New Business  |  SocMetrics thrives in "bump & connect"  |  Gov. Patrick launches Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative

Innovation  |  Seaport & Kendall Square are hotbeds for development  |  Kendall Square fertile for next big idea

Entrepreneurs  |  Cambridge's Fenugreen takes top honors in Global Startup Open competition

Happening in Kendall Square  |  Artful events for the winter

SocMetrics thrives in Kendall Square "bump & connect" environment

An exclusive interview with co-founder Rebecca Xiong

In today’s world of the web and social media where everyone has a soapbox, it has become increasingly difficult for small business owners to leverage social media to gain exposure. Enter SocMetrics, a Kendall Square firm that identifies and helps small businesses engage influencers in your industry, and then measures direct results from the connections made.

Founded about a year ago, SocMetrics has grown quickly to over 30 customers and has gained attention after winning the MassChallenge, the global startup competition and accelerator program.

SocMetrics is built on the premise that not all who “speak” on the internet carry the same weight. Take for example, a blog written by a mother in Illinois who writes daily on the quality of baby products. With an active following of hundreds of thousands of moms who spend a combined $3.2 trillion, this one blog can significantly influence the sales of retailers in the baby product industry  SocMetrics would help create value for these retailers by identifying her as a ‘key influencer’ empowering the retailers to engage her, and by extension her followers, in a targeted way rather than investing in undifferentiated social media psots where the audience is less certain.

SocMetrics does the work, in any industry, to locate these key influencers and then engage them. The software developed my SocMetrics then enables you to directly measure the impact of that engagement through media mentions, page hits, google searches, and a variety of other tools.

Rebecca Xiong, co-founder of SocMetrics, describes how the Kendall Square environment specifically helped her team to successfully build SocMetrics. “Being able to test quicly right in this space is very nice,” referencing her location in the Cambridge Innovation Center. She adds, “I’ve introduced other startups to their customers here as well.”

Xiong goes on to explain how the team-oriented culture in Kendall Square is a start contrast to the individually competitive startup culture she is familiar with in Silicon Valley.  She cites the Friday brown bag lunches as a particular asset at the CIC,where entrepreneurs gather to practice their pitch, give critical feedback to their peers, and to share experiences. “All the entrepreneurs here are very frank with their opinions and there is great synergy” she says.

As SocMetrics has grown, they’ve increasingly found public relations agencies eager to use their product and are becoming a larger proportion of SocMetrics’ customers. For the future, they plan to grow features in their software and grow their business by targeting selected agencies and brands.

You can find more about SocMetrics at their site, www.SocMetrics.com, and on twitter @SocMetrics.

Governor Patrick launches Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative to support job growth

Governor joins partners to unveil new roadmap for manufacturing growth in Massachusetts

Governor Deval Patrick today launched the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative and released a new roadmap for manufacturing job growth in Massachusetts during an address to the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP) regional meeting in Cambridge, hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“Our Administration is committed to preparing students and workers to compete and win in the 21st century global economy,” said Governor Patrick. “The creation of the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative and the release of this new roadmap will help us grow jobs and opportunities in the manufacturing sector."  Through depressing economic statistics, wildly fluctuating stock prices, and never-ending talk of another recession, Boston’s Seaport District and Cambridge’s Kendall Square have continued to charge ahead, generating huge amounts of investment as many other commercial areas struggle.

Building Bridges to Growth: A Roadmap for Advanced Manufacturing in Massachusetts, was developed by the Advanced Manufacturing Initiative steering committee convened by Governor Patrick in May 2010 and will guide the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative in its work. The roadmap takes ideas from the state’s business and academic leaders to promote innovation, workforce development, access to capital and technical assistance to bolster the state's manufacturing sector. (...continued)

Islands of Economic Growth
Seaport and Kendall Square are hotbeds for development, defying a gloomy economy
(original story by Casey Ross, 11/6/11, Boston Globe)

More than $1 billion is pouring into the neighborhoods as technology, biotechnology, alternative energy, and other firms relocate, start up, and grow in these centers of the state’s economy. Office towers are rising, research labs expanding, restaurants sprouting, and companies hiring.

