For years, I felt there was a shortage of good, long-form podcasts in and about Philadelphia.
Last year, Talkadelphia came about and has helped, offering weekly conversations with mostly younger Philadelphians in the arts, though Kishwer and Gino have traveled a lot of ground in more than 30 episodes.
The pair visited our Technically Media offices, and we talked about Technically Philly, Philly Tech Week and starting a business. Listen to the podcast here.
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NewsWorks Tonight, the daily, local, drive-time news radio program on NPR-affiliate WHYY in Philadelphia, invited me on for a segment that aired Monday about the launch of OpenDataPhilly.org and other new data initiatives.
Though I was sure to note during my interview that OpenDataPhilly was built by development shop Azavea, unfortunately that was cut in the tight finalized product.
Listen to the entire show here. Below, listen to my short segment with host Dave Heller.
In addition to OpenDataPhilly.org, Heller asks me about the OPA Data Liberator project and SEPTA’s new TransitView initiative. To be clear, while related in audience and now included in ODP, those projects were not specifically created by using the data catalog’s information.
I was recently interviewed for WHYY on eBay’s acquisition of regional e-commerce powerhouse GSI Commerce, but this was the first time I appeared on the new local radio program, which launched in May.
What are examples of ways artists can leverage technology and how might the Philadelphia artistic community differentiate itself that way were topics of conversation during a panel discussion I moderated Tuesday night.
Held by Creative Philadelphia, the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, in its gallery space at City Hall, I was charged with leading the Art and Technology event programming, our three presenters and moderating questions afterward. As anyone who knows me knows, my utility was more Technically Philly’s coverage of the intersection of arts and technology than any discernible artistic ability I might have.
I kicked off the night by offering some examples of organizations and institutions doing interesting things, as covered by TP or participating in Philly Tech Week. I then handed off to our far more competent and capable panel members.
The event was live streamed here. Some photos here. See my slides below.
Thanks much to Gary, Moira, Josh, Jeff and the staff at Creative Philadelphia for putting this, the first in a forthcoming series of events, together and for including me.
This weekend I spent about 37 hours inside a windowless room at Drexel University.
It was actually a total hoot.
Continue reading Random Hacks of Kindness Philadelphia: organizing, judging hackathon
The inaugural Philly Tech Week, made official by City Council, has come and gone.
All told, my fellow Technically Philly co-founders and PTW co-organizers helped bring together 65 events, from more than 50 groups that attracted more than 3,000 people (we’re still tallying) in the first six day-event that we first suggested in the summer, confirmed in November but did get moving until February.
So, as is my custom, I wanted to gather together what happened, the thoughts from others and my take aways so we can do even better next year.
Continue reading Philly Tech Week: the inaugual roundup of coverage, lessons and highlights
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Story Shuffle 6, with a theme of Rebirth, I remembered a lesson I learned from an old neighbor: If I don’t clean it up, someone might notice.
More than 120 people crowded into the Dorrance Hamilton Public Media Commons at WHYY to watch a data catalog unveiled. The event was a part of Philly Tech Week.
Ten dozen people, including developers, journalists, nonprofit leaders, city representatives and the curious hung around for an hour, with standing room only left, to be there when OpenDataPhilly.org officially kicked off. That says something about the Philadelphia technology community and its interest in the online transparency movement around government.
Continue reading OpenDataPhilly.org unveiling, what it means, how it happened
With the passage of Resolution 110218, Philadelphia City Council officially named the last six days of April officially as Philly Tech Week, as celebrated with a reading of the resolution in council chambers Thursday morning.
There, my colleague Sean Blanda and I, two of the three co-founders of Technically Philly and organizers of Philly Tech Week, received an embossed copy of the resolution from Councilman Bill Green, who introduced the legislation, and Councilmen Brian O’Neill and Wilson Goode, who co-sponsored the measure. I addressed council briefly to note two things: that (1) technology and the Digital Philadelphia vision is more than just gadgets and (2) the Philly Tech Week resolution featured two dozen groups and organizations because the technology community is so broad.
These resolutions can be a little silly, but they do serve as validation of the interest and growth of the technology community in Philadelphia. It was an honor to represent the community, even though we’re only a small part of its growth.
Below, watch my brief remarks and see the notes that I should have prepared.
Sometimes journalists are desperate for any schlub to give perspective on an event, and I’m there to fill in the cracks.
News broke this week that eBay purchased regional e-commerce shop GSI Commerce, and WHYY was interested in whether an exit was good or bad for the region. (I said the region needs balance: exits are great for marketing, provided we also have a diverse portfolio of large, small and startup businesses, though exits can also limit growth.)
Also, earlier this month, I judged a Temple University student design competition and was quoted in the school’s write up of the event.
The annual national Online News Association conference, to be held this fall in Boston, has launched its 2011 panel picker, in which those interested can vote to support their favorites of a couple hundred suggested sessions.
I am somewhat involved in three. To vote, users just need to sign up with an email. If you’re interested give love to any of these three:
