News

come to value and rely on Kendall Square's creative energy."

MITIMCo is currently considering a variety of approaches for a transit-oriented, mixed-use redevelopment of parcels it owns in Kendall Square, with a focus on supporting existing businesses and maximizing benefits for the MIT community and nearby neighborhoods. Over the next several months, it will develop a more formal proposal for potential uses, including ground-floor retail, venues for the public to gather, corporate, academic, and research space and housing.

As part of this process, MITIMCo will continue communicating within the Institute community and with tenants in Kendall Square, neighbors, as well as business leaders and city officials, to provide a timeline of activities and next steps.

"Our objective is to fuel innovation in Cambridge by creating increased vitality in Kendall Square through the animation of the streetscape. We want to introduce expanded retail and entertainment uses and provide continued opportunities for forward-thinking companies to grow and flourish. We also hope these efforts will help attract new life-sciences, technology, energy and other entrepreneurial ventures to Kendall Square, and that a revitalized Kendall Square will create jobs and increase the tax base. Naturally, as we explore possibilities for redevelopment we will need to ensure that MITs academic needs are met going forward," Marsh said.

"Toward those goals," he continued, "we will be eager to receive input from both the Cambridge and MIT communities about what people would be most excited to see in a revitalized Kendall Square, and particularly, creative ideas for the retail and public gathering spaces."

What a difference a year makes! The second Annual Meeting of the Kendall Square Association -- convened February 24 in the Microsoft Cambridge headquarters -- brought out several hundred KSA members, civic leaders from across Cambridge and beyond.

The event kicked off by firing up the crowd with a great video about Kendall Square, prepared by KSA member Bettina Hein at Pixability, Inc., with the support of Dave Gowel and the team at Clearly Creative. Check it out.

MIT President Susan Hockfield also attended the meeting, and offered a keynote speech in which she expressed her excitement about the KSA's progress, as well as her thoughtful reflections on the yet-to-be-fully-realized potential of this Square (or rather, as she pointed out to the amusement of all, this "non-Euclidean polygon, maybe even a fractal.")

The Boston Consulting Group has done an amazing analysis (pro bono!) of Kendall Square's relative place in the world: the highlights of their work can be found in the presentations here. Also included in this file are brief presentations by the KSA working groups, charting the significant progress made in the past twelve months on a variety of fronts. Including our new look and logo, soon to be applied to the web site and beyond.

Finally, be sure to check out the last slide in the presentation...many people and organizations have generously given time and resources to ensuring that KSA gets off to a strong start. It is simply impossible to thank them all by name.

Close on the heels of the Annual Meeting, the first KSA CEO Council Meeting convened for two hours on March 3 at the MIT President's House. Serving as KSA's "overseers" or "trustees" (in the sense of oversight, not the legal definition of such) the CEO Council engaged in a lively discussion of the KSA's work to date, offering really helpful insights and suggestions for moving the findings of the Boston Consulting Group into actionable plans. They were excited about the possibilities, and charged the KSA to deliver on those possibilities. Of which you will hear a lot more over the next couple months...

Attendees included Roger Berkowitz (CEO, Legal Sea Foods), Susan Hockfield (President, MIT), Eric Lander (President and Director, The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard), Doug Linde (President, Boston Properties), and Henri Termeer (CEO, Genzyme). Ranch Kimball, from Boston Consulting Group, performed admirably in keeping this high-powered group on track.

________

Finally, the real work is just beginning. And for that we need every KSA member to take an active part. Specific needs, including populating the content on the new web site, will be communicated soon from several of the working groups. But you don't have to wait until asked: Go to the web site and reach out to any of the Board or working group members with your ideas and offers of help!

An exciting past year, and a promising New Year for KSA. Here is all the latest info as we dig out together from the excesses of holidays and winter weather:

Note from the President

Going into 2010 we are pleased to have accomplished much of the behind-the-scenes organizational work of forming the Kendall Square Association, and we look forward to focusing now on priority issues of importance to the Kendall Square community.

The first such topic, which we expect to highlight at the KSA Annual Meeting on February 24 (see below), will focus on transportation issues, including improving the options in Kendall Square and maintaining existing key facilities (e.g., the MBTA Red Line, the Longfellow Bridge, etc.).

