Innovation Philadelphia

Had a PIFA Moment Today

blogadmin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:21:00 GMT

The Kimmel Center as well as the Greater Philadelphia Marketing and Tourism Corporation formally announced today the 2011 Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts in a press conference at the Perelman Theater. PIFA is the brainchild of Anne Ewers, President and CEO of the Kimmel Center.

PIFA promises collaboration, innovation, and creativity among the Philadelphia cultural scene and aims to combine uncommon art forms to create new sounds, sites, and talents. The Orchestra and two Philly DJ’s performed a mash-up on stage to demonstrate the collision of genres. PIFA is all about creating “PIFA Moments” and encourages everyone to “Join the Moment,” using the former as their official slogan. The visual representation of PIFA is a cube, to be seen throughout the festival in both abstract and concrete renditions.

Inspiration for the festival comes from Paris 1910-1920, arguably one of the most influential periods in defining the art of today. It is yet to be determined if PIFA will have the same influence as the Parisian decade, but the attempt to do so is inspiring for Philadelphians as well as hopeful for the city’s tourism.

The $10 million in funding was received by the Annenberg Foundation, one of the last acts of philanthropy from Leonore Annenberg. Mayor Nutter appeared at the conference, endorsing the importance of globalizing Philadelphia’s cultural talent and drawing the outside world into our city from April 11, 2011 to May 1, 2011.

Some video footage of the mash-up performance from the event can be seen here.

2011 Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts

PIFA Manifesto

Paris Inspired PIFA

Get Philly in Fast Company Magazine

blogadmin — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:12:00 GMT

[Update 1.26.10 2:12pm] It has been speculated that the next cities have been chosen, Boston and Austin. These are unconfirmed by Fast Company as of this update. We encourage Philadelphia's entrepreneurial community to continue sending comments and voicing Philadelphia's attributes.

Call to Organize for Philadelphia’s Entrepreneurs

Fast Company is releasing a 5-part series on great cities for start ups. So far, New York City, Boulder, and the latest, Seattle, have been published. That only leaves 2 spots and Philly should be one of them. Innovation Philadelphia asked Fast Company how Philly could get noticed because, well, it deserves to be. To get our great city included, send your thoughts and ideas on Why You Should Start a Company in... Philadelphia to ideas(at)fastcompany(dot)com.

Shine a spotlight on this incredible, budding, entrepreneurial city of ours. We are a changing city of innovative and global minds, unafraid to be entrepreneurs and are supportive of entrepreneurs. Contact Fast Company and tell them why you came to Philadelphia? Why did you start a business here? Why do you support Philly startups?

Read the first 3 in the series – NYC, Boulder, Seattle. Philadelphia is a great city to start a company. Forward those reasons to ideas(at)fastcompany(dot)com.

[Update 2.1.10] We were sent some of the letters Philadelphian's sent to Fast Company and would like to share.

From Entrepreneur's Entourage. A related blog post can be found here.

To whom it may concern,

Many think of Philadelphia as industrial, dated and a little on the maniacal side when it comes to sports fans; but in reality, our city has only been on the up and up with making our neighborhoods green and eco-friendly, providing accessible resources for small businesses to launch, and providing better services for our budding entrepreneurs.

Our top Universities excel in providing programs and opportunities for entrepreneurs and start up companies alike. The University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University both have entrepreneurial clinics and offer many services to our community out of their Small Business Development Center. Another great resource that my partner and I have been invited into is the entrepreneurial clinic at the University of Pennsylvania Legal Clinic. Each year graduating seniors work with companies in the area to help meet their legal needs pro bono. We were able to utilize the clinic to form our partnership agreement as well as help negotiate some business documents.

I came to Philadelphia 4 years ago when my job as a magazine publisher moved me here. As part of a large west coast media company I did not get very involved in my community and neighborhood within Philadelphia. But, when I left the magazine a year ago and decided to start my own company with a local friend, I was immediately embraced by the community and exposed to the limitless opportunities for networking, support, and social marketing. We couldn't imaging running our virtual company, Entrepreneur's Entourage, from anywhere else. We have been able to provide our clients with great services like web design, branding, internet marketing and project management by including so many of Philly's talented entrepreneurs and free-lance consultants on our team of professionals.

There are many more reasons why my partner and I have found great success with our new business as a result of being located in Philadelphia. I would be happy to answer any questions or provide you with more information to help Philly be recognized as a top city for start ups in your Shine section!

Sincerely,

Cheryl Amaya

VP Entrepreneur's Entourage

www.entrepreneursentourage.com

Twitter @EntrepEntourage

From Bressler Group.

To whom it may concern.

I am managing partner for a product design firm in Center City Philadelphia. And while the firm is not a startup, me and two other colleagues just completed negotiations to buy the firm from the long time owner. So we’ve decided to restart and grow our consulting firm here in Philly.

I’m personally a transplant from metro NY. And while Philly is not New York we enjoy a lot of the same benefits here in the northeast corridor. Quality of life is very good, access to the arts, mass transit, great and diverse restaurants and culture, ocean / shore access, etc. Plus here in Philly the cost of living and running a business is modest compared to NY, DC and Boston.

I’ve lived here now for nearly 20 years and have seen the city grow better every year. I own a home with my wife and have two kids. We live about 10 minutes by foot from my office. Most of our 19 employees walk, bike or take a short train ride to work. Like NY and Boston, it’s very convenient for employees to live where they work and mix business and pleasure in town.

And while there are still some annoying tax issues for businesses to contend with there seems to be a push to reduce things like city wage tax over time. The city has also opened a number of K zones to support business growth. And the political power structure is more progressive now than in the recent past.

And for entrepreneurial companies, there is a young and growing professional core. We have world class universities here in the city and more and more grads are choosing to stay and make it happen in Philly. And the more people open up shop here, even more of the best and brightest will stay.

Best Regards,

Mike Flanagan

Managing Partner

The Bressler Group

Bressler Group

Empowerment Group Celebrates Tasty Entrepreneurship in 2010

blogadmin — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:15:00 GMT

Update from Guest Blogger Emily Yoder, Empowerment Group

National Pie Day is January 23rd. How are you celebrating? Homage to this tasty American treat can be paid by just grabbing a slice, but more fun can be had! Celebrate with the Empowerment Group as they visit Sweetie’s Pie Diner on January 30th. If pie isn’t your bag, learn about secret recipes and budding chefs on February 23rd at Philly Kitchen Share.

Empowerment Group is cooking up some tasty things for 2010. We’ve always been a cheerleader and aide to all Philadelphia entrepreneurs, and restaurants have a special way of spicing up the small business scene. Philly has more than 400 food institutions in Center City alone. We’re the home of the Iron Chef. Travel & Leisure Magazine ranks us 7th in the nation for best neighborhood restaurants. Everyone’s starting to realize that Philly cuisine is about so much more than cheese steaks.

Here at Empowerment Group, our clients already have a history of culinary innovation. From savory cupcakes, to a traveling coffee cart, to one of the city’s only Puerto Rican bakeries, they know how to serve up some tasty and unique treats. This year we’re more committed than ever to helping aspiring chefs and bakers find the ingredients that make a successful business.

Our Women Entrepreneurs’ Circle is always an enjoyable time for women who own (or aspire to own!) small businesses to meet, network, and visit a local woman-owned shop. On January 30, we’ll have our sweetest edition of the Circle yet. We’re visiting Sweetie’s Pie Diner, where you can build your knowledge of the start-up restaurant industry while building your own delicious pie. Enjoying the company of other women entrepreneurs is really just the icing on the cake (or pie, if you so choose).

On February 23, we’re teaming up with Philly Kitchen Share to help transitional cooks. Have your friends been begging you for Nana’s secret casserole recipe? Do your co-workers keep telling you that you that your cookies are good enough to sell? Our workshop, On the Rise: Transition from a Home to a Commercial Kitchen, helps you figure out how your prize-winning recipe could lead to a lucrative business.

We have the business background, and we’ll help you figure out if your food can keep you afloat once we untie those proverbial apron strings. Come out to our events. It’s all for a greater—and tastier—Philadelphia.

Guest Blogger: Christopher Hire of 2thinknow

blogadmin — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:38:00 GMT

From Christopher Hire, Executive Director, 2thinknow

Mr. Hire comments on Philadelphia's place in the Innovation Cities Analysis Report released October 2009.

Philadelphia placed 6th in the USA, 5th in North America behind Toronto, and 32nd globally. "Neighbourhoods will be increasingly critical as the auto-dependent suburbs are vacated, or at least, evolve. Philly is centred around interconnected neighbourhoods, giving us even the term 'Philadelphia Rows'. A high degree of cultural assets both nationally historical & scientific, relative to other US cities. One example of this more globally-focussed US city is the Rodin Museum, a French sculptor, an example of Pennsylvania outward-facing cultural thinking."

