Members of Indy Hall all seem to agree that what makes the Old City coworking space so great is, to summarize, themselves. That’s the takeaway from “IndyViews,” a rough cut of Indy Hall member interviews conducted as part of an introspective analysis of its impact.
An earlier draft of the report was released in July, without the video accompaniment, which is the first step in a new effort by the four-year-old coworking scene to brand its impact. More on that effort will be announced next month, said Indy Hall co-founder Alex Hillman.
“The people here are the best around,” said freelance designer Johnny Bilotta, who is also one half of the “Two Guys on Beer” podcast. “The people that come here and stay here and contribute to it, they’re second to none in Philadelphia as far as I’m concerned.”
From the beginning, co-founders Hillman and Geoff DiMasi have made great pains to stress that Indy Hall is less a building and more, to use their feel-good word of choice, “a community,” which they say is a testament to their growing success.
Cliff Stevens, serial entrepreneur and CEO of startup Lokadot, called Indy Hall a “people platform” and, based on this series of nearly a dozen interviews, his description is apt.
Check out the early video, produced by Real Arts Media, above to hear more about what members say makes Indy Hall a hotbed for all kinds of creative-types, technology and otherwise, in Old City.
As you might guess, most teenagers in Philadelphia are, quite simply, not violent, flash mobbing ne’er-do-wells.
Like their counterparts elsewhere, they’re students, who like clothes and sports and friends. And they care a lot about how others see them.
So it might make sense that when organizers of the University Community Collaborative of Philadelphia, a youth leadership nonprofit housed at Temple University, were looking for a new outlet for the nearly 15-year-old group that its students wanted to create a news program to fight negative perceptions of themselves.
Not enough positive youth voices are being heard above the din of violent exceptions, the group argues.
Meet What’s POPPYN, a quarterly, half-hour online news show about teenage issues in Philadelphia: produced, starring and featuring the group’s participants. This month, the show’s sixth episode launched, focusing on global issues and how local kids are getting involved, and shorter segments are being produced every couple weeks.
“We highlight how young people are positively contributing to their schools, communities and organizations and their voices on local and national issues,” said Natalia Smirnov, the initiative’s media productions and communications manager. “Ultimately, we hope that POPPYN helps to change the perception of young people in the city as criminals, drop-outs, violent flash mobbers, poorly educated.”
Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an email subscription for our weekly Comcast roundup or other news updates.
Cable Providers to Offer ‘HBO Go’ Service [New York Times] — Comcast had offered to its customers earlier in the year, followed now Time Warner Cable and Cablevision
Locally, Philly.com entertainment editor and songwriter Leah Kauffman, who skyrocketed to national awareness on the back of a 2007 viral video detailing a crush on presidential candidate Barack Obama, has taken up the cause. She wrote, performed and helped produce ‘Firewall,’ a love song for the Internet, played dutifully by Geekadelphia co-founder Eric Smith behind a cardboard computer monitor.
Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an email subscription for our weekly Comcast roundup or other news updates.
Comcast execs: Verizon deal to bring the ‘quadruple play’ [Digital Trends] — “Late last week, Verizon Wireless signed a deal to purchase 122 spectrum licenses from SpectrumCo, a joint venture between Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, for $3.6 billion. As part of the deal, which awaits approval from the Federal Communications Commission, the Comcast will now be able to sell Verizon Wireless service as part of their communications packages.”
More on Comcast-Verizon deal [Philly Tech News] Good roundup of other voice on the deal, which is being billed as having the potential for as big an impact as any other in the industry.
In his second term since first being elected to the position in 2005 following a 15 year tenure in the state House of Representatives, Butkovitz, 59, seems to enjoy the gig. He is serious and detailed, eager to discuss the 400-page audit report on the Sheriff’s office one recent November afternoon, with a tuft of his gray hair falling toward his cheek in a sunny corner office of the Municipal Services Building in Center City.
Still, with increasing frequency, Butkovitz’s claims of waste, fraud and mismanagement at the city level involve technology: IT infrastructure, agency software and the shortcomings of it all.
Below, Technically Philly talks tech, taxes and hackathons with the West Philly native and graduate of Overbrook High School and Temple University.
Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an email subscription for our weekly Comcast roundup or other news updates.
Comcast Tangled in Discrimination Suit [BET] — “Several of the company’s black employees in Chicago say that they were required to install defective and insect-infested equipment in customers’ homes. ” More from the Chicago Tribune here. Officially, the company denies the allegations.
Key NBC executive Marc Graboff to leave the network [Company Town: LA Times] — “Marc Graboff, president of NBC’s West Coast business operations and the TV network’s longtime consigliere, is leaving the company” after diminishing role, following Comcast’s takeover.
Comcast gives CFO Angelakis new contract, title [Philadelphia Business Journal] — “Michael J. Angelakis that promotes him from executive vice president and chief financial officer to vice chairman and CFO.”
QlikTech holds its first Analyst Day in New York [Philly Tech News] — “Radnor-based QlikTech, the rapidly growing Business Intelligence software vendor that went public in the summer of 2010, went to New York this past Thursday to hold what it called its first annual “Analyst Day” for people in the financial community who follow the company”
Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an email subscription for our weekly Comcast roundup or other news updates.
Zee Holds Talks With Comcast, Time Warner Cable to Triple Presence in U.S. [Bloomberg] — “Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd., the Indian media company led by billionaire Subhash Chandra, is in talks with Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc. to expand distribution in the U.S. and plans to more than triple the number of homes it reaches in the country next year.”
Comcast’s CIO to Exit in 2011 [Light Reading] — “Chief Information Officer Andrew Baer is set to leave the company by the end of the year,”
