Baltimore Innovation Week 2015 Program & Magazine by Brian Kirk

BALTIMOREINNOVATIONWEEK.COM SEPT. 25 – OCT. 3 #BIW15 • a weeklong celebration of technology and innovation in baltimore Organized by

INSIDE DOWNTOWN’S TECH REVIVAL >> PAGE 19

FULL CALENDAR INSIDE FEATURING MORE THAN

TECH EVENTS

Baltimore’s new startup district UNDER ARMOUR’S GRAND PLANS FOR PORT COVINGTON / P. 5 MEET THE MICA GRADS REMIXING 3D PRINTERS / P. 6 THIS WILL CHANGE YOUR MIND ABOUT ROBOTS / P. 8 #BIW15 HIGHLIGHTS HUGE kickoff at Power Plant Live! • Beta City with City Garage • Steve Case Rise of the Rest tour • Dev classes and founder bootcamps • Digital marketing and health IT conferences • and more!

Welcome

table of contents Page 05 5 most popular stories / City Garage’s grand plans

A Letter From The Organizers

Page 06 MICA grads’ 3D printing startup

It’s been a big year.

Page 07 Baltimore’s pet-loving Twitter bot Page 08 How robots are helping people with disabilities Page 10 Code of conduct Page 11 BIW2015 Calendar More than 50 events! Page 18 Downtown rising

COVER STORY

Page 21 BIW2015 Sponsors Page 22 BIW2015 Partners Page 23 #BIW15 Innovation Crawl Page 24 Innovation Mapped

Baltimore Innovation Week bui l ding a commun it y of innovation University of Maryland BioPark is Baltimore’s most innovative work place for emerging startups to high-growth technology companies. The BioPark community is teeming with entrepreneurs and executives building smart companies and fostering strong collaborations. Visit us on Civic Day. See details on baltimoreinnovationweek.com.

about

In the months since Baltimore Innovation Week 2014, the city has landed full-force in the national spotlight. The death of Freddie Gray and the protests that followed offered ample opportunity to reflect: About the pressing issues of injustice and poverty — and about what technology and entrepreneurship can be doing to make Baltimore a better city for all of us. As we kick off the fourth annual Baltimore Innovation Week, it’s with an eye toward impact. Technical.ly has always been about technology as a means to an end. It’s in the tag line: “Better cities through technology.” In Baltimore lately, that includes the stuff explicitly aimed at this (the Hack for Diversity and Social Justice hackathon, for instance), but — excitingly — it also includes the other stuff: The big OrderUp acquisition that creates a new generation of angel investors. The expansion of Under Armour’s innovation infrastructure into Port Covington. The continuing conversations about making Baltimore’s tech sector more inviting to women and people of color. As you forge new connections at #BIW15, keep this in mind: It’s a collective effort, this better city-building business. This magazine and program serves as your guide to plotting a course. It’s here to help you get involved with and learn more about the people creating solutions for Charm City and beyond. It’s a starting point for doing your part, and creating impact of your own.

baltimoreinnovationweek.com Baltimore Innovation Week 2015 is the fourth annual celebration of technology and innovation in the region. The week is organized by local technology news organization Technical.ly Baltimore, in collaboration with more than 70 partners. Special thanks to Emerging Technology Center Executive Director Deb Tillett, Zest Social Media CEO Andrew Rose and Greater Baltimore Creative Alliance Executive Director Jeannie Howe.

Earnestly, Zack Seward, Editor-in-Chief, and the entire Technical.ly Baltimore team

technical.ly/baltimore Technical.ly Baltimore is a leading local technology news and events organization. It publishes daily content that covers entrepreneurship, access, policy and other ways cities are improving through technology. Its sister publications are in Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Delaware and Washington, D.C. DESIGN AND PRINTING Red Flag Media LOGO AND WEBSITE Jarvus Innovations COVER PHOTO of Power Plant Live! near

umbiopark.com • /umbiopark

the Baltimore Inner Harbor. Photo from the Cordish Companies.

Left to right: Kate Leshko, Cary Betagole, Peter Erickson, Christopher Wink, Zack Seward, Catherine Sontag and Brian James Kirk. (Not pictured: Stephen Babcock, Hilary Geisbert and Alisha Miranda.)

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News Our 5 most trafficked stories since #BIW14 These are the pieces you liked best.

Part of the complex in 2011. (Mark Zimin/Flickr Creative Commons)

This drone footage • of Baltimore is breathtaking A slick video (shot in super high-res 4K) touring the city’s landmarks from above. With 56,000 pageviews and counting, this story was a big-time fan favorite.

City Garage’s grand plans This isn’t about selling workout shirts.

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Surveillance blimp • takes flight over Baltimore When the Army launched a giant white blimp just before the end of 2014, people wanted to know what in tarnation was that thing in the sky. Now they know.

Here’s drone footage of Baltimore after this week’s snowstorm This drone video was a (breathtaking) follow-up by the same filmmaker as above. Eerie night-shots after a major snowstorm? What’s not to like?

CLEAR, the 4G internet service, is sending out shutdown notices Sprint announced in May that CLEAR would be no more, and customers were not happy about it.

