Thanks to all of you who ventured out to Concord for our July Innovation Night event! Special thanks to Isabella Products and the Wheelhouse for hosting us. We’ll be posting links to your #MIN28 Tweets, blog posts, and pictures soon.  Meanwhile, can you find yourself in the crowd here?  We’ll be contacting the winner of the Edible Arrangements New England gift certificate and announcing that in Monday’s newsletter. (You need to be following @DoFruitNE so we can DM you.)  Thanks for tweeting, blogging, posting pictures of all the cool new products from local companies!

Here are some videos of the event:

Experts Corner:

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Antiques Near Me:

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ePowerhouse:

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FamilyID:

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SymTrendADL:

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The Wheelhouse:

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It’s summertime and the Innovation never stops!  Our hosts for our July 13 event (#MIN28) will be Isabella Products and the Wheelhouse at the Bradford Mill in Concord, MA.  We’ve got a great line up too  — products and experts both!  Remember, we’re here to help launch new local products, so here’s what you need to do:

Check out the cool new products (below).  See their websites for more info.

• Vote for the four companies you’d like to see present (below).
• RSVP (easy to do here!)
• Come to our live event on July 13, 6-8:30 pm and blog, tweet, post pictures or videos!

Check out these great new products: and vote (BELOW) for your FOUR favorites to present live: Want to see more about these great products? See our new Innovation Nights website.

• Abroad101
• Antiques Near Me
• ChatTrack from Allfocus
• ePowerhouse – Making Entrepreneurship Better
• FamilyID
• ParkingApp from ParkMe
• SymTrend ADL
• The Sharing Authority SDK
• WASP Audio Technologies
• WHAT NOW??? Evacuation Training Aid

What a truly excellent night!  Great crowd with lots of new faces!  Very nifty new products and cool presentations.  We even had the rare and infrequently spotted sub-5 minute product demo that was so impressive there was a round of spontaneous applause. 

Our first-time hosts, CCR LLP, did a great job setting up their training room to be “Metrowest Innovation Central”, supplied not one but two experts and put out quite a spread for us all.  Their offices, easily seen from route 9, provided plenty of parking and easy access from either route 9 or 495 or the Mass Pike.

Our second-time sponsor, Hyperion Law, contributed more coins to the development fund and did double duty in the Experts Corner, educating one and all about patents.  Super-attorney Cynthia is an entrepreneur too and understands what’s it like in our world.  (Seek her out in Kendall Square’s Cambridge Innovation Center — although we hear she may be making some trips West again real soon! Sounds like we’ll bear some responsibility for her increased gas bills.)

Barb Finer, one of our well connected western wonders (how many of you got an invite directly from Barb?) also made a pitch for more events in the area.  With such a terrific turnout, there’s no reason not to hold more events in the area.  The demand is certainly there.  We even had a couple of reporters turn out!

The #min27 Twitter stream was lively (although, with so many new people, the tag wasn’t widely in use until later in the evening when we did our traditional “Who’s new?”)  Our QR codes were out and being scanned for autotweeting.  (Did you see Fiona decked out in QR codes herself?)  Uber-interns Owen and Chris managed to visit every table so we have footagewith quick clips from every company.  And The Real Masoud contributed a tweet that says it all. (Although, this one is pretty good too.)  Tech Writer Janet provided her usual fantastic roundup (and pictures!)  Check out this story in the Worcester Telegram and Gazette.  And the Bruins won too – we watched from the bar at the after-party.

We’ll be busy collecting coverage over the next couple of days AND setting up for #MIN28.  Here are some videos of the event:

Toursphere:

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Betterscape:

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Experts Corner:

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Hyperion Law:

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PostPost:

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Social Page Builder. See the sub-5 minute demo:

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Interviews:

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Every month a team of experts provides on the spot entrepreneurial assistance.  Come armed with your questions and challenges and see what the team can help with!  This month we have an awesome business-oriented crew!

Sheldon Prenovitz — Administrative Business Resources — Sheldon has spent many years working with start ups, small and midsized businesses. He knows the pitfalls they face when it comes to the administrative problems they run into when it is time to hire employees and grow. ABR helps their clients stay profitable by keeping them in compliant with State and Federal regulations. The business owner can concentrate on business.

