Recap -- EforAll Lowell Lawrence All Ideas Pitch Contest

Last week's EforAll All Ideas Pitch Contest (Thursday, October 12) was a collaboration between EforAll Lowell Lawrence and CMAA held at Glory Buddhist Temple in Lowell. It was a unique event as it was EforAll's  first ever outdoor pitch contest and first ever pitch contest at a temple. The number of entrepreneurs showcasing their ventures at tables was small, so there was no "table favorite" voting this time. Everyone got to pitch. And, as advertised, it really was all ideas. The variety of ideas was impressive.

Sovanna Pouv Welcoming Us on Behalf of CMAA

Cool autumn weather suddenly arrived in Lowell, but that wasn't going to stop either the participants or the audience.  A large group of students from Middlesex Community College was in attendance, making for an attentive and engaged crowd.

EforAll's Joey Banh Explaining the Rules for the Pitch Contest

From the first presenter to the last, the pitches were interesting and worth hearing.

Jewell by BC

Jewell by BC aims to reduce textile waste and keep customers looking good for events and occasions with a boutique that will buy, exchange, and rent high end cocktail dresses, evening gowns, Khmer traditional dresses and accessories. Instead of buying a fancy outfit for one-time use and then stuffing it in a closet or throwing it away, Jewell by BC offers customers a buy, sell, rent approach. The audience loved this idea and Jewell by  BC won the fan favorite voting.

Reduce Textile Waste

Lowell Organics pitched an indoor vertical farm growing organic lettuce, basil, and microgreens in unused industrial space in Lowell. This reminded me of Lowell Lettuce, which started last year and uses the Freight Farms system. Hydroponic urban farming is the in thing lately, so I expect to see more of these types of pitches.

Lowell Organics

Nom Nom Banchok pitched serving a traditional Cambodian noodle dish, Nom Banchok, at farmer's markets, bringing together the current "eat local" movement and a dish with a long history.  The noodles are traditionally served in a green curry fish soup with seasonal greens, sprouts, and blossoms. Founder Eden Chorm mentioned that she had not encountered this dish at any of the Khmer restaurants in Lowell. It sounded tasty, and many of us were curious about it. I think if she'd had some soup with her, we all would have tried it -- especially as the night got colder -- but alas she didn't have samples.

Nom Nom Banchok Answering Judge's Questions

Homegrown Tours pitched Wheelchair Accessible Tours of Martha's Vineyard as an addition to her established tour business. Her approach made lots of sense and her business plan was clearly well-thought-through. I was not at all surprised when Wheelchair Accessible Tours won first prize.

Homegrown Tours -- Wheelchair Accessible Tours

My absolute favorite idea was Mobile Entertainment Theater's plan to convert a box truck into a mobile stage that would bring theater and cultural events to places that don't have brick and mortar theaters of their own. It would host a traveling theater company and also be available for rental to other performing artists.The plan seemed complete and well thought out, and the idea just seemed flat out cool. MET got my vote for fan favorite. I guess the judges liked it too, because it won second prize.

Mobile Entertainment Theater

Kenko Protein Bars identified a need for protein bars that are nut-free and egg-free. For people with nut allergies it can be hard to find a protein-filled snack to fuel up for that after school soccer game. Most protein bars on the market today either contain nuts or are made on equipment that comes in contact with nuts.

Kenko Protein Bars

Each bar contains 18 grams of protein and has no added sugar or preservatives. Sounds like a good idea.

Kenko Protein Bars

REALToDo  is a customer relationship management (CRM) software-as-a-service tool for real estate agents.  It's an easy-to-use, cloud-based CRM system that helps agents keep track of their properties, clients, and schedules. A simple tool for real estate pros seems particularly timely given today's real estate market.  Third prize was well-deserved.

REALToDo

One last pitch that impressed me was Second Chance USA. They had already won previously so weren't eligible for prizes, but got to pitch because there was room on the schedule. Second Chance USA trains the incarcerated for middle skilled job openings and partners with companies that need those skills to guarantee employment for people once they are released. Talk about addressing two problems at once!