"A passionately supported multi-million dollar sports industry, like number one-ranked city Boston, is also critical to Philadelphia's development. Multi-nationals, a large domestic market of 5 million plus, as well as a good US domestic market complete the picture."

"For Philadelphia to improve further globally, Philadelphia must work to improve it's global direct air connections, commercial ties and tourist profile throughout Europe and strong developed Asian countries like Australia or Japan - perhaps at the city-level. Philadelphia is a key innovation nexus, critical to the development of world-class ideas, and will, on balance, exert a leadership position within North America within the critical 2010-2020 period."

Guest Blogger: Sam Huntington of Brolik

blogadmin — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:31:00 GMT

Business Development 101

Creative agencies have been hit hard by the recession as well as client’s hesitation to take on new initiatives during these uncertain financial times. As director of new business for a creative agency, it is my job to define and implement ways to sell while simultaneously positioning my company for explosive growth at the onset of an economic uptick. I try to do that by helping companies see they need to be doing the same.

Companies should be focusing on their current business but also on positioning themselves for the future. That’s where creative agencies like ours can help.

New business development unfolds in several stages - narrow, prospect, sell and develop. These stages are best managed and tracked through organized documentation.

Narrow

Narrowing is the identification of key types of businesses your company would like to pursue. This could be business of a certain size, industry, age or within a particular region. You should first assess how new business prospects will help with your company’s short and long term goals. Rank your targets with the rationale behind why you’re pursuing them. For example, we begin our narrowing process by designating industries that would most benefit from technologies such as video, SEO and web tracking. Once industries are identified, we then set clear measurable goals for our new business development so that we can evaluate our approach’s effectiveness and efficiency.

Prospect

Prospecting requires scouring sources for appropriate businesses to contact, researching the quality of each lead, and documenting useful information. Researching a company before introducing your own is crucial. Beyond familiarizing yourself with the information on the company website, try searching for information within avenues such as past news articles, social networks or old press releases. While new business is often built upon existing/tangential business or personal relationships, being prepared and informed from the onset is crucial.

Sell

First impressions only happen once and are extremely important. Therefore when you first introduce yourself, your company and its services- make sure to be simple, clear and direct. Be prepared to break down some barriers in the initial conversation and don’t be too pushy. People tend to work with people they like, so be personable and approachable.

Your job is to articulate why and how your services can achieve their short- and long-term business goals. I generally start the dialogue by asking what they feel can make their business more appealing or efficient and about their short and long-term business goals. If you peak their interest, begin with your pitch about how your company can help them meet their goals.

Develop

New business development revolves around developing relationships for now and the future. It is difficult to adhere to most self-imposed regimens, and business development is no exception, especially with so many diverse daily responsibilities. However, merely attempting to stick to this plan is more productive than settling for a "referrals will come to me" philosophy. Even if your labors are not immediately fruitful and you can't persuade the prospect to "act now," your expertise and relationship has been established when the potential client decides to move forward. It requires an investment of time and occasionally money, but the outcome is more potential for future growth. A failed business prospect but a positive impression is still progress; because you never know when your card and their new business will be passed along.

Sam Huntington is director of business development for Brolik Productions, a full-service branding and interactive agency that adds a vital creative pulse to businesses through web design, video, brand marketing and innovative strategy in Philadelphia, PA. He can be reached at huntingtons@webrolik.com or by visiting www.brolik.com.

SAVE THE DATE: CreateAdelphia on April 14, 2010

blogadmin — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:47:00 GMT
CreateAdelphia, Philadelphia's creative job fair, will take place April 14, 2010 at the Kimmel Center from 10am - 2pm.
Job Seekers Register Here
Employers Register Here

Philly Startup Leaders to Host 2nd Annual Founder Factory Conference November 19th at World Café Live

blogadmin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:51:00 GMT

“I wish something like this (Philly Startup Leaders and the Founder Factory) existed when I was starting my business”, proclaimed serial entrepreneur David Brussin at a recent Advisory Board meeting of Philly Startup Leaders.

Brussin, co-founder and CEO of Monetate, is one of a number of successful entrepreneurs scheduled to speak at this year’s Founder Factory conference. Designed to help foster the growth of Philadelphia’s startup company ecosystem, the Founder Factory brings together all of the key players in the community for a day of success and lessons-learned stories, peer to peer advice and networking; all meant to energize and empower young startup founders to build better businesses. The Founder Factory is one of a handful of yearly events run by Philly Startup Leaders that is open to the general public.

The format of the Founder Factory conference is quite different from the typical business conference. In keeping with Philly Startup Leaders’ grassroots approach, the Founder Factory offers a chance for interaction across multiple generations of business, venture capital, education and technology leaders. The all day event at the World Café Live begins at 10:00 AM with a presentation from Wharton Finance Professor Jeremy Siegel, author and frequent guest on CNN, CNBC and NPR. Siegel will dissect the macro-economic climate as it relates to this year’s Founder Factory theme ‘Lessons from the Edge.’

To gain additional perspectives, Doug Alexander, President of Internet Capital Group, will examine the venture capital outlook for the region. Geoff Cook, CEO of MyYearbook, the nation’s fastest growing social network, will discuss the hurdles facing venture-backed startups. Rounding out the lineup of speakers will be David Brussin, CEO of Monetate.

Interspersed throughout the day, three local companies will be given the opportunity to present a business problem they are currently facing to the panel of featured speakers. Known as Fishbowl workshops at Philly Startup Leaders, the company will give a short presentation describing the relevant aspects of their business and discuss the problem at hand. Next, the panel of speakers will offer advice, followed by suggestions and questions from the audience.

"Presenting my company in the Fishbowl was rewarding. I received a lot of actionable feedback, not only from the esteemed panel members, but from the audience as well. Afterward, many attendees came up to me to continue the conversation. I'd recommend the experience to any local entrepreneur." said Gabriel Weinberg, CEO of search engine DuckDuckGo.com, a 2008 Founder Factory Fishbowl company.

Joining this year’s Fishbowl panels will be speakers from the 2008 Founder Factory, including Steve Goodman, a Partner in Morgan Lewis’ Business and Finance Practice, Lucinda Holt, CEO of Click Equations, Gil Beyda, Managing Partner of Genecast Ventures, and moderator Colin Evans, Managing Partner of Sandwith Ventures.

The Founder Factory will wind down the day with networking, beginning at 5:00 PM. For those unable to attend the conference during the day, networking-only tickets are available, though space is limited.
Tickets for the 2nd Annual Founder Factory Conference are available online at www.founderfactory.com.

2nd Annual Founder Factory
November 19th, 2009
World Café Live
www.founderfactory.com

About Philly Startup Leaders

Philly Startup Leaders is the largest and most active community of startup entrepreneurs in the Philadelphia region.

They connect technology-focused startups with the things they need most – information, inspiration and a community of their peers. They are run entirely by volunteer entrepreneurs who contribute their sweat and passion on top of 70+ hour workweeks at their startups.

Philly Startup Leaders host dozens of events each year. Their members share advice, wisdom and startup humor on their vibrant e-mail listservs.

Philly Startup Leaders’ members are startup entrepreneurs, early stage companies and people who wish they were startup entrepreneurs (like technologists, investors and community leaders).

Mobile Commerce: Life without a Wallet at Mobile Monday Mid-Atlantic

Alina — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:57:00 GMT

On Monday, November 2, I attended the Mobile Monday Mid-Atlantic's panel on Mobile Commerce, which asked the question, with mobile technology usage growing excessively each day, why hasn't the U.S. succeeded in making a more rapid transition to conducting financial transactions via mobile devices?

Answers to the question span from privacy and security concerns, lack of standardization in the mobile space, poor user design and user experience, and the number of platforms available, which present a daunting task to companies who want to develop mobile commerce services.

With mobile commerce applications, mobile payment platforms balance the other side of the mobile commerce equation. The more comfortable, secure, and easy it is for a customer and vendor to conduct transactions and feel fully satisfied in the outcome, the more seamless mobile commerce will integrate into popular consciousness. According to Gartner, by the end of 2009, there will be 74.4 million people using mobile devices to purchase goods and services globally, and by the end of 2012, that the number will likely double.

Harold Hambrose, CEO of Electronic Ink and author of Wrench in the System, gave the opening remarks. As a pioneer in user-centered system development, Hambrose emphasized the inverse relationship between design and mobile technology. Design challenges increase as mobile technology grows smaller, but increases in usage. When developing technology services and user experience, we have to keep in mind the destination of our customers: what they need and where they need to go.

