Kendall PRess @ Work

Last night we celebrated the Kendall Square Association's Third Thursday event co-sponsored and hosted by Google and the Community Charter School of Cambridge. As with nearly every Third Thursday event since our intrepid outreach and networking committee started this program last year, most all of us learned something new about our neighborhood and our neighbors.


Kendall Square Association Third Thursdays - Images by Keith Spiro

I'm not sure if the draw was the talk by Steve Vinter of Google (and a member of the KSA board of directors) or the offer of Free Food and Drink with catering by Jules or the fact that it was literally just a block away, but we had our largest turnout to date with well over 100 people showing up, mingling and taking tours over the two building complex that makes up the CCSC.

I do have to say that the most exciting part of the night was meeting such an incredible group of young motivated High School students. Their robotics team showed off some neat bowling ball and tennis ball moving technology- most likely their response to being told, once too often, to clean up their floor - this Bot did it very well while being controlled by a computer.

Even more impressive, however, was Paula Evans Founder's Talk about the success of this intimate and engaging High School program.  Every member of their first three graduating classes (2009-2011) gained college admissions and 95% of them are enrolled now in college and CCSC was one of only three schools in the state to have 100% of the 10th graders score proficient on the mandated MCAS tests.  Let me repeat that statement by Paula, 100% OF THE GRADUATES WERE ACCEPTED AT COLLEGES.

Congratulations on an amazingly important feat. With so much emphasis around Kendall Square on STEM performance this group stands out!  I'll add that after meeting a whole cross section of sophomores, juniors and seniors who joined us last night, I am not surprised. These folks help each other, are articulate and mutually supportive. Art projects adorned the halls and walls, printed certificates of completion and recognition were everywhere and they didn't look like the old school of every kid gets a complement - This guys and gals earned their place. A job well done.

Among the many local celebrities were spotted Joe Tulirmieri and Tracy Mercer of the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority, a big supporter of all this activity here. Also helping out was Carolyn Goff of Eastern Bank, Committee co-chairs Lena Sharp of Alexandria Real Estate and Sarah Gallop representing MIT. The ever wonderful Walter Sullivan who is a community booster in his own right was there along with the better half of the Spiro Boys who is  pictured with the business development team from Veolia Energy.

I was all prepared for my quarterly faceoff with Steve in my ongoing discussion over paperNpixels but Google has all these fascinating capabilities in their new products, Currents & Producer, so I simply enjoyed listening to additional methods of self publishing now available If you haven't heard, Google turned my android (and your ipad) into real-time, on-line curating, magazine tools. The fact that Steve has only physically carried around two books this year (loaners) and both he and my wife have large virtual libraries in their eReaders, made my all too heavy book bag weary shoulders jealous...'cept for the fact I've now got 3 books in my smartphone which I use for just about everything but phone calls.

My tour hosts Christy, Sara and Jose  made sure I had many good photo opps as they proudly gave me a top to bottom tour of the place they work at from 8 to 4 and insured I was impressed with the space, activities and friends that populate the buildings. Future lawyers, social workers, business people- they've got their plans and dreams and i was glad to be included in their thoughtful conversations. Watch out world - here they come.

Keith
(and for anyone in these photos who'd like a print please contact me and also say something nice about us on this blog or in your favorite means of social communications. Thanks)

Labels: Community Charter School of Cambridge, Google, Kendall Square Association, paperNpixels

That famous comment about the shoemakers kids going barefoot, never was more true than when I came up short for an art show this past month. Matted and Framed photography takes forever and wouldn't do justice to the larger than life images I had collected for the show. Full Color Printed Posters, I decided would do the job just fine. The shop was busy. I was busy. The clock ran down and now I needed posters in a hurry. Fast poster printing- our trademark - never was more put to the test.

POSTERS BIGGER THAN LIFE AND FASTER THAN A SPEEDING DEADLINE
Happily in far less than an afternoon, with the team behind me, we put out 23 big, full color posters, mounted and ready for my show which was to begin the following day. I left Kendall PRess that afternoon with an "ARTSHOW in a box." Literally.

Digital JPG's converted to giant posters, hauled up the old B&M route to its Northern Terminus where the ever patient and efficient Connie Bailey was waiting to set up my show. A day in Photos. Exploring TOPSHAM and a Community Dialogue.

One month, two presentations and a front page news article later, the show itself has come to its natural end. But, the presentations were a surprise outcome. People wanted to talk about the things they saw. The Images held their imagination. Those photos are now the topic of a speaking tour "the immediacy of taking action for people and places that matter." Pixels alone would not have accomplished that. Printed Posters as big as life did.

