Merrimack Valley Sandbox Social Impact Pitch Contest

Last night eight entrepreneurs pitched their social impact ideas for big cash prizes in front of the judges and the audience  at the Merrimack Valley Sandbox  in Lowell.  This was my first visit to the Sandbox's new space on the 6th floor of the Lowell Community Health Center. What a great space!

See those cool windows on the top floor? That's the place.

The crowd, about 70 or more, was very enthusiastic.

Crowd Checking Out The Tables And Networking

For a second, I thought I'd stumbled into #MINFoodie5 a day early, because the first entrepreneur I talked to was Christina Hamilton of Delightful Surprise Sweets.  Not only are the sweet treats delicious and customized, but the business provides opportunity for people with developmental disabilities.
 

Delightful Surprises

As I do at Mass Innovation Nights, I tried to check out all the projects/products before the pitches.  I talked to so many amazing people, that my head is still buzzing the next day. And I took so many photos, I should probably do a photo album in addition to a blog entry.

For me, the most amazing thing was the diversity of the ideas. Professional development for nannies, textile recycling, drumming circles for nursing homes, anti-bullying programs, and so much more.

Soon enough , it was time for the pitch contest. The judges for the competition were:

• Susan Musinsky - Root Cause
• Dr. Kumble Rajesh - Lowell Community Health Center
• Lydia Sisson - Mill City Grows
• Sophy Theam - Enterprise Bank/ The Parker Foundation

I learned more about the professional life of nannies from Helen Adeosun's pitch than I ever knew before. SitterCycle is an online learning platform that delivers professional development for nannies so they can give better care and improve their wage and occupational outcomes. SitterCycle won third prize with an truly excellent pitch.

Helen Adeosun -- SitterCycle

Angie Estevez's pitch for  Casa Shalom took me back to my roots in social activism, thinking of all the amazing stuff my mother has accomplished in feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable coming out of a faith-based tradition long before tools and resources like Casa Shalom.

Angie Estevez - Casa Shalom

Monique Morimoto, Stephen Whitney, and Cornell Coley  are the first presenters I ever heard with an accompanying beat. They took turns describing  their Visionary Drumming project to provide group drumming classes to promote healing, empowerment and community building in places like nursing homes. While one spoke, the other two kept up the beat with shakers. Very cool.  They won second prize and I almost voted for them for fan favorite.

Visionary Drumming Keeping Up the Beat

Joy Mosenfelder of the Merrimack Valley Time Exchange has really polished up her pitch since I spoke with her at the Sandbox Summit in June.  It's such a great idea. Basically members earn and spend time based on their time spent providing and receiving services. Members  exchange services, skills, and resources, all without money. An hour is an hour, regardless of what kind of service. It's a great community building project. This got my vote for the fan favorite.

Merrimack Valley Time Exchange -- Joy Mosenfelder

I enjoyed talking with Carolyn Ruf about Be a Buddy Not a Bully,  an initiative aimed at making schools safer by empowering students with a fun and engaging anti-bullying curriculum. I'd like to see this as part of every school curriculum.

Be A Buddy Not A Bully -- Carolyn Ruf

Textile recycling seems to be a big theme lately, and it should be. Way too much goes to waste. Lallitara upcycles Indian saris into beautiful clothing. What I loved about Bijal Shah's pitch is the global reach, bringing together the informal textile recyclers in India and manufacturing jobs in Lawrence. She won first prize AND the fan favorite voting. Well-deserved.

Bijal Shah of lallitara Talking Textile Recycling with Raj Meiville

Bijal Shah Making Her Winning Pitch -- Wearing A Top Made From Upcycled Saris

It took me awhile to remember where I'd heard Reem Yared's pitch before. It was back at the epic #MIN48 in March! Remember  your early entrepreneurship experience mowing neighbors' lawns and shoveling their driveways? Help Around Town is a modern spin on that idea: an online platform creating local jobs by connecting people needing help with people needing work. Still an awesome idea.

Judges Listening to Reem Yared of Help Around Town

Wild card presenter Jessica Marchand pitched AddressSlavery, a project that takes donations of  high-quality upscale clothing and accessories and then sells them to use the proceeds for  projects seeking to prevent modern slavery.

