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Codemash 2015 - Part 2 of 2

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Blog Date: 
Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Codemash 2015 - Part 2

I've been to several Codemash conferences and highly recommend them. Please read the Codemash 2015 - Part 1 of 2 blog post, which includes photos of the entire event.

This is the Codemash-Part Two blog post. It will include resources from the Friday, January 9, 2015, sessions I attended. Also included are my tweets/retweets from Friday and from after Codemash, plus links to other people's blog posts about Codemash.

My goal is to share some of the flavor of the event and some of the useful information developed for the conference. I hope you find these two blog posts interesting, if not useful -- enjoy!

Codemash Final Day - Friday, January 9, 2015

Codemash Friday -- Here is some of the information from the sessions I attended, and some I found on my own during the sessions:

 

 

Holiday Light Fight DIY - Results!

There is always something going on at Codemash! There is so much to see that it is impossible to see everything. I was lucky I was able to see some of the results of the Holiday Light Fight DIY (I which I had seen them all!) Here are videos for those that I saw -- very cool!

I heard that due to the success of this Holiday Light Fight DIY program, it will be back in 2016. I will need to make a point next year to learn more.

Codemash 2015 Closing Ceremony

See the tweets below for information on raffle prizes won and other happenings during the closing ceremony. I want to share with you here the big thank-you to the STEM college students that volunteered this year. It was the first year for this program and it added value to have them here. Here is my video from when the "minions" were honored at the closing ceremonies by Brian Prince (@BrianhPrince), who is the president of Codemash.

Friday, January 9, 2015 Tweets/Retweets

Here are my tweets/retweet from Codemash on Friday -- enjoy!

Codemash - Friday, January 9, 2015

After Codemash 2015

I have included the following tweets/retweets from after Codemash 2015, since they include links to resources from presenters, and other interesting information.

After Codemash 2015

 

Other Blogs & Resources

My tweets on this blog post and Codemash-Part One blog post contain links to many resources. Here I compile blog posts and resources created by others. As I hear of more blog posts about Codemash 2015, I will update this web page. Please feel free to leave a comment below with links to other blog posts I might have missed. Thank you!

If you are interested, here are my blog posts with resources from 2013:

Codemash 2016

I hope to see all of you next year at Codemash 2016 - Tuesday, January 5, 2016, to Friday, January 8, 2016.

 

(Return to Codemash 2015 - Part 1 of 2 blog post.)


TechPint Cleveland V: Winter Jam

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Blog Date: 
Sunday, February 1, 2015

TechPint Cleveland V: Winter Jam

I was fortunate to attend TechPint Cleveland V: Winter Jam on January 22, 2015, at the Beachland Ballroom (@BeachlandCLE). As the name implies, this was the fifth TechPint in Cleveland (there have also been Akron TechPints).

As in the past, the interesting location is also part of the draw of the event. Beachland Ballroom allowed for a creative atmosphere. With tickets sales exceeding 300, it was great that the Beachland Ballroom was able to open their back room to accommodate an additional 50 attendees. I heard that TechPint came very close to selling out all 350 tickets -- a big congratulations to the TechPint leadership team!

From the TechPint.org website, TechPint Cleveland V: Winter Jam is:

 
#TechPint 
 
A POPUP TECH CONFERENCE. IN A BAR. WITH PINTS. 
 
Over 300 of Cleveland's most active entrepreneurs and investors meet on January 22nd to mix, share ideas and get inspired. The event kicks off at 4:30PM with a pint-fueled pitch competition from Flashstarts, followed by enlightening conversations with two awesome entrepreneurs and a party that will go on late.

Here are my photos from the evening. Be sure to look at the photos from others, and links to more photos, in the tweets below.

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos, please view them here.

Unfortunately, a family emergency had me leave early and in a rush. Thus, I did not have a chance to see all the exhibits and the demo pit, and to congratulate the TechPints leadership team in person.

As with past TechPints I have attended, this one was full of energy and optimism as Cleveland area entrepreneurs shared their stories. I am writing this blog post as my way of thanking the leaders for making this resource happen in our community, and to encourage others to spread the word about this event.

Exhibitors

Other than the Bizdom Cleveland table and MakerGear's 3D printer display, I was not able to talk to the exhibitors, since I had to leave suddenly. I regret not having had more time to see them all. Be sure to see my photos and tweets of images the Bizdom Cleveland and MakerGear displays.

If you don't know about Bizdom Cleveland's (@BizdomCleveland) work, you really should take the time to meet Anna Sauber-Buchholz (@AnnaOfCLE), who was staffing their booth. Bizdom Cleveland is a nonprofit startup accelerator that provides seed funding and intense mentorship to entrepreneurs looking to launch and grow innovative, tech-based startups in the downtown.

I do want to mention here that I have some interesting videos of MakerGear (@MakerGear) 3D creations in action. If you want to learn more about MakerGear, please see my videos in the Codemash 2015 - Part 1 of 2 blog post that I published earlier this week. There, you will be able to hear the MakerGear 3D Printed Violin and see the MakerGear 3D Printed Multi-Rotor Copter in flight.

Flashstarts Pitcher Night

Flashstarts Pitcher Night at TechPint Cleveland V: Winter Jam

I can't express enough my praise for Flashstarts (@Flashstarts) for organizing the Second Annual "Pitcher" Night. All who attended should appreciate Flashstarts' investment of their time to review all of the 2-minute pitch videos that were submitted and promote this event, as well as provide the $2,000 cash award.

The emcees that night were FlashStarts Co-Founders Jennifer Neundorfer (@jkk) and Charles Stack (@cstack), who did an impressive job of making this part of the evening very lively. (Learn more about them in my February 2, 2014, TechPint Cleveland III blog post, where Charles Stack was the featured speaker, and my October 27, 2014, Cleveland Amplify Panel & Tech Town Hall blog post, where you can view the video of Jennifer Neundorfer's presentation on the Cleveland tech panel.)

The selected winners for the night were:

  • 1st place - Nzinga Hart (@NzingaHart) with PolitiApp - $1000
    PolitiApp is developing a solution for politicians to reach and engage Millennials. It provides an improved method for learning about issues and political representatives.

  • 2nd place - Matthew Allen (@1MattAllen) with First Crate - $750
    First Crate's subscription-based rent & return service for baby clothes is a cost savings for new parents, and an active re-use of the items.

  • 3rd place - Verozol LLC with Termite Spit - $250
    Termite Spit mimics the digestion process of termites, which breaks down wood without harmful toxins and chemicals.

Flashstarts Pitcher Night Selected Winners
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Speakers

TechPint Cleveland V: Winter Jam Speakers: Yuval Brisker and Laura Bennett

Here are the official bios of the main speakers, that TechPint founder Paul McAvinchey (@YABOYA) emailed out before the event:

 Laura Bennett
Laura is the co-founder of Embrace Pet Insurance, a Cleveland startup disrupting a very rusty industry. This company has been battling for a few years now against an array of tricky regulations and an uneducated market with huge potential, but Laura has always had an eye on building longterm value. And now the fruits of this effort are showing with new investors coming on board last year and the company employing 40 ... 50 ... 60 people locally and counting (every time I mention the number I'm told that it has gone up).

 Yuval Brisker
Yuval is the co-founder of TOA Technologies which was recently acquired by none other than Larry Ellison's Oracle. This has to be one of the biggest success stories our community has seen in recent years and Yuval will be digging into this experience and sharing some of the challenges and subsequent learnings he picked up a long the way.

Regarding Embrace Pet Insurance, it was interesting to learn a bit about what it is like to become an entrepreneur in the field of insurance -- especially something as unique as pet insurance. Also, I always find it interesting to hear from business owners how their target market morphs as the business changes and grows. A most interesting case study.

From Embrace Pet Insurance's website:

Comprehensive Coverage  
Our [Embrace Pet Insurance] approach to coverage means offering your pet nose-to-tail accident and illness protection for the unexpected plus the option of adding Wellness Rewards for routine veterinary care. What does Embrace coverage include? We provide one simple yet comprehensive plan to cover your dog or cat against unexpected accidents and illnesses. You can choose your annual maximum, deductible, and reimbursement percentage. No matter how you personalize your policy, your pet will enjoy coverage for the following: ...

TOA Technologies -- a service that directly addresses a need -- a formula for success! To be able to schedule that service/repair person to come when it is convenient to me is priceless.

From the TOA Technologies' website:

TOA Technologies provides the only enterprise-grade, on-demand mobile workforce management solutions
Field service management software has been around for many years. However, most companies with mobile workers are using outmoded software on legacy platforms that have not fundamentally evolved in 25 years, or they are using manual processes with no automation at all. We provide a state-of-the-art mobile workforce management solution that runs 99.996% of the time, requires no installation or maintenance, is completely configurable, does not have any associated license fees and delivers a new paradigm for managing people in the field.

Tweets/Retweets

Here are my @sos_jr tweets and retweets for the evening. Twitter is always a nice way to see photos and resources shared by others at a meeting. Be sure to look for more #TechPint event information by following @TechPintNews.

 

Future and Past

As I mention above, be sure to follow @TechPintNew and the #TechPint hashtag on Twitter for future meeting announcements. Also watch for future meeting details on TechPint.org.

Here are links to the my two past TechPint blog posts for your review:

I hope to see you at the next TechPint!

February 2015 Status: @FCC and #NetNeutrality

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Blog Date: 
Thursday, February 5, 2015

February 2015 Status: @FCC and #NetNeutrality

Having heard at the end of January 2015 that Federal Communications Commission (@FCCChairman Tom Wheeler (@TomWheelerFCC) had planned on using the February 26, 2015, FCC Open Commission Meeting to vote on the issue of net neutrality, I decided that now was the time to write a third blog post on this issue.

 

My plan was to share the following tweets that I had saved after my September 2014, Take Action! @FCC and #NetNeutrality blog post, and to remind the chairman and other politicians of the millions of people who wrote comments last September. I figured it was time to take action again before the final vote on at the February 26, 2015, FCC Open Commission Meetings,but (read on after the September 2014 tweets below)....

 

Tweets I saved from September 2014

...my theme for this blog post took a major unexpected turn on February 4, 2015, when I read the following on Twitter:

While these announcements are encouraging, we, the citizens who care about this issue, need to continue to watch and learn more as this evolves in the coming days. As I mentioned in my first two blog posts, "I am very surprised that the FCC is even debating net neutrality. It seems to me that net neutrality should be something that the FCC would be pushing for all along." Now is your final chance to let the FCC and your representatives know how you feel about this issue.

Please contact Chairman Tom Wheeler (@TomWheelerFCC) and the other FCC commissioners [Mignon Clyburn (@MClyburnFCC), Jessica Rosenworcel (@JRosenworcel), Ajit Pai (@AjitPaiFCC), Michael O’Rielly (@mikeofcc)] to thank them for moving toward supporting net neutrality, and give them your support.

Please also take action and let your elected officials know that you expect them to actively support net neutrality. Here is the direct link with helpful information from the "Take Action - Contact Your Representative" section of my Take Action! @FCC and #NetNeutrality blog post.

Also, here is a link to the section of my blog post which includes the letters from my representatives. If it is not clear where your representative stands on the issue of net neutrality, please send them a letter or email, or call tell them how you expect them to represent you.

In my first blog post entitled Comment to @FCC on #NetNeutrality, from July 2014, I provide some talking points you might find useful.

I was fortunate to briefly talk to FCC Special Counsel for External Affairs, GiGi B. Sohn (@GigiBSohnFCC) and hear her presentation when she was in Cleveland for the OneCommunity (@OneCommunity) annual meeting. She indicated that the Federal Communications Commission was in good hands and would be doing some creative things to make things better for Americans. (See the "Gigi B. Sohn - 'The Art of the Possible'" section of my OneCommunity 2014 Annual Meeting blog post.)

The February 4, 2015, announcement by Chairman Tom Wheeler, and the expected outcome of the February 26, 2015, FCC Open Commission Meeting is in line with this positive vision for the future under the current leadership.

JUST ANNOUNCED....

As I was finishing this post, I learned about the following:

Join me at the Town Hall on February 6, 2015!

Announcing OHTech!

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Blog Date: 
Tuesday, February 10, 2015

NEOSA

I have attended many of the Northeast Ohio Software Association (NEOSA) networking events in the past. I have always enjoyed these gatherings, since I always meet interesting people. The event that took place at The Oak Barrel (@TheOakBarrel) on January 29, 2015, was a special night. Not only was NEOSA's new name presented, but also the expansion of services represented by the change.

NEOSA was started in 1998. I have attended NEOSA events since about 2001 -- before it was part of COSE. I remember first learning about and attending a NEOSA meeting at the old New Horizons Computer Learning Center (@NewHorizonsCLC) location in Independence, Ohio, where I was taking certification classes.

Over the years, whenever I told people about a NEOSA program or meeting, I would first say "NEOSA," and then say "Northeast Ohio Software Association," while explaining that it was a professional association supporting the technology field in the Greater Cleveland area. I always felt the name "NEOSA" had to be explained to those who had not yet attended a meeting. When I read the following NEOSA Tech Thursday announcement, I looked forward to a new name that would be more descriptive.

NEOSA Tech Thursday
 
...excited to share  some important information at January’s Tech Thursday!  We’ve been working on new branding for NEOSA throughout 2014 and we’ll announce our new name, share our new logo and also share information on new services coming online around business development, talent and more.

Announcing OHTech!

OHTech

The Northeast Ohio Software Association is now OHTech!

The new name, OHTech, reflects the change in the composition that has already occurred within the membership of OHTech. No longer is the organization limited by the word "software" in its name. It is a professional association that supports the full gamut of the technology arena, not just software development.

The "OH" reflects a new strategic emphasis -- to grow to be a resource throughout the entire state of Ohio.

OHTech New Services

 OHTech Blog 
Wherefore art thou NEOSA?

We’ve been working on a lot of changes here, at the former NEOSA, changes that include new talent services, business development, statewide connections and more. So as part of that whole process, it made a lot of sense to re-evaluate the brand image and make changes as necessary. Hence: OHTech.

Details are still being announced, but the name change also reflects new and expanded programs. OHTech will seek out program partners throughout Ohio for its existing programs, to make it a statewide leader in technology professional services.

Watch for program developments in these areas:

  • Workforce Development - Coordinate technical educational to address the current labor shortage in our region.

  • Government Relations - Represent the interests of the technology field on statewide and federal levels.

  • Manager of Talent Services - A new position created to support OHTech, with responsibilities to provide talent coaching for local tech companies. Patrick M. Antos (@PatrickMAntos) is the first Manager of Talent Services. Learn more about Patrick in this article: Five Questions with Patrick Antos

  • Networking Events Beyond Cleveland - Not only plan networking events in neighboring cities, but possiblity broadcast presenters from one event to other locations.

  • COSE - Explore how the core services of COSE (@COSEsmallbiz) can service the needs of technology companies in neighboring communities.

I recommend watching the OHTech website, and Brad Nellis (@OHTech_Nellis) on Twitter, to learn about OHTech programs as the develop.

What Others Shared - OHTech!

Here are some blog posts and articles about OHTech. I highly recommend reading Chuck Soder's OHTech article in Crains Cleveland Business.

OHTech Announcement Photos

Thanks to Brad Nellis (@OHTech_Nellis) for sharing these photos with me from the OHTech announcement event:

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos, please view them here.

Tweets and Retweets

Here are my @sos_jr tweets and retweets that I shared about the event. They include my photos from the event, and links from others who attended.

Future

I look forward to watching the development of OHTech's new programs. I hope to do a follow-up blog post to report on their future progress.

LaunchHouse Accelerator Expo (LHXPO) 2015

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Blog Date: 
Thursday, February 19, 2015

LaunchHouse Accelerator Expo (LHXPO) 2015
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I had a blast!

On Wednesday, February 11, 2015, LaunchHouse (@LaunchHouse) transformed its building into a showcase of experimentation and experience, as the latest LaunchHouse Accelerator companies demonstrated their original product ideas at the LaunchHouse Accelerator Expo (LHXPO).

I use the word "experimentation," because this year the focus was on hardware products and the science behind them. The active involvement of NASA Glenn Research Center (@NASAglenn) with this year's LaunchHouse Accelerator supported this new level of experimentation.

I also use the word "experience," since attendees could get up close and personal with many of the products by actually trying them out.

Here is the official announcement for the event:

Attend LHXPO! 
We've transformed the traditional demo day experience into an ‘UN-Conference Exposition.’ Meet LaunchHouse's newest portfolio companies at the LaunchHouse Accelerator Expo (LHXPO) on Wednesday, February 11 from 4-9pm.
 
While startups deliver their first public pitches to the investment community, the expo is a hands-on experience that showcases these elite companies and their products. We invite you to touch, test and experience the cutting-edge technologies that have been developed over the past 16 weeks.

I had a blast, questioning these Cleveland startup leaders about their products and the technology behind them. It was a great time!

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos, please view them here.

Meet LaunchHouse's Newest Portfolio Companies

Here is the official LaunchHouse Accelerator Expo (LHXPO) booklet, which was given to all attendees.

Official LaunchHouse Accelerator Expo (LHXPO) booklet

 

Here are my observations from my conversations with companies' representatives.

Alternative Defense Strategies

Alternative Defense Strategies' (@SafeZoneCM) product, Safe Zone CM™, is a nonlethal pepper "gel" that can be safely used against an intruder. Primarily a product developed for schools and other public facilities, Safe Zone CM™ comes in a locked box that only administrators of the building can open with a secure combination lock. Alternative Defense Strategies is also exploring a future product that would provide a wireless system that would open the box automatically in case of an emergency. At their expo booth, they demonstrated how to target and spray an inert version the gel. Most of the components of the Safe Zone CM™ product are made in America (I think only the lock is foreign-made). In my opinion, the most important part of Safe Zone CM™ is not the hardware, but the special training provided on how to use the product in an emergency setting.

Beegit

I really enjoyed talking to the representatives from Beegit (@ProjectBeegit), since I could directly relate to the content management software they created. Some of the features they demonstrated for me included using Git for version control, and the ability to output content to many different formats (see related photo in tweet below).

FGC Plasma Solutions

I spoke with Felipe Gómez del Campo (@fgdelc), and he showed me both plastic and metal models of FGC Plasma Solutions' plasma fuel injectors. Felipe explained how his patented product could cut airlines' expenses by retrofitting existing engines with these more cost-effective plasma fuel injectors. FGC Plasma Solutions works in partnership with NASA Glenn Research Center (@NASAglenn) engineers, with support from Case Western Reserve University (@CWRU).

NASA Glenn Research Center

Plasma Pure Water is a system being developed right here in Cleveland by NASA Glenn Research Center (@NASAglenn). This system rids water not only of bacteria and germs, but also of chemical pollutants. The booth was so crowded with interested people that I was only able to talk to a NASA Glenn staff person not directly affiliated with Plasma Pure Water. I also learned about some of the other exciting things happening at NASA through their partnerships with private sector businesses. See more in my NASA section below.

Phazon

I first heard about Phazon's (@PhazonAudio) wireless earbuds at a Cleveland TechPint event (see my TechPint blog posts to learn more). Targeted to professional and amateur athletes, these earbuds free the user from the wire tangle while they work out. The true stereo wireless system will work with a smartphone or other portable audio device and will use Bluetooth to independently control each earbud.

Swing Memory Xccelerator

I did not visit their booth, so please see the description in the LHXPO booklet that was sent to me by LaunchHouse.

Triple Analytics

In today's connected world, you would think your doctor would already have instant access to the analytics that would help determine your treatment. What I learned from the Triple Analytics (@TripleLLC) staff is that they often do not. Triple Analytics is a physician- and patient-focused solution for today's medical environment. Triple Analytics pulls together the analytics needed to make better medical decisions, plus also provides the patient with useful medical information in layman's terms. The "Triple" part of Triple Analytics' name represents the triad of good medicine: doctor, institution (hospital), patient. Triple Analytics' goal is to use analytics in a user-friendly way to help improve patient care and save medical costs.

UpMo

UpMo is a newly formed company that combines the strength of the technology from two former companies to create a new product. The UpMo smartphone app makes it easy to search and apply for a career position. Different versions of the UpMo app will target different career sectors. Current plans are to have the first version focus on placement services for attorneys.

WJI systems

After seeing WJI systems' public pitch, I had hoped to learn more details by talking to their staff at their expo booth. Unfortunately, as I worked my way around the expo, I came to the WJI systems booth near the end of the evening, and only had time to talk to them briefly. They have a very cool product to monitor house "vital signs" for property managers of vacant houses. Vacant houses are at risk of water moisture damage, vandalism, and other neglect. Putting a few WJI systems units in the house could potentially save the owners a big expense. I recently heard of a vacant house that had a pipe freeze and flood a basement -- a big mess that would have done less damage if WJI systems had been in place.

Yourefolio

In an emergency, or at your death, would your family members and important advisors (i.e., lawyer, financial advisor) have instant access to your important papers? Yourefolio (@Yourefolio) is designed as a service that a financial advisor could offer their clients. Yourefolio electronically manages, protects, and gives instant access to important papers.

#LHXPO Tweets

NASA

It would be remiss of me if I did not share with you how cool it was to see NASA Glenn Research Center (@NASAglenn) as part of the this event. While at the LaunchHouse Accelerator Expo (LHXPO), I briefly talked to the representatives at the NASA Glenn booth, in addition to the NASA Glenn staff at the Plasma Pure Water booth.

I remember being fascinated, as a high school student, by the NASA Spinoff paper magazine. NASA Spinoff was a publication that presented products that were available for the general public and private industry as a direct result of the research done by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA - @NASA). At LHXPO, I learned from the NASA Glenn Research Center staff that Spinoff.NASA.gov website (@NASAspinoff) continues this tradition.

Read more on the NASA Spinoff history online, from which the following paragraphs are taken:

NASA’s Spinoff publication accomplishes several goals. First, it is a convincing justification for the continued expenditure of NASA funds. It serves as a tool to educate the media and the general public by informing them about the benefits and dispelling the myth of wasted taxpayer dollars. It reinforces interest in space exploration. It demonstrates the possibility to apply aerospace technology in different environments. It highlights the ingenuity of American inventors, entrepreneurs, and application engineers, and the willingness of a government agency to assist them. And finally, it continues to ensure global competitiveness and technological leadership by the United States. 
 
The total number of stories published since 1976 is nearly 1,800, which does not include approximately 100 stories featured in the 1973 and 1974 reports.

Another reason I was glad to see NASA at LHXPO was that I was sorry that I missed the February 2, 2015, NASA Social (@NASASocial), which took place at NASA Glenn Research Center. After talking to the NASA Glenn staff at LHXPO about the tentative location for the next NASA Social, I am really excited about attending the next NASA Social. (I was fortunate to attend an event in 2012. See my Cleveland NASA Tweetup blog post.)

As a result of a tweet I received after the LHXPO event, I learned about @NASAGlennBiz and @NASAsolutions. I look forward to learning about these Innovation Projects Office at NASA’s Glenn Research Center and NASA Technology Transfer programs.

What Others Are Saying

Here are some other articles that relate to this event, plus my blog post about the previous LaunchHouse event:

Epic Things . . . Do Them

Some People Dream Of Epic Things, While Others Stay Awake And Do Them.
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I have seen the following quote, which I really love, at other LaunchHouse events.