Jarrod S. VanDerwerken, CPA, CCR LLP. Jarrod S. VanDerwerken, CPA, is a Principal in CCR’s Assurance Services Department. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in accounting from Lasell College (summa cum laude), where he subsequently served as an adjunct professor of accounting. Mr. VanDerwerken has more than ten years of experience auditing public and private companies within the technology, software, retail, professional services, manufacturing and distribution industries. His areas of expertise include SEC/PCAOB reporting, revenue recognition, equity transactions, stock options and audits of employee benefit plans. Mr. VanDerwerken is the Massachusetts industry team leader in CCR’s employee benefit practice and a member of the CCR’s Quality Control Advisory Group.  Mr. VanDerwerken is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Jeffrey C. Kristoff, CPA, CCR LLP, Jeffrey C. Kristoff, CPA is a Manager in CCR’s Tax Department and a member of Entrepreneurial Services Group, which is a practice group that specializes in servicing the unique needs of closely held businesses. He received Bachelor’s of Science degree in Business Administration (Magna Cum Laude) from Worcester State College and a Masters of Business Administration from Assumption College.  Jeff has 7 years of experience working with both private and public companies within a wide variety of industries including manufacturing, retail, and professional services. His expertise is in providing tax, accounting, and consulting services for corporations, partnerships and individuals. He has consulted with clients regarding business organization and structure including the tax consequences of business acquisitions, reorganizations and liquidations, identifying applicable Federal/state credits, and building financial forecast models.  Jeff is a member of the AICPA and the MSCPA.

Cynthia Gilbert, Hyperion Law. Ms. Gilbert’s practice focuses on the strategic development of patent portfolios for a range of companies in all stages of the invention life cycle: computer technology start-ups, emerging companies, and established public companies. She has developed deep experience across a wide range of technology disciplines, including virtualization, application delivery, network security, computational linguistics and information retrieval, cloud computing, mobile technologies and applications, Web 2.0, distributed computing, operating systems, and communications infrastructure.  Ms. Gilbert is registered to practice law in Massachusetts and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Prior to founding Hyperion Law, she worked as a senior attorney in the intellectual property department at one of the nation’s leading law firms. Ms. Gilbert has been selected for inclusion in the Massachusetts Super Lawyers / Rising Stars Edition.

Barbara Finer, QuiVivity LLC for the 495/90 Technology Business Network. With an extensive background in helping business-to-business technology companies get their products to market and form beneficial partnerships and channels, Barbara helps grow revenue and gains market share. With four startups to her credit, Barbara evaluates and authors business plans based on detailed market analysis, factual market assessment and market validation. Ms. Finer has been active on several not-for-profit and for-profit Boards including the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge, WPI Venture Forum, StudentBusinesses.com (bought by Kauffman Foundation) and SpiderSplat SEO and is an adjunct professor of marketing and entrepreneurship. Barbara has a technical background and degree (BS, Northeastern University) and an advanced degree in management of innovation and technology (MSA, Boston University).

Nathan Therrien, Business Insurance & Investment Services of MA - At a company level, the firm works to implement business insurance, employee benefits and company sponsored retirement plans, as well as addressing the needs of owners and management. At the personal level, the firm works to address the specific individual and family needs including personal planning, business continuation efforts, and investment portfolio management.

For our 27th Mass Innovation Nights event on June 8, 2011 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm, we are delighted to accept the invitations to head west — to Westborough that is!

CCR LLP, Certified Public Accountants & Business Advisors
1400 Computer Drive, 2nd Floor Training Room
Westborough, MA  01581

Our hosts will be CCR LLP and our sponsor is Hyperion Law (welcome back and thanks for the contribution to the development fund!)  The #min27 event will be held at a convenient location (with easy highway access and parking) at the intersection of Route 9 and 495, bringing Mass Innovation Nights out to a whole new crowd!  We’ve got a great line up — products and experts and some special surprises too!  Remember, we’re here to help launch new local products, so here’s what you need to do:

• Check out the cool new products (below).  See their websites for more info.
• Vote for the four companies you’d like to see present (below). VOTING CLOSED.
• RSVP (easy to do here!)
• Come to our live event on June 8, 6-8:30 pm and blog, tweet, post pictures or videos!

Check out these great new products: and vote (BELOW) for your FOUR favorites to present live: Want to see more about these great products? See our new Innovation Nights website.

