May 2009 - Posts

• Arise Africa Fashion Week--fashion showcase by design

  BizCommunity.com, providing daily media, marketing, and advertising news from Africa reports on Arise Africa Fashion Week. African Fashion International (AFI), organisers of the Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban Fashion Weeks, is proud to announce ARISE Africa Fashion Week, a showcase of the continent's leading fashion designers at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, from the 12 to 20 June 2009. Arise Africa Fashion Week is an eight day celebration of the aesthetic and unique design signature of African fashion, brought together under one roof, overcoming ethnicity and cultural disparity to take African fashion to the world. With 51 designers from 21 countries participating, ARISE Africa Fashion Week is creating history. This is the very first African fashion week and it is set to become an annual event, travelling around Africa each year following the 2010 showcase. Africa has produced many notable fashion designers who have made their mark and are recognised on the world fashion stage, including the celebrated Azzedine Alaia from Tunisia, Oswald Boateng from Ghana, Deola Sagoe from Nigeria and Marc Bouwer from South Africa, all of whom have dressed celebrities, politicians and models to great acclaim for some years. Many of the designers participating in Arise Africa Fashion Week have dressed celebrities themselves. Lalesso, a Kenyan design and manufacturing operation, with South African distribution, has seen their garments on Kate Moss, Sienna Miller, Rihanna and Estelle. With a concession in the TopShop flagship store in Oxford Street in London, they are already fast becoming a name to know in the fashion industry, despite being in operation for only four years. Nigerian born, Samantha Cole has shown her work in London and New York, winning best women's wear designer in 2008. Having trained at London College of Fashion and honed her craft in the Burberry design room under the creative directorship of Christopher Bailey, Samantha now brings her own designs back to Africa. The Tiffany Amber label from Nigeria, has also received a favourable response from the critics in New York. Participating in the Arise Africa Fashion Collection at Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week earlier this year, the final look was walked out by none other than singer Grace Jones, to an overwhelming response from the crowd. The timeless designs of bridal and evening wear designer, Gert van de Merwe will also be on show in South Africa for the first time in many years. Having established his studio in London in 2002, he has gone on to become one of the designers of choice for brides in London, having been invited to show his collection at Kensington Palace in 2006, under the patronage of Princess Michael of Kent. Dr. Precious Moloi-Motsepe, chairperson of African Fashion International, says, “At AFI, our mission is to take African fashion to the world. In fulfilling this mandate, I take enormous pleasure in launching the inaugural Arise Africa Fashion Week. This event affords the regions' creative economy with a world-class opportunity to showcase to a global audience. This is the first step in ensuring that the region receives the benefit of its own creative intellectual property, history and culture.” Posted May 29 2009, 04:51 PM by blogadmin with 1 comment(s) Filed under: fashion design, international fashion, Africa

• Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania Approves Investments to Eight Early Stage Companies