Second Chance Mission Statement

Making the Case for Second Chance

The winners and the judges posed for photos with the giant checks and most people took off for warmer quarters as it had gotten really most sincerely cold. Quite a night.

First Prize Winner Wheelchair Accessible Tours

Recapping #MIN102 -- Cool #FinTech

District Hall is a Great Spot for MIN Events

Mass Innovation Nights returned to District Hall in the Seaport District on Wednesday night for a fintech themed event. The crowd was huge! I'm told there were over 300 attendees there checking out 13 fintech startups and consulting an unusually large contingent of experts. The Experts Corner was more like an Experts Wing.

A Glimpse of the Crowd

State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg  kicked off the presentations and really got people excited about fintech and about the Office of Economic Empowerment. The standing room only crowd was really into fintech and seemed even more attentive than usual to both Treasurer Goldberg's talk and the four chosen presenters' pitches.

State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg

Beautiful Boston

The four chosen presenters for the night were StackUP, RateGravity, will-it, and FutureFuel.

StackUP is an online platform to analyze and rate the performance of your financial advisers. If you want to know if your advisers are doing a good job managing your financial future or if/when you need to find a new financial advisor, StackUp does the comparisons for you so you can make a smart choice.

StackUp

will-it got my vote for favorite. It's a great estate planning tool with a collaborative approach to 'who gets what'. All those personal and sentimental items, like my Nana's Belleek swan or that bookcase that's in all the family photos, are usually left for family members to sort and divide.  will-it helps catalogue those items and the stories and history that go with them. You can invite friends and family  to join and request the things they want.  It's a great way to get the dialogue about your stuff  to happen and to pass on your "stuff" in a meaningful way – rather then just leaving it behind.

will-it

RateGravity had the most memorable line of the night, presenting after will-it: The only thing worse than death is mortgages. That got a good laugh as many people know the pain of mortgages. RateGravity uses technology to save you tens of thousands of dollars when financing your home. They make it easy to figure out whether you'll be approved for financing and how much you can afford to borrow. RateGravity shows you the range of interest rates available for your particular needs and connects you to a network of fully vetted lenders that offer preferential terms. You save a ton of money when you find exactly the right mortgage for you.

RateGravity

People in the crowd were getting particularly excited about FutureFuel's technology-driven solutions to the student debt crisis. Need to refinance at a lower rate or lower your monthly payments or both? FutureFuel's marketplace offers lots of lenders who compete to refinance your student loans with no impact on your credit score. Does your company want to attract and retain your future work force?  The FutureFuel platform makes it possible for employers and other partners to "turn on" student loan repayment as an employee benefit.  Their tools make it possible to crush student debt instead of student debt crushing you.

FutureFuel

It was impossible for me to talk to every one of the startups, let alone the legion of experts, but I did enjoy meeting everyone I did talk to. The buzzing intensity of the event reminded me of a slogan I saw on a building down the street from District Hall: Boston is on the move. You should be too.

Boston

LearnLux is on a mission to empower you to take control of your personal finances. The online education hub puts it within your reach to master the whole personal finance thing from basic banking, to retirement planning, to building credit. You can even learn about insurance. Teach yourself with LearnLux and start making financial decisions with confidence.

LearnLux

So many teams had matching T-shirts that it was hard to pick a Best Costume of MIN102. Since will-it and RateGravity both had blue shirts with sans serif fonts and cool logos, I declare them to be co-winners of Best Costume :-)

Venky from Keel Networking with David from Awesome Videomakers

Pyggly is a gamified savings app that makes it way less complicated to achieve financial goals. The team was fun to chat with and the piggy banks on their table were cute. I hereby award them Best Prop of MIN102.