Jessica Listening to the Judge's Question

So many great ideas, so much energy and enthusiasm for solving real problems creatively, so many great people... what a great night in a beautiful city!

Great Night - Beautiful City

#MIN51

A River Runs Through It

Mass Innovation Night on a Monday! How cool is that? There was a sizable crowd at Microsoft NERD. Lots of cool products, lots of cool people, everything is cool at #MIN51. Oh, there was pizza too!

Crowd Around Agency Spotter

The space between the conference room and the windows was just jam-packed with innovators and networkers checking out all the new products. Lots of folks were checking out what new flavors of  Izze juice were available for tasting -- sort of a Mass Innovation Nights tradition by now.

Sookbox -- Best Costume

There seemed to be a bit of a media in the cloud theme going on with a few of the products, but as always the collection of products was eclectic. That's a major part of the fun.

I think my favorite product was Sookbox, a media server that let's you create a single collection of media from everywhere, store it locally, access it globally, and connect multiple entertainment devices. Your media follows you everywhere. The Sookbox team was fun to talk with and they were wearing matching T-shirts (though they claim that was by coincidence) so I hereby award them Best Costume of #MIN51.

Backbone Radio

Continuing with the media theme, Backbone Radio  makes Internet broadcasting simple and mobile. Got a Mac? Got a mic? You've got a broadcast studio.

Crowd Waiting for Presentations to Start -- Lots of Folks Still in the Hallway Checking Out Products

Equiso Streaming Smart Stick makes your TV into a Smart TV without any of the hassles of the allegedly smart apps that let you browse the web or play games on your TV.  Stream, play, browse.

TBI Strategies -- Best Prop

The Caregivers Essentials Workshop from TBI Strategies clearly explains most aspects of a brain injury and recovery, and teaches strategies for managing day to day interactions with people who have a Traumatic Brain Injury. They had little cups of Jello -- the consistency of brains. Gotta give 'em Best Prop of #MIN51.

FuzzyCover

FuzzyCover was showing off  their "original ultimate" accessories and selling them at a special MIN discount. He even gave away a few during his presentation.

Mister Smarty Plants

I had a great conversation with the folks from Mister Smarty Plants about how computers just can't identify plants as well as humans can. We're a long way from being able to point an iPhone at the weird weed in your yard and id it using artificial intelligence. Mister Smarty Plants solves that with crowd sourcing. The wisdom of crowds can do things AI can't.

A Real Photographer

There was a photographer covering the event who had a better camera, a better mustache, and a better tie than I do.  I couldn't resist a photo of a photographer photographing even though you can't see the mustache and the bow tie.

Is That One of the New Tech Dinghies?

Back at the banks of the Charles on Monday after having been there on Friday for the dedication of the 6th Fleet of Tech Dinghies at MIT was sort of a weird feeling. One of the new boats was donated by the DKE alums and dedicated to memory of my late brother, Thomas (from whom I inherited Blue the cat), and two other cooks who worked for DKE. Normally I'm not that tuned in to recognizing different types of boats, but when I glanced out the window and spotted a sailboat on the river I immediately recognized it as one of the new Tech Dinghies. I don't think it was the Lew, Jack, and Tom, but it could have been. You never know what you're going to experience at MIN.

As is traditional for this blog, I'll close with an "Expert Looking Expert" shot.

ADP Expert Looking Expert

Let's Make Stuff - Part 2

This is part 2 of my impressions of the new makerspace in Lowell. The previous post focused on the New Vestures open house event. I also took a lot of photos of the space and wanted to devote a post to that as well.

Tables

The makerspace is well-equipped, spacious, and fun to look at (and touch). A room off of the main room has a big work table, a light table, and lots of shelf space.  There are racks for the clothing too. There's even a small library of craft and design books.

Chain Mail

Every tool you can think of related to making clothing or even arty robots or chain mail is here.

Fabric Samples on Cork Board with Mini-Jacket

It  feels good to be surrounded by fabric and tools and all kinds of things that just gives you the feeling you want to make stuff. There are plenty of sewing machines, including some vintage ones.