Some People Dream Of Epic Things, While Others Stay Awake And Do Them.

I thought that it was especially appropriate to see that quote as I was leaving LHXPO. I had spent the evening talking to people who were bringing new ideas to life. It was very energizing to be an observer of their success.

I congratulated Todd Goldstein, Co-Founder of LaunchHouse, on the success of the LHXPO evening, and he offered his assistance with this blog post.

Thank you to Todd Goldstein, and to LaunchHouse's Director of PR/Marketing & Partner, Stephanie Bartolone, and Director of Entrepreneurial Programming, Katie Connelly, for sending me the official LaunchHouse Accelerator Expo (LHXPO) booklet, and for confirming that I had the correct website and Twitter names for all the companies.

I look forward to learning about the further progress of the LHXPO 2015 companies.

 

"The ayes have it" - Historic FCC Vote on Net Neutrality

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Blog Date: 
Thursday, March 5, 2015

By @TomWheelerFCC, the "Ayes have it" - @FCC votes to use #TitleII to support #NetNeutrality/#OpenInternet
This is my screen capture from the FCC webcast, taken at the very moment
the historic vote was announced. The text is the official FCC closed captioning.

February 26, 2015!

"The ayes have it" - here are my @sos_jr tweets and retweets from this most historic vote by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) (@FCC)!!!

Official FCC Broadcast

The following is the official FCC broadcast and text from their website: fcc.gov/events/open-commission-meeting-february-2015

February 2015 Open Commission Meeting

February 26, 2015, 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM EST

Room TW-C305, 445 12th Street S.W., Washington, DC

 

The FCC held an Open Meeting on Thursday, February 26, 2015, on the subjects listed below:

  • Community Broadband:
    The Commission considered a Memorandum Opinion and Order addressing petitions filed by two municipal broadband providers asking that the Commission preempt provisions of state laws in North Carolina and Tennessee that restrict the abilities of communities to provide broadband service.
  • Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet:
    The Commission considered a Report and Order on Remand, Declaratory Ruling, and Order that responds to the Verizon court remand and adopts strong open Internet rules, grounded in multiple sources of the Commission’s legal authority, to ensure that Americans reap the economic, social, and civic benefits of an open Internet today and into the future.

 

Take Action: Contact Your Representative - - Again!

If you read my September 1, 2014, Take Action! @FCC and #NetNeutrality blog post, you know that I believe that the support of net neutrality is an important issue.

Now that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) (@FCC), under the leadership of Chairman Tom Wheeler (@TomWheelerFCC), has taken a vote to support net neutrality, we, the citizens that care about this issue, need to follow up with our representatives. We need them to support net neutrality.

Here is a direct link to the section of my Take Action! @FCC and #NetNeutrality blog post where you can see what my Senators (Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman) , and my Congresswoman (Marcia Fudge), wrote back to me. If you like what they say about supporting net neutrality, then please thank them for their ongoing support. If it was not clear where they stand on the issue, please let them know that you need them to take a very clear stand for net neutrality.

Please take action and contact your representatives:

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
www.whitehouse.gov/administration/president-obama

Members of Congress for all states can be found at:

Use this map to find your congressional district

You can embed this map from:
GovTrack.us/congress/members/map

For Ohio, call or write:

Senator Sherrod Brown
1301 East Ninth Street, Suite 1710
Cleveland, Ohio 44114
www.brown.senate.gov

Phone: (216) 522-7272
Fax: (216) 522-2239
Toll Free 1-888-896-OHIO (6446)
@SenSherrodBrown

Senator Rob Portman
1240 East 9th Street, Room 3061
Cleveland, Ohio 44199
www.portman.senate.gov

Phone: 216-522-7095
@SenRobPortman

Where I live, my US representative is:

Congresswoman Marcia Fudge
4834 Richmond Road, Suite #150
Warrensville Heights, Ohio 44128
www.fudge.house.gov

Phone: (216) 522-4900
Fax: (216) 522-4908
@RepMarciaFudge

Other Information

If you need more information, and have not read my earlier blog posts, I provide links to them here.

Blogiversary: Three

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Blog Date: 
Sunday, March 8, 2015

Blogiversary: Three!

2012 to 2015!!!

I am celebrating three years of having fun exploring our community and writing about our experiences!

First and foremost, I want to begin by thanking my great co-writer and wife, Julie Smith! I enjoy sharing the journey with her.

When I look at the titles and images associated with the blog posts from this past year, I get really excited. They not only bring back memories of all the enjoyable things we did this past year, but also make me anticipate the potential of the coming year! Please take a look at our blog posts at: sosAssociates.com/Blog

Images from blog posts from this past year
Enlarge view of 
all the images from blog posts from this past year

History

Hello, World! My First Blog Post!Three very fun and active years have passed since my first "Hello, World! My First Blog Post!" message! On my firstBlogiversary, I listed 120 organizations that I tracked.

For my second, Blogiversary: Two, I was tracking 140 organizations, and commented about the exciting growth in Cleveland and Akron, which made it difficult to keep up with my weekly tech/social media announcements.

So, on May 27, 2014, I did my very last weekly Cleveland Tech, Entrepreneur & Social Media Meetings Mon 5/26 - Mon 6/2 post. However, I still post daily @sos_jr meeting announcements over the lunch hour on Twitter at: Twitter.com/sos_jr -- please take a look and share with others by retweeting.

Today

The statement I put on the sosAssociates.com home page has not changed over these three years, since it still reflects the items that Julie and I write about:

sosAssociates.com is an extension of my @sos_jr Twitter interests -- taking it beyond the 140 characters. Current focus areas include:

  • Promoting and sharing experiences at Cleveland tech meetings, social media events, and some entrepreneur groups
  • WebSigCleveland.org
  • Website Design & Technology
  • Cleveland Cultural Events, Art, Theatre

Call For Action

2015 marks my 10th year of running the WebSigCleveland.org meetings. Held on the third Saturday of most months, all WebSigCleveland.org meeting are free and open to all, so please help me spread the word by inviting others. I run my WebSigCleveland.org meetings as a labor of love, so like last year, I want to ask you to please do the following to support all the "Tech, Entrepreneur & Social Media Meetings" in Cleveland and Akron.

Call for action! The reason I publish the following list is to encourage you to thank the leaders and assist in promoting their meetings. Please do the following:

  • See the names listed with the events in my blog posts, and follow them on Twitter, if you do that sort of thing (I find Twitter fun, and a great way to learn about a lot of great activities). Please share their meeting information on your favorite social media.

  • Most of these Cleveland tech, social media, and entrepreneur meetings are free or low cost. Please go out of your way to thank the leader(s) and let them know you appreciate their good work. Offer to buy them their favorite beverage.

  • Finally, if you see a group listed that is not currently meeting, or think of a topic that is not being covered, please volunteer to take a leadership role to make the meeting happen!

Our Community is much stronger for having these opportunities to learn from each other. Thank you for supporting each other.

Stuart's List - Please follow @sos_jr for announcements!

This list has grown to the point that I need help promoting them all. If you run one of these groups, please tweet out meeting announcements (it is easier to retweet than create). If you believe in what these groups are doing for Cleveland and Akron, please ACTIVELY promote them on all your favorite social media. Thank you!

I have put "2015" in bold for the groups that I know I added since last year, so you can check them out.

  1. .NET SIG http://www.bennettadelson.com/ComingEvents.aspx Follow: @Bennett_Adelson

  2. 20/30 Club Tech Committee (Cleveland Professional's Club) http://www.cleveland2030.org/calendar Follow: @CP2030 @kmsolorio

  3. Afternoons@Ahujahttp://afternoonsatahuja.com/ Follow: @JimDorazio

  4. AIGA Cleveland http://cleveland.aiga.org/ Follow: @aigacleveland

  5. Akron Big Data and Hadoop Group http://www.meetup.com/Akron-Big-Data-and-Hadoop-Group/

  6. Akron Canton PC Users Group http://www.acpcug.org/site3/

  7. Akron Chapter of The Association of Information Technology Professionals http://akron-aitp.org/

  8. 2015
    Akron Code Club http://www.meetup.com/AkronCodeClub/ Follow: @AkronCodeClub @jerrydantonio

  9. Akron Film+Pixel http://akronfilm.com/ Follow: @akronfilm

  10. Akron Game Developers http://www.meetup.com/Akron-Game-Developers/

  11. Akron Linux Users Group http://www.meetup.com/Akron-Linux-Users-Group/ Follow: @davidegts

  12. Akron Mini Maker Faire http://makerfaireakron.akronlibrary.org/http://www.makerfaireakron.com/ Follow: @AkronLibrary

  13. Akron Programming Languages Group http://www.meetup.com/Akron-Programming-Languages-Group/ Follow: @gsvolt

  14. Akron Software Developers Guild (Akron, OH) - Meetup http://www.meetup.com/AkronSDG/

  15. 2015
    Akron Women in Tech http://www.meetup.com/Akron-Women-In-Tech/ Follow: @AkronWiT @wirthdesign @MistressOfFrog

  16. Akron/Canton web meetup http://www.meetup.com/akroncantonweb/ Follow: @coffeeandcode

  17. AMC @ CWRU (CWRU's Association of Computing Machinery) http://acm.case.edu/ Follow: @cwruACM

  18. Association of Personal Computer User Groups http://apcug.net/events/http://ugls.apcug.net/FindUserGroup.aspx Follow: @apcug

  19. Bad Girl Ventures Cleveland http://www.badgirlventures.com/locations/cleveland/calendar/ Follow: @BGV_Cleveland

  20. Big Data Analytics Special Interest Group - Cleveland, Ohio http://www.meetup.com/Big-Data-Analytics-Special-Interest-Group/

  21. Bizdom Cleveland http://www.meetup.com/BizdomCleveland/ Follow: @BizdomCleveland

  22. Burning River Developers http://www.meetup.com/Burning-River-Developers/ Follow: @burningriverdev @kberridge @StuartSaunders

  23. Business Gateway Series http://www.csuohio.edu/business/global/gateway/ Follow: @LaunchHouse @CMLAWSchool

  24. C#/VB.Net SIG http://www.clevelanddotnet.info/http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-C-VB-Net-User-Group/ Follow: @SamNasr @CLEDotNet

  25. Canton Ohio Web Meetup Group http://www.meetup.com/Canton-Ohio-Web-Meetup/ Follow: @kkeiper1103

  26. Charged Conversation http://www.meetup.com/Charged-Conversation/events/164348292/ Follow: @ContextualElec @chris_gammell

  27. 2015
    CLE Byte http://www.meetup.com/CLE-Byte/ Follow: @clebyte @faehnrich

  28. 2015
    CLE Game Co-Op http://www.meetup.com/CLEGameCoOp/https://www.facebook.com/groups/CLEGameCoOp/ Follow: @CleGameCoop #GameOnCLE @playvue

  29. CLE Internet Marketing Meetup Group http://www.meetup.com/CLE-Internet-Marketing/ Follow: @CLEMeetup @JoeKneale

  30. Cleveland Adobe Users Group http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-Adobe-User-Group/ Follow: @cfaddict

  31. Cleveland Agile Group (#CleAG) http://www.meetup.com/ClevelandAgile/ Follow: @jonrstahl @chzy @DocOnDev Hashtag: #CleAG

  32. Cleveland Area DevOps Interest Group http://www.meetup.com/DevOpsCLE/ Follow: @devopscle @benjaminws

  33. Cleveland Area Python Interest Group http://clepy.org/http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-Area-Python-Interest-Group/ Follow: @CLEPY @dstanek @mcrute

  34. Cleveland Big Data and Hadoop User Group http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-Hadoop/

  35. Cleveland Boomerangs https://www.facebook.com/groups/clevelandboomerangs/events/

  36. Cleveland Chapter of the American Marketing Association http://clevelandama.com/ Follow: @ClevelandAMA

  37. Cleveland Civic Hacking Meetup http://www.meetup.com/cleveland-civic-hacking/ Follow: @JeffSchuler @OpenGeoCle

  38. Cleveland CocoaHeads http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-CocoaHeads/

  39. Cleveland Digital Publishing Users Group (CDPUG) http://www.cdpug.org/ Follow: @CDPUG

  40. Cleveland Drupal User Group http://www.meetup.com/cleveland-drupal/ Follow: @DrupalCleveland @JeffSchuler

  41. Cleveland Game Developers http://www.meetup.com/clevelandgamedev/ Follow: @pixelcream @mattperrin

  42. 2015
    Cleveland Game Devs http://www.clegamedevs.com/ Follow: @CleGameDevs

  43. Cleveland GiveCamp http://www.clevelandgivecamp.org/ Follow: @CleGiveCamp @MarkWSchumann @AmyCWong @AndrewCr @JonrStahl @LaurenceMingle @BeyerMatthew @NickBarendt

  44. Cleveland InDesign User Group http://www.indesignusergroup.com/chapters/cleveland/ Follow: @AprilClark

  45. Cleveland Indians Social Suite http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/cle/fan_forum/social_suite.jsphttp://mlb.mlb.com/fan_forum/social_media/index.jsp?c_id=cle Follow: @Indians

  46. Cleveland IT Security Meetup Group http://www.meetup.com/Hurricane-Labs-IT-Security-Meetup-Group/ Follow: @hurricanelabs

  47. Cleveland Java Meetup Group http://www.meetup.com/cleveland-java/ Follow: @JavaCleveland

  48. Cleveland JavaScript Meetup http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-JavaScript-Meetup/ Follow: @uzquiano @Jarmmi

  49. Cleveland Lean Startup Circle http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-Lean-Startup-Circle/ Follow: @nickbarendt @jonrstahl @DocOnDev @gsvitak

  50. Cleveland machine intelligentsia http://www.meetup.com/cleveland-machine-intelligence/ Follow: @SmartTypes @AndrewCr @mw44118 @excentrixweb @dstanek @bikegriffith

  51. 2015
    Cleveland Mobile App How To Marketing http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-Mobile-App-How-To-Marketing/ Follow: @mobileezapp

  52. Cleveland MongoDB Group http://www.meetup.com/MongoDB-Cleveland Follow: @uzquiano

  53. Cleveland MySQL Meetup http://www.meetup.com/mysql-cleveland/ Follow: @JavaCleveland @MySQLCleveland

  54. Cleveland Node.js User Group http://www.meetup.com/NodejsCleveland/ Follow: @maurerdotme @SPGrasso

  55. 2015
    Cleveland Perl Mongers http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-Perl-Mongers/ Follow: @RunByMany

  56. Cleveland Photographic Society http://www.clevelandphoto.org/ Follow: @CPSPhoto

  57. 2015
    Cleveland Podcaster Meetup http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-Podcaster-Meetup/ Follow: @LearnToPodcast

  58. Cleveland Public LIbrary TechCentral http://www.cpl.org/TheLibrary/TechCentral.aspxhttp://www.cpl.org/EventsClasses/ComputerClassesAssistance.aspx Follow: @techcentral_cpl @Cleveland_PL

  59. Cleveland Ruby Brigade http://www.meetup.com/ClevelandRuby/ Follow: @clerb @DocOnDev @chzy @Contribute007 @zspencer

  60. Cleveland Sencha Users Group http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-Sencha-Users-Group/ Follow: @CleSenchaGroup

  61. Cleveland SharePoint User Group http://www.sharepointcleveland.com/ Follow: @SharePointCLE @smartyskirt

  62. Cleveland Social Media Club! http://clevelandsmc.ning.com/ Follow: @SMCCLE

  63. 2015
    Cleveland Social Media Enthusiasts http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-Social-Media-Enthusiasts/ Follow: @SocialMediaEnth

  64. Cleveland Startup Weekend http://cleveland.startupweekend.org/ Follow: @SWCLE

  65. Cleveland Web Design and Development Meetup http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-Web-Design-and-Development-Meetup/ Follow: @aoirthoir

  66. Cleveland Web Standards Association (CWSA) http://www.clevelandwebstandards.org/ Follow: @CWSA

  67. Cleveland WordPress Bloggers http://www.meetup.com/cleveland-ohio-bloggers/ Follow: @ClevelandBlogs @WPTuneups

  68. 2015
    Cleveland WordPress Meetup http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-WordPress-Meetup/ Follow: @PhilHoyt

  69. Cleveland WPF User Group http://www.clevelandwpf.info/http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-WPF-User-Group/ Follow: @CLEWPF @SamNasr

  70. Cleveland.Com #CleTweetUp http://www.cleveland.com/tweetup/http://www.facebook.com/clevelandcom/eventshttps://twitter.com/i/#!/search/realtime/%23CLETweetup Follow: @ClevelandDotCom @dan_labbe @denisep

  71. ClevelandDotNet http://clevelanddotnet.blogspot.com/ Follow: @SamNasr

  72. 2015
    CleveSec http://www.meetup.com/CleveSec/ Follow: @CleveSec @Turtl3Up

  73. 2015
    Code for Summit County http://www.meetup.com/Code-for-Summit-County/ Follow: @pzula @prestonrhea

  74. CodeMash http://www.codemash.org/http://groups.google.com/group/CodeMash Follow: @CodeMash

  75. CodeRetreat http://coderetreat.org/about Follow: @CodeRetreat @coreyhaines

  76. Computers Assisting People Inc. (CAP) http://www.capinc.org/

  77. Content Strategy: Cleveland http://www.meetup.com/Content-Strategy-Cleveland/ Follow: @awakulch

  78. Conversion Rate Optimization Professionals' Association http://www.cropa.net/ Follow: @CROProA @mikeperla @akrejny

  79. 2015
    CWRU LaunchPad http://cwru.thelaunchpad.org/ Follow: @LaunchPadCWRU

  80. Data Visualization & Visual Analytics Meetup – Cleveland http://www.meetup.com/Data-Visualization-Visual-Analytics-Meetup-Cleveland/

  81. Drupal Camp Ohio http://drupalcampohio.org/ Follow: @DrupalCampOhio

  82. Enterprise Architect/Solution Architect Meetup http://www.meetup.com/Enterprise-Architect-Solution-Architect-Meetup/ Follow: @MySQLCleveland

  83. Entrepreneurs Club of America - Cleveland http://www.facebook.com/TECACleveland

  84. 2015
    Flashstarts http://www.flashstarts.com/ Follow: @Flashstarts

  85. 2015
    Friends of Ingenuity http://www.meetup.com/ingenuity/ Follow: @Ingenuityfest

  86. Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses at Cuyahoga Community College I http://www.tri-c.edu/workforce/GoldmanSachs/Pages/default.aspxhttp://www.goldmansachs.com/citizenship/10000-small-businesses/US/index.... Follow: @GoldmanSachs at @TriCedu

  87. Google Technology User Groups (GTUG) Cleveland https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/cleveland-gtughttp://www.gtugs.org/chapter.jsp?id=1026

  88. Gorilla Group http://www.thegorillagroup.org/ Follow: @TheGorillaGroup

  89. Great Lakes Geek http://www.greatlakesgeek.com/events/calendar.htm Follow: @GreatLakesGeek @DanHanson

  90. 2015
    Great Lakes Science Center http://www.greatscience.com/ Follow: @GLScienceCtr

  91. Greater Cleveland PC Users Group (GCPCUG) http://gcpcug.org/ Other Technology & User Groups in Ohio http://www.gcpcug.org/othergroups Follow: @GCPCUG @GeekClean

  92. Greater Cleveland R Group http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-UseR-Group/ Follow: @nhermez

  93. Greater Cleveland Web Business Owners and Wannabe's http://www.meetup.com/Greater-Cleveland-Web-Business-MeetUP/ Follow: @dave_van_horn

  94. Hack NEO http://hackneo.org/ Follow: @Hack4NEO

  95. HackCWRU http://www.hackcwru.com/ Follow: @HackCWRU

  96. Heights Library Computer Classes http://events.heightslibrary.org/computer-classes/ Follow: @heightslibrary

  97. HubSpot Cleveland User Group https://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=3860316 Follow: @Diadalsky @pr2020

  98. Hudson Software Craftmanship User Group (HUDSONSC) http://hudsonsc.com/meetings/ Follow: @HudsonSC

  99. INETA User Groups http://www.ineta.org/UserGroups/FindUserGroups.aspx Follow: @INETA

  100. Ingenuityfest Cleveland http://www.ingenuitycleveland.com/http://www.meetup.com/ingenuity/ Follow: @Ingenuityfest

  101. 2015
    Insivia http://www.insivia.com/seminar/ Follow: @insivia @andyhalko

  102. 2015
    Institute for the Science of Origins https://www.facebook.com/iso.originshttp://origins.case.edu/ Follow: @gstarkman

  103. International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Cleveland http://www.iabccleveland.com/ Follow: @IABCCleveland

  104. IT Martini www.itmartini.com Follow: @itmartini

  105. IxDA Cleveland (Northeast Ohio) http://www.ixda.org/local/ixda-cleveland-northeast-ohio Follow: @ixdacleveland

  106. Joomla!® User Group North East Ohio http://www.meetup.com/NEO-Joomla/ Follow: @gotmw

  107. JumpStart, Inc. http://www.jumpstartinc.org/entrepreneursupport/events.aspx Follow: @JumpStartInc

  108. 2015
    Kids & Code Meetup http://www.meetup.com/Kids-Code-Meetup/ Follow: @DaveShah @sadukie

  109. Lake Erie Moose Society http://www.meetup.com/Lake-Erie-Moose-Society/http://www.facebook.com/eriemoose Follow: @hacool

  110. 2015
    Launch League http://www.launchleague.org/ Follow: @LaunchLeague

  111. LeanDog, Inc.- Coming up @leandog http://www.leandog.com/events/ Follow: @leandog

  112. 2015
    Make on The Lake http://www.meetup.com/Make-on-the-Lake/ Follow: @leandog

  113. Makers' Alliance – Cleveland - Learn. Make. Grow. http://www.makersalliance.org/http://www.meetup.com/MakersAlliance/ Follow: @MakersAlliance @sdh7 @jhgorse @csanyk @N0maD_OH

  114. Mobile Monday Cleveland http://mobilemondaycleveland.com/http://www.meetup.com/Mobile-Monday-Cleveland/ Follow: @MobileMondayCLE @Michele_Messina

  115. MS Access/Excel Forum http://www.barbron.com/AccessSIG/

  116. N.E.O. Small Business Internet Marketing http://www.meetup.com/NEO-SB-Internet-Marketing/ Follow: @MichaelMirth @BobRess

  117. NEO Society for Technical Communication http://www.neostc.org/

  118. NEOOUG - Great Lakes Oracle Conference http://www.meetup.com/NEOOUG-Great-Lakes-Oracle-Conference/

  119. NEOSA, the COSE Technology Network http://NEOSA.org Follow: @NEOSA_Nellis @COSEsmallbiz

  120. NorTech http://www.nortech.org/ Follow: @NorTech

  121. North East Ohio WordPress Meetup http://www.meetup.com/NEOWordPress/ Follow: @brianlayman

  122. Northeast Ohio (NEO) IT Think Tank! https://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2268461&home= Follow: @NEOITThinkTank