  Promising group of companies boasts technology advances that will make life and business easier PHILADELPHIA, PA (www.sep.benfranklin.org) – Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP/SEP) recently approved investments totaling $1,592,500 for eight early-stage Pennsylvania companies with promising technology innovations. “We are proud to support and invest in these eight early-stage companies, in the midst of our current economic climate,” said RoseAnn B. Rosenthal, President & CEO of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania.  “By supporting technology entrepreneurs today, we can position the region for new growth when the economy rebounds,” she added. Companies approved for funding: ClickEquations, Inc. – Conshohocken – Montgomery County – Approved investment: $250,000 ClickEquations provides a powerful pay-per-click software platform that enables advertisers and agencies to manage large paid search campaigns more effectively and efficiently. ClickEquations combines access to Google, Yahoo!, and MSN campaigns in a single web interface with management, campaign and reporting features. An advanced Excel plug-in, ClickEquations Analyst, provides unprecedented analytics depth and flexibility as well customizable and sharable reports and dashboards.  Founded in 2006 and located outside of Philadelphia, PA, ClickEquations is venture-capital backed and run by a seasoned management team including President & Founder Craig Danuloff, and CEO Lucinda Holt.  Craig Danuloff was previously President & COO of eColony, an early stage venture fund formed by Internet Capital Group.  Lucinda Holt is a serial entrepreneur in the region, who has received funding and support from Ben Franklin for several companies.  Her previous companies include TurnTide and Destiny WebSolutions. ColdLight Solutions, LLC – Wayne – Delaware County – Approved investment: $250,000 BFTP/SEP previously invested $250,000 ColdLight makes smart software. Its Neuron platform is defining a new breed of SaaS-based intelligent, software applications capable of scouring vast volumes of data, making strategic recommendations and actually learning from success and failure. Neuron automatically learns and prescribes specific, tactical recommendations to help businesses get ahead and stay ahead of the competition. ColdLight delivers Prescriptive Intelligence to the Life Sciences, Retail, Consumer Goods, Financial Services and Government Intelligence verticals. ColdLight Solutions is based in Wayne, PA, and run by President & CEO Ryan Caplan. CoreDial, LLC – Plymouth Meeting – Montgomery County – Approved investment: $100,000 BFTP/SEP previously invested $250,000 CoreDial makes it easy and cost-effective for businesses to keep their phone systems upgraded and running smoothly. CoreDial is a premier provider of Hosted PBX, VoIP, and data services for emerging growth and medium businesses with offices throughout the United States. CoreDial, through its unique software platform, enables customers to improve productivity and communications while eliminating the cost and complexity of the legacy phone closet. CoreDial makes buying or upgrading a business phone system easy and cost effective, and helps businesses to seamlessly interconnect multiple offices and mobile workers without geographic boundaries. Their experienced management team, unique software, carrier class infrastructure, and national footprint all contribute to their industry leading customer retention metrics and impressive end-user and channel success. Based in Plymouth Meeting, PA, CoreDial is run by CEO Alan Rihm. Hybrid Integration, LLC – Yardley – Bucks County – Approved investment: $225,000 Hybrid Integration develops workflow automation software for the printing, packaging and publishing industries. The company takes a product-centric approach to the diverse requirements of the printing industry.  Hybrid builds products that generally require only minimal client customization while still meeting the needs of multiple customers and industry segments by leveraging their own unique middleware application called JMS (Job Management System). JMS™ provides all necessary functionality to communicate with multiple databases, web portals and services, MIS/ERP systems, and more. Based in Yardley, PA, Hybrid Integration is run by President Michael Rottenborn The Neat Company – Philadelphia – Approved Investment: $87,500 BFTP/SEP previously invested $600,000 The Neat Company develops and retails hardware and software solutions to scan, analyze and organize receipts, bills, business cards and more - then stores everything on a computer for easy reference. Neat’s mission:  To help small businesses and consumers transform paper into information that works and is easily accessible—and eliminate clutter in the process. Ben Franklin began working closely with the company in 2003, previously investing a total of $600,000 to develop and commercialize the technology, along with streamlining its manufacturing pipeline and locating significant follow-on funding. Les Spero, the co-founder (along with his son, Rafi) & CEO of Neat Company, had the initial goal of “making it as easy to get information into a computer as it is to print it out.”  Spero earned a Ph.D. from Harvard Business School, and has co-founded several successful startups. Sage Technologies, Ltd. – Warminster – Bucks County – Approved investment: $200,000 BFTP/SEP previously invested $250,000 Sage Technologies, Ltd., is an engineering firm which designs, manufactures and markets low power, portable thermal imaging (infrared) systems for front line military and firefighting personnel. Sage developed the first hands-free helmet mounted commercial thermal imaging camera for firefighters, the HelmetVue system, for which the company holds patent rights. Sage has distributors for the firefighting market for the HelmetVue in the US, Canada, Japan, China and Korea.   The company is a subcontractor to Lockheed Martin, to provide advanced avionics engineering design services for Marine One, the helicopters of the President of the United States. Sage is currently developing advanced infrared camera systems and is under contract to produce advanced helmet-mounted thermal imaging systems for the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Air Force. The company’s systems are also under field test evaluation for acquisition by various groups within the US Army and Navy. The firm is headquartered in Warminster, PA, and is managed by its Founder & CEO Julius A. Olita. Smart Structures, Inc. – Southampton Bucks – County – Approved Investment: $230,000 Smart Structures developed a system that tests and monitors the health of the nation’s physical infrastructure such as highways, bridges, tunnels, and large buildings.  Based on a miniature wireless sensor designed to be cast directly into wet concrete during construction, the system fundamentally changes the cost-quality equation for building, operating and maintaining large structures.  The system also provides state and federal agencies with real-time infrastructure health data, potentially allowing structural deficiencies to be addressed before serious problems occur.  Recent events have dramatically demonstrated the critical need for Smart Structures’ technology, including the collapse of the I-35 bridge in Minnesota in 2007, and the 2005 collapse of I-10 in Louisiana. Currently in use in over 40 bridge projects in the southeast U.S., the technology behind Smart Structure’s products was developed by Dr. Mike McVay of the University of Florida, an authority in the civil and geotechnical engineering community. Smart Structures was founded by Tom Chiarella and Richard Hecht, and is located in Southampton, PA. TicketLeap, Inc. – Philadelphia – Approved Investment: $250,000 BFTP/SEP previously invested $250,000 TicketLeap is a full-service ticketing software and event management solution used by more than 8,000 venues and event organizers throughout the U.S. It requires no special hardware, software, and is free and simple to setup online. When Founder & CEO Chris Stanchak started the company, his goal was to make event promotion as easy as possible, so that organizers could focus on other efforts. Stanchak, whose experience includes working in the design and management of large-scale eCommerce operations at global leader GSI Commerce, is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.  TicketLeap is based in Philadelphia, PA. ******** About Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania Ben Franklin is the region’s catalyst for Stimulating Entrepreneurial Potential.  We invest in innovative enterprises and create commercialization pathways that generate wealth through science and technology. Part of a statewide network in Pennsylvania, Ben Franklin provides entrepreneurs and established businesses with the Capital, Knowledge and Networks to compete in the global marketplace. We have provided more than $130 million to grow more than 1,600 regional enterprises, and are founding partners of The Nanotechnology Institute™ (NTI), Mid-Atlantic Nanotechnology Alliance (MANA®), Emerald Stage2 Venture Fund, and the Minority Angel Investor Network.  Ben Franklin is part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Ben Franklin Technology Partnership. We are Uniquely Ben™ BFTP/SEP Contact: Jaron J. Rhodes Manager, Marketing and Communications (215) 972-6700, ext. 3214 jaron@sep.benfranklin.org Posted May 27 2009, 02:39 PM by blogadmin with no comments Filed under: tech hub, early stage investment, Ben Franklin Technology Partners

• What will Spark! start?

  Peter Van Allen from the Philadelphia Business Journal blogs about the Spark! Networking event on June 1.  As a sponsor, Innovation Philadelphia is excited to participate.  Stop by our table for a chat!: A new speaker series and networking group will start June 1. Spark! will hold its first session at The Hub at the Cira Centre, from 5 to 9 p.m. The concept is “to create a truly innovative networking event that will encourage attendees to look at networking and connecting with other entrepreneurs in the Philadelphia area in a new way,” said one of the organizers, Jessica Sharp of Maven Communications. There will be more than 20 panelists, including Dave Magrogan, founder of Kildare’s pubs; Sulaiman W. Rahman, CEO and founder of UrbanPhilly.com; Kelly R. Lee, President & CEO of Innovation Philadelphia; Tom Taulli, founder of BizEquity; and Bernie Dagenais, editor of the Philadelphia Business Journal. For now, it will be an annual event, but it may meet more frequently if there’s demand. At least 200 people are expected for the first event. Spark! was organized by Maven Communications, The Hub, Brolik Interactive and bloblive.  For more information and to register, click here Posted May 26 2009, 02:34 PM by blogadmin with no comments Filed under: Innovation Philadelphia, Spark!

• The Insider: Philadelphia Chapter of the Recording Academy launches monthly Speaker Series