This awesome 3D map visualizes Baltimore in 1815 Thanks to UMBC researchers, you can now explore 2.5 billion pixels of early Baltimore. Lots of people did.

by STEPHEN BABCOCK

ort Covington is about to get its very own creation these days. Main Street. Within a former city bus ga“We looked at the existing entrepreneurial ecosysrage on Dickman Street, a massive hallway tem in the region and saw a need to support earlyis envisioned as one of the prime spaces to stage companies in this sector,” he said. get a snapshot of innovation and entrepreCosta wasn’t ready to name tenants as we were neurship in Baltimore city. putting the magazine to bed. Even Under Armour, Clear glass windows will look onto a 20,000which was initially slated to have space for its innosquare-foot makerspace in one area. Another will vation operations in the building, wasn’t confirmed. house a food incubator. Elsewhere, if all goes ac“The City Garage project will move forward indecording to plan, a team of NASA engineers will be pendent of a direct presence from Under Armour,” 3D-printing aerospace parts. Costa said. The windows open, and the space has few dividThe Sagamore team is being selective because ers, lending a sense of connectivity. High ceilings they can, but also because of the community they provide openness. Vehicles can even drive in and out. want to build. They want tenants that will help others “It will also serve as an amazing space for events,” in the building with what they make, strengthen the said Demian Costa. community and get attention for Baltimore. Costa, the managing partner of Sagamore VenThere’s also a requirement that manufacturing tures, was entrusted to carry out the vision of Under and assembly happens onsite. Armour founder Kevin Plank, who owns the building Take the makerspace. Costa said the goal was to and most of the rest of Port Covington. hire the operator locally. The 20,000-square-foot But as the project comes together, it’s increasspace will have a membership model. The space will ingly apparent that it’s more about have a kiln, as well as tools to melt, Baltimore than selling sports apparel. forge and cut metal. Fabric and wood“Our goal is absolutely to build a working are also planned. community around innovation and “Our goal is to allow for a wide varimanufacturing,” Costa said. “City Gaety of uses to accommodate as many Check out City Garage rage is a stepping stone to what we different types of makers as possible,” for yourself at the hope will become a thriving commuCosta said. close of our Beta City event during #BIW15. nity of makers and innovators.” Members of the makerspace will Details on Page 16. While Under Armour has been pullalso be involved in outreach for working together plans for an expanded force develop, ensuring that the space campus and flagship store, Costa has been hitting helps the community and economic development. the pavement in Baltimore to talk to entrepreneurs, “The bottom line is that we are very selectively manufacturers and, yes, even some engineers. In building a community which that will help to elevate them, he sees a connection to the city’s manufacturthe brand of City Garage and move forward our exing past, and the innovation economy that officials isting efforts to grow manufacturing in the region,” acknowledge is driving a sizable part of the city’s job Costa said.

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How a local dev is helping pets find homes After a conversation at Baltimore Data Day, civic hacker Ryan J. Smith built a Twitter-powered solution for the city’s crowded animal shelters.

Want to hit a fabrication event? Try Makespace 2015, details on Page 12.

Reimagining 3D printing Can Baltimore hang onto the MICA grads behind jimmi research? // by JASON TASHEA

mong the ray guns and fictional planets that make up the 1950s futurism of Baltimore’s Lost City Diner sat Harrison Tyler. With slightly disheveled, dirty blond hair and wire-rimmed glasses, Tyler’s earnestness and professional demeanor belie his 23 years. Tyler, along with partner Evan Roch, operate jimmi research, a Baltimore-based 3D printer company that also runs workshops on how to build and maintain the devices. It’s a unique trajectory for two individuals with sculpture degrees from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA).

“It started in Intro to Digital Fabrication at MICA,” said Tyler. The course turned their arts education into something else. For now at least (more on that later), the guys behind jimmi are part of the growing ranks of Baltimore maker — tinkerers and designers toying with 3D printing and other technologies that are democratizing the world of manufacturing. For Tyler and Roch’s commencement show, they presented their first 3D printer. Immediately after the show they we invited by MICA professor Ryan Hoover to run their first workshop. “It was a crash course in micro-manufacturing,”

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Tyler recalled. “It was crazy and super stressful, but we were hooked on that.” The jimmi model is simple: Tyler and Roch manufacture the pieces required to build a 3D printer and then host workshops where participants pay for the printer parts and to learn how to build, use, modify and maintain their new machines. Since the initial workshop a year ago, jimmi has hosted three more in Maryland and one in Florida, where Tyler went to high school. Each workshop has been an opportunity to test the newest iteration of their printer. Through this process, the pair have garnered insight into what they suspect is a sustainable business model. Neither Tyler or Roch are Maryland natives, though Tyler likes the idea of building jimmi in Baltimore. “I feel like there is something brewing in Baltimore around the design community,” he said. “I’m hoping that this up-and-coming design community will be as great and as big as the arts community here.”

Tyler also fawns over the low cost of living and cheap studio space that Baltimore offers. However, as they build out their business plan, they are looking for very specific support. “For everything that we need, which includes business advice and fabrication facilities, there is nowhere that embodies everything,” Tyler said. Currently, Tyler and Roch are part-time employees at MICA’s Digital Fabrication Studio. This allows them access to the tools they need to manufacture printer parts. However, these yearlong positions run out soon and with it access to the lab. For the pair, purchasing a $50,000 laser cutter is out of the question, and they are not enamored with their local choices. Tyler laments that the options he’s seen are not cost effective nor are they built for scaling. When asked about the value of the coming maker spaces in Baltimore, like Open Works, Tyler was visibly excited. “We’d go there in a heart beat,” Tyler said of the massive new makerspace coming to Station North. “That would be perfect for us. It’s the most affordable way for us to get access to the machines we need.” Unfortunately, Open Works is about a year a way from operating and that doesn’t work for their project’s timeline. Tyler rues their current moment. “It’s frustrating, we have to jump through a lot of hoops to find any solutions right now.” Even with those frustrations, jimmi continues to host new workshops, here and in other states. If it can continue to grow as part of Baltimore’s swelling maker movement remains to be seen.