  123. Northeast Ohio chapter of Business Marketing Association (BMA) http://www.marketing.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageID=5597http://www.facebook.com/BMANEO Follow: @BMANEO

  124. 2015
    Northeast Ohio Chapter of the Information Systems Security Association http://neoissa.org/

  125. Northeast Ohio Information Security Forum http://www.neoisf.org/ Follow: @NEOISF

  126. Northeast Ohio ISSA Security Meetup Group http://neoissa.org/http://www.meetup.com/NEO-ISSA/

  127. Northeast Ohio PC Club http://www.neopc.org/

  128. Northeast Ohio Scala Programmers http://www.meetup.com/neoscala/ Follow: @neoscala @relrod6

  129. Northeast Ohio Software Quality Assurance Association @NOSQAA http://nosqaa.org/ Follow: @NOSQAA

  130. Northeast Ohio Usability Professionals' Association (NEOUPA) http://www.uxpacleveland.org/ Follow: @NEOUPA

  131. Ohio Blogging Association - #Cleveland http://www.facebook.com/ohblogging Follow: @OHBlogging @poiseinparma

  132. Ohio Mobile Developers (Oh-Mo-Dev) http://www.meetup.com/OhMoDev/ Follow: @Anth0nyRussell @lancewmccarthy

  133. Ohio North SQL Server User Group http://www.ohionorthsqlserverug.org/ Follow: @ONSSUG

  134. Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Cleveland Follow: @owasp

  135. 2015
    OpenNEO http://openneo.org/ Follow: @openneo

  136. OSC Tech Lab http://www.meetup.com/Startup-Akron/http://www.osctechlab.com/events.html Follow: @oscTechLab @n_petroski

  137. PechaKucha Night Cleveland http://www.pecha-kucha.org/night/cleveland Follow: @PechaKuchaClev @mchristoff

  138. PodCamp Cleveland http://www.podcampcleveland.com/ Follow: @PodCmpCleveland

  139. Rosetta Tech Talks For now will be on http://www.eventbrite.com/ Follow: @RosettaMktg's #RosettaTechTalks

  140. Rustbelt Refresh http://rustbeltrefresh.com/ Follow: @RustbeltRefresh @CWSA @bdielman @bradcolbow @bridgetstewart

  141. 2015
    SEA Change http://www.seachangeneo.org/ Follow: @SEAChangeNEO

  142. Shaker | LaunchHouse http://www.meetup.com/LaunchHouse/ Follow: @LaunchHouse @DarCaldwell @jrgifford @mimibuildwealth

  143. Slideluck Potshow Cleveland http://www.facebook.com/SlideluckPotshowCLE

  144. 2015
    Small Business Accelerator Meetup http://www.meetup.com/Small-Business-Accelerator-Meetup/

  145. Springboard http://www.springboardenterprises.org/builditbig/cleveland Follow: @SpringboardEnt

  146. StartCLE https://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=3688748http://startcle.com/ Follow: @StartCLE @danyoungdxy

  147. Stir Trek http://stirtrek.com/ Follow: @stirtrek

  148. SunDown RunDown – Akron http://sundownrundown.org/akron.asp Follow: @SDRDorg

  149. SYN/HAK, the Akron Hackerspace http://synhak.org/wiki/Main_Pagehttp://www.meetup.com/synhak/ Follow: @SYNHAK @gsvolt

  150. Tangent @ DXY www.meetup.com/DXY-Solutions-LLC/https://www.facebook.com/DXYdoes/events

  151. Tech Savvy Women https://www.facebook.com/techsavvywomen/eventshttp://www.purposefulwoman.com/businesses/tech-savvy-women/ Follow: @JJDiGeronimo @janecalexander

  152. TechLife NEO http://www.meetup.com/TechLifeNEO/ Follow: @bblanquera @consultski

  153. TEDxAkron http://tedxakron.com/ Follow: @TEDxAkron

  154. TEDxCLE http://www.tedxcle.com/ Follow: @TEDxCLE

  155. The City Club http://www.cityclub.org/Programs/Upcoming/tabid/173/Default.aspx Follow: @TheCityClub

  156. The Microsoft Store | Beachwood Place Mall http://www.meetup.com/Microsoft-Store-Beachwood-Place-Mall/

  157. 2015
    The National Robotics League http://gonrl.org/national-competitions/ Follow: @goNRL

  158. Using the Internet to Promote Your Local Business http://www.meetup.com/Using-the-Internet-to-Promote-Your-Local-Business/ Follow: @DustonMcGroarty

  159. UX Akron http://www.meetup.com/UX-Akron/ Follow: @carologic

  160. UXBookClub Cleveland http://uxbookclub.org/doku.php?id=cleveland Follow: @uxbookclub

  161. We Can Code IT (Empowering Girls and Women in Technology) http://wecancodeit.org/home/schedule/ Follow: @WeCanCodeIT @MelKMcGee @ShanaInCle

  162. Web Association http://www.webassociation.org/ Follow: @CLEWebAssoc

  163. WebSigCleveland.org http://www.WebSigCleveland.org/ Follow: Me! @sos_jr Hashtag: #WebSigCLE

  164. WordCamp North Canton http://northcanton.wordcamp.org/ Follow: @NorthCantonWC Hashtag for 2014: #WCNC2014

  165. Working Women Connection - Cleveland East Chapter http://www.meetup.com/LaunchHouse/https://www.facebook.com/clevelandeastwwchttp://workingwomenconnection.com/teams/cleveland-east/ Follow: @WorkingWomeNC at @LaunchHouse via @KatieJConnelly

 

In the rush to get this list out, I know there are probably errors. If there are bad links, please feel free to let me know via Twitter at @sos_jr or in the comments below. Of more importance, if you know of a tech or social media meeting in our community that I should add to my list, please leave a comment below, so all can share in your knowledge.

Thank you to all. I'm looking forward to another year full of great possibilities!

Stuart O. Smith, Jr., M.N.O.
=========================================
Web SIG Cleveland Leader - WebSigCleveland.org
Blogging at: sosAssociates.com
Follow me on: @sos_jr

Cleveland GiveCamp 2015: Sixth Year of Free Tech for Nonprofits

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Blog Date: 
Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Cleveland GiveCamp 2015: Sixth Year of Free Tech for Nonprofits
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The Mission of Cleveland GiveCamp is to pair creative and technology talent with nonprofits in need.

The tech and design volunteers at Cleveland GiveCamp (@CleGiveCamp) 2015 really "wowed" the nonprofit partners served this year with some incredible projects. The many tweets I embedded in this blog really give a flavor of the weekend. I recommend scanning through them and reading those that pique your interest.

I have been fortunate to be able to attend all six Cleveland GiveCamp weekends! Cleveland GiveCamp is believed to be the largest in the United States. Read on to learn how so many volunteers come together to make a huge difference in our community.

 

 

Pre-Cleveland GiveCamp 2015

This is my fifth year of having the honor of serving on the Cleveland GiveCamp Steering Committee. Of all the organizations that I have been associated with, I need to say the Cleveland GiveCamp Steering Committee is the most unique in how the team works together so incredibly seamlessly. The individuals on the team recruit sponsors, volunteers, and nonprofit partners, and organize meals and facilities for the weekend. We don't have a chair that leads us -- we just meet regularly to organize our tasks on Trello.com, so that we reach our annual goals!

2015 Cleveland GiveCamp Steering Committee
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2015 Cleveland GiveCamp Steering Committee

See all the Cleveland GiveCamp 2015 Team Photos by Albert Bell (@PhotoAlBell)

2015 Cleveland GiveCamp Steering Committee:

 

Financial sponsors are key to Cleveland GiveCamp's success in feeding and caring for so many talented volunteers for the weekend. They donated a record amount in 2015, and assisted in promoting the event to the tech community. I am pleased that I have had friends approach me this year about how their tech companies can get involved.

Thank you to Cleveland GiveCamp 2015 sponsors!
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Thank you to Cleveland GiveCamp 2015 sponsors:

2015 Cleveland GiveCamp Sponsor Information
Download PDF of
2015 Cleveland GiveCamp Sponsor Information

 

If you guys have an opportunity, and you have the skils, please help somebody else. Because GiveCamp really made a huge difference in our world!

On May 28, 2015, I was fortunate to hear Katrina Blatt (@KatrinaBlatt) from Malachi House (@MalachiHouse) present at the 2015 CDPUG (Cleveland Digital Publishing Users Group - @CDPUG) 11th Annual CDPUG Showcase. She shared the important mission of Malachi House, plus discussed how Cleveland GiveCamp made it possible to have a website to convey this mission to the greater community.

Please invite nonprofit leaders to view this video to learn how Cleveland GiveCamp could possibility assist them!

Here are some of my tweets and retweets from before the Cleveland GiveCamp weekend. They will give you an idea of the promotion and online activity that occurred before the event even started.

 

 

Day 1: Friday, July 17th, Cleveland GiveCamp 2015

My sons, Kevin and Mike, always come with me early Friday afternoon to help set up.

What a difference it makes this being the sixth year - Cleveland GiveCamp is such a "well-oiled machine" of productive volunteers! When we got there, everything from the set-up of chairs and tables, to the establishment of a temporary kitchen was already done. We had nothing to do!

Please click on this photo to view my Day One photos. There is also a full screen button to open a large slideshow.

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos/videos,
please view them here.

There was a record number of tech and design volunteers this year. Therefore, I served on the Social Media Team with my son, Kevin, instead of on a team building websites for nonprofits. Mike served on the TrueNorth Cultural Arts Team.

2015 Cleveland GiveCamp Social Media Team
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2015 Cleveland GiveCamp Social Media Team

See all the Cleveland GiveCamp 2015 Team Photos by Albert Bell (@PhotoAlBell)

 

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Kevin with the Social Media Team
Mike with the TrueNorth Cultural Arts Team

I also noticed that Cleveland GiveCamp is serving more nonprofits from the Akron area this year. Cleveland GiveCamp has always served nonprofits from all over the Northeast Ohio area. It is great that the word is getting out to neighboring communities beyond Cuyahoga County.

There were also a lot more tents this year than in the past. Volunteers really want to live the Cleveland GiveCamp experience for every minute of the weekend.

Learn more about the day by viewing my tweets/retweets, which include great photos that were shared. Please retweet what you find interesting.

 

 

Day 2: Saturday, July 18th, Cleveland GiveCamp 2015

Mike was the main man of the Smiths attending! I am so proud of my son for working from 8:30 am to past 12:00 midnight on the TrueNorth Cultural Arts Team. Every time I looked in on his team, he was busy working with his head down doing coding.

The WordPress theme that his team built used a type of markup that I will need to have Mike teach me, since it was not something I have used before. I really like the design that the TrueNorth Cultural Arts Team created for the new website. I heard in the closing presentations about the new functionality it offers in allowing artists to register online.

TrueNorth Cultural Arts Team - Cleveland GiveCamp 2015
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TrueNorth Cultural Arts Team - Cleveland GiveCamp 2015

See all the Cleveland GiveCamp 2015 Team Photos by Albert Bell (@PhotoAlBell)

 

Mike with the TrueNorth Cultural Arts Team
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I do have to say that when it got dark outside, the team that Mike was on had the coolest office at Cleveland GiveCamp, if not all of Cleveland. They were on the top deck of the LeanDog Software (@LeanDog)/Arras Keathley Agency (@AKACleveland) boat. To be on Lake Erie with view of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (@Rock_Hall) is an incredible workspace.

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Mike at the best office location in Cleveland at LeanDog/AKA boat
TrueNorth Cultural Arts Team works with a great view of the Rock HallPast midnight, ready to go home after working on the LeanDog/AKA boat

As I have mentioned in past years' blogs (see links below), one of the things that I like about Cleveland GiveCamp is its location that supports creativity. In addition to the boat, I like seeing all the airplanes at Burke Lakefront Airport (@BurkeLakefront). Plus, as an added benefit of being at this Cleveland airport, visitors can view all the International Women's Air & Space Museum (@WomenInTheAir) exhibits for free.

Please click on this photo to view all my Day Two photos and videos. There is also a full screen button to open a large slideshow.

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos/videos,
please view them here.

Day two tweets and retweets.

Note in the tweets the resources from the following two newCleveland GiveCamp training sessions that were added in 2015:

 

 

Day 3: Sunday, July 19th, Cleveland GiveCamp 2015 - SUCCESS!

You really had to be there to understand the strong feelings experienced at the closing ceremony. Attendees are tired from a weekend of hard work, and at the same time very energized by the experience!

To get a sense of the closing, I invite you to see the videos posted on GreatLakesGeek.Com (@GreatLakesGeek) by Dan Hanson (@DanHanson) at: Cleveland GiveCamp 2015 19 Non-Profits Helped July 17-19, 2015

Here are the 19 Cleveland GiveCamp 2015 nonprofit partners!

Please click on this photo to view my Day Three photos. There is also a full screen button to open a large slideshow.

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos/videos,
please view them here.

Day three tweets and retweets.

In addition to tweets about the great success of the weekend, you might also find useful the resources shared by Heidi Cool (@hacool) in her WordPress training. We are fortunate to have had Heidi Cool share her knowledge to the nonprofit leaders over the weekend, plus she has spoken publicly at my WebSigCleveland.org meetings and elsewhere.

 

 

Take Action for 2016

Take action! Please help Cleveland GiveCamp assist more Cleveland charities in 2016 by doing the following:

Since Cleveland is welcoming the 41st Republican National Convention (@2016CLE - #2016cle) on July 18-21 2016, Cleveland GiveCamp will not be on its normal third Saturday in July next year. Watch for announcements with further details.

Read more about experiences at Cleveland GiveCamp in the following blog posts/articles, and share links to the blogs with others:

The more people read and learn about Cleveland GiveCamp, the more the chance of new nonprofits being reached in future years. If you wrote a blog post or article about Cleveland GiveCamp, please let me know by leaving a comment below, or sharing with me on Twitter. I will add it to this list.

I highly recommend seeing the Cleveland GiveCamp Facebook Photo Album:

There has been a lot of Twitter activity since the weekend. Here is some I captured for this blog post:

Learn more about Cleveland GiveCamp in my blog posts from past Cleveland GiveCamp weekends:

See you in 2016!


DXY Tangent: Biomimicry!

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Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Author(s): 

DXY Tangent: Biomimicry!

Biomimicry! What an interesting topic -- as is expected when you attend one of DXY's Tangent events!

Biomimetics or biomimicry is the imitation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems.

Here is the official announcement from DXY about the Tuesday, August 11, 2015, Tangent entitled: The Things We Mimic...

The Topic

When we think about an elevator, we see levers, gears, cables, and pulleys. When they think about an elevator, they see elephants, and spiders, and birds. The Biomimicry fellows at the University of Akron investigate the world and consider all of the ways nature can inspire new, more sustainable solutions to improve the way products work or how social and economical challenges can be more optimally dealt with.

Please join us for the Tangent @DXY to learn more about Biomimicry being researched and implemented right here in Northeast Ohio!

The Speaker

Bor-Kai (Bill) Hsiung is a Sherwin-Williams sponsored corporate Biomimicry Fellow at the Biomimicry Research & Innovation Center; a PhD candidate co-advised by Dr. Todd Blackledge and Dr. Matthew Shawkey in the Integrated Bioscience program at The University of Akron. He is also a trained Biomimicry Specialist (2011) by Biomimicry 3.8. Bor-Kai is coming to Biomimicry with interests of studying the material properties of spider silks. He is achieving his goal by doing spider research, with a little twist. Instead of studying spider silks, his research is now focusing on studying nanostructures and color producing mechanisms in spiders, especially for colors that have structural bases (i.e., structural colors). Bor-Kai envisions Biomimicry to be the hope to sustainable and more eco-friendly technologies. You can reach him at borkaihsiung[at]gmail.com.

Daphne Fecheyr-Lippens biography includes a lot of bio. While getting her MS in Biotechnology she realized that she didn’t fit in as well as the rest of her classmates. For a long time she was looking for her passion, which she finally found after learning about Biomimicry. Now she realizes that she fits best within an interdisciplinary team, where she can bring a nature-centered perspective to solving problems. She is getting her PhD at The University of Akon, the reason why she left her comfortable habitat of Ghent (Belgium). For her doctoral research, which is sponsored by Parker Hannifin, she is learning from avian eggshells how to create eco-friendly and innovative materials that protect against harmful UV exposure. Together with the other fellows, she co-authors a blog germinature.com about anything related to Biomimicry. Her love for doing good and changing the status quo is also reflected in her startup, JASWIG, LLC, where together with a team of eight they make standing desks for children. By tackling the global occurrence of “the sitting disease” at its core cause, they want to change a societal norm. You can follow her on Twitter (@DaFecheyr) or please e-mail daphne[at]fecheyr.be as she is always interested in connecting with like-minded people. 

Emily Kennedy is a Biomimicry Fellow in the Integrated Bioscience PhD Program at the University of Akron. Her graduate studies are sponsored by GOJO Industries, the inventor of PURELL® Advanced Instant Hand Sanitizer. Emily spends two days a week embedded in the GOJO R&D department supporting sustainable product and process innovation inspired by nature. For her dissertation, she is generating and testing theory about best practices for biomimetic innovation; with a particular focus on what works in business contexts. Emily believes a procedural template will channel the biomimetic innovation process in a manner that boosts outcome value. 

Emily has a BA in International Relations (Minor: Environmental Studies) from Colgate University and is a certified Innovation Engineering Black Belt. Emily can be contacted at ebkennedy22[at]gmail.com. 

Biomimicry Fellows - University of Akron

Here are our observation of the University of Akron Biomimicry Fellows' talks:

Daphne Fecheyr-Lippens

The meeting kicked off with Daphne Fecheyr-Lippens (@DaFecheyr) sharing a video by Sustainable Human (@SustainableMan) -- How Wolves Change Rivers -- which is an incredible story about the impact of wolves being reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park. It really makes you think! If the introduction of wolves in 1995 (also see this interesting Wikipedia entry) can have such a HUGE effect on the environment in just 20 years, imagine what changes could be made by modifying human behavior!

We recommend you watch this!

NOTE: There are "elk" pictured in this video when the narrator is referring to "deer."
This is because the narrator is British and the British word for "elk"
is "red deer" or "deer" for short. The scientific report this is based on
refers to elk so we wanted to be accurate with the truth of the story.

 

Daphne Fecheyr-Lippens did a great job of relating the video to the principles of biomimetics. By studying nature, we can learn how to make products that benefit humankind that are more efficient.

Next, we examined abalone shells that were passed around the room. Daphne noted that while they are made from the same material as sidewalk chalk, which is brittle and crumbles when struck, the abalone shells are strong enough to potentially deflect a bullet. What makes the abalone shell so impervious to attack?

Centuries of evolution of the abalone has created a material where protein and other organic materials are added to calcium carbonate (CaCO3) to make a very strong shell. The challenge is for researchers to use the principles of biomimetics to unlock the secrets of this material, and find real world uses that benefit humans.

To learn more, see the New York Times (@nytimes) article we found, Material as Tough as Steel? The Abalone Fits the Bill

We also found this YouTube video, Mollusc shells take a beating without shattering, from a New Scientist (@NewScientist) article entitled Battle-hardened oyster may help toughen combat shields, which shows how the nanoscale structure of shells makes the calcite structure strong.

Emily Kennedy

The archerfish's ability to shoot water droplets with deadly force is remarkable. An archerfish can bring down insects and other prey up to three meters (9.84 feet) above the water's surface.

Here is a video we found that demonstrates this unique abilty:

 

Emily Kennedy shared this information about the ability of the archerfish, and then challenged the attendees at DXY's Tangent to think about a practical use for the process of creating this powerful stream of fluid. Perhaps, by applying the mechanics that have evolved in this fish over generations, a useful product can be developed that uses less electricity to move fluids -- an energy-efficient dispensing method based on nature!

Bor-Kai (Bill) Hsiung

The presentation about biomimicry wrapped up with the attention-grabbing activities of passing around spiders (they were dead and in glass vials), and shining lights on some really cool shoes.

Bor-Kai (Bill) Hsiung's (@bkHsiung) biomimicry fellowship is sponsored by Sherwin-Williams (@SherwinWilliams). He is interested in eco-friendly technology for creating color. He shared with us that the color blue used in much of our clothing is manufactured using a process that can generate a lot of pollution and waste. He asks if there is a better way of producing color -- a way that uses systems of nature.

If you are arachnophobic, you would not have enjoyed this part of the meeting. Bill provided a tarantula and other spiders in vials, and invited us to use our iPhone lights to illuminate them. Under normal lighting, they were just plain, dead spiders, but with the focused light bouncing directly back, bright colors were seen on the spiders.

Here is a video we found that shows the effect. Also, be sure to see the videos that Bill sent Stuart in the blog posts and tweets below.

Bill then brought our attention to his normal black shoes, and asked a person behind me to shine his iPhone light directly at the shoes. "Wow, that's amazing," we heard the person say, but all we saw were the black shoes. Then Stuart shined his iPhone light and we watched the shoes glow with iridescent colors. The effect only works when a person is in direct line with the light bouncing back.

Here is a video that Bill sent us via twitter after the meeting of the Adidas black Xeno shoe. Believe us, that the Introducing XENO video does not demonstrate the full effect. It is much more impressive in person.

 

To learn more, see some of Bor-Kai (Bill) Hsiung's research papers on ResearchGate website here.

GLBio - Innovation through Biomimicry!

Wow! We know that "wow" might be an overused word, but it does fit when describing what GLBio (@GLBiomimicry) is achieving in Northeast Ohio.

GLBio consists of a collaboration of Northeast Ohio organizations and individuals focused on developing a place-based, living learning ecosystem based on biomimicry. Currently, over 100 individuals from all elements of the NEO community are involved in this collaborative effort ranging from business, educational, medical and public and philanthropic sectors. Collectively these groups are engaged in working to determine what structures and processes are needed to establish Northeast Ohio as the world’s preeminent biomimicry lens capital. Additionally, these groups are exploring means to leverage local assets for economic advantage.

We learned from GLBio's director of outreach, Carol Thaler, that they are the only educationally driven economic development biomimicry program in the world. Some similar work is being done in the country of South Africa, and in the Netherlands, but nowhere else in the world is there a program like the one here in our community.

Carol announced the names of some of the foundation supporters of GLBio: The Cleveland Foundation (@CleveFoundation), GAR Foundation (@GARFoundation), and Nord Family Foundation. Stuart associates these foundations as leaders in promoting quality educational programs.

 

GLBio Partners
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(Courtesy of Biomimicry Fellows Presentation)

There are many local Northeast Ohio companies that partner with GLBio. Rather than provide an outdated list -- since we are sure that more will be added in the new academic year -- we invite you to visit the GLBio website for their list of partners and sponsors.

 

GLBio Contact Information
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(Courtesy of Biomimicry Fellows Presentation)

In addition to learning of the work of GLBio (@GLBiomimicry) on their website, be sure to hear directly from the Biomimicry Fellows from the University of Akron (@Uakron) on their Germinature blog.

Welcome to Germinature! This blog is co-authored by Biomimicry Fellows being trained in a five year Integrated Bioscience PhD Program at the University of Akron (UA). The Biomimicry Fellowship program launched in August 2012. The purpose of this blog is to share our educational experience and draw readers into the fascinating world of biomimicry. We encourage you to comment regularly, raise questions, and ignite discussions!