Ray Sosa, Founding Partner of MPOWER Ventures and Chairman and CEO of MPOWER Labs gave a fascinating keynote presentation. MPOWER Ventures delivers financial empowerment to underserved populations. Its portfolio spans international payments, mobile payments, asset building and retail financial services in regions including North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Sosa defined underserved populations as the estimated 2 billion people around the world that lack access to safe, convenient and affordable financial services. These individuals are underserved by traditional bank offerings and are living in a cash economy that has very high transaction costs, no opportunity for leverage or asset building, and are caught in a permanent state of financial instability and insecurity. This population has leapfrogged technologies, incorporating cell phones into their daily lives where there was once little to no communication technologies. They represent a global opportunity for mobile commerce services. He offered key considerations when developing mobile commerce services for not just underserved populations, but for all customers: universal access, funding and fungibility, simplicity, scalability, cost efficiencies, and time to critical mass.

Omar Green, Director of strategic mobile initiatives at Intuit, presented a case study. He introduced Intuit’s newly launched Credit Card Acceptance service, GoPayment. After several years of research and development, GoPayment launched catering to the merchant vendor who is constantly working in the field. Intuit sought to address the problem of getting paid for services quickly and on the spot. It’s the fastest growing payments product that Intuit has ever launched. View the demo here.

Other panelists included Noah Glass, Founder and CEO of GoMobo, Anil Jacob, First Vice President of Card Strategy with JPMorgan Chase, and Mike Urban, Senior Director, Fraud Solutions for FICO. Rick Rasansky, Founder and CEO of Yorn LLC and Co-Founder of Mobile Monday Mid-Atlantic, served as the moderator.

Rasansky’s first question to the group was: why hasn’t mobile payment taken off in the U.S. as quickly as other regions? Roy Sosa responded that in the U.S. carriers dominate and are reluctant to share customers across multiple carriers. In other countries, mobile users are accustomed to switching out SIM cards for a various purposes. Omar Green stated that banks and networks own you as a customer and haven’t figured out how to split profits. How much will the bank get and how much will the operator get? Mike Urban added that is also a challenge to figure out who owns the risk. Anil Jacob discussed the fact that we haven’t reached a point where we can discuss sharing profits. He thinks it’s not just about payments, but about adopting a system that works for everyone. Noah Glass added that he agreed and also thinks the challenge lies in user adoption.

An interesting debate surrounding the differences between mobile banking and mobile payment systems began, but unfortunately was cut short due to time constraints.

I wished there was more of a discussion regarding user adoption, especially in different regions of the world. How do cultural differences play into mobile commerce, especially when catering to underserved populations in emerging markets? Also, there wasn’t much time spent discussing security issues. Mike Urban did draw parallels between mobile devices and computers, saying the same steps to make a computer secure would have to be done to make mobile devices secure. He mentioned that NFC (Near Field Communication) technologies are more secure than signing your name on a piece of paper, alluding to the fact mobile commerce transactions should be more secure than traditional transaction technology.

The Insider: Global Creative Economy Convergence Summit ends, now the real work begins

blogadmin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:26:00 GMT

On Monday and Tuesday, October 5 & 6, 2009, the 2nd Global Creative Economy Convergence Summit took place at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. There were approximately 900 participants at the Summit, including the people who registered and those who attended the free and open to the public events. 161 speakers took part in 30 panel discussions and10 workshops. The Summit also hosted 4 keynote speakers: Elizabeth Gilbert, best-selling author of Eat, Pray, Love, Peter Shankman, Founder, Help A Reporter Out and Founder and CEO, the Geek Factory, Inc., Jane McGonigal, Director of Game Research and Development, Institute for the Future, and Randall Kempner, Executive Director, Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs. Now that the Summit has ended, the real work begins and Innovation Philadelphia is busy compiling and synthesizing the content, participant reactions, and opinions on how to implement some of these ideas in the Philadelphia Region.

“Many people have expressed interest in future Summit participation,” says Kelly Lee, President & CEO of Innovation Philadelphia. “We are already discussing how we can improve the Summit, such as holding it in a smaller venue. Small hands-on workshops, planned for 30 people took place in rooms for 200. On the one hand, this was not the ideal atmosphere for the intimate interaction we wanted to create. Yet, an advantage of holding the Summit at the Convention Center was when Jane McGonigal could not travel due to illness, the technological capabilities of the Convention Center and the production team allowed her to Skype in and give her keynote in the ballroom on larger-than-life screens,” added Lee.

Innovation Philadelphia also received feedback on the plethora of sessions to choose from, covering a wide range of topics. Future Summits will limit the amount of presentations held at the same time in order to provide participants the opportunity to attend every session. Additional feedback can be found under Summit testimonials. Thoughts, comments and suggestions on the Summit are welcomed here. Overall, the two-day Summit was a success in attendance, impact and quality content.

Read the full article from Issue 24 of Innovation Matters here.

Wister Education Center and Greenhouse Opens at Swarthmore

blogadmin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:52:00 GMT

Swarthmore, PA – The newest addition to the Scott Arboretum opens on November 6 amidst the fall foliage of Swarthmore College – the “most beautiful campus in America.” The Wister Education Center and Greenhouse, designed by Archer & Buchanan Architecture, Ltd. of West Chester, PA, is an energy efficient multipurpose facility that supports the programs and aspirations of the Scott Arboretum.

“The building is a teaching tool as well as an enclosure,” said Dan Russoniello, AIA, LEEDAP, a partner at Archer & Buchanan. “The Scott Arboretum is committed to sustainability and the organization sets a national example with this building.”

The new 5,200 square-foot structure provides a classroom for public educational activities, exhibit areas for horticultural displays and plant evaluations, a greenhouse for cultivation and propagation, and support space for arboretum staff and volunteers. The building and site design have several innovative features, which will form the basis of a case study in sustainability. The new building replaces a much smaller greenhouse that had become functionally obsolete over the past 25 years. The project team is working toward LEED certification.

“After nearly a decade of planning and fund raising and 18 months of construction, all of us at The Scott Arboretum are extremely excited to see the Wister Education Center and Greenhouse open,” said Claire Sawyers, director. “At last we have a space designed for hands-on horticultural educational programs, where soil and pots, plants and people can flourish.”

The entire College campus is an arboretum, and one of its features was a grove of Metasequoia glyptostroboides, Dawn Redwood. These trees occupied a prime building site, and in 2004 they were cut down to make way for a pair of new residence halls. The wood from these trees was, dried, stored, and cut into shingles for the new building, carefully matched to other sustainably-harvested and FSC-certified lumber.

“Swarthmore is one of a few colleges in the US that makes a point of recycling harvested materials in this way,” said Russoniello. “They turned the loss of these trees into a win for sustainability.”

The building’s roof design captures rainwater, which is directed to a cistern for irrigation of the surrounding gardens. The heating-air conditioning system functions on exchanged energy with the campus’s underground chilled water loop, taking advantage of existing infrastructure to reduce initial construction costs and generate ongoing energy savings. Over 80% of construction waste was sorted and recycled. Local, recycled and recyclable materials were used in the construction of the facility. The green roof, which will come to life in the spring, will be planted with Sedum, Talinum, Delosperma, Campanula, Allium, and Dianthus. This is the College’s fourth green roof and will serve as a demonstration project for the latest techniques of green roof construction.

In early 2009, the design of the Wister Education Center and Greenhouse was named a “Green Building of America” award-winning project. The center was selected from more than 2,500 nominated projects and will be spotlighted in Real Estate & Construction Review - Northeast Green Success Stories in early 2010.

The LEED accredited design team included Archer & Buchanan Architecture, Ltd.; Bruce E. Brooks & Associates, Mechanical / Electrical Engineers; Gilmore & Associates, Civil Engineers; and W.S.Cumby, Inc., Contractor. Other members of the team were Jonathan Alderson, Landscape Architect; G.H Weaver, PE, Structural Engineer; and Rough Brothers, Greenhouse Consultant.

On Thursday, November 12th at 5:00 PM in the Wister Center, the architect will give a tour and presentation on the design and construction of the new building. “The Story of the New Wister Center” is open to the public but pre-registration is required – call (610) 328-8025.

Covering more than 300 acres of the Swarthmore College campus and exhibiting over 4,000 different kinds of plants, the Arboretum displays some of the best trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals for use in the Delaware Valley. Established in 1929 as a living memorial to Arthur Hoyt Scott, the Arboretum is open to the public year-round, free of charge, from dawn to dusk. Adam Levine in the Nov/Dec 2002 issue of Garden Design Magazine described the Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College as “the most beautiful campus in America.” Visit www.scottarboretum.org (610) 328-8025.