• Bedford Stem Cell Research Foundation – PVSA, certified laboratory results from a mail-in kit
• Betterscape – Online Facebook application that promotes positive offline behavior
• BrandYourself – Easily improve your online reputation
• iPresent Online – Social eLearning and training software
• LikeJournal – Social bookmarking for the Facebook Like button
• Ms. Informed – A book that builds women’s confidence
• PostPost – Search results from the people you follow on Twitter
• RGB Daily – A social newsstand
• Social Page Builder from TemplateZone — Create professional Facebook pages in minutes.
• Toursphere – Mobile tour generator
• Villa Lusso – Candles and body products

After each Mass Innovation Nights event, we try to connect to some of the great comments and posts generated during the night.  (If you missed it, you can always come here to see what you missed!)

Once again, we were part of another great event that occurred before the opening of Mass Innovation Nights — the third in the Connecting Companies with Capital series created by Accounting Management Solutions, IBM and MassEcon.  This quarterly event was created with the express intent of helping more companies get the funding they need in order to grow and create more local jobs.  More than 200 registered attendees attended an array of panel discussions, networked like crazy and dozens of entrepreneurs had five minute “mini-pitches” with VCs, angels and other sources of capital during the speed dating — more than 150 meetings were held in one hour.

As C3 was wrapping up, we started setting up Mass Innovation Nights 26, #MIN26.  Very quickly 6:00 pm rolled around and we were welcoming our guests, including several real troupers who hadn’t yet had enough of the networking and innovation fun.  As always, a shout out to the companies and people who help publicize each and every Mass Innovation Nights event!  Exhibitors like 77SPARX, experts like Larry Staub, and our calendar friends at GreenhornConnect, VentureFizz and others.

A spread from Peppercorns of Stoughton

We also welcomed a special guest for #MIN26 — the catering team (Lisa and Gary and friends) from Peppercorns decided that they wanted to meet the Innovators and they brought food!  A wonderful sampling of fabulous and beautiful hors d’oeuvres and drinks to set the tone for the evening.  (We love friends who love to cook, and share!  Don’t forget, we’re looking for foodie-related innovations for our August Innovation Nights!)  This isn’t the first time we’ve had the donation of goodies for Mass Innovation Nights — it’s a wonderful way to introduce your products to a big group of “chatty” people — but I can’t say we’ve ever had a display as elegant as this one.  Wow!  Big thanks to Peppercorns!

On the product side:  let’s start things off with a quick recap of the presentations from CustomBuds, RippleFunction, ViaCLIX and GaggleAMP from our new friend Farrah.  CustomBuds also shared a nice special offer for our FOM (Friends of MassInno.)  Top tweeters Eric, Fiona and Cummingsdotcom (and many others) tweeted up a storm all evening.  Our most prolific and regular blogger, The Darn Good Tech Writer, Janet, again offered a wonderful overview, and pictures!  And, can you find yourself in the pictures Dan loaded on Flickr?  And we’ll be adding links to other write ups and our video as they come in.

Here are videos of the event:

Experts Corner:

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Joe Perry of IBM Innovation Center:

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Peppercorns:

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RippleFunction:

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GaggleAMP:

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ViaCLIX:

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Every month, we have a team of experts who contribute to Mass Innovation Nights.  They donate very generously of their time and are an important part of the value for our guests.  Come chat with the experts!  This month (at our May 11 event, #min26) we’re covering off: Financial Management for small companies, product development risk management, prototyping, and process improvement, clarifying sales targets, developing messages and sales playbook development AND, drum roll please…free office space.  Yes, you heard that correctly!  Let’s meet the team:

• Devin Cole, Boston World Partnerships Director of Engagement and Programs, also the manager of GrabADesk.com and Paola Mesadieu, Manager of Content & New Media from Boston World Partnerships.  Come talk to Devin and Paola about Grabadesk!
• Steve Early from Sales Process Playbooks is a career sales and marketing professional with a wealth of experience in working with B2B companies in high tech and other industries. To succeed as an entrepreneur you not only need to develop a product, but you need to figure out (sooner rather than later) how you are going to sell it, and to whom. Steve has conducted hundreds of consulting engagements with companies such as General Electric, Iron Mountain, Compaq Computer Corporation, McGraw-Hill, Agfa-Gevaert, Digital Equipment Corporation, and many others. He has helped them them figure out how to shorten time to revenue. For companies that are about to introduce a new product or who are struggling with sales on an existing product, he can help you get focused on your targeted customer, and develop a Sales Playbook to get off the ground faster.
• James Jendrzejewski, the founder and principal engineer of Applied Product Development Solutions, is a veteran with a degree in chemical engineering. His history is in clean-tech systems and high-speed manufacturing environments. From hydrogen reforming processes to technical expert with the NFPA and the International Electrotechnical Commission, James’ diverse experience allows him to deliver practical solutions that work.  Bringing products to market sooner is critical in this highly competitive environment. Delivering functionality is not enough. Delivering reliability that the customer demands is our passion. Our focus is to reduce development cycle time and improve reliability through concurrent engineering practices. Over the last year we have also helped individual innovators bring their ideas to life and worked with established manufacturers on improvement projects and development of specialized test equipment.
• Jeffrey Clack, SCORE. Jeffrey Clack has been a SCORE mentor for 5 years and currently serves as Branch Manager for the Stoneham and Burlington locations working with the respective Chambers of Commerce. He held a variety of marketing, sales management and strategic planning positions in the computer industry for over 20 years at Data General, Compaq and Hewlett Packard. His degrees are from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Harvard Business School.
• Larry Staub, B2BCFO, is a Certified Management Accountant with over twenty years’ experience managing all aspects of the financial and accounting functions within a both start-up and more established companies. He is a proven business adviser who can quickly assess your situation, develop the necessary tools and present all viable options so you can make informed decisions to drive profitable financial performance. He is an adept problem solver with a can-do attitude regarding even the most difficult tasks and have been instrumental in helping companies to establish a solid foundation as they grow their business.

Our 26th Mass Innovation Nights event is May 11, 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm, and #MIN26  will be back in Waltham, at the IBM Innovation Center, right off Route 128/95, with a plethora of new and innovative new products to help launch! Won’t you join us?  Here’s what you need to do:

1. Check out the cool new products (below).  See their websites for more info.
2. Vote for the four companies you’d like to see present (below) VOTING CLOSED
3. RSVP (easy to do here!)
4. Come to our live event on May 11
5. Make some noise to support local innovation – blog, tweet, post pictures or videos!

Check out these great new products: and vote (BELOW) for your FOUR favorites to present live on May 11: Want to see more about these great products — see our new Innovation Nights website, now in BETA!

• 77Sparx – educational mobile games for young children and toddlers
• Biba Beverages – ultra hydration soft drink
• Community Works – social justice payroll deduction program
• CustomBuds – Customizable headphones up 425,000,000 combinations
• Divoty – daily deals exclusively for golfers
• Easy Unsubscriber – unsubscribe you from email newsletters
• ItsmyURLs – online presence in a barcode
• GaggleAMP – social media amplification
• Grinnit – self-organizing photos and collaborative albums
• RippleFunction – incentivised social media promotion
• ViaClix – monetize internet delivery to any device

Wow.  Just wow.

It was a night of bright and shiny new products and lots of bright shiny new faces in amongst our MOB of guests too.  (And let’s not forget the “hot bling” from Heyday…did everyone notice the Swarovski crystals?) Set against the brick backdrop in the lobby (and conference rooms and kitchen and hallways and staircases) at Continuum (with forays…err tours of Continuum and VideoLink) it was a great night.  And, now, on to the wrap up post.  Remember, if you help to spread the word, we’ll link to you!  Let us know when you post pictures, video, blog…

The rain surely didn’t keep our enthusiastic crowd at bay.  Not only did we have lots of our “regular” friends (you know you’re all special, right?) checking in (did you see our new custom tablecloth thanks to Corey from Turner Business Solutions, also an expert this evening) but we also had a wonderful time making new friends.  Everyone came out to help spread the word about Boston region innovation. And marvel at our improvised screen and presentation platform on the staircase.   (We projected the Twitter stream and presentations onto a roll of photographer’s backdrop paper suspended above the lobby’s staircase.)  Our new national sponsor, Turnstone, turned the Experts Corner into the Experts Lounge and waiting area for Memories in an Instant.  Did you get your social media-ready picture taken?

Our QR code experiment worked great a second time — look for those tweets marked #MIN25QR to see the stream we created.  And see #MIN25 for our regular “people generated” stream of tweets.  Plus great tweets (and sometimes photos too!) for our innovative products.

Remember, we’ll be adding to this post over the next few days.  Let us know when you post!  Or check out Tech Writer Janet’s great roundup of the event.  We also got a nice mention in a story from Charley Polachi on VentureBeat.  Watch this space for more!