I'm also delighted to announce that the Boston Consulting Group has begun a pro-bono study for the Kendall Square Association addressing the big-picture question of what it will take to ensure that Kendall Square will continue to thrive and grow in 2010 and through the rest of this century.  

Best wishes,
Tim Rowe, KSA President

KSA Annual Meeting: Save the Date!!!

The second Kendall Square Association Annual Meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 24, 2010. The time and place will be announced as soon as possible on the web site and in a mailing to the members.

A New Year, a New Look

Building on the extensive Kendall Square branding work by Steve Herskovitz of Hammond Hill, expert logo designer Dave Gilman of Cognito worked tirelessly with the KSA Marketing and Promotion Working Group to create a logo to go with our newly minted tagline. The interior blue dots in the logo below are in the shape of Kendall Square. The dots themselves represent the people and ideas of Kendall Square and the infinite possibilities of our collective future. The M&P Working Group will now focus on developing KSA’s new website.

What’s in a Name?

The KSA Retail, Residential, Restaurant, Hospitality and Entertainment Working Group is now known as the Retail Working Group, reflecting its focus on supporting current retail establishments in Kendall Square and promoting new development. In addition to other efforts, the group is working on a new business resources website that will be packed with information about Kendall Square for potentially interested retailers.

Help KSA's Spotlight shine

We invite all KSA members to submit event suggestions for the KSA Spotlight Series.  The KSA Spotlight Series is a semi- regular event (or quarterly event) intended to highlight the history, culture, industry, science and technology of Kendall Square. For more information please contact: Lena Sharp at: hsharp@labspace.com

In the KS 'hood
(local events/meetings of interest to KSA members)

Cheap Skates

The Kendall Square skating rink (next to the Genzyme building) is now open. Check out hours and information here: http://www.kendallsquare.org/ice.html

Royalty in Kendall Square

On the occasion of the visit to Boston of Prince Michael of Kent, the British Consulate General is hosting “Inspiration in Action 2010” from 2:00 to 4:00pm on the afternoon of January 14, 2010, at the Consulate General’s new digs at One Broadway in Kendall Square.

This is the first of an annual series of events designed “to bridge the gap between the innovative business community and our next generation.”  www.ukinusa.fco.gov.uk/boston Twitter: @ukinboston

If you are interested in attending, or for more information, please contact Joseph Pickerill (joseph.pickerill@fco.gov.uk; 617-245-4513).

KSA Member announcements/offers

In the spirit of a new year, fitness and sports take center stage!

Jumpstart your New Year @ the Cambridge Athletic Club!
To help get your New Year’s resolutions started right, the newly renovated 25,000 square foot Cambridge Athletic Club (CAC) is offering a January/New Years special for all KSA members. KSA members may purchase a one-month membership for $19, which includes a complimentary personal training session. Offer expires 1/31/10. Simply drop in to see all CAC has to offer and to get signed up.

For more information about the club, and their offerings and programs, check out www.cambridgefitness.com.  CAC has FREE PARKING, and is located at 215 First Street in the beautiful Athenaeum Building!

For more information please contact:
Jeff Butterworth, Membership Director
jeff@cambridgefitness.com
phone: 617-491-8989

LaCrosse for a Good Cause
The Boston Blazers (Boston's professional lacrosse team) will be highlighting the fight against Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) during their "Heroes Awareness Night" on February 6, 2010. The Blazers are partnering with Prize4Life (P4L) to help raise money to further P4L’s mission to accelerate the discovery of treatments and cures for ALS.

If you are interested in an exciting sport and in supporting our P4L neighbor, you can purchase tickets ($30 each) through a special website:  http://bit.ly/512shV.  (Note: you have to enter the code: P4L in order to be part of the group and get to hang out with members of the team after the game).

Equilibrium:
Grand Opening Party on Thursday January 7th from 4-8pm
Enjoy cocktails while touring our new space. Sample pizza by Za- the new pizza & salad hot spot slated to open in The Watermark Building this February. Enter raffles for a chance to win spa treatments, training sessions and free membership months. View artwork by Shoshana Ernst & Nira Chorev courtesy of ArtPolitis. Experience acupuncture with mini-sessions by Joint Venture.

The celebration begins at 4pm on Thursday, January 7th at Equilibrium Cambridge, 350 Third Street, 2nd floor.

