Innovators Peak
Month
Good morning, Denver. What’s good? Having a wonderfully groggy Thursday morning? I sure hope you all are, because you’re going to need that energy to get you through not just today, but the entire weekend. Oh yes, we’ve got some good stuff for you to get into this weekend thanks to the fine people at EveryBlock.
So, let’s jump right into it, yeah? Yeah.
These days, getting diagnosed with breast cancer requires more than just having the basic day-to-day facts. Getting the best care you can possibly get means knowing where to find trusted information and support for, not just yourself, but for your loved ones. Cancer is hard on everyone, so you need to make sure you take the right steps to make it as easy as possible. Understanding how cancer impacts you physically, emotionally, and spiritually is key to facing these harsh challenges. Register for this important annual fall conference and find the right information you need in order to kick cancer’s ass! // Sept 18: 6 p.m.; Sept 19, 20: 9 a.m.; $50, Denver Marriott City Center; 1701 California St.
We’re all looking to find ways to develop a deeper sense of connection with ourselves and our communities. So why not join a class? Full Circle is an open, drop-in class designed for members of the Denver Community who are interested in that very notion through guided embodiment practices that draw from a wide range of expressive arts and experimental modalities. // 7 p.m., $15 suggested, Dancing the Soul: A Center for Creative Movement and Stillness, 950 Jersey St., Unit C.
Whoa. Comcast just did something HUGE for college students in Colorado.
Just getting started. #InternetEssentials big news coming soon. @Comcast closing the #digitaldivide. #Colorado pic.twitter.com/6MVSc9wrHF
— Comcast Colorado (@ComcastColoPR)
September 16, 2015
If you’ve been reading us, then by now you know all about Internet Essentials—which is basically Comcast’s initiative aimed at bridging the digital divide. We are huge proponents of both closing the digital divide and this initiative, so for obvious reasons, we’re very excited.
Today, Comcast’s Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer David L. Cohen joined many of Colorado’s community leaders at the Community College of Denver to announce a new pilot program that will extend Internet Essentials to low-income community college students across Colorado.
It’s clear that in 2015, everyone needs to have Internet. It’s just part of the world we live in today. Internet should be a basic human right.
But it’s not.
For college students especially, this can be quite a serious problem. Here’s why:
Casual sports fans: Want to be able to keep up with the sports conversation every week at work? We’re offering a solution in 2015. Each week this NFL season we’re bringing you all of the essentials you need to know about the Broncos’ last game as well as what you need to know as they head into their next matchup.
Here’s the Innovators Peak Mile High Huddle Up for week one versus the Baltimore Ravens:
“Wow. What happened out there?” That game was U-G-L-Y, UGLY!
If I hadn’t known any better, I would have never guessed that two Super Bowl-contending teams were facing off. The Titans versus Buccaneers game (the two teams with the worst records in football last season) was prettier than this debacle.
No offensive touchdowns. The final score was 19-13 Broncos, which adds up to a grand total of only seven field goals and a pick-six for both sides.
Peyton Manning didn’t look like himself, throwing for only 175 yards, an interception and no touchdowns. The Broncos’ supposed “future star” running back C.J. Anderson was irrelevant. But thanks to good defensive play and a solid showing by kicker Brandon McManus, the Broncos were able to chalk up a win.
“I need a new résumé!” Image.
International Human Resources thought leader Dr. John Sullivan points out in this article that hiring managers often spend five to seven seconds reviewing a potential employee’s résumé.
“Is your ‘six seconds of fame’ enough to land you a job?” he asks his readers.
Considering the large stack of résumés it’s likely sitting in, probably not. Unless it’s really good. And it should be, because you’re really good, right? You don’t want to get screwed because you’re misrepresented on a piece of paper.
This week’s Tip of the Peak is here to make sure you aren’t. Check out our résumé tips:
If you’re creative, this is the perfect opportunity to flex those muscles and show your potential employer what you can do. Cramming every awesome thing about yourself into one page isn’t easy. Show that you can do it in a way that’s aesthetically pleasing. Take this infographic résumé, for example:
Beautiful.
Image: Florence-Lauderdale Public Library
Libraries have a bad reputation. Well, maybe not bad, but antiquated. If you think of a slightly musty smell, strict rules about noise levels and printed books with outdated information when you think of libraries, then you’re exactly the person who needs to check out the Outside the Lines initiative, happening in libraries this week around the world.
Outside the Lines banishes the “shh”ing librarian stereotypes at the door, and instead invites everyone – young and old – inside libraries to discover the creativity and technology that many libraries offer. Some have 3D printers, some have ebooks you can check out. Some even have woodworking classes and business incubators. Libraries have certainly changed since The Breakfast Club.
It all started when a group of Colorado library marketers and directors felt an urgency to change the perception of libraries.
“[Outside the Lines] started in June 2013 when the regional library directors were together at a retreat in Durango,” explains Stacie Ledden, Director of Innovations and Brand Strategy at Anythink Libraries based in Thornton, CO.
“They didn’t want to have to continue answering the question, “Why do we need libraries when we have the Internet?’”
How does $30k sound for your business? Familiar? That’s because we asked you about 5 months ago when this year’s Innovations 4 Entrepreneurs contest was kicking off.
This annual contest grants these types of prizes to entrepreneurs and startups all across the country every year—and this year we’ve got a Denver-local grand-prize winner!
Back in March, Denver-based Gail Kincade of Act II Consignment (new, revamped website coming soon) threw her application into the bunch on a whim and forgot about it.
“If somebody’s going to win, it could be me,” Kincade told Innovators Peak, “you never know if you don’t apply, if you don’t ask for it, you don’t get it. So I just thought ‘Hey, I’ll put it in,’ and kind of forgot about it.”
“Then I was driving one day, I look down and I’m like “Whoa, I won [the regional prize]!’ I was just shocked.”
That’s when she really knew she needed to get it in gear to win the grand prize of $30k and a trip to Comcast Headquarters in Philadelphia for VIP events and mentorship from six experts.
Act II Consignment consists of two consignment stores—one in Denver and one in Littleton. They sell everything from clothing to home goods to furniture. How that works is they take people’s items/product in by the vanload all day long. She’ll take out the best of the best—and then when the item sells, donor gets 40% and Act II Consignment takes home 60%. All items that don’t sell are donated to various local shelters and charities. That’s a big part of Kincade’s philosophy.
“We work with quite a few charities because part of my business plan model is that we are a socially responsible business and so fortunate to be able to be giving back,” she said.
“I have a fun business and I’m able to do what I want to do and I feel like I have a responsibility of our value to this community. We’ve got to give back.”
It was those partnerships that she partially credits for securing the votes to elevate her business from a regional-prize winner to a grand-prize winner.
“A lot of the charities we work with backed us and put it all out there. It was great. Our time in Philly was one of the best times we’ve ever had.”
Philadelphia. Image.
Kincade just got back from her trip from a couple of weeks ago, but is still blown away by the experience it has afforded her. She told us that the grand-prize winners were treated like “rockstars” when they dined atop the Comcast Tower, the tallest building in the city.
She was able to get first hand advice from six business experts including restaurateur, entrepreneur, and TV star Robert Irvine.
“Everything was so positive” she said, “It really made me realize how much I want this. I want to have a successful business. I want to be in that next group of elite entrepreneurs that are growing and doing great things.”
Now she’s sure got the funding to start. With her $30k, Kincade is looking into really marketing her business on social media, which she hopes will eventually grow her company to three, four, five locations to shops all across the country. She knows that these shops are great things to have in every community and is grateful for the opportunity to make it happen nationwide.