Below are some videos of the event:

Experts Corner:

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Leveraged Freedom Chair:

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Mouthwatchers:

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New England Bicycle Expo:

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ReadyCam 2.0:

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Turnstone:

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Our April 13 event promises some real value for #MIN25 guests looking to connect with experts.  In addition to a two-fer of top product designers, we’ll also have free professional photos from one expert, legal advice from another, and finance. Not to mention all the great experts just hanging around…

Jake Childs, Senior Designer, Continuum
With a passion for creativity and design thinking, Jake is a consummate advocate for a user’s emotional experience and interaction with an object or service. As a Senior Designer in the Product Innovation Group, Jake’s diverse experiences in several industries allow him to bring a fresh and striking perspective to his clients and team. A strategic thinker, Jake takes a holistic approach to design, considering the big picture and contributing unique ideas with a firm grasp on how to make them a reality.

Jake began his professional career as a footwear designer for adidas International in Portland, Oregon, where he gained valuable insight into global marketing and over-seas manufacturing. Prior to joining Continuum, he was the Industrial Design Team Lead at Worrell Inc. where he contributed to and managed projects in both product development and front-end research in the health & medical, consumer electronics, and sports & recreation industries.

A native of Southern California, Jake began his studies as a biology/pre-med major at Claremont McKenna College before realizing his calling in a creative endeavor. He transferred to Art Center College of Design where he graduated with honors earning a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design, won a prestigious IDEA Award, and had numerous projects chosen to be displayed in the Art Center gallery.

Jung Geun Tak, Senior Designer, Continuum
Jung Geun Tak earned his B.A. in industrial design from the Han Yang University in Seoul, Korea, and his MFA from Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. Since 2005, he has been designing innovative products and concept projects at Continuum. He has broad-based design knowledge in diverse industries including consumer electronics, home products, transportation, social innovation, health systems, and retail services. In additional to project work, Jung has worked on a variety of concept projects. The Solay running shoe that included a modular, removable mid-sole that could be easily changed (2008 Spark Bronze award) and the Leveraged Freedom Chair, the lever-powered, wheelchair-based mobility aid which is instrumental in envisioning chair design (2010 Spark Gold award 2010).

Jessica R. Manganello, Esq., New Leaf Legal
I am the corporate attorney and legal structuring guru for New Leaf Legal, a flat fee firm that provides corporate and IP services to emerging businesses and artists.  I love everything from helping businesses design their initial corporate structuring, through their expansion and growing pains, all the way to developing their exit strategies.   Our firm particularly enjoys working with socially/sustainably minded businesses using experimental new models and cementing new core values into the old tried and true models.  On a personal note, I am an extreme foodie and movie fanatic.  If you follow me on twitter be prepared for the latest green news, food news, car news, and some good ol’ heavy metal. Reach me at www.newleaflegal.com, jessica@newleaflegal.com, or @Mangojess.

Mark Ufland, Memories in an Instant
Mark Ufland is the founder of Memories In An Instant, a company specializing in the onsite printing of corporate and social event photos.  After graduating from University of Massachusetts School of Management in 1990, Mark worked for years in his family’s professional photo lab and in 1996 started Memories In An Instant.  One of the first in the country to own digital camera and printer technology, Mark learned that photos, when combined with custom backgrounds, logos and graphics could help other organizations to realize their marketing goals.  Today, he uses powerful social media integration tools to help customers with their branding effortsAt #MIN25, Memories in an Instant will be setting up for free head shots at the event.  They can be used for social media, marketing, websites etc.  Each person will receive a proof that night with a link to their download/social sharing site.  Find Mark on Twitter at @MUfland

Corey Turner is the founder of Turner Business Services. Turner Business Services provides accounting solutions for start-ups and small businesses, helping companies build a strong foundation for growth and operations. We have a proven track record of creating efficient accounting solutions that streamline business operations and increase your bottom line profit. Our team has had many years of experience working for start-ups and small businesses and understands that you have to extend yourself beyond your job description. While we are your company’s accounting solution, we are also your go to for all your other business needs. Whether it’s finding an insurance quote, setting up company phone and cell plans, managing corporate filings, or any other aspect of your business, we will get it done. We handle the behind the scenes details of your business to make sure you and your key employees can focus on growing the business.