Kendall Square and the Seaport District are on the upside of turbulent economic times drawing sharp distinctions between haves and have nots, as investors and real estate developers place bets in the safest, most desirable ZIP codes to improve chances for positive returns. These areas have achieved what economic development specialists call critical mass, a threshold level of innovative companies and skilled workers that makes other firms and workers want to be there, too. (…continued)

Inside an Innovation Ecosystem
History, proximity, and serendipity make Kendall Square fertile ground for the next big idea
(original story by Jennifer Chu, 11/22/11, MIT News Office)

On Monday, on the edge of the MIT campus, representatives of MIT and Pfizer Inc., along with elected officials, participated in a groundbreaking ceremony around what will become a 180,000-square-foot research hub for Pfizer’s Neuroscience Research Unit and its Cardiovascular, Metabolic, and Endocrine Diseases Research Unit. After the ceremony, which included remarks from Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, Cambridge Mayor David Maher and MIT President Susan Hockfield, participants walked down the block for a reception at the atrium of the MIT’s McGovern and Picower institutes.

The festivities celebrated not just this new injection of talent and jobs into Kendall Square, but also the innovation ecosystem that the Cambridge neighborhood has created. All the stages of innovation undefined from an idea germinating in a classroom to a product being pushed into the marketplace undefined can be found in Kendall Square: According to the Kendall Square Association, a nonprofit focused on improving and promoting the local community, the area contains the world’s densest square mile of technology and biotechnology research.

There are places all over the world where great research happens,” says Geoff Mamlet, managing director of the Cambridge Innovation Center, an enterprise that provides office space and resources for startup companies, half of which have MIT connections. “What this area does uniquely and well is commercialization: taking an idea [and] figuring out how to put it together with all the things needed to drive it out into the world.” (…continued)

Cambridge's Fenugreen takes top honors in Global Startup Open competition
(original press release from Startup Open, 11/14/11)

Startup Open, a competition for startups with high-growth potential featured as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) 2011, today announced the two grand prize winners: Kavita Shukla, founder of Fenugreen, and Jason Ethier, founder of Dynamo Micropower. The two Boston-area entrepreneurs were selected from a group of startups dubbed the “GEW 50” announced last month. In selecting the winners, a panel of judges took into account each of the startups’ concept, growth projections and knowledge of their industry.

“Young firms, like those conceptualized by Kavita and Jason, are the linchpins to revitalizing the world economy,” said Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation, founder of Global Entrepreneurship Week. “Their ingenuity, innovation and entrepreneurial passions exemplify the spirit of entrepreneurship and will inspire others to strive to create new firms.”

Shukla’s Fenugreen offers patented, all-natural material to address the global challenge of food spoilage. The sustainable product keeps food fresher from “farm to fork” by helping reduce transportation, inventory and energy costs. Shukla will receive an all-expenses paid trip to participate in the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Liverpool in March 2012. The Congress will bring together entrepreneurs, investors, global leaders and startup champions from more than 100 countries. Shukla will have the opportunity to showcase her business plan on a global scale, gain valuable insight from successful and experienced entrepreneurs, and network with world leaders and economists. (…continued)

Happening in Kendall Square

(original article by Jason Weeks, 11/17/2011, Metro)

Enter Cambridge and you cross a threshold into a unique world. Cambridge is a place where you can find both style and substance. Creativity blends with innovation and history. Diversity reigns. Art undefined with a capital A undefined imbues every neighborhood and walk of life. 

Day and night, the arts are seen and heard everywhere in Cambridge. Public Artwork mirrors the city’s urban rhythms. Street Performers enliven parks, sidewalks and plazas. While theater-goers wrap around street corners awaiting the next show, jazz, rock, hip-hop and classical music reverberate from cafes, restaurants and nightclubs. Each city square undefined Central, Harvard, Inman, Kendall, Porter and Trolley undefined conjures its own soundtrack, colors and flavors.

This winter, try something new in Cambridge! Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre’s “The Nutcracker” is the most up-close and vivid version of the beloved holiday story you will ever experience. Sparklefest in Harvard Square offers nonstop events throughout the season undefined beginning with Folk Music Month and moving on to latkes, tree lighting and artisanal craft markets.

For family fun, visit East Cambridge on Dec. 17 for Kendall Square Holiday on Ice, featuring professional figure skating performances, hot chocolate, pizza and open skating undefined all free!
     
Next, can you imagine six human deer dancing? Instead of turtle doves this holiday season, let me suggest a new twist: Winter Solstice Night at the Museum. On Dec. 21 at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, celebrate the start to winter with a performance of the traditional Abbots Bromley Horn Dance by the Christmas Revels' Pinewoods Morris Men, and take in the museum's horns and antlers exhibition. 