“I knew [Comcast] had a big base in Colorado, but I had no idea what they did for small companies,” she said. “The amount they do for entrepreneurs and a lot of the social stuff that they do—and I just hit the tip of it—I’m very, very impressed.”
Did your company miss the application deadline in 2015? Look for it next year! We’re hoping to see some more Colorado winners soon.
Nestled along a mountain road just outside Evergreen, dark clouds are moving in overhead. I make my way through the winding road and up a steep driveway just in time for the rain to settle. An eager Colorado “dude” with grey sunglasses greets me with a Border Collie by his side. He introduces himself, “Roper, call me Roper, there’s too many Michaels in the world.”
Roper is one of the many entrepreneurial/artist success stories that people who come to Colorado hope to emulate. If you live here, the story is familiar. Stuck in the daily grind of the 9-5 world, a person seeks a better life. But each story has it’s own nuances, even if the broad strokes may be familiar.
After his wife graduated from school in 2011, Roper, working a construction job, decided he’d like to go back to school to find a more fulfilling career path and carpentry and wood working was a natural passion. At Red Rocks, he enrolled in the Fine Woodworking program, and eventually found his way to woodturning.
Hey! Are you guys ready for the weekend?
…
I can’t hear you!
…
I said, I CAN’T HEAR YOU!
…
Okay, that’s probably because you’re reading an article and this is kind of a one-way deal. But, hey, if I got you to yell at your computer screen, all the better.
Anyway, since I assume that you’re all giddy for the weekend I’ll just jump right into it. Here are your weekend activities brought to you by the fine folks at EveryBlock right here on The Denver Lowdown.
If you love animals, bingo, and charity, but could never find an event that seamlessly molded all three together, look no further. Steve’s Snappin’ Dogs will be hosting their third Neighborhood Bingo Night to benefit the Petco Foundation and the Local Animal Rescue of the Rockies. Also, you can totally bring your dog, or cat if you can get them out of the house (lazy freeloading cats…). // 7 p.m., $2-$5, Steve’s Snappin’ Dogs, 3525 E. Colfax Ave.
Jobs: most of us have a love-hate relationship with them. If you lean considerably more toward the “hate” side, though, maybe it’s time to start sniffing around. Luckily for you, we’ve curated our own list of the top places to work in the Denver/Boulder area, and there’s a great fit for everyone from techies to creatives.
Photo: craftsy.com/press-kit
Craftsy isn’t your typical startup. Beginning as a new platform for online instruction, Craftsy transformed into a mecca for online classes in sewing, quilting, cake decorating, cooking, photography, gardening, knitting, jewelry-making, and more. With “craft-a-long” employee craft sessions, office snacks and lunches, fitness incentives, solid benefits, and an annual 4-player Pacman tournament (we don’t know how that works either, but we’re interested), Craftsy is a great place to get paid to be creative and innovative all day long.
Photo: Facebook
iTriage, a healthcare app that manages conditions and care providers, is the product of a company that nurtures a casual startup culture, complete with beer, ping pong, Monday breakfasts, Friday lunches, and an onsite gym. As an employee, you’ll also get an RTD eco pass, a volunteer day every quarter, and a $200 credit toward an iPhone or Android, plus paid time off, health benefits, and a 401k package.
The Commons on Champa is one of the newest, hippest, and most exciting co-working spaces in Denver. The space opened just this past April, but it’s already taking the city’s startup community by storm.
About a month and half ago on July 20th, the Commons got themselves a new Program Director in Amy Wofford who oversees everything from programs and operations to just making sure that the building is doing what it was created for.
We caught up with Amy this week to see how things have been going since she got started:
Innovators Peak: Obviously you would view the space as pretty successful since you’ve been involved, right?
Amy Wofford: Oh yeah. I probably do three or four tours a day with new people who heard about us, but don’t really know what we do and want to come check it out because it sounds awesome. Sure enough they usually end up coming back all the time with their friends. We’ve probably had over 4,000 people through the space in the first four months. Denver Startup Week is going to be our next big launchpad.
Labor Day weekend marks the end of another beautiful, sunny summer and one of the last three-day weekends for a while. So, it’s only appropriate that you go out with a bang – which you can do by checking out a Taste of Colorado 2015. It’s four days of stuffing your face with incredible food, listening to live music by award-winning musicians and being in the presence of half a million other people looking to close out the season right.
A Taste of Colorado kicks off on Friday, September 4, at 11:30 a.m. at the Civic Center Park in Downtown Denver. We’ll definitely be heading down, mostly because we don’t want to miss:
At the Colorado Innovation Network (COIN) Summit 2015, four Colorado change-makers proved that they exemplify what Alexander Hamilton, Peter Marshall, or a whole host of other notable folks (quote origin is under heavy debate) encouraged in this quote.
These four driven individuals were panelists for the COIN session, “Taking a stand for change”, during which, they explained what they are doing to encourage positive social change. Their organizations are reaching people all around the world—but they were proud to say they all got their start right here in Colorado.
Julie Hanna, the Executive Chair of the Board of Kiva, opens with a salient statement during her presentation at The COIN Summit:
“I’m an Egyptian immigrant, and until I arrived in Silicon Valley, my journey to the front lines of the technology revolution began at the front lines of war. And my life had been defined by a different kind of access. A lack of access and that shaped the way I came to view the world.”
She went on to explain that her family fled to America during Black September, a year long civil war between Jordanians and Palestinians. Here they faced a lack of resources for immigrants, her mother and father taking on 2-3 jobs to clothe, feed, and provide an education for their kids.
Her philosophy is not bitterness over this childhood, but a quote attributed to Rye Barcott: “Talent is universal, but opportunity is not.”
This is the weekend, my friends. This is what we’ve all been waiting for. This Sunday, Denver will be graced by the presence of none other than the pop of country music, the slayer of Yeezy, the princess of nice, and the girl we all wish we could be. The haters may hate-hate-hate, but we love-love-love Taylor Swift.
Yes, my fellow Swifities. Our favorite pop star will be performing her 1989 World Tour right here in Denver for TWO NIGHTS. This news has got us like:
I know, I know. I can barely contain my fangirl, it’s ridiculous. But while T-Swizzle making her much-awaited appearance is THE event of the weekend (Month? Year? Ever?!?!), there are other pretty awesome events (brought to you by EveryBlock) going down that you should totally check out. It’s okay, Tay Tay approves.
Think about your mom or grandma. She might be part of the “Greatest Generation,” or a Baby Boomer, so she sure as hell has seen a lot in her life. She’s seen multiple wars, the Civil Rights Movement and the birth of rock music. And now, she’s getting Internet access and she’ll be able to join in on all the Facebooking, Googling and Netflixing that’s second nature to Millennials.
From the looks of it, Comcast is on a mission to:
Make sure any low income senior citizen in San Francisco who wants access to the Internet can have it at the extremely affordable $9.95 per month, plus tax
Teach said senior citizens how to use the Internet so they’re not intimidated once they gain access to it
Comcast made the big announcement about their new Internet Essentials pilot program last week at the Lady Shaw Senior Center in San Francisco. Around 60 seniors were there for the occasion and I can tell you first hand that they were thrilled with the news.
Resiliency Post Hurricane Sandy. Robocall elimination. Maximizing parts of space shuttles. Revamping Personal Protective Suits. All have been challenges issued by the federal government for the general public to solve. And all have been answered by individuals and organizations, not just in the U.S., but all around the world. For the winning solver, money is granted based on the size of the impact challenge. A win-win for all who are involved.