Baltimore’s always-crowded animal shelters are always looking for people to adopt a pet. Now a new Twitter account is getting the word out about what furry friends are available. @CutePetsBaltimore is a Twitter bot that processes animal shelter data to show pets that are currently up for adoption at BARCS and the Baltimore Humane Society. More shelters could be added soon. The Twitter account is the direct result of a panel on civic tech at July’s Baltimore Data Day. Moderator Sharon Paley presented a few ideas on creative uses of data, including @CutePetsDenver. Panelist Ryan J. Smith, who spoke that day about his BmoreMapped project, lamented with Paley afterwards that Baltimore didn’t have a similar idea. So he woke up the next morning and started to build an account for Baltimore. “I went out Sunday afternoon and bought a Raspberry Pi to run my bot on,” Smith said. “Then in the evenings from Monday to Wednesday I sat down and wrote the code to run the bot.” Less than a week later, and it was live. Smith built the bot using a Python script that fetches shelter data from the animal adoption website Petango, then formats it into tweets. “As far as I know, Petango doesn’t have an API for providing nicely formatted data, so my script scrapes the page and manually parses out the relevant data,” Smith said. He’s using the Raspberry Pi to host the bot, which he said is a “cheap, low-cost, low-energy” alternative to servers like Heroku. In case anyone from another city wants to add to the cuddly CutePets empire, Smith put the script on GitHub. —Stephen Babcock

Dogs awaiting adoption at BARCS in 2013. (Brian George/Flickr Creative Commons)

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Robots are good Kavita Krishnaswamy can’t leave the house, but she is increasingly experiencing the world // by KEISHA REED Kavita Krishnaswamy traveled all over the world in 2015, attending events like CES in Las Vegas and the Mobile World Congress in Spain. Thing is, she was able to visit those industry gatherings without leaving her Columbia, Md., home. This has been possible with the help of Beam, a telepresence device that allows her to experience events around the world. (Her travels to the Seattle Art Museum were even covered by CNN.) According to Krishnaswamy, who lives with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), Beam is just one way we can use technology to help people with disabilities achieve greater independence. At a recent Refresh Baltimore event, Krishnaswamy told her story, making the case for how robots will help people with disabilities. One in five American adults, some 53 million people, live with a disability, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released in July. An estimated 24 million of those have severe disabilities. While many of those are in longterm care, Krishnaswamy believes they can live by themselves and thrive professionally. How can people with severe physical disabilities live by themselves? Krishnaswamy presented three demo types that will assist in improving the quality of life for people living with severe disabilities: the

wearable sling, the motorized commode chair and the “piano lifter.” Krishnaswamy wanted to impart on the audience that everyone can be an advocate for individuals with physical disabilities. Here are four ways to do so: • Foster diversity. Help spread the message and advance inclusion. • Emphasize abilities. Use empowering language: “people with disabilities” instead of “disabled people.” • Increase accessibility. It will help improve the quality of life for all. • Embrace technology. With technology like Beam and other remote devices, you can help promote independence. Krishnaswamy is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Born with SMA, she was unable to leave her home for her studies and has movement in only one finger. Last December, she defended her thesis on robotic aids for people with disabilities, using the Beam robot.

Want to see robots? Check out “Robopalooza” event details on Page 13.

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baltimore innovation week is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, or religion. We do not tolerate harassment of conference participants in any form.

Our pledge doesn’t stem from any specific incident. Instead, this call for civility and inclusion comes from a desire to welcome more people and perspectives into the Baltimore technology community. // by CATHERINE SONTAG

Baltimore Innovation Week, the annual open calendar of events celebrating technology and innovation in the Baltimore region, is here! We’ve organized more than 50 events and are expecting thousands of attendees this year. But it’s always important to start things off right. That’s why the first thing we’re highlighting is the Code of Conduct. We’re asking all event organizers and attendees to abide by it. The pledge doesn’t stem from any specific incidents. In fact, the Baltimore tech community has a fairly strong reputation for striving to be inclusive, but the technology sector nationally still has a reputation for being something of a monochromatic boys club. Most specifically, the goal of having this Code is to let us all think about the goal of having a big week of events crammed together: to give attention to worthy people and pursuits, and to serve as an entry point for new people in our community. We should all be particularly interested in bringing new voices into the conversation that we’re all working to strengthen. A more equitable future for our city and country depends on it. Here is our Baltimore Innovation Week Code of Conduct:

o f

All communication should be appropriate for a professional audience including people of many different backgrounds. Sexual language and imagery is not appropriate for any conference venue, including talks. Be kind to others. Do not insult or put down other attendees. Behave professionally. Remember that harassment and sexist, racist or exclusionary jokes are not appropriate for Baltimore Innovation Week. Attendees violating these rules may be asked to leave events without a refund at the sole discretion of the conference organizers.

Startup Grind Baltimore Presents Christopher Wink 5:00pm– 8:30pm @ ETC Haven Campus, 101 N Haven St., 3rd Floor - $11 (Startup Grind Baltimore)

Join the Startup Grind Baltimore chapter for an evening of conversation with Christopher Wink, a cofounder of Technical.ly Baltimore and co-organizer of Baltimore Innovation Week. We’ll be meeting at the ETC Haven Campus for networking and a fireside chat. TRACKS4

ACCESS BUSINESS CIVIC

CRE ATIVE DE V MEDIA

Baltimore Innovation Week 2016 will take place September 23 – October 1, 2016

Thursday, September 24

our Code of Conduct

tracks

Friday, September 25 Innovation Crawl @ Starting at Betamore, 1111 Light t - Free (Technical.ly)

Join us for an evening walk through Downtown Baltimore where we’ll visit a handful of local innovation hubs and startups that are opening their doors. Finish the crawl at our Kickoff Festival with The Gathering at Power Plant Live! Check out the website for a detailed agenda for the crawl and the most up to date list of stops! TRACKS4

ADEPM

Saturday, September 26 2015 Battle O’ Baltimore FIRST Robotics Competition 8:00am–4:00pm @ McDonogh School, 8600 McDonogh Rd, Owings Mills, MD - Free (Baltimore Area Alliance)

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics creates opportunities for students to engage in hands-on engineering, work on a team and have a fun time doing it. Last season there were 600 teams in Maryland involving students ages 6-18. TRACKS4

O f f ic ia l

#biW15 K ic k o f f !

Kickoff Festival with The Gathering Friday, September 25 • 5:00pm–10:00pm @ Power Plant Live, 34 Market Place - Free (Technical.ly, The Gathering)

Celebrate technology and innovation at the Baltimore Innovation Week kickoff event! For the third year, Baltimore Innovation Week is partnering with The Gathering food truck coalition to kick off the week with an outdoor festival. Come hungry! There will be food trucks, entertainment, cool tech to play with and more! TRACKS4

ADEPM

Thank you for helping make this a welcoming, friendly event for all.

This Code of Conduct was forked from PyCon’s Code of Conduct Policy, which is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

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The Innovator’s Small Business Summit 9:00am–1:00pm @ Reginald F. Lewis Museum, 830 E Pratt Street - Free (The Office of District 7 Councilman Nick Mosby, I Am O’Kah! Inc.)

The Innovator’s Small Business Summit is focused on strengthening Baltimore communities that have a long-standing history of economic injustice and low investment in entrepreneurial development. The event features powerful panel discussions with investors and locally based entrepreneurs that have successfully built national and international brand names. TRACKS4

technology conference that provides attendees with a unique combination of deep-dive, hands-on tech workshops; information and discussions about careers in tech and how to pursue them; and connection and networking opportunities with other women in various aspects and careers in technology. The Women in Tech Summit knows that working in tech is not just about coding but about all aspects of careers in technology. The conference works to bring together women in many different types of careers in tech and at every level from students to senior executives. TRACKS4

DEP

MakeScape 2015

EPM

The Women in Tech Summit 9:00am–5:00pm @ University of Baltimore 11 West Mt. Royal Avenue - $35-75

The Women in Tech Summit is the only women in

10:00am–4:00pm @ Open Works, 1400 Greenmount Avenue (Baltimore Arts Realty Corp.) - Free

The 1st annual MakeScape will celebrate the construction kick off for Open Works, a facility that will offer fabrication workshops, classrooms, and small

studios for artists, craftspeople, and makers. MakeScape will feature an exciting preview of Open Works’ capabilities: tours, drones, electric vehicles, robots, 3D printers, along with furniture, jewelry and art vendors, kinetic sculptures, kid’s activities, maker workshops, job-training programs, and Baltimore’s tastiest eats! TRACKS4

TECHxLADIES Happy Hour 5:00pm–8:00pm @ Brewer’s Art, 1106 N Charles St - Free (Lesbians Who Tech Baltimore & The Women in Tech Summit)

Join the ladies of the Women In Tech Summit and Lesbians Who Tech as we celebrate estrogen in the tech industry! Libations a’plenty, nerdy conversations, networking, and new gal pals await! TRACKS4

Continental Bridge 30 years of Cultural Exchange

Made in Baltimore Pop Up Shop Closing Party!

Rise of the Rest: Pitch Competition

12:00pm–8:00pm @ Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave - Free (Baltimore-Rotterdam Sister City Committee)

7:00pm–10:00pm @ Made in Baltimore Pop Up Shop, 16 W. North Avenue- Free (Industrial Arts Collective)

In 2015, Baltimore celebrates the 30 year anniversary of its sister city relationships with Xiamen in China and Rotterdam in the Netherlands. An art exhibit at Baltimore’s Creative Alliance will commemorate the anniversary. On September 26, there will be a celebratory day of workshops and performances. The exhibit opens in the evening with a reception.

The Industrial Arts Collective, an open, collaborative network of Baltimore makerspaces, maker educators, and small manufacturers, is sponsoring a pop up shop featuring locally-made products at 16 W. North Avenue from August 8th-September 26th. Join us for the closing party on Friday, September 25th to meet our member-makers and enjoy some local beers!

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Sunday, September 27 ROBOPALOOZA 12:00pm–5:00pm @ Baltimore City Robotics Center, 1001 W. Pratt St. - Free (Baltimore Robotics Center, FutureMakers, MAGFest)

A hands-on robotics and creative technologies experience for families and competitive robotics enthusiasts! Perfect for families with children of all ages that curious about the world of competitive robotics, and students who want to get their pre-roboticsseason game on! Drive the Robotics Center house VEX ‘bots, explore and build with Lego Mindstorms, build a drawbot to take home, and play classic robotinspired video games! TRACKS4

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Bootstrappers Breakfast Crowdfunding for Startups: Do’s and Don’ts 8:00am @ Marie Louise Bistro, 904 N. Charles Street - Free (Bootstrappers Breakfast)

The Baltimore Bootstrapper’s Breakfast is excited to make its return during Baltimore Innovation Week. Our next meeting, hosted on Monday, 9/28, at Marie Louise Bistro, will feature guest speaker Paige Cantlin, who will discuss community fundraising for startups.