Bor-Kai (Bill) Hsiung (@bkHsiung) was kind enough to send Stuart a direct message on Twitter recommending these two Germinature blog posts that expand on his presentation:

To learn about a real world biomimetics case study, see Daphne Fecheyr-Lippens' TEDxCLE 2015 Talk (@TEDxCLE):

We also want to thank Chuck Soder (@ChuckSoder), the technology reporter for Crain's Cleveland Business (@CrainsCleveland), for sending Stuart a direct message on Twitter with links to two articles about GLBio (@GLBiomimicry).

The first article, from 2013, gives great insight into the early work of GLBio founder Thomas N. Tyrrell to make biomimicry become part of Northeast Ohio's culture. The second article presents some current Northeast Ohio projects that use processes learned from nature.

Here are the links so you can learn more:

#DXYtangent

We are very grateful to DXY for organizing this and other Tangent events, so that we can learn about the unique resources in our backyard. There is so much happening in Northeast Ohio!

Daniel Nelson (@TheOneDanNelson) emceed the evening, and stated that the purpose of Tangent is to go beyond DXY's creative work to showcase others' innovative endeavors.

We thought it would be interesting for you to view a list of past #DXYtangent event topics. We grabbed these listings mostly from DXY's Facebook events, plus we have added Twitter names and links to encourage you to learn more about these interesting northeast Ohio resources:

We have bolded the names of the Tangents we have attended. After reviewing this list, we wish we had seen them all!

  • first Tangent @DXY
    Tuesday, February 11, 2014
    DXY does medical and for our very first Tangent @DXY we're partnering with DragonID LLC (@drgnid), a Cleveland firm also developing bleeding-edge medical technology. Eugene Malinskiy (@emalinskiy), the CEO and owner of DragonID, LLC, a healthcare innovation and design firm focused on surgical devices, medical software, imaging platforms, and complex statistical analysis, will share his latest project that combines all the awesome things; medtech, big data, Africa, telecom and more!
    http://www.meetup.com/DXY-Solutions-LLC/events/163742442/

  • Tangent @DXY - Jane Alexander, CTO Cleveland Museum of Art
    April 8, 2014 - April 9, 2014
    DXY does arts & culture and for our second Tangent @DXY, we're bringing in Jane Alexander (@JaneCAlexander), CTO of The Cleveland Museum of Art (@ClevelandArt). Jane is responsible for technology implementation at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Jane's strategic vision played a key role in creating the innovative Gallery One. The revolutionary space features the largest multi-touch screen in the United States, which displays images of over 3,500 objects from the museum's world-renowned permanent collection. Jane will discuss the technology behind Gallery One and innovative technology on the horizon for one of the greatest art museums in the world.

  • Tangent DXY - Fun with Robotics!
    Tuesday, May 13, 2014
    Please join us for an awesome Tangent @DXY May 13. This month's Tangent features one of the coolest technology developments of our time ... robots! Dr. Roger Quinn joins us from The Center for Robotics Research at Case Western Reserve University to discuss biologically inspired robotics. In addition to his talk, Dr. Quinn will be bringing in some of his labs’ robots for an in depth look at how biology can inspire robotic design. Learn about design principles of robotics, see cool robots up close and personal and check out different uses of robots here on earth, other planets, and moons!

  • Tangent @DXY - Fun with Exoskeletons!
    Tuesday, June 10, 2014
    You're invited to the fourth installment of Tangent@DXY! This month's speaker, Skyler Dalley, comes to us from Parker Hannifin (@ParkerHannifin), a global leader in motion and control technologies, based right here in Cleveland! Skyler joined Parker to work on the Indego Device, a powered lower-limb orthosis that enables fully assisted standing, walking, and sitting or individuals with mobility impairment or paralysis, also known as an exoskeleton. As of this year, Parker has obtained clinical trial agreements with five top-ranked rehabilitation institutions in the U.S. and continue to demonstrate the benefits of Indego for use in therapy and at home.
    https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tangent-dxy-fun-with-exoskeletons-tickets-11728515305

  • Tangent @DXY - Justin Carson, Cofounder Platform Brewery
    Tuesday, October 14, 2014
    DXY does technology & beverages and for our next Tangent @DXY, we're bringing in Justin Carson (@JustinBeertech), Cofounder of Platform Brewery (@PlatformBeers) and owner of JC Beertech. Justin started JC Beertech as a one-man operation 14 years ago. It has grown to service 5,000 customers in five states and employ fifty individuals. In order to expand his passion for good beer, Justin and his partner Paul Benner opened Platform Brewery to the public in July 2014. Unlike any other, Platform offers an incubator program to assist home-brewers transition into the marketplace. Platform is a full production and distribution facility with an on-site tasting room. Please join us for a Tangent @DXY to learn more about some of the coolest technology being developed in Cleveland right now!

  • Tangent @DXY - Ian Charnas, Manager think[box]
    Tuesday, November 18, 2014
    DXY does technology & art and for our next Tangent @DXY, we're bringing in Ian Charnas (@IanCharnas) manager at think[box] (@CWRUthinkbox), Case Western Reserve University (@CWRU). Ian Charnas currently manages think[box], a $30M makerspace at Case Western Reserve University. His personal work blends art and technology in creatively-themed exhibits and events, including the World's Largest Twin Musical Tesla Coils, a Magical Mustache Mirror, and a Waterfall Swingset. Mr. Charnas and his work have been featured on Wired.com and Wired Magazine, NPR online, Popular Mechanics, IEEE Spectrum, Boing-Boing, Make Magazine, PitchFork, and Hack-a-Day. He aims to inspire creativity and the belief that you can do anything. Learn more at thinkbox.case.edu

  • DXY Tangent | What is Dark Matter?
    Tuesday, February 24, 2015
    For our next Tangent @DXY, we're bringing in Glenn Starkman (@gstarkman), Professor of physics and astronomy and director of the Center for Education and Research in Cosmology and Astrophysics at Case Western Reserve University (@CWRU). The Topic: We look at galaxies and we see that the gravity of the ordinary matter can't possibly stop them from flying apart. We look at clusters of galaxies and come to the same conclusion. In fact, we need dark matter to make those structures in the first place. Yet the dark matter detectors we have built for the last 30 years have consistently failed to find dark matter, and we've failed to make dark matter at the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva. So what could that dark matter be? And how could we look for it? Please join us for the Tangent @DXY to learn more about the oldest mysteries being researched in Cleveland right now!

  • Writing In The Digital Age
    Tuesday, April 14, 2015
    For our next Tangent @DXY, we're bringing in Anne Trubek, Founder and CEO, Belt Magazine (@Belt_Magazine), Writer-in-Residence, Oberlin College (@OberlinCollege). The Topic How has texting, tweeting, updating, and emailing altered our habits of communication, our spelling conventions, our writing and, most provocatively, the English language? This talk will disabuse your fears over getting digital writing "wrong" while discussing the very real changes the digital age has made to writing and language. Please join us for the Tangent @DXY to learn more about the oldest technics we use every day being researched in Cleveland right now!

 

For future Tangents, follow DXY's events on Facebook,MeetUp, and Eventbrite, and watch for Twitter announcements: @DXYdoes

A BIG thank-you to Dan Young (@DanYoungDXY), CEO of DXY, for making these Tangent events happen. They are a great asset to our community.

Tweets and Retweets

Here are some of the tweets and retweets that relate to this DXY Tangent event on biomimicry. Please share with others by retweeting items of interest.

 

@Flashstarts Demo Day 2015 - #FSDDay

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Monday, September 7, 2015

@Flashstarts Demo Day 2015 - #FSDDay

It was fascinating to meet and learn about the Flashstarts 2015 Accelerator Class at the Flashstarts' Demo Day, Wednesday, August 19, 2015 at House of Blues Cleveland (@HOBCleveland). I find it very enjoyable to engage in conversation with such creative Cleveland entrepreneurs.

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Flashstarts Co-Founder & CEO Charles Stack kicks off Demo Day
Flashstarts Co-Founder & CFO/COO Jennifer Neundorfer kicks off Flashstarts Demo Day Flashstarts Co-Founder & CFO/COO Jennifer NeundorferCharles Stack on what it took to create these startups Flashstarts Demo Day 2015 at the House Of Blues ClevelandThank you Flashstarts Demo Day 2015 sponsors!

I highly recommend you open the PDF file I created from the Flashstarts 2015 Accelerator Class web page while reading my blog. The PDF file gives background information on the 11 startups, including company descriptions, founders' names, and important links to resources. Also, be sure to see the tweets at the bottom of this blog post, since they share links to interesting resources and photos from the evening.

Click image to view PDF in new window
Flashstarts 2015 Accelerator Class
Click image to view PDF in new window

Believe me, it is best to attend Flashstarts' Demo Day in person -- you learn much more by asking direct questions to the startups' representatives. For those of you who were unable to attend, I was told that videos from Flashstarts demo day may be provided in the future. I recommend you watch them if they become available.

At the time of this writing, there are already video interviews of six of the 2015 Accelerator Class founders on the Flashstarts YouTube Channel,

If you need more information, I recommend contacting Flashstarts at:

Here are all my photos from the evening:

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos/videos,
please view them here.

Flashstarts 2015 Accelerator Class

Brilliency

I did not have time to get to talk to the staff at the Brilliency (@Brilliency) demo booth during Flashstarts' Demo Day, so I can't add any more information beyond that provided by Flashstarts (see the PDF file I created from their website). I can say that even before coming to the event, I was intrigued by the idea of using the gamification of energy usage to increase efficiency. I believe that if done right, this type of human behavior modification, with positive reinforcements, holds great promise.

I found this video on YouTube about Brilliency:

 

Founder on Twiitter: Laura E. Steinbrink (@BRILLIENCYlaura)

Colign

Before the pitch section of the Flashstarts' Demo event, the first booth I visited that evening was for Colign (@Colign).

Colign
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I learned that with the massive amount of intellectual property data available, there needs to be a method to organize the information. Colign organizes the information so that it can be used by researchers to streamline the research process.

I did not see a demonstration of Colign's product, but find the idea on their website of providing an "interactive visual database" interesting. I look forward to learning more as they provide information on their website as they launch their product.

Founder on Twitter: Kevin DeFranco (@Kevin_DeFranco)

Free-D

If you do a search of my past sosAssociates blog posts, you will find many mentions of 3D printers (including blogs about: TechCentral,TechCentral opening,IngenuityFest,SYN/HAK,Maker Faire,TechPint, and more). This is because 3D printers are a great way to prototype devices, and the tech organizations and entrepreneurs I write about use them to be creative.

Imagine that you have an idea and have designed a prototype, but don't have access to a 3D printer. Would you know of the best place to print your design in 3D with the right level of quality, and to have it delivered when you needed it?

Free-D's plan is to provide a solution to this dilemma. By acting as a central clearinghouse and expert advisor for 3D printer resources across the country, Free-D (@FreeDPrint) is the B2B match service that provides the solution.

Free-D
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Founder on Twitter: Spencer Nichol (@SNicol6)

Gemma

Before I talked to the representatives from Gemma (@Gemma_App), I had a misconception of what their service included. I thought they provided a resource for finding musical apps.

After talking to them, I learned that they are developing a service that will make it easy to develop apps that utilize music and sound. In addition to the strength of their product in providing a powerful and easy-to-use sound engine interface, it outputs the apps in multiple formats for different devices.

 

 

Here is the description Gemma provides on the iTunes store:

Gemma - The Growing Music Making App
Gemma turns your iOS devices into a growing collection of music making apps that you can use simultaneously to create music at ease.

“The interface is super easy. Just touch the screen and it creates sounds. The graphics are super cool.” -7 Beck-

The app offers the ultimate collection of musical apps all right in your mobile device. Each of these musical apps are called Gems. New Gems are constantly being developed and added to the Gem Store. You can experiment with powerful touch instruments such as synthesizers, drum pads, ambient sound generators, sequencers, and samplers. There will be all kinds of Gems for all kinds of users. You can combine these freely to produce your own songs in the Ensemble mode – even if you’ve never played music before. Create music with your mobile device wherever you go.

Gemma
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inTouch

The inTouch (@appinTouch) booth was the second one I visited.

The inTouch representative presented me with the scenario of walking down Cleveland's East 4th Street (@e4thst), and as I walk by the restaurants and stores, my iPhone would let me know of products and potential specials that would match my personal interests.

inTouch uses Bluetooth® technology to benefit the consumer by sending useful multimedia content while in the proximity of the store or restaurant, providing information just at the time the visitor would want it.

inTouch
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The advantages to the businesses that use inTouch would be multiple:

  • First, to engage the potential visitor while in the proximity of the store to entice them to enter to purchase a product in which they are interested.

  • inTouch provides a user-friendly interface for creating survey forms, multimedia content, and photos/text content for distribution on the inTouch app. This makes it easy to update and keep the content current and engaging to customers. inTouch handles the back-end of the content management system and updates/improvements to the interface.

  • Bluetooth® beacons track consumers as they proceed through a store, thus giving feedback to owners on how effectively displays are arranged.

  • inTouch will be able to provide email addresses and other demographics about consumers who visit, making it possible to contact consumers for follow-up email campaigns.

  • Businesses pay a monthly fee based on how many Bluetooth® beacons they use, so costs are predictable.

When meeting the inTouch representative, I did express concern that consumers might not embrace the idea of being tracked and sharing their personal information unless the benefit to the consumer was very high (i.e., special promotional benefits to the consumer). The representative said the entry point was low, with the consumer only providing name and email. I challenged the inTouch representative to offer users an option to use inTouch anonymously at first, so people would learn about its benefits, and be willing to give personal information to enroll later.

Founder on Twitter: Jesse Kracht (@RealtorJesseK)

Schedulytics

The Schedulytics booth was so active with interested people at Flashstarts' Demo Day, that I did not have an opportunity to talk to their representative. I did talk to the spouse of the founder, who shared with me that she had toured the new StartMart -- Cleveland's new entrepreneurship hub. From what she told me, the StartMart (@StartMartUS) grand opening on September 8, 2015, is a must-attend event.

 Schedulytics
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From the the Schedulytics Flashstarts' Demo Day presentation, I did learn of the cost savings that could be accomplished through better scheduling of anesthesiologists' time in operating rooms.

Science United

I enjoyed talking to the representatives of Science United (@sciunite). They projected their excitement about how their product will revolutionize placement services for highly skilled scientists -- primarily in the biomedical field. I like their tagline: "Matching High-Performing Scientists with High-Powered Careers"

At first, I thought the strength of their service was just the career database matching. As I talked to them, I learned that this is just the starting point from which they go much further. They have peer reviewers -- experts in their own respective fields -- do personal screening interviews before a scientists is added to the system. It sounded like a well-planned system to lead to placement success that would save clients' time.

 

Science United
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Triple Analytics

When I first heard Cal Al-Dhubaib (@CalDhubaib) on stage at the House of Blues Cleveland (@HOBCleveland), I said this business pitch sounds familiar, but with a different emphasis. I was so pleased to talk to Cal at the Triple Analytics booth to learn more.

I had originally learned from Cal about his work developing Triple Analytics (@TripleInc - note the old Twitter name was @TripleLLC) at the Wednesday, February 11, 2015, LaunchHouse (@LaunchHouse) event. (Read about all the participating entrepreneurs in my LaunchHouse Accelerator Expo (LHXPO) 2015 blog post.)

Here is what I wrote back in February about Triple Analytics:

Triple Analytics

In today's connected world, you would think your doctor would already have instant access to the analytics that would help determine your treatment. What I learned from the Triple Analytics (@TripleLLC) staff is that they often do not. Triple Analytics is a physician- and patient-focused solution for today's medical environment. Triple Analytics pulls together the analytics needed to make better medical decisions, plus also provides the patient with useful medical information in layman's terms. The "Triple" part of Triple Analytics' name represents the triad of good medicine: doctor, institution (hospital), patient. Triple Analytics' goal is to use analytics in a user-friendly way to help improve patient care and save medical costs.

Talking to Cal at the Flashstarts' Demo Day, I learned that the focus has evolved since February. Now, the emphasis is on assisting insurance companies working with providers to lower costs. The display at the booth said "Aligning Provider and Payers with evidence-based ePA." I learned from Cal that for people "in the know" in his field: ePA = electronic prior authorization

Triple Analytics
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Triple Analytics is on a mission to align healthcare payers and provider with evidence based prior authorizations.

We envision a world where providers are empowered to spend more time delivering better, cost effective care, and less time on administrative tasks.

The analytics gathered by Triple Analytics make this evidence-based ePA possible. I look forward to learning more about Triple Analytics' success.

Founder on Twitter: Cal Al-Dhubaib (@caldhubaib)

Virtual Compass

Years ago, I explored hiring a company to build a virtual tour. Thus, I was intrigued when I heard that Virtual Compass (@VirtualCompass) had developed an easy-to-administer virtual tour targeting colleges. Since the product I looked at was using technology and the web of ten years ago, I wondered what they could develop using today's technological resources.

From their Flashstarts' Demo Day talk, I learned that what made Virtual Compass' product unique was the ease at which content could be personalized. Virtual Compass provides the opportunity for a non-technical staff person at a college or university to easily update tour content and create new tour resources. Their VirtualCompass.com website also states competitive pricing as a strong selling point.

Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to talk to Virtual Compass founders to learn more, but I did find this demo video on their blog: Here's a Quick Demo

 

We Can Code IT

I was very familiar with We Can Code IT (@WeCanCodeIT) before the Flashstarts' Demo Day, but I was excited to learn about some new developments that evening.

I have listed We Can Code IT as a Cleveland tech resource for empowering girls and women in technology in my Blogiversary: Three blog post. They are mentioned in tweets in my 2014 blog posts about Cleveland's Ingenuityfest and Maker Faire, since they had major demonstration areas at both those great technology events.

Then, this past spring, via We Can Code IT twitter feed at @WeCanCodeIT and their website, I learned of their new boot camps targeting women, African-Americans, and Hispanic Americans.

Technology can be a great equalizer, with women, African Americans, and Hispanic Americans earning approximately 29% more than their non-STEM counterparts. There are very low unemployment rates in Computer Science fields, and the industry continues to grow at astronomical rates, employing the majority of all STEM workers.

I learned about more new developments during the demo evening. Talking first to Outreach Director Shana Mysko (@ShanaInCle), I learned that they are expanding their boot camp to the new Cleveland Smartmart (@StartMartUS) which will be opening September 8, 2015. This is very exciting news! Later, talking to Founder & CEO Mel McGee(@MelKMcGee), I learned how they will not only be opening the new Smartmart site, but also continuing their boot camp at LaunchHouse (@LaunchHouse). She also let me know about some other potential developments -- the future is bright!

 We Can Code IT
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To learn about the recent developments at We Can Code IT, I recommend you read this article by Chuck Soder@ChuckSoder, the technology writer for Crains Cleveland Business(@CrainsCleveland):

On a personal note, I want to thank Mel for her interest in the career of a member of my Web Development Team. Mel represents what I consistently see in leaders in the Cleveland and Akron tech communities -- people interested in sharing their knowledge, so our whole community benefits! (Please take a moment to see my "Call For Action" suggestions in my blog post that lists local tech leaders.)

Founders on Twitter: Melanie McGee (@MelKMcGee), Shana Mysko (@ShanaInCle), Lauren Holloway (@LaurenMHolloway)

Windrush

The Windrush (@GetWindrush) booth was the last one I visited during Flashstarts' Demo Day. In the short time I talked to their founders, I know I'm definitely interested in learning more.

Windrush
Enlarge Image

 

Imagine you have a white paper that is full of a lot of relevant data to support the mission of your nonprofit. Traditionally, you would present the data on paper or a PDF file, knowing research indicates that people don't comprehend data when presented in this format.

What Windrush is offering is a better way -- a web development engine that will easily take data and present it in a vibrant visual presentation.

The Windrush representatives told me that the data-driven content would be "interactive," and I challenged them to explain. They explained that Windrush allows visitors to the presentation to not only see the data provided, but to manipulate data to experiment with different scenarios.

Here is a Windrush demo video from their website:

Founders on Twitter: Mark Morrison (@MarkWindrush), Riley Alsman (@RileyWindrush), Max Walker (@ReluctantHipstr)

Invest in Flashstarts

You can learn more about Flashstarts 2015 Investment Fund on their investor portal at: Invest.Flashstarts.com

How to invest in Flashstarts
Enlarge Investment Info Image

Also announced at the Flashstarts' Demo Day was an opportunity to support the new Cleveland StartMart (@StartMartUS) at: http://bit.ly/StartMartKS

We need you! How to support StartMart
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Here is the video from the StartMart - Rebuilding Cleveland One Startup at a Time from Kickstarter:

Julie and I will be attending the Tuesday, September 8, 2015, StartMart grand opening, where we will learn even more. Here is some information from the StartMart (@StartMartUS) website:

The Cleveland StartMart is a dynamic entrepreneurship hub connecting startups to critical resources.

Now just a concept, the StartMart vision is to transform Suite #200 of Terminal Tower into a startup hub, similar to Cincinnati’s Cintrifuse or Boston’s ID Building. This hub will house our city’s existing startup assets and new resources such as “StartPods”. It will create an atmosphere where startups are empowered to test, iterate, fail and scale. The creation, growth, and demise of all types of businesses are occurring at an ever-increasing pace. The opportunity to leverage these trends for wealth generation, job creation, and economic development has never been greater. Help make StartMart a reality by declaring your support and taking action. Continue reading below to learn more about the benefits of StartMart.

#FSDDay Tweets

Tweets include both my @sos_jr tweets/retweets, but also a few others from the event. Be sure to read to learn more about the eleven startups featured, and also see photos from the event.

Please retweet those that you find interesting. Retweeting is one way to help spead the message of entrepreneur growth in Cleveland.

Related Blog Posts:

Here are some related blog posts they you might find interesting:

 

It is an exciting time for Cleveland and Akron!

Web Vulnerability » Akron Maker Faire » Launch League SpaceWalk

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Blog Date: 
Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Web Vulnerability » Akron Maker Faire » Launch League SpaceWalk

September 19, 2015 -- what a day!

I am a person who likes to attend a lot of events, but this day was unusual even for me! I got up at 6:00 a.m. to prepare for the day, and did not get home until late at night.

The reason for sharing my day with you, the reader, is twofold:

  • I learned about a lot of interesting things.

  • I want to thank everyone that made the day's events a grand success. Most of the people involved are donating their time to make our community better.

Here is how I spent my day:

Web Application Vulnerability

WebSigCleveland.org Meeting - Introduction to Web Application Vulnerability
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I want to give a big thank-you to Tom Pieragastini for sharing his knowledge about web security issues. If you are in the Greater Cleveland area, Tom recommends attending CleveSec (@CleveSec - Meetup.com/CleveSec) meetings, where local security experts gather to share the latest in this evolving field.

The following is a description of Tom Pieragastini's presentation:

WebSigCleveland.org - Introduction to Web Application Vulnerability

Though it is often thought that breaches occur through complicated techniques, the vast majority of website breaches and application vulnerabilities are the result of relatively simple attacks on known weaknesses in web application functionality.