  On April 30, The Recording Academy in Philadelphia presented the first of a monthly speaker series entitled, “Your Online Brand.”  As part of the initiative to aid the arts and music scene in the Philadelphia region, this panel focused specifically on identity creation and online branding for emerging artists. With social media’s increasing importance and popularity, artists depend heavily on the internet to showcase their talents and distinct personalities, thus creating an online brand.  “Our goal is to give emerging artists and music professionals the tools they need to succeed in today’s ever changing music environment,” says Dawn Frisby-Beyers, Executive Director of the Recording Academy’s Philadelphia Chapter. Using a variety of social media platforms including MySpace, Twitter, and Facebook, musicians are exploring various networks to release music and attract a wide audience. Additionally, panelists discussed the benefits of blogging to promote new songs and albums. April’s Speaker Series featured six established music professionals who spoke about their experiences in the industry; from launching their music careers, to managing their public relations. Glenda Garcia, an established public relations professional, spoke about branding and promotion of artists in the industry.  Having worked with students during Grammy Career Day, Garcia discussed effective branding techniques for nascent musicians.  Amir Khan, creator of DreamStream.tv, offered artists avenues in which to explore possible collaborations with established artists and music professionals.  DreamStream.tv is a social networking site dedicated to establishing and fostering an online community of like-minded music professionals.  In his remarks, Khan explained the importance of having a social network for collaboration and feedback, allowing artists to gain experience and grow within the industry.  Another featured speaker was Andrew Lipke, an established artist with Mad Dragon Records, Drexel University’s record label.  Andrew shared his experiences entering the music recording industry and the challenges faced in overcoming each obstacle. He also offered an artist perspective on promoting an album and artist name through online tools.  Other panelists included Mark Schoneveld, Walt Ribeiro, and Anne Heckenberger.  Schoneveld spoke about his involvement as head blogger and Senior Community Manager for Poptent, a social network for creative professionals looking to connect with companies in need of branded content.  Ribeiro, “The Internet’s Music Teacher,” touched upon his unique approach to music education, sharing and collaborating with his internet music community.  Media guru, Anne Heckenberger, provided insight into using social media for PR campaigns by speaking about her experiences at the interactive agency, Red Tettemer. The Philadelphia Chapter of the Recording Academy plans to hold a Speaker Series the last Thursday of every month.  The next Speaker Series, entitled “Music and Money: Managing Your Finances,” will be held on May 28.  Featured panelists will focus on the effective management of finances for emerging artists and music professionals. The event is open to members of the Recording Academy who may each bring a guest. The general public is encouraged to apply for a membership online in advance of the event. To RSVP to the speakers series, email rsvp_philadelphia@grammy.com or call the Recording Academy at 215-985-5411.  For more details on The Recording Academy in Philadelphia, visit http://www.grammy.com/Recording_Academy/Chapters/Philadelphia/. Posted May 19 2009, 04:49 PM by blogadmin with no comments Filed under: social media, speaker series, recording academy, The Insider, music

• Philadelphia had 710,000 international visitors last year

  Peter Van Allen, Staff Writer at The Philadelphia Business Journal reports: Philadelphia hosted 710,000 international visitors last year, a gain of 29 percent, according to U.S. Department of Commerce figures released Monday. The city’s gain was the greatest among the 20 most-visited cities in the country. Philadelphia was No. 11 last year, up one position. In 2007, Philadelphia had 560,000 international visitors, according to figures compiled by the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries and released as part of the U.S. Travel Association’s annual International Pow Wow Conference. “We were very excited last year when we surpassed the half-million mark with a 27 percent increase from 2006 to 2007. We never imagined we could do it again this year when international visitation is still down from its high water mark of visitation to the U.S. in 2000,” said Fritz Smith, vice president of tourism for the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau. The increase was attributed to favorable exchange rates, the addition of direct flights linking Philadelphia International Airport with European cities and marketing efforts. Typically, visitors from the United Kingdom make up a quarter of Philadelphia’s international visitors. But last year saw increased visitorship from Spain and Italy, bolstered by the addition of USAirways’ direct flights from Philadelphia to Barcelona, Venice and Milan. Another factor was increased marketing from the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau and the state of Pennsylvania, which has a 3-year-old marketing effort in Spain.   Posted May 19 2009, 02:58 PM by blogadmin with no comments Filed under: tourism, international visitors

• Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.: The demise of human connections?