Archer & Buchanan Architecture, Ltd. is an award-winning architecture firm known for timeless design, attention to detail and exquisite craftsmanship. Projects include new structures as well as thoughtful renovations, additions, country property planning, master planning and feasibility studies, and adaptive re-use of buildings throughout the eastern seaboard. Among clients are private home owners and institutions. Visit www.archerbuchanan.com, (610) 692-9112.

Arts of Fashion at Drexel University October 24-28, 2009

blogadmin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:07:00 GMT

A Free, Fashionable Invitation

Arts of Fashion , the premier international student fashion competition and symposium, will spend a week on Drexel’s campus starting this Saturday, October 24th. While there are separate paid admissions for the Arts of Fashion Show at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on October 28th and for the Master Class series, we’re very excited to invite all Drexel students to attend many other Arts of Fashion events including the Fashion Speaker Series and the Tandem Speaker Series, all for free with a valid Drexel ID. If you’re interested in high design and the fashion industry, this is your chance to join student designers from 21 countries to interact with international designers Aurore Thibout, Anthony Vaccarello, Christian Wijnants, Mathew Ames and fashion industry experts like Susanna Lau who may be better know to you as Susie Bubble.

This newsletter provides the details on all of these great, free events. For further information on these and how to purchase tickets to the Arts of Fashion Show, click here.

Fashion Speaker Series

International and American fashion professors will give the inside scoop on fashion education today. The Fashion Series, free for Drexel students, will be on Tuesday, October 27th from 1 PM-6 PM in Bossone’s Mitchell Auditorium. The presentations schedule is:

1:15 PM: Fashion Thinker: Teaching Fashion with Concept, by Jonathan Kyle Farmer. Jonathan is a British born fashion designer/illustrator and an Associate Professor of Fashion Design, Parsons The New School for Design, New York

2:30 PM: Fashion in the Czech Republic, by Helena Krbcova. Helena is a Czech born fashion designer and is a Professor and the Head of the Fashion Design Department at the University of West Bohemia in Pizen, Institute of Art & Design

3:45 PM: Fashion Master: Inside and Through Fashion at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Andrea Reynders. Andrea is an American fashion designer and is a Professor and Sage Foundation Endowed Chair of Fashion Design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago

5:00 PM: Book Presentation: Face/Fashion, published by 9 Heads Media, Nancy Riegelman. Nancy is an American artist and fashion illustrator and is the author of Colors for Modern Fashion, 9 Heads and many other books on fashion and fashion drawing. She is a Professor of Fashion Drawing at the Art Center of Design, Pasadena, and the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) in Los Angeles.

The moderator for each presentation will be Steven Faerm, an American Fashion Designer and the Director of the BFA Program in Fashion Design at Parsons The New School for Design in New York.

There will be a reception in the Bossone Lobby from 6:30 PM-8:30 PM following the Fashion Speaker Series.

Aurore Thibout Exhibit
and Opening Reception

French artist, designer and performer Aurore Thibout just showed her recent collection at Paris Fashion Week. As part of Arts of Fashion’s CarteBlanche Series, Aurore will display her work, Traces: Installation and Memory Clothes, in the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery from October 24th through November 20th. For Aurore, clothing becomes a poetic expression, through her imprints and embedded shapes, using lightly woven fabrics to create a ballet-like wardrobe. Creating the feminine clothing, she uses layering and transparencies to make her work appear ghost-like.

The reception for this exhibit, on Saturday, October 24th from 6 PM-8 PM in Nesbitt Hall’s Chapman Court, is free for all Drexel students and offers the opportunity to meet Aurore and talk with her about the exhibition.

Tandem Series

The Tandem Series is an interactive dialogue and debate between experts in different fashion fields about the challenges and opportunities facing the fashion industry today. Here’s the schedule for these free Wednesday, October 28th events which will take place from 11 AM-4 PM in Bossone’s Mitchell Auditorium.

11 AM: Aurore Thibout and Anthony Vaccarello will present on DNA and Fashion Image . Both young designers have their own lines, and they will discuss the DNA that makes up a creative fashion designer and how image and communication are important first steps. Aurore is a former assistant fashion designer at Givenchy and Maison Martin Margiela and has recently exhibited her work in Paris, Brussels and Athens. Anthony has worked for Fendi in Italy designing fur collections under Karl Lagerfeld.

1:30 PM: Christian Wijnants and Matthew Ames have both been recognized by many prestigious organizations as premier womenswear designers. They will present on the Business of a Young Designer . Christian was the assistant of Dries Van Noten, and Matthew worked for Jurgi Persoons and Miguel Adrover. Their collections have been presented in Paris and New York and are carried by high-end retailers the world over.

2:45 PM: Susan Scafidi, a visiting Professor at Fordham Law School and the author of Who Owns Culture? will discuss Copyright in Fashion. Susan is the first U.S. law professor ever to offer a course in Fashion Law and she has testified in Congress regarding the proposed extension of legal protection of fashion designs through the Design Piracy Prohibition Act. Click here to read Susan’s blog.

The moderator for these presentations will be Susanna Lau, aka Susie Bubble, the writer of one of the most widely read fashion blogs, receiving 20,000 hits a day. Susie is also the Commissioning Editor for the online Dazed & Confused Magazine and was crowned ‘First Lady of Fashion Blogging’ by Elle Magazine.

Cinetoile Series and After Party

Hear the best stories and witness the action behind the scenes before the exciting runway shows of Sonia Rykiel’s 40th Anniversary celebration in Paris and Karl Lagerfeld’s Fendi show in Milan, in The Day Before , a series of documentaries by French filmmaker Loic Prigent. Capturing the moment when design and business must come together, Prigent portrays the unique energy, mood, character and rhythm, along with the colorful moments of panic, last minute inspiration and ego-unleashing, during the final hours before the show opens. Prior to The Day Before, we'll present the premiere of a short, animated film by Westphal Fashion Professor Cindy Golembuski and Liz Golberg. The Cinetoile Series is on Tuesday, October 27th from 9-11 PM in Bossone’s Mitchell Auditorium.

Following the series will be an After Party for all Arts of Fashion participants at World Café Live (3025 Walnut St) from 11 PM – 2 AM. Both the Cinetoile Series and the After Party are free for Drexel students with a valid ID.

The Insider-Elizabeth Gilbert discusses "Creativity without Drama"

blogadmin — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:02:00 GMT

Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the New York Times #1 Best Seller Eat, Pray, Love, debuts as a keynote speaker at the Global Creative Economy Convergence Summit (www.GCECS2009.com) on October 5, 2009 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. Ms. Gilbert’s speech on “Creativity without Drama” will challenge the idea that creative people must suffer for their artistry in order to be taken seriously, and will emphasize the importance of teaching and practicing creativity without embracing distracting dramas along the way.

“We are so pleased to announce Elizabeth Gilbert as a keynote speaker, and are thrilled to have her speech open the Summit,” said Innovation Philadelphia President and CEO Kelly Lee. “She has tremendous insight when it comes to discovering your creative abilities and we know our attendees will learn a lot from her about embracing the creative process.”

Ms. Gilbert, a former Philadelphia resident, first broke into the literary scene in 1993 when Esquire magazine published one of her short stories. Since then, Ms. Gilbert has published several books, including the wildly successful Eat, Pray, Love, which documented the year she spent traveling the world alone after a difficult divorce. Since that time, Eat, Pray, Love has been published in more than 30 languages with more than 7 million copies in print, and Ms. Gilbert has experienced a wave of success including being named one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2008.

In addition to Ms. Gilbert’s speech there will be several panels and workshops dedicated to exploring the creative process as part of the Summit’s Creative Economy 201 track. Some examples include: Creating a Culture of Entrepreneurial Journalism, Civic Innovation Lab, Success Practices: Why Reinvent the Wheel?, The View from Amber Street, Creativity Around the Globe, Crowdsourcing Culture, Facts and Stats of the Creative Economy, and Regional Creative Economy Strategies. The other Summit tracks include Creative Entrepreneurship, Creative 21st Century Workforce, Creative Technologies, and Creative Sustainability.

Full registration to the Summit is $225 and includes access to all Summit-related panels, workshops, presentations and tours, as well as all meals and receptions for both days of the Summit. A “No Frills” registration option is also available for $75 and includes access to all Summit-related panels, workshops, presentations and tours, but does not include meals. Individual tickets to keynote presentations may be purchased as well. Elizabeth Gilbert’s October 5 keynote address will be sponsored by Drexel University. It will be held at 8:30 a.m. and tickets are $50 and include breakfast.