Sewing Machines in the Main Room

Vintage Sewing Machine

Bobbins

Stitch Samples

There are hat blocks and mannequins as well as plenty of space for materials like thread, fabric, buttons, and parts.

Hats on Hat Blocks

Bolts of Blue

Buttons and Thread

Jar Full of Parts

There's a scroll saw and machines for cutting fabric and computers for doing 3D modelling and robotics stuff and a display space too. Everything is here.

Well-documented Scroll Saw

Display Space

As a tech writer, I got a kick out of the scroll saw with a manual about how to use it sitting right on it. Online help? Embedded documentation? :-)

Computers

Computers and Robotics Books

In the immortal words of the theme to the Mary Tyler Moore show: If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.

Fashion Models with Vintage Sewing Machine and Glowing Purple Lights

Let's Make Stuff - Part 1

Choosing between poetry and everything else is always hard. However, last night's open house at New Vestures makerspace was totally worth leaving Untitled Open Mic at Brew'd Awakening early.  Not only did I finally get to see the cool makerspace Diana Coluntino has put together, but I got to hear some good speakers passionately making the connection between making stuff -- especially clothing -- and science/technology/engineering as well as the importance of community.

Merrimack Street

In honor of the creative economy, I decided to get a little creative with photographing the event. It almost, kinda, sorta fits in with some thoughts I've been having about abstraction lately, but that's another story or another blog entry. Speaking of "entry," the place looks wonderful and creative as soon as you get off the elevator to the basement.

Colors

I could feel the energy before I even stepped through the doorway into the room full of people from all segments of the Lowell creative economy and beyond: UMass, city government, artists, makers, entrepreneurs... The only group missing was the slam poets, who were otherwise engaged as mentioned previously.

Makers in Makerspace

More Makers in Makerspace

It was great to see a few kids there too. You never know what will fire a kid's imagination. You never know that taking a typewriter apart at age 8 leads to a career in technical writing :-) Anyway, I am coming more and more to believe that mixing age groups -- kids with teens with twenty-somethings with "grownups" with "elders"-- is going to be vital to keeping American innovation strong.

Crowd Listening to Diana

New Vestures is about making stuff. Diana summed it up "We were making stuff in Lowell a long long time ago, let's bring making back." But wait, there's more... We need to create sustainable, ethical fashion. (Hmm, didn't I promise y'all a blog post about what the fall of the Pemberton Mill has to do with the mill collapse in Bangladesh? Must write that soon.)

Makers and Movers and Shakers Listening to Diana

Last night's key takeaways from Diana and the excellent guest speakers:

• It's not just about the space and the equipment it's about the community
• Connection between clothing creation and math and science -- shapes, materials and engineering.
• You can learn math and science by doing stuff, touching stuff.
• You can make clothes out of kombucha! How cool is that?

Recap of Merrimack Valley Sandbox Pitch Contest

The theme for Thursday night's Merrimack Valley Sandbox pitch contest was High Growth/Tech. Host for the evening was Moody, Famiglietti & Andronico in Tewskbury. They provided excellent space for both the pre-event networking an the presentations.

The Crowd

It was great to see so many kids at this kind of event. It takes a little of the mystery out of the adult business world for them. It was also great to see MIN entrepreneur, Bobbie Carlton out here in the wilds of the Merrimack Valley.

The Judges

The first place winner and the fan favorite was mino by ParaWare, a device that  tracks the wear of  your running shoes. The idea grew out of the founder's experience with an injury caused by worn out shoes. Sometimes the shoe is too worn to provide proper support before the wear becomes visible. The mino fits right in your shoe, keeps track of your usage, and lets you know when it's time for new running shoes.

Phil Colangelo Presenting

My personal favorite was the Robotic Feeding Arm developed by Philip Colangelo at UMass Lowell. It's a device that enables people with disabilities to feed themselves more independently.

A social networking theme emerged with three of the presenters:

• Joanna de Pena presented Top Notch Network, a targeted social network that brings together students, social groups, and  businesses to create scholarship opportunities for students in need.