“Do you know what the Orteig Prize is,” asks Jenn Gustetic, the Assistant Director for Open Innovation at the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, of the COIN Summit’s audience sitting in the Seawell Grand Ballroom.
A smattering of hands raise up.
“Do you know who Charles Lindbergh is?”
Most of the hands in the room shoot up.
“We remember Lindbergh, but not the prize, but the prize is why we know about Lindbergh,” referring to the $25,000 the pilot won for his non-stop flight from New York to London.
With the 2016 U.S. presidential election right around the corner, gender equality issues–from the pay gay to paid maternity leave to reproductive rights–are hot button issues that can’t be ignored by the candidates. Denver, however, is leading the pack, not only being one of the eight best job markets for women, but also touting a 68 percent growth of women-owned businesses from 2007 to 2014, such that the number of women-owned firms is increasing at a rate 1.5 times the national average.
So what are these awesome female-owned businesses? And who are these trailblazing women who are leading the way in their companies as well as their communities?
From working as a psychotherapist counseling employees of Fortune 500 companies to closing more than $100 million in sales while working in real estate, Sylvia Theisen has had a varied career and shows no signs of stopping. Founder of She Takes The Lead, Theisen provides training and coaching to women in business and speaks to organizations who believe in empowering their female employees. She was also a keynote speaker for the 2015 Colorado SBDC Women’s Small Business Conference.
As one of six Hispanic female Buick GMC dealership owners among the 4,000-plus GM dealerships in the U.S., Ivette Dominguez undoubtedly stands out as a self-made woman with a record of excellence in the auto industry. After purchasing the dealership in 2005, she has won numerous awards for being business savvy, including awards from GM, the Denver Business Journal and the Girl Scouts of Colorado.
She also founded The Alpine Difference in 2011, a program that recognizes and funds nonprofits making a difference in the lives of women and families in the Denver area, donating $10,000 each quarter to a worthy charity or charities.
A leader in the Denver startup community, Lizelle van Vuuren is a 10-year veteran of design, strategy, marketing, business growth and innovation for tech companies and startups. After cofounding StartupDenver, a community platform for startups and entrepreneurs, and Women Who Startup, a monthly event series devised to help educate, empower and connect female entrepreneurs, van Vuuren founded Effectively, a marketing services agency that launches ideas and grows startups, companies, nonprofits and organizations. The agency is set to launch this fall.
(You can tell they all work together because they’re looking the same direction. Image.)
It’s that time of the month again where we check back in with some advice on how to run your startup. Last time, we talked about the exciting world of feline dating websites and how to navigate copyright in creating said sites.
This time, we’re talking about one of the most important factors in building a successful business: who you hire. Sure—the common perception may be that there are qualified people all over the place who need a job and will fall right into your lap, making it typically easier on the employer than the job seeker. I’m here to tell you that is not necessarily true—especially for startups.
Finding a good fit for what you’re doing can be tough, here are some things you should look for/keep in mind:
What kind of culture does your company have? Do you have an open office space with puppies walking around? Do you regularly go out for team happy hours because you genuinely enjoy each other’s presence? Or are you more of a reserved, quiet, and hard working office space? There’s no problem with any of these approaches, as long as you have the right people to carry it out. Keep in mind that you’re going to be spending just as much time with these people as you do with your family and best friends, so make sure you love them.
During last week’s Colorado Innovation Network (COIN) summit, we had to opportunity to witness numerous sharp minds share their thoughts, ideas and visions for the future. One of those sharp minds was Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, who sat down with us to discuss Colorado’s entrepreneurial spirit and its place as a leader among the nation in all things cutting edge.
In part two of our interview with Gov. Hickenlooper, we get conceptual, dissecting the very meaning of innovation, the future of COIN and Colorado—plus, the governor gives some very good advice to those looking to think differently.
Innovators Peak: Do you find that, when talking about things like COIN, that the word “innovation” is hard to define?
Governor Hickenlooper: Innovation is doing anything different. It’s the same way that people talk all the time about leadership. What is leadership? I think we just keep distilling it and leadership is any time you persuade someone to do something they weren’t originally planning to do; to believe something they didn’t believe before.
The beauty of that is everybody can be a leader because we all persuade people from time to time and we all are leaders from time to time. That’s one of the things we’re looking on how to infuse that into COIN, because COIN is basically leadership.
The Colorado Innovation Network (COIN) summit featured a slew of successful, wise, encouraging leaders from all over Colorado and the country, including none other than John Hickenlooper, the Governor of Colorado.
Serving since 2011, this visionary Democrat wants nothing more than to see the people in his state innovate, succeed and excel. We had the chance to sit down with him at the Capitol and talk about the state of Colorado, its authenticity, clean ethics and how he plans on attracting and keeping America’s entrepreneurs.
You are cordially invited to Innovators Peak’s top pick for September’s innovation event of the month. It all goes down at The Commons on Champa on Saturday, Sept. 12, so grab your friends and put your thinking caps on because this panel and cocktail hour is sure to have you doing a lot of it.
The nonprofit sector is just beginning to experience a seismic shift, in Denver especially, toward innovation and entrepreneurship.
Harnessing Innovation for Social Good: Women Entrepreneurs Driving Positive Change in the Non-Profit Arena will be discussing and exploring solutions for nonprofits during this time of change as well as why we need to build sustainable non-profits that will continue strengthen our communities in the coming years.
Find out more specifically what types of issues the panel will be taking on in the incredible conversation we had with the panel’s moderator, Elizabeth Suarez, last week HERE.
The Commons has assembled an all-star panel of women leaders in the Denver area to get it done:
-Dr. Jandel Allen-Davis, VP of Government and External Relations for Kaiser Permanente
-Tiffany Payne, Director – Community Investment for Comcast West Division
-Tamra Ryan, CEO of the Women’s Bean Project
-Sonya Ulibarri, President and CEO of Girls Inc. of Metro Denver
Come for the awesome panel but stick around for the cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and incredible networking opportunities.
The best part is that it’s FREE. You can RSVP HERE and it’s not just plus one so be sure to bring your friends, coworkers, moms, and dads! It’s going to be a great time.
Don’t be the one to miss out!
Unfortunately, Mondays are an inevitable price we pay for simply being alive. Because life without Wi-Fi is increasingly rare, however, that first day of the week back at work is a little more bearable, no matter what type of office you use.
Here are some tips for how to put your nearest Wi-Fi hotspot to good use, whether the results are actually helpful or if they just bring a smile to your face.
There comes a time in everyone’s lives when there must be a decision made. Some of those decisions are big, others are very small, but they are an obstacle that simply must be overcome. What’s the decision you ask? It’s what are you going to do this weekend?
Fear not, you indecisive weekend-goers, the fine folks at EveryBlock have come together with those of us at The Denver Lowdown to help narrow down those very decisions into a nice, neat list.
So, what’s going down this weekend at the Lowdown?
Friday:
Sunrise: Kettlebell Fundamentals
Ah the Kettlebell, that heavy weight thing with one handle that you’re not quite sure how to use. Well, if you’d like to learn how to work on your core, strength, and endurance with one super-heavy weight ball, then the Kettlebell is your jam. All sizes and abilities are welcome, if you’re new you can learn, if you’re intermediate you can improve, if you’re an expert you’re probably teaching the class. //5:45am, Free, Colorado Kettlebell Club Denver, 4697 E. Evans Ave.