You can see the front page headline here.
Thank you - team at Kendall PRess
I'm going back to making more shoes
Keith

Labels: Giant posters, keith spiro A day in photos, paperNpixels, poster printing, printed posters

FAMILY
COLLABORATION
(BUILDING) BRIDGES

Kendall PRess has been guided by the principle that we help our customers accomplish more by being focused on timely, accurate, quality results for the tasks they bring to us. We also listen to their spoken and unspoken needs in this dramatically fast changing business climate.

As technology impacts change, we have committed to evolving with the opportunities. One business leader we respect and learn from is Chris Brogan who says "you aren't just a business, you're a media company;" meaning businesses need to communicate what they are and what they do. Each year on the First of January, he presents three words that he will use to define his goals and experiences thoughout the year. He finds this more effective than a New Year's Resolution and we think this idea merits a try for us as well.

Merging paperNpixels, business communications and print is the easy part. Staying focused on individual goals, team goals and life balance is the hard part. So, with a salute to Chris, here are our three words for 2012:

Family - we all have families but with the amount of time we spend at work, we acknowledge our work family and customers as an integral part of our daily world. We depend on our families. We try to help them and sometimes we finish their thoughts for them (sometimes correctly and sometimes not).

Collaboration - there is just too much work to do and life to live to ever try to just do it alone. Technology has given us an easier way to include collaboration on a daily basis. Collaborative efforts acknowledge the greater good that can be achieved by using the strengths of many.

(Building)Bridges -a metaphor for many things, here we'll define it as reaching out to different constituencies. Building bridges to enhance our understanding and our willingness to help others.

Welcome, 2012
Keith speaking for himself as well as for the team at Kendall PRess

Labels: business communications, Chris Brogan, paperNpixels

Among the many guests at the Kendall Square Association's Third Thursday program that we co-hosted with Charles River Canoe and Kayak were Tim Rowe, President of the Cambridge Innovation Center and Andre Porter, the Executive Director of Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of Small Business and Entrepreneurship. You can also see the rest of the photos by clicking on the image.

If you're a small business (and 85% of all businesses in Massachusetts fit this description) and need ideas, support, guidance or great examples of Innovation, you don't need to look much further than Kendall Square. Where else can you find the density of access to people of interest than here. Kendall PRess hosted the evening to give local neighbors and businesses a 'broad' canal view of the opportunities in our midst. We were joined by Cambridge Police dept, the Marriott, Alexandria Real Estate, the Executive Director of KSA and many others. We used visual imagery, paperNpixels, direct mail and eMail to contact the full membership. Please join us - or call for details. September's event will be an art event just down the street from us. Indeed, the center of the Innovation Economy is right here.
Keith

Labels: business communications, kendall square, Kendall Square Association, paperNpixels

Not your grandfather’s Consul General
Of the 20 employee’s at the office of the British Consulate-General,Boston, 13 are exclusively connected to Trade and Investment; none issue visas– for that you contact a regular office. This is the UK Trade and Investment division and they are not really in Boston, but Cambridge; Kendall Square to be specific.

Here, the UKTI group, like most everyone else in Kendall Square, is focused on science, technology, industry and investment. UK companies provide more than 40,000 jobs in Massachusetts alone.

Little wonder that Governor Duval Patrick, recently returned from a hosted delegation to the UK and Israel was the keynote speaker at the first in a series of conferences hosted by the UK delegation. Dr. Phil Budden, HM Consul General introduced the Governor who spoke warmly about our Education and Innovation infrastructure. Both he and Dr. Budden mentioned Tim Rowe and the Cambridge Innovation Center as a shining light in that infrastructure. A warm welcome was extended to Peter Thier VP Global Business Development of Sagentia which has recently located at the CIC.
The Mass Challenge was mentioned as the world’s largest and most successful business accelerator and London’s tech city was compared to greater Boston’s incubators.


Two panels of companies with business on both sides of the pond; the first included the Governor, RBS/Citizens Bank, Shire Pharmaceuticals and Cambridge Consulting with offices in two Cambridges; one across the street the other across the pond.
A second panel included Enernoc, Flybridge Capitol and Scott Griffith the CEO of Zipcar who talked about regulations on either side of the Atlantic.

Not Your Father’s Printshop.

Have you figured out why Kendall PRess is here? Aside from a similar named printshop in the UK that we have no connection with, we are a citizen of Kendall Square and as such are morphing into the Business Communications Company that meets our clients needs for paper N pixels. Business Communications success goes far beyond websites, conference materials, business cards, and posters. Today, we all need nimble partners.

Except for a brief period of unpleasantries several hundred years ago, the British have always been here and have been a favored partner; Closer to our time zone with an East Coast workday overlap and a shorter commute, they almost speak the same language.

Want more details? Give us a call 617-354-2584.
photos ©2011 KeithSpiroPhotography.com
courtesy of Kendall-Press.

Labels: British consulate Boston, business communications, paperNpixels