About the Global Creative Economy Convergence Summit
On October 5-6, 2009 Innovation Philadelphia will host the 2009 Global Creative Economy Convergence Summit, which will bring together entrepreneurs, business leaders, and creative industry professionals to network, exchange ideas, and share information on emerging technology and initiatives that drive a successful creative economy. The Summit will be held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, located in the heart of Philadelphia at 1101 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Accommodations are available at the Summit’s official hotel, the Loews Philadelphia Hotel, conveniently located at 1200 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Registration for the two-day Summit is $225. For more information about the Summit or to register online, please visit www.GCECS2009.com.

The Insider: NxtUp Philly Launches

blogadmin — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:37:00 GMT

NxtUp Philly’s (www.nxtupphilly.com) is a two-week open calendar of events celebrating Philadelphia’s creativity, commerce, and community. Running from October 5 to 16, 2009, NxtUp Philly will feature more than 150 creative events taking place throughout our region.

The open calendar will highlight innovation and new ideas and present discussions of art, design, film, business, architecture, fashion, food and much more. If you, your organization, or business has a program or event to share with Philadelphia’s creative community during the twelve-day showcase, we welcome you to post it on www.nxtupphilly.com.

Highlights include The Global Creative Economy Convergence Summit, DesignPhiladelphia, Ignite Philly and NxtUp Education. The events and programs being presented cover the entire spectrum of the region’s creative economy and will be held all over the region. NxtUp Philly provides a chance to make the market visible, see what others are doing, create new networks, develop new partnerships and see new ventures. Come see what’s NxtUp Philly!

The Insider: How do you pronounce pecha kucha?

blogadmin — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 22:39:00 GMT

by Peter Kageyama

During October’s Global Creative Economy Convergence Summit, attendees will hear from some of the world’s leading experts in the creative economy, entrepreneurship, placemaking and technology. There will be keynote presentations, panels and breakout sessions on a wide range of topics and this year, there will be a new addition to the conference.

For the first time Innovation Philadelphia will feature two pecha kucha sessions as part of the program. Pronounced “pa-chok-cha”, the presentation format was devised by architects Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham in 2003 in Japan. They were trying to create a forum for architects and designers to present their work to each other and they recognized that these folks could go on for hours (death by PowerPoint) if left unchecked! Their solution, limit each speaker to 20 slides each on screen for 20 seconds, advancing automatically, for a grand total of 6 minutes 40 seconds. The result was pecha kucha, which is the Japanese phrase for the sound of people talking.

The format itself reflects our time constrained, attention challenged age where we are all trying to assimilate the daily deluge of information. Is pecha kucha the cause or merely a symptom of that deluge? Probably both, but the impact of the format has been significant.

Pecha kucha has proven to be hugely popular and a worldwide phenomenon.   It is being used in conferences everywhere and has even spawned special “Pecha Kucha Nights” in cities all over the world. Pecha Kucha Night (www.pecha-kucha.org) has spread to over 200 cities worldwide, including Philadelphia. Topics are limited only to whatever the presenters are passionate about. People will talk about everything from their work, their hobbies, their pets or their breakfast, which turns these presentations into a bit of performance art. It forces presenters to tightly focus and really strip their presentations down to the critical elements. Speaking from experience, I can tell you that it is far more challenging than you would expect and it is very good for sharpening your thinking. And because of the shortness of the presentations, there are many speakers, covering a lot of territory.

With this notion in mind, the Summit will include two pecha kucha sessions. Innovation Philadelphia received submissions of brilliant examples of work being done all over the world and we wanted to find creative ways to showcase that work. The pecha kucha sessions became the obvious choice. Fun and informative, they will allow multiple speakers to share their best ideas about the creative economy. I will be moderating the sessions as well as doing a special introductory pecha kucha for the conference, “10 Things You Need to Know About the Creative Economy.”

For more examples of pecha kucha, you can check out the 3rd Philly Pecha Kucha, September 26 at Studio 34 (x http://www.pecha-kucha.org/cities/philadelphia/3). You can also see a brilliant example of the format from 2006 GCECS keynote Dan Pink here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NZOt6BkhUg

Peter Kageyama is a community and economic development consultant with Creative Cities Productions (www.creativecitiesproductions.com) and part of the 2009 GCECS Planning Committee.

Creative Economy 201: The View from Amber Street

blogadmin — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 22:15:00 GMT

Erika Mijlin, a panelist on The View from Amber Street in the Creative Economy 201 track, highlights the panel’s content and her experience as a filmmaker working to balance the relationship between community, industry, and the creative economy.

The View From Amber Street is a documentary film about a pair of old industrial buildings in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia. The film documents the two buildings’ ongoing evolution from the centers of textile manufacturing into landmarks of the creative economy, and a home for both art and industry.

Julie Goldstein and I produced The View From Amber Street through our media production company, Artifact Pictures, which produces a range of projects, from documentary to animation. We quickly saw the potential to invest in creating a diverse community at the Amber Street buildings and Artifact Pictures has been housed in there since 2002.

In 2005, we began collecting interviews and researching the history of the building. We discovered that many of our neighbors, who were designers, manufacturers, artists and business owners, all had a similar appreciation of the unique building we shared, and had similar concerns about its tenuous future.

The film began to take shape, telling the story of our building as part of the pattern of urban gentrification. When manufacturing and industry leaves, it is gradually replaced by cheap space for artists, who then elevate interest in the neighborhood to a point at which they are priced out and replaced by more upscale residential tenants. At the time, it seemed that the Amber Street buildings were going to buck the trend and find a way to accommodate both art and industry simultaneously.

Through the course of making the film, we learned that the building was being sold to real estate developers. This change of ownership prompted some very serious questions about the future of the buildings. How would the building fare now that it had changed hands in the middle of a condo conversion craze? What would become of this fledgling art and industry hub? We felt invested in preserving our unique balance of art and industry and formed a coalition with a few fellow tenants to propose our version of the building’s future. Our film documents this process and its outcome, a uniquely Philadelphia story which has profound implications for the creative economy concept at large.

By placing the buildings within the history of their neighborhood, as well as the larger economic forces of which they are a microcosm, The View From Amber Street captures a building, a neighborhood, an economy, and a nation in a state of flux.

Beyond urban planning theories and speculation about what happens to the manufacturing class when factories close, or to the artists who pioneer our post-industrial communities, the film is a real-world, real-time example of an ongoing creative economy transformation, documented on film, and presented with a live discussion by the film's participants. The film provides a unique perspective on this history in the making, made by people directly affected, and focusing on the intricate relationship between industrial and creative production.

As creative businesses, Artifact and our fellow tenants all respond differently to the pressures that we face. A few are featured below.

At Geiser and Son, one of the last bookbinders in Philadelphia, Allen Geiser and his sister Sandi have been running their shop for over 25 years. As the industry changes, they know what it means to be adaptable. As artists and musicians move in around them, the Geisers occasionally question their value as tenants to a building with a changing demographic, but gradually realize the common ground that a bookbinding business shares with the artists populating the building. “I’ve realized what we have in common with artists,” says Allen Geiser, “we have the ability to take raw materials, and through our own ingenuity, create something beautiful. I like to think of us as artists. In fact, my business card says Craftsman in the Art of Bookbinding.”

Mark Lueders owns and operates The Ceramics Shop, which manufactures and sells specialty products for the ceramics and pottery community. Mark believes in the power of creative businesses to innovate, adapt, and change the face of neighborhoods and cities all over America, but he also acknowledges the need for some support from the public sector. “If they could do something to help us stay here, or to grow, that would be great. I’m all for it. But they don’t always understand the problem. One group recently held a meeting about promoting local manufacturing, and they were handing out promotional mugs that were stamped ‘Made In China’! So that was the last meeting I went to with that group…”

Karen Bogut is one half of the clothing design studio Heyne Bogut. At their studio on Amber Street, Karen and husband Paul Bogut create hand-dyed and handcrafted items, and have built up a loyal audience of boutique retailers over the years that they have been in business.   As experienced clothing designers and manufacturers, they have weathered the storms of textile outsourcing, deflated clothing prices, and the fleeting availability of affordable workspace. As Karen says, “It seems like as soon as artists like us take root and draw attention to a place, rents go up and we’re effectively asked to move on. It’s a very real situation we’ve faced repeatedly. We need landlords and cities that understand the value of our creative energy not only for their bottom line, but for the sustainability of ours, and for the bigger picture of where this city and this country are headed.”

Philadelphia placed 4th in the USA, 5th in North America behind Toronto, and 32nd globally.

blogadmin — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:45:00 GMT

Some snipits reflecting Philadelphia's ranking in the Innovation Index by 2Think2Know, a global company assessing innovation and business. Read the full report on the most innovative cities here.