Eager to flex your musical chops? Check out the many classes and community programs for all ages at Longy School of Music. For powerhouse musical muscle that will warm your heart and soul, you will not want to miss the Multicultural Arts Center’s 25th Annual Joyful Noise Gospel Concert with the Harlem Gospel Choir, honoring Martin Luther King Jr., on Jan. 14 in Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. 
If you think you know Cambridge, get ready for a variety of arts encounters that paint a new picture of this one-of-a-kind city. I invite you to join us this holiday season, and take a walk on the Cambridge side of life! (…continued)

H3 Biomedicine Inc. inaugurates new Cambridge headquarters, lab space shar.es/ojY1f  |  MIT injecting life into Kendall Square boston.com/realestate/new… via @BostonDotCom  |  Tomorrow @ MIT's Kresge for lunch - Energy Secretary Chu on winning the clean energy race. Expect SRO so arrive early!  |  Governor Patrick launches advanced manufacturing collaborative in Kendall Square. - BostonHerald.com ht.ly/7IAee  |  Cambridge ranks second in list of smartest U.S. cities bizjournals.com/boston/news/20… via @BBJNewsroom  |  Next stop: Kendall Square: Tech hub attracts players large and small to support innovation. MIT News Office ht.ly/7Fv70  |  MIT neuroscientists find that two rare autism-related disorders are caused by opposing malfunctions in the brain. ht.ly/7Fv0n  |  Get your skate on in Kendall Square - Groupon deal for rentals & hot chocolate! Groupon Deals ht.ly/7BI6s  |  History, proximity and serendipity make Kendall Square fertile ground for the next big idea. MIT News Office ht.ly/7BELM  |  Pfizer breaks ground in Cambridge shar.es/oqlMJ  |  MIT begins building Pfizer facility - Business - The Boston Globe ht.ly/7zmt3  |  Occupation Cambridge: entrepreneurs say, "We Are the Jobs!" - BostonHerald.com ht.ly/7xYz2  |  Metro - Some artful events for the winter metro.us/boston/enterta… via @metroBOS  |  Cambridge Business Profile: Xylem -- a modern gift shop shar.es/ob22Y  |  Congrats to Cambridge's Fenugreek, winner of Global Entrepreneurship Week's Startup Open 2011! It's a wrap!! ht.ly/7ufWT  |  Seaport and Kendall Square are hotbeds for development, defying a gloomy economy - Sunday Boston Globe ht.ly/7lOVN  |  Sanofi doubles down on Cambridge with new "innovation based" (i.e. 'bump & connect') R&D strategy. MHT Business News ht.ly/7lNVO  |  Steven Tyler a VC? Aerosmith star teams with the Who's Daltrey and MIT scientists to develop vocal cord repair gel. ht.ly/7lEBy  |  Fuji in #KSq opening this month? Check out menu for latest in Kendall Square's restaurant scene. Boston Rest. Talk ht.ly/7gHWi

Good morning everyone, and thank you David, Henri and Ell for your inspiring remarks.

I’d like to start by giving a quick thanks to Tim Rowe... Over the past 2 years Tim has managed to lead the KSA’s explosive growth all the while growing his own business, the Cambridge Innovation Center, and solidifying his national reputation as the innovator’s innovator.  I think we all owe Tim a great deal for his passion and dynamism, and I look forward to working with you, Tim, another year as the Board President (assuming things go as planned when we get to the vote today).

This has been a very exciting and busy 5 months for me, and for most of you a dynamic full year of KSA activity.  As many of you know, the KSA is a working organization with an active board and an open committee structure representing an enthusiastic and engaged membership.  It is in these open committees or “working groups” that much of the KSA action happens.   On the registration table you will find a handout summarizing the accomplishments of our working this past year, but let me take a moment to highlight a few activities:

•   We have soft launched an incredibly cool redesigned website, which we will formally launch at the end of this month;

•   The transportation group was an integral part of the Longfellow Bridge and other transportation planning processes

•   The development group vetted major development plans for the area

•   The Networking & Events Group is planning a great 6 months of events coming up, including book readings at Voltage and, my favorite, the bacon & beer fest...

•   And speaking of Voltage, multiple new retailers opened this past year, including Voltage, Bosse City Club & Spa, Evoo, and Think Tank.

Again, we couldn’t have accomplished all this without your support, hard work and generosity, and I think you owe yourselves a special round of applause.

I started this job with the notion that Kendall Square is more than just one square mile, it is an idea.   I have spent a good portion of my first 5 months on the job engaging in dozens of meetings with business leaders, entrepreneurs, and civic leaders, reviewing the area’s economics, and delving into its history.  I wanted to understand why the idea of innovation is so strong and inextricably linked to this place.  What I have learned significantly shapes my view of the future for this area, so if you’ll indulge me, I would like to start with a few observations.