  Terry L. Brock writes for the Philadelphia Business Journal: Recently I had a talk with a wonderful lady who has been a successful marketer for many years. She was lamenting all the commotion with Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, LinkedIn and social networking today. She commented that she likes to connect by talking with people on the phone — “real communication” is what she called it. I understand where she’s coming from and have to agree — partly. Technology can never take the place of true human-to-human communication. I love sitting with friends over a meal, over drinks and sharing about life, business, fun, ideas, concepts and more. “Visiting” is what it is called in the South. “Hanging with your buds” is another way to refer to it. Relationship Marketing (I like to capitalize those important words!) is the most important activity we can do in business. Connecting with other people is vital. One way to do it is with live, face-to-face meetings. That was the primary way people connected centuries ago. Somewhere around the end of the 1800s they came up with a newfangled communication tool called the telephone. I’m sure there were people who said, “Well, if I want to talk with someone I’ll walk or take my horse over to see them. I want a real connection.” They didn’t trust the new-to-them technology of a telephone. I saw the same thing with e-mail as it emerged a few years ago. Today we have so much of it that we crave short messages. I somehow think Twitter’s 140-character limit is an answer to that. So, when we see Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networking services emerge, does it mean the demise of real human connections? Not on your life! Relationship Marketing is about being close to prospects, customers and important stakeholders in business. It is about providing value to the other person. If your Twitter message is nothing more than “I’m getting groceries now,” — shame be upon you! You deserve to be ignored. Instead, pass along information that can be helpful to at least some of your followers. That’s where Twitter really shines. All of these social networking services are about connecting with people. My friend who lamented these services and wanted to only connect through telephone is limiting the amount of contact, and hence the amount of business she can generate. I view communication as a wide range of options. A quick YouTube video which your perspective clients view connects at a basic level. A one-to-one luncheon with someone is a much deeper level of connection. However, you can’t have a three-hour lunch with everyone, everyday otherwise you’d never get any work done! And you can’t Tweet all day (that’s the term for those who send messages on Twitter) and expect to get work done. Yes, you can generate business but even self-appointed Twitter gurus I’ve heard speak have to stop sending their Tweets to speak about it! By the way, I recently discovered a new tool called TweetCall (www.TweetCall.com) that allows you to leave a Tweet via your phone. Once you’ve registered (for free) you dial a toll-free number and leave a message up to 140 character (about 20 words). This can be great to leave quick messages even faster. I’ve used it for about a week and have been very impressed. Try it! To see a video of this bounce over to www.TerryBrock.com and check it out. So, what’s the key for a dedicated, serious-minded Relationship Marketer to do? Well, I am not a “Twitter guru” (I’ll leave that ominous title to others) but I do know a thing or two about Relationship Marketing. Use these tools in moderation to help others. Don’t just toot your own horn but find ways to provide value for them. Examples would be a quick message with a link to a great video that is of interest to your recipients. Send out a notice with a helpful idea. Then be sure to “Re-Tweet” a message to others. This is the Twitter way of forwarding a message to others and patting someone on the back (digitally, of course!). It always goes back to helping others and caring for them in a genuine way. I was just on the phone with a longtime friend and trusted colleague who told me about a particular person. She told me how this person simply tried to sell her his services and didn’t really care about helping her. I found similar reactions as this same guy tried to sell me his stuff. I don’t care if he is on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or comes over and knocks on my door — my opinion of him is diminished because of his actions towards my friend and me. Bottom line? Commit to being a Relationship Marketer with genuine care to solve the other person’s problems. Next, learn the nuts, bolts and wiggle pins of new technologies that make sense for you. Don’t get frazzled. No, these social media tools are not the demise of real human connections. Used properly, they can help us strengthen and grow genuine, real relationships for profit and mutual benefit in business. Terry L. Brock is an international marketing coach. He can be reached at terry@terrybrock.com or www.terrybrock.com. Join the Twitter adventure with Terry through his Twitter address: TerryBrock. Posted May 18 2009, 06:26 PM by blogadmin with no comments Filed under: social media

• Interview with Richard Bendis, Board Member of NASVF and Jim Jaffe, President of NASVF