In this Introduction to Web Application Vulnerability talk, Tom Pieragastini will discuss some of these vulnerabilities and some simple ways that developers can test their own applications and prevent some of these common vectors of attack from leading to a breach.

Tom Pieragastini has been working in information security professionally for only a short time, but has engaged in years of research on vulnerabilities and security.  He has been a participant and security consultant on projects at Cleveland GiveCamp 2015, the Fix216 Hackathon and other events in the Greater Cleveland area.

Learn more from the following tweets which relate to the meeting.

Please use the #WebSigCLE hashtag if you want to share information about WebSigCleveland.org meetings, and visit the website to learn about upcoming meetings. I have meetings scheduled for the rest of 2015, and soon will start planning for 2016. Watch for details on:

Akron Mini Maker Faire

Akron-Summit County Public Library - Akron Mini Maker Faire
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If you have not been to Akron-Summit County Public Library'sAkron Mini Maker Faire, I highly recommend it. The following photos, videos, and tweets tell the story. Be sure to also see links to past Akron Mini Maker Faire blog posts at the bottom of this post. These past blog posts contain additional photos, videos, and useful links.

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos/videos,
please view them here.

I also want to send out a special thank-you to the science & technology division manager of the Akron-Summit County Public Library, Monique Mason. I greatly appreciate her sending me advance information about the Akron Mini Maker Faire. After communicating by email for the past two years, we finally met in person at this year's event. She took time during this busy event to introduce me to her technology center staff. They took me on a private tour, and I learned about the expanding services.

This being the third Akron Mini Maker Faire, I was interested to learn of all the new year-round technology resources that the Akron library now makes available to the general public.

More is coming! I learned that through the support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation (@knightfdn), there will be a new micro business center at the library.

As I was writing this blog post, I saw the September 26, 2015, Makers of all stripes bring their wares to Main Library downtown (Video) article on the Akronist.com (@Akronist) website. Here is their video from the event:

Makers of all stripes bring their wares to Main Library downtown
Published on Sep 26, 2015
From robots, jugglers and cosplayers to musicians, ham radio operators and antique woodworking tool collectors, the Akron-Summit County Public Library’s recent Mini Maker Faire had a wide array of craftspeople, robotics engineers, science enthusiasts, artisans and other community makers and is part of a growing national culture of “maker spaces,” or sharing DIY arts, engineering and other types of projects.

 

Launch LeagueSpaceWalk 2015 Reception

Launch League - SpaceWalk 2015 Reception
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I was not able to attend the Akron SpaceWalk, since I was attending the Akron Mini Maker Faire. It was such a popular Akron tour that it sold out. Here is the official description of the walk:

SPACEWALK TWENTYFIFTEEN

We're touring some awesome Akron spaces and planning a reception on the sixteenth floor of a downtown building where we'll reveal something that will ignite Akron's startup scene! Be sure to come dressed up as your favorite space character for the walk and reception. (It'll be weird if it's just us... Don't let it be weird) 

The tour will depart OSC Tech Lab at 4pm on 9/19.

We'll be viewing the Evans, Law, Delaware, and Malone buildings then we'll head to the reception.

The reception will begin at 6pm (better not be late!). Appetizers and a cash bar will be available. At 7 we will be revealing what we've been working diligently on over the past few months.

I heard from talking to some people who went on the walk that there is some wonderful space for startup companies in Akron -- they were impressed.

I attended the reception that followed the SpaceWalk tour, which was on the 16th Floor of the PNC Building on Cascade Plaza. From this height, there are some incredible views of Akron, which would make this an exciting office space.

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos/videos,
please view them here.

It was a fun event, with people in space-related outfits, and it was great to catch up with people about what was happening in their businesses.

The most important part of the evening was the announcement of the nine new Launch League startup support "Communities" that are being created. Currently, the first two are active. Go to the LaunchLeague.org website to watch for future developments on the following:

  1. Front End Dev
  2. Hardware Dev
  3. Design/UX/UI
  4. Marketing
  5. Investing
  6. Operations
  7. Biz Dev/Sales
  8. Back End Dev & Ops
  9. Big Data

There are special inquiry forms on the Front End Dev and Hardware Dev web pages to sign up to receive notifications.

Event participants were invited to take the Akron Declaration of Innovation. Since the reception, others have been taking the pledge as well (see tweets below). Here is the beginning of the Akron Declaration of Innovation:

Akron Declaration of Innovation

We believe in Akron.

This city is built upon a foundation of invention, ingenuity, and risk taking. Our ancestors took the risk to dig a canal from Lake Erie to the Ohio River, giving birth to our city. We grew quickly and embraced innovation and new ideas that led to massive growth from the rubber industry that ushered in the modern age.

Read and sign the full pledge on the web page.

Congratulations to Rick Stockburger (@RickStockburger) & Nick Petroski (@oscTechLab) for founding the Launch League Communities initiative.

Also, thank you to Ken Burns of TinyCircuits (@TinyCircuits) for taking the leadership role in starting the second of the Communities -- the Hardware Development Community.

Thank you to Rick Stockburger (@RickStockburger) who sent me the following Launch League SpaceWalk 2015 video announcing the Communities.

Launch League SpaceWalk 2015
Richard Stockburger
Uploaded on Sep 22, 2015

Regards by Kimberly Beckett, Nick Petroski, Ken Burns and Rick Stockburger

Launch League is made possible by these supporters:

A final note before you review the following tweets from the event. It is interesting to note how many attendees went to the Barley House Akron (@BarleyHouseAK) after the main reception. The large number of people indicates to me that Launch League is building a true community of talented people who are interested in supporting each other. They did not rush home after the reception, but instead were interested in continuing the excitement. They wanted to be part of something bigger than themselves. This is the Launch League Communities initiative!

I look forward to watching the progress of Launch League (@LaunchLeague) after this great kick-off of the Communities initiative at the SpaceWalk 2015 Reception!

Related Blog Posts

Here are other blog posts that I have written that you might find interesting:

Maker Faires:

 

Here are some past blog posts on economic development and entrepreneurship:

 

Be sure to return to our sosAssociates.com blog again, and follow Stuart on Twitter at: @sos_jr

WebSigCleveland.org - So You Think You Know Podcasting

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Blog Date: 
Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Kevin Lockett on "So You Think You Know Podcasting""So You Think You Know Podcasting"
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I was fortunate to have Kevin Lockett present a talk entitled So You Think You Know Podcasting at my October 17, 2015, WebSigCleveland.org meeting.Kevin'spodcasting talk also provided resources and creative ideas beyond podcasting, which is why I decided to gather my notes, tweets, and Kevin's slides, and create this blog post.

Be sure to learn more about Kevin at his cleverly named website, DigitalKev.com, and on Twitter at @KevinLockett.

Kevin Lockett's Slides

Thank you to Kevin for providing his So You Think You Know Podcasting slides on slideshare. I have also embedded them here for your review:

You can download a PDF version of Kevin Lockett's So You Think You Know Podcasting slides here.

Tweets and Retweets

My notes on the presentation are included in my @sos_jr tweets I did during the meeting, so I have embedded them here.

My Notes/Comments

Kevin did a great job reviewing what to consider when starting a podcast. His thought process brings focus to his work, and is transferable to other creative endeavors like blogging and web content creation.

If you get a chance to hear his presentation in person, I recommend it. As a follow-up to his talk, I have provided the following useful resource links for some of Kevin's slides. Putting this blog post together helped me organize what I learned from Kevin in a form that I can reference again in the future. I hope it is useful to those reading my blog post.

Upload This! - Resources for uploading podcasts:

Free Stuff:

  • Google Calendar - Google's free online calendar.

  • Sunrise App - Sunrise is a free calendar made for Google Calendar, iCloud, and Exchange. Sunrise also connects with all your favorite apps like Facebook, Evernote, Wunderlist, Foursquare, TripIt, Todoist, and more to make sure you’re always up to date with the events happening in your life.

  • Free Conference Call - Kevin mentioned in his talk that he used a free conference call system to record his interviews for podcasting. He said there are many services, but two he was familiar with are FreeConferenceCall.com and FreeConferencePro.

  • Levelator - a software application that makes adjustments to audio signals.

  • Dropbox - a service that keeps your files safe, synced, and easy to share.

Here is the official description of the talk from the WebSigCleveland.org meeting website:

So You Think You Know Podcasting

During this session, Kevin Lockett (@KevinLockett) will discuss how he created his Digital Life with Kevin Lockett podcast and how creating a podcast is not as hard or easy as it seems.

Included in the workshop, you will learn:

  • The Show Process
  • Equipment/Software
  • Distribution
  • Promotion
  • Finding Guests
  • Show Ideas
  • Audio vs. Video
  • Audience Building
  • Branding

Kevin Lockett is a Social Media Strategist based in Akron, Ohio, where he also host and produces "The Digital Life with Kevin Locket” podcast.

 Kevin’s career kicked off in 2008 after seeing a presentation about social media at E.J. Thomas Hall.

 “I used to have all these ideas in my head, but I didn’t have the tech savvy skills to flesh them out or live in a big city like New York where my content could be published; but after seeing social media pioneer, David Meerman Scott’s lecture, I learned that there were platforms that would allow me to take my media and marketing thoughts and turn them into reality.”

From that forward, Kevin has worked on various digital projects, starting with Lock 3 Park in 2008, The Summit of Sustainability Awards, United Way’s Project Blueprint, The Global Village Festival and former Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic’s last Mayoral campaign.

After attending workshops at the Akron Digital Media Center, Kevin learned how to effectively shoot and edit video, which led the former DJ to launch his audio podcast“The Digital Life Kevin Lockett” (DigitalKev.com) podcast in 2013, where he has interviewed influencers in social media and pop culture including renowned ballerina Misty Copeland, Time Magazine’s Joel Stein, Cali Lewis from Geek Beat Live and Forbes Magazine’s Zack O’Malley Greenburg.

In 2015, Kevin created “Code Akron" (CodeAkron.com), where he introduces urban youth to technology through coding and business.  Also this year, Kevin wrote and published first eBook, So You Think You Know Content Marketing which recently hit #3 on Amazon's Best Sellers in Computers & Technology Short Reads list

A pop culture junkie at heart, it is not unusual for Kevin to watch The Walking Dead, Charlie Rose or General Hospital, while researching his next podcast interview or tweeting frantically during the Emmys, The Oscars, MTV Awards as well as The Tonys, while keeping an eye on the Cavs in the finals.  #GoCAVS

WebSigCleveland.org

WebSigCleveland.org Meeting

Please use the #WebSigCLE hashtag if you want to share information about WebSigCleveland.org meetings on Twitter, and visit the website to learn about upcoming meetings. I have meetings scheduled for the rest of 2015, and soon will start planning for 2016. Watch for details on:

Here are my past blog posts with the WebSigCleveland.org topic tag:

IngenuityFest 2015: Marriage of Cleveland Arts & Technology | Hingetown Hoedown

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Blog Date: 
Wednesday, November 4, 2015

IngenuityFest Weekend 2015!

I have been writing blog posts about Ingenuity Cleveland's IngenuityFest since 2012, and attending long before that. IngenuityFest is the perfect marriage of my interests in arts and technology.

Cleveland Technology + Art = IngenuityFest Weekend 2015!

I went to all three days, October 2-4, of IngenuityFest 2015. I am sharing my photos and tweets from the weekend in this blog post as my way of thanking all the presenters. I made a point of talking to many artists in their installations, and local tech leaders at their booths. I can't include everyone I spoke to, but will mention a few in this post.

I have also included my tweets from the inaugural Hingetown Hoedown, which took place Saturday night. It was incredible to see so many people attend this first-time event!

Pre-IngenuityFest 2015

 

For this 11th year of IngenuityFest, Ingenuity Cleveland (@ IngenuityFest) had the theme of transitions. Here is the information from the IngenuityCleveland.com website:

INGENUITY CLEVELAND PRESENTS THE 2015
INGENUITYFEST
TRANSITIONS

THE 2015 A NEW FESTIVAL FOR A CHANGING CITY

THEME

OUR 2015 FESTIVAL THEME IS “TRANSITIONS,” SIGNIFYING THE CLOSING OF A DECADE AND OUR EMERGENCE IN A NEW ROLE FOR A CHANGING CITY. THROUGH A STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS, WE’VE BECOME A YEAR-ROUND ORGANIZATION COMMITTED TO DEEPENING OUR TIES TO THE ARTISTIC, INNOVATIVE, AND SERVICE COMMUNITY IN CLEVELAND. WE’RE NOT ONLY DEDICATED TO SHOWCASING THE VERY BEST, BUT TO HELPING IT GROW AND THRIVE ACROSS SECTORS, FROM EDUCATION TO INDUSTRY TO ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT.

 

Ingenuity Cleveland became a year-round program, more than just their annual IngenuityFest weekend event, a few years ago. It will be interesting to see how they plan to move from showcasing Cleveland's arts and innovation to assisting in their growth.

Ingenuity 2015 T-shirt design
Enlarge Ingenuity 2015 T-shirt Design Image

Review the IngenuityFest 2015 Program to get an overview of the planned actvities for the weekend, and the list of sponsors.

Read the IngenuityFest Program 2015
Open
IngenuityFest 2015 Program
in a new window

Here are my @sos_jr tweets and retweets which show some of the pre-event promotion, videos, and articles.

IngenuityFest Day 1: Friday night! - October 2, 2015

Friday night highlights:

Here are my photos and videos from Friday night:

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos/videos,
please view them here.

Here are my @sos_jr Friday night IngenuityFest 2015 tweets and retweets. Please share any photos and videos that you find interesting by retweeting.

IngenuityFest Day 2 - Saturday, October 3, 2015

Saturday highlights:

There was so much happening at IngenuityFest 2015. I hope you enjoy these videos and photos of the day.

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos/videos,
please view them here.

My Saturday @sos_jr IngenuityFest 2015 tweets and retweets:

Hingetown Hoedown - Saturday, October 3, 2015

Saturday night, I decided to take a break from IngenuityFest 2015 and see the inaugural Hingetown Hoedown (@HingetownHoedwn)! I was not sure what to expect, since it was the first time for this event, and it was raining. When I got there, I was truly "blown away." The place was absolutely packed!

 

 

During the rain, people made use of pop-up tents to enjoy the music and great food from local food trucks. Once the rain stopped, people were dancing in the street. The area in front of the stage was filled with people enjoying the music.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the official description of the first Hingetown Hoedown event:

OUR VISION

Our vision is to provide the public with a free, family-friendly (and animal-friendly) music festival transplanted from the Appalachian backwoods and dropped smack dab in the middle of a Cleveland intersection. Born from a love of stringband music, and built on the rising tide of outstanding local businesses and generous individuals, the Hingetown Hoedown brings sweet folk, bluegrass & newgrass sounds to the blossoming Hingetown neighborhood in Ohio City. Going beyond creating a great music festival, it is our mission to promote sustainability, showcase local start-ups and businesses, and strengthen the bonds of our community.

With eight amazing main stage bands and four daring Picnic Table Stage bands, craft beer, local food trucks, a variety of vendors, fun family activities, and over 1500 attendees (in the pouring rain, no less), the first Hingetown Hoedown was a roaring success. We’re looking forward to year two in the Fall of 2016, and we’d love for you to be a part of it!

Congratulations to the Hingetown Hoedown organizers for such a successful event!

I see on their website HingetownHoedown.com that there will be a second annual hoedown in Fall 2016. I recommend you sign up on the website for more informaton and follow @Hingetown's@HingetownHoedwn on Twitter -- yes, I was very impressed by this event. Based on what I saw, it is already is a must-attend event in Cleveland.

My @sos_jrHingetown Hoedown tweets and retweets:

IngenuityFest Day 2: Late Night - Saturday, October 3, 2015

After the Hingetown Hoedown, I returned to IngenuityFest 2015 for some late-night exploring. Due to the rain, there were only a few people enjoying the band.

Here are my photos of IngenuityFest after dark:

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos/videos,
please view them here.

Here are my @sos_jr late-night Saturday IngenuityFest 2015 tweets and retweets:

IngenuityFest Day 3 - Sunday, October 4, 2015

On Day 3, the weather cleared and the crowds increased.

Sunday highlights:

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos/videos,
please view them here.

Post-IngenuityFest 2015 Tweets/Retweets

Ingenuity Cleveland Blog Posts

You can also learn more about Ingenuity Cleveland (@ IngenuityFest) by reading my blog posts about the following events that I attended:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CWRU think[box] Thinkapalooza!

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Blog Date: 
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Author(s): 

On October 27, 2015, we were very fortunate to be invited to attend Case Western Reserve University'sthink[box]Thinkapalooza!

Even before the new think[box] space opened, we had heard about how great it was going to be. Thinkapalooza was part of the grand opening of Case Western Reserve Universitythink[box]'s new space for promoting innovation and entrepreneurial enterprises. Its new name is the Larry Sears and Sally Zlotnick Sears think[box] and it is located in the Richey Mixon Building. It is one of the largest centers of its kind for an academic institution.

While the Thinkapalooza focused on the creativity of Case Western Reserve University (@CWRU) students, we first want to talk about the larger role of think[box] (@CWRUthinkbox) in the Cleveland entrepreneurial community. think[box] is a resource that will first focus on the students, faculty, and staff of the university, but will also be open to others in the surrounding community.

What is CWRU's think[box]?

Case Western Reserve University's think[box]
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Larry Sears and Sally Zlotnick Sears think[box]

Case Western Reserve University's center for innovation and entrepreneurship provides a space for anyone - students, faculty, and alumni and members of the community - to tinker and creatively invent. Located in a 7-story, 50,000 square foot facility, with 3 floors occupied and more to undergo renovation soon, this $35M project is one of the largest university-based innovation centers in the world.

Even before attending the Thinkapalooza, we were aware of the think[box] (@CWRUthinkbox) program, and were excited to learn about its expansion and its new location in the Richey Mixon Building.

The thinkbox.Case.edu website does a great job describing think[box]. The most important element to us is explained on the "Who can use think[box]?" slide from the orientation section of the website:

"Who can use think[box]" slide
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Yes, think[box] is a public place for entrepreneurial creativity! In addition to adult access, they also have policies in place for engaging youth (under age 18)! (See Google Doc: think[box] K-12 Policies.)

Learn more on "How To Start" by viewing the Orientation Presentation and other thinkbox.Case.edu web pages. They provide a wealth of information beyond what we have time to share here.

Here are our photos that show some of the activities by floor that will occur in the building:

Seven floors with seven overlapping purposes
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Machine shopFloor 5 - Project SpaceFloor 6 - The Cray Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

 

Seven floors with seven overlapping purposes:

  1. Community - Space for creative meetings and training.

  2. Collaboration - Space to encourage cross-discipline sharing of ideas. There is also event hosting space on Floor 2 which can be used by student organizations, or rented to other groups.

  3. Prototyping - The Prentke Romich Prototyping Floor. See maker equipment list below for a partial list of resources available.

  4. Fabrication - Contains a full machine shop where prototypes from the third floor become fully functioning products/designs.

  5. Project Space - 7,000 square feet of open space.

  6. Entrepreneurship - The Cray Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship will provide formal mentoring resources from experts in starting a business.

  7. Incubation - Space and resources for newly created companies will be provided.

We have only briefly listed the purposes of each floor, and therefore recommend that you read Michael C. DeAloia's (@TechCzarCle) article: Think[box] at Case Western Reserve University serves as a stage for innovation. Michael goes into more detail about the space and its background. We like how he ends his article stating:

This new facility is a grand move forward in Cleveland creating another economic boom. And it could not be a more powerful symbol of the region's intellectual, design, economic and innovative might.

think[box] provides tutorials and training for a wide variety of technical and maker equipment, including:

To learn more about think[box]:

Thinkapalooza - Focused on Student Innovation

Case Western Reserve University's think[box] Thinkapalooza!
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think[box] just got bigger and we’re celebrating!

Thinkapalooza After Dark: A Celebration of Innovation

Tues., Oct. 27, 8 p.m.

Join us for this marquee event during the Case Western Reserve University Innovation Summit 2015: Models of Innovation. Help us celebrate the new 50,000-square-foot home of think[box]—set to be one of the world’s largest university-based innovation and entrepreneurship centers.

Get an up-close look at think[box]’s new home, including tours of equipment, think[box]-built project showcases, selfie opportunities with the Back to the Future DeLorean and high-energy music and art performances.

All campus and community members are welcome.

It’s an innovation extravaganza not to be missed!

11201 Cedar Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44106

The Thinkapalooza event was incredible! It was over the top with so much to see and do in a short time. For every creative display we viewed, there were at least three more displays and activities that we did not have time to see fully.

It was very exciting to talk to the Case Western Reserve University students from several different disciplines about their creative projects, and enjoy their musical performances.

It was a very student-focused event -- a showcase of their talents. We also found that many of the projects are featured on the Projects at think[box] web pages, and we encourage you to learn more at: thinkbox.case.edu/Projects

Here are some of the featured projects that we saw at Thinkapalooza:

Baymax buddies are pairable teddy bears, able to close the distance between two people without the need for verbal communication. When one bear is hugged, a suite of analog sensors alerts the arduino, which sends a Wi-Fi message to the other bear and that bear will vibrate and vice versa. That way, no matter how far two people are, they can hug the other.

The sensor suite was made from scratch, with each sensor being developed to be soft as to not compromise the huggability of the toy, rather than stock metal sensors. They are comprised mainly of a material called velostat, a pressure sensitive conductive sheet made of polymeric foil impregnated with carbon black. Watch video here.

Contact: Xyla Foxlin - xrf@case.edu
Harshita Gupta

While we were writing this blog post, we learned that Xyla Foxlin won first place in the CWRU LaunchNet (@CWRULaunchNet) GirlPower Pitch Night (see photo here). The second place winner was Daphne Fecheyr-Lippens (@DaFecheyr) -- learn more about her in our Biomimicry blog post. Congratulations, Xyla and Daphne!

Stuart had originally learned more details about think[box] from Bob Sopko, who is the director of CWRU Blackstone LaunchNet (@CWRULaunchNet). We have seen him participate in local entrepreneur meetings and at IngenuityFest (@Ingenuityfest). Thus, we were very pleased that when he saw us at the event, he made a point of inviting us over to see an exciting invention that he was demonstrating.

Bob had a motorcycle helmet which was treated with LumiLor Electroluminescent Coating System (@LumiLorLabs). Very amazing -- the paint glowed when an electrical current was turned on!

When we let Bob know we were writing this blog post, he was kind enough to email us these LumiLor demo videos:

Read more about unique biometric paintwork on a Lexus RC F (@Lexus).

Thank you, Bob Sopko, for showing us this exciting product.

In addition to the technical talents demonstrated, we also enjoyed the music of Cleveland's South Asian fusion a cappella group -- Dhamakapella (@Dhamakapella).

 

Also, here we were, one week after Back To The Future Day (@October212015), and we found ourselves sitting in the Steel City Time Machine, which is a perfect replica of the "Back To The Future" DeLorean Time Machine.