Neighborhoods
"Neighborhoods will be increasingly critical as the auto-dependent suburbs are vacated, or at least, evolve. Philly is centred around interconnected neighbourhoods, giving us even the term 'Philadelphia Rows'. A high degree of cultural assets both nationally historical & scientific, relative to other US cities. One example of this more globally-focussed US city is the Rodin Museum, a French sculptor, an example of Pennsylvania outward-facing cultural thinking."

Sports
"A passionately supported multi-million dollar sports industry, like number one-ranked city Boston, is also critical to Philadelphia's development. Multi-nationals, a large domestic market of 5 million plus, as well as a good US domestic market complete the picture."

Global Improvement

"For Philadelphia to improve further globally, Philadelphia must work to improve it's global direct air connections, commercial ties and tourist profile throughout Europe and strong developed Asian countries like Australia or Japan - perhaps at the city-level. Philadelphia is a key innovation nexus, critical to the development of world-class ideas, and will, on balance, exert a leadership position within North America within the critical 2010-2020 period."

Will and Dain: Creative Entrepreneurship in Practice

blogadmin — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:58:00 GMT

Creative Entrepreneurship in Concept

At the intersection of creativity and innovation is opportunity and where there is opportunity, there are entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurial endeavors are the largest generator of new jobs in the U.S. and are instrumental in economic growth.

*Courtesy of the Global Creative Economy Convergence Summit 2009

Creative Entrepreneurship in Practice

The entrepreneurs behind Philly creative agency, Cipher Prime, have one goal: "Do what we love." I visited William Stallwood and Dain Saint, founders of Cipher Prime, in their South Philly office to learn more about the company and the entrepreneurs. They have their own definition of the ‘creative entrepreneur’ and we captured it on video.

Cipher Prime is a creative agency started after Will and Dane left their jobs feeling limited and unfulfilled. Their partnership has since solidified, with complimentary skills and an innovative attitude.

With humble beginnings, the company began with no seed money and an ultimate goal of game development, but the partners knew they could not realize short term revenue with just doing game development. By leveraging their talents, the team provided web design services to fund the overhead of the business. Sample of web work.

They also funded their true passion and their first project, Auditorium, with the extra web design monies. Auditorium is a no text, music based game winning awards and buzz in the global gaming industry. To experience their passion for this game, watch Dain talk about Auditorium in this video.

Try the demo and get sucked in.

These two creative entrepreneurs ignore the so-called limitations touted by many naysayers and prove that creative entrepreneurs in Philadelphia can form and grow businesses that add value and character to the city. Will and Dain have found a way to stay in Philly and do what they love.So can you.

Some Related Links:
Cipher Prime

Cipher Prime’s Blog

Auditorium

Creative Entrepreneurship at GCECS 2009

Note: Cipher Prime is also being interviewed as young creative entrepreneurs commenting on the Global Creative Economy Convergence Summit. The video is in post-production with BridgeMG and we will be posting a link as soon as it is available. So check back with us.

Read this on the Global Creative Economy Convergence Summit Blog here.

The Insider: Ben Franklin would be proud - Philadelphia ramps up as the next hotspot for the video game industry

blogadmin — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:33:00 GMT

By Mike Worth and Chad Breitenfeld

Philly is undoubtedly well known for its unrivaled cheese steaks, fanatical sport fans and of course, Trading Places. In the not too distant future, Philadelphia may be equally well known as the East Coast destination for the Interactive Software Entertainment Industry or in laymen’s terms, video game production, in all shapes, sizes and applications.

When video games first were produced, Japan (Nintendo, Konami, Namco-Bandai) was the epicenter of the industry. American studios seeking to be as close as possible to the industry epicenter, naturally established themselves on the West Coast. With Europe now emerging as a video game studio powerhouse and the rise of technologically savvy East Coast developers, video game companies are now looking to the East Coast to set-up shop. In fact, three of the most popular (and best-selling) games in the recent past have not come from San Francisco, but from Boston, Maryland, and Raleigh/Durham. Philadelphia, with its’ deep tech-savvy talent pool, internet entrepreneurs, and its’ strong artistic and cultural heritage, is a natural “next hot spot” for the rapidly expanding video game industry.

Several other factors contribute to the growing recognition that Philly is it. The City of Brotherly Love is located between 5 major video game cities, which give easy access to professionals looking to establish new studios. Philly's location also ensures a strong sense of community in the video game industry, as Philly can sponsor industry events and conferences, and easily attract individuals from other established communities in the business corridor. Furthermore, Philly's rent and cost of living are over 30% cheaper than the high cost-of-living areas like Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco, which translates to start-up costs that are considerably less. Moreover, Philadelphia's already vibrant creative community means that video game developers will be able to settle in a city with a rich culture, great social life, and strong artistic presence. Finally, Philly has over 40 universities within 30 minutes (including Drexel and University of Pennsylvania, both of which have Game Design and Programming degrees), which means that incoming studios will have a wealth of interns and entry-level employees to mine for their projects.

Several co-supporting sectors in the Philadelphia Region agree. Game Music Inc. Founder, Mike Worth (www.gamemusicinc.com) and Philadelphia Chapter Leader of the International Game Developers Association, Hardi Bhatt (www.igda.com) planted the seed for the Philadelphia Video Game Initiative (PVGI), with ample nourishment from 6 other founding members. Essentially, PVGI’s mission is to promote, support and grow the video game industry in the Greater Philadelphia Region. Though still very much in its infancy, the PVGI has achieved considerable momentum in an incredibly short period of time and is now perched on the precipice of a state-wide movement.

“As the game industry grows into new downloadable and subscription based markets, Philadelphia is a perfect choice for studios to take root,” Says PVGI Co-Founder Mike Worth. “Our strong blend of technology and creativity, our deep university support, and the incredible culture and history of Philly make this a perfect city for the video game industry.”

Chad Breitenfeld, founding member of PVGI and Director of Business Development for Philadelphia-based digital marketing agency Splat Productions, Inc. (www.splatworld.tv) adds, “The more people we speak with, the more we recognize that this initiative truly has the broad support necessary to make it a raging success. Outside of Philly’s appealing urban culture and easy access to technical and artistic talent, the PVGI incubator concept requires ample support, notably from both the city and the state. Initial meetings held with both parties have shown clear support for creating incentive-laced packages for both relocating and/or co-locating studios, as well as exploring similar considerations warranted for retained talent.”

Game Music, Inc. produces musical score for video games and Splat Productions, Inc. produces 3D art assets and marketing services for, among others, video game publishers. Game Music Inc. has already had considerable success with a number of high-end titles and Splat Productions is currently producing serious game content for the defense contractor vertical.

Clearly, Philadelphia is not merely waiting for existing video game companies to set-up studios in the region. Several studios have already formed in the area, and are creating titles from small iPhone and flash applications, to large, full-featured MMORPGs (Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Games). True to Philadelphia’s commitment to excellence, the studios’ first set of games have been exceptionally well received. Flash and iPhone studio, CipherPrime, has received critical reviews (and 17,000 downloads) for Auditorium. Independent studios such as Space Whale Studios and Final Form Games leveraged local talent and are in the process of putting together their first set of games.

One of the flagships of the rapidly growing Philadelphia video game community is Burst Online Entertainment, which is creating its’ first persistent world (a virtual world that continues to exist after the user has left the game, incorporating any changes made on a permanent basis). Damon Alberts, President of Burst Online Entertainment L.L.C., chose Philadelphia for its rich culture, tech-savvy talent pool, lower cost-of-living, and proximity to the 5 other major east coast gaming cities. “The Greater Philadelphia region is a great place to live, work, and play. With affordable office space in Center City Philadelphia, our employees have access to all the vibrant neighborhoods, arts, music, and culture the city has to offer. They can also easily head to the beach, mountains, or hop a quick train to NYC, DC, or Baltimore for the weekend.”

Mr. Alberts has also enjoyed access to the bright young minds coming out of the region’s universities and the assistance provided by the region’s many business development programs. “Starting a MMORPG development company is no easy task. Fortunately the people here are extremely helpful and excited to see the game industry grow in the region”.

Philadelphia is a city that always defines itself on its’ own terms. It embraces its strong sense of individuality, its blend of technology and artistic entrepreneurship, and its rich and enjoyable culture. Now that it has set its’ sights on growing the video game industry, you can expect to see a lot of new and exciting news coming out of the City of Brotherly Love.

GameX Features Games, Celebrities, Animation, Art, Music and More

blogadmin — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:29:00 GMT

GameX (Games & Media Expo), scheduled for October 23-25, 2009 in Philadelphia, is shaping up to be a high impact game consumer show and pop culture festival, designed to draw from local, regional and national audiences of game players, film and TV fans, comic book buffs and tech enthusiasts.