During the stop in Baltimore, the Rise of the Rest tour will be hosting a $100,000 Pitch Competition Event and Fireside Chat Interview with Revolution CEO Steve Case. Join us to celebrate startups in Baltimore and hear from some of the most creative entrepreneurs in the city! TRACKS4

Drone Technology Showcase

Monday, September 28

TRACKS4

4:00pm- 6:00pm @ The Baltimore Museum of Industry, 1415 Key Hwy - Free (Rise of the Rest Tour)

5:00pm- 8:00pm @ AOL Roof Deck, 3700 O’Donnell Street - Free (Elevated Element & Aerial Array)

Aerial Array & Elevated Element are proud to present the 2015 Drone Technology Showcase during Baltimore Innovation Week. Join us on the roof of the new AOL building in Brewers Hill as we demo some of our latest developments including 2D mapping, 3D scanning, Virtual Reality Environments as well as Commercial Video. TRACKS4

Rise of the Rest: Startup Celebration 6:00pm @ The Baltimore Museum of Industry, 1415 Key Hwy - Free (Rise of the Rest Tour)

Join the Revolution team, partners, local leaders, and

T U E S DAY

SEPT 29

Marketing, media and public relations have changed dramatically in the digital age. Hear from leading experts who are not only responding to the change but helping to shape it.

MEDIA

M O N DAY

SEPT 28

CIVIC

CON F E R E NCE DAY

Business leaders, politicians, civil servants and citizens will meet to discuss social enterprise, the creative class and technology’s economic impact.

#SocEnt Breakfast 9:00am–11:00am @ University of Maryland BioPark, 10 E North Ave - Free (SocEnt)

SocEnt Breakfast is a forum and platform for idea sharing, resource exchange and connecting among Baltimore’s social entrepreneurs, nonprofit and civic leaders, community advocates, grant-makers, and mission investors.

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Health & Sciences Lunchtime Roundtable 11:30am–1:00pm @ University of Maryland BioPark, 801 W. Baltimore Street - Invite Only (Technical.ly)

How do we work together to ensure Baltimore’s vibrant health and sciences community continues to grow, innovate and thrive? Participate in an intimate lunch with a curated group of entrepreneurs, investors, policy makers, academics and leaders to discuss plans for the future and steps to get there. Email events@technical.ly to request invitation.

Switch Baltimore 1:00pm–4:00pm @ University of Maryland BioPark, 801 W. Baltimore Street - Free (Technical.ly)

Interested in the trends in health and sciences focused around the Baltimore region? Join us for Switch Baltimore on Monday, Sept 28th as we “switch” up the conversation and focus on the future of Health & Science IT. This will include demo pitches following a panel on industry trends.

The Future of Digital Marketing Conference 2:00pm–6:00pm @ Single Carrot Theatre, 2600 N Howard St - $75 (Technical.ly)

*Media Conference Day This half-day event will focus on digital trends that marketers, agencies, content producers, and startups need to know. Thought leaders will walk us through marketing challenges— and how to solve them.

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Steve Case for a Happy Hour Startup Celebration. The celebration will be an opportunity to network with others in the local, entrepreneurial ecosystem, meet the Rise of the Rest partners and Revolution team, and learn more about how you can become involved with startups in town. TRACKS4

community resources to reach a self-sufficient life. Ideate new technologies that help 2-1-1 Maryland / United Way Helpline empower thousands of people in need. TRACKS4

6:00pm–8:00pm @ Henderson-Hopkins Elementary School, 2100 Ashland Ave. - Free (United Way of Central Maryland)

Join the 2-1-1 Innovation Lab reimagine how technology can better connect Central Maryland families to

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Heart-Centered Branding Workshop for Nonprofits

Tuesday, September 29

211 Design Challenge: Technology to Connect People to Health and Human Resources

software startups in the world.

Get Your First 1,000 Users 8:30am–10:30am @ Betamore, 1111 Light Street - $35 (Betamore)

Get Your First 1,000 Users is an intensive two-hour workshop that teaches early-stage startup founders how to grow rapidly using the same systems and strategies pioneered by some of the most successful

10:30am–12:30pm @ Enoch Pratt Free Library Central Branch, 400 Cathedral Street - Free (Enoch Pratt Free Library)

Before you start redesigning your website, posting, tweeting, blogging and pinning, make sure you are clear on the relationship you are trying to develop with your audiences. Join Kate Purcell and Gayle Carney of Pulse Forward in this interactive and engaging workshop. You’ll walk away with concrete communication strategies you can use in your organization right away. TRACKS4

Data for Nonprofits: Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance 1:00pm–2:00pm @ Enoch Pratt Free Library Central Branch, 400 Cathedral Street - Free (Enoch Pratt Free Library)

Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance’s Vital Signs provides a unique opportunity for anyone to learn about Baltimore though its data. Learn how to enhance projects and research with local community-level data at this one-hour event. TRACKS4

3:00pm- 6:00pm @ University of Baltimore’s Gordon Plaza, 1420 North Charles St Free (University of Baltimore’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation & Startup Maryland)

Come join us for food, free beer, and fun, engaging conversations with some of Maryland’s thriving entrepreneurs. Attendees will also have the chance to practice their business pitch in front of an entrepreneurial panel and have it recorded for YouTube on the Startup Maryland tour bus.