  VCexperts.com interviews Innovation Philadelphia founder, Rich Bendis and Jim Jaffe, President of the National Association of Seed and Ventures Funds. In a recent press release, The National Association of Seed and Ventures Funds (NASVF) announced it is working with a national innovation intermediary, Innovation America, to create a new National Innovation Seed Fund of Funds (NISF) to help remedy the lack of funding for young entrepreneurial companies and to get knowledge-based job growth going again. NASVF claims to be in discussions with the Obama administration about providing $2 billion to the NISF. NASVF is a 12-year-old not-for-profit association that represents innovation capital leaders including private, public and nonprofit organizations that are committed to building their local economies by investing in local entrepreneurs. Innovation America has been developed by Richard Bendis, a recognized national leader in innovation based economic development. He was the first chairman and later CEO of the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation, the founder of Innovation Philadelphia and was a founding board member of both NASVF and the State Science and Technology Institute. We are joined today by Richard Bendis as well as Jim Jaffe, President of NASVF. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your organizations have identified a lack of funding for young entrepreneurial companies and a need to get knowledge-based job growth going again. As such, NASVF is working with Innovation America to create the NISF with the objective of leveraging the experience of the most successful early stage investors utilizing both private and public capital. Can you tell us where you are in your discussions with the Obama administration regarding your proposal for government funding for NISF? Bendis: We began our discussions with the Obama administration transition team in December 2008. Team members and certain interested agency personnel also interacted with the White House Office of Management and Budget, who actually proposed increasing our initial $1 billion ask to $2 billion. Discussions are continuing and agencies are responding to these immediate stimulus response needs while continuing to review new program opportunities. It has been reported that, in an effort to convince the government for the need for NISF, the NASVF surveyed over 5,000 early and seed-stage venture funds and their service providers. Those results indicate that the state of funding for entrepreneurial companies is dire. Will you summarize those results for us, comment on which findings cause you the most concern and share with us how the government responded to your survey results? Jaffe: The survey was requested by federal agency personnel. NASVF responded in a timely fashion to this request to assist the Obama administration to determine the real early stage funding environment and needs in America. (We have attached a copy of the survey for your review as well as the press release that summarizes the surveys findings). The government acknowledged that the survey findings are believable. The greatest concern is that the valley of death is widening, creating a bigger challenge for promising new innovation based companies that are trying to get their market-ready products and services into the commercial world. Many jobs will be lost and the U.S. innovation leadership is being threatened. As I'm sure you are aware, there has been an ongoing debate in the private equity community as to whether or not there is already too much money available in venture capital. In fact, one of our VC Experts interviewees made the observation last month that when you look at the levels of investment and returns in recent years, there is a stark mismatch. For most of this decade, we've had an industry investing $30 billion a year, and returning $5- $20 billion a year. In light of those facts, how do you justify recommending that the government help sponsor a $2 billion fund? Jaffe: The average VC investment last year was $8.3 million per deal, and the average angel group investment was approximately $340 thousand per deal. Seed investing by VC's represents only about 4% of total VC investments. There is adequate VC later stage capital but a decreasing amount of both angel/private and state based early stage capital. The major gap is the $500 thousand to $2 million that high-growth innovative companies need to become both VC and market ready. We believe that the federal government can be a catalyst to lead this initiative by providing at least $1 billion of new money that could be leveraged 1 to 1 with other private or public funds at the regional level. Worst case would be a pilot program initiated this year to test the concept. What role would the Small Business Administration play in your proposed program? Bendis: The SBA has not played a major role in providing early stage seed capital to high growth innovative knowledge economy companies. They are a candidate to champion a new national innovation seed fund of funds but there are also other potential U.S. federal agencies that could lead this initiative. Walk us through how your proposed program would work with funding being allocated to various groups under the sponsorship of Innovation America and with third-party investors matching the federal contributions on a dollar for dollar basis. Bendis: A federal agency designated to manage this fund would work closely with a private-public partnership (PPP) similar to Innovation America to help administer the fund. The PPP would have connections in the innovation world and be able to identify the most experienced early stage investment managers that would be qualified to invest and generate returns on these funds. These managers could consist of angel groups or funds, best practice technology based economic development organizations or private seed funds -- all selected on their performance history at the regional level and their ability to have matching dollars. There would be a desire to invest the money in a timely fashion and have transparency and accountability that is visible to all stakeholders. There would be a double bottom line goal focused on return on investment as well as knowledge economy job creation. Your presentation shows that venture capital investment in start-up/seed companies has declined as a percentage since 1995, with more focus being given to later stage companies. Will all of the NSIF be dedicated to start-up/seed companies? Jaffe: It is conceived that it would be all to early stage / seed stage innovative knowledge economy companies that are beyond the proof of concept stage. We thank you, both, for your time and insight. Be sure to read the white paper "Creating a National Innovation Framework" by Richard Bendis and Ethan Byler.   Posted May 15 2009, 03:23 PM by blogadmin with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Rich Bendis, funding

