Philly Startup Leaders to throw BBQ

Update: Corrected the date Jennelle moved to the city.

Philly Startup Leaders has come a long way from eight guys talking shop over beers in September 2007.

“I knew right away it was not going to be a one-time thing,” co-founder Blake Jennelle says.

Jennelle had been living in the city for two years before deciding to start his own company in 2007. As he attended various events, he met those in similar situations, each thinking they were alone. After speaking with one entrepreneur after another, he encouraged them to all come out and talk business.

Since that fateful first meeting, PSL has blossomed into the largest and most active community of startup entrepreneurs in the region.

“You wouldn’t have recognized the city two years ago,” says Jennelle pointing to explosion of technology and startup organizations in 2007, including his own.

Since 2007, PSL has added roughly 400 members and is preparing for what they consider their third major event — a BBQ offering a chance for startup companies to mingle and network with one another.

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Philly police to begin Segway patrols, please take them seriously

If you hang out on Main Street in Manayunk, you should begin seeing the Segway police patrols.

Officers on South Street, in University City, Center City and Southwest Philadelphia also begin using the new toys this week.

Try not to cringe at how ridiculous the two-wheeled, self-balancing, battery-powered vehicles may seem, because its role in law enforcement has been growing for years and doesn’t appear it will stop. More than 1,000 municipalities are using them for patrolling, according to the company.

Now, after a 10-day trial in April 2008, the Philadelphia Police Department is joining in.

The department announced yesterday that it received a donation of more than $60,000 toward the purchase of ten Segway PTs, according to a press release [PDF]. The funds came from the Philadelphia Police Foundation, a nonprofit that raises funds to purchase technology and other police equipment that are deemed outside the city’s budget. Yes, our police department takes charity.

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