6:00pm–9:30pm @ MICA - Falvey Hall, 1300 W. Mt. Royal Avenue - $6

Ignite is a series of speedy presentations focused on ideas and topics to make Baltimore better. Presenters get 20 slides, which automatically advance every 15 seconds. The result is a fast and fun presentation which lasts just 5 minutes.

ADEPM

Salesforce Tutorial & Free Tech Help Session for Nonprofits! W E DNE S DAY

SEPT 30

DEV

C ON F E RE NCE DAY

Whether you’re new to programming or wanting to sharpen your skills, this conference will include intermediate and beginner workshops

6:00pm–9:00pm @ Loyola University in Colombia, 8890 McGaw Road, Columbia, MD - Free (Techies for Good)

All Dev Conference Day Events @ Groove, 415 S Central Ave

Dev Intro Workshops 8:30am–12:00pm - $60 (Technical.ly)

Whether you’re new to programming or wanting to sharpen your skills, the Dev Day Intro Workshops are perfect for you. Workshops will be focused around today’s most used languages and programs.

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Dev Talks 12:30pm–5:30pm - $30 (Technical.ly)

Join us for an afternoon of high-level dev talks focused around problem solving and innovative solutions. You’ll hear from over 10 dev experts talking about real world scenarios and the tools they’re using.

Dev conference After Party 6:00pm–8:00pm - Free (Technical.ly)

Grab a beer and wind down after a day of dev-focused workshops and presentations. Network with fellow developers, enthusiasts and more!

We’ll have Kripa Kripanandan from Salesforce do a 30-45 minute tutorial around Salesforce, which offers a free CRM product (for managing, organizing and reporting data) to many nonprofits. TRACKS4

Each family will get to make their own Galaxy Bot using simple electronic components and household items. Your Galaxy Bot will then be used to create Spin Art and Light Paintings! TRACKS4

TechBreakfast 8:00am–10:00am @ DLA Piper LLP, 6225 Smith Avenue - Free

Interact with your peers in a monthly morning breakfast meetup. At this monthly breakfast get-together techies, developers, designers, and entrepreneurs share learn from their peers through show and tell / show-case style presentations. TRACKS4

Mid-Atlantic Marketing Summit

This summit is the region’s premier event in marketing, technology, communications and media. This one-day event will bring together over 300 marketing and communications executives to discuss highlevel issues through a series of panels, keynotes, presentations and networking. TRACKS4

Quizzical Conversations: Education and Access in Baltimore and Beyond 6:00pm– 8:00pm @ ETC Haven Campus, 101 N. Haven Street - Free (NewsUp)

Quizzical Conversations is NewsUp’s video show and podcast that highlights key current events topics in a fun and conversational format. Hosted by award-winning journalist and radio personality Sam Gallant, the BIW panel will feature Baltimore City teacher Joe La Bella, EdTech Entrepreneur Jess Gartner, and Senator Bill Ferguson to discuss the perils and successes of public education in the city, the role of technology in the classroom, and ways the public and private

refer to baltimoreinnovationweek.com for the most up-to-date details, including accurate locations and timing for each event. You can also bookmark events and RSVP via the website.

sector can work together to drive meaningful change for the future of education in Baltimore and beyond. TRACKS4

YNPN’s Baltimore’s Got Talent 6:00pm–9:00pm @ University of Baltimore, John and Frances Angelos Law Center, 1401 N Charles St. - $20-25 (Young Nonprofit Profit Professionals Network)

Young Nonprofit Profit Professionals Network (YNPN), Baltimore is a networking and professional development organization committed to providing fun, educational, and social opportunities for young professionals in the nonprofit sector. Baltimore’s Got Talent is our annual general body meeting and the theme for this year is talent acquisition and talent retention in Baltimore. TRACKS4

EPM

Thursday, October 1 Got your eye on MII?

8:00am–5:30pm @ Pier 5 Hotel, 711 Eastern Avenue - $199 (Capitol Communicator, Potomac Techwire)

IgniteBaltimore

TRACKS4

7:00pm–9:00pm @ Digital Harbor Foundation, 1045 Light St. - Free (Digital Harbor Foundation)

Wednesday, September 30

Startup Maryland Pitch Across Maryland Rally

TRACKS4

Family Make Night: Galaxy Bots

8:30am–11:30am @ Johns Hopkins University Free (TEDCO)

Learn the ins and outs of the Maryland Innovation Initiative(MII), TEDCO’s funding program that is designed to foster the transition of promising technologies with significant commercial potential from Maryland’s research universities. The attendees will hear from the MII team and its Site Miners, “champions” who work closely with applicants during the submission process. For more information on the MII program, please visit www.tedco.md TRACKS4

Get Found University Online Marketing 9:00am–12:30pm @ University of Baltimore Merrick School of Business, 11 W. Mt. Royal Ave. - $80-125, Students Free (Get Found)

Get Found University is an educational summit in Baltimore. For one day, business owners and marketing professionals come together to hear from some of the great marketing masterminds on everything digital. TRACKS4