• Margot Rutledge presented Career Rings, a  web-based platform that brings together college students and recent college graduates in small online workshops with coaches, to develop career building skills for today's job market.

• Nick Zeckets  presented QuadWrangle, an  app to connect alumni and their colleges more directly to  build fundraising and to facilitate career networking.

In addition to the scheduled presenters, two wildcards were drawn from a hat: Pet Chance, which helps pet owners raise money for veterinary care through crowdfunding, and ArtistBomb.com, a network that brings together musicians and venues as well as music fans. Pet Chance has a  great idea and gave a great presentation. ArtistBomb.com came prepared with slides even though they weren't on the program. Both added a lot to the night.

Networking

While the judges jotted down notes after each presentation, attendees had the chance to make short pitches of their own. That gave people a chance to identify folks to be sure to seek out for networking after the awarding of the prize checks. All this made for a rich experience of both formal and informal networking.

50 events, 500 products, awesome connections #min500

The Mass Innovation Nights awesomeness continues. Billed as a celebration of first 500 products launched at MIN, the 50th MIN event last night was part class reunion, part celebration, part product showcase, and all fun.  The Boston Globe hosted us again and also gave us some good press. Thanks, Boston Globe!

Providence - Old Stone Bank Dome Viewed from Governor Stephen Hopkins House

I started the day in Providence taking photos for new listings we're adding to At-Hand Guides.  That's a MIN story in its own right. Mass Innovation Nights events are all about connection. My association with At-Hand Guides is all about connections. Back in the distant mists of 2010, I ran into my old friend and colleague Jim Burrows at MIN20. At the time he mentioned that he and his son were working on some kind of mobile apps thing. I filed that somewhere in the lower left hand corner of my brain, where it stayed filed until a dark and stormy night in April of 2011 and MIN25. There I met Robert  Gray of At-Hand Apps (we've changed the name since then), which turned out to be the very mobile app thing Jim had been talking about. The rest is history. By the way, if you haven't bought New England At-Hand or one of our other guides for your iPhone, you're missing out. So that's how it came to pass that I'm leading off this story with a photo of Providence :-)

The Hive at Boston Globe Has Some Nifty Spaces

 So the Hive was full of MIN alumni and tons of people following up with each of them. The crowd built steadily from 6:00PM on until the place was just packed.  I made no attempt to photograph each table, instead concentrating on the crowd.

The Crowd Just Starting To Build -- Is That Trish From Vsnap Down There?

I even claimed I wasn't going to do any portraits this time so I could concentrate on crowds, since "social" is what MIN events are all about.

Above the Crowd -- Is That MoH Down There? And Izze Soda? Old Friends All!

Tim Stansky Taking Crowd Pix

Now That's A Crowd!

MIN is all about using social media to get the word out about cool products so there was a whole lot of tweeting going on.

Social Media Action Shot: Men of MIN with their Phones

It was great to see so many familiar faces and products. I love that I got to follow up with Julie from Chococoa Baking about how the whoopie pies went over at my cousin's birthday party.

BobbieC and Her Megaphone Summoning Folks to the Panel Discussion Upstairs

It was hard to stop catching up with all the alumni, and head upstairs to the panel discussion, but I loved hearing Noteflight, Chococoa Baking, GaggleAmp, and Project Repat talk about their experiences. Everybody gets useful lessons from MIN.

MIN By The Numbers

Tim's MIN By The Numbers slide show really showed the  power of connection. The tweet reach of MIN events is amazing.

From On High -- The View from the Third Floor

There were still tons of people milling about the tables downstairs while the slide show and panel were going on upstairs.  It was nonstop action wherever I looked. I had so many great conversations about everything from Third Wave coffee to the fall of the Pemberton Mill, that I can't recap them all here. Maybe those are topics for further blog entries.

One of many things I've learned at MIN events is the importance of branding. RaceMenu has so identified their brand with the color orange, that I think of them whenever I see orange. They had their orange banners and shirts going on at MIN500 and I hereby award them Best Costume of MIN500!

Best Costume