• Westphal College of Media Arts and Design's Faculty Focus: Kathi Martin

  Westphal news reports on Fashion Design Associate Professor, Kathi Martin: Fashion Design Associate Professor Kathi Martin is the Director of the Graduate Fashion Program and teaches courses in swimwear, children’s wear, drawing, CAD for fashion and textile design. With help from Fashion Design students and Dr. Xia Lin and his students from Drexel’s iSchool, Kathi developed and launched the Drexel Digital Museum Project, an online archive of Drexel’s Historic Costume Collection. The site features fashion by such influential designers as Beene, Balenciaga, Blass, Cardin, Pucci, DeLa Renta, Dior, Galanos, Givenchy and Valentino, all displayed on a virtual runway where the garments can be viewed from multiple angles. Kathi is the guest design editor of the 2009 Journal of the American Society of Information Science and Technology (JASIST) special edition on design entitled Perspectives. Contributors include Matilda McQuaid, textiles curator, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, and Jack Lenor Larsen, renowned textile designer and scholar. Kathi recently spent a week at Seoul National University (SNU) consulting on a digital fashion project involving fashion designers, musicians, engineers, digital media specialists and computer scientists from Korea, Scotland, Israel, Poland, Japan and the United States.She continues to work with Dr. Heyong-Seok Ko at SNU on virtual humans for fashion and historic costume. In 2007, Professor Martin initiated a student travel tour for Fashion, Design & Merchandising and Interior Design students to Italy.  The students visited the Vatican, the Palantin and the Valentino Retrospective at the Ars Pacis in Rome; the Uffizi and Ferragamo Museums and Scuola del Cuoio leather school in Florence:  the studio of Achille Castigliani, the Triennale in Milan, La Mantera Textile Factory and Concept Store; and the Como Lake district. In 2008 Kathi led a group of students on tour in Paris.   Posted May 11 2009, 09:53 PM by blogadmin with no comments Filed under: Westphal College of Media Arts and Design, Kathi Martin, fashion design, virtual

• Women-Led High Growth Business Report Debuted by WIN, Ben Franklin Technology Partners and Wharton Small Business Development Center

  Ben Franklin Technology Partners press release:  The report analyzes what makes high-growth entrepreneurs successful, with a focus on company management, financing,professional challenges and corporate networks. --   May 7th, 2009 PHILADELPHIA, PA (www.winwomen.org) – WIN, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern PA (BFTP/SEP) and the Wharton Small Business Development Center (WSBDC) held a reception today to debut the Women-Led High Growth Business Report.  The report was generated from a survey of women entrepreneurs in this region who lead high growth businesses. The survey was designed to find out more about this important business segment, in order to determine what steps can be taken to improve their future success. This study, one of the first of its kind in the nation, demonstrates the strengths and accomplishments of women entrepreneurs in our region, highlights the factors that lead to successful business growth for women entrepreneurs, and identifies the resources available to high-growth entrepreneurs and approaches that work for these successful women. The report summarized the results of the survey and a concurrent focus group held last month.  The report was used as a stimulus for discussion at the May 7th reception, where participants provided feedback and analysis of the survey results.  Following this, on May 20th, WIN will host a CEO Forum where further discussion will be held about the survey findings and implications. Women are an important driver in high-growth businesses in the Greater Philadelphia area, and represent a significant body of knowledge and experience.  Key findings from the survey included: Challenges in financing entrepreneurial businesses remain large. Despite these challenges, women-led emerging growth companies in our region have successfully raised significant outside capital from investors across the U.S.; on average, over $10 million per company. Significant knowledge of and use of various financing strategies are necessary to properly and adequately finance a business.  More sources of capital targeting emerging growth businesses are required to create a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem in our region. The majority of emerging growth companies use outside Boards of some kind and value the assistance the Boards can provide in financing, introductions, hiring, partnering, etc. These ventures and the resulting companies represent significant job creation both within companies directly and through their utilization of components of the entrepreneurial ecosystem (legal, accounting, consulting).  On average, participating companies had 43 employees per company. Our respondents shared strengths that included vision and the ability to motivate people – both internal and external to their organization.  These leadership traits are key to business success. Our respondents value networking in the entrepreneurial community. Our respondents give back to a diverse group of organizations through volunteerism. Following a similar study conducted in 1998 by WIN and Ben Franklin, the profound progress made over the last decade was discussed, as well as the new challenges facing entrepreneurial women business leaders. The reception was held in Ben Franklin’s offices at the Building 100 Innovation Center in the Philadelphia Navy Yard. * * * * * About WIN WIN, founded in 1996, is an organization of women committed to advancing entrepreneurship in the Greater Philadelphia region.  WIN is the region’s premier organization for women who are leaders of and investors in high-growth businesses, providing education, networking, mentoring, and exposure to investment resources. www.winwomen.org Contact: Elaine Jones, Elaine.Jones@pfizer.com, 484-945-2108 About Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania Ben Franklin is the region’s catalyst for Stimulating Entrepreneurial Potential.  We invest in innovative enterprises and create commercialization pathways that generate wealth through science and technology. Part of a statewide network in Pennsylvania, Ben Franklin provides entrepreneurs and established businesses with the Capital, Knowledge and Networks to compete in the global marketplace. We have provided more than $130 million to grow more than 1,600 regional enterprises, and are founding partners of The Nanotechnology Institute™ (NTI), Mid-Atlantic Nanotechnology Alliance (MANA®), Emerald Stage2 Venture Fund, and the Minority Angel Investor Network.  Ben Franklin is part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Ben Franklin Technology Partnership.    We are Uniquely Ben™    www.sep.benfranklin.org Contact: Jaron Rhodes, jaron@sep.benfranklin.org, 215-972-6700 About Wharton Small Business Development Center The Wharton Small Business Development Center (WSBDC), a division of the Sol C. Snider Entrepreneurial Research Center of Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs, was founded in 1980 and is one of 18 SBDCs in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The WSBDC provides free consulting services to entrepreneurs as well as educational workshops for which we charge a nominal fee.  www.whartonsbdc.wharton.upenn.edu Posted May 11 2009, 02:54 PM by blogadmin with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Entrepreneur, women entrepreneurs, Women-Led High Growth Business Report