Social Media for Nonprofits 1:00pm–2:30pm @ Enoch Pratt Free Library Central Branch, 400 Cathedral Street - Free (Enoch Pratt Free Library)

Are you a newly-started nonprofit looking for a great social media strategy? Are you a volunteer put in charge of your organization’s social media and don’t know where to start? Learn the basics of Facebook and Twitter and hear about some of the other sites that nonprofits are using to spread information and

T E C H N I C A L . LY / B A LT I M O R E • B A LT I M O R E I N N O VA T I O N W E E K . C O M

Innovative vision. Solid footing.

raise awareness. Find which social media sites are the best for your organization’s message and how to use them to your advantage. TRACKS4

Beta City 1:00pm– 10:30pm @ Betamore, 1111 Light St., 4th Floor & City Garage, 101 W. Dickman St. - $65175 (Betamore, Technical.ly, Plank Industries, Startup Maryland)

On October 1, 2015, Betamore, Plank Industries, Startup Maryland and Technical.ly Baltimore present Beta City: an annual event that brings together Baltimore’s greatest minds for a full day of live pitches, startup demos and a celebration of our growing community. Join us as we recognize and publicly tout the people and companies who are working to build, uplift and move Baltimore and Maryland forward as a global destination for entrepreneurship. TRACKS4

ADEPM

Schedule of Events 1:00pm – 3:30pm Venture Capital Pitch Day (@Betamore) 3:30pm – 5:00pm VIP event at City Garage: Private tour & demos with tech companies 5:00pm – 6:30pm Event opens (@City Garage) 6:30pm – 7:00pm Awards Ceremony 7:00pm – 8:00pm Networking 8:00pm – 10:30pm Music + Merrymaking

FRIDAY

OCT 2

BUSINESS CON FERENC E D AY

Entrepreneur Boot Camp 10:30am–12:30pm @ Spark Baltimore, 8 Market Place - $25 (Technical.ly)

Geared towards early stage entrepreneurs, this fast paced boot camp will feature experts ready to teach you the basics of starting your business.

Participate in targeted business bootcamps for early stage entrepreneurs, get hands-on advice from experts and learn from local leaders on their biggest mistakes and what they’ve learned.

Lunch&Learn: Workshop Your Business 12:30pm–4:00pm @ Spark Baltimore, 8 Market Place - $50 (Technical.ly)

*Business Conference Day When starting a business, there’s usually not a lot of money, but a ton of questions. Wish you could hire a consultant or expert to help you perfect your business without a big paycheck? These Lunch&Learn workshops are perfect for the early stage business owner looking to get specific feedback and advice for their business.

Saturday, October 3 Code in the Schools 3rd Annual Game Jam

Baltimore’s History of Computer Gaming 5:00pm @ The Baltimore Museum of Industry, 1415 Key Hwy - Free (ETC)

Mark the one year anniversary of the BMI exhibit “Baltimore Video Game Wizards” with Sid Meier; see how it all started. TRACKS4

8:00am–8:00pm @ Centre Theater, 10 East North Avenue - Free (Code in the Schools)

Stop playing video games and start making them! Code in the Schools’ Annual Game Jam is a one-day event where youth 5th grade through 12th grade work in teams to create an original video game in less than 12 hours! Teams will have one day to work on their games and our panel of expert judges will award prizes in the evening. TRACKS4

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ADP

Saul Ewing’s technology and manufacturing attorneys have walked in the same shoes as our clients. We understand the value of hard work, a powerful idea and strategic counsel, and are committed to helping our clients find the path to success.

#FailFest 4:00pm–6:00pm @ Spark Baltimore, 8 Market Place - $10 (Technical.ly)

*Business Conference Day In this off-the-cuff, unfiltered and unapologetic event, we’ll hear from a variety of speakers about their past failure(s) and what they’ve learned along the way. Sometimes it takes a lot of failed attempts before you get to that one-in-amillion idea that will launch you to success.

www.saul.com ADAM F. KELSON, PRACTICE CHAIR JACQUELINE L. BROOKS

DELAWARE

MARYLAND

GIANNA J. ARNOLD SHERRY H. FLAX

500 East Pratt Street, Suite 900, Baltimore, MD. 21202 410.332.8600 MASSACHUSETTS NEW JERSEY NEW YORK PENNSYLVANIA

Converse: Designing with Mobile Devices 9:30am–11:00am @ Red Emma’s, 30 W North Ave - AIGA Members: Free, Non-Members: $10 (AIGA Baltimore)

How do designers use mobile devices to collaborate on design with clients or co-workers? Join us on Saturday, October 3, at Red Emma’s for an invigorating Baltimore Innovation Week edition of Converse where we’ll chat about design apps for mobile devices. Discover new tips, tricks, and trends to help you in your daily design and tech life in this morning Converse moderated by graphic designer and illustrator Gregory Jericho. TRACKS4

KATHRYN L. HICKEY ERIC G. ORLINSKY

SECURE THE INSIDE

TO BE COME AN OWL, CONTAC T C AR E E R S@ R E D OWLANALY T I CS.COM

ANDREW H. SEGALL ADAM S. ZARREN

WASHINGTON, DC

Startups disrupt downtown A new crop of startups are breathing life into what was once a tech deadzone. by STEPHEN BABCOCK