This is the main event this weekend, folks! Yes, it’s another Riot Fest! This year, Hip-Hop acts include Snoop Dogg, Run-DMC, Ice Cube, GZA, De La Soul, Cypress Hill, Yelawolf, and many more. Get ready for this sweet 3-Day music festival that’s one for the memories! //10:00pm, $99.98 for 3 Day Pass, National Western Stock Show, 4655 Humboldt St
The only thing better than happy hour, is happy hour by the pool. Dip a toe and have a drink with happy hour specials available all night long, live music, and a sweet sunset. //6:00pm, $1, Riviera at Breakers Resort, 9099 E Mississippi Ave
Saturday:
We’re all about that #photoglife, and if you are too, you should totally check out this all-day seminar with professional photographer Jennifer Wu as part of Canon’s Explorers of Light program. Jennifer’s programs consists of three parts: Nature’s Elusive Beauty, Tips and Techniques, and The Amazing Night Sky – Shooting from Dusk to Dawn. Join other photogs as Jennifer takes you on a visual journey filled with tips on how to improve your little shutterbug self. //9:00am, $10, Davis Auditorium, Sturm Hall, University of Denver Campus, 2000 E Asbury
Too weirded out by internet dates? Awkward about meeting new people? Want to have a nice, pleasant face-to-face meet with other people looking to meet other people? Have up to 20 dates with VIP Speed Dating at Jazz@Jack’s this Saturday! Find the one you may or may not love in just a few minutes. //6:00pm, $25, Jazz@Jack’s, 500 16th St Ste 320
Food, drinks, nerds, and trivia. Show off how smart you are in front of your friends, or hilariously embarrass yourself in front of others—it’s all a good time at Darcy’s Restaurant and Pub! Keep your knowledge sharp and add a few drinks to the mix! //7:30pm, Free, Darcy’s Restaurant and Pub, 4955 S Ulster St
Sunday:
Coffee’s great, but can you improve it? The answer is, of course! By adding cats to the mix! Spend an hour or two on a lazy Sunday afternoon chatting with people while playing with some seriously adorable cats at the Denver Cat Company. Support a great local business and give some sweet animals some loving affection. //1:00pm, $5, Denver Cat Company, 3929 Tennyson St
The Artist’s Way Creativity Course
Are you a creative person, but blocked? Do you want to improve your creativity? Or do you simply want a creative space with other creative folks? Then you better head over to Artists at 802 for a creativity course like no other! //1:00pm, $199, Artists at 802, 802 Santa Fe Drive #1
It’s a full moon, people, things are about to get weird. Get back to our pagan roots this Sunday evening and honor the Sturgeon Full Moon, also known as the Green Corn Moon or the Grain Moon. Travel out to the Living Earth Center and get wild over the moon. //7:00pm, $5 suggested, Living Earth Church and Community Center, 6000 E Evans Ave, Building 3, Suite 009
There! now your weekend decisions have been made for you. You’re welcome. So grab your friends, family, cats, or whoever else you’d like to spend these beautiful few days with. It’s the weekend– enjoy it!
When I was a kid, the movie Apollo 13 scared the ever-loving bajeezus out of me.
The huge flames shooting out of the rockets. The weightlessness of space. And the thought that if something went wrong, there was nothing, no one there to help you.
Nowadays, those fears are still there, but they are immensely overcome by my wonder about space exploration and what humanity might look like 10, 100, even 1,000 years into the future.
So you can imagine my giddy, childish excitement as I sat down to hear Salvatore Bruno, president and CEO of United Launch Alliance talk about the future of spaceflight that’s emerging right from the heart of Colorado at COIN 2015. He kicked off his presentation quite humbly, I thought, considering the enormous responsibility he and his team are tackling.
“We are America’s ride to space. We are on the cusp of the true commercial potential of space,” Bruno said.
“And Colorado is going to transform it in fundamental ways. We’re getting ready to unleash a new business model that will revolutionize how we transport cargo to space, and allow us to build infrastructure piece by piece in space like never before. In your lifetime, you’re going to see things you haven’t even dreamed of or imagined yet.”
Bruno discussed the tremendous challenges of spaceflight and how to properly motivate a team of engineers who were tasked with achieving this incredible feat.
“It’s all about people,” said Bruno, about how he manages his team at ULA.
“They have such a vast capacity for creativity. And when you want to transform and go after a bright future, you have to paint a picture for your team about what that picture might look like. Then you give them permission to get out of the box and be creative.”
But ultimately, the mission is what kept them together, and allowed them to collaborate even if they were in competing companies.
“I had one of those moments, you know, 5 a.m., in my office thinking about the degree of transformation, and the speed at which we need to accomplish it, was unimaginable,” said Bruno. “But I got to know my team and there was so much pent up energy that I knew they could pull it off.”
Being one year into CEO at ULA, Bruno is still pushing his programs forward, even if he doesn’t receive much help from Washington. But he’s found private partnerships that are helping him and his team to keep innovating. He has spoken with every person in America who’s even sketched a rocket engine on the back of a napkin, and they’re using all that collaborative energy to drive his mission forward.
“It’s all about the mission. That’s what gets me up in the morning. We’re saving lives every day. We’re exploring the universe. We’re pushing the bounds of the human presence.”
It’s a huge mission, and it’s clear that Bruno is the perfect man for the job.
“Coming up with the strategy isn’t the hard part — have a vision, understand the market, that’s easy. The hard part is how to bring your people with you and support the culture change to make that possible.”
“Here on earth today, we toil and struggle in conflict, due to a shortage of resources. Yet right now above our heads, just beyond our grasp, we have resources beyond human imagination,” Bruno said.“It’s all about the mission. That’s what gets me up in the morning. We’re saving lives every day.
“We’re exploring the universe. We’re pushing the boundaries of the human presence.”
Not to be confused with the beer guy (though he did make it once), Mark Sirangelo CIO of Colorado and Corporate VP of Sierra Nevada Corporation, closed out the final panel of COIN 2015 with a discussion about where innovation is headed in Colorado and beyond.
He started by discussing the two big subject areas tackled in the XFINITY Innovation Think Tank, as well as panels throughout the two day summit: healthy lifestyles and advanced communities. Both of these big ideas are going to be tackled in the coming year with an innovative new crowdsourcing platform unique to Colorado.
Normally to solve the big issues at the state or federal level, the government would have come up with an idea and pitched it to the public. But Colorado had a different idea. They’re going to be opening a new platform called Imagine Colorado to ask the community to help them what Colorado could be. The state is ready to invest the money and time into solving problems across communities, why not give the people in the state a chance to voice what they want the government to look at?
“It’s a wonderful time for where we are with COIN and where we’re going,” said Mark about the state of innovation in Colorado. “So many wonderful ideas and so many wonderful people come here. Now let’s try to bring it out further so everyone can see the innovation happening in Denver and take it forward.”
Mark then went on to introduce Governor Hickenlooper, who often likes to throw out quotes in his speeches, with one from George Bernard Shaw.
The governor is one of those people who says why not. Why not have something like COIN? Why not reach out to the people of Colorado and ask them how they want to innovate? The governor start to speak about his hopes for COIN, and the collaborations he saw throughout the summit.
“I hope all the ideas that came through today and yesterday are cross-pollinating across all industries,” said Governor Hickenlooper as he closed out COIN 2015. “Government’s primary role is to be the convener. To make sure everyone who should be there, is there. And when good ideas come out of it, we should be implementing it in real time.”
The governor also spoke about how small communities want to invest in their local schools and infrastructure, but are often hindered by state-wide backlash. That’s why advancing communities was such an important topic during the summit, to look for ways to promote growth and innovation starting at the community level, and then growing outward.
