Lately, it’s all about events here at the Technically Philly offices. Between Philly Tech Week and our weekly event highlights, we’ve been focusing on all the groups, meetups and events that make Philly awesome.
This week: Learn all about Microsoft, get buddy-buddy with WordPress and grow your business with AWE.
If ThingWorx COO John Richardson has his way, your refrigerator will order groceries, your FedEx package will @reply you on Twitter and your entire house will be controlled from a single application on your smartphone.
The Downingtown-based company (for now, anyway) made a splash in mid-February when secured $5 million from Safeguard Scientifics to develop a platform for what it calls the “Internet of Things.” The company wants to enable real-life objects to communicate with one another and with users to make for a smarter world. Using ThingWorx, your refrigerator will be able to communicate with the local ShopRite when your milk is low or a manufacturer will be able to get detailed analytics about an assembly line’s efficiency from his machines.
After the jump, we ask Richardson about preventing a real-life Terminator and why the company is already plotting a move from Downingtown.
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Indy Hall isn’t supposed to be about technology for its own sake, but rather about collaboration.
So, now three and a half years old, it is fitting that during the semi-regular Town Hall event Wednesday night, during which co-founders Alex Hillman and Geoff DiMassi debrief on the biggest and smallest of trends of the coworking space, a lasting take away was about pushing into new industries.
“We’re pushing the boundaries of who should be at Indy Hall,” Hillman said.
One of the clearest trends is bringing together “art geeks and tech geeks,” Hillman said, adding that Indy Hall members who have learned to run businesses could perhaps teach artists about sustainability.
“Our values is about being human and that should be more collaborative and develop more relationships with different people, and the art community is a sensible place to start,”said DiMassi, who himself went to art school.
The Old City space has moved on stabilizing a night shift, so later workers and, yes, perhaps even people with day jobs could start taking place in the collaborative work environment that has so far been dominated by designers, developers, coders and their ilk.
“All of our growth has been into new industries and interests, and we’re embracing that with a push into the arts and student life,” Hillman told Technically Philly. “We’re going to have lots of focus on community crossover and linking.”
The Town Hall also some discussion around the Knight Arts Grant proposal
we’re laying the groundwork for that as part of that growth approach as well.
At the last Town Hall, in July, DiMassi and Hillman focused on growth and growing pains.
“If you spent any time here at Indy Hall in the last couple months, you’d know things are good,” Hillman said. “The industries we have here have spread.”
Hillman also talked about a shared general practice doctor, event bartender and other services that a shared community — regardless of industry — could use together. A grad student is devoting her work to changing work place environments, focusing on Indy Hall, and Hillman shared their interest in welcoming more students and faculty into their collaborative space. Indy Hall is developing a partnership with Campus Philly, Hillman added.
New arrivals and JavaScript big shots Amy Hoy and Thomas Fuchs worked with others to provide some new comforts to the building, including new tables and other items that will make the space “more comfy,” Hoy said.
Toward the end, Hillman and DiMassi discussed more about plans for their Knight Art Challenge project, which fits into these projects, he said. Their project, which is a finalist, was focused on building an ‘Indy Hall village,’ Hillman said. They have talked about partnering with the 100k house and other projects about buying a future iteration of the coworking space to also house coworkers.
Those coworkers will be, Hillman noted, as varied in their work and passions as possible.
Below, listen to the meeting, as recorded by Indy Hall member and P’unk Ave staffer Dana Vachon
Technically Philly is made possible by advertisers and sponsors that are important to Philadelphia’s technology community. This week we’d like to thank:
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Interested in joining these organizations and individuals in supporting Technically Philly? Check out our ad packages and contact our Ad Sales Manager. Can’t find something that fits? We’ll customize a package for you.
Another in the Entrance Exam series, as part of the Why I Love Philly campaign from Young Involved Philadelphia and Indy Hall. Tell the world why you love where you live by tweeting #whyilovephilly.
Wil Reynolds, The founder of SEO shop SEER Interactive, is passionate about growing the Philly tech community (read: Philadelphia the city first, and then the region.)
Reynolds, 34, who was leading the now deceased Phillyblog at its time of closure and launched its successor Philadelphia Speaks, grew up in Willingboro, N.J. but moved for a spell in Connecticut. Reynolds came back to his roots in the region, moving to Northern Liberties. In the process, he has developed a perspective to be sure. Like how we need to create a Philly cheerleading army out of local entrepreneurs.
Solar States founder Micah Gold-Markel displaying March 2, 2011 the computer monitoring device connected to the solar array on the roof of the Crane Arts Building.
Solar States founder Micah Gold-Markel knows which of 450 solar panels his company operates on the roof of the Crane Arts Building in Kensington is performing best at any given moment. You might be able to guess by climbing up the black wrought iron ladder onto the roof and looking for cloud cover. Gold-Markel seems to like the computer monitoring device he has in the office below.
After kicking off last week what is billed as one of the city’s largest solar arrays to date — 81kw output at its best — Technically Philly visited for a tour of the array. Check out the city map tracking major solar projects — the Crane Arts building is there yet.
Below see video of Gold-Markel talking shop and showing off the view.
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Below, a big deal with Samsung, negotiating Manhattan real estate and more.
Since launching in 2009, Valley Forge search engine Duck Duck Go is gaining more traction in two areas chased by Founder and CEO Gabriel Weinberg.
Traffic and charity.
According to internal statistics, the site’s queries have more than doubled, from around 75,000 to 100,000 searches per day throughout 2010 to a sudden 175,000 to 200,000 per day since January 3. One could point to the company’s aggressive marketing campaign, launched in January.
And Weinberg, on a blog post published last week, announced that the company was donating $1,500, equal to 10 percent of the companies income, to free and open source software. Donations were made to projects that helped shape the engine’s architecture, and to general projects that support web security and privacy.
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Peter Fecteau, one of seven Code for America Philly fellows and an organizer of Philly Data Camp, explained how volunteers offer various ideas and then collaborate throughout the day to develop and design several new applications. Photo by Sarah Schu
If the seven Code for America Philadelphia fellows have their way, residents here will be soon follow City Council legislation in the form of a customizable e-mail, fitted with a subscription-based game with achievements and hopes for higher levels of participation at the core of its design.
That is just one of the projects that came from this past Friday’s Philly Data Camp, a one-day hackathon co-hosted by the seven CFA fellows and GIS shop Azavea. The event was something of a send off for the CFA pack, who are now back in San Francisco to begin planning and developing a project for the City of Philadelphia as part of their year of service.
Some 25 volunteers showed up to Azavea’s Callowhill offices to devote their Friday to the development of applications based around civic and geospatial data sets that can help Philadelphia citizens. And be created in a day’s time.
“We’ve got people from all walks,” said Pete Fecteau, 27, one of Code for America’s Philadelphia fellows and organizer of the event. “Developers, designers, researchers and people who don’t even know why they’re here. But they want to be here.”
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