Presented by NBC Local Media in Philadelphia, GameX is a high-visibility entertainment, tech and media show with games as its main attraction. GameX features video game exhibits, demos and high stakes game tournaments, as well as pop culture elements such as advance film and TV screenings and trailers, celebrity guest appearances, live video game music, robotics demonstrations, an animation festival, competitive art exhibit, and much more.

Major game publishers already include Electronic Arts and SEGA, both introducing brand new products due to be released in early 2010. Game fans will have the opportunity to try out game play on these titles before they are available in stores. EA will feature their new title, Dante’s InfernoTM, which recently debuted at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3).

Dante’s InfernoTM is a highly-anticipated third-person action adventure game based on Part One of the medieval epic poem, The Divine Comedy, commonly referred to as Dante’s Inferno, written by Italian author Dante Alighieri. With stunning graphics and unparalleled action, EA is breaking barriers with Dante’s Inferno, pushing the envelope of traditional action game art, design and themes.

SEGA is also presenting one of the top new future releases shown at E3. Bayonetta is a stylish and cinematic extreme action game directed by the renowned Hideki Kamiya. Bayonetta pushes the limits of the action genre, bringing to life fast-paced, dynamic climax combat. The main character, Bayonetta, has magical hair that she uses to summon colossal monsters, guns attached to her hands and feet to defeat her foes, and the ability to shape shift into creatures. Game consumers will have the chance to play Bayonetta at GameX before the game’s release.

Presented by MAGFest, the east coast's preeminent video game music concert promoter, the GameX main stage will feature a varied line-up of video game music bands over three days, plus chiptune artists and an open jam area. National favorite The OneUps are booked to perform several shows during the 3-day game consumer show.

Jennifer Halpin, executive vice president of show production for GameX, adds, “The OneUps are a crowd pleaser and we know that game consumer audiences throughout the northeast are going to be amazed by their talent and on-stage charisma. This band takes video game music to a whole new level that game fans will never forget after seeing the band perform live at GameX.”

Special VIP guests will be attending GameX to meet with fans and participate in panel sessions. For example, Webby award-winning online video gaming destination The Escapist, the exclusive game media partner for GameX, is bringing in video game review icon and creator of its groundbreaking series Zero Punctuation, Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, to attend this year's event. As a VIP guest, Yahtzee will meet and greet with fans, sign autographs and participate in GameX's red carpet activities at the event. (http://gamexpo.us/yahtzee/).

Yahtzee, an Australia-based writer, video game designer and journalist, is best known amongst the video gaming community for his work in Zero Punctuation, a weekly online web video series reviewing the latest video games, starring a British-accented stick-figure. What began as two video reviews uploaded to YouTube by Yahtzee out of boredom, has since, following The Escapist’s acquisition and development of the series, become the most viewed video game review series on the web, acclaimed by both the industry and gamers.

"I’m excited to be taking the trip out to the U.S. for GameX and to rub shoulders with the industry,” said Croshaw. “The success of Zero Punctuation continues to be as gratifying as it is frightening, but I’m looking forward to meeting up with everyone from the site. Most of them, anyway.”

GameX also features activities for aspiring game makers. Co-hosted by IGDA Philadelphia, The Philly Game Jam is a 48-hour game building marathon where game professionals, students and amateurs alike compete to build new game concepts based on a theme announced at the start of the contest. The event returns in 2009, this time as part of GameX Industry Summit, two days of games-focused lectures, panels, roundtables and keynotes from the best and brightest minds in the games business.

Philly Game Jam invites game developers from all over the Northeast to bring together teams of 3 to 10 developers for 48 hours of game building excitement. Game developers bring their own computers and equipment to create original games as teams. Philly Game Jam runs form 12 pm on Friday, October 23 and ends at 12 pm on Sunday, October 25, concluding with a special lunch reception and awards ceremony co-hosted and sponsored by GameDev.net, a featured media partner of GameX Industry Summit.

Daniel Hettrick, Philly Game Jam producer and director of Serious Game Solutions at IP Keys in New Jersey, states “The first Philly Game Jam was very much a grass roots event – very low profile and community driven. This year we really have an ideal environment to make this event as grand as it deserves - a large venue, easy access, 24-hour support and an enthusiastic crew ready to take care of us. The GameX Industry Summit allows us to accommodate a much larger number of teams than before. We are thrilled at a chance to create more great games with all of our game developer participants.”

GameX has something for everyone, with more event attractions, activities and special guests being added every week. To learn more about these event features, including the latest info on game tournaments and competitions, visit www.gamexpo.us. Single-day, three-day and family packs of tickets are now available for purchase online.

Philadelphia, visions of a great Entrepreneurial Network, from a Drexel Alumnus

blogadmin — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:48:00 GMT
My name is Saad Mukhtar, I’m a 2008 graduate of Drexel’s Lebow College of Business. I was first place winner in Drexel’s Baiada Center for Entrepreneurship 2009 Concept/Pitch Business Concept Paper/Pitch Competition and was a finalist in the Business Incubator Competition.
My teams’ business plan, Innovative Urban Parking Solutions, targeted the parking industry in Philadelphia. We developed a system where PPA [Philadelphia Parking Authority] Officers would be able to locate parking violations via WiFi. On the other hand, via WiFi, drivers would be able to locate parking on GPS and smart-phones, like the iPhone.

After the competition, my team and I decided to go back and revamp our business model. We are continuing are research in hope to build a prototype by the end of the year, but have also started a software company, Towgo, in which we will design products for the towing industry.

Furthermore, in May 2009, I have joined the co-founders of Scribnia and SeatGeek, which are a part of the 2009 DreamIT Ventures incubator program located in the Philadelphia Science Center.

So far, my experience at DreamIT has been tremendously enlightening. Some the most pivotal people in the entrepreneurial industry have come to speak to us. I have listened and learned about Agile development methods from John Galvin (ClickEquations Inc.), SEO from Gabriel Weinberg (DuckDuckGo) and insider perspectives from Venture Capitalists, Brad Feld (The Foundry Group) and Gil Beyda (Genacast Ventures).

Inspiringly, Scribnia has been acquired during its incubation time at DreamIT. I served as the Marketing Director and am very excited that my services have contributed to the acquisition. I am now the Head of Data Management for Seat Geek; and now that there are only a few more weeks left at DreamIT, I don’t want to leave.

Being a part of both Drexel’s competition and DreamIT’s incubator has been remarkable. Even in our current economic state, entrepreneurs refuse to be shut down and I’m glad that I’m a part of the Philadelphia entrepreneurial community.

When I’m not working hard as an entrepreneur, I like to play badminton and work on MIMOstudio, my personal multimedia project.

If you wish to contact me, you may do so here: smx9000 [at] gmail [dot] com.

One Web Day: Earth Day for the Internet

blogadmin — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:44:00 GMT

One Web Day is a global event, like an Earth Day for the Internet. It is a platform people can use to educate and mobilize others about issues that are important for the Internet's future. In order to raise awareness about the need for reliable and affordable Internet access in Philadelphia, we are organizing a citywide event for One Web Day on September 22, as well as a "week of service" leading up to the celebration. During the week of service, we will host computer trainings for residents living in Philadelphia Housing Authority developments.

And we need you! We're looking for volunteers to help with the planning and other logistics. We are also looking for organizations to co-sponsor One Web Day--this could entail helping promote it, helping recruit volunteers or kicking in money or computers for donation. If you'd like to get involved, get in touch with Gwen Shaffer: gwen4@temple.edu or 267.475.1441. We hope to host the first planning meeting in early August.

From Branding to Brewing: Women Entrepreneurs Share Their Success in the City!

blogadmin — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 22:43:00 GMT
Written by Emily Yoder, Digital Outreach Coordinator/AmeriCorps*VISTA

On August 26, Empowerment Group’s Women’s Business Center presents the 3rd annual Success in the City event. As a special edition of its Women Entrepreneurs’ Circle, the event celebrates women small business owners throughout Philadelphia.

Women Entrepreneurs’ Circle is a monthly opportunity for aspiring and established women entrepreneurs to network and share resources. Each month the Circle is hosted at a different local woman-owned business. The low-key, interactive sessions allow for each host to highlight her business, sometimes sharing products or giving tours.

The Success in the City panel discussion builds on the idea of developing strong support networks of women in entrepreneurship. The discussion allows several successful women business owners to share their success and challenges in business, and answer questions from attendees.

Last year’s session offered practical advice from the panelists. The women shared about the challenges of finding a business niche, handling a busy schedule, juggling work and family, and utilizing technology without letting it invade one’s life. Tanya Seaman, the former Executive Director of Philly Car Share, shared candid anecdotes about the consuming nature of running small businesses. She advised aspiring entrepreneurs, “You must only start a small business if you are passionate about your project, because you will need to pour everything you have into it.”

