In The News

Salon's Williams pens a post-marathon ode to Philly

Salon Tuesday, November 27, 2012

After Hurricane Sandy caused the cancellation of the New York City Marathon, Philadelphia's race stepped up and offered spots to some of the displaced runners. Erstwhile Philadelphian Mary Elizabeth Williams (running in the midst of treatment for cancer) sends the city a sincere thanks.

In retrospect, I should have expected nothing less from a city whose very name means brotherly love. Besides, I knew how much Philly could give. I’d gone to school there; I’d forged some of the best and most enduring relationships of my life there. I had returned, again and again over the years, to see my friends and to eat soft pretzels and to introduce my children to the city’s charms. Yet on Sunday, Philadelphia gave me – and nearly 1,500 other New York marathon runners – something new. It gave us welcome and warmth and refuge after one of the darkest experiences in the Big Apple’s history, just by letting us pound its streets.

Original Source: Salon
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Foobooz names Philly's top 50 bars

Foobooz Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Local food-centric blog Foobooz releases its annual list of the city's best bars. It's no surpise that the top ten are dominated by spots with serious beer programs—top-shelf suds have become Philly's calling card. Pub & Kitchen takes top honors, up from no. 10 last year.

If you want to be number one on the Foobooz Top 50 Bars list you had better bring it every day. And Pub & Kitchen does just that, with excellent food, a well curated beverage program plus excellent and dare we say, attractive service.

Source: Foobooz
Check out the full list here.

Annenberg project among favorite election fact-checkers

The Root Monday, October 15, 2012

The Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania is responsible for FactCheck.org, rated among the top fact checking sites for election season by The Root.

You can submit questions and check out the "Viral Spiral," where the most widespread Internet rumors are addressed. A breakdown of the first presidential debate's exaggerations and outright false claims is already up on the home page. Follow @factcheckdotorg for real-time Twitter updates.

Original source: The Root

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The Words: Behind the scenes of Philly's growing Hollywood cred

CliqueClack Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Movie blog CliqueClack takes in the Philadelphia red carpet premiere of The Words, starring Bradley Cooper.

With the filming of scenes from Political Animals with Sigourney Weaver (USA), Paranoia with Liam Hemsworth and Gary Oldman, and Dead Man Down with Colin Farrell and Terrence Howard, as well as the film premieres of The Words and Think Like a Man, it looks like Hollywood’s slowly jumping on the Philly bandwagon.

I give partial credit for this to Sharon Pinkenson, Executive Director for the Greater Philadelphia Film Society; partial credit to Mayor Michael Nutter; and partial credit to the filmmakers and stars who have ties to Philadelphia and want to see it featured further, including the native Philadelphia writers/directors/star/producers of The Words – Bradley Cooper, Brian Klugman, Lee Sternthal and Jim Young.

Original source: CliqueClack

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Little Baby's Ice Cream's heady video ad draws reactions ranging from creepy to arousing

Gawker Thursday, August 02, 2012

It takes a lot to creep out Gawker, but chalk another one up for Little Baby's Ice Cream, which launches today on Frankford Ave. in Fishtown. We think Little Baby's Ice Cream's new video ad is pretty genius, plus they're going to be at Second Friday on Lancaster Ave. on Aug. 10.

Ripping a page right out of the Big Book of WTF Japan Seriously, Philly-based ice cream company Little Baby's Ice Cream invites screaming enthusiasts everywhere to cry themselves to no sleep with the most horrifying, least appetizing ice cream ad ever produced.

Original source: Gawker

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Society Hill's Fame House helps DJ Shadow break new ground with BitTorrent

GigaOm Monday, July 30, 2012

We reported on Philadelphia-based Fame House's groundbreaking work with DJ Shadow in February. Now CEO Mike Feibach is receiving a heap of attention for helping Shadow become the first artist to make money through BitTorrent, reports GigaOm.

BitTorrent has been partnering with indie musicians and filmmakers for some time to distribute authorized content bundles through its popular uTorrent client. However, this is the first time that the company has struck a revenue sharing agreement with one of those artists. “It’s a really important moment in the history of content distribution,” said Mason.

That sentiment was echoed by Fiebach, who told me that he doesn’t see BitTorrent as a piracy tool. “That’s the wrong way to look at it,” he argued, adding that the technology itself couldn’t be blamed if people use it to pirate content. Instead, it’s a way to get to an audience of millions, he said, adding: “(Shadow) and I just see this as a great opportunity to make history.”

Original source: GigaOm

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Philadelphia leaders take to Toronto to share and 'steal'

Yonge Street Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Greater Philadelphia Economy League Executive Director Steve Wray talkes to Flying Kite sister publication Yonge Street about his organization's Greater Philadelphia Leadership Exchange, which visits Toronto this week.

One the focuses of the Economy League is what it means to be a world-class region and what it would take for Greater Philadelphia to attain status as a world-class region. As we select places to go, we look for regions that are world class or striving to be world class. Clearly Toronto has attained the status in the global community as a city and region on the rise, as a global financial capital and as an international city. We thought there were a lot of lessons we could bring back to Philadelphia from Toronto that would serve us well.