There is barely a corner of today’s economy that has not been shaped in some way by the innovation and entrepreneurship in Kendall Square.  Sometimes for fun, when I talk with people unfamiliar with the Kendall Square story (or the Gospel of Kendall, as I affectionately call it), I challenge them to go one a single day without encountering or utilizing a technology or innovation that has its roots in Kendall Square.  I let them chew on that...and as they imagine themselves completely off the grid, I tell them about how for more than 2 centuries, Kendall Square has been an economic & innovation juggernaut.  Not only have companies invented and commercialized some of the world’s leading technologies here in Kendall Square, but we have also exported, or “graduated” some of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs & companies including Raytheon, Intel, ETrade, Qualcomm and iRobot.  The entrepreneurial impact of MIT alone is staggering -  there are over 25,000 active companies founded by MIT alumni representing annual world sales well over a trillion dollars.

And that impact continues in the present.  With more tech & biotech companies per square mile than any other place in the world, we are a technology uber-cluster...Home to Genzyme, Aura Biosciences, and hundreds of other companies changing humanity’s understanding of science & technology every day.

Why here?  Conventional wisdom points to our geographic location, proximity to two of the world’s greatest universities - MIT and Harvard – a dense urban environment which forces people to “bump and connect”...  But there’s another reason.  Innovation is, by its very nature, rebellious...It’s a process of disruption... It isn’t just something you do, it is a way of life.  And Cambridge, Massachusetts has a nearly 400 year history of being at the center of disruption...challenging the status quo...and forging its own unique identity.  It is perhaps that rebellious identity which is part of Kendall Square’s mojo.  And why every year, thousands of students, professionals, and entrepreneurs from many nations come here to participate in a shared heartbeat of innovation.   Officials from all over the world want to know our “secret sauce” for the purpose of building and replicating our innovative hub.  I wish them the best of luck - for while you can build great lab space, a community’s tolerance for the messy, unconventional and rebellious innovator’s spirit is something that must evolve over time.

But past success is no sinecure - we cannot rest on our laurels.  The timing and wisdom of forming the KSA I think reflects an awareness of increased global competition and an understanding that Kendall Square has reached an inflection point.  Kendall Square is ALMOST one of the most exciting places to live, work and play...and I say almost deliberately.   I can challenge you to go a day without using Kendall Square tech...I can equally challenge you to try buying a pack of gum or a bottle of aspirin in the Square.  And for a globally competitive innovation cluster, when you walk the streets, it certainly doesn’t look globally competitive.  And where is all this bumping and connecting happening?  For that matter, do you know which way MIT is?  And does anyone else find it ironic that in area with all these pharmaceutical companies there isn’t one drugstore?

As executive director of the Kendall Square Association, my responsibility is not only to be this area’s greatest cheerleader, but also, in true Cantabrigian fashion, its most honest critic.  We will need more than our unique value proposition and large buildings to continue to propel this area forward.   As I look toward the future, there are four initiatives I believe the KSA needs to engage in to truly bring Kendall Square into the spotlight as THE global epicenter of innovation:

• The first is to make Kendall Square a friendlier place for new businesses to take root, and exponentially grow.  Through all stages of incubation and growth, the KSA will leverage the unique knowledge, contacts and expertise of its membership to serve as a one stop shop that helps provide companies the resources they need to stay successful and keep the environment vibrant.  From helping work with the City of Cambridge, bringing together area innovators, CEOs, and entrepreneurs, helping promote a particular event or a company’s recent success, or simply greeting new companies and entrepreneurs to neighborhood, the KSA should grow to be an ardent supporter of and deep resource for upstarts of  all sizes.
• Second, I believe that first impressions matter, and we have a lot of work to do in making Kendall Square a real destination. Through a combination of placemaking, wayfinding, technology, and public places & events where people REALLY bump and connect, our physical environment should LOOK like it is the most innovative square mile on the planet.  There is more than 4 million square feet of real estate development proposed or approved for Kendall Square in the next decade - a tremendous opportunity to reframe the pedestrian environment, add much needed services & amenities, and add additional office, lab, and R&D capacity.  Let’s work together on having our built environment reflect the spirit of innovation that it houses.
• Third, it is precisely because there is more than 4 million square feet of new development on the books for Kendall Square that we need to be proactive in telling the world that we are open for business, that we have space to expand, and that we welcome newcomers. We need to step up our game in attracting the world’s leading companies and entrepreneurs to locate here; and it is precisely for that reason that the Kendall Square Association board has established a new subcommittee to explore how we can play a more concerted role in driving business to Kendall Square.  Details on this committee will emerge over the weeks to come, but suffice to say, we as a community do not have to wait for the phone to ring...we can dial out.
• Lastly, one of the realities of Kendall Square is that we export talent, technology and companies all over the world.  As a community, we celebrate and honor the success they derived from their time in Kendall Square.  But just because we export these companies & entrepreneurs, shouldn’t mean that we never talk to them again.   I would like to propose that we invite all these companies, innovators & entrepreneurs back, once a year, to exchange ideas, refresh themselves with the spirit or innovation that launched their company, and reinvest in the location where it all began.  You can call it a Kendall Square alumni event - I like to call it “Square Roots.”  This annual event will be a cornerstone of the KSA’s agenda - a time for us to show off Kendall Square as the birthplace of the innovation economy and, through the companies and leaders this area has born, improve the state of science & technology innovation worldwide.