The first resurgence of downtown Baltimore was built on tourism with anchors like Hard Rock Cafe. Nearby Power Plant Live!, another downtown property owned by the Cordish Companies, is adding a hub of tech startups to its bar scene

good to begin to see more of a mix of activity happening all day long,” said Cangialosi. As Jason Hardebeck, another tech community leader, put it, “Most people had no idea there was an office building back there.” At least in the Power Plant, that change can be partially traced to the Cordish Company. The Baltimorebased development firm that owns plenty of splashy real estate, including Power Plant Live!, has office space in the buildings around the entertainment complex. Recently, they were hearing from smaller companies, and began designing space that’s geared toward startups. “What we learned is that when these companies started finding us, we started to notice a trend in what they were looking for,” said Cordish Development Director Alex Fine. The two floors of 8 Market Place have open workspace and shorter-term leases. In the fall, Cordish is opening more offices and coworking space to the third floor, where DreamIt Health was located over the winter. Called Spark, the 20,000-square-foot space will have a craft beer bar and fitness room amid offices and suites, along with larger shared areas for meetings and events that are designed to foster collaboration. Being close to restaurants and nightlife doesn’t hurt either, and Cordish can even offer parking.

CENTRAL LOCATION

American Technology Services was drawn into the fold. The Fairfax, Va.-based IT services firm has ut beyond the amenities, startup founders been around since 1994, but just opened an office in Technical.ly Baltimore asked also said they Baltimore in the high-rise at 250 W. Pratt St. appreciated the location. CEO Jeff Chandler said the company mainly works Avhana’s Nate Weiner said he appreciatwith government contractors and foundations. Baled the chance to be in the middle of things. timore represented a chance to connect with new “One of my favorite methods of management is clients in distribution and light manuwalking meetings and I love the ability facturing, as well as tap into an attracto walk by the harbor,” he said. “Being tive workforce. downtown also made it easy for our When he was scouting locations employees since it is centrally located with a commercial real estate broker, compared to all the different places Kickoff #BIW15 by Chandler said he looked at Canton, as they live all over the city.” touring downtown well as suburban locations like Towson Subelsky, the Staq cofounder, tech company HQs and then partying and Reistertown. called it “inspiring” to be in an area at Power Plant Live! Ultimately, the firm settled on a with a lot of business activity. with us! Join our location downtown because of its “I’m meeting with very different Innovation Crawl. proximity to transportation like the people from other industries now, on Details on Page 11. interstates and MARC train. a regular basis, just by being central,” “We need to be able to get to proSubelsky said. spective clients easily,” Chandler said. Delali Dzirasa, president of Fearless Solutions For all of the plaudits and seemingly natural fits, and an advisor to Cordish on Spark, cited proximity however, the city’s central business district is someto both CyberPoint and Chick-fil-A as benefits. thing of a new frontier for tech startups. “We wanted a place that we could easily partner Growth of the tech community has mostly cenwith other firms and a central place for commerce, tered around Southeast Baltimore, where the Emergand Spark and downtown Baltimore provide both,” ing Technology Centers (ETC) incubator has been he said. located (whether in Canton or its current Highlandtown space) since 1999, and South Baltimore, where Betamore is located in Federal Hill. “It’s going to be interesting to see the flip-flops bump into the suits,” said ETC President Deb Tillett.

A LITTLE HELP

n a Friday afternoon in June, Staq cofounders James Curran and Mike Subelsky turned over the giant scissors to Greg Cangialosi. Sporting a Staq T-shirt, the tech community leader cut the ribbon on the adtech startup’s new offices. ¶ Located on the fourth floor of a building above 8 Market Place, the ceremony was held one story above a space where DreamIt Health’s Baltimore accelerator program helped six health-focused startups over the winter. ¶ It was a short walk from Cangialosi’s office just a couple of buildings over at MissionTix, the online ticket seller where he has served as CEO for the last two years. For about four years, MissionTix and parent company Mission Media were the only tech-focused businesses in the immediate vicinity. 18

B A LT I M O R E I N N O V A T I O N W E E K . C O M • T E C H N I C A L . LY/ B A LT I M O R E

That has since changed. While leaving Staq, this reporter ran into two of the company’s new neighbors: Noah and Nate Weiner, cofounders of health IT startup Avhana Health. Dressed in button-downs and khakis and carrying work bags, the brothers looked a little out of place amid vendors preparing for that evening’s edition of The Gathering food truck rally. The nightlife typically associated with Power Plant Live! is crossing paths with the startups that are beginning to populate the downtown area. “Traditionally, Power Plant Live! has really only catered to the happy hour and nightlife crowd, so it’s

“Traditionally, Power Plant Live! has really only catered to the happy hour and nightlife crowd, so it’s good to begin to see more of a mix of activity happening all day long.” —greg cangialosi

arger Baltimore-based tech companies like r2integrated and CyberPoint have headquarters on West Pratt Street, but downtown remained relatively unpopulated by startups even as areas like the Bromo District on the western portion of the neighborhood appeared to call out for the kind of “revitalization” that tech communities often bring. “Our sense that we’d gotten over the last couple years from tech in Baltimore was that people weren’t gravitating toward the central core,” said Caroline Peri, director of economic development at the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore. So when it comes time for the companies to picture themselves in this more staid area, the Downtown Partnership provides help. In the fall of 2014, the organization announced the TechConnect program, which provides grants of up to $10,000 to companies that agree to move into the central business district area for at least a year. The program has given grants to six startups so far, all of which are planning to take office space in the 8 Market Place building. Along with money, Peri, Downtown Partnership Director of Economic Development Mackenzie Paull and other staff also help the companies locate space and navigate a commercial real estate process they typically haven’t had experience in.

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