Pyggly -- Best Prop of MIN102

AffluenceIQ

Audience Choice Winners were:

• RateGravity- Grand Prize
• LearnLux
• FutureFuel
• will-it

Audience Choice Winners in Pink Backlight

As I mentioned there were a ton of experts, they included:

• Thomson Reuters Labs
• FactSet
• Envestnet | Yodlee 
• Scottish Development International
• DCU FinTech Innovation Center
• Distilled Analytics
• FinTech Sandbox 
• Sensible Financial Planning and Management 
• Habitude Warrior Conference International

FactSet had cool sportsballs decorating their table. Habitude Warrior had a table full of books, DCU seemed to be everywhere, and all the experts were getting plenty of traffic to their tables.

Team FactSet

Erik Swanson posed for the traditional Expert Looking Expert shot with his classic Habitude Warrior  flair.

Expert Looking Expert -- Habitude Warrior

Six Reasons to Visit Lawrence this Labor Day Weekend

Monument to the 1912 Strikers

Is there a better place to celebrate Labor Day than Lawrence, Massachusetts? I doubt it. Why? Because Lawrence actually celebrates labor on Labor Day. The textile workers strike of 1912, often referred to as the Bread and Roses Strike, changed labor history in the USA. That's reason enough to visit Lawrence on Labor Day Weekend, but there's so much more! With the Festival of the Three Saints, the Mahrajan, and the Bread and Roses Festival you can celebrate Italian culture, Lebanese culture, and labor history from Friday evening through Monday.

Lawrence City Hall

Here six reasons (among many) that you will want to come to Lawrence this weekend:

1. The Bread and Roses Heritage Festival

On Labor Day from 11:30 AM - 6:00PM the festival centered around Campagnone Common features:

• live music on multiple stages celebrating a variety of traditions -- bachata, jazz, rock n' roll, folk, progressive hip hop, you name it!
• a live history stage  where you can learn about Lawrence's history and its present from  historians, writers, union representatives, and community activists -- and be sure to check out the community corner and soapbox
• kids' activities including pony rides, face painting, and arts activities
• tours -- both trolley tours and historic walking tours take you to sites related to the 1912 strike and other aspects of this historic mill city
• a variety of tables with vendors and non-profit organizations -- everything from food to labor organizing 

 2. Giant Puppets

Again this year the giant puppets from Vermont's famed Bread and Puppet Theater will bring their unique approach to both puppetry and politics to Lawrence. Their performances always tell a story we need to see and hear.  And the puppets really are huge. Is it my imagination or do the puppets get bigger every year? Come find out.

Circus Ring Awaits the Giant Puppets

Costume Heads for Giant Puppets

3. Extraordinary Rendition Band

This year's Bread and Roses festival is a great chance to experience this popular Providence, Rhode Island activist street band right here in Lawrence.  ERB is a "honk band" of brass, reeds and percussion who play at the annual Honk! festival in Somerville and Cambridge, the Pronk festival in Providence and other events across the country. They harness the power of music to promote peace and civic engagement. They'll be roaming the lawn on Campagnone Common starting at 5:15 PM.

Extraordinary Rendition Band at Honk! (2013)

4. Feast of the Three Saints

From Friday evening at 6:00 thru Sunday evening Common Street becomes Italian heritage central. This is the 94th year that  Lawrence's Italian community has honored the three martyrs: Saints Alfio, Filadelfo, and Cirino.  Free music on multiple stages, great food, a torchlight procession, fireworks, confetti, and people yelling "Viva Sant Alfio" bring people to Lawrence to reunite with old friends and celebrate all that the Italian immigrants brought to the Immigrant City.

The Italian Serenaders Performing on Common Street (2016)

If you're craving cannoli or arancini  or some other kind of Italian treat, you'll find it all here.  Be sure to catch the First Annual Youth Battle of the Bands on Sunday afternoon at 1PM outdoors on the
Tripoli Stage, right across the street from Tripoli Bakery (which, by the way, makes the best scala bread anywhere). Just stroll down Common Street and you're sure to encounter fun.