This is a broad agenda for an organization with a staff of one.  But the KSA is a working membership with working committees and an incredibly engaged working board.  Your ongoing support is this organization’s lifeblood.  If you are a member, we thank you, and we invite you to get engaged in one of our many committees that accomplish much of the organization’s work.  If you are not a member, I take all forms of payment...and don’t try to escape...remember, I am bigger than you.

Lastly, I would like to thank all of the directors for their support during my on-boarding process.  A particular thanks to Sarah Gallop of MIT and Chris Barr of Amgen for your help setting up this annual meeting, and Sara Spalding of Microsoft for your help with our brand-new website.  And we all owe thanks to Tracy Mercer & Maura Ryan of the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority, the KSA’s shadow staff, for all their behind the scenes help.

Thanks again for the warm welcome, and I look forward to an exciting and productive year ahead!

The World’s Most Innovative City

Tim Rowe 2/2/11

Most readers will be aware that Vertex announced it is moving from 900,000 square feet of laboratories and offices in Cambridge to over a million square feet in Boston.

Some are asking if this spells serious trouble in Cambridge. This question surprises me. Cambridge is one of the world’s most important sources of next-generation technology and companies, and regularly exports them. A 2009 Kaufmann Foundation study showed that MIT spin-outs alone, if collected together, would rank as the 11th largest economy in the world. Vertex and its Telaprevir hepatitis C drug, which is on the verge of approval by the FDA, follow a time-honored tradition.

Once ideas are proven, those pursuing them should and do move into production mode. Sometimes that means taking larger, cheaper space elsewhere. When this happens, it makes room for another generation of new companies in Cambridge. While nobody wants to lose a taxpayer, Cambridge should feel proud of the contributions it makes to the rest of the world.

For nearly 400 years, Cambridge’s powerful blend of intellectual and entrepreneurial oomph has given the city an enviable self-renewing quality. Let’s look at the record. It starts with the book. Cambridge printed the first book in North America 370 years ago. About that time, it also became home to its first university, Harvard. The first computer (the Mark II) and the Internet (then called the Arpanet) came out of Cambridge. Thomas Watson placed the first two-way telephone call from his lab in Kendall Square, the wires stretching across the river to Alexander Graham Bell’s home on Beacon Hill. Some other Cambridge creations include the microwave oven, the sewing machine, instant photography, ship-to-ship radar, synthesis of penicillin and quinine, fractionation of blood, and deployment of vaccines. Many of Cambridge’s inventions today are so complex, the inventors win Nobel Prizes while most of us don’t even understand them.

(If you want the full background on these inventions and others, you are in luck. The Cambridge Historical Society is readying a comprehensive website on the history of invention in Cambridge. Send a note to innovation@cambridgehistory.org if you’d like to be notified when it’s up.)

Cambridge has launched some pretty interesting ideas in other departments as well. The Continental Army, which became the U.S. Army, was founded in Cambridge. General George Washington took command here and led the fight for American independence . A century later, the first volunteer company to fight in the U.S. civil war formed here. This war took the nation a giant leap toward racial equality. Just over a century after that, the first legal applications in America for same-sex marriage licenses were issued at Cambridge City Hall, a watershed in the gay rights movement.

In the Vertex case, the press has focused on the competition between Cambridge and Boston. That’s a good thing. Competition sharpens our wits and pushes us to be more competitive. According to economic development theorists, intense local competition is required to make a region become a global powerhouse. We should encourage it. If Boston has made itself more attractive to businesses, then Cambridge should too. This said, to the extent that points are being tallied for regional economic wins, let’s give the greatest credit to those who bring companies into the region, as Cambridge did with Novartis. I will cheer for Boston when it announces that it has brought a million-square-foot technology tenant into the region.

We all know the real threat to our region is places like Shanghai and Dallas. At the recent first-ever joint session of the Cambridge and Boston City Councils, the good folks at Monitor Group and Harvard presented data showing that Massachusetts is losing market share in the fields we are most competitive in. What’s up with that? Let’s get our act together, guys!

