Yesterday was my 21st birthday. I started off my day in Boston at the State House. I was invited to a major gathering of government officials and business leaders where the discussion was focused on the state's technology sector. Heads from
Google,
IBM,
Microsoft,
Cisco,
iRobot and many more filled the room.
Governor Patrick posed questions about how the state can position itself to be the leader in tech sector, help the sector flourish, and retain it's brightest companies, entrepreneurs, and students. So far, I've been very impressed with his administration's attention and enthusiasm about the topic.
After the meeting came to an end, I met many new faces and got plenty of "happy birthdays!" On my way out, Governor Patrick asked me, "you don't plan on leaving us?" (referring to the state) and to which I replied, "certainly not, I was born and raised in MA and plan on staying..." The truth is, I do plan on staying in state and I'm really starting to dig Boston, especially because of the many new friends and connections I've made there in the last few months.
After the tech-filled morning, we made our way down to
Providence. We checked out some local art at a few galleries, notably the
Providence Art Club, a few antique shops looking for decor for my new (but 1870's) place, and explored a few neighborhoods. We also, for the first time, checked out the
Rhode Island State Capitol building, designed by
McKim, Mead and White. Two state houses in one day, not bad. We visit this city often (one of my favorite small capitals) and try to capture something new each time.
After the adventures, for my birthday celebration/dinner, Elizabeth took me to one of my favorite restaurants,
Capriccio. It's the basement of an old marvelous, mansard-roof-having, bank building on the edge of the financial district near the river. Check this place out if you're ever in Providence.
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.
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.
This past Thursday, I was in Cambridge at Akamai Technologies headquarters for the start of the day. I was recently appointed to the Advisory Council for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' "It's All Here" campaign and was there for the launch event. Powerful words were delivered by Greg Bialecki, J.D. Sherman (CFO of Akamai), and Robert Culver (CEO of MassDevelopment) to warm up the crowd. Soon after, the Commonwealth's communications guru, Kofi Jones took the floor and unveiled the campaign. You can read more about the initiative in the Boston Globe.
"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