The Saturday Night Crowd at Three Saints (2016)

5. Lebanese Mahrajan Festival
Get a taste of Lebanese culture at the 43rd Mahrajan at St. Anthony's Maronite Church. Three days of music, dancing and plenty of  Lebanese (and American) food starts Friday evening, Sept. 1. There's plenty of time to enjoy the food, music, dancing, hookah, games, and even cooking classes. Stop by  Friday 6PM-Midnight,  Saturday 5PM- Midnight, and Sunday Noon-Midnight.

Crowds Starting to Build at Saint Anthony's for Mahrajan

This is your chance to sample the wide variety of tasty Lebanese pastries while listening to live music, buy some souvenirs from unique vendors, and maybe even take a belly dancing lesson.

The Pastry Tent is Three Tables Long!

6. Robert Frost Grew Up Here
One of the stages at Bread and Roses is named for famous Lawrencian, Robert Frost. Frost discovered his talent and passion for poetry at Lawrence High and his work was first published in the Lawrence High newspaper. The Robert Frost Foundation aims to connect contemporary poets with Frost's legacy and his connection with Lawrence. Monday's 2017 Bread and Roses festival will remember longtime Robert Frost Foundation executive director and accomplished poet, Mark Schorr,who passed away earlier this year. Stop by the Robert Frost Stage at 1:15PM for a poetry tribute to Schorr.

There are way more than 6 reasons to come to Lawrence. Just come and you'll find out why "the whole world has come to Lawrence."

Sign Commemorating the 1912 Strike in the Everett Mill

Six Reasons You Should Come to Lowell this Weekend

Downtown Lowell is the place to be this weekend.  The 31st annual Lowell Folk Festival fills the downtown with some of the best traditional music from all over the world.  This is the longest running and second largest free folk festival in the USA.

Crowd Grooving to  Spencer Taylor and the Highway QCs at 2016 Lowell Folk Festival

Need a list of reasons to come to the festival? Here are six of them:

1. Music

This year's festival lineup features interplanetary jazz icons the Sun Ra Arkestra visiting from Saturn under the direction of 95 year old Marshall Allen. A chance to see the Arkestra -- for free -- is reason enough to come. Don't miss this chance.

The legendary CJ  Chenier and the Red Hot Louisiana Band are bringing the zydeco. And who doesn't love zydeco? You just can't help dancing when the crown prince of zydeco is playing.

We are especially lucky to have El Septeto Santiaguero, the leading son ensemble in the Cuban music scene. Cuban son is an amazing music and El Septeto Santiaguero keeps this centuries old tradition fresh and delightful.

I'm particularly looking forward to Brooklyn-based Innov Gnawa playing some hypnotic, mystical, fantastic Moroccan music in a centuries old tradition. This music transports you and it's absolutely irresistible.

Interested in America's indigenous cultures? The Ongwehoñwe Singers & Dancers bring Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) social dance traditions to the Lowell Folk Festival for the first time. You don't want to miss this.

Those are only a few of the highlights among the amazing lineup of musicians on the Folk Festival stages. Still need more music? There will be music all over the place. Restaurants, bars, coffee shops and the streets all add to the musical landscape. The Gentleman Songsters will be roaming the streets of downtown Lowell all weekend, so you might just encounter an impromptu barbershop quartet performance where you least expect it.

2. Traditional Khmer Ceramics

Meet Yary Livan, master ceramicist in the Folk Craft Area. Yary is a master of Cambodian ceramics and temple ornamentation. He carries on a tradition dating back to the 11th century, which was nearly extinguished by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s. A 2015 NEA Fellow, Yary is the only known Cambodian in the USA carrying on this living tradition. This is a great opportunity to see him demonstrate traditional carving techniques.

Yary Livan Demonstrating Traditional Khmer Carving Technique in Lucy Larcom Park (2013)

According to Folk Festival publicity you will also be able to see a firing of Yary's traditional Khmer kiln. The kiln is located on Aiken Street just across the canal from Father Morissette Boulevard. Check Folk Festival information for details on the timing. Stop by anyway just to see the kiln and read the informational signage to learn more about it.