"Back to the Future" DeLorean Time Machine
Enlarge Image

It was fun to talk to the owner, Rick Neumann, and see his photos with Michael J. Fox,Kelly Ripa, and Michael Strahan on the ''Live! With Kelly and Michael'' television show (@RealMikeFox - @KellyRipa - @MichaelStrahan - @KellyAndMichael). Read more in the Penn Hills man goes 'Back to the Future' with 1982 DeLorean article by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (@PittsburghPG).

Rick Neumann with Michael J. Fox, Kelly Ripa, and Michael Strahan
Enlarge Image

Photos and Videos

Here are all of our photos and videos from the event:

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos/videos,
please view them here.

Tweets and Retweets

Here are our tweets and retweets regarding the event. Please share with others those that interest you by retweeting.

What Others Say

Here is a list of some of the articles we saw about the Larry Sears and Sally Zlotnick Sears think[box] at the Richey Mixon Building construction and opening. It was very interesting to read about all that went into making this new community resource get off to a great start.

Published on Jul 14, 2015
Case Western Reserve University's center for innovation provides a space for anyone - especially students, faculty, and alumni - to tinker and creatively invent. Housed temporarily in a 4500 square foot space, renovations are underway on a 7-story, 50,000 square foot facility that will make this $35M project one of the largest university-based innovation centers in the world.

Published on Dec 16, 2013
Animated preview of think[box], a center for invention and entrepreneurship within Case Western Reserve University's School of Engineering

Future

We look forward to learning more about CWRU's think[box] and visiting again. It is an amazing resource that will benefit our community into the future.

 

sosAssociates.com Blogiversary: Four!

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Blog Date: 
Tuesday, March 8, 2016

sosAssociates.com Blogiversary: Four!

2012 to 2016!!!Our fourth Blogiversary of celebrating the fun of exploring our community and writing about our experiences!

Like last year, I want to start by thanking my great co-writer and wife, Julie Smith! I always enjoy sharing the journey with her.

It brings me joy to look at the blog posts we did this past year -- great memories of fun times, plus the anticipation of a new year full of possibilities!

Here is our blogiversary photo collage, followed by a list of the 28 blog posts of this past year.

Enlarge
Images
Blogiversary - great memories of fun times

Blogiversary - great memories of fun times

Please feel free to view all our blog posts at: sosAssociates.com/Blog

Past & Present

Hello, World! My First Blog Post!Four very fun and active years have passed since my first "Hello, World! My First Blog Post!" message!

The statement I put on the sosAssociates.com home page has not changed over these four years, nor has my @sos_jr twitter bio changed, since they still reflect the items that Julie and I write about:

sosAssociates.com is an extension of my @sos_jr Twitter interests -- taking it beyond the 140 characters. Current focus areas include:

  • Promoting and sharing experiences at Cleveland tech meetings, social media events, and some entrepreneur groups
  • WebSigCleveland.org
  • Website Design & Technology
  • Cleveland Cultural Events, Art, Theatre

On my firstBlogiversary in 2013, I listed 120 tech, entrepreneur, and social media meetings in Cleveland and Akron that I tracked and promoted on Twitter and on sosAssociates.com. The list grew to 140 in 2014, and 165 last year.

The list is so large that I don't promote all the groups on this list. However, I still post daily @sos_jr meeting announcements of many of the groups over the lunch hour on Twitter at: Twitter.com/sos_jr -- please take a look and share with others by retweeting.

Call For Action

I believe this "Call For Action" is important. Thus, I am repeating here what I wrote last year. Please consider my action suggestions when you look at my list below. Thank you!

2016 marks my 11th year of running the WebSigCleveland.org meetings. Held on the third Saturday of most months, all WebSigCleveland.org meeting are free and open to all, so please help me spread the word by inviting others. I run my WebSigCleveland.org meetings as a labor of love, so like last year, I want to ask you to please do the following to support all the "Tech, Entrepreneur & Social Media Meetings" in Cleveland and Akron.

Call for action! The reason I publish the following list is to encourage you to thank the leaders and assist in promoting their meetings. Please do the following:

  • See the names listed with the events in my blog posts, and follow them on Twitter, if you do that sort of thing (I find Twitter fun, and a great way to learn about a lot of great activities). Please share their meeting information on your favorite social media.

  • Most of these Cleveland tech, social media, and entrepreneur meetings are free or low cost. Please go out of your way to thank the leader(s) and let them know you appreciate their good work. Offer to buy them their favorite beverage.

  • Finally, if you see a group listed that is not currently meeting, or think of a topic that is not being covered, please volunteer to take a leadership role to make the meeting happen!

Our Community is much stronger for having these opportunities to learn from each other. Thank you for supporting each other.

Stuart's List

I have listed all the new groups since last year with the year "2016" and bolded them. Check them out!

  1. .NET SIG http://www.bennettadelson.com/ComingEvents.aspx Follow: @Bennett_Adelson

  2. 20/30 Club Tech Committee (Cleveland Professional's Club) https://cleveland2030.org/events Follow: @CP2030

  3. Afternoons@Ahujahttp://afternoonsatahuja.com/ Follow: @JimDorazio

  4. AIGA Cleveland http://cleveland.aiga.org/ Follow: @aigacleveland

  5. Akron Canton PC Users Group http://www.acpcug.org/site3/

  6. Akron Chapter of The Association of Information Technology Professionals http://akron-aitp.org/

  7. Akron Code Club http://www.meetup.com/AkronCodeClub/ Follow: @AkronCodeClub

  8. Akron Code Club http://www.meetup.com/AkronCodeClub/ Follow: @AkronCodeClub @jerrydantonio

  9. Akron Game Developers http://www.meetup.com/Akron-Game-Developers/ Follow: @jeremiah_cooper

  10. Akron Linux Users Group http://www.meetup.com/Akron-Linux-Users-Group/ Follow: @davidegts

  11. Akron Mini Maker Faire http://makerfaireakron.akronlibrary.org/http://www.makerfaireakron.com/ Follow: @AkronLibrary

  12. Akron Programming Languages Group http://www.meetup.com/Akron-Programming-Languages-Group/ Follow: @gsvolt

  13. 2016
    Akron Virtual Reality Meetup http://www.meetup.com/Akron-Virtual-Reality-Meetup/ Follow: @AkronVR

  14. Akron Women in Tech http://www.meetup.com/Akron-Women-In-Tech/ Follow: @AkronWiT @wirthdesign @MistressOfFrog

  15. AMC @ CWRU (CWRU's Association of Computing Machinery) http://acm.case.edu/ Follow: @cwruACM

  16. Association of Personal Computer User Groups http://apcug.net/events/http://ugls.apcug.net/FindUserGroup.aspx Follow: @apcug

  17. Bad Girl Ventures Cleveland http://www.badgirlventures.com/locations/cleveland/calendar/ Follow: @BGV_Cleveland

  18. Bizdom Cleveland http://bizdom.com/events/ Follow: @BizdomCleveland

  19. Burning River Developers http://www.meetup.com/Burning-River-Developers/ Follow: @burningriverdev @kberridge @StuartSaunders

  20. Business Gateway Series http://www.csuohio.edu/business/business-centers/overview-past-events Follow: @LaunchHouse @CMLAWSchool

  21. C#/VB.Net SIG http://www.clevelanddotnet.info/http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-C-VB-Net-User-Group/ Follow: @SamNasr @CLEDotNet

  22. Canton Ohio Web Meetup Group http://www.meetup.com/Canton-Ohio-Web-Meetup/ Follow: @kkeiper1103

  23. Charged Conversation http://www.meetup.com/Charged-Conversation/events/164348292/ Follow: @ContextualElec @chris_gammell

  24. CLE Game Co-Op http://www.meetup.com/CLEGameCoOp/https://www.facebook.com/groups/CLEGameCoOp/ Follow: @CleGameCoop #GameOnCLE @playvue

  25. 2016
    CLE Teen Hack http://cleteenhack.com/ Follow: @CLETeenHack

  26. 2016
    Cleveland 3D Printing Meetup http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-3D-Printing-Meetup/ Follow: @B3innovations

  27. Cleveland Agile Group (#CleAG) http://www.meetup.com/ClevelandAgile/ Follow: @jonrstahl @chzy @DocOnDev Hashtag: #CleAG

  28. Cleveland Area DevOps Interest Group http://www.meetup.com/DevOpsCLE/ Follow: @devopscle @benjaminws

  29. Cleveland Area Python Interest Group http://clepy.org/http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-Area-Python-Interest-Group/ Follow: @CLEPY @dstanek @mcrute

  30. Cleveland Big Data and Hadoop User Group http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-Hadoop/

  31. Cleveland Boomerangs https://www.facebook.com/groups/clevelandboomerangs/events/

  32. 2016
    Cleveland Cassandra Meetup http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-Cassandra-Meetup/ Follow: @mbeacom

  33. Cleveland Chapter of the American Marketing Association http://clevelandama.com/ Follow: @ClevelandAMA

  34. Cleveland Civic Hacking Meetup http://www.meetup.com/cleveland-civic-hacking/ Follow: @OpenGeoCle

  35. Cleveland CocoaHeads http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-CocoaHeads/

  36. Cleveland Digital Publishing Users Group (CDPUG) http://www.cdpug.org/ Follow: @CDPUG

  37. Cleveland Drupal User Group http://www.meetup.com/cleveland-drupal/ Follow: @DrupalCleveland

  38. Cleveland Game Developers http://www.meetup.com/clevelandgamedev/ Follow: @pixelcream @mattperrin

  39. Cleveland Game Devs http://www.clegamedevs.com/ Follow: @CleGameDevs

  40. 2016
    Cleveland Gaming Expo http://clevelandgamingexpo.com/ Follow: @CLEGamingExpo

  41. Cleveland GiveCamp http://www.clevelandgivecamp.org/ Follow: @CleGiveCamp

  42. Cleveland InDesign User Group http://clevelandadobeusers.org/ Old site: http://www.indesignusergroup.com/chapters/cleveland/ Follow: @AprilClark

  43. Cleveland Indians Social Suite http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/cle/fan_forum/social_suite.jsphttp://mlb.mlb.com/fan_forum/social_media/index.jsp?c_id=cle Follow: @Indians Hashtag: #TribeLive

  44. Cleveland Java Meetup Group http://www.meetup.com/cleveland-java/ Follow: @JavaCleveland

  45. Cleveland JavaScript Meetup http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-JavaScript-Meetup/ Follow: @uzquiano @Jarmmi

  46. Cleveland Lean Startup Circle http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-Lean-Startup-Circle/ Follow: @nickbarendt @jonrstahl @DocOnDev @gsvitak

  47. Cleveland machine intelligentsia http://www.meetup.com/cleveland-machine-intelligence/ Follow: @SmartTypes @AndrewCr @mw44118 @excentrixweb @dstanek @bikegriffith

  48. Cleveland MongoDB Group http://www.meetup.com/MongoDB-Cleveland Follow: @uzquiano

  49. 2016
    Cleveland Museum of Natural History https://www.cmnh.org/visit/calendar Follow: @goCMNH

  50. Cleveland MySQL Meetup http://www.meetup.com/mysql-cleveland/ Follow: @JavaCleveland @MySQLCleveland

  51. Cleveland Node.js User Group http://www.meetup.com/NodejsCleveland/ Follow: @maurerdotme @SPGrasso

  52. 2016
    Cleveland NodeSchool http://www.meetup.com/NodeSchool-Cleveland/ Follow: @mohlsen

  53. Cleveland Perl Mongers http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-Perl-Mongers/ Follow: @RunByMany

  54. Cleveland Photographic Society http://www.clevelandphoto.org/ Follow: @CPSPhoto

  55. Cleveland Podcaster Meetup http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-Podcaster-Meetup/ Follow: @LearnToPodcast

  56. Cleveland Public Library TechCentral http://cpl.org/thelibrary/subjectscollections/techcentral/http://cpl.org/eventsclasses/computerclassesassistance/ Follow: @techcentral_cpl @Cleveland_PL

  57. 2016
    Cleveland Red Hat Users Group http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-Red-Hat-Meetup/ Follow: @CleRHUG @JavaCleveland @MySQLCleveland

  58. Cleveland Ruby Brigade http://www.meetup.com/ClevelandRuby/ Follow: @clerb @DocOnDev @chzy @Contribute007 @zspencer

  59. Cleveland Scalawags http://www.meetup.com/CLEScalawags/ Follow: @neoscala

  60. Cleveland SharePoint User Group http://www.sharepointcleveland.com/ Follow: @SharePointCLE @smartyskirt

  61. Cleveland Social Media Club! https://twitter.com/SMCCLE Follow: @SMCCLE

  62. Cleveland Social Media Enthusiasts http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-Social-Media-Enthusiasts/ Follow: @SocialMediaEnth

  63. Cleveland Startup Weekend http://cleveland.startupweekend.org/ Follow: @SWCLE

  64. Cleveland Tech Events http://www.clevelandtechevents.com/http://cleveland-tech.herokuapp.com Follow: @ClevTechEvents @sadukie

  65. Cleveland Web Design and Development Meetup http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-Web-Design-and-Development-Meetup/ Follow: @aoirthoir

  66. Cleveland Web Standards Association (CWSA) http://www.clevelandwebstandards.org/ Follow: @CWSA

  67. Cleveland WordPress Meetup http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-WordPress-Meetup/ Follow: @PhilHoyt

  68. Cleveland WPF User Group http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-WPF-User-Group/ Follow: @CLEWPF @SamNasr

  69. Cleveland.Com #CleTweetUp http://www.cleveland.com/tweetup/http://www.facebook.com/clevelandcom/eventshttps://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=default&q=%23CLETweetup Follow: @ClevelandDotCom @dan_labbe @denisep

  70. ClevelandDotNet http://clevelanddotnet.blogspot.com/ Follow: @SamNasr

  71. 2016
    Code Akron http://codeakron.com/ Follow: @CodeAkron @KevinLockett

  72. Code for Summit County http://www.meetup.com/Code-for-Summit-County/ Follow: @pzula @prestonrhea

  73. CodeMash http://www.codemash.org/http://groups.google.com/group/CodeMash Follow: @CodeMash

  74. CodeRetreat http://coderetreat.org/about Follow: @CodeRetreat @coreyhaines

  75. Computers Assisting People Inc. (CAP) http://www.capinc.org/

  76. Content Strategy: Cleveland http://www.meetup.com/Content-Strategy-Cleveland/ Follow: @awakulch

  77. Conversion Rate Optimization Professionals' Association http://www.cropa.net/ Follow: @CROProA @mikeperla @akrejny

  78. CWRU LaunchPad http://cwru.thelaunchpad.org/ Follow: @LaunchPadCWRU

  79. Drupal Camp Ohio http://drupalcampohio.org/ Follow: @DrupalCampOhio

  80. Flashstarts http://www.flashstarts.com/ Follow: @Flashstarts

  81. Friends of Ingenuity http://www.meetup.com/ingenuity/ Follow: @Ingenuityfest

  82. 2016
    GiveSec https://givesec.org/events/ Follow: @givesec

  83. Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses at Cuyahoga Community College I http://www.tri-c.edu/workforce/GoldmanSachs/Pages/default.aspxhttp://www.goldmansachs.com/citizenship/10000-small-businesses/US/index.... Follow: @GoldmanSachs at @TriCedu

  84. Google Technology User Groups (GTUG) Cleveland https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/cleveland-gtug

  85. Gorilla Group http://www.thegorillagroup.org/ Follow: @TheGorillaGroup

  86. Great Lakes Geek http://www.greatlakesgeek.com/events/calendar.htm Follow: @GreatLakesGeek @DanHanson

  87. Great Lakes Science Center http://www.greatscience.com/ Follow: @GLScienceCtr

  88. 2016
    Greater Cleveland Data Curation Group http://www.meetup.com/Greater-Cleveland-Data-Curation-Group/ Follow: @OneCommunity

  89. Greater Cleveland PC Users Group (GCPCUG) http://gcpcug.org/ Other Technology & User Groups in Ohio http://www.gcpcug.org/othergroups Follow: @GCPCUG @GeekClean

  90. Greater Cleveland R Group http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-UseR-Group/ Follow: @nhermez

  91. Greater Cleveland Web Business Owners and Wannabe's http://www.meetup.com/Greater-Cleveland-Web-Business-MeetUP/ Follow: @dave_van_horn

  92. 2016
    Hack Cleveland http://www.hackcleveland.org/ Follow: @HackCleveland

  93. HackCWRU http://www.hackcwru.com/ Follow: @HackCWRU

  94. Heights Library Computer Classes http://events.heightslibrary.org/computer-classes/ Follow: @heightslibrary

  95. HubSpot Cleveland User Group https://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=3860316 Follow: @Diadalsky @pr2020

  96. Hudson Software Craftmanship User Group (HUDSONSC) https://twitter.com/HudsonSC Follow: @HudsonSC

  97. 2016
    Industry Product Conference http://indsum.com/ Follow: @prodcollective

  98. Ingenuityfest Cleveland http://www.ingenuitycleveland.com/http://www.meetup.com/ingenuity/ Follow: @Ingenuityfest

  99. Insivia http://www.insivia.com/seminar/ Follow: @insivia @andyhalko

  100. Institute for the Science of Origins https://www.facebook.com/iso.originshttp://origins.case.edu/ Follow: @gstarkman

  101. International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Cleveland http://www.iabccleveland.com/ Follow: @IABCCleveland

  102. 2016
    Internet of Things - Cleveland http://www.meetup.com/Internet-of-Things-Cleveland/ Follow: @MikeTelep

  103. IT Martini www.itmartini.com Follow: @itmartini

  104. IxDA Cleveland (Northeast Ohio) http://www.ixda.org/local/ixda-cleveland-northeast-ohio Follow: @ixdacleveland

  105. JumpStart, Inc. https://www.jumpstartinc.org Follow: @JumpStartInc

  106. Lake Erie Moose Society http://www.meetup.com/Lake-Erie-Moose-Society/http://www.facebook.com/eriemoose Follow: @hacool

  107. Launch League http://www.launchleague.org/ Follow: @LaunchLeague

  108. 2016
    LaunchNET Kent State http://www.kent.edu/launchnet Follow: @LaunchNET_KSU

  109. LeanDog, Inc.- Coming up @leandog http://www.leandog.com/events/ Follow: @leandog

  110. Make on The Lake http://www.meetup.com/Make-on-the-Lake/ Follow: @MakeOnTheLake @LeanDog

  111. Makers' Alliance – Cleveland - Learn. Make. Grow. http://www.makersalliance.org/http://www.meetup.com/MakersAlliance/ Follow: @MakersAlliance @sdh7 @jhgorse @csanyk @N0maD_OH

  112. Mobile Monday Cleveland http://mobilemondaycleveland.com/http://www.meetup.com/Mobile-Monday-Cleveland/ Follow: @MobileMondayCLE @Michele_Messina

  113. NEO Society for Technical Communication http://www.neostc.org/

  114. NEOOUG - Great Lakes Oracle Conference http://www.meetup.com/NEOOUG-Great-Lakes-Oracle-Conference/

  115. 2016
    NEXT Ohio http://www.nextohio.com/ Follow: @NEXTOhio

  116. NorTech http://www.nortech.org/ Follow: @NorTech

  117. North East Ohio WordPress Meetup http://www.meetup.com/NEOWordPress/ Follow: @brianlayman

  118. Northeast Ohio (NEO) IT Think Tank! https://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2268461&home= Follow: @NEOITThinkTank

  119. Northeast Ohio chapter of Business Marketing Association (BMA) http://www.marketing.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageID=5597http://www.facebook.com/BMANEO Follow: @BMANEO

  120. Northeast Ohio Chapter of the Information Systems Security Association http://neoissa.org/

  121. Northeast Ohio Information Security Forum http://www.neoisf.org/ Follow: @NEOISF

  122. Northeast Ohio ISSA Security Meetup Group http://neoissa.org/http://www.meetup.com/NEO-ISSA/

  123. Northeast Ohio PC Club http://www.neopc.org/

  124. 2016
    Northeast Ohio PHP Meetup http://www.meetup.com/Northeast-Ohio-PHP-Meetup/ Follow: @RBRebellion

  125. Northeast Ohio Software Quality Assurance Association @NOSQAA http://nosqaa.org/ Follow: @NOSQAA

  126. Northeast Ohio Usability Professionals' Association (NEOUPA) http://www.uxpacleveland.org/ Follow: @NEOUPA

  127. Ohio Blogging Association - #Cleveland http://www.facebook.com/ohblogging Follow: @OHBlogging @poiseinparma

  128. Ohio Mobile Developers (Oh-Mo-Dev) http://www.meetup.com/OhMoDev/ Follow: @Anth0nyRussell @lancewmccarthy

  129. Ohio North SQL Server User Group http://www.ohionorthsqlserverug.org/ Follow: @ONSSUG

  130. OHTec, the COSE Technology Network http://www.cose.org/en/Technology.aspx Follow: @OHTecOnline @COSEsmallbiz

  131. Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Cleveland Follow: @owasp

  132. OpenNEO http://openneo.org/ Follow: @openneo

  133. OSC Tech Lab http://www.meetup.com/Startup-Akron/http://www.osctechlab.com/ Follow: @oscTechLab @n_petroski

  134. 2016
    PechaKucha Night Akron http://www.pechakucha.org/cities/akron Follow: @PKAkron

  135. PechaKucha Night Cleveland http://www.pecha-kucha.org/night/cleveland Follow: @PechaKuchaClev @mchristoff

  136. PodCamp Cleveland http://www.podcampcleveland.com/ Follow: @PodCmpCleveland

  137. Rosetta Tech Talks For now will be on http://www.eventbrite.com/http://www.meetup.com/RosettaTechTalks/ Follow: @RosettaMktg's #RosettaTechTalks

  138. Rustbelt Refresh http://rustbeltrefresh.com/ Follow: @RustbeltRefresh @CWSA @bdielman @bradcolbow @bridgetstewart

  139. SEA Change http://www.seachangeneo.org/ Follow: @SEAChangeNEO

  140. Shaker | LaunchHouse http://www.meetup.com/LaunchHouse/ Follow: @LaunchHouse

  141. Slideluck Potshow Cleveland http://www.facebook.com/SlideluckPotshowCLE

  142. Small Business Accelerator Meetup http://www.meetup.com/Small-Business-Accelerator-Meetup/

  143. StartCLE https://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=3688748 Follow: @StartCLE

  144. 2016
    Startup Scaleup http://www.startupscaleup.org/ Follow: @JumpStartInc Hashtag: #StartupScaleup

  145. Stir Trek http://stirtrek.com/ Follow: @stirtrek

  146. SunDown RunDown – Akron http://sundownrundown.org/akron.asp Follow: @SDRDorg

  147. SYN/HAK, the Akron Hackerspace http://synhak.org/http://www.meetup.com/synhak/ Follow: @SYNHAK @gsvolt

  148. Tangent @ DXY https://www.facebook.com/DXYdoes/events

  149. 2016
    Tech Elevator http://www.techelevator.com/events/http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-learntocode/ Follow: @Tech_Elevator

  150. Tech Savvy Women https://www.facebook.com/techsavvywomen/eventshttp://www.purposefulwoman.com/businesses/tech-savvy-women/ Follow: @JJDiGeronimo @janecalexander

  151. TechLife NEO http://www.meetup.com/TechLifeNEO/ Follow: @bblanquera @consultski

  152. TEDxAkron http://tedxakron.com/ Follow: @TEDxAkron

  153. TEDxCLE http://www.tedxcle.com/ Follow: @TEDxCLE

  154. The City Club http://www.cityclub.org Follow: @TheCityClub

  155. The National Robotics League http://gonrl.org/events-competitions/ Follow: @goNRL

  156. UX Akron http://www.meetup.com/UX-Akron/ Follow: @Uxakron

  157. UXBookClub Cleveland https://twitter.com/uxbookclub Follow: @uxbookclub

  158. We Can Code IT (Empowering Girls and Women in Technology) http://wecancodeit.org/home/schedule/ Follow: @WeCanCodeIT @MelKMcGee @ShanaInCle

  159. Web Association http://www.webassociation.org/ Follow: @CLEWebAssoc

  160. WebSigCleveland.org http://www.WebSigCleveland.org/ Follow: Me! @sos_jr Hashtag: #WebSigCLE

  161. WordCamp North Canton http://northcanton.wordcamp.org/ Follow: @NorthCantonWC Hashtag for 2014: #WCNC2014

  162. Working Women Connection - Cleveland East Chapter http://workingwomenconnection.com/teams/cleveland-east/ Follow: @WorkingWomeNC at @LaunchHouse via @KatieJConnelly

  163. 2016
    xDD Cleveland http://www.meetup.com/xDD-CLE/ Follow: @DaveShah @samjonester Hashtag: #xDDCLE

This list is not complete, and has a high probability of having errors -- perfection is not a worthwhile lifetime goal. Please use my list as a starting point for learning about all the great events happening in our community.

