Master Class on Oct. 24-25, and possible to join no matter where you are as it's held online. The company also creates eBooks and downloadable workshops.

Hoy maintains a non-gender specific sense of humor about the world of software development. Check out her blog, UnicornFree, where you can read her thoughts on product launch and marketing. And check out her narwhal.

Source: Amy Hoy, Kara LaFleur, Slash7/Cheerful Software
Writer: Sue Spolan

Want to blow your voting mind? Head over to ElectNext, a new website that matches citizens with candidates. "If you change the context from Republican vs. Democrat, it changes the world," says ElectNext Communications Director Dave Speers, who recently joined founders Keya Dannenbaum and Paul Jungwirth to fundamentally change the way you think about your vote.

Speers describes ElectNext as eHarmony for voters. When you sign up, you answer a series of questions about your political philosophy. The results can shake people up. A lifelong democrat may find that her take on the issues most closely aligns with a moderate republican like presidential candidate Jon Huntsman. "I'm a Republican," says Speers. "What could separate you and me is one issue. In reality, we're 99 percent in agreement."

Speers reports that some voters go ballistic upon seeing their results, which may not align with their perception of the candidates or themselves. "When you walk into a voting booth, like millions of people, you see one or two names you recognize. As far as the rest of the candidates, you might skip the vote, or vote dogmatically down party lines, or it could be arbitrary, like picking someone by the ethnicity of their last name."

Dannenbaum met Jungwirth at a Philly Tech Meetup. Jungwirth, who's working on a PhD in Classics from Penn and has a professional background in computer programming, was looking for an opportunity to use both sides of his brain, and Dannenbaum terms the partnership a perfect fit.

The startup is funded by DreamIt Ventures and is part of the Comcast Minority Entrepreneur Accelerator Program (MEAP) within DreamIt. Dannenbaum, who is on leave from MBA studies at The Wharton School, says that getting the $25,000 DreamIt grant was possible after participating in the Good Company incubator program, which provided office space at University of the Arts.

"The training and the curriculum at Good Company is what prepared us to be able to talk to the DreamIt folks at the end of the summer," says Dannenbaum.

DreamIt also receives a 6 percent equity stake in the for-profit company with five employees. Dannenbaum credits the Wharton Venture Initiation Program as well, which offers ElectNext on-campus meeting space and mentors.

Dannenbaum says her leave from Wharton is open ended, and the team hopes to take ElectNext national in time for the 2012 presidential election.

Source: Keya Dannenbaum, Dave Speers, ElectNext
Writer: Sue Spolan

First, MilkBoy the cafe took Center City. And now MilkBoy Recording is following suit. While the lease has not yet been signed, Jamie Lokoff reports that MilkBoy Recording has a signed letter of intent and will be moving from Ardmore to Philadelphia, taking over The Studio, Larry Gold's state of the art recording facility above the Electric Factory at 7th and Callowhill.

"It's the best studio north of Atlanta and south of New York," says Lokoff.

With the upcoming expansion, MilkBoy will breathe new life into a recording studio just blocks away from its live music venue at its new location at 11th and Chestnut. The Studio --a  20,000 square foot converted factory space with walls covered in gold and platinum records -- is legendary in the music business, having hosted luminaries like The Roots, Tori Amos, Al Green, Patti LaBelle and many other award-winning acts.

Gold, who is also a virtuoso musician and is still arranging for Jay-Z, John Legend and Jennifer Lopez, will be handing over the reins to MilkBoy, itself an established talent factory, working with Usher, Dave Matthews and the Dixie Hummingbirds. For a brief time last year, The Studio was run by Solomon Silber, who is no longer associated with the organization.

At this point, Lokoff does not have plans for MilkBoy's current multitrack digital and analog Ardmore recording studio, and until the impending move, continues with a full schedule that includes film and TV work as well as album recording.