To R.S.V.P. or for more information, please contact Haley at 617-252-0020 or haleyc@theeq.com.

If you have future newsletter content, please email fsteele@broadinstitute.org

Editor's note: Our intrepid KSA President provides the bulk of the newsletter this month.

I want to extend a big thank you to the hundreds of you who attended the recent Fall Kick-off gathering we had at the canoe and kayak docks. It was a lovely evening, with great food, drink and company. The gathering was a tremendous way to kick off the Fall work of the Kendall Square Association.

Editor’s note: The kayaks are indeed in place and have been tested and approved by celebrities including Tom Cruise.

This Fall we anticipate significant progress within the Kendall Square Association in five main areas: reviewing our long term infrastructure, transportation and technology needs, building the social connections amongst all of us who live and work here, building a basis for collaboration amongst the restaurants and retailers here and identifying needs in that area, defining and communicating our message to the surrounding communities and the world, and establishing a meaningful engagement with social service organizations in the area. In addition, we expect to begin the process of bringing on an Executive Director to help turbo-charge all of these activities. There is so much going on!
 
This coming week we have another special event that deserves your attention -- The KSA Spotlight Series. As we think about where we would like to go, it is helpful to know where we came from.

On October 7th the Kendall Square Association has invited innovation and history researcher Bob Krim to do a retrospective on Kendall Square, going back 400 years. It will be held at the auditorium of the Borad Institute of MIT and Harvard - just off their main lobby – at 6PM. I have seen Bob speak, and he is really very good. I hope to see you all there. Note that this event is open to the public. Interested folks are encouraged to attend, and also to pass this on to interested co-workers and neighbors. This is the first of what will be a series of "Spotlights" on Kendall Square, and ideas for future topics are welcome.

Best wishes for a great October,

Tim Rowe

Dear KSA Colleague,

Welcome back from your summer distractions. We have a few items this month you should find interesting.

From the President:

I hope everyone had a terrific summer, and is looking forward to a productive fall.

I’m pleased to share that Kendall Square was selected last month as the venue for a “town hall” style meeting with regional business leaders and our new US Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke. Secretary Locke spoke at Genzyme’s headquarters to an audience of about 200. He outlined his goals for the Commerce Dept., including plans for a major overhaul of the patent system. Secretary Locke was joined on stage by Lt. Governor Tim Murray and Congressman Mike Capuano. Amongst the questions from the audience, prominent local venture capitalist Paul Maeder of Highland Capital asked whether the proposed regulation of private investing aimed at hedge funds might inadvertently dampen early stage investment in innovation. A lively debate ensued. Earlier in the day Secretary Locke held a luncheon at Cambridge Innovation Center with the officers of the KSA and other area leaders, and he made time to meet with a number of local technology and life sciences companies, including Great Point Energy, ThingMagic, Hubspot, InVivo Therapeutics, and Zeer.

One of our priorities for the KSA this fall will be to launch a new website that helps visitors and prospective new neighbors learn about what Kendall Square has to offer the world. As part of that, the Marketing & Promotion Working Group is close to finalizing its recommendations to the Board on a set of messaging about Kendall Square. This work is being driven in particular by the excellent work of Hammond Hill, our pro bono branding consulting firm. They have studied dozens of other regions and how they communicate about themselves, and have completed a round of interviews with business, city, and state leaders. If you are interested in this work, you should become active with the Marketing & Promotion Working Group.

One fun and little known fact that was given attention as part of this effort highlights Kendall Square’s enduring heritage as home to innovation: the very first telephone call was made from Thomas Watson’s lab in Kendall Square (700 Main Streetundefinednow owned by MIT) to a home in Boston. New York Times coverage of the event is here. And you can just make out the plaque on Google (choose streetview) here.

Once again, welcome back. I hope to see you all at the KSA Fall Kick-off Event, described below.

Tim Rowe
President, Kendall Sq. Association

News for KSA members

In true KSA style, we start with parties:

KSA Fall Kickoff Event!

Calling all seafarers and landlubbers: The KSA Fall Kickoff Event will be held on September 24, 2009, from 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM at the newly opened Broad Canal Landing (behind the parking garage located by Genzyme). This party will preface the opening of the new plaza and green space next to the canal.

The event will feature great food, beverages, transportation by land (Segway demos) and by sea (kayak rentals), and great entertainment (speakers and music). You could also win prizes at raffles and just have a great time together to celebrate the beginning of what should be an amazing fall for the KSA.

We are looking for both event volunteers as well as donations of raffle prizes. If you would like to do either (or both!), contact Dave Downing at Twining Properties ASAP! (email: david.downing@twiningproperties.com).

More details to follow in the upcoming weeks, both by email and on the KSA website.


Other events in the area (not organized by the KSA):

2nd Annual Tech Square Block Party

Calling all scientists, scientific professionals, and science enthusiasts in the Cambridge, Massachusetts area!

New Scientist presents the second annual Tech Square Block Party on Wednesday, September 16, from 4:30 - 7:30pm in the courtyard between 300, 400 & 500 Technology Square.

Attendance is free, but you should register online now at http://tinyurl.com/techparty. There you will also find more information about this “free, funky and fun” outdoor event!

Cambridge Carnival!

Sunday, September 13 from noon until 7pm, the 17th annual Cambridge Caribbean Carnival Festival descends on Kendall Square. The usual food, dancing and music, costumed parade participants, and crowds will be present. The parade route stretches from Mass. Ave. to Main Street and into Kendall Square; more information can be found at www.cambridgecarnival.org.
 
This is a colorful yearly event that can sometimes be rowdy. It draws large crowds from around the region and beyond. This year the date has been moved from August to September to attempt to draw a larger local student crowd. Parental supervision advised. Retailers may wish to coordinate their plans with the City of Cambridge’s special events committee. For more information call the event manager Nicola Williams at 617-492-2518.

Member to Member Announcements

Bon appétit!

Our friends at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts right here in Kendall Square have brought to our attention a great event that takes place each Friday in the Athenaeum Building main lobby. Between the hours of 12:00 noon until 5:00 PM, a farmers’ market is held with fresh local produce and baked goods. Each week the best produce from around the New England area is made available in cooperation with Costa Produce. Also the most decadent baked goods are available, including cookies, brownies, cupcakes, artisanal breads and pies. They sometimes even have a few big surprises. Those of you inspired by the resurgence of Julia Child's popularity should definitely check it out.

Coming this Fall:

A new branding look for KSA, including a tagline and logo, transportation proposals, KS wireless, and a host of other improvements for our neighborhood and Association.

As always, if you have items for the October newsletter, please send them directly to fsteele@broadinstitute.org, or post them on the members section of the KSA website.

(Editor's Note: The following is a selection of information from this month's KSA newsletter. If you want to access the entire newsletter, including great offers from KSA members to other KSA members, join us!)

Summer in the Square

July has finally warmed up, driving many folks into the sun and vacations. Therefore, just a few items this month.

From the KSA President

The sun has been with us for a few days now, and could it possibly be more welcome? For me, summer arrived in Kendall Square on July 9th, with the ribbon cutting ceremony for our new boardwalk and canoe and kayak rental center on the Broad Canal. For those who are not familiar with it, Kendall Square has a working canal, overlooked by the Genzyme Headquarters, Mirant, the Watermark residential building, 1 Broadway, and 1 and 101 Main Streets. The new boardwalk brings people right into the canal, running just over the water, and the new boating facility there provides a wonderful summer lunchtime outing opportunity for many of us. I encourage everyone to check it out.  It will open to the public by the end of July.


Caption: Ribbon cutting for the new Kendall Square canal boardwalk, and a few familiar KSA faces.

Party down

At One Kendall

The One Kendall summer concerts have been really amazing so far: great food from the One Kendall restaurants, old and new friends, and, of course, hoppin’ music. Mark your calendars for the rock’n’roll of “Audio Underground," August 19, from 5:30 to 8:30pm.

At Kendall Square

The Berklee College of Music’s Thursday noon concert series just get stronger as the summer weeks fly by. Coming up the next few weeks (all at 300 Athenaeum St.):

La Timbistica
Thursday, July 23, 2009, 12:00 p.m.
La Timbistica (the Berklee Latin Jazz All-Stars), a sextet and 11-piece powerhouse salsa band, was named this year's Best College Jazz Band by Down Beat magazine and was featured at the Monterey and Duke Ellington jazz festivals.

Alex Wintz
Thursday, July 30, 2009, 12:00 p.m.
Alex Wintz's obsession with the guitar began at the age of four when he heard Guns and Roses on the radio. Now a high-caliber jazz musician and composer in his junior year at Berklee, Wintz has earned several awards, including a Down Beat Student Music Award in 2006 for Outstanding Jazz Soloist in High School.

Emily Elbert
Thursday, August 6, 2009, 12:00 p.m.
Texas-bred guitarist and vocalist Emily Elbert fuses her lifelong passion for jazz, folk, soul, blues, pop, and music from around the world with an ability to write innovative songs and arrangements. She has toured with G Love & Special Sauce and Kaki King. WUMB radio, in Boston, named her Best New Artist of 2008.

On July 14th, 12:00-1:30PM, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center will hold a public information session at Cambridge Innovation Center to discuss programs it has to support life sciences companies.

This forum will allow participants to learn more about the ten-year, $1 billion Massachusetts Life Sciences Initiative, and the programs that are available through the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, the quasi-public agency tasked with implementing the Initiative.

Get your questions answered about how the Initiative can be helpful to you and your company and how to apply for funding.

Lunch will be provided. We hope you can come.

Those interested in attending must RSVP here:      
    http://mlscforumatcic.eventbrite.com/

Speakers will include: Dr. Susan Windham-Bannister, President & CEO, Massachusetts Life Sciences Center and Frank Reynolds, CEO of InVivo Therapeutics, a recent MLSC grant recipient

Again, you must RSVP if you wish to attend, as there are a limited number of seats available.

We would like to take a moment to recognize the following businesses for their offering of pro bono services in order for us to better represent the great opportunities the Kendall Square area has to offer.

Hammond Hill –  Branding

Clearly Creative – Website Design
Cognito– Logo Design

Ratepoint – Email Marketing and Survey Tools

With such important marketing efforts in place, we are excited about the momentum we have built up and look forward to more opportunities as we grow and expand our offerings as an association.  

If you have a service or skill to offer that you think the Kendall Square Association can benefit from, please do not hesitate to contact Dave Gowel at marketing@clearlycreative.net. 

Kevin Sheehan at Boston Properties, a participant in the Infrastructure sub-committee of the Long Term Vision committee, has kindly taken on the task of stewarding the process of coordinating with the City regarding trees in Kendall Square.  The city has a program to plant, and replace, trees throughout the city.

Kevin will be meeting with David Lefcourt, the City Arborist, on Tuesday, May 19, at 1:30PM.  If you would like to participate in this, please contact Kevin.  His email is ksheehan AT bostonproperties.com.

All,

Below is the first edition of our new monthly Newsletter for the members of the Kendall Square Association.  You will find in it a greeting from our President, updates on planned activities and events in and around Kendall Square, announcements from members, and some acknowledgments of the contributions of many who have brought our new organization to this point.

Yours,
Fintan Steele
The Broad Institute

(Volunteer KSA Newsletter Editor)

-------------------------------

Kendall Square Association Newsletter V1. n1.

Hello Kendall Square! It is just over two months since our February 24th inaugural KSA organizational meeting, yet it feels a lot longer – in a good sense!

In this short time it seems that thousands of flowers are blooming – literally in Kendall Square and figuratively in the Association. If you want to participate more in KSA, simply update your member record on the KSA website (www.kendallsq.org) and tick off the ‘Groups’ that you want to be part of. This will ensure you get invites to the activities you are interested in.

I would like to highlight just a few of the many efforts that are under way in order to give you a flavor of what is going on:

• Jim Kappel at the Marriott, has organized the Kendall Square Klean Up THIS COMING MAY 15th at 3:00PM! Read down for details. Please RSVP at www.kendallsq.org/events. The group will gather in the Marriott Plaza. He is hoping for 100 people. Please share this within your organization
• Skip Hartwell at Akamai has convened a WIFI subgroup including people from Google, Microsoft, MIT, Akamai, and CIC. We are looking at ways to bring free public WIFI throughout Kendall Square. If you would like your organization to participate in this, please contact Skip Hartwell at Akamai (hartwell@Akamai.com).
• Michele McCauley at Fitcorp is looking to create a Kendall Square Softball League. Interested? Contact Michele at mmccauley@Fitcorp.com.

Kudos to Fintan Steele at the Broad Institute for taking on the task of compiling this newsletter. This will become an important tool for bringing us together and creating community in Kendall Square. Please send him any information you want included in future newsletters (fsteele@broadinstitute.org). Our goal is to release this monthly for now.

Finally, I want to close by thanking the many individuals and organizations that helped us get the KSA off the ground. While it is a risky endeavor, I have made an attempt at thanking many of those people by name later in this newsletter.

Warmest regards,
Tim Rowe
Cambridge Innovation Center
(President, Kendall Square Association)                 

Board of Directors Update:

The Board of Directors continues to meet monthly, excited -– and perhaps a bit overwhelmed –- at the incredible opportunities KSA presents.

Just a few highlights of the April 15, 2009, meeting include:

The legal firm of Morse, Barnes-Brown and Pendleton has offered to attend Board meetings to participate as recorder and to provide pro bono services. The Board happily and gratefully approved their offer.  Thanks Jon Gworek!
Committees

As anyone who has worked with a non-profit association knows already, the real work gets done at the committee and sub-committee level. Brief updates from the KSA Committees included:

Long term Vision group (Skip Hartwell and Sam DeLiddo)
Created four subgroups and goals for each: Development, Infrastructure, Transportation, Technology.

Marketing and Promotion (Sarah Gallop)
Created three tracks: website development, branding, and a membership survey (and announced that an external firm -- Hammond Hill in Acton, MA --has agreed to provide marketing expertise pro bono). Hammond Hill will develop a marketing plan for Kendall Square.

Retail, Residential, Hospitality & Entertainment (Eric Quadrino)
The Sloan School "Market Lab" agreed to do a retail study on the Kendall Square area, on behalf of the KSA, and will present its results on May 8. The goal is to determine retail gaps (e.g. lack of a pharmacy) and opportunities in Kendall Square.

Networking & Social Activities (Sara Spalding)
Two types of networking events are in planning: the first includes two informal, casual KSA events this spring/summer, the second involves role-based events (e.g., for administrative assistants). Keep checking the KSA web site for details.

You will hear a lot more about all of these efforts over the next several months.

Several policy items were also discussed, from small to large. The large items were postponed to the next Board meeting on May 15, and next month’s newsletter will include more information.

Events in and near the KS ‘hood

Keep it “Klean”

Kendall Square Klean-up!
May 15, 2009
 3:00pm - 5:00pm
Plaza outside the Cambridge Center Marriott Hotel

Stop by the Plaza outside the Cambridge Center Marriott Hotel, pick up your plastic bag and help us GREEN UP the Main Street/Kendall Square area. This is a great opportunity to meet other KSA members and even do a bit of team building in your own organization.

Group Photos will be available, so wear your logo t-shirts.

Complimentary food and beverages will be available on the Plaza beginning at 5 pm (but, in keeping with the mission of the event, please make sure you clean up after yourself!).

You can sign up at www.kendallsq.org/events. For more information, contact KSA Board Member Jim Kappel, General Manager at the Cambridge Center Marriott at jim.kappel@marriott.com.

Take a Bite out of Cambridge

The 7th Annual Taste of Cambridge
June 18th, 2009
5:30pm-8pm
The Charles Hotel
www.tasteofcambridge.com

The “Taste of Cambridge” is the ONLY annual sampling event featuring the diverse, delicious, and world-renowned restaurants of Cambridge, including several from the Kendall Square area.

The Taste of Cambridge expects to host over 2000 attendees at the annual event to sample Cambridge’s finest restaurants. Ticket purchasers range in age from 18 to 55. Many of these attendees are students and employees of our local universities and businesses; others are residents of Cambridge, Boston and the surrounding suburbs who are devoted patrons of our restaurants. And then there are those new groups of people buying tickets each year who come looking for what’s new and exciting.
 
Profits from the 2009 Taste of Cambridge will benefit Youth on Fire and Passim’s Culture for Kids / Music Matters.
 
Finally, although we totally understand that you may not want to ever leave Kendall Square/Cambridge, if you purchase your tickets before May 31, 2009, you will be entered to win round-trip Virgin America tickets to Los Angeles.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.tasteofcambridge.com

Taste of Cambridge is organized and run by the Cambridge License Advisory Board.

KSA Member Forum Roundup

The Kendall Square Association Website (www.kendallsq.org) includes a Members’ Forum where any member can post information they would like to share with the group as a whole. Our plan is to summarize those postings here in the monthly newsletter. This is your opportunity to reach your fellow KSA members.  What follows are postings on that forum.

From the Ambit Press: “Space Constraints?”

Due to a relocation of our printing production operations, the Ambit Press team would like to make the members of the Kendall Square Association aware of a tremendous sublease opportunity at 5 Cambridge Center in Cambridge. We are pleased to offer 6,600 square feet of class A office space and look forward to working with all interested parties. As many of you are aware, 5 Cambridge Center is one of Kendall Square’s premier office buildings and features numerous onsite amenities including the Red Line T station and Legal Seafood.
 
Please e-mail or call with any questions or to schedule a brief tour of our space. We appreciate your consideration of our sublease and look forward to meeting up shortly.
 
Ambit Press will be maintaining a design and project management show room space in Kendall Square.
 
Peter Reed, preed@ambitpress.com or 617-876-3688.

From Mexicali Burrito: “Cinco de Mayo and Beyond”

MexiCali Burrito Co. is glad to announce a 10% discount on all regular and breakfast catering orders for K.S.A. members for the month of May. You can find our catering menu at www.mexicaliburrito.com.

We look forward to working with you,

Eric and David

From Cambridge Athletic Club: “Prepping for the beach”

It is our pleasure to invite all KSA member organizations to a free one-week membership at the Cambridge Athletic Club! We will also be providing a special membership rate, exclusively for KSA member organizations! Please check out our website,  http://www.cambridgefitness.com

For info please contact: Lisa Vitale, Corporate Sales Manager, Cambridge Athletic Club, (617) 491-8989, lisa@cambridgefitness.com

Thanks and Recognition!

(By Tim Rowe)  The Kendall Square Association is a new organization. Yet Kendall Square is not new, and there are many individuals and groups that have actively worked on behalf of Kendall Square and its environs for years. It seems appropriate for the first edition of the new Kendall Square Newsletter to acknowledge and thank these people and groups for their contributions.

Although its mission is Cambridge-wide, the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce (CCC) has ably supported Kendall Square since the 1920s. It has grown and thrived over the years, particularly under Kelly Thompson-Clark’s leadership as Executive Director. Kelly is also the Chair of the statewide association of Chambers of Commerce, and the CCC is seen as a model Chamber. Also central to the work of the Chamber is Terry Smith, who runs the CCC’s government affairs activities.  It is unusual for a chamber of commerce to have someone of Terry’s caliber. Observers of public forums in Cambridge have become accustomed to Terry’s professional and articulate representation of business interests across Cambridge, including those in Kendall Square. While the KSA and CCC are separate organizations, if you look behind the scenes you will find that many of those active in the KSA are also active in the Chamber, and I’m pleased to say that the two are collaborating closely.
 
Many of you may also be aware of the group known as the Kendall Community Group, which has been active in Kendall Square for many years. The KCG has a charitable function, bringing together several of the larger businesses in Kendall Square to support three important local social-service organizations: The Margaret Fuller House, Tutoring Plus, and the Cambridge Arts Center. Again, many of the same people are active in both organizations. If you are interested in charitable activities in Kendall Square, you may wish to contact Robert Hurlbut (cambridgecf@igc.org) at the KCG.
 
In addition, I want to recognize the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority. The CRA is an independent governmental body, based in Kendall Square, that was created several decades ago to undertake urban renewal projects. One such project involved the massive job of transforming the once derelict industrial areas to the north of MIT into a booming mixed-use development. I have seen many governmental bodies over the years tasked with creating a booming metropolis in one or another place, and few can claim to have actually done it. The CRA has been ably managed by Joe Tulimieri for most of its history, and Joe and his many relationships have been instrumental in helping form the KSA. In addition, Joe is participating and has been kind enough to lend the support of his staff to assist the KSA, notably Tracy Mercer, who has been acting as the de-facto administrator of the KSA, and Maura Ryan who handles the KSA’s finances.
 
There are a large number of individuals who have been very active in growing and nurturing the KSA over the past months. Steve Vinter from Google and Sara Spalding at Microsoft are notable in that they are the local heads of their respective companies’ offices here in Cambridge, managing large organizations, and yet they have found the time to dig in personally to a substantial degree. Steve, along with Kevin Sheehan at Boston Properties, drafted the Bylaws for the KSA, and has taken on the role as the new organization’s Secretary, and Sara has taken the helm of the Networking & Social Activities working group, which I believe is the largest working group in the organization, and is looking to put together events, mixers, and online mechanisms for all of us to get to know one another better.
 
One of the prime movers behind the idea for the KSA is Jim Kappel, General Manager of the Cambridge Marriott. Jim has a well-developed sense of community, and has been active source of encouragement for all of us to get together and act to form a local association. He is behind the forthcoming Kendall Square Kleanup, as well.
 
Leading local figures in the real estate development community, notably Bryan Koop and Mike Cantalupa from Boston Properties, Tom Andrews and Joe Maguire from Alexandria, Bill Gartner and Sam DeLiddo from Biomed, and Brian Dacey from Twining, have all made significant contributions, particularly on the Long Term Vision Committee.
 
Brian Dacey, in particular, leveraging his experience as the former Chairman of Morgan-Memorial Goodwill, took on the onerous task of putting together the slate of candidates for the Board and Officers, and is currently chairing the Membership sub-group of the board, working on such tough issues as coming up with a reasonable dues structure.
 
The aforementioned Sam DeLiddo has co-led the Long Term Vision working group, along with Skip Hartwell from Akamai. Also contributing in this group and on the Board is Mike Owu from MIT’s Investment Management Company, which manages much of MIT’s real estate portfolio in Kendall Square. Mike can be credited with first proposing that a key goal for the KSA be developing a “20-year plan” for the area.
 
Others from MIT have been very active as well. Sarah Gallop, who also serves as Clerk of the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce, has been good enough to take on the leadership of the Marketing & Promotion working group, which has the goal of telling the world in no uncertain terms just how awesome Kendall Square is. There are a myriad of opportunities to do this, from launching the first website dedicated to representing the Kendall Square area, to small but important details, such as ensuring for visitors to the area that there are maps at the exits of the MBTA station that show the significant local destinations and how to get there.
 
Working with Sarah at MIT is Kelley Brown, MIT’s Senior Project Manager, who is working with the KSA and the City to identify areas where the infrastructure needs maintenance, such as burned out streetlights.

A strong contributor has emerged in David Gowel, CEO of Clearly Creative. A former Captain and Ranger in the US Army, Dave has brought his strengths to bear to coordinate efforts to improve the branding and web presence for the organization.
 
On the Board, and having worked as Planning Director at MIT for decades is Bob Simha. Presently, Bob represents the 303 Third Street residential development, and has the distinction of being the only person who is both on the board of the KSA today, and who was on the founding Board of the Kendall Square Business Association, a predecessor organization formed in 1974. Bob has a wealth of area history and knowledge that rivals that of Joe Tulimieri.
 
The life sciences community is extensively represented on the KSA Board by Ann Stanesa from Genzyme, Dr. Fintan Steele from the Broad Institute, Martin Mullins from the Whitehead Institute, Tim Hunt from BiogenIdec, and Jeff Lockwood from Novartis. You couldn’t ask for a more esteemed group.  Again, thank you very much to Fintan for volunteering to take the lead with the monthly KSA newsletter.
 
Eric Quadrino, co-owner of Mexicali Burrito, perhaps unsuspectingly, kindly took on the rather large job of coordinating the Retail, Restaurants, Residential, Hotels & Entertainment working group. He is working with others to gather studies that have been done in the past in this area, with the goal of making the area more attractive to these types of organizations. Having a balanced mix of office, lab, retail, restaurants, residences, hotels, and entertainment organizations is part of the key to creating a vibrant, healthy neighborhood.
 
The City of Cambridge has not stood idly by while this organization came into being. As you will recall, Mayor E. Denise Simmons and City Manager Robert W. Healy both set aside time to kindly come and speak to our assembled members at our inaugural general meeting, and they were joined by Councilors Craig Kelley, Sam Seidel and Tim Toomey. All of the City Councilors have been very supportive. In addition, Estella Johnson and Pardis Saffari from the Community Development Department have engaged actively, particularly in the area of Marketing & Promotion.
 
Many others -- too many to name, really -- have jumped in across the board to help, encourage, and support what proves to be an exciting community endeavor. I would like to extend a big thank you to everyone who is supporting this effort.