Once you find something of interest, please share it with others. I have learned that there are amazing things happening in our community, and I hope you help spread the word!

If there are bad links or incorrect information, please feel free to let me know via Twitter at @sos_jr or in the comments below. Of more importance, if you know of a tech or social media meeting in our community that I should add to my list, please leave a comment below, so all can share in your knowledge.

Thank you to all. I am looking forward to another year full of great possibilities!

Stuart O. Smith, Jr., M.N.O.
=========================================
Web SIG Cleveland Leader - WebSigCleveland.org
Blogging at: sosAssociates.com/blog
Follow me on: @sos_jr


CDPUG Tour of Cuyahoga County Public Library's New Innovation Center

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Blog Date: 
Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Cuyahoga County Public Library Innovation Center

I have attended the grand opening of the Cleveland Public Library (@Cleveland_PL) TechCentral MakerSpace. The technology center staff at the Akron Public Library (@AkronLibrary) gave me a tour during the Akron Maker Faire. Now, I am pleased to be able to write about the Cuyahoga County Public Library's (@CuyahogaLib) newInnovation Center at their Garfield Heights Branch. I was fortunate to be part of a special orientation tour given to members of the Cleveland Digital Publishing Users Group - CDPUG (@CDPUG) for their March 31, 2016, meeting.

In addition to seeing other library systems' tech centers, my interest in Cuyahoga County Public Library's Innovation Center was also sparked by my discussion with the library system's technology staff at the October 18, 2015, opening of the new South Euclid-Lyndhurst Library Branch. At that event, they demonstrated a 3-D printer, but indicated that the printers would only be traveling between libraries. I was told that they had youth classes now, and would have adult 3-D printing classes in the spring.

After the event, I sent a private Twitter message to Cuyahoga County Public Library's Executive Director Sari Feldman (@Sari_Feldman) mentioning that some of the attendees had not previously seen a 3-D printer in person. I let her know that what the library was doing was great, and that since "...the 3-D design software is free & the library is going to be providing free classes to adults starting in spring 2016, there is a great opportunity to educate people."

October 18, 2015 - Some of the Tweets from the South Euclid-Lyndhurst Library Grand Opening

Innovation Center Opening!

After the opening of the new South Euclid-Lyndhurst Library Branch, I did not expect anything more to happen in relation to library technology resources in the near future. Imagine my surprise when I heard about the opening of Cuyahoga County Public Library's first Innovation Center at the Garfield Heights Branch on February 12, 2016. I was very disappointed that I did not hear about the opening until after it took place, but the photos I saw from the event on Twitter and in articles were exciting.

Here are two articles about the first Innovation Center and plans for two more in the near future. These Innovation Centers are funded by and The Cleveland Foundation (@CleveFoundation):

While writing this blog post, I did a search for tweets from the Innovation Center opening, and I found the following. It is interesting to note that CDPUG Past President and current Social Networking Manager (guru) Janet Dodrill was actively promoting the Innovation Center on day one! Be sure to follow both @CDPUG and @JanetDodrill on Twitter.

February 12, 2016 - Tweets from Innovation Center Opening

CDPUG Innovation Center Orientation

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Cleveland Digital Publishing Users Group private tour and orientation of the Innovation Center
Cuyahoga County Public Library Innovation Center

CDPUG Program Director Spike Radway (@SpikeRadway) is great at being on top of creative happenings in Cleveland. That is why so soon after the Innovation Center opening, the CDPUG membership was invited for a private tour and orientation at their March 31, 2016 meeting.

Here is the description from the official Cuyahoga County Public Library Innovation Center web page of all the services at the Garfield Heights Library Branch, interlaced with my photos from the tour.

Equipment

  • 3-D printer
  • Laser engraver
  • Vinyl cutter
  • Embroidery machine
  • Collaboration touchscreen
  • Mac and PC computer with Adobe Creative Suite software

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Innovation Center 3-D printer
Innovation Center 3-D printer3-D printer samples and bookInnovation Center 3-D printer

Enlarge Laser Engraver Images
Laser engraver & collaboration touchscreen
Innovation Center laser engraver

 

 

Enlarge Vinyl Cutter Image
Innovation Center vinyl cutter

Enlarge Embroidery Machine Images
Innovation Center embroidery machine
Innovation Center embroidery machineInnovation Center embroidery machineEmbroidery sample at the Innovation CenterInnovation Center embroidery machine

Enlarge Adobe Creative Suite Training Image
Adobe Creative Suite software and training available at the Innovation Center

There is no charge to use the equipment in the Innovation Center. However, users are responsible for the costs of consumable materials (eg. 3-D printing filament, vinyl material, etc), a limited supply of which are available for purchase at the Library checkout desk. We encourage innovators to use their own approved materials for their own projects.

During the tour, we received the following current price sheet:

Enlarge Price Sheet
Innovation Center price guide

Audio Recording Studio

  • Mac computer featuring Adobe Creative Suite and Garage Band software
  • 1 Microphone
  • 1 Keyboard

Video Recording Studio

  • Mac computer featuring Adobe Creative Suite, Blackmagic Design ATEM, and iMovie software
  • 1 Video Camera
  • Chromakey Green Screen Wall
  • Chromakey Green Screen backdrop and stand
  • 1 Handheld Microphone
  • 1 Lapel Microphone

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Cuyahoga County Public Library Audio Recording Studio
Audio Recording Studio GuideCuyahoga County Public Library Video Recording StudioVideo Recording Studio Guide

We also learned from the library staff of two additional Innovation Centers being planned. The Parma-Snow Library Branch will have technology similar to that of the first Innovation Center, and Mayfield Library Branch will have some robotics. Watch for more details in the coming months.

In addition to these hardware technology resources, the Garfield Heights Library Branch has the software needed to design 3-D objects. Past CDPUG President and current Secretary Henry Lee (@NativeArtzCLE) demonstrated SketchUp - "The easiest way to draw in 3D" - software, which is available at the library.

Please see my notes and photos from the evening in the following tweets. They also include tweets from the "after" meeting, which is a tradition of CDPUG and other great tech groups in our community. This is a chance to talk one-on-one with presenters after the main meeting. If you find any of the information interesting or useful, please retweet to share with others.

March 31, 2016 - Tweets from CDPUG Tour & Orientation of Innovation Center

March 31, 2016 - CDPUG's Meeting after the Meeting

Cleveland Digital Publishing Users Group (CDPUG)

Cleveland Digital Publishing Users Group (CDPUG)

I want to note that my Cleveland Digital Publishing Users Group (CDPUG) membership enabled me to go on this tour and to participate in the software training. CDPUG is a great organization if you like to be with, and learn from, creative people in Cleveland. CDPUG members also benefit by having access to a members-only job bank.

Here is a description of benefits listed on the CDPUG website:

Membership Benefits

Membership in CDPUG offers tangible benefits for you, your employers, your customers, Northeast Ohio and for the industry as a whole. By promoting excellence and knowledge in visual communications, we provide many opportunities for growth and outreach. Here is a partial list of the benefits of belonging to the Cleveland Digital Publishing Users Group.

  • Continuing professional development
  • A place where beginners and advanced users can share knowledge and experience
  • A lifeline to current events and trends in our many industries
  • Networking and job opportunities
  • A place and network of professionals willing to help answer your questions
  • Direct contact with representatives from the major hardware and software makers and vendors
  • Discounts on the things you need
  • Membership in a group that promotes excellence in our industries
  • A place to show off your skills
  • Fun with good people
  • Valuable prizes from contests and raffles.

Go to CDPUG.org for more information.

Related Blog Posts:

The following are blog posts that will give you more information about Cleveland Digital Publishing Users Group - CDPUG (@CDPUG) and technical resources at our area's libraries. Please watch my @sos_jr tweets and see future sosAssociates.com/blog posts for more information.

Akron Public Library (@AkronLibrary):

Cleveland Public Library (@Cleveland_PL):

Cleveland Digital Publishing Users Group - CDPUG (@CDPUG)

Three of these blog posts are about presentations I have done at CDPUG's meetings, and one is about a magazine article featuring the past president of CDPUG, the president of Greater Cleveland PC Users Group (GCPCUG), and me. The "Presentation Skills " blog post includes a surprise from CDPUG Program Director Spike Radway (@SpikeRadway) -- he included me in his presentation.

Also, from the 9th Annual CDPUG Showcase, I did at an Ignite Talk about Cleveland GiveCamp (@CleGiveCamp):

Cleveland Give Camp
Published on Jun 26, 2013

Stuart Smith talks about Cleveland GiveCamp, a weekend-long event where creative professionals donate their time to create software and web-based applications for non-profit organizations.

(Learn more about Cleveland GiveCamp by visiting the ClevelandGiveCamp.org website, and reading my past blog posts tagged "givecamp.")

NASA Glenn Research Center 75th Anniversary Open House

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Blog Date: 
Monday, July 18, 2016
Author(s): 

NASA Glenn Research Center 75th Anniversary Open House

Here it is...

NASA Glenn Research Center Celebrates 75 Years With an Open House

When Stuart saw this headline in a Cleveland Scene article (@ClevelandScene) on March 11, 2016, we knew we had to be there! Our first full blog post was about a tour of NASA Glenn Research Center (@NASAglenn) as part of a Cleveland NASA Tweetup in 2012. We were excited to go back for another tour!

We attended the NASA Glenn Research Center 75th Anniversary Open House at Lewis Field on May 21 and 22, 2016. (There was also a Technology Day on May 24, and an open house in Sandusky on June 11 and 12 at Plum Brook Station, which we were not able to attend.) There was so much to see that the two days just left us wanting to see and learn more.

Enlarge To Read Speaker Schedule
Day 1: Speaker Schedule - NASA Glenn Research Center 75th Anniversary Open House
Day 2: Speaker Schedule - NASA Glenn Research Center 75th Anniversary Open House

Some of the exciting things that attendees were able to see included:

  • Aero-Acoustic Propulsion Laboratory
  • Astronaut Talks
  • Engine Research Building (ERB)
  • Extreme Environments Rig
  • Great Lakes Science Center's Science Spectacular
  • Icing Research Tunnel
  • Photovoltaic Laboratory
  • Propulsion Systems Laboratory
  • Telescience Support Center
  • Wind Tunnel
  • Zero Gravity Research Facility

Here is the official map and brochure from the open house:

Official map & brochure from the NASA Glenn Research Center Open House
Read NASA Open House Brochure

 

 

Learn more about all the the 75th anniversary and related events at: www.NASA.gov/glenn75/
Also, see what people have shared about @NASAglenn 75th anniversary on Twitter with the #NASAGlenn75 hashtag.

Connect & share with NASA Glenn Research Center (@NASAglenn)
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Google map of Glenn Research Center, 21000 Brookpark Rd, Cleveland, OH 44135

It seemed like all of Cleveland was there -- huge lines just to get on the buses from the I-X Center (@ixcenter) to the NASA Glenn facility. The following are our photos and tweets/retweets from the two days to show some of what took place at this weekend-long event. We hope that the NASA Glenn Research Center makes this an annual event. Clevelanders have a lot of interest in NASA!

Before NASA Glenn Open House

Prior to attending the open house, we got even more excited by reading these articles and viewing the related videos (be sure to read them to learn more):

Official video promoting the open house:

 

Jan Wittry of NASA public affairs talks about the open house (Plain Dealer Video/Marvin Fong):

Here are our tweets and retweets from before the open house:

Day 1: NASA Glenn Open House May 21, 2016

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos/videos,
please view them here.

 

Day 2: NASA Glenn Open House May 22, 2016

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos/videos,
please view them here.

Great Lakes Science Center's NASA Glenn Visitor Center

When Stuart was in high school, he had a good friend who was a NASA spaceship expert, who took him to the visitor center that used to be located on the NASA Glenn Research Center (@NASAglenn) property. It was a place that few people knew about, and might have only attracted people who had a strong interest in NASA.

Today, people visiting Cleveland can still go to the NASA Glenn Visitor Center, but it is now part of the Great Lakes Science Center (@GLScienceCtr). This location has the advantage of having more exposure to the public. In addition, the Science Center staff members are trained to provide more interaction with the public, and update exhibits more often.

While the NASA Glenn Research Center 75th Anniversary Open House at Lewis Field was a once-in-a-lifetime event, the NASA Glenn Visitor Center at the Great Lakes Science Center gives the public year-round access to information.

On the first day of the NASA Glenn Research Center Open House, Stuart was pleased to meet Dr. Kirsten Ellenbogen (@kellenbogen) after she spoke at the Great Lakes Science Center's Science Spectacular. She is the President & CEO of Great Lakes Science Center (@GLScienceCtr). Stuart and Dr. Ellenbogen had been in contact online, as we visited Great Lakes Science Center events, and wrote related blog posts.

Related Blog Posts

As we wrote above, our first full blog post was about a tweetup at NASA , which is why were so excited to go back for the open house.

Here are some of our related blog posts:

You can also view all my blog posts at: sosAssociates.com/Blog

 

We look forward to attending more NASA Glenn Research Center events. Be sure to follow them on social media to learn more.

Follow NASA Glenn Research Center at: @NASAglenn
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My 7th Cleveland GiveCamp - Free Tech Solutions for Nonprofits in 2016

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Blog Date: 
Tuesday, August 23, 2016

My 7th Cleveland GiveCamp - Free Tech Solutions for Nonprofits in 2016

The Mission of Cleveland GiveCamp is to pair creative and technology talent with nonprofits in need.

Cleveland GiveCamp (@CleGiveCamp) weekend on July 29-31, 2016, marked the seventh year of serving nonprofits from the Cleveland and Akron areas. I am fortunate to to be part of Cleveland GiveCamp every year.

Cleveland continues to have many creative people volunteering (over 225 registered for 2016). It is believed that Cleveland has the largest GiveCamp (@GiveCamp) in the nation. It is exciting that again this year there were so many volunteers that the tech volunteer tickets sold out, and a waiting list had to be started. (Note: For future reference, tech volunteers should still sign up to be on the waiting list, since additional opportunities to help do arise as the weekend approaches. In 2016, I heard that many on the waiting list were called into action! Also, it is understood that some people need to cancel, but know that you are needed! If you can't attend GiveCamp, please release your ticket so others can fill your space to help a local charity.)

CodeSmiths - Proud of My Sons' Involvement

In 2014, Cleveland GiveCamp volunteer Heidi Cool (@hacool) wrote "CodeSmiths share their GiveCamp experience" to describe my family's involvement in year five. I like the term "CodeSmiths," and enjoy using it here as I share a bit of what my sons and I did at Cleveland GiveCamp this year. I am very proud that now, as adults, my sons continue to be active in helping local charities as Cleveland GiveCamp volunteers.

Mike Smith is now an "old-timer" at Cleveland GiveCamp. He volunteered the first year (2010), working on his first WordPress website, and has only missed Cleveland GiveCamp once in all these years. (See @WEWS'sVolunteers help local groups with websites 2010 video [at 0:48], which was shared for "Throwback Thusday" on Twitter here.) This year, Mike contributed to building a WordPress website for Loyola Retreat House, Inc.

LoyolaRetreatHouse.com Website
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LoyolaRetreatHouse.com

Loyola Retreat House Team - Cleveland GiveCamp 2016
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Loyola Retreat House Team - Cleveland GiveCamp 2016

 

See all 2016 Cleveland GiveCamp Team Photos by Albert Bell (@PhotoAlBell)

This was Kevin Smith's fourth year working on the Cleveland GiveCamp social media team. In addition to contributing to the @CleGiveCamp Twitter feed and posting to Facebook.com/CLEGiveCamp, he was responsible for creating the official Cleveland GiveCamp YouTube video for the third consecutive year.

Once other teams building websites learned that Kevin had video editing experience, the Loyola Retreat House, Inc. and EYEJ: Empowering Youth, Exploring Justice (@eyejcleveland) teams had him edit videos to be used for their new websites. Here is the Loyola Retreat House video which will act as an online tour of the retreat house.

You can learn more about Kevin through his blog: Kevin's Journal | Poetry From The Heart

YouTube.com/user/ClevelandGiveCamp

View and share 2016 via Facebook Video here.

2016 Cleveland GiveCamp Social Media Team
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2016 Cleveland GiveCamp Social Media Team

 

See all 2016 Cleveland GiveCamp Team Photos by Albert Bell (@PhotoAlBell)

I continue to work on the Cleveland GiveCamp Steering Committee year-round, assisting with the planning for the weekend, managing the ClevelandGiveCamp.org website, and coordinating some of the social media activities. During this year's Cleveland GiveCamp weekend, I served with my son Kevin on the social media team.

2016 Cleveland GiveCamp Steering Committee and "Red Shirt" Tech Experts Floater Team
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2016 Cleveland GiveCamp Steering Committee
and "Red Shirt" Tech Experts Floater Team

 

See all 2016 Cleveland GiveCamp Team Photos by Albert Bell (@PhotoAlBell)

2016 Cleveland GiveCamp Steering Committee:

 

My Cleveland GiveCamp Photos and Videos

Here are my photos and videos from Cleveland GiveCamp weekend. In the list below of other bloggers who wrote about the weekend, you will note that I contributed my photos for others to use.

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos/videos,
please view them here.

2016 Cleveland GiveCamp Nonprofit Partners

7th Cleveland GiveCamp - Free Tech Solutions for Nonprofits in 2016
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2016 Cleveland GiveCamp Teams
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See all 23 2016 Cleveland GiveCamp Team Photos by Albert Bell (@PhotoAlBell)
on the Cleveland GiveCamp @CLEGiveCamp Facebook page

Here is the list of the 19 Cleveland GiveCamp Nonprofit Partners for 2016 (one nonprofit lost the opportunity since their representative could not attend the weekend). All received a new or updated website, except for Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland, which had a security team audit, and The Nightlight Cinema, which received a special data management dashboard.

For 2016, there were enough volunteers to also create a 20th team which worked on updating the Cleveland GiveCamp website. I look forward to promoting Cleveland GiveCamp 2017 on the new website when it goes live.

  1. Blossom Hill (@BlossomHillHome)

  2. Cleveland Grays Armory Museum (@GraysArmory)

  3. Euclid Hunger Task Force, Inc.

  4. EYEJ: Empowering Youth, Exploring Justice (@eyejCleveland)

  5. Gordon Square Arts District (@GordonSquare)

  6. Great Lakes Light Opera (@GLLO_Cleveland)

  7. Harvard Community Services Center (@HarvardCSC)

  8. Jewish Secular Community of Cleveland

  9. Loyola Retreat House, Inc.

  10. Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland (@NHSCleveland)

  11. The New Agrarian Center (@CityFresh)

  12. The Nightlight Cinema (@NightlightAkron
     
    Please read my PechaKucha Night at the Akron Civic Theatre blog post to learn more about The Nightlight Cinema Executive Director Kurtiss Hare'sPechaKucha Night Akron (@PKAkron) talk.

  13. North Union Farmers Market (@NUFarmersMarket)

  14. Northeast Ohio Voter Advocates

  15. Redeemer (ICH) Crisis Center

  16. Summit County Community Partnership (@CPSummitCounty)

  17. Summit Food Policy Coalition

  18. Women’s Network of Northeast Ohio (@WomensNetworkOh)

  19. Working Animals Giving Service for Kids (@WAGS4KIDS)

Cleveland GiveCamp 2016 Sponsors

Cleveland GiveCamp 2016 Sponsors
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A big thank-you to the Cleveland GiveCamp sponsors who make it possible to serve the Cleveland GiveCamp Nonprofit Partners. Here is the list of 2016 sponsors, along with information from the Cleveland GiveCamp sponsors official web page explaining their importance.

Cleveland GiveCamp 2016 Sponsors Information
Open the Cleveland GiveCamp
Sponsor Information

 

Our 2016 sponsor packet is available. Please email us at: info@clevelandgivecamp.org

Cleveland GiveCamp could not happen without the generosity of our sponsors. Their financial and in-kind support helps us continue the important work we do each year. A typical project created during GiveCamp weekend would cost a nonprofit $5,000-$10,000. By doing them for free, we allow them to allocate their financial resources to directly fulfill their mission.

Sponsors help ensure that nonprofits continue to benefit from this valuable work, with no cost to participate. With your support, we also give volunteers tools to do the work (everything from printing supplies to hosting) and fuel them with food and caffeine throughout the weekend.

Thank you to our Cleveland GiveCamp Sponsors.

2016 Sponsors

Gold Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

Patron Sponsors

 

The Cleveland Section of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is Cleveland GiveCamp’s fiscal sponsor. The IEEE is a tax-exempt organization, under IRS section 501(c)(3), and is eligible to receive charitable contributions that are deductible for U.S. income tax purposes.

Donate

If you would like to make donation to the Cleveland GiveCamp, please use the PayPal button below. Payments are made through the Institute of Electronics Engineers (IEEE), our fiscal sponsor.

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Of special note is the unique and beautiful location for Cleveland GiveCamp. Thank you, Arras Keathley Agency (@AKACleveland), Burke Lakefront Airport (@BurkeLakefront), and LeanDog (@LeanDog).

Be sure to see the photos I share in my slideshow and on Twitter to see what it was like for the teams working in the Arras Keathley Agency and LeanDog offices, which are located on a boat! In addition, Burke Lakefront Airport is filled with interesting technology and historical displays from the International Women's Air & Space Museum (@WomenintheAir).

