Warren Croce preparing to hide artwork.

Belmont artist  Warren Croce,   , winner of the Cambridge Art Association‘s 2014 National Prize for Best Mixed Media Piece,  is promoting his work by hiding a piece each month in a Boston area business–and  offering residents clues to find the work–which finders may then keep.

Croce’s first “hunt” began in February; the third will start next week. Typical clues, available on Croce’  Facebook page  or via his newsletter ,  include maps of the general vicinity and a photo from inside the business where the art is hidden, according to a recent media release. The only “payment“  is to post on Croce’s Facebook page. 

In February, Croce gave away “Three Wise Monkeys: See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, “ a series of acrylic monkey faces sprayed on board with newspaper clippings strategically pasted over their eyes, ears, and mouths, found at L‘Aroma Café in West Newton, MA. His second giveaway was a  triptych of face, found at the Bourbon Coffee in Cambridge. 

“I like giving art away,” Croce says. ” I love the joy people get from finding a piece of my artwork. Hey, you only get back from this life what you put into it.”

Trey Klein, who found the  piece at L’Aroma Cafe, said “This was a fun game and these pieces are awesome.”

Llan Levy, who found the piece at Bourbon Coffee in Porter Square,  called the hunt  “Food for the soul.”

Some “hunters”  have posted  photo series or chronological poem-like accounts of their searches on Croce’s Facebook page.

Croce’s winning Cambridge Art Associate piece, called “There is nothin’ like a dame,”  is comprised of twelve 1950‘s album covers glued onto board with a Madmen-esque figure painted over them in acrylic, pastel, and gel.  The exhibition runs until June 26. 

–Anita M. Harris
Anita Harris is an author, photographer and communications consultant based in Cambridge, MA.
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group,  an award-winning PR and marketing firm in Kendall Square.

Image for Life Science Innovation Day 2014

On Tuesday, June 3, the Massachusetts Life Science Center (MLSC) will host  its 7th Mass Life Sciences Innovation  Day at the Harvard Club on Commonwealth Avenue, in Boston. Billed on its Website as “the biggest day for life sciences startups and innovation in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” Mass Life Science Innovation Day is  “a high-energy, hands-on event” at which scientific leaders and business experts mingle with scientists, post-docs, professors, entrepreneurs, innovators, and venture capitalists.  

“This is one of the best opportunities to hear about trends affecting life sciences start-ups and to learn about new technologies that are ready for commercialization, ”  according to Abigail Barrow, Director of the Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center and the conference chair,  

A central question to be addressed at the event involves creativity, according to Barrow. That is, can researchers still be creative with the organizational and financial demands that are placed on research environments?  Do corporations and academics still have the courage to allow their teams to be really creative? If you want to do interesting and exciting science can you still get the funding? How does business and finance leadership view creativity?

“Our speakers and panelists will discuss the current battle to create innovation friendly environments and its impact on entrepreneurs and young researchers finding jobs.”

The morning session will feature a keynote address by Mark Levin, who will speak about how Third Rock, the  venture capital firm he founded,  invests in new companies.

 Brock Reeve, Director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, will be the luncheon speaker.
Morning and afternoon breakout sessions featuring more than 40 speakers will cover scientific topics such as indication selection, experiment design and managing research programs as well as entrepreneurial topics including  “how to join the venture capital club,”  how to pitch your new idea, and “where to find money to fund your start-up.”

Some 30 early-stage companies and major research institutions will present posters and compete for prizes to be awarded at the close of the day by State Senator Karen Spilka.  The award-winners will be chosen by 20 Life Science CEOS and biotech leaders who will also attend a closing reception. The reception will include an Innovators Marketplace offering resources needed to commercialize an invention.

 More information on the program and registration is available on  the MLSC website at  –http://www.mattcenter.org/malsi-day-2014/home.html .

Here’s a link to the agenda and a complete list of speakers.
Conference fees range from $60 for students  to $550 for two marketplace exhibitors.

Massachusetts Life Sciences Innovation Day was  developed by the Massachusetts Life Sciences Start-up Initiative (MALSI)–a platform organization that brings together all major public and private entities in the State that are committed to building the next generation of Massachusetts companies. MALSI’s mission is to ensure that Massachusetts maintains its lead as the #1 region in the world to start, nurture and grow life sciences companies.  MALSI partners include: Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center, MassBio, Mass Medical Angels, TiE Boston, and several major universities and research hospitals.

–Anita M. Harris
Anita Harris is an author, photographer  and communications consultant based ib Cambridge, MA. 

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning PR and marketing firm based in Cambridge, MA. 

Cambridge-based Latitude News is a global Website with a mission is to make what’s going on in the world relevant to what’s happening in the US.   It’s a sort of  “local global mashup” in which writers and editors produce stories that are ” fresh, relevant and crying out to be told,” says founder and veteran BBC journalist Maria Balinska.

Recent examples include :

• Texans Victims to Algerian Hostage Crisis?
• Do Casinos Prey on Asian Americans?
• In Turkey The Simpsons and Game of Thrones Are Blasphemy

Balinska points out that Latitude News stories have  been featured in the Christian Science Monitor, the Week, Mental Floss, Marketplace, Hoy and the BBC.  And PRX (the Public Radio Exchange, another Cambridge-based outfit) commissioned a series of monthly podcasts last summer.

Latitude News recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund production of  a weekly audio program, The Local Global Mashup Show,  that, Balinska says,  “will give you the inside edge on the stories that connect Americans with the world.”   It’s an ambitious project, Balinksa adds,  in part because it proposes to use  a subscription model in order to become a sustainable business.

For more info or to donate and receive a reward,  go to the Latitude News  Kickstarter page  before February 15.

–Anita M. Harris

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, a collaborative team of experts in public relations, content marketing and new media services.

Sorry I couldn’t make it to this year’s Global  Cleantech Meetup but am pleased to post information provided  by Harold Simansky about his company, 360 Chestnut , which provides resources for consumers and service providers  in the home improvement market, and about WeFunder, a crowd investing platform for startups.

Both companies are headquartered at the Cambridge Innovation Center in Kendall Square, where I share space, although I have not yet met either Simansky or WeFunder cofounder and President Mike Norman.

Simansky says the two companies “stole the show,” but I’ll bet they got a run for their money (so to speak) from my friend and informal PR client,  Christine Adamow, who announced that her company, EuphorbUS,  which has produced pure fuel oil from tree seeds in Africa since 2007, is setting up shop in Hawaii. [Link to Euphorbus release.]

Simansky writes that WeFunder is the premier crowd investing platform for startups, while 360Chestnut is growing into one of the largest home improvement sites on the web.

Both startups were featured presenters at the  two day conference: Norman gave the keynote address to the more than 500 attendees and Simanski spoke on home improvement and sustainability.

Simansky points out that 360Chestnut is using the WeFunder  platform to raise its most recent round  of  investment, and in his  keynote, Norman called  360Chestnut an “ideal company” to use crowd investing to fund its growth.

Simansky describes WeFunder as “a crowd investing platform for startups.”  Using the platform, crowd investors can purchase stock for as little as $100 in promising new businesses around the country.  With the passage of the  US JOBS Act in April,  startups will soon be allowed to solicit investment from small, “unaccredited” investors and sell small stakes in their businesses online.

He says that  360Chestnut is “a no-cost, trusted source” where homeowners learn what to do to make their homes more healthy, energy-efficient and comfortable;  connect with qualified service providers, and access the more than 5000 rebate and incentives that will pay for this type of work.

For service providers, 360Chestnut is “a constant source of educated, nurtured customers; marketing & sales support; easy-to-use software and applications; online training; financing options and more.   Service providers pay to join and may purchase products and service son the site.

–Anita M. Harris

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning public relations and online-marketing firm based in Cambridge, MA.

Cambridge startup  Latitude News and Public Radio Exchange (PRX) have  launched a  podcast series aimed at bringing global stories with local importance to new audiences.

Latitude was founded earlier this year by veteran BBC producer Maria Balinska to bring “a new  brand of global storytelling connects on an emotional level to audiences who are curious about the world,” Balinka said.  Its  journalists–based in Cambridge and abroad, use  a Website, social media and podcasts to crowdsource stories that connect Americans with the world.

PRX operates public radio’s largest distribution marketplace, offering thousands of audio stories for broadcast and digital use. Signature PRX programs include the Moth Radio Hour, RadioLab, This American Life, KCRW Music Mine and the Public Radio Player.

Under an agreement announced earlier this week,  Latitude will produce 12 podcasts and broadcast segments for PRX showcasing a distinctive editorial style that links Americans to the rest of the world.

The first podcasts launched this week; one looks at why the US faces a shortage of cod and Norway does not; the other examines the role that one US preacher has played in the anti-gay movement in Uganda.

The Latitude News podcasts are hosted by award-winning journalist Daniel Moulthorp.

Moulthorp  is co-founder of The Civic Commons. He is also a former program host of 90.3 WCPN’s Sound of Ideas and co-author, with Dave Eggers and Ninive Calegari, of the best selling book Teachers Have it Easy: The Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of America’s Teachers (The New Press, 2005).

John Barth, Managing Director of PRX, said, “The extension of Latitude News to podcasts and broadcast is a natural step as PRX reaches engaged audiences hungry for more meaningful  international stories.”

“We’re thrilled to work with PRX to illustrate how our new brand of global storytelling connects on an emotional level to audiences who are curious about the world,” Balinska said.

The podcasts and segments are made possible by a grant to PRX by the Open Society Foundations aimed at expanding global storytelling for American audiences.

http://www.prx.org/group_accounts/142068-latitudenews

–Anita M. Harris
Anita Harris is a writer and communications consultant  in Cambridge, MA.

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group–an-award-winning strategic communications firm based  in Kendall Square, Cambridge.

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