• The Insider: Innovation Philadelphia to Host Second Global Creative Economy Convergence Summit in Philadelphia

  On October 5-6, 2009, Innovation Philadelphia will host the second Global Creative Economy Convergence Summit in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.  Over 1,000 entrepreneurs, business leaders, and creative industry professionals will converge for this two-day Summit to network, exchange ideas, and share information on emerging technology and initiatives that drive a successful creative economy. The first Summit, held in 2006, focused broadly on defining the creative economy, measuring its size and scope, and creating a framework for understanding how the creative economy contributes to the economic future of the world.  The 2nd Summit will move from looking at the basic economic and social implications of the creative economy to delving into more complex discussions and calls to action.  The 2009 Summit will explore key questions that everyone has—how do you do it? How do you develop a creative economy, from both the top down and the bottom up?  The Summit will also explore the complex ecology that makes up creative economies, looking at all aspects of what creative ecologies need from physical space, to funding, to access to talent, to emerging technologies, to infrastructure and the policies necessary to create that ecology. The Summit will have results-driven discussions, presentations, interactive workshops and panels within following four tracks: Creative Economy 201, Creative Entrepreneurship, Creative 21st Century Workforce, and Creative Sustainability. “The Summit speakers and sessions will showcase the best local, national and global successful creative economy models and initiatives,” says Kelly Lee, President & CEO of Innovation Philadelphia. “By incorporating the latest in social and mobile media platforms, in addition to the Summit’s new website (www.GCECS2009.com) and blog, we will provide opportunities for all participants to contribute and drive the direction of Summit content.” Any individual, practitioner, researcher, innovator, business or technology leader, entrepreneur, artist, or cultural leader who has demonstrated experience or expertise within one or more of the four tracks and is willing to share his/her experience with others should consider submitting to the Global Creative Economy Convergence Summit’s Call for Presentations.  The complete Call for Presentations document is available at www.GCECS2009.com. The Pennsylvania Convention Center will host the Summit and is located in the heart of Philadelphia at 1101 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Accommodations are available at the Summit’s official hotel, the Lowes Philadelphia Hotel, conveniently located at 1200 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA  19107.  For reservations, call 215-627-1200. Registration for the two-day Summit is $225. For more information about the Summit, to register online and to access the Call for Presentations, please visit www.GCECS2009.com. Tell Us What You Think!   Posted May 06 2009, 02:58 PM by blogadmin with no comments Filed under: GCECS, Global Creative Economy Convergence Summit, Summit 2009