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LeanDog and Arras Keathley Agency offices located on a boat!
International Women's Air & Space Museum USS COD Submarine, boats and Burke Lakefront Airport

Incredible views of Cleveland's Terminal Tower (@TowerLightsCLE), Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (@Rock_Hall), Great Lakes Science Center (@GLScienceCtr), USS COD Submarine (@SubmarineCod - @USSCod), and the city skyline can be seen during Cleveland GiveCamp -- It is just a great place to work for the weekend.

Remembering Andy Craze - Cleveland GiveCamp Co-Founder

Cleveland GiveCamp co-founder Andy Craze passed away on Sunday, July 24, 2016, one week before everyone came together to help local nonprofits at Cleveland GiveCamp. The weekend was a fitting tribute to what he started in our city, and which will continue on into the future.

Remembering Andy Craze - Cleveland GiveCamp Co-Founder
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Andy used to run the stand-up meetings at Cleveland GiveCamp, so in his honor, there was a moment of silence at the first stand-up meeting of the weekend. My son, Kevin Smith, came up with the idea of adding a tribute to Andy to the official Cleveland GiveCamp 2016 YouTube video, and worked with Andy's partner, Jane Winik, to choose appropriate photos.

Bob Coppedge & Jane Winik present the new “Craze eCool Award”
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At the Cleveland GiveCamp closing ceremony, Andy's partner, Jane Winik, along with Bob Coppedge of Simplex-IT (@Simplex_IT), surprised all the attendees by announcing the creation of the annual “Craze eCool Award” with the goal of supporting a local nonprofit with a cash donation in memory of Andy Craze.

For this first year, a cash donation was given to both EYEJ: Empowering Youth, Exploring Justice (@eyejCleveland) and the Northeast Ohio Voter Advocates. Read all the details in the Simplex-IT blog post: Simplex-IT helps start new award to remember Andy Craze

August 5, 2016, Andy Craze Memorial
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Attending the August 5, 2016, Andy Craze memorial, I learned more about Andy's life. It was an honor to know him.

Tweets & Retweets

Here are my @sos_jr tweets and retweets sharing the experience which was Cleveland GiveCamp 2016. Please share any photos and videos that you find interesting by retweeting. Clicking on Twitter photos will enlarge them! Note that I organized them into five sections.

Cleveland GiveCamp Resources

Here are some of the technical resources, and resources for nonprofits, that were shared over the weekend:

 

If you are interested in GiveCamp (@GiveCamp) in other cities around our nation, please check out the Twitter list that I developed for @CleGiveCamp. Not all these groups are active, so check their Twitter feeds and websites to see if they are meeting. Many other GiveCamps occur in the fall.

What Others Say

Here are some of the articles and blog posts about Cleveland GiveCamp 2016. I always like to include what others have shared about events I attend. If you know of additional blogs/articles, please feel free to add a comment below or mention it to me at my @sos_jr Twitter account.

My Past Cleveland GiveCamp Blog Posts

Photos, nonprofits served, resources, and more. You can read about some of the past Cleveland GiveCamps here:

 

2017 will be the eighth year that Cleveland GiveCamp volunteers will provide free tech solutions to local charities. Please tell everyone you know about this opportunity for nonprofits. We want to let nonprofits that don't know about this resource learn how to apply to be served in future years.  Thank you.

 

 

Awakening: Ingenuity Cleveland 2016

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Blog Date: 
Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Awakening: Ingenuity 2016

The 2016 IngenuityFest (@Ingenuityfest) weekend took place on Friday, September 23rd, through Sunday, September 25th. This is the fifth annual blog post I have written about IngenuityFest, plus I have written about other Ingenuity Cleveland-sponsored events (see list below of related blog posts).

Every year, I try to live the full IngenuityFest experience by attending all three days and talking to as many exhibitors as possible. It was really great this year to reconnect with some of the artists and techies I met in previous years, and get to know some tech people that I had read about online, but had not met in person. IngenuityFest is like an annual reunion of creative people in Cleveland!

Awakening: Ingenuity Cleveland 2016 Event Map
Enlarge New Location Map

I learned from this excellent Cool Cleveland (@CoolCleveland) article, VIDEO: IngenuityFest Awakens in 2016, that this year was going to be different -- new mission -- new location.

Please learn more by watching this interview by CoolCleveland’s Thomas Mulready of IngenuityFest Program Director Emily Applebaum. (Note: I read on IngenuityFest's history web page that Thomas Mulready and James Levin founded IngenuityFest in 2004.)

Here is the official Awakening: Ingenuity 2016 brochure that presents information about the changes happening with Ingenuity Cleveland.

 

 

Awakening: Ingenuity 2016 BrochureAwakening: Ingenuity 2016 Brochure - Page 2Awakening: Ingenuity 2016 Brochure - Page 3Awakening: Ingenuity 2016 Brochure - Page 4

(Download Awakening: Ingenuity 2016 brochure PDF version here)

Here is the official IngenuityFest 2016 description and Ingenuity’s Mission:

IngenuityFest 2016

WE ARE MOVING!!

Ingenuity is SO excited to say that we have a new location for the 2016 Festival. For the first time in our organization’s history, we’ll be moving outside the downtown core into the Saint Clair Superior neighborhood at the corner of E 53rd and Hamilton Avenue.

We’ll be moving into the former Osborn Industrial Complex – a company that occupied the building for over 100 years, manufacturing industrial brushes. While the building is over 350,000 sq. ft, we’ll be occupying about 50,000 of that. What will you find, you ask?

  • Makers
  • Interactive Installations
  • Music
  • Local Vendors
  • IngenuityLABs
  • Food

What you need to know:

Dates: September 23-25, 2016

Hours:

Friday, September 23: 5pm – 1am

Saturday, September 24: 12pm – 1am

Sunday, September 25: 12pm – 5pm

Tickets:

PRICING:

  • 12 & Under – FREE
  • Individual Day Pass – $5
  • Individual Weekend Pass – $10

Got a family of 4 or more? Enter promo code INGFRIEND to get $1 off day passes or $3 off weekend passes!

Please contact annie@ingenuitycleveland.org for group (15+ people) rates!

Ingenuity’s Mission:

Ingenuity’s mission is to ignite the creative spark where the arts, science, and technology intersect. By animating Cleveland’s urban spaces with world-class, innovative experiences, Ingenuity provides a unique platform to explore the boundaries of art and technology.

Our core values are to showcase innovation through collaboration, promote excellence, inspire and engage new audiences, and energize and transform urban environments. Ingenuity provides the catalyst for creative connections among artists, innovators, and audiences.

Through its annual Festival, educational outreach, and awareness-building efforts, Ingenuity revitalizes and reinterprets Cleveland.

We’re fulfilling this mission at our annual festival and all year long through:

Hands On Technology Education

Interactive and Multimedia Artistic Projects

Inspiring and Unique Performances

Talks and Forums that Bring Together Creatives from All Walks of Life

Day 1: Friday, September 23, 2016

The best part about Day 1 was talking to some of the creative people I had met at IngenuityFest 2015, and meeting new people who were sharing their talents at this year's event. It was interesting to hear from several people I know how much they liked the layout of the new location this year. People seemed to go out of their way to praise the venue.

Here are my Day 1 photos, followed by tweets.

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos/videos,
please view them here.

Here are my tweets and retweets from before the IngenuityFest weekend, and those I shared on Day 1. They tell the story of this event:

Day 2: Saturday, September 24, 2016

On Day 2, I was joined by Julie, my co-blogger and wife. We ended up staying well into the night at IngenuityFest Day 2, since there was so much to see and do. Here are my photos and tweets from the day:

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos/videos,
please view them here.

Day 3: Sunday, September 25, 2016

I had limited time in the late afternoon on Day 3, since I had another event to attend that Sunday. My family was participating in the "Remembering the Sights and Sounds of Euclid Beach Park" event, where my son displays his memorabilia collection.

Though I had a relatively short time, I was glad I visited IngenuityFest again -- a great way to end a fun weekend!

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos/videos,
please view them here.

Thank You, Sponsors

Awakening: Ingenuity Cleveland 2016 Sponsors
Enlarge Sponsor List

Many events I attend in Cleveland are made possible by some of these top-level sponsors of IngenuityFest (just take a look our past blog posts), and for that I am most grateful!

What Others Say

Here are some articles that others have written about this great Cleveland weekend event:

Related Blog Posts

With IngenuityFest (@Ingenuityfest) featuring both technology and art -- areas that I am interested in -- it is of no surprise that I have been writing about IngenuityFest from the time I started writing my blog in 2012. Learn more by reading my related blog posts from past years:

Future

I have been writting about IngenuityFest since 2012, but I have been taking my famly to this great event for even longer. Founded in 2004, this year marks the 13th year for Ingenuity Cleveland's IngenuityFest -- I look forward to many more years as they evolve to fill a new role in the technology and arts community of Cleveland.

BVU Ohio Nonprofit Technology & Communications Summit

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Blog Date: 
Thursday, October 20, 2016

BVU Ohio Nonprofit Technology & Communications Summit

I want to begin with a BIG thank-you to BVU Director of Communications and Technology Melanie Meyer (@MelanieAMeyer) for inviting me to attend the inaugural BVU Ohio Nonprofit Technology & Communications Summit on Friday, September 30, 2016, as their guest representing the good work of Cleveland GiveCamp (@CleGiveCamp).

The mission of BVU: The Center for Nonprofit Excellence (@BVUVolunteers) "is to promote business volunteerism and foster excellence in nonprofit organizations." This has led Melanie and me to explore how Cleveland GiveCamp can reach out to the nonprofits served by BVU. As a provider of free tech solutions to Cleveland and Akron area nonprofits, it seemed logical that Cleveland GiveCamp be present at BVU's first tech summit. Cleveland GiveCamp (@CleGiveCamp) has the largest number of tech volunteers of any of the nation's other GiveCamps (@GiveCamp).

Years ago, I applied for a position at BVU, since I was intrigued by their mission. I think the work they do for the nonprofit sector in Cleveland and Akron is important to our community. Learn more about their current services on their website:

What follows is information from my notes taken at the tech summit, plus the support information provided by BVU.Melanie Meyer has done an outstanding job in providing the resources from the summit on BVU's website. I wish that all the tech conferences I attend would make this type of effort to provide resources after the event. I highly recommend you visit the BVU breakout sessions web page as an excellent example of how it should be done.

 

Summit Exhibitors

A wealth of information was provided for the asking from these exhibitors! I recommend you read the details on page 12 and 13 of the BVU Technology Summit Program PDF file here to learn more about the services they offer.

Summit Exhibitors see page 12 and 13 of the BVU Technology Summit Program PDF file
Click on image will open the
BVU Technology Summit Program PDF

 

Here is the list of exhibitors, including the description of Cleveland GiveCamp that I provided:

 

BVU Technology and Communications Summit Plenary Slides & Graphic Recorder Boards

BVU Technology and Communications Summit Plenary Powerpoint from BVU

Thank you,  BVU Associate Director of Education and Nonprofit Engagement Cory Isler (@CoryIsler) and graphic artisit Jo Byrne (@SeeYourWords ), for sending me these images of the graphic recorder boards. I found them very powerful as memory triggers of what was presented:

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First graphic recorder board - BVU Ohio Nonprofit Technology & Communications Summit
Second graphic recorder board - BVU Ohio Nonprofit Technology & Communications Summit

See more of Jo's work on her work online in the See Your Words Graphic Recording gallery.

 

Plenary - Become a Networked Nonprofit: Leading on Social Platforms - Beth Kanter (@Kanter)

Plenary - Become a Networked Nonprofit: Leading on Social Platforms - Beth Kanter (@Kanter)
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Notes:

  • Beth Kanter opened her talk with video: Conan Is Clawing His Way To The Top Of LinkedIn

     
     
     
    See Beth's blog post: Conan O’Brien: Stop Talking About Red Hats & Do A Monologue About Charitable Giving

  • As you develop objectives, be sure they are based on value.

  • How networked is your nonprofit?

    • Crawl - Lack social media ambassadors
    • Walk - Use social media sporadically -- not connected to objectives
    • Run - Socially engaged, but no strategy or objectives
    • Fly - Formal ambassadors -- social strategy connected to objectives -- provides training & measured results
  • What type of social media person are you?

    • Turtle - Profile locked down or not present
    • Jellyfish - Profile open to all
    • Chameleon -Profile open - adaptive and thoughtful
  • Social Media should be part of everyone's job.  Get staff to promote your nonprofit.  Talk to the faithful first to lead others.

  • Important that board members for nonprofits promote their organization on social media

    • First, survey board members to ask how much they use social media and how comfortable they are sharing on social media. 
    • Then train board members on how to use social media to promote your mission 
  • Read Beth's blog post: Does Your Organization Have Social Media Guidelines for All Staff? which includes information from TNT (@TNTMediaHub) Employee Social Media Guidelines.

  • Question: How do you avoid treating your donors like ATM machines?

  • Use your champions to share your mission with their social media followers.

 

Plenary - Use Data and Analytics to Better Communicate with Your Audience - Jeff Leo Herrmann (@JeffLHerrmann of @FathomDelivers)

Plenary - Use Data and Analytics to Better Communicate with Your Audience - Jeff Leo Herrmann (@JeffLHerrmann of @FathomDelivers)
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Notes:

  • Google has trained users to be impatient. We want information now -- we don't want to wait!

  • People want information, not salespeople.

  • Jeff says think like a publisher.

    See slides starting at 65.

  • Think of content as a digital asset.

  • Every company is a media company – every person is a media company! (I really like this idea that everyone can be their own media company!)

  • Spend a lot of time determining your target people -- who you should be reaching.  You don't want to reach everyone.

  • Pick one social media channel to focus on based on your audience (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). Jeff is big on using LinkedIn for the audience he wishes to reach.

  • Jeff is big on video. It is visual and tells story, so grabs people. Easy to do with selfie stick or tripod and your smart phone.

    Interesting that Jeff mentioned that he is big on using both LinkedIn and video, since during his talk I found the video Jeff Leo Herrmann Speaker Reel on his LinkedIn profile:

     

  • Measure content outcome.

  • During his talk, Jeff cited Global Cleveland (@GlobalCleveland) as a good example of a local nonprofit using social media. (Interesting, since I have learned about Global Cleveland via Twitter, plus met two of their leadership team through contacts that originated on social media.)

 

Plenary - Funding Technology from the Funder's Perspective - Leon Wilson (@leon_clevefdn of @CleveFoundation)

Tales from the Dark Side... [Things Nonprofits Should Know RE: Tech Funding]

Plenary - Funding Technology from the Funder's Perspective - Leon Wilson (@leon_clevefdn of @CleveFoundation)
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Notes:

  • I missed the beginning of Leon's presentation, so was glad that others shared information on Twitter (see tweets below) and that his slides on the BVU Technology and Communications Summit Plenary Powerpoint were made available.

  • Use board members who know technology to help you.

  • Don't go to Cleveland Foundation for tech support if you don't invest in it over time.

  • Be sure that the technology benefits your mission.

  • Tech is part of your base cost – not for grant.

  • Most foundations don't support technology for basic operations, but they do support capacity building.

  • How does technology help further the nonprofit's service/outreach/mission?

Years ago, when I was on the board for the Ohio Council of Fundraising Executive (OCFRE), I helped plan a joint technology conference between the two professional fundraising associations at the time -- NSFRE/OCFRE Technology Workshop -- thus, it was very interesting to hear from Leon Wilson how certain things have not changed regarding nonprofit funding for technology.

 

Plenary - Cloud Solutions: How They are Transforming the Way Nonprofits Work - Linda Widdop (@phillybirdnerd of @Tech_Impact)

Plenary - Cloud Solutions: How They are Transforming the Way Nonprofits Work - Linda Widdop (@phillybirdnerd of @Tech_Impact)
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Notes:

  • Cloud computing is more affordable for nonprofits than for for-profit businesses.  Cloud computing costs less and is more secure.

  • Large tech companies give free or lower cost technology to nonprofits.

  • Move technology from being a capital expense to an operating expense.  Move to cloud. Push cost as an operating cost.

  • Moving to the cloud improves business.

  • Less dependent on the IT guy/gal.

  • Companies like Microsoft and Google owe society -- thus, they give back to nonprofits by offering low-cost cloud services.

These two slides (slide 127 & 128) tell the story!

 

Plenary - TechSoup: Leveraging Product Donations and Services - Kathryn Svobodny (@katiesvo of @TechSoup)

Plenary - TechSoup: Leveraging Product Donations and Services - Kathryn Svobodny (@katiesvo of @TechSoup)
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Notes:

The TechSoup website lists over 375 tech products! To assist you in getting started, here is a list of product areas that link to the TechSoup website for more information:

 

Plenary - Idealware: Making Smarter Technology Decisions - Karen Graham (@KarenTGraham of @Idealware)

Plenary - Idealware: Making Smarter Technology Decisions - Karen Graham (@KarenTGraham of @Idealware)
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Notes:

  • Take online classes.

  • Can sign up to get notices.

Here is a description from Idealware's Who We Are web page:

We’re a nonprofit that puts technology at the heart of our mission. We help you make smart technology decisions so that you’re able to do your best work on a limited budget.

Idealware, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is the authoritative source for independent, thoroughly-researched technology resources for the social sector. Our publications, assessments, and training can save you time and money by providing impartial guidance that gives you the knowledge and confidence you need to decide what’s best for your organization.

We don’t do consulting and we don’t offer any technology products of our own. But we do collaborate with nonprofit technology experts to uncover and synthesize vast amounts of original research so that you can focus more of your time on what matters most—your organization’s mission.

 

Session 1:

SESSION 1 (1:00-2:00 PM)
Build an Audience & Move Them to Action Through Social Media
It's not enough to simply have a social media presence. To be successful on social media, a nonprofit should find the right audience, consistently provide them with content that really speaks to them, ultimately move them towards action - and then do it all over again! Panelists will provide tips and tactics to make social media work for your nonprofit.
Presented by Fathom Digital Marketing Experts: Jennifer Frates, Jennifer Marini Garvin and Joe Adams

Notes:

  • Fathom Digital Marketing (@FathomDelivers)

  • 65% of adults online use social media.

  • Fathom speakers talk about creating a social media calendar.

  • Suggest talk on social media as brand voice in most cases, when representing an organization.

  • Idea - make videos short, since audience has short attention span.

  • Former TV person says don't make video over one minute.

  • Paid social media is the way to go if you have the money, since it can be very targeted -- can target by age, neighborhood, college attended, etc.

  • Build an Audience & Move Them to Action Through Social Media from BVU

 

Here are links to the other presentations from Session 1:

 

Session 2:

SESSION 2  (2:15-3:15 PM)
The Changing Role of IT Staff
As nonprofit organizations adopt cloud for basic productivity and database needs, the role of the"technology staff" must shift.  Today, IT staff must engage with management and users to understand business needs and manage systems rather than hardware.  We will discuss this changing role and how nonprofit leaders can prepare to successfully manage the new IT landscape, and the responsibility of managing data sources, understanding data integration and how this can affect the organization.
Presented by Linda Widdop, TechImpact.

Notes:

  • Linda Widdop (@phillybirdnerd) Tech Impact (@Tech_Impact)

  • Donors and foundations are asking more questions.

  • The IT person is not climbing under desks and keeping servers going anymore. Instead, they have the role of training users to use data effectively. Instead of using local services, nonprofits can now put everything in the cloud for free. Have new type of IT department that gives you the data you need.

  • See Nonprofit Tech Staffing Report by @NTENorg at: http://www.nten.org/article/the-9th-annual-nonprofit-technology-staffing...

  • Evaluate IT staffing and support:

    • Manage services vs managing T staff.
    • Stop worrying about IT staff -- instead, manage outsourced resources. Hire brain power.
  • Outsource phone support and help desk.

  • Most cloud services are free for nonprofits, and offer good security and less downtime.

  • Go to Microsoft Trust Center website to find information on support. Also look for HIPPA requirements.

  • You can hire a virtual CIO.

  • Heard that Melanie Meyer at BVU will be providing great new nonprofit tech services in Cleveland. Watch for more information.

  • The Changing Role of IT Staff from BVU

 

Here are links to the other presentations from Session 2:

 

Session 3:

SESSION 3  (3:30-4:30 PM)
Social Impact, Accelerated: How Your Nonprofit's Back Office Can Change the World
Nonprofits operate in a world of significant complexity and limited resources. Whether it is the continuous friction between the fundraising and accounting departments around actual revenue and delivering a superior donor experience or trying to link outcomes with the true cost of programs, nonprofits regularly struggle to accomplish their mission under increased pressure to spend more on programs and less on the back office.
In this session, David Geilhufe, Senior Director of NetSuite.org, shares how your nonprofit can leverage future-proof technology and leading practices to achieve higher performance and increased innovation, all while bridging the gap between your fundraising and accounting teams.

Notes:

  • David Geilhufe (@geilhufe) NetSuite.org (@NetSuiteorg)

  • NetSuite.org gives away software and provides training.

  • Nonprofit industry is changing:

    • New Business Models
    • Increasing Constituent Expectations
    • Breaking the Nonprofit Starvation Model
  • First-time donor retention is around 19%.

  • Look at cost per outcome.

  • Idea: Take person out to lunch who you met at this Summit that does the same thing as you do. Then go back to their office and have them show you how they really use the technology (not how the salesperson thinks you should use the product).

 

Here are links to the other presentations from Session 3

 

Photos

Here are my photos from the day, which include information shared by the presenters.

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos/videos,
please view them here.

 

Thank you, BVU, for sharing your Nonprofit Technology & Communications Summit photos on Flickr:

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos/videos,
please view them here.

 

Tweets & Retweets

Here are 184 of my @sos_jr tweets and retweets of the experiences of those attending the BVU's Nonprofit Technology & Communications Summit. Please share any information or photos that you find interesting by retweeting, so that others may benefit from the shared knowledge.

Cleveland GiveCamp

ClevelandGiveCamp.org - FREE Tech Projects for NEO Nonprofits!

During the summit, I was telling attendees that they can sign up today at ClevelandGiveCamp.org to be notified when the nonprofit application process starts. With 2017 being the eighth year of Cleveland GiveCamp (@CleGiveCamp) providing free technical solutions for local nonprofits, the challenge is letting those local nonprofits know of the service.

Action Steps: 1) Please help spread the word by encouraging nonprofits to sign up for the 2017 notices, 2) In honor of Cleveland GiveCamp serving the community these past seven years, please make a point of asking seven people to let the nonprofits that they work with know about Cleveland GiveCamp.

Please read the information in these images for more information and to see a thank-you to Cleveland GiveCamp sponsors.

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Cleveland GiveCamp mission & history
Cleveland GiveCamp Information

Thank You Cleveland GiveCamp 2016 Sponsors

To learn more, please read my five past Cleveland GiveCamp blog posts here.

 

Thank You, Sponsors!

Thank You Technology & Communications Summit Sponsors

Here are the sponsors that made it possible to share important technology information with Cleveland and Akron area nonprofits -- Thank You!

 

 

Future

This was the first Nonprofit Technology & Communications Summit where BVU has brought together technology and communications talent to help local nonprofits improve how they use available resources. I hope that the participants report back to BVU that they gained real value from the summit. I also hope that the sponsors continue to support programs like this, so that more nonprofits can benefit from future summits in Northeast Ohio.

 

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