Cambodian Wood Fire Kiln

3. Food

Tour the world's traditional cuisines without leaving downtown. Local churches and nonprofits showcase their ethnic food traditions to raise money for their community programs. My personal favorite is the loobie and rooz from St. George's Antiochian Orthodox Church. They have a way with green beans that I've never experienced anywhere else. Longtime crowd favorites are the lumpia and the turon from Iskwelahang Pilipino and the pierogi from the Lowell Polish Cultural Committee.  There's tons more delicious stuff to check out, especially the variety of African foods like Calla, a traditional Liberian donut from the Emmanuel Temple of Hope or pumpkin/squash stew from the pan-African menu served up by Christ Jubilee International Ministries.

The Food Booths at Boardinghouse Park

4. Baklava Sundaes

I know I already listed food, but the baklava sundaes from the Hellenic American Academy PTA are the most anticipated sweet treat of the entire folk festival. There are people who come to the festival just for the baklava sundaes. You have not experienced Lowell Folk Festival if you have not had a baklava sundae.

Baklava Sundae

5. Meet the Untitled Homies and the Mill City Slam Team

Saturday afternoon, noon to 2PM, is your chance to meet and experience the fabled Untitled Open Mic. There will be street poetry, music, dancing, and a feature by the Mill City Slam Team.  Swing by the street in front of Brew'd Awakening Coffeehaus to check out the action and to help send the Mill City Slam Team to Denver for the National Poetry Slam. There will be a merch table and a raffle.

Members of Mill City Slam

6. Tour B&M Locomotive #410

This weekend is your chance to look inside B&M Locomotive #410 and the Combine, which will be
open for visitors during the Festival at the Dutton Street Trolley Stop. Take a look at some of  Lowell’s railroading history and a model train layout. You'll also learn about the ongoing preservation and restoration efforts for this historic railroad equipment. 410 is one of only 5 remaining B&M steam locomotives and it's the only one in Massachusetts. It's not always open to the public, so be sure to take advantage of this opportunity on Saturday and Sunday during the Lowell Folk Festival. It will be open  from 11AM–5PM.

#MIN99 Recap

The #MIN99 Crowd Starting to Fill the Thelma D Burns Building

Mass Innovation Nights #99 was possibly the best MIN ever! The energy and enthusiasm in the Thelma D Burns building was amazing. This was Mass Innovation Nights' first event in Boston's Grove Hall neighborhood. Ed Gaskin,  Executive Director of  Greater Grove Hall Main Streets our host and sponsor for the evening, welcomed us to this African-American and African tech themed event.  The hall was bustling with 14 companies showcasing products and a larger than usual cohort of experts.

Ed Gaskin

Mayor Marty Walsh spoke to the crowd and made it really clear that innovation is everywhere in Boston, not just in the Seaport District. Oh, and the mayor posed for selfies with attendees too. No wonder the #MIN99 hashtag trended on Twitter.

Mayor Marty Walsh

The enthusiasm level was high and ratcheted even higher when Assistant Secretary of Business Development and International Trade, Nam Pham, addressed the crowd and reminded us that Boston is number 1 in innovation.

Nam Pham

I scurried around trying to meet as many of the entrepreneurs as I could, grab some food, and get some good photos before the presentations. I didn't manage to talk to every one of the 14 companies, but I did meet and photograph many of them. Oh, and I did get some of the fried mac and cheese and the samosas. I was seated and tweeting up a storm by the time the presentations started.

Instead of the usual four presenters chosen for the night, this time we had five and I enjoyed all of them. The five companies presenting were:

• FABLabs For America
• PULSE24/7
• Kids In Tech
• Donii
• UZURI

FabLabs for America's mission is to provide widespread access to advanced means for digital fabrication -- things like laser cutters, precision milling machines, and specialized software for integrated design and project management.  They began as an outreach project from MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA) and quickly spread from Boston to the rest of the world.

Donzlyn Stephenson FABLabsforAmerica

Pulse24/7 is bringing service businesses into the on-demand economy simply and efficiently. Whether you're an attorney's office or a barbershop, Pulse24/7 provides all the technology to automate booking appointments and handling payments, grow revenue, increase your customer base, and save time all in one mobile app customized and branded just for your service business.  My favorite thing about Pulse24/7 was the capacity for tracking and analyzing trends and visualizing the data so you can easily know what to emphasize or what to change.

Pulse24/7

Kids in Tech got my vote for audience favorite. Founder Olu Ibrahim is an alum of the EforAll Lowell   Lawrence accelerator. Getting more kids into tech is a subject close to my heart and the first time I heard her pitch Kids in Tech, I knew we were on the same wavelength.  It was a thrill to see her present at #MIN99. The workforce of the future is going to need really tech-savvy young people and Kids in Tech aims to create the next generation of leaders in computer science with real hands-on learning experiences that teach problem solving, logic, creativity and the real world implications of technology. 

Kids in Tech

Donii matches donors to the people who actually need the things they want to donate. The percentage of donated clothing that ends up being resold at high markups in other countries instead of ending up in local thrift shops or going directly to folks near you who need those clothing items is downright shocking. Founder Angie Janssen set out to change that using the power of technology to connect people and nonprofits. Do check out the website to learn more or try it out.

Donii

UZURI is creating a network of health and beauty centers. You read that right. UZURI's strategy for improving access to preventive healthcare in Uganda is to bring healthcare to where people already go - the spas and barbershops for beauty services. Come in for a hair cut and get health services like vaccinations and checkups. This really could revolutionize healthcare delivery.

UZURI

The Audience Choice winners were:

• Black Girls Nutrition
• Donii
• Cede
• MOON Selfie Light - Grand Prize

The Winners

Black Girls Nutrition provides a web-based application that tailors nutrition information and messaging around dieting to support the Millennial generation of Women of  Color in adopting a healthy lifestyle that is culturally relevant. It also connects them with other dieters. They aim to make eating and living healthy a social experience that integrates seamlessly into young women's daily lives. When a healthy lifestyle becomes the easy choice, more people choose it.

Black Girls Nutrition

Cede is a  role playing game about "Combat Farming" in a post apocalyptic universe.  In this 3D action game, combatants burst monsters that then turn into seeds that will become plants to take back a barren wasteland of a planet. Cede's booth was very popular and it's no surprise that it got voted one of the audience favorites.

Cede

MOON Selfie Light captured the Grand Prize with a small, technologically advanced light that attaches elegantly to your phone or tablet. It gives you amazing control of the lighting for selfies, video calls, and all those apps you want to share your perfect portrait with. It's easy to adjust both brightness and color temperature with intuitive controls.  This is probably the smallest and most advanced selfie light in existence.

MOON Selfie Light

It was quite a night and there are a few other companies that weren't presenters or prize winners that I want to mention.

Once company that made an impression on me was Dolume, a project management consultant group that emphasizes multi-disciplinary collaboration, innovation, creativity, and Agile methods in helping their clients manage projects.

Dolume

BeautyLynk is a web-based platform for booking salon-quality hair and makeup services to come to you -- at home, at the office, in your hotel, or wherever.

Pitching BeautyLynk

Quality Interactions provides e-learning courses for health care professionals, which emphasize a "person-based" approach to cross-cultural communication.  These courses equip providers to communicate with and care for diverse patients more effectively on a more individual basis instead of relying on broad cultural assumptions.

Quality Interactions

As always, I like to end with a featured expert. This time I decided to feature two amazing experts: Ed Gaskin, Executive Director of Greater Grove Hall Main Streets and our host for the evening and Kevin Wiant, Executive Director of Venture Cafe Boston and a former co-worker a grillion years ago. These guys love Boston to the max!

Experts Looking Expert -- And Loving Boston