Photos by Anita M. Harris; kindly request permission and link before re-posting.

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning public relations and content marketing firm located 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.

The Cambridge Innovation Center, (CIC) where I work,  has signed a new lease for 52,000 square feet of space on the 1st, 14th and 15th floors at 101 Main Street in Cambridge. 101 Main Street is two doors down from CIC’s current home at One Broadway. The new location is owned by RREEF Real Estate, the real estate investment business of Deutsche Asset Management.

CIC has already vastly expanded since I first started working there in the Spring of 2010; currently, some 450 companies and 1700 people rent space on seven floors.

According to a recent communiqué from the CIC, “ We have seen strong continuing interest from the CIC community to grow here in Kendall Square, as well as interest from many others not currently located at CIC. This new space will create increased space options and amenities for our current and future clients and most importantly, the space will create more opportunities for entrepreneurs to collaborate and flourish.

This is a 33% increase in the CIC”s  total space — to a total of 207,000 square feet in Kendall Square. Occupancy of the new space will begin in early March.

With the expansion, I hope that  the  stellar CIC team and residents will be able to maintain the warm,  friendly and stimulating community atmosphere that makes the CIC at 1 Broadway a wonderful place to work.

Anita M. Harris

Anita Harris is the founder and CEO of the Harris Communications Group, a collaborative team of experts  in public relations, social media, content and marketing services for health, science, technology and energy, worldwide.

Want  to  lunch one-on-one with a senior exec from a major pharma company and help people in the developing world at the same time?

UK/US Life science consulting firm Alacrita,  based in the Cambridge Innovation Center, has launched a benefit auction in which you can bid for a two-hour, one-to-one lunch with senior executives from the pharmaceutical industry who have donated their time to the appeal.

According to Alacrita Partner Rob Johnson,   the appeal aims to raise money for WaterAid, an international non-profit organization that  transforms the lives of people in the world’s poorest countries by improving access to safe water and sanitation.

Bidding opened Monday 3^rd December and closes on Thursday 13^th December on 5pm EST/10pm GMT.

In order to bid,  click on a name, below. You will be redirected to eBay for bidding.

• Heather Bell, Head of Corporate Strategy and Shaun Grady, Head of Business Development at AstraZeneca (one lunch)
• Moncef Slaoui, Chairman, Research & Development at GlaxoSmithKline
• Douglas Giordano, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Business Development at Pfizer
• Susan Silbermann, President and General Manager, Vaccines, Specialty Care Business Unit and Polly Murphy Vice President, Specialty Care Business Unit Business Development at Pfizer (one lunch)
• Graham Brazier, Vice President, Business Development, Strategic Transactions Group at Bristol-Myers Squibb
• Pamela Demain, Executive Director, Corporate Licensing at Merck
• Susan Jane Herbert, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Business Development and Strategy and Annalisa Jenkins, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Drug Development & Medical and Belen Garijo, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Merck Serono (one lunch)

Bidding  will be open until 13^th December, 5pm EST/10pm GMT.

Johnson said: “We are thrilled to launch this year’s seasonal appeal to raise funds for WaterAid. 783 million people, or one in ten of the world’s population, live without access to safe water and last year WaterAid reached 1.6 million people with water and 1.9 million people with sanitation in 27 countries. ”

David Winder, CEO of WaterAid, America added: “We are delighted that Alacrita has chosen to  donate the proceeds of their charity auction to  WaterAid.  Every day, 2,000 children die from water-related diseases that could easily be prevented.  The funds raised will help us reach more of the world’s poorest people with safe, clean water and sanitation.  These vital basic services are essential for saving  lives, improving health and reducing poverty in the world’s poorest countries.”

–Anita M. Harris
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group,  an award-winning PR/content marketing and social media firm specializing in health, science, technology and energy.

Here are photos I took at last night’s gala benefit for Bill Lichtenstein’s forthcoming film, “The American Revolution–a documentary on WBCN radio which Lichtenstein credits as instrumental (pun intended) in the political and cultural upheavals of the late 1960s.

A couple hundred people in the audience included  aging hippies, former (present?) dopers, professional and professorial types.  As an aging something or other myself, my only complaint was that there were no chairs…and it was a four hour show!

Please forgive my including three photos of Bill–wordpress glitch.

Anita M. Harris
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, a strategic PR/thought leadership/social media firm based in Kendall Square, Cambridge.