Source: Jamie Lokoff, MilkBoy
Writer: Sue Spolan

The Femininjas are coming to TEDxPhilly, along with a whole cast of speakers designed to blow audiences away with their words, ideas and inspiration. The second annual local version of the global TED talks (Technology, Entertainment and Design) will be Tuesday, Nov. 8, all day, starting at 9 a.m. at the Temple Performing Arts Center on North Broad Street.

"The major difference with this venue, besides the location, is that we have the room to accommodate twice as many people," says TEDxPhilly organizer Roz Duffy. "We sold out last year (at the Kimmel Center) and had to deny people tickets leading up to the event due to capacity. This year, there should be more than enough seats for anyone who wants to attend."

The theme is The City, and organizers have invited  a compelling group of speakers to define the parameters of the urban landscape. "The City is about all aspects of urban life from people making a difference in Philadelphia and cities across the country to our collective experience of city life from the soundscape of our environment to the way we work, play, eat, live and breathe in the city," says Duffy.

Jennifer Pahlka, Executive Director of Code For America, will tell her tale of a year in city government. Speaker Youngjin Yoo is Director of Temple University's Center for Design+Innovation and Open Access Philly member.

Gregory Corbin, founder of the Philadelphia Youth Poetry Movement, where the Femininjas were born, will speak about creating an urban youth writing workshop that recently won national honors at Brave New Voices 2011 and a Knight Foundation grant. DJ Rich Medina will speak on spinning around the globe; sculptor Janet Echelman describes her art which combines ancient techniques with cutting edge technology; Chris Bartlett, Executive Director of the William Way Center, hosts the event.

"We will probably get close to 20 speakers this year and I’d guess around 800 attendees, but we have room for over 1,000 attendees, so we hope we can really fill the place with passionate, creative and inspiring individuals," says Duffy, who points to one returning guest she's particularly thrilled about. "Stanford Thompson leads a very intense music education program. Stanford’s students’ performance was so moving last year that there was not a dry eye in the house."

A full list of speakers and a link to purchase tickets can be found on the TEDxPhilly website.

By the way, St. Joe's is getting into the TED act with its inaugural TEDxSJU, which takes place on Oct. 13 from 4-7 p.m. at St. Joe's Campus Commons Building and will feature social entrepreneurs from across the country, including Olivia Bouler, who at age 12 created Save The Gulf, and LynnMcConville, whose Power Up Gambia is bringing solar to the African nation. The event is free and open to the public.

Source: Roz Duffy, TEDxPhilly
Writer: Sue Spolan

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

The first thing you need to know is that Alex Hillman is dangerously awesome. He is the Pied Piper of the tech community. And he had a lot of competition onstage at Ignite Philly 8, which took place before a packed audience on Thursday (Sept. 22) at Johnny Brenda's in Fishtown.

Anyone who creates slide presentations needs to attend the next Ignite Philly. That would be you. Aside from 12 presentations about incredibly cool initiatives taking place in Philadelphia, the most inspiring part was the creative way presenters used Power Point. Makes a geeky girl sigh with pleasure.

The evening, hosted by Geoff DiMasi, David Clayton and Dana Vachon, began with Melissa Morris Ivone's Operation Nice. Talking about the inception of her blog, Ivone told the story of one morning commute during which she was cut off by another driver, but the day turned around when a stranger was nice to her on an elevator. That tiny act bloomed into the Operation Nice blog, which sports the tagline, "Encouraging individuals to be proactively nice." Kind of a pay it forward for the intelligentsia.

Did you know that Philadelphia has an Art Hotel? Krista Peel and Zak Starer run an artist residency located in East Kensington. Each year, the hotel accepts 10 residents free of charge. Chirstian Kunkel is bringing an entrepreneurial spirit to Philadelphia public school students with Startup Corps, which has already helped 70 young entrepreneurs in 6 schools, with the help of 150 mentors. Kunkel's dream is to offer an opportunity to start a business to every public school student in Philadelphia.

