Innovators Peak
Month
With over 1.2 million apps to choose from on your iPhone (1.3 million for android users), it can be tough to find the best ones to fill up those 16 gigs (or 32GB you big spender). And even when you think you’ve found the perfect app, you find it only services select cities like New York, Austin, or San Francisco. Good news Colorado, your frustrating searches are over.
A great place to start is by checking out these 5 great apps made BY Coloradans, FOR Coloradans. You’re welcome in advance.
I hope everyone enjoyed their three day Memorial weekend, because we’re that much closer to the weekend. And you know what that means. Oh yes, it’s another edition of The Denver Lowdown! This weekend may only have two days (much to our chagrin), but that doesn’t mean we can’t rock out those entire two days, right?! … right?
Anyway, let’s check out what’s going down at the Lowdown:
Any event that uses the word “shenanigans” in its title is totally worth going to. This is a free happy hour open to anybody who is cool. In this relaxed, fun venue you’ll have the opportunity to network, meet new people, build relationships and, well, have some shenanigans. Come one, come all! // 5:30 p.m., free, Irish Hound, 575 Saint Paul St.
Right now there are 25 millennial thought leaders traveling across the country together on one train, all on different missions to come up with innovative ideas to change the world. We have a reporter on that train who is going to be filling us in on all of the best and most exciting things that happen along the way.
So far, we’ve gathered that there are a lot of great innovation brewing on the Millennial Trains Project. Here are five innovators to look out for:
Headmaster CEO of Qeyno Labs, Kalimah is a leader in harnessing the STEM interests of high potential youth from low-opportunity settings through their “Hackathon Academy.”
Kalimah’s Innovative Idea: Building schools of entrepreneurship, rapid prototype development, and design thinking that culminate as web or mobile apps built by youth and their mentors—aka the “Hackathon Academy.” Kalimah is looking to launch two new ones.
Where to follow: @priforce
A photo posted by Kalimah Priforce (@priforce) on May 27, 2015 at 9:52am PDT
Photo by Tess Polivka Photography.
Depending on how long you’ve been in Denver, you may have had the pleasure of witnessing the surreal transformation of the River North Art District over the past few decades. What was once an industrial wasteland of factory space disregarded by the city has blossomed into the hip RiNo district—one of Denver’s premiere, thriving neighborhoods full of innovation, art, creative businesses and more (all while maintaining the integrity and character of its history).
Key to all of this transformation was a reimagining of the community and world around it. This idea was largely in part the inspiration for the theme of the inaugural TEDxRiNo event that took place last month: Reimagine.
Photos courtesy Millennial Trains Project
Remember the award-winning Xfinity Innovation Think Tank at last year’s COIN Summit? Picture that but full of twenty-five millennials, traveling at 100 mph, and stopping at six cities between Los Angeles and Washington D.C. on the way.
That’s essentially what the Millenial Trains Project is. This week, the train is headed on a ten day cross-country trip to facilitate ideas of community building and social impact in LA, Austin, San Antonio, New Orleans, Atlanta, and DC. The goal of the non-profit is to introduce young innovators, change-makers, entrepreneurs, visionaries, and thought leaders to each other and into new American frontiers.
The Project’s website states that “we use trains to explore opportunities and challenges across America. We come from all walks of life. We are friends. We are problem solvers. We travel because we love learning. Together, we have fun and do our best to create things that benefit, serve, and inspire others.”
We’re inspired—and we’re also on the train. That’s right. Innovators Peak has left the station and will be following this innovation-express from coast to coast and keeping you updated with the hottest topics along the way.
In a digital age where everything can easily be found with the click of a button, this type of face to face human interaction and collaborative exploration is somewhat unprecedented for millennials. This is why we are extremely excited to be bring these developments back home to Colorado.
Stay tuned for more soon!
By Joseph Afton
About a year ago, Greg Casals and Allie Thielens didn’t have their own company, but they did have a mutual vision: clothing that looks good but is also super functional and made of high performance, technical fabrics.
By October of 2014, this vision had already materialized into the launch of NINOX’s first collection—4 jackets that use technical performance fabrics in a more sophisticated way. They have since released a few more pieces including hoodies, pants, and shirts while hoping to further the expansion of this collection in the near future.
While this is all very impressive, it’s a type of ambition that Casals would say isn’t all that unique in Boulder.
“When you’re starting a company from the ground up, working a ton of hours, and doing everything you can to get noticed, it is great inspiration to look around at the many companies in Boulder that also started with just an idea.”
Not just tech ideas either—and that is something that Casals and his business partner Thielens think deserves to be highlighted.
Good morning, good people of Denver! It’s another edition of The Denver Lowdown, where we celebrate all the upcoming weekend events and clue you in on what’s going down. This weekend is particularly awesome because it’s Memorial weekend, a three-day (or four if you’re lucky) tribute to our fallen service men and women filled with barbecues, American flags, and long evenings with friends and family.
There’s a lot to do this Memorial weekend for everyone from fishing fans to art lovers. So, let’s check out what you’re doing this weekend.
If you’re a fly fishing fan (and I’m sure you are), Denver’s Orvis retail store is offering free fly fishing lessons all through June most Saturday and Sunday mornings from 9am-12pm. If you’re looking for a family activity that may or may not end in dinner, these free lessons are totally for you. Classes are complimentary to the public, but RSVPs are necessary. I mean, you can’t just roll up without letting them know, that’s impolite. You can register online or call Orvis for specific class times and anything else you might like to know. (photo)
Fundraising has always been an innovative practice. The most out-of-the-box ideas are always the most likely to raise funds. This goes all the way back to childhood. Nowadays, kids selling lemonade on a hot summer’s day basically seem like a dime a dozen. But when I was a kid, it wasn’t as common.
A lemonade stand was a technical yet overlooked violation of the law, but at the same time an effective way of raising money by supplying the thirsty masses with what they wanted. This type of innovative and original idea just goes to show that the things we’re most interested in have always been most likely to see our donations. It’s all about coming up with new ideas to engage interest.
That’s why this Thursday’s Red Nose Day, hosted by NBC, is going to be such an incredible fundraiser. Think of it as a modern day telethon.
Inspirational quotes are written on rocks in the “Stone Soup” pot at the Commons on Champa.
A planter pot full of big rocks sits between two cushiony seats at 1245 Champa Street, inspired by the children’s story, “Stone Soup.”
Words written on each rock represent a contribution to the Commons on Champa, a new space intended to support and nurture Denver’s entrepreneurs.
“This project has truly been a community effort,” says Erik Mitisek, CEO of the Colorado Technology Association. “Ryan Heckman [of the Quarterly Forum and Colorado Impact Fund] equated the Commons on Champa with stone soup. You start with a pot of water, and each partner drops in their piece.”
This is all about the amateur art of pick up sports, so you hardcore, shove or be shoved, uber-competitive types out there, take your mad skills to another field or court. The idea is for newbies to the area and you athletically or non-athletically inclined to find a sport out there and more importantly to meet new neighbors and friends in the process. Fortunately, options abound in our fair city to link up and shoot, throw, catch, run, etc.
Denver Highlanders: Rugby seems like an odd intro, and that’s the point. This is a men’s only league, but welcomes all kinds to practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 - 8 p.m. They meet in Jacobs Park in Cherry Creek. Be sure to brush up on your rugby terms, mostly for your own macabre interest: “blood bin,” “group of death,” “maul,” and “scrub” stood out.
Oh, boy! It’s happening! Get ready! Here it comes! THE WEEKEND! And you know what that means, right? Yessir, it’s another edition of The Denver Lowdown, where we sum up all the jazzy, outdoorsy, and artsy goings on of Denver’s hot community. This weekend we’ve got a lot for you, well … five things at least. Five awesome things.
I know, you can barely contain your excitement, I’ll hurry up and tell you what’s going down on the Lowdown.
The Art Gallery at the Denver Performing Arts Complex (or DPAC if you’re into the whole brevity thing) presents “Grounded in Flight,” a trip that begins with a look at modern day relics and takes you all the way to other side of the moon. The showcase features Daniel House Kelly, Chris Tidd, G. Cody Day, and Richard Hart. So check out the opening reception (show lasts through June 27th) with live music, an Art Bar, and Backstage Coffee hors d’oeuvres to whet the appetite. (photo)
Today is the day!
This will come as no surprise if you regularly read Innovators Peak, but today marks the grand opening of The Commons on Champa (The Commons), a new public campus designed to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in Denver.
Wonderbound dance company has been dazzling the Denver community with their unique and fun dance performances since 2007 with Artistic Director Garrett Ammon at the helm. The imaginative dance troupe teamed up with local band Chimney Choir to create a performance based on the unique experience of living in Denver during the so called “boom” we all have been experiencing. True to form, the performance was a graceful and creative homage to our booming city, and the live music from Chiminey Choir set the stage perfectly with their folksy western accompaniment, giving the performance a contemporary edge.
The performance starts out in an apartment in what appears to be an uninspired city away from the hustle and bustle of city living, where our main character, played by Dylan G-Bowley, appears to be bored with his hum-drum life. Daily rituals such as pacing aimlessly around an apartment and tuning into the television only to see a barrage of advertisements and programs aimed as selling something made the opening sequence a contemporary muse on the banalities of modern living. A rubber duck became the emblem of status, progress, and money throughout the show.
Are you still holding on to that futon your college roommate gave you? Is your ex’s bike still sitting in the garage? Maybe weeds are popping up in your not-so-manicured yard or a sprinkling of butts, bottles, and wrappers have accumulated in your alleyway?
Photo courtesy Dani Shae Thompson
Never fear, the Great Denver Cleanup is almost here!
On Saturday, May 9th, from 9 am to 2 pm, free drop off points all around the city will be set up so that you can finally ditch that old, grody piece of furniture, donate that useless bike, and have a place to toss your weeds before all this rain turns them into monsters.
If you have ever been to a fashion event in Denver, chances are you have bumped elbows with Brandi Shigley, of Fashion Denver. The bubbly and enthusiastic fashionista is Denver’s unofficial mascot for the fashion community, promoting and emceeing a plethora of events every season and promoting the fashion community from her World Headquarters in the Golden Triangle. She hosts workshops entitled “Love What You Do, Do What You Love,” and its clear from her positive aura that there is truly no one in Denver more qualified to speak on making a career out of following a passion.
Her story is an interesting one. Abandoned at an orphanage in the Philippines by her birth parents, she came to Denver at 16 months, and was adopted by a couple in Denver. Her father was a tower crane operator who worked on Republic Plaza and her mother worked at a bank. Shigley attended Smokey Hill High School and started making and selling handbags at a young age, when she says, “the internet was just getting started.” Soon her designs were being sold around the globe, and she was getting press attention from all over.
Another fantastic weekend is here, and this is a special one. No, not just because of Mother’s Day. But because it’s time for another edition of the Denver Lowdown, where we sum up all the sweet goings on of the community to keep you from being a boring little curmudgeon. You’re welcome.
So, what’s going down this weekend?
For those who are closely following the Supreme Court’s proceedings on the legality of gay marriage, check out this play Friday night at 7:30pm through June 21st, UNMarried in America. Inspired by Prop 8, the play is the story of a court reporter who transcribes the infamous proposition of 2010 and takes her work home with her, where raw emotions, charging opinions, and deeply held convictions drive the people of her life into conflicts that prove difficult to judge. Meet the playwright, K.D. Carlson, on opening night! Tickets are $14. (photo)
“Welcome to BitsBox World Headquarters,” says Scott Lininger wryly. The small, shared office located within the tech dream space of Galvanize on Pearl St. in Boulder utilizes natural light at this morning hour. A few desks on their side of the room clog up the middle whereas Lininger and his co-founder Aidan Chopra share a window facing desk on the far side of the room. The rather quiet scene contrasts to the bright lights and openness of the long, white co-working desks that reside outside the office and in the core of Galvanize. The sleepy feel at BitsBox HQ is an elusive comfort, because Lininger’s team of four (including himself) are running on all cylinders due to their trending, educational toy. Yes, toy. Yes, educational.
Kegs with Legs. It’s a catchy name for an event that’s catching our attention.
Put in simplest terms, it’s a monthly happy hour event that promotes networking among creative professionals in the Denver/Boulder area.
A little get-together for creative professionals … okay, so what else is new?
Well, as it turns out, putting Kegs with Legs into simple terms pretty much removes all the imagination and ridiculousness that makes this event so unique and so popular.
With themes like “Paddle Battle,” “Carnival on Colfax,” and “Beer, Ball, and Beef,” Kegs with Legs promises to be the least lame networking event you have ever been to.
(Property of Disney/Lucas Arts)
Happy May the Fourth Be With You, Everybody!
We’ve all seen the new Star Wars trailer (right?) and we were all left in awe (…right?). We saw glimpses of all our old favorite characters (how good does Chewie’s fur look? What product is he using?), along with so many new things: a new cast, new effects, and a new buddy for R2-D2 and C-3PO, the adorable BB-8.
Let’s chat about this little guy, BB-8. He’s the little droid with an R2 head, what appears to be a soccer ball for a body, and boops and beeps around a la R2-D2. He’s even got his own cute little emoji that rolls around whenever you use the hashtag #BB8.
I know what you’re thinking, “omg, that’s the cutest little thing I’ve ever seen, I wish it were a toy. Omg can that be a toy? Omg, if that’s a toy, I want to know where I can get one, right now.” Simmer down, because it is a toy, and you’ll soon have your very own adorable little BB-8 thanks to a Boulder-based robotics company.
