The latest Star Wars movie is out. I cannot believe that I was 17 years old when the original Star Wars movie (Episode IV) was first released in 1977. A droid is a fictional robot possessing some degree of artificial intelligence. The word "droid" has been a registered trademark of Lucasfilm Ltd. since 1977.
There were many droids working the crowds last night in Bryant Park.
In 2001, Bryant Park Corporation envisioned offering free Internet access in the park, but was not sure how to build such a network. In the summer of 2002, the Bryant Park Free Wireless Network launched with three access points covering the park and allowing users to access the Internet as long as their batteries will allow.
Since that time, the network has upgraded with 12 new access points, making Bryant Park one of the busiest hot spots in the world.
From potter's field to reservoir to one of the world's busiest public spaces, Bryant Park has a rich and storied history. Security issues aside, I have logged into the Bryant Park Free Wireless Network a few times in the past year. And because of this, "the droids" knew I was in the park last night.
As soon as I entered the park, my smartphone knew that I was back. I received an email, with a coupon for free Hot Chocolate.
And so it begins.
There were over 175 boutiques offering exquisite gifts, distinctive apparel, and local foods. What I found amazing is that collecting people's data (names, emails, etc.) was just as important as making a sale - maybe more important. iPad powered kiosks would make the sale - and free shipping made it unnecessary to carry packages in the park. The "pop up" kiosks would make the sale, without the need to carry inventory. I think this is the future of retail. No inventory, experience the product, and then everything is shipped to the home or office.
I did a test. I bought some New York Hot Sauce paying cash, with a 20% instant coupon for signing up for their email newsletter. I used the fake (but working) email Bryant.Parker@NYDLA.net just to see what would happen. Well, it looks like as of this morning, Time Magazine would like to offer Mr. Bryant Parker a free subscription. And it looks like Bank of America would really like to meet Mr. Bryant Parker. And many others seem to be very keen to connect and engage with Mr. Bryant Parker, who has a true DOB of 12/28/19.
Also, the physical address of the email from the TIME newsletter: TIME USA, LLC: 3 Bryant Park New York 10036
Coincidence? Well, Mr. Bryant Parker actually liked getting this email, as it contained TIME's Best Photojournalism of 2019.
I am fine with getting this form of marketing solicitation, since I did give my permission to contact me as soon as I logged into the park's free WiFi this past summer. But it will be very interesting to see who next wants to meet Mr. Bryant Parker.
I am a big fan of the Bryant Park Corporation (BPC) which is a not-for-profit, private management company. It is a popular, year-round New York City destination with lush seasonal gardens and a multitude of free activities. Around 12 million people frequent Bryant Park each year - and they (like me) log into the Bryant Park free WiFi.
And this is why Mr. Bryant Parker can now expect marketing emails from Netflix, Bank of America, The New York Times, Lululemon, Southwest Airlines, Citibank, HBO, Old Navy, Evian, Clearchannel, the Wall Street Journal, and many more. These brands comprise Bryant Park's Premier Partnership program, and are recognized as the park's most valued corporate partners.
Like I said, I'm cool with this deal. Keep the park clean and safe for ALL 12 million of us all year long, and your droids can market to me (us).
Do you know what this is? A better question to ask would be have you ever USED one of these?
This past week, members of NYDLA gathered to attend the AI Summit in NYC. If you Google "What is Artificial Intelligence" you will get a good idea of how AI is transforming the world. Manufacturing, retailing, transportation, finance, healthcare, law, insurance, education - pretty much every industry.
So many NYDLA vendors and sponsors had amazing booths at the AI Summit at Javits Center. Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, Google, Accenture. IBM Watson was giving out T-Shirts which at first glance made me pause (be it only for a second) as my OK Boomer brain saw "iHeart a Rotary Telephone"
Everything we love about civilization is a product of intelligence.
So, amplifying our human intelligence with artificial intelligence has the potential of helping civilization flourish like never before. Or will AI lead to the end of civilization?
If you Google "telephone" you will see images like this:
But if you Google just "phone" you will see images like this:
As I spent two days at the AI Summit, I could not believe what I was seeing and hearing. It hit me pretty quickly that what's happening in the world of AI is not just an important topic, but by far THE most important topic for our future.
Moore's Law is a historically-reliable rule that the world's maximum computing power doubles approximately every two years, meaning computer hardware advancement, like general human advancement through history, grows exponentially.
So, the world's $1000 computers today are smarter than a mouse brain, which is about a thousandth of human level. But we were at about a trillionth of human level in 1985, a billionth in 1995 and a millionth in 2005. So based on Moore's Law, we shall have an affordable computer by 2025 that rivals the power of the human brain. That's five years from now.
Let's talk about something different - but not different at all.
A few days before the AI Summit, I received an advance reading copy (galley) of Rohit Bhargava's new book. For the past ten years, his signature annual Non-Obvious Trend Report has helped over a million readers discover more than 100 trends changing our culture. Rohit and his team of trend curators take an expansive look at the research to reveal "Megatrends" that are transforming how we work, play and live.
And the mission of "NYED-LA" is living, learning, working, playing - in the clouds. Rohit Bhargava has agreed to do a video podcast with me - which shall reach millions of people around the world via the Workplace by Facebook platform.
NYDLA.net (dot net) is powered by Workplace, which empowers us to engage with millions of members in every time zone. Just a few years ago, this would have been impossible. Today, it is not only easy to reach a global audience - it is expected.
If you had a "time machine" you could transport someone from 100 years ago, show them today's technology and it would possibly kill them with sensory overload. But that person from 100 years ago, would have to travel back 1000 years, to have the same effect. And a person from 1,000 years ago, would have to go back 10,000 years to have the same "mind blowing" impact on a time traveler, can you see that?
This pattern - human progress moving quicker and quicker as time goes on - is what futurist Ray Kurzweil calls human history's Law of Accelerating Returns.
AI Summit NYC - 5,000+ Attending Live
There is a cool video on Amazon and Netflix right now, about the 1964 New York World's Fair (I went, I was four). Or, you can watch clips on YouTube for free. Some of these visions of the future came true - others not so much. But the Law of Accelerating Returns seems to be on full display.
The kind of superintelligence we're talking about today is something beyond normal imagination. We are living in an intelligence explosion - where the smarter a machine gets, the quicker it's able to increase its own intelligence, until it begins to soar upwards, getting exponentially smarter.
In my lifetime, certainly in my children's lifetime, we shall be facing the reality of coexisting on the Earth with something (a machine) that is as intelligent as your Uncle Harry (or maybe a million times smarter) than your Uncle Harry.
And definitely smarter than the average 17 year old, right?
As of this post, the E.T. and Elliot Holiday Reunion Short has been watched 10M+ times on YouTube. This number is certain to go up over the rest of the month. My prediction, it will hit 100M+ views before January.
Released on June 11, 1982, E.T. was an immediate blockbuster, surpassing Star Wars to become the highest-grossing film of all time - a record it held for eleven years until Jurassic Park, another Spielberg film surpassed it in 1993.
The Comcast Xfinity commercial (short film) is a great example of the emotions of sales. How feelings drive purchases. How the way that we "feel about the deal" is at the core of every transaction, consumer or commercial.
So, did you shop on Black Friday? Trying to avoid making a purchase on Black Friday is like trying to NOT EAT pie the day after Thanksgiving.
What about Small Business Saturday? The goal of Small Business Saturday is to remind consumers that they play a key role in helping the small business community to thrive, and it encourages people to get out and shop and dine locally.
And tomorrow is Cyber Monday, setting the stage for an Amazon / Walmart / Best Buy / Costco / Target attempt to break the Internet.
Beyond the holiday giving spirit, there are deeper psychological reasons for spending massively.
Everyone loves a deal. When we buy something at a price that's lower than what you are willing to pay, or lower than the expected price - this is very satisfying. Even when we don't need what is on sale, the value of the deal itself triggers dopamine in our brains. In reality, sales happen all year long and prices fluctuate.
FOMO or "fear of missing out" drives people to purchase things they otherwise would not purchase. Consumers tend to give in and make a spontaneous purchase because it feels like a gamble to try to find a better deal elsewhere.
And then there is something called Shopping Momentum. Once you buy one thing, there is a psychological impulse to purchase a second, unrelated product. So, shopping creates more shopping. This is why door-buster deals can have loss leader items to bait you to making a first purchase. ANY purchase will do. You might shop and buy a smart TV at an amazing price, but once you make THAT purchase you then buy other items that are not deeply discounted.
So back to E.T.'s return journey to Earth for the holiday season. It focuses on the importance of bringing the family together. Henry Thomas reprises his role as Elliot, now a father, reuniting with the alien. Cute little E.T. has hacked into your brain's happy chemicals: dopamine, serotonin, endorphins and oxytocin.
Understanding a prospective client's buying motives are much more powerful than possessing selling skills or deploying sales tricks and techniques. People buy things for emotional reasons, and then they will use logic to justify and defend their purchases.
OK, class is in session. Watch the video below, and then focus on how you feel. If you are already an Xfinity customer, you are going feel BETTER about yourself. You might not leave Xfinity if you were thinking about switching to a competitor. If you are on the fence, you might become a NEW Xfinity customer, based on your positive emotions.
But simply watching this video will get you into the holiday spirit, and it will help you to justify any and all of your 2019 holiday purchases.
First of all, flammable and inflammable do not mean the same thing. If your pants are flammable, it means they can be set to fire, such as a piece of wood. However, inflammable means that your pants are capable of bursting into flames without the need for any ignition. The opposite of both words is non-flammable.
Is it ever OK to lie? What about when under oath? What about during wartime?
Most people would say that lying is bad. I remember studying Immanuel Kant while at PURDUE and it was thought that lying is always ALWAYS unacceptable and wrong. Like you should never, ever lie. Period.
So how about:
You lie to your wife or husband, to get them to a location where there shall be a surprise birthday party waiting for them.
A young child was in a terrible accident. Their parents have been killed in the crash, but the child is unaware of this. The child is barely conscious, as they ask about their parents. The attending physician says they are OK - but the physician intends to tell the child the truth once they are stronger and more stable.
A woman's husband drowned in a car accident when the car plunged off a bridge. It was clear from the physical evidence that the husband desperately tried to get out of the car, and died a terrible death. At the hospital, the wife asks the attending physician what kind of death her husband suffered. The physician says: he died immediately from the impact, he did not suffer.
I am negotiating for a new car. The salesperson asks me what is the maximum I am prepared to pay for the new car. I say $30,000 when I would really pay $35,000.
A woman interviewing for a job she desperately needs is asked if she intends to have children. She knows that such a question is none of their business, and possibly illegal to ask, she lies and says that she does not intend to have a family.
Rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust, lying to an SS officer.
I could make a longer list. And I am sure that really smart people can give compelling reasons why even with really good reasons - it is never, ever OK to lie.
Liar Liar is a 1997 comedy film with Jim Carrey who plays a crooked lawyer Fletcher Reede. Through the magic of the movie, Fletcher realizes that he cannot lie - he can ONLY speak the truth at all times, no matter what. Think about a lawyer unable to ask questions if confident of a false response. The movie is funny because the premise of an attorney who CANNOT LIE is so absurd.
Anyone watch the impeachment hearings this week?
Perjury, the crime of not "telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth" is a serious offense because it can derail the basic goal of the justice system - the goal of discovering the truth. Is a lie by omission still a lie? Paltering, or using truth as misdirection is considered to be just as ethically rotten as telling a bald-faced lie.
Science is based on truth. Medicine is based on truth. Our entire society is based on identifying and defending - the truth. STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Math stops working, if we do not defend the truth.
The video below is going viral on the Internet this week. It is worth watching - try to fit it into your Thanksgiving break. I am not a huge fan of Sacha Baron Cohen the actor, comedian, screenwriter, director and film producer. But I think I would like to shake his hand and buy him a beer.
As we enter Thanksgiving Week here in the USA, I think we should be truly thankful that we are even allowed to watch this video without living in fear of retribution. I still believe with all my heart that the USA is the greatest country in the world.
But I also believe that we are still a work in progress. We can do better, and we shall do better. We get the leadership we vote for so VOTE! And, we also vote with "our money" when at the store, or online.
Sacha Baron Cohen accepted the International Leadership Award
at the Anti-Defamation League’s Never is Now Summit.
An autonomous person makes their own decisions rather than being influenced by someone else. Autonomous individuals are those who follow their own course of action relatively unimpeded by others.
It's hard to believe but around 200 years ago, everything was made by hand. The Flying Shuttle doubled the output a weaver could make, thereby allowing the workforce to be halved. The Spinning Jenny increased wool mills productivity and was considered to be groundbreaking. It was the main driver for the development of the modern factory system.
The Watt Steam Engine, The Cotton Gin, Telegraph, Portland Cement and the invention of concrete. I guess the list of life-changing inventions of the industrial revoltion is a long one.
Knightscope is an advanced security technology company based in Silicon Valley. They build fully autonomous security robots that deter, detect and report.
From their website, their long-term ambition is to make the United States the safest country in the world.
Today, Knightscope has four different robot models. Clients are charged $7 per hour for each machine they use - a price designed to compete with the minimum wage in various states. The robots operate on a 24/7 basis, usually with a minimum of two robots per location.
Science, technology, engineering and mathematics workers play a key role in the sustained growth and stability of the U.S. economy, and are a critical component to helping the U.S. win the future. STEM education creates critical thinkers, increases literacy, and enables the next generation of innovators.
STEM jobs pay very well. The median earning for all non-STEM jobs in the country is $19.30/hour. The average median hourly wage for STEM jobs? $38.85. Some quick math says STEM jobs pay $19.55 more than all others. And that's way better than minimum wage.
STEM jobs are also abundant and growing. The thing about STEM is that it never sleeps. It won't reach a point and just stop being important. It won't stop evolving. The umbrella under which all of these STEM jobs falls keeps expanding. AI and Machine Learning. Cybersecurity. These were "things" back in 2013, but they are much (much) bigger now.
Parents, it's never too early to introduce STEM to your child.
200 years seems like a blink of the eye. Antibiotics, Video Games, Television, Airplanes, Cell Phones, Penicillin, Refrigerators, Satellites, Air Conditioning. In less than 200 years we as a nation went from "everything made by hand" to watching the Mars rover live on your smartphone.
I'll be recording an NYDLA Video Podcast with William Santana Li this Friday. According to their website, they are hiring.
Of course they are. They are hiring STEM workers.
NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover Explores Teal Ridge (360 View)
Ever do the "Electric Slide" at a wedding? More on that later.
Slido is a technology company that enhances communication and increases interaction at events and meetings. Live or virtually.
Slido (the product) is an audience interaction platform for meetings and events. It allows meeting and event organizers to crowdsource top questions to drive meaningful conversations, engage participants with live polls and capture valuable event data.
Since 2012, Slido has helped to transform over 320,000 events across more than 130 countries by engaging millions of participants.
This past week, NYDLA attended an event (live) in NYC with the Slido team and their client Spotify. We learned about how Spotify handles internal communication across multiple global offices. We learned about meeting design techniques, and how to organize and facilitate effective all-hands meetings that have a positive impact on company culture and growth. Just some of the "tips and tricks" that we covered during our live Slido event:
Crowdsource and discuss your team's highlights
Celebrate your silent heroes
Acknowledge personal triumphs
Review seasonal numbers in a quiz
Share your customer success stories
Don't forget to have fun!
Make sure your AV setup is flawless
Appoint a moderator for the online audience
Include remote presenters
Give a warm welcome and re-engage
Have a remote champion for the Q&A
Share the meeting recordings
Dedicate 25% of the time to Q&A
Start collecting questions in advance
Consider allowing anonymous questions
Review the questions and prepare outputs
Have a moderator lead the conversation
Rehearse before your Q&A
Manage expectations
Crowdsource the questions live
Acknowledge the tough questions
Take questions from the floor
Address any outstanding questions in writing
Start "Ask Me Anything" with the CEO
Ask for feedback directly during the meeting
Like everything in the world, meetings and events need to evolve.
What will meetings and events (live or virtual) look like in the future? At NYDLA.org we believe that meetings and events will be interactive, collaborative, inclusive and transparent. Most of all meetings and events need to be experiences that people look forward to!
Whether your company (or your team, or your school, or your class, or....) is made up of 10 or 10,000+ people, you need to give people a voice. With the mantra "employees are the company's first customers," an all-hands meeting is a space where people have the chance to express themselves and have direct, face-to-face conversation with their leaders. To be able to do that, an all-hands meeting has to provide them with enough opportunities for engagement and personal interaction.
With teams often distributed across different locations and time zones, all-hands meetings are one-of-a-kind opportunities to engage remote colleagues and help them to feel a part of the team. At NYDLA, we know how easy it is for online participants to tune out or feel excluded unless they are compelled to pay attention and contribute.
Using tools like Slido and via using proven techniques perfected by industry experts, you can engage your remote colleagues, make it easier for them to participate, let them be heard and get the most out of each all-hands meeting.
Now back to the Electric Slide: The dance is a four wall dance set to the hit song "Electric Boogie" which hit the USA in 1976. Today, you cannot attend a wedding, bat mitzvah, school dance or just about anyplace people gather who want to dance and have a good time - without the Electric Slide making an appearance.
It's easy to learn, it's easy to do, and it's fun.
The fifth annual Fast Company Innovation Festival is November 4-8 at various locations throughout New York City. It features newsmakers in business, the arts, and social impact for a week of panel discussions, immersive workshops, purposeful networking, and interactive field trips led by curated Fast Company journalists. The NYDLA global community is invited to attend, at special members-only pricing. The theme of this year's festival, "A Connected World," seeks to highlight the technological advancements that are accelerating the connections among people, places, and things while also shining a spotlight on the importance of forging strong human and cultural connections. NYDLA: Distance Learning > DIGITAL Learning > DIGITAL LIVING. OK, yeah, I get it. Living, learning, working, playing on a global basis, via technology. Yes, this festival is a fit for NYED-LA. A FESTIVAL is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect of that community (intellectual, creative, technology, science, etc.). Festival? Sounds like there will be food - sign me up!
INNOVATION is a cool word, right? How do you not love and support innovation? In business, the process of translating an idea or invention into a good or service that creates value would be innovation. Sometimes new products and services can be ground-breaking and revolutionary, resulting from major new technologies such as 3D printing or nanotechnology. Sometimes innovation shows up in small, simple or "why did I not think of that" or "Hey, that was my idea!" moments like turning a ketchup squeeze bottle upside down as improved packaging. In today's world, consumers are always looking for what's new, what's best, fastest, more convenient, more fashionable. Business today cannot sit still for if you do not successfully innovate you will be passed by. Global competitors and start-ups can easily leapfrog industry incumbents. Today, complacency is not a option. We live in a globally connected marketplace. We are now all competing in an ever increasingly educated and talented world with lower labor costs - successful start-ups can pop up anywhere. Yes, Innovation is a very cool and powerful word. But so is Exnovation.
Exnovation is the process of eliminating the unsustainable, irrelevant or unsuitable to constantly improve and renew the innovation process. Exnovation is the process of removal of innovations that are not effective in improving organizational performance, are too disruptive to routine operations, or do not fit well with the existing organizational strategy, incentives, structure and/or culture. John Kimberly first coined the term exnovation in 1981 to describe the removal of process at the tail end of the innovation cycle. Herb Kelleher, the founder of Southwest Airlines, was a maverick and innovator in every sense of the word. He started his innovative, cost-cutting airline when flights were expensive and few people could afford them. Herb was known for his inspirational quotes: "We have a strategic plan - it's called doing things." "Your people come first, and if you treat them right, they'll treat the customers right." "I tell my employees that we're in the service business, and it's incidental that we fly airplanes." Yes, Herb Keller was a great innovator, but he was ALSO a great exnovator. "Today, there is one best way to land a plane. And that BEST WAY is how we are going to do it, every time, all the time. If we ever find a BETTER way to land a plane, then we shall do it THAT way."
There is an underlying assumption that innovation is good, so then MORE innovation must be better. But the true masters, the Herb Kellers, the Walt Disneys and the Steve Jobs of the world - they were masters of both INNOVATION and EXNOVATION. You need both. Innovation creates the magic. Exnovation is what makes the magic last. As in the case of folks like Steve Jobs, Herb Keller, Walt Disney and many others, their legacy - the magic of their innovation lasts long after they have left us. Come join us at the Fast Company Innovation (and Exnovation) Festival in NYC this November.
Hark! The Winter Village in Bryant Park will be open for the holiday season this year before you can say "trick or treat."
I was in the park this past week, watching them assemble the magical winter wonderland. There shall be free ice-skating on the 17,000+ square foot outdoor rink. There shall be 180+ holiday shops, including a bunch of new kiosks and eateries for your shopping pleasure. I actually sat down for almost an hour and watched as they were assembling the Winter Village like one big Lego project.
If it feels wrong or weird to be talking about Christmas and the holidays before you have even made a dent in your Halloween candy, I'm with you.
Bryant Park is a 9.603-acre privately managed public park located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located between Fifth Avenue and the Avenue of the Americas and between 40th and 42nd Streets in Midtown Manhattan.
I love Bryant Park. I love it all year long.
But the Winter Village is really something special. Countless stores ranging from home decorations, artwork, jewelry and amazing food. If you are looking for a unique place to have dinner in NYC, this is a great choice. The Winter Village in Bryant Park is not only the largest Christmas market in the city, but also by far the nicest. And it is so easy to get to from anywhere - it's just a few blocks away from Port Authority Bus Terminal, or Grand Central or Penn Station.
But - opening the Bryant Park Winter Village before Halloween? Seriously?
Last year the Winter Village was open from October until March 4th. That is over 1/3rd of the year. Is it just me, or does it seem that every year they push it just a little harder, open just a little sooner, and close just a little later?
We used to joke about Thanksgiving and Christmas - how you really should not be "pushing the holidays" ie: SHOPPING before we have our amazing turkey dinner and tryptophan induced food coma.
But now - Christmas...before Halloween?
My personal opinion: this is the Amazon Effect in The Big Apple.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Bryant Park Winter Village and I will tell everyone I know to check it out.
NYDLA.org will have its Christmas Party there this year, just like we always do. But our Christmas Holiday party will be in DECEMBER, as close to December 25th as possible.
My point is this: you cannot keep opening earlier and earlier in the year, to offset the Amazon effect. Seth says it very well: you cannot beat Amazon. You cannot figure out how to be as cheap as Amazon...you can't. But as a small business owner you CAN figure out how to do what Amazon cannot do.
People who will shop at the Winter Village want the hands-on service, they want to try things on, they want the chance to chat. They want the experience. The experience you cannot get online.
Trying to manipulate the calendar to compete against Amazon is not the way to do it. That's a race to the bottom. Or maybe it's like a ride on a carousel - you are moving but you are not really getting anywhere.
Yesterday, the Capone clan went bowling in Boonton New Jersey. My two sons, and my new daughter-in-law (hence the Tinkerbell). It was fun to think about all the bowling birthday parties we had at Boonton Lanes over the years. There was a young family next to us, using the "bumpers" to block off the gutter balls. Yeah, the memories were flowing. And then on the scoring screen we noticed something: the software on the Brunswick automated scoring system was from 1994. Almost 25 years, and they are still running the same software. It’s almost impossible to trace the rise of bowling without documenting the rise of the Brunswick company.
From the beginning, Bowling and Brunswick have shared the same path. Founder John Moses Brunswick played an integral part in the birth of the game by building a company dedicated to taking games like billiards and bowling out of fancy parlors and into the public arena. Moses Bensinger (married to Eleanora Brunswick, daughter of John Moses Brunswick) had a vision for the modern game of bowling. He standardized rules for the game and organized the first American Bowling Congress in 1895, which held the first significant bowling tournament in 1902. The ABC became a prominent fixture in competitive, professional bowling, and is responsible for developing the professional game and global appeal of the sport as it is known today.
Again, we noticed that the Brunswick software running the automatic scoring system was from 1994. I almost did not write a blog today, because I really had nothing to write about.
My son Tommy said: why not blog about the software being from way back in 1994! You can say "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" as the topic. So here's my Sunday blog. I would have felt like a Turkey if I did not blog today, but I was split over this. It's not my best blog, so I don't expect you to be bowled over - it's not in a league of it's own. No need to frame it, but you can pin this to your browers and share it.
A propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil shaped blades, and a fluid (such as air or water) is accelerated by the pressure difference. Propeller dynamics, like those of aircraft wings can be modelled by Bernoulli's principle and Newton's third law.
Earlier this year, the New Jersey Tech Council, the state's largest technology trade organization, appointed Aaron Price as its new CEO - and also acquired Propelify - one of the largest communities of entrepreneurs and innovators and the producer of the Propelify Innovation Festival.
Aaron Price started Propelify with the inaugural Innovation Festival in 2016 and a mission to "inspire the tech and innovation community and those who take action - who propel." Since its launch the Festival has grown into one of the world's largest tech events, with 8,000+ entrepreneurs, influencers and policy makers.
Propelify was inspired by Aaron's other focus, the award winning NJ Tech Meetup, the state's largest entrepreneurial community with over 7,000 members. Aaron has served as the tech community expert for NJ Governor Phil Murphy, The White House (Obama Administration), the NJ Economic Development Authority, Fast Company, Entrepreneur Magazine, and the Wall Street Journal.
The New Jersey Tech Council (www.njtc.org) provides business development, education, networking and advocacy for the region's technology businesses. By collectively representing tech, life science and tech-related companies and organizations the Tech Council has the unique ability to offer opportunities to learn, network and grow - to nurture the tech and STEM talent pipeline critical to growth and to provide access to financing sources.
So NJTC aquired Propelify, and the NJTC gets Aaron Price as their new CEO in the process. Brilliant.
Now let's make it even better.
NYDLA.org members attend Propelify for free ($99 savings) and go home with $1000+ in "swag" from our vendors and sponsors. Just fill our the form on NYDLA.org and you're all set.
NYDLA and NJTC have similar missions - to support tech, innovation, and entrepreneurial ecosystems across the state and region. I really don't know who invented the propeller. It might have been Archimedes. Maybe it was Leonardo da Vinci. Could have been the Egyptians. But we DO know who invented Propelify.
In business, there are many factors to consider when contemplating your next move. Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg once received advice from Eric Schmidt in 2001, when he was Google's CEO: "If you are offered a seat on a rocket ship, you don't ask what seat. You just get on."
Was your week eventful? Thursday the NYDLA attended an event in NYC with our friends at Intrado. I had the privilege of presenting to the room - while streaming LIVE to the world. It struck me that just a few years ago, you would have to be a Fortune company to communicate and collaborate with the world. Today, via technologies powered by Intrado and others, we sometimes take global collaboration and real-time communication for granted. Friday was another event - this time on the INTREPID. Our first presenter was Rhonda Vetere, Global CIO/CTO, Two Time Author and Triathlete.
Rhonda's body of work is amazing, celebrating women who are breaking down barriers and defining the future of STEM. Rhonda shared stories how she and her team navigate the volatile tech industry. She spoke of her passion for sport and how she takes her grit to the road, including insight from a recent trip to the Serengeti where she participated in the inaugural Serengeti Girls Run event. Rhonda then ran 55 miles over the course of three days for a female empowerment fundraiser - the first women-only run of its kind. A passionate leader, Rhonda has worked in global executive positions of Estee Lauder, AIG, HP, Barclays / Lehman Brothers, Bank One, JP Morgan Chase, CompuServe, UUNET, MCI and Worldcom - managing teams of more than 20,000 people.
Rhonda says -The best way to make your mark is to get your hands dirty. Her book Grit & Grind uses real-life stories of how we all face obstacles as we wind our way through life. Whether you're seeking success at work, creating a lasting relationship, or just trying to get "unstuck" in some area of your life, the quickest way to get what you want is to dive into the mess and learn your way through it. Her book offers simple but elegant ways to face anything that comes your way. Rhonda knows firsthand that there's no such thing as a perfect, struggle-free life. She said: "It's not the challenges you face, but how you face them that matters." When you're not afraid of getting your hands dirty, nothing can stop you from achieving the life you desire. Members of NYDLA receive her book for free when they join our global communty. Our keynote speaker was Major General Brett Williams, USAF (Ret.)
He described his experiences transitioning from the world of flying operations into leading teams of Cyber and IT professionals. He compared and contrasted his experiences in DoD to what he experienced in the past five years in the private sector. Brett provided an overview of today's threat with specific emphasis on the nation state threat. He had strong opinions of why, at an executive level, we are challenged to defend today's networks and how moving to the cloud offers some clear advantages with regards to security. And then, we enjoyed a VIP tour of the INTREPID with Sebastian, Museum Educator. Sebastian made the INTREPID come alive. His words, retelling the history of the ship, from its first days of service, to WWII to Vietnam, to recovering NASA space capsules. And now, as the SEA, AIR & SPACE MUSEUM.
While taking a VIP tour on the INTREPID, I learned of how many people of color were true heroes, how many times they saved the entire ship. And because they were people of color, they were never honored or even recognized until many years later. Each branch of the Armed Forces has historically had different policies regarding racial segregation. Although Executive Order 9981 officially ended segregation in the Armed Forces in 1948, following World War II, some forms of racial segregation continued until after the Korean War. I have been thinking about this ever since I left the ship. How (as a person of color) it must have felt to fight for, to put your life on the line for a country that still had active racial segregation. On October 29, 1944, a kamikaze smashed into a gun tub on INTREPID's port side. A gun crew of African American sailors, who usually served as cooks or waiters in the officer's mess, courageously fired at the airplane as it crashed into their position. Ten men lost their lives. Yes, this was an eventful week. We met people live, and we met people virtually. We shook people's hands, and we "shook hands" with people via video, 12 time zones away. And we met people - true heroes - via their life stories being retold by Sebastian, from 74 years, 10 months and 25 days ago. Life is a series of moments and events, some live, some virtual, some retold via stories of the past. I just finished reading Rhonda's book - it's one of those books that you cannot put down once you start reading. Here's to living an extraordinary life - an INTREPID life.