The governor closed his interview by exhausting the essence of the people of Colorado, their incredible ability to take risks and their constant need to innovate.
That’s all from this year’s COIN summit, but you know Innovators Peak will continue to highlight the amazing spirit of Colorado and the incredible people that make it such an incredible place to live, work, and innovate.
“01110011001011100101011 1001 1011101”
Translation: Robots are embedding themselves into our everyday lives. Better brush up on your binary.
Robotic technologies are going to enable us to do incredible things in the future. And one panel at COIN 2015 spent their time discussing the implications of robotics working their ways into our lives. Will they come in peace? Or do we have to start accepting our new robot overlords?
You’re probably thinking of the Google self-driving car, but we can also include most unmanned aerial vehicles into this category, even though we don’t like to categorize them that way because of their lack of mobility and robotic personalities.
One thing’s for sure, though: The robots are coming.
The bot talk kicked off today at the COIN Summit, led by Session Guide Leah Hunter, a technology writer for Fast Company. Joining her were a panel of experts: Alex Ferworn, Professor of Computer Science at Toronto, Canada’s Ryerson University; Tim Haynie, Founder of Spectrabotics; and Pramila Mullan, Senior Manager Infrastructure & Systems at Accenture Technology Labs.
Our tech experts began with a look into what fuels industrial robotics and glimpsed at the future of the robotics economy.
“The industrial Internet is about embedded sensors, cloud storage, and cloud computing coming together to fuel this industry,” said Pramila.
“What’s interesting in this industry is a lot of the emphasis is starting today with folks looking at operational efficiency: How do we take our existing assets and use them better? But that’s just the start of the journey. And it’s going to take us to our next destination, which is an outcome-based economy.”
“Outcome-based economy” simply means that instead of paying for services, we’re actually purchasing the outcome we desire. I.e., in healthcare, we pay physicians to keep us healthy instead of paying for a routine checkup. But that means we need to work smarter, using tools like wearables and other embedded sensors to gather and analyze data. That’s how we transform our workforce into the next generation, by empowering humans with robotic counterparts (wearables and UAVs).
But now we’re inching ever closer to a completely autonomous robotic workforce, where humans are the ones in control, or even simply monitoring the overall output, rather than micromanaging. It’s becoming more of a collaborative process, where humans are building machine-learning capabilities into robots so we can begin to step away and let them handle the menial and dirty tasks, while humans can focus on the high-level problem solving.
Think about the agriculture industry, where automation replaced a lot of the handwork that was taking place on farms. And those workers, once they were freed from the farm, were able to kick off the Industrial Revolution.
The Industrial Revolution of our time is going to come down to data. Because the more we measure and show people and organizations we can capture data, the more they want. And faster!
“The biggest impact that drones have made in our society is in the incredible amount of data we can retrieve from them,” said Haynie about UAVs.
“They also have the added benefit of being able to fly at different altitudes, and fly whenever, and almost wherever, they want. But it’s all about the sensors. Better data leads to expanding public safety, increasing operating efficiencies, and enhancing situational awareness.”
In the past, it was governments that empowered the university system to make breakthroughs in these types of areas. But now, organizations like DARPA host competitions where they offer large cash prizes to the team with the best prototype. And, not surprisingly, their most recent competition focused on Robotics and their ability to help humans in dangerous situations, like being trapped in a collapsed building.
Ferworn discussed the DARPA challenge, and some of the challenges they face.
“I don’t care if a robot can turn a valve, or open a door, we want them to recognize us buried under the rubble and come save us,” said Ferworn about rescue ‘bots. “We’re still using the same technology that we’ve used to save people who are trapped since World War I: dogs. Because they have an incredibly refined sense of smell, they’re fast, and work for play.”
But Ferworn says there’s a lot we can learn from our canine companions, and how they save people trapped in rubble, that we can apply to future robotics. He even performed a live demonstration with a canine member of the Colorado rescue squad. The furry savior rushed under the stage to save the “trapped” human.
So how can we make humans want to use robotics, if there’s no stopping them?
Firstly, they’ll have to show us their advantages. People are only going to appreciate how robots are going to save them time or make their life easier. The right situation for robotics is in the dirty, dangerous jobs that humans should no longer be doing. Then, if we add in the computing technologies, artificial intelligence, and real-time streaming of data from UAVs, you’re met with an incredibly powerful robotic companion who can tackle almost any task his (Or her? Its?) human handler wants to assign.
Each and every one of these incredible technologies exist in one form or another today. Now we need each sector to come together, collaborate, and help shape the robotic workforce of the future.
Hey there, kids! Do you know what time it is? Thaaaaaat’s right! It’s back to school time! Don’t worry if you feel like this kid. We all do, even if it’s just a little bit.
Yeah, yeah, we all know that school is no walk in the park. With the routines, the homework, the not-so-healthy school lunches (I don’t care what Congress says, pizza is NOT a vegetable), and the general feeling of being at school. But, as we’ve all come to learn over the course of our education experiences, sometimes school can be pretty awesome; a place where you create memories and hey, even learn a thing or two. Especially when you go to school only to leave school to go somewhere else. You know: field trips.
Ah, yes, the field trip. There may be no other school activity that excites kids more. Everything about it exudes joy: the permission slips, the buddy system, the school bus ride, the impending excitement that comes with exploration, the notion that tonight there will be no homework. There isn’t a single thing about a field trip that sucks. Well, unless the destination itself is kind of geeky (looking at you, Colonial Williamsburg).
Fortunately, Colorado has a plethora of field trip destinations that will excite the mind and engage the student, teachers and everyone involved, even if it is just for the day. Here are our top picks in the area:
The Adams County Libraries were some of the poorest funded libraries in Colorado until the community voted to increase library spending. The result was the Anythink Libraries. Their goal was to create an institution that was of the modern age, and provided modern tools. So Anythink did away with the Dewey Decimal System and added The Studio at the Wright Farms and Brighton locations. The Studio includes a digital lab, a 3D printer and other sweet tech options that your school library probably doesn’t provide. I mean, this is a library that collaborated with a local brewery to create a library beer. This isn’t your mom’s library; it’s a cool library. // 327 E. Bridge St., Brighton.
2. Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Natural history exhibitions, IMAX and planetarium shows, engaging activities and lectures that explore the wonders of science, Colorado, Earth and the universe. I mean, why wouldn’t you want to visit? Denver Museum of Nature and Science is a spectacular interactive museum featuring fossils, Egyptian mummies, riddles of the human body and dozens more hands-on activities. One of their newer, popular exhibits is Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns and Mermaids. Yes, I know they’re not real, but since when has imagination hindered the young mind? // 2001 Colorado Blvd., Denver.
No, this isn’t like taking a trip to Barnes and Noble. The Tattered Cover Bookstore is arguably one of the top independent booksellers in America. They host hundreds of free children’s events throughout the year, including lectures, release parties and author appearances. They’ve been open since 1971 and have gotten creative with their business model, even offering book catering for events. If you take a trip to this bookstore, you’ll enter a world where printed books still reign king and the owners are savvy enough to keep it that way. // 2526 E. Colfax Ave., Denver.
One of the largest museums between the West Coast and Chicago, the Denver Art Museum provides a collection of art so captivating, so all-consuming, that it very well may be a crime to not go there on a field trip. And if it’s not a crime, well, at the very least it should carry a fine. With hundreds of thousands of works from artists all over the world, surely it will inspire a few budding artists. // 100 W. 14th Ave. Parkway, Denver.
Seriously, what kid doesn’t love the crap out of dinosaurs? They’re big, they’re dead and there was a hit movie out in theatres about them earlier this summer — Jurassic… something or other. While you can’t take your kids to see any live dinosaurs (not yet, anyway), you can visit the burying ground for these long-gone Colorado residents. At Dinosaur Ridge, you can touch the bones of Allosaurus and Stegosaurus and see the footprints at the site where some of the world’s most important dinosaur discoveries were made in the late 1880s. This place can make even the dorkiest of them all feel like Indiana Jones, even if it’s just for the day. // 16831 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison.
6. Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum
If you want to be excited about engineering, you go to Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum. There, more than 40 planes and stunning space-oriented displays cover the vast museum space. It’s simply an aviation wonderland that allows you to get face-to-face with bombers, fighter jets, antique planes and a search-and-rescue helicopter. Plus, if you do a special second-Saturday-of-the-month field trip, you can have the chance to sit in a plane cockpit and see just how awesome it is to be an ace pilot. // 7711 E. Academy Blvd. #1, Denver.
Kids love bugs. Well, some kids love bugs. Other kids (and adults) freak out when they see a bug. But maybe that’s because they don’t really know them that well. At The Butterfly Pavilion, located in Westminster, you can interact with live invertebrates fluttering around in a lush rainforest (it’s not actually a rainforest, it’s just a simulated rainforest, relax). This space is home to more than 1,200 butterflies, moths and skippers. If you’re brave enough, you can even hold Rose, a Chilean Rose Hair tarantula, in the palm of your hand. Yeah, I dare you to do that. // 6552 W. 104th Ave., Westminster.
The school year is just beginning, children. But so is Field Trip Season. All you have to do is make sure those permission slips are signed and you’re off! Have a great school year, everyone.
ATTENTION ALL ARTISTS: How does $2,500 sound? How about having your work seen by 10,000-plus people?
Pretty good, right?
Do you have a big idea? One that’s both innovative and artistic? Are you ready to propose that idea? How do you feel about it being a focal point in one of the newest, hippest and most exciting co-working spaces in Denver’s entrepreneurial ecosystem?
Why am I asking so many questions?
Because the Commons on Champa is looking for just the right person to take on this gig. If you answered yes to all of those questions it could be you. If you know someone who could answer yes to all of those questions, send them this link. Do it now – submissions are due by Wednesday, September 2, 2015.
All artists are welcome to submit: The work can be created in the medium of your choice. And FYI – the dimensions of the wall you’ll be working with are 9'4" by 34'4".
Check out the submission form here. Entering is super easy as long as you can do these three things:
1. Submit your proposal by Wednesday, September 2.
2. Send three samples of your artwork to [email protected] after completing your proposal.
3. Stay tuned – Commons on Champa be in touch with the winner the day of the deadline!
Your contribution to the startup ecosystem at this unique space will help build the entrepreneurial spirit and success of Denver!
The Commons on Champa looks forward to your submissions. Bring ‘em on!
Let’s be honest, women have made some serious strides in the workplace. As a matter of fact, women are running nearly 50% of
all businesses in the United States. But even with that statistic,
businesses with all male teams are four times more likely to receive funding
from venture capital investors. There is a serious problem with our investment
engine if it continues to keep half of their bench on the sidelines.
If Chip Kelly or whoever runs the Denver Broncos decided to only play half their team, how long do you think they’d stay as head coach?
This topic was the feature of one of the most riveting talks of the first day of COIN 2015 Summit – Invest in Women, Everybody Wins, given by Loretta McCarthy, Managing Partner of Golden Seeds, an early-stage venture capital fund that invests in women-owned businesses, as well as champions women’s place in the investment community.
“In 2004, women made up about 5% of the angel investors in the United States,” said McCarthy. “Today they make up approximately 26%. Meaning there’s 80,000 women who are angel investors.”
Don’t say we didn’t tell you, this is starting to become a movement.
There’s even been an increase in the amount of men who will fund women-led startups, being fondly referred to as Golden Dudes. And there need to be more of them. The more men can take a stand and show that not investing women isn’t just simple minded, but bad business sense, the faster this movement will grow.
And women have had a lot of help over the past 4-5 years due to the tremendous growth of seed accelerators that have sprung up across the country. Now there are well over 100 across the US, and they do an incredible job of keeping their workforce local, and keeping capital and job security nearby.
Yet, women continue to face funding challenges and myriad other obstacles when it comes to scaling their business. And then, having run out of options, they’re forced to turn to overseas funding pools or family offices that to often do not invest the proper time, energy, or money, into their seed companies.
“From 2011 to 2013, less than 3% of venture capital funded companies had female CEOs. And 85% of the companies that were funded had no women executives on their teams,” said McCarthy.
So maybe it’s more than gender diversity in the startup company. We need more diversity in the venture capital firms funding startups. In fact, VC firms with women partners are 2.5 times more likely to invest in a women-owned company.
Investment is all ones and zeros. Black and red. Balance sheets and EBITA. Yet for some reason investment leaders are ignoring the obvious truth that the numbers are clearly pointing towards: spending money on women in the investment community will not only pay dividends, but almost double the investment landscape.
If you handed me that term sheet, I’d sign it every day and twice on Sunday’s. The simple truth is, if you invest in women, everybody wins.
Governor John W. Hickenlooper welcomed a packed house of innovators, leaders and change agents at the 4th gathering of the Colorado Innovation Network Summit, held in Denver, CO. He challenged the group to be present over the next two days, to think outside the box and to foster collaboration to reduce friction and accelerate opportunities for Colorado. Most importantly, he echoed the summits mantra of curiosity: “Start asking questions!”
But what is “innovation?” Mark Sirangelo, Chief Innovation Officer for the State of Colorado and Vice President of Sierra Nevada Space Systems, defines it as “being able to look at a situation or challenge and realize that it can be done differently.” Innovation doesn’t apply only to technology and startup entrepreneurs, it transcends arts, culture, business, education, healthcare, community organizing and government.
This year’s summit will focus panels and discussions around four key session questions all through the lens of the theme “curiosity:”
1. How do our digital selves define us?
2. How are the ways we connect changing?
3. What do the communities of the future look like?
4. Who will advance global progress?
Panelists and attendees come from across the city, state and nation. COIN 2015 will address issues around healthcare information from experts such as Dhruv Jaggia from the IBM Watson team, gender-diverse business best practices from Loretta McCarthy of Golden Seeds, the technologies of tomorrow by Tony Werner of Comcast and innovation within local Colorado companies like Wild Goose Canning.
Comcast VP of Competitive Planning and Mobility Michael Soileau took the stage before the Governor to highlight the curious areas of innovation that the COIN 2015 presenting sponsor is participating in. He highlighted how the company’s Comcast Labs division employs 40 PhD’s and 10 distinguished fellows to push the envelope of innovation everyday, developing products like the X1 voice remote and the media solutions of tomorrow for customers and communities across the country.
The next few days are on track to be a curious confluence of communities and ideas. Let’s take the State of Colorado on a journey that the rest of the world can learn from.
No, not that School of Rock. I’m talking about the real School of Rock. The franchise that has taken off and brought Schools of Rock to 160 locations across the world. It’s pretty important.
Seriously. It’s no secret that the education system kind of sucks and has been failing to offer classes and programs that fit the true interests and skill sets of a diverse student body. Programs like the School of Rock have worked to provide that for students outside of the traditional education settings in meaningful and engaging ways. We need our rockers just as much as we need our … whatever they’re teaching in schools these days. Mathematicians.
What we also need, however, are our engineers, our techies, and our computer programming geniuses that push forward next-level ideas. We need a School of Rock for nerds.
This October, John and Kelly Scarborough are bringing just that to Denver with the Silicon STEM Academy.
The idea for it was really born out of their own personal experience of raising a 13-year-old “tech kid” themselves who was interested in computer programming. They couldn’t identify any useful classes for their son outside of community college. Being that they didn’t want to put a 13-year-old in the community college setting, there needed to be a solution. Otherwise, he and these other kids would just have to end up stuck in their bedrooms teaching themselves about technology, which isn’t always all that effective or fun.
Image via Silicon STEM Academy
The 2015 COIN Summit is right around the corner, and those of us at Innovators Peak covering the event are already feeling the buzz of excitement. Maybe it’s because of the incredible array of innovators that will be presenting next week. Or perhaps we’re excited to see what comes out of this year’s XFINITY Innovation Think Tank.
Regardless of the reason, there are going to be some big names from the technology, entrepreneurial, and nonprofit communities brainstorming and collaborating on how to enable more innovation in their respective field.
We know from experience that to get the best ideas, you need to open up the discussion to include as many voices as possible. So below we’ve compiled a list of the must-follow social media accounts to get everyone connected to the conversations surrounding COIN 2015 next week.
Feel free to tweet, comment, question, GIF, and h/t your thumbs off at all these innovators and let’s get the conversation started! And don’t forget to follow the hashtags #COIN2015, #imagineCO, and #thinktank for even more updates from the event.
COIN Summit 2015 is coming up incredibly fast and we’re getting more excited for it than ever as we continue to plan our coverage of the big event. We’re not alone.
Earlier this year, Anna Ewing took on the role executive director of the Colorado Innovation Network. Today, her excitement for experiencing her first ever COIN Summit is through the roof.
As executive director, Ewing has been leading the effort over the past several months—working tirelessly in in the planning of the event, overseeing the day-to-day, and working with stakeholders in the community to ensure that the COIN mission is carried out and really assist in making Colorado the innovative place to be.
We spoke with her recently to find out how that’s been going, what will be different, the same, and what we should be looking forward to:
Innovators Peak: What will be different about this year’s event as opposed to the prior years?
Anna Ewing: The format will be much of the same. It’s two days here in Denver with roughly 300 innovators from across the ecosystem. Our theme this year is CURIOSITY because any innovation really starts with someone posing a question or having some sort of inquisitive thought about how things are done or how things could be done better. So we developed an entire program steeped in the theme of curiosity in four tracks—each a half-day session looking at innovation from different lenses and how it ultimately effects the business community and the broader world in which we live. There certainly is more Colorado focus this year. We have a number of innovators and thought leaders from this state that will be on stage. One of the ultimate aims is to make known what is happening in out state—celebrating innovation in Colorado.
Give me a ‘W!’ Give me an ‘E!’ Give me another ‘E!’ Give me a ‘K!’ Give me an—alright, that’s enough of that. You and I both know that nobody has time for that cheerleader crap. It’s time to plan your weekend, people.
Let’s see what’s going down on the Lowdown.
What’s a Friday without a little bit of networking? Join #inspired5280 for a free lunch and a workshop where you’ll learn how to ASK (Always Seek Knowledge of Others) and work with other professionals to help make you a more sociable networking genius. Not only that, but you’ll also get a snazzy tour of Intelligent Office’s shared office spaces. (photo) // 11:30 a.m., Free, Intelligent Office, 1515 Wynkoop St. #360
Every day, these organizations work with children, families, schools, and local leaders to build our communities and better our lives—but this sector is now just beginning to experience a seismic shift, in Denver especially, toward innovation and entrepreneurship.
On Sept. 12 at the Commons on Champa, we’ll be discussing and exploring solutions for non-profit organizations in this time of change as well as why we need to build sustainable non-profits that will continue strengthen our communities in the coming years. This panel, Harnessing Innovation for Social Good: Women Leaders Bringing Entrepreneurial Change to Non-Profit Organizations, will take a look at the issues at hand exclusively through the perspective of Denver’s women leaders.
Elizabeth Suarez, director of Denver’s HERS Institute, has a wealth of experience in facilitating, coaching, and training individuals in the executive management ranks on how to improve their leadership capabilities and skills in order to reach their personal and professional goals. She will also be the moderator of this panel.
Given her experience with clients in the nonprofit arena, her involvement in the community of women, and her leadership in Denver, the event’s organizers feel that she is uniquely positioned as someone who possesses the capability of asking the necessary questions to get most out of this opportunity.
One of the many intimidating things about moving to a new place is finding the people you depend on get you through the week. The hairstylist you trust with your split ends; the bartender that makes you feel at home in a new neighborhood; the mechanic who assures you that, no, the scary whirring sound coming your engine belt does not mean your car is about to explode.
Myself being a Denverite for a solid 13 months now, the sense of relief that came over me when I met Dave Mika, owner of Automotive Revival, could only mean one thing: I found my car dude. At that time, I was unaware that he is a successful graduate of Rocky Mountain Microfinance Institute’s boot camp, a class that teaches participants how to start, maintain and continually grow a small business.
It seems in Denver there’s a stage for just about anyone these days, from comedy, to motivation and innovation, to just plain storytelling. And for your story-telling fix, you can join the Narrators once a month at the Buntport theatre for their monthly live show. Hosted by Erin Rollman of Stories on Stage, and Ron Doyle, a teacher turned entrepreneur and podcast enthusiast, the event brings together interesting personalities on the podcast and comedy circuit from Denver for a mish-mash of entertaining anecdotes.
Storytelling itself has become a sort of zeitgeist buzzword, from corporations to entrepreneurs, everyone seems to be embracing the story as a compelling communication device. In fact, what people are selling or doing seems less important than the story itself. But sharing stories, which can be part therapy and part entertainment, has a humanizing effect, which could explain why it is such a nice complement to our cold isolated virtually lived lives.
Here at Innovators Peak, we love hearing about entrepreneurial game-changers who are making life better in Denver with their disruptive ideas. Despite that, it’s great to see the technology and entrepreneurial landscape evolving nationwide. While there have been great advancements in the entrepreneurial community in the past decade, there’s always room for improvement.
Our nation’s capital has confirmed this to be a national priority by hosting events such as White House Demo Day and Open for Innovation Day, in which established companies like Comcast pitch funded ideas to startups. By eliminating some of the barriers to entry in the startup landscape, we give budding entrepreneurs a greater chance of success while also driving innovation through funded projects. It’s great to see successful companies with so much capital seeking qualified startups to partner with to work toward a greater goal.
Sam Schwartz, Chief Business Development Officer for Comcast Cable acknowledged the attention from the capital, saying, “As we look to fund and support the next generation of American entrepreneurs and their big ideas, we applaud the President for hosting this exciting event showcasing the incredible potential that comes from tapping diverse talent.”
“What’s happening this weekend?” “What am I going to do this weekend?” “Why isn’t the weekend here already?” “Why is nobody telling me what’s going down this weekend!?” “I GOTTA KNOW WHAT I’M DOING THIS WEEKEND!”
Shut up, already. I hear you. We at Innovators Peak and the beautiful people at EveryBlock have received your calls, your emails, your carrier pigeons, and your telegrams (it’s “ironic”) and we get it, you want someone else to gather all the sweet weekend events and present them in an impeccably organized list for you to take a gander at.
Ignore those events pages on Facebook, people. This is the Denver Lowdown.
No, it’s not a reenactment of that awful, awful Twilight movie. This is a ritual of new beginnings in the midst of a new moon (you know, when you can’t see the moon). In collaboration with the Living Earth’s 1st Degree students and led by Mary Reeves and Robin Vinehall, join these fine spiritual folks and set your intention for this cycle. // 7 p.m., $5 suggested, The “NEW” Living Earth Center, 6000 E. Evans, Bldg 3, Unit 009.
While the summer sun has been pouring down in Denver, you may have noticed the painted hopscotch course dotting the streets over the last couple of weeks. Seven sites across the city of Denver, in various neighborhoods, were chosen by artist Agustina Woodgate as part of a public art installation in conjunction with the Biennial of the Americas. The hopscotch course served as a visible chain linking neighborhoods across the city and invited Denver residents to set aside their normal routine and hop to their destination. It’s summer after all, let’s play!
By Emily Przekwas - @eprekwa
For those who were not endowed with physical prowess, there exists an arena in which competition is fueled by intellect and science, rather than muscles and brawn. Competitive robotics. Yes, it’s a thing.
Popularized by the Comedy Central TV show Battle Bots, the battling robotics community has created a space for themselves among the competitive arts. Last month, Spark Fun opened its new 100,000 square foot facility and grounds to host an Autonomous Vehicle Competition at their location just north of Boulder.
The battling robotics field was started in the 1990s in San Francisco by a group of enthusiasts with connections to the visual effects industry in California. When the show was created and distributed by Comedy Central, it created an entire culture behind robotics, which, while present across the country, has found a strong base in Colorado. Now the robots will be competing on network TV in front of a primetime audience on ABC.
By Emily Przekwas - @eprzekwa
Garden-to-table restaurant, The Kitchen combines community seating with fresh, American cuisine in an eco-friendly setting to create a unique dining experience. The Kitchen’s mission statement, “Community Through Food” accurately illustrates the simplistic approach to the restaurant, as well as its charity counterpart, The Kitchen Community. Owners Hugo Matheson, who graduated from Leith’s School of Food and Wine in London, and Kimbal Musk have taken a hands on approach with this venture in an effort to alter the way our society views the foods we eat.
The goal: source locally grown ingredients to support local farmers, as well as ensure the food is as fresh and healthy as possible. Seems simple enough, right? This approach is actually quite innovative, and its yielding simpler menus and more distinct flavors in The Kitchen’s delicious meals.
Forbes’ 17th annual list of the Best Places for Business and Careers has granted the beautiful Denver, Colorado the number one spot for 2015. According to Forbes, Denver is becoming homes to more citizens and businesses thanks to a high-educated workforce, diverse economy, and an abundance of outdoor activities.
Since the Great Recession of the late 2000s, people are still trying to recover, but there has been quite a progress. The Gross National Product (market value of all products and services produced in one year) has reached an average of 2.2 percent over the course of five years. Now, companies are choosing Denver as a new home and between 2010 and 2014, 100,000 out-of-staters migrated to Denver to get in on the action.
Industries like aerospace, healthcare, telecommunications, energy, financial services and more have benefitted from Denver’s most educated workforce of the country. Lockheed Martin has more than 4,500 employers in the Denver area and had moved the $46 billion-in-sales aerospace and global security company headquarters to Denver.
In the first part of our BDW coverage, we focused on the history and the programmatic goals of this 50-week, accelerated graduate program that integrates design, technology, and entrepreneurial endeavors. As mentioned, the second half of each cohort’s time at BDW is primarily focused on building a startup from scratch.
We’ll focus the second part of this story on the teams and their company creations. Tonight, they will be holding a Demo Day (more information here) for industry professionals to listen to their pitches. The hope for many of the teams is that seed funding will bolster their projects post-BDW.
Team Members: Nick Clement, CEO; Danny Tran, Co-Founder; Jeremy Tinianow - Visual Design; Alia Munger - UI/UX; Catie Czajkowski - Product manager
Seekr is is attempting to bring mobile-side business to the off-the-beaten-path experience. Led by Nick Clement and Danny Tran, Seekr’s co-founders, their aim is to “connect adventurous travelers to independent guides and locals,” says Clement.
Building 3 is an inconspicuous brick structure on Valmont Road in Boulder. Formerly a fabrication depot for the lumberyard, it now headquarters a workshop of sorts in its sixth year of operation.
BDW, formerly known as Boulder Digital Works, is home to this space, a Colorado University-hosted, 50-week graduate program that trains students to develop marketable talents in the areas of design, research, engineering, and marketing.
“We wanted to create a program that was part of the university, but moved at the pace of industry,” says David Slayden, founder and executive director of BDW.
In 2009, Slayden intuited and analyzed correctly that the graduates leaving CU were lacking preparation for a digital workplace environment. Now, a middle-skills gap and lack of technically qualified candidates is the tech industry’s elephant in the room.
Slayden’s “anti-career,” which has spanned advertising, design, higher education, writing, and music—or what he calls “a series of projects”—clearly impacted this real-time, project-based pedagogy.
It takes a special person to be a stand-up comedian. Not only do you have to have passion, quick wit and a unique perspective on the world, you also need balls/ovaries of steel to make it through what will likely be years of cold rooms, bad jokes and bombing before the fruits of your labor will finally pay off.
But if you can make it through the heckles and boos, there is, I’m guessing, no better feeling than knowing you have the power to transform people’s perspectives on their ordinary lives into something entertaining and their struggles into something laughable. And the ego boost must be nice, too.
Right now, the Denver comedy scene is blazing with talent. Almost every night there are opportunities to see local and national comedians cutting their teeth at shows around Denver. The Deer Pile Wednesday nights, the Biergarten in Boulder Sunday nights, and 3 Kings Tavern on Thursdays run weekly, all put on by Sexpot Comedy. Monthly shows like Tickle Monster at the Bug Theatre, and the new Underground Stand Up Comedy Showcase at the Soiled Dove draw national talent as well. But for the grandest, most bedazzled spectacle of them all, there is nothing better than the annual High Plains Comedy Festival, which runs at various venues along South Broadway, and the Paramount Theatre from August 20 through 22.
Hey guys, you know what’s coming up soon? I’ll give you a hint: it’s about two and a half days, and occurs at the end of every week. There’s your big clue. The end of the week. Also known as…? No. Not Endweek. That’s absurd.
Yes! The weekend is nearly here! Feel free to let your schoolgirl screams and tears of joy flow now. You get one good cry in life, and you’ve chosen wisely.
So, without beating around the bush any longer, here’s what’s going down this weekend on the Denver Lowdown. Events brought to you by the lovely people at EveryBlock.
Ah, First Friday, where all the sexy art stuff comes together once a month to strut its stuff. This month’s Art Walk will take place in The Golden Triangle District, where you’ll wander galleries, check out the beautiful and the bizarre, and enjoy a few delicious libations to keep your spirits up (get it? eh?). What was once a cluster of single-family Victorians and bungalows, the Golden Triangle has turned into a happening mix of residential and commercial featuring some of Denver’s hippest spots. You’ll check out some highlights such as Native American Trading Company (1301 Bannock St), The Shops at 9th Avenue (899 Broadway), Walker Fine Art (300 W 11th Ave), Paper Clouds Studio (136 W 12th Ave), and many more. // 5:30, Free, The Living Room, 1055 Broadway.
There are few events that can bring together artists, engineers, scientists, musicians, teachers, inventors, craftspeople and kids together under one tent, but the Maker Movement has found a unifying thread for people across a variety of disciplines. Last month the Denver Museum of Nature and Science held the annual Mini Maker Faire, highlighting what we humans can do with our hands.