Original source: Yonge Street

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Philly, a tech scene where you'd never think to look

Fast Company Friday, June 15, 2012

Fast Company cites Philadelphia among 15 tech scenes in places you'd never think to look (although it's really not that unlikely, is it?).

What's changing? Resources, such as coworking spaces, incubators, and investment dollars, are dripping into the area. And perhaps for the first time in recent memory, young people are moving to Philadelphia.

Original source: Fast Company

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'With art Philadelphia,' campaign ponders the most artistic mile in the country

The New York Times Friday, May 25, 2012

Five city institutions have combined to launch the "With art Philadelphia," advertising that makes the city hard to ignore as a visual arts destination, reports The New York Times.

The campaign, with a budget estimated at $2 million over the next two years, is being sponsored by the tourism marketing organization and more than a dozen other organizations, associations, foundations and institutions.

They include the City of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, the State of Pennsylvania, the Barnes, three other museums and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.

Original source: The New York Times

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With "Made in America" in Philly, Jay-Z helps Budweiser get back on music stage

Ad Age Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Ad Age goes behind the scenes of Jay-Z's big announcement on Monday, which aims to breathe new life into the old Budweiser Superfest music series.

Rebranding the event "Made in America" is a play on words: It underscores the Anheuser-Busch brand's American heritage, as well as a song featured on Jay-Z's 2011 album with Kanye West, Watch the Throne.

Company execs say this is part of an effort to target a younger, more multicultural demographic.

Original source: Ad Age

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Main Line-based Cleaversoft's PuppyWars draws 8,000 iOS users

International Business Times Tuesday, May 15, 2012

It was only last month when we followed up on Rich Siegel of Main Line Delivery and his latest app venture, Cleaversoft, and now International Business Times checks in on how they're "raising the bar on cuteness."

Siegel said he was partially inspired by the addictive gameplay of his first game "BeardWars," but he also noticed that there was no "great" app centered around man's best friend.

"We saw other dog apps out there and wanted to blow them out of the water," Siegel said. "I think we have the best app for dog lovers on the App Store now."

Original source: International Business Times

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Philly based Curalate launches in a big way, caters to brands who want image analytics

TechCrunch Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Philadelphia-based Curalate, a service for brands to search and track images across social networks, officially launched today with $750,000 in seed funding from NEA, First Round Capital and University of Pennsylvania-focused MentorTech, reports TechCrunch.

Although the site is only officially launching today, in its beta format it has already managed to pick up more than 150 brands as customers, its co-founder and CEO, Apu Gupta, tells me. That speaks to how, up to now, there hasn’t been an analytics service available quite like the one that Curalate is offering.

Gupta notes that while there have been a number of companies that have jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon and started to offer analytics to measure how brands are resonating on the social network, Curalate is the first to look not just at what a brand is posting on the site, but it can also track what regular people are posting. In other words, not just the sweater as J.Crew pins it, but as you or I might pin it, too.

Original source: TechCrunch

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Introducing the Academy of Natural Sciences' museum exhibition and book

The New York Times Tuesday, April 03, 2012

The exhibition, which opened last weekend, takes visitors along with academy scientists as they search for new species and study humanity’s collective impact on the environment. The book embraces a larger agenda.

To wander through "A Glorious Enterprise: The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and the Making of American Science" is to absorb the 19th century's passion for botany and zoology; the 20th century's mania for exploration of distant, difficult or desolate places; and present-day preoccupations, particularly environmental issues like water quality.

Original source: Academy of Natural Sciences

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The $25 Skype concert: Presenting Philly folk artist Denison Witmer's highly intimate new tour

Mashable Thursday, March 15, 2012

Philadelphia-based folk musician Denison Witmer has taken to performing short, one-of-a-kind shows on Skype, a daring effort that has proven popular among his most diehard fans, reports Mashable.

For $25, Witmer will play a song of your choice (two if you’re lucky) and the chance to chat with him after the performance. After one purchases a Skype show, Witmer and his manager help arrange a time and date via email.

Given the unique nature of these shows, there’s been a bit of a learning curve on his end. "I'm trying to figure out what the exact limit is that I can handle,” Witmer says. “In a lot of ways it’s similar to a concert, but it's also a totally different experience. The scheduling part is more work that the actual playing or talking to people."

Original source: Mashable
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NYT examines Philadelphia Media Network's move and digital signs' impact on Market East

The New York Times Tuesday, February 07, 2012

The New York Times looks at the Philadelphia Media Network's move to Market East and the sign ordinance that will effectively create a digital district in Center City.

Philadelphia Media Network will have two digital signs on Market Street and two on Ninth Street, and each sign will be about 14 feet wide and 45 feet long, said Joseph F. Coradino, the president of Preit Services and Preit-Rubin, the commercial development and management subsidiaries of the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, the company that owns both the Gallery and the old Strawbridge site.

The sign ordinance has limits. For example, it will allow digital signs to appear only on properties that have 100 feet or more of frontage on Market Street.

"This is not Times Square, where the goal is to basically cover buildings with signs," said Paul R. Levy, the president of the Center City District, a business improvement group and an early supporter of the ordinance. "Our goal here was to integrate the signs into the existing architecture."

Original source: The New York Times
Read the full story here.

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