This year, we’re anticipating new encouragement and wisdom about Philadelphia’s shifting small business scene. From branding to brewing, this year’s panelists come from a variety of business backgrounds. The panelists, Nancy Barton, Audrey Julienne, Charnelle Hicks, and Norma Romero-Mitchell, are prepared to share their stories, challenges, and wisdom.

Nancy Barton purchased a historic brewery building in Kensington with her husband in 2001. After hard work and extensive renovations, the Philadelphia Brewing Company emerged in 2008. Audrey Julienne has worked extensively for marketing agencies, as a marketing manager, and as a consultant to large corporations. She created Raison d’Etre Marketing in 2008 to bring her marketing expertise to small businesses. Charnelle Hicks started CHPlanning, an environmentally focused urban planning firm, in 2001. Since then, the firm has been named one of Philadelphia’s fastest-growing companies, promoting awareness of green initiatives and land use issues in Philadelphia and throughout the U.S. Norma Romero-Mitchell is the CEO and President of Benefits Plus Consulting Group. Romero-Mitchell, who was named one of Pennsylvania’s Best 50 Women in Business in 2007, has tripled BPCG’s revenue since taking charge, and has made it her mission to empower women and minorities through resource management and financial planning.

Empowerment Group is delighted to bring all four of these talented women to Success in the City. In addition to providing connection opportunities for women entrepreneurs, Empowerment Group offers entrepreneurship training programs, workshops, one-on-one consulting, youth entrepreneurship programs, and other services for small businesses. Its mission is to promote entrepreneurship and cultivate small business ownership by empowering individuals to help themselves, their families, and their communities.

Empowerment Group’s Success in the City will be held at the Center for Architecture in Center City on August 26 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 and include light hors d’oeuvres and beverages from Philadelphia Brewing Company. RSVP for the event and learn more about Empowerment Group by visiting www.empowerment-group.org.

Local BlobLive Featured in TIME

blogadmin — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 20:32:00 GMT

The first time stepping on the Bloblive stage was a harrowing experience, but soon turned into an unspoken rush of energy. [Interested? See my first Bloblive here]

Entrepreneurs feed on this energy and the rush for motivation and inspiration. Sharing an idea with complete strangers exposes a small intimate part of you, your dreams. So many are afraid to share their dreams even with ones closest to them, let alone strangers, tweeters and eventually people watching the post Bloblive video.

We are proud to share TIME.com's story and video of our good friends at Bloblive. Learn more about them via this story and their website www.bloblive.com.

The Insider: Summit Keynote Speakers

blogadmin — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:59:00 GMT

Innovation Philadelphia is excited to bring high-caliber keynote speakers to Philadelphia for the Global Creative Economy Convergence Summit. These speakers represent the cutting edge of innovation in interactive media, the creative process, and social entrepreneurship.

Innovation Philadelphia will host the 2009 Global Creative Economy Convergence Summit at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, located in the heart of Philadelphia at 1101 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Accommodations are available at the Summit’s official hotel, the Loews Philadelphia Hotel, conveniently located at 1200 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Registration for the two-day Summit is $225. For more information about the Summit or to register online, please visit www.GCECS2009.com.

Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth Gilbert is most famous for her recent book Eat, Pray, Love (Viking, 2006) – the story of the year she spent traveling around the world in search of personal restoration after a difficult divorce. After graduating from New York University, she used money earned at a Philadelphia diner to travel, as she says, “to create experiences to write about, gather landscapes and voices.” Gilbert’s journalism over the years has been published in Harper’s Bazaar, Spin, The New York Times Magazine, and GQ. Gilbert will speak on the topic of nurturing creativity, discussing the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses and sharing the radical idea that, instead of the rare person “being” a genius, all of us “have” a genius.

Peter Shankman

An entrepreneur, author, speaker, and worldwide connector, Peter is recognized worldwide for radically new ways of thinking about Social Media, PR, marketing, advertising, creativity, and customer service. Peter is perhaps best known for founding Help A Reporter Out, (HARO), currently the largest free source repository in the world, sending out over 1,200 queries from worldwide media each week. Peter is also the founder and CEO of The Geek Factory, Inc. (www.geekfactory.com). Peter’s PR and Social Media clients have included the Snapple Beverage Group, NASA, The US Department of Defense, Walt Disney World, The Ad Council, American Express, Discovery Networks, New Frontier Media, Napster, Juno, Dream Catcher Destinations Club, and Harrah’s Hotels.

Jane McGonigal

Jane McGonigal, Director of Game Research and Development at the Institute of the Future, leads the field of game design for future forecasting and problem solving. One of Fast Company’s 100 most creative people for 2009, her projects include collaborative crowd-sourcing platforms, Superstruct and Signtific, as well as designing marketing game platforms for Microsoft and Halo 2, McDonalds’ and the 2008 Olympics. Jane McGonigal will speak on the topic of “Inventing the Future with Game Design.” She will discuss how games optimize human ability and will demonstrate how games can harness the power of collective intelligence to solve real-world problems.

Randall Kempner

Randall Kempner is Executive Director of the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE), a new initiative of the world-renowned Aspen Institute. ANDE seeks to dramatically increase the amount and effectiveness of capital, technical, and business assistance for entrepreneurs in developing countries. ANDE’s founding funders and members include The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Center for Creative Leadership, Google.org, Omidyar Network, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Skoll Foundation, and McKinsey & Company. Randall Kempner will present “The Global Promise of Entrepreneurship,” highlighting the ability of entrepreneurs to find opportunities in the face of challenges and exploring ways to leverage the power of entrepreneurship throughout the globe.

For more information on the keynote speakers and to register for the Summit, please visit www.GCECS2009.com

Creative Job Hunter from PhillyCreativeJobs.com

blogadmin — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:51:00 GMT

Creative Job Hunter: Danielle Bullen

I was one of the lucky ones. I had a job that I enjoyed going to everyday. I worked as Communications and Marketing Coordinator at a local non-profit/museum, helping to spread the word about their magazines, podcasts, lectures, exhibits, awards, etc. Seeing people walk through the building and thinking that maybe they were there because of an email I sent or ad I posted was a great feeling. There was a sense that everyone mattered, not just the head honchos.

I also had a parallel career as a contributor to some local web sites and magazines. There was one in particular that I wrote bi-monthly style columns for. I had the freedom to choose my topics, so I exercised my creative muscle in writing about fashion in a friendly, accessible way. I’m a people person and interviewing boutique owners and getting their unique take on style was my favorite part of the gig.

As people say though, all good things must come to an end. One February morning I was called into my boss’ office and she and the CFO told me that I, along with fifteen percent of my co-workers, were being laid off. They emphasized that it was strictly a budget thing. Non-profits live and die by their endowments and theirs was an unfortunate victim of the downward economy.

Of course, I was shocked. I wallowed for a bit, but then realized that asking why me is a waste of time. These days, sadly, no industry is safe from layoffs. I decided to be positive. I’m young, energetic, well-educated, and a good writer. A new job is waiting for me. This is merely a career detour.

Creativity has always been in my blood. So, it was no surprise that I recently turned to PhillyCreativeJobs.com to look for a new position. I had been reading the Innovation Philadelphia newsletter for a while. I liked learning about people in the area with artistic careers.

I remembered that the Innovation Philadelphia web site has a jobs link, so I surfed over and clicked. It was then I met PhillyCreativeJobs.com. I don’t want to relocate, so having a site dedicated to creative careers in the Philly area is ideal The best part about the site is that I don’t have to sift through hundreds of listings to find the ones in Communications or Editorial or Marketing like I do with mega-job sites. Although I check other localized job sites, I’ve been lucky to find openings on PhillyCreativeJobs.com that weren’t posted anywhere else. And that’s the ticket in this market--finding the hidden gems and being first in there with your resume.

If I could create my next job, it would be a permanent position where writing is a large part of my regular responsibilities. Most importantly, I want another job where I feel like I’m making a contribution to the company. I’ve explored freelance opportunities and while they’re great for keeping my writing skills fresh and maybe making some money, in my heart, I want a full-time position. The water-cooler camaraderie of an office setting is something I miss. I like the stability of going to the same place everyday and working with the same people towards a common goal.

Hopefully, with the help of PhillyCreativeJobs.com, I’ll be able to find that perfect job for me and stop this career detour.

This article is sponsored by PhillyCreativeJobs.com, a program of Innovation Philad elphia and PhillyCreativeGuide. PhillyCreativeJobs.com serves as a job board for creative professionals and companies to find and post freelance and employment opportunities in the Southeastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey and Northern Delaware regions.

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