Felt very cool in joining 500 of my closest friends at the all-CIC (Cambridge Innovation Center) Party held at Brooklyn Boulder indoor climbing center, in Somerville, on Friday night.  During the day, CIC is a vibrant workplace for 500 companies and 1700 people on nine floors of two high-rise buildings in Kendall Square, Cambridge.  At the party,  all of that energy 

and many of those people were unleashed in one huge horizontal space–literally climbing the walls, doing yoga, taking photos, who knows what else. We were given the choice of drinking or climbing…

Friends Tom, R, Michael, Kathryn….heck, almost everyone I knew–  chose the former, making us, perhaps, a bit less cool?

—Anita Harris

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

Cambridge Mayfair 5-05-13 1

Had just left the Hair Cuttery in Harvard Square ( Clarissa did a great job–I was her first client at 9 am on Sunday!); called my friend E who, it turned out was also in the Square, to do a quick run through  Mayfair before it got too crowded. As long-time denizens of Harvard Square, we started out a bit jaded . “Same vendors, same food ,Octoberfest, year after year,” E had remarked the previous day. But this time seemed different–many new nonprofits–J Street for Israeli Arab peace, the Cambridge Art Association, “Chalk on the sidewalk” opportunities with a number of Chamber of Commerce members sponsoring space, a few excellent street musicians…many international food vendors, and even a train to take kids around for $3.00.  E and I were a bit taken aback by the number of police bomb squad vehicles on Brattle Street–and by flocks of Cambridge police–highly visible in bright chartreuse vests–on patrol. Had not thought about possible danger but E pointed out that there could be copycat bombings, especially since the accused Marathon bombers three weeks ago had lived in Cambridge.  The police presence made me feel more anxious than secure…Still, E bought some beautiful scarves for $5 apiece and won $24 worth of Zip car miles in a carnival-like game.  I scored at the Commonwealth’s booth, where I found my name on a list of people who had unclaimed funds….Evidently, I’d left $400  in the old Coolidge bank when I moved to New York–and by the time I moved back to Cambridge, the bank had closed.  So–all in all, we had a great time. See you there next year?

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 Cambridge, MA. 

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.

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.

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.

        Later today, I hope to attend the Clean-Tech Meetup–an event which,  Gov. Deval Patrick, has said, “brings together innovative leaders from across the Commonwealth, the country and the globe to grow businesses, advance technologies and expand the adoption of clean energy sources.”

             As described on the Clean Tech Meetup Web site,  “through  Clean Energy Week and the Conference on Clean Energy in Boston,”  Massachusetts has been “steadily growing” a community of clean energy innovators and implementers.   “Now, we’re using what we’ve learned to bring you an event focusing on connecting people in intimate settings—instead of panels or keynotes.”

• Major Energy Consumers, Utilities, Leading Cleantech Companies, and other companies looking to form partnerships will meet providers of innovative clean energy services, products, and technologies.
• Investors will meet over 50 companies from more than 10 countries, hear from emerging clean energy companies, and talk with major energy users about their needs for clean energy technologies.
• Emerging Clean Energy Companies will talk with potential investors, strategic partners, and customers.

View the conference program.

Innovation Tour:  The conference also includes a tour of “cool companies and organizations” that will be holding open houses”from  Kendall Square to the Seaport Innovation District,” on Wednesday.  View the Tour participants.

I’m pleased that my friend and informal client, Christine Adamow, President and CEO of EuphorbUS,   announced today that her company, , a  “tree-based”  biofuel company that  has operated in East Africa since 2007,  will soon open its first operating site in North America in Hawaii.

The Meetup  is pricey, with registration $400+ for  participants and  $500-$1000 for presenters, who are selected by the conference organizations. (Might say I was surprised that the organizers called the event a meetup– because most “meetups” I’ve heard of are free or nearly so).   Held at the Boston Convention Center, it  runs through Wednesday.

—Anita M. Harris

Last week at swissnex, the Swiss Consulate in Cambridge, university communications and institutional research experts  expressed frustration at the ways in which university rankings are established–and doubt about the accuracy and usefulness of most rankings.

Urs Hugentobler, head of Institutional Research at ETH Zürich/Swiss Federal Institute of Technology–the top ranked university outside of the US– described the vagaries of ranking systems and especially the nebulous “reputation” category, which both impacts and is impacted by a university’s ranking.

Norbert  Staub,  head of internal communications and deputy head of corporate communications at ETH, emphasizzed the importance of  managing a university’s reputation in order to attract students, donors, funding, faculty and the like–all of which influence and are influenced by  rankings.

Roundtable participants  Dawn Terkla,  Associate Provost for Institutional Research and Evaluation at Tufts University,  and  John Scanlon,  an institutional researcher at Harvard,  described the challenges involved in responding to differing requests from numerous  ranking agencies and in evaluating the meaning of rankings when results change from year to year.

Hugentobler pointed out that rankings  ordinarily do not change substantially over the short term–but Terkla  said that one year, Tufts saw a 30% decline when a ranking agency changed its methodology.    All of the participants agreed that rankings that can be inaccurate, haphazard and difficult to influence.

Gina Vild, associate dean for communications and external relations at Harvard Medical School said that while it is not easy for a university composed of many smaller organizations to raise its overall ranking, it may well be possible for individual units  to raise their rankings through communications outreach.  In fact, she said, even a crisis, if well-handled, can  help raise rankings by increasing an institution’s name recognition and enhancing its reputation.

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Joe Wrinn, former director of news and public affairs at Harvard, emphasized the importance of honesty and transparency in dealing with crises and the media.

But several participants   cited examples of  rather nefarious tactics–such as inviting huge numbers of unqualified applicants to apply for admission and then turning them down in order up appear more selective and, thus, obtain higher rankings. And before the meeting, Hugentobler mentioned that it is not uncommon for Asian universities to contact those in Europe–at the very least  enhanging name recognition should they be contacted by a ranking company.

As moderator, I asked if any of the participants knew of instances when the rankings had been used to encourage positive change within a university; no one responded.

When I mentioned that it seemed like universities are held hostage by the rankers,  Terka said that if universities don’t  respond,  they will likely be ranked anyway.  Philip Altbach, director of the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College, agreed–saying that sometimes university units are ranked even if they don’t exist.

When I asked what can be done to remedy the situation, both Terkla and Scanlon mentioned that institutional researchers often communicate with ranking agencies in order to ascertain what information is being sought. Terkla said that an organization comprised of  institutional research experts frequently discusses the rankings.   James Honan,  senior lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, advised:  “Educate your trustees” so they understand what rankings do and do not show.

HarrisCom Group member David Rosen, former Chief Communications Officer at Brandeis and  Harvard Universities, the University of Chicago, and Emerson College, posted a blog on various  international ranking systems and how communicators can influence results at eduniverse.org:

—Anita M. Harris

Anita Harris is president of the Harris Communications Group, a strategic pr and marketing communications firm specializing in health, science, technology, education and energy.