Hillman and DiMasi presented K'House, their coworking and cohousing experiment now under construction in Kensington. A last minute addition to the lineup, Hillman and DiMasi's presentation was created by drawing on bar napkins, taking iPhone pictures of the napkins, and building a brilliant slide show that had the crowd roaring. "I never know how the talks are going to turn out, but they always seem to exceed expectations," comments DiMasi, who counted 300 people in the capacity crowd.

Danielle Redden took us boating on the tidal Schuylkill; Michelle Bland invited everyone to Nerd Nite Philly; Theresa Rose, Jordan Rock and Brett Mapp explained the Philly Stake dinner concept; Mira Adornetto and Joel Fath planted the idea of Philly Seed Exchange; Tristin Hightower and Nicole Kline told the story of Philly Girl Geek Dinners; Greg Hoy made an argument for why Sansom Street should be confined to pedestrian traffic in his talk, "Less Garbage Juice, More with Love xoxo;" Gabriel Mandujano and Joel Hommes encouraged sustainable cleanliness with their business Wash Cycle Laundry, and Sarah McEneany  talked about the latest developments along the Reading Viaduct.

The majority of the night's proceeds were awarded to a former Ignite Philly Speaker, the EVX West Philly Hybrid X Team, which won $1,000 toward teaching high school students to build hybrid cars.

Source: Geoff Di Masi, Ignite Philly
Writer: Sue Spolan

There's a major problem with the building industry. With 800,000 construction or architecture and engineering firms in the United States, each with an average of 10 employees, there is no critical mass to forward research and development, according to Christine Knapp of the Greater Philadelphia Innovation Cluster (GPIC).

Knapp sees GPIC, a recipient of $129 million in federal funding to be a hub for energy efficiency, as a way to centralize the scattered practice, and there are a lot of initiatives underway at the multidisciplinary organization based at the Navy Yard, including the construction of a combination demonstration project and headquarters.

"We've selected our architectural design team. Kieran Timberlake is a Philadelphia based firm. It happened to work out that the team that won is local," says Knapp. "We're really trying to change the way buildings are designed. We want to be a case study and show people the hiccups and process. A big part of our work is showing the value of integrative construction, design and retrofit."

GPIC workshops are one way to accomplish increased cooperation and vertical integration, and a bunch are lined up this fall, including one that dovetails with DesignPhiladelphia. In November, a series of innovation seminars will begin.

Another goal is data collection, which is a huge job, and Knapp says GPIC is actively seeking a Building Energy Data Manager. "We met with the EPA and the Department of Energy. We plan to sync up with them, and share what data we are getting access to," says Knapp, in an effort to establish a baseline and cobble together a snapshot of the current state of construction.

GPIC is also home to The Sustainability Workshop, an academy for high school seniors that grew out of the West Philly Hybrid X team, which beat out MIT in a national hybrid car building competition. "If they could accomplish this much with an after school program," says Knapp, "what can they do with a full time school? Instead of automobiles, the focus could be energy efficiency of buildings, and they'd contribute to GPIC," says Knapp, who adds that her organization will be assisting with funding for the first year, and in return, students will be contributing to GPIC's work. Right now the program has 30 high school seniors and two full time educators.

In the near future, look for GPIC announcements about the disbursement of $10 million to up to seven applicants for the Opportunity Research Fund. Also, says Knapp, look for an upcoming announcement from GPIC about the choice of teams to assist with strategic planning as well as marketing and communications.

Source: Christine Knapp, GPIC
Writer: Sue Spolan

Cliq takes social data and makes it social knowledge, according to Alex Khorram. The new website, now in beta stage, aggregates all your Facebook, Foursquare, LinkedIn and Twitter friends' and friends of friends' recommendations to deliver a whole new kind of information about local business, products and brands.

"I bought a house in January. It became important for me to have a trusted source to touch base with prior to making a decision about a contractor," says Khorram, CEO of Cliq. After looking at Angie's List and ServiceMagic, Khorram sat down to build a product to create a reliable system for peer recommendations. "Facebook is a great white pages, but they've done a subpar job in terms of the yellow pages," says Khorram.

Cliq, already written up in Mashable, is based in Center City with seven employees, and is now seeking at least three engineers to join the team. At the moment, Cliq is public with restaurants only. A search for, say, Tony's Baltimore Grill in Atlantic City, NJ tells me that six friends have liked or commented on the old time establishment, that there are over 6,000 check-ins and likes across social networks, and Cliq also displays buzz on the joint culled from Facebook, Foursquare and Twitter comments.

In Cliq world, each listing is customized to each human. Cliq scans millions of social network pages and delivers results directly from direct and secondary contacts. Any further out and results are too diluted, according to Khorram.

Why not Google search results? "They're a web engine with crawlers. Now, if you type in plumber in Philadelphia, you'll get a certain result, and most of it is anonymous stuff. We've already built a database of several million businesses. Our goal is to index every business in the world that has a social presence."

Khorram, who reports that Cliq is funded by angel investors for an undisclosed sum, expects to go global, with pages in Mandarin, Farsi and Hindu. As far as monetization, "We see Cliq as the last place you'll check prior to making a purchase decision. That gives us great leeway and we can work with partners like Expedia or Hotels.com. Finally, the internet meets word of mouth."

Source: Alex Khorram, Cliq
Writer: Sue Spolan

Sometimes putting the cart before the horse works just fine. Danny's Guitar Shop began life as a media entity, morphed into a brick and mortar store on the Main Line, and now Danny's Guitar Shop is also the title of a new television show.

"It came to me in an epiphany six years ago," says Danny Gold, proprietor and host of the 30 minute series. "In the wasteland of cable TV, where there are whole stations about food, golf, and cars, there was nothing of substance about guitars." Sure, says Gold, there are plenty of performance videos and interviews with rock stars, but there's been no nutritional value about the instrument itself.

At that time, Gold was a rep for Fender, and saw a marketing opportunity in a media product. With the help of Bruce Warren, Gold created the radio series Danny's Guitar Shop for WXPN more than two years ago. While the budget starved series came to an end after four episodes, in its ashes rose the actual guitar shop in downtown Narberth, a bustling location that offers personal service, lots of lessons, and corny jokes to the Main Line and beyond. It's the only store of its kind for miles.

That quirky personality has been translated to the boob tube, thanks to the creative production team of videographer Ron Stanford and sound recording engineer Larry Friedman. "Danny is a natural," says Stanford. "He's able to speak in complete sentences in front of a camera."

Rather than make sizzle reels until the end of time, says Stanford, the team opted to create a complete 30-minute show, starting with a VIP tour of nearby Nazareth, Pa.'s Martin Guitar factory. "It gives the viewer a real insider's glimpse," says Gold. "It's a privileged look inside the world of music that's appealing to music geeks as well as a general audience." Stanford and Gold's proudest accomplishment is the new episode featuring a talk with Wilmington, Del.'s David Bromberg, whom Gold calls the popular kid on the block.

The series now airs on the web and on the Lenfest owned WMCN, also known as Get It On TV. It's got four sponsors: Old City Publishing, Union Transfer, Onion Flats and Yards Brewing. "We're responsible for filling the whole 28:30," says Stanford. It's like old time TV."

As it is, the team, which donates labor, goes so far as to create ads for those sponsors. "Our goal is to become an economically viable TV series," says Stanford. "It's a chicken and egg thing. No one will believe it until they see it on the air."

With three already in the can, eleven more shows are slated for this first season. You can catch Danny's Guitar Shop on Saturdays at 6:30 p.m. beginning Oct.1 on WMCN, which is carried on cable stations from the Jersey shore to Reading. 

Source: Danny Gold, Ron Stanford, Danny's Guitar Shop
Writer: Sue Spolan
 

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

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