Marathon bomb mourners honor slain MIT officer

Cambridge, MA 4/22/2013

At 2:50 pm today, Massachusetts held for a moment of silence to honor those affected by the recent Boston Marathon bombing and its aftermath.

: Vigil for MIT Officer Slain after Marathon Bombing

: Vigil for MIT Officer slain after Marathon bombing 4-20-2013

MIT honored Sean Collier, 26, the MIT Safety Officer who was slain on Friday night, by holding a memorial service followed by a walk along Vassar St., which culminated in the statewide moment of silence and vigil at the site of a makeshift altar, on which mourners placed flags, flowers, stuffed animals and other items. Mourners used chalk, which had been left n a small dish in front of the alter, to write messages of condolence and thanks on the sidewalk.

According to Tim Rowe, founder of the Cambridge Innovation Center and President of the Kendall Square Association:

it appears that once the images of the perpetrators were released (and presumably the suspects knew that it was only a matter of hours before they were tracked down), they decided to head directly for Kendall Square. Kendall is not the closest T stop to them, nor was our 7-Eleven the closest convenience store. We can only guess at their intent.

Collier was killed in his car shortly thereafter, while on patrol on the border of MIT and Kendall Square.

Contributions may be made to the Sean A. Collier Memorial Fund set up at MIT. The funds are to be awarded to individuals who demonstrate the values of Officer Collier:

http://alumic.mit.edu/redirect.aspx?linkID=31504&eid=130080

Funds to aid the victims include:

TUGG (Technology Underwriting Greater Good: https://www.fundraise.com/technology-supports-victims-of-boston-marathon-bombing

And to OneBoston fund, set up by Governor Deval Patrick Patrick and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.

http://www.onefundboston.org/

–Anita M. Harris

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

New zoning law to expand commercial and residential development in Cambridge’s Kendall Square

Kendall Square 4-17-13

Despite a historically strong anti-development bias in Cambridge, the City Council last week approved a new zoning law that will allow further transformation of the already growing Kendall Square. The new law, passed on April 8, approves plans for a new gateway to MIT facing the Kendall Square MBTA Station, the construction of some 1.1M square feet of new commercial space around the T stop, and hundreds of new housing units. (More details at HarrisCom Blog: http://wp.me/p1Hocg-Wy ).

According to Tim Rowe, president of the Kendall Square Association and a founder of the Cambridge Innovation Center, while, at last week’s meeting, many Cantabridgians questioned the desirability of new buildings that could create traffic noise, “construction hassle and the like”, others emphasized the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship

“They spoke about how these endeavors are critical to our prosperity in these days of intense competition with other regions, how they bring jobs to residents all across the state, and how the fruits of the labors of our innovators and entrepreneurs are solutions to important problems facing the planet,” Rowe said. “What is super exciting to me is that our political leaders, by their vote, accepted these arguments. This is a major win for innovation.”

In a blog posted to clients of the Cambridge Innovation Center–including me–Rowe emphasized that the Kendall Square community concerned about sustainability–as evidenced that “despite millions of square feet of new buildings being built here” during the past decade, traffic in Kendall Square has actually dropped.

Rowe emphasized the need for additional state funding to ensure that the Red Line can keep up with demand in Kendall Square and urged his readers to tell their state senators and representatives to support Governor Deval Patrick’s proposal to invest heavily in updating the Commonwealth’s transportation infrastructure.

Having worked in the Cambridge Innovation Center for nearly three years, I can attest to the vibrancy and vitality of this growing area.

–Anita M. Harris

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning public relations and digital marketing agency located in Kendall Square.

US Senator Mary Landrieu speaks at Venture Cafe, Cambridge Innovation Center

Mary Landrieu Speaks at Cambridge Innovation Center Venture Cafe

Tim Rowe, CEO, Cambridge Innovation Center and US Senator Mary Landrieu, at Venture Cafe, April 4, 2013. In her remarks, Landrieu emphasized the importance of the CIC–now the largest organization of its type in the world.
Photo by Bill Lichtenstein, Lichtenstein Creative Media

–Anita M. Harris

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

“Elevator pitching is like dating,” CIC’s Tim Rowe tells HarrisCom Workshop

Tim Rowe, CEO of the Cambridge Innovation Center in Kendall Square, gave a great talk at HarrisCom Group’s recent Pitching for Business Workshop on Feb. 23. Among his main points: “Elevator pitching is like dating:” the goal is to find out if it’s worth spending more time with the person you’re speaking to. Tim is also a venture capitalist and president of the Kendall Square Association in Cambridge, MA.

Here are links to the video and to the blog I wrote on the HarrisCom Web site.

Link to video
Link to blog

–Anita M. Harris
Anita M. Harris is president of the Harris Communications Group of Cambridge, MA, an award-winining public relations 3.0 firm specializing in strategic integrated marketing communications and thought leadership for clients in health, science, energy, technology and education, worldwide.