Łódź's today and Holyoke's tomorrow?

Łódź: It's David Lynch's favorite city.

This weekend I will be taking a day trip to the Polish city of Łódź. Having done a thorough scan of it's architectural and cultural treasures... I came across a very interesting development: a converted mill complex taken to a whole new level by Jestico + Whiles.

The project(s): Centrum Manufaktura and Andels Hotel Lodz look absolutely stunning, stylish, and very modern. Although they aren't pushing the envelope too far, it's still impressive from a design standpoint.

This type of brick factory structure is an abundant commodity in the city of Holyoke. Should this be the interior design standard for future mill conversions in downtown Holyoke? How great would that be!

As for Holyoke, in the meantime, Open Square is carrying the torch and has a similar mixed-use vision. As the market heats up we can all hope that there will be many rad converted factories.

How about that data-center?

Holyoksterdam!

Welcome to a City of beautiful canals, elegrant architecture, cobblestone street(s), and loads of history. Let your imagination get to work as to what Holyoksterdam could be. It's cool being a "fossil Venice" but it's damn cool being a Holyoksterdam.


Just some rambling... maybe I'll put my somewhat facetious proposal sometime.

Story in Boston Magazine

Young Gun: Would You Let This Kid Save Your Town? Brendan Ciecko made his name—and a boatload of money—as the music industry's go-to website designer. Now that he's finally old enough to buy beer, he's decided to take on a slightly less sexy project: remaking his hardscrabble hometown.

The story hits newsstands today but you can read it online at BostonMagazine.com. I hope you enjoy.

Innovate Holyoke

Last Wednesday, Governor Deval Patrick unveiled the next steps for the massive high-performance computing center planned for downtown Holyoke. I'm glad to say that things are moving forward, and quickly at that. The HPCC should be completed by 2011. At the press conference, I had the honor of speaking at the podium to share my enthusiasm and walk everyone through the project's online presence. The event and various details are outlined here and all the latest news can be found at InnovateHolyoke.com, which was launched by my company, Ten Minute Media. With the computing center, Victory Theatre, CanalWalk, Mountain Park, and a few other new developments, noticeable progress is definitely being made.

P.S: Holyoke has a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of the Republic of France...

"High Tech for a Historic City" Op-Ed on Xconomy

"High Tech for a Historic City—A 21-Year-Old Web Entrepreneur’s View of the Big Computing Center Planned for His Home Town" - Read More at Xconomy.com

Decemberists to play Holyoke

Now it seems, there's no shortage of good news for Holyoke... The Decemberists might be playing at Mountain Park on August 16th. Who's coming to the show?

The Big Day

The press conference for the high tech computing center project took place today at the Holyoke Public Library on Maple St. The room quickly filled with eager listeners, residents, and press. I was very excited for today!

For a full recap of the event, you can check out the Local Buzz's Twitter coverage.

Photo Credit: Greg Saulmon

After the signing of the "statement of intent" for the project, the press swarmed to the front. I was delighted to see familiar faces from the state, tech, and academic world. Dr. Susan Hockfield, the president of MIT, and I shared a few words and reflected on enthusiasm of the project and city's potential. Paul Bosco, VP of Cisco's New England operations, gave me a powerful high-five.

Fellow young entrepreneurs / office-mates, Sam and Zach Dunn were also in attendence. They're the founders of One Mighty Roar, a network that includes the rapidly growing blog BuildInternet!. Check it out, good stuff!

MIT News - Collaboration eyes computing boost for New England

CBS 3 - High-Tech Center Planned for Holyoke

22 News - Patrick announces new computing center

ABC40 - Gov. Patrick Announces Computer Center in Holyoke

Springfield Republican - Gov. Patrick, presidents of UMass, MIT and BU announce 'landmark' collaboration to build computing center in Holyoke

Springfield Republican - Holyoke to be site of high performance computer center, Gov. Deval Patrick, presidents of UMass, MIT and BU announce

Grist Magazine - Clean-tech and urban renewal in one fell swoop

EFYTimes - High-Performance Computing Centre Coming Up In Holyoke!

Local Buzz - High Performance Computing as the Future of Holyoke's E-conomy, Part I

Local Buzz - High-Performance Computing as the Future of Holyoke's E-conomy, Part II

Local Buzz - Twittering Holyoke's Future

Web Host Industry Review - EMC, Cisco, MIT Plan $100M Data Center

Ryan's Take - Techy Future for Gateway Cities?

Energy 2.0 - Holyoke Green Data Center

Holyoke History - Governor Patrick Visits Holyoke Public Library

Holyoke welcomes High Tech!

A massive technology data-center project involving Fortune 500 technology giants Cisco System, EMC along with world-class academic institution MIT has finally been announced to set stage in Holyoke! This is easily one of the largest economic development projects in the city's history. I'd imagine a project like this will bring an excess of $100 million of investment into Holyoke and will certainly designate the city as a top-spot for high-tech companies. Who's next? Maybe Google, Sun Microsystems, Yahoo, AOL, Akamai? Anything is possible!

Now... why is Holyoke one of the best places in the state / region / country for a project like this - you can read about that in a recap of my involvement in the technology roundtable at MIT last October.

Xconomy.com - State Set to Make Big, “Green” High Performance Computing Announcement: Effort to Bring Jobs to Western MA

Boston Globe - Holyoke chosen for computing center

Mass High Tech - Holyoke targeted for green data center

Springfield Republican - Holyoke eyed for computer complex

MassLive.com - Harvard, MIT, Cisco Systems, EMC to be part of computer research center in Holyoke

Data Center Knowledge - MIT Team Weighs $100M Green Data Center

Environmental Leader - EMC, Cisco, MIT Partner on $100M Data Center

GreenerComputing - Cisco, EMC Team with MIT to Launch $100M Green Data Center

insideHPC - State of Massachusetts Working on Green HPC Center

New Music Venue in Holyoke

Dear Mountain Park, welcome back! It's been decades and now you're back. I wonder who the first band/group will be for the grand opening.

Oh, New England.

The weather was excellent this weekend. I started off Saturday, walking around downtown Holyoke and relaxed at Heritage State Park by the canals... good news, Canal Walk is scheduled to break ground in a few weeks.

For the evening, Elizabeth and I headed up to Brattleboro, VT. It's a laid-back, little town with an evident emprace for arts and local, independent business. After walking around downtown and checking out a few shops and galleries, we saw a movie at the Lathis Hotel & Theatre. The Latchis is a landmark Art Deco building that holds a theater, restaurant, hotel, and shops under one roof. On a side note, did you know that two of the most prominent North American architects were born here? Richard Morris Hunt and William Mead came from this small town.

On Sunday, we took a day trip to Hartford, CT. We started at the world-class Wadsworth Atheneum, a true gem and the oldest art museum in the country. In addition to the grand permanent collection, they had a great piece by Dutch artist Folkert de Jong that caught my eye. After spending a few hours enjoying the art of the Wadsworth, we walked over Bushnell Park. On a sunny day like today, the park was full of life... and masses of Deadheads that infested the city for tonight's show. We then drove over to The Mark Twain House and Harriet Beecher Stowe's house. There's so much to see in the region. Dum-de-dum-de-dum-dum-da-dum-day... Oh, New England.

Urban Waterslides

I stumbled upon a great commercial for some credit card company in UK that involves water slides winding through the urban scape. I'd love to connect my office to my residence, which are a less than half-a-mile away from each other, via a water slide. Hopefully Holyoke's building commissioner would grant me a permit.



When the super rad Northampton/Amherst Subway gets built out... maybe they'll create a special hub that connects the underground rails to my water slide system.

Boston Globe / G Force

The other day, my phone rang - it was the Boston Globe. They wanted to know what types of shenanigans I was up to over here. The G Force feature is now online and will be on newsstands this morning in the rad 'g' section.

Parade Day

Late last night, Elizabeth and I decided it might be fun to put together a last-minute gathering for the parade in Holyoke... our city is host to the 2nd largest St. Patrick's Day parades in the country. Through out the duration of the parade, friends and family stopped by my office to watch the festivities below. It's so nice to see hundreds of thousands of people line the streets and sidewalks of Holyoke on this day each year.

Breakfast Roundtable at MIT

Today I had breakfast at the President's House at MIT.

Rewind: towards the middle of last week, I received a phone call from Governor Deval Patrick's office - an invitation to the Technology Roundtable at MIT. My initial reactions were that of shock and excitement...

At the table: MA Governor Patrick, Susan Hockfield (president of MIT), Jack Wilson (president of UMass), and CEOs: John Chambers (Cisco), Paul Sagan (Akamai), Joe Tucci (EMC), William Green (Accenture), Colin Angle (iRobot + actor in the movie, 21), and some kid from Western MA with a pseudo-dutchboy haircut, me!

As the discussion moved forward, many points were made about the future of the tech industry in Massachusetts, impact on the state economy, and promoting entrepreneurship.

When the issue of focusing on green energy (as it applies to tech) arrived... I commented that Western MA's most valuable resource for the tech industry is abundance of power: renewable hydro-electric power. At the moment, Google is in the process of building a major data-center of in The Dalles, OR (population: 12,000) because of the cheap and renewable energy from the hydro-electric dam. Holyoke has 16 hydro-electric sources, the most of any city in the state - by almost 3 times as much as the runner-up. Holyoke also has the Mt Tom Power Plant and ISO as an added bonus. You have the bargain, clean hydro, multiple sources of energy and water for cooling the data-center... it's data-storage/processing company's dream.

Is there a chance that a company like Google might look at Holyoke for there next data-center? From some of the CEOs and other experts I've talked to... Yes, it's very likely.

Well, enough of my rambling. Today was unforgettable and it was a great honor to meet some of the world's most brilliant thinkers.

Art Invades the Canal District

Last night Elizabeth and I checked out another show at The Canal Gallery in Holyoke. Today we checked out Paper City Studios and Parsons Hall, two galleries/studios that opened up to the public for the weekend. The spaces are situated in beautiful old buildings that overlook the 2nd level canal. I was blown away by the Parsons Hall building and the artists and art that filled it. Ornamental plaster cast ceilings, hallway corbels, and tile mosaic floors - beautiful details. We saw lots of great audio and video work and hope they put on more shows.

Everything in this city is a constant reminder that, in the words of Jane Jacobs, "Old ideas can sometimes use new buildings. New ideas must use old buildings."

Sasquatch Spotted on the Cover of Inc. Magazine

Be sure to check out the October issue of Inc. Magazine in stores and on newsstands everywhere. This issue showcases eighteen entrepreneurs under the age and influence of 30. It profiles my business, Ten Minute Media, mentions one of my future projects Holyoke, and references my mentors (one being a "social responsibility guru" from Springfield).

Art on the Canals

Last night I stopped by The Canal Gallery in Holyoke for a bit. It was the opening reception for a major installation piece by New York City artist, Jonathan Bee. The art brough you into a surreal world of colorful 'junk' that rivaled that of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory in the ways of a multi-sensory experience.

My Street, High Street

I finally moved into my new office today. I'm in historic downtown Holyoke on High Street.

From my window, I can see the majestic City Hall which was designed by C. B. Atwood and Hadley Falls Trust Building, designed by McKim, Mead, and White. When the weather is nice, my lunch spot will be the lovely Heritage State Park, overlooking the canals and the city's wide array of 19th-century industrial buildings. I have multiple Frederick Olmsted designed parks at my doorstep, who wants to have a picnic?

Holyoke was called 'The Queen of Industrial Cities' - in the early 1900's, she was the richest city per capita in the United States. It was a dense city of industrial entrepreneurs, diversity, culture, and innovation. During the industrial revolution, the streets here overflowed with energy... but that feeling has sadly died away over the last few decades. I won't get into the details, it's very complex.

The city of Holyoke has tremendous potential and the next 10 years are key for it's revitalization. Investing here (this is building #2) and moving my business here, are some of the steps I'm taking.

The First of Many...

Welcome to the musings of a young entrepreneur, digital media producer, and urbanist.

Many people have made the suggestion that I should start a blog. If you know me, you know that I can talk for hours about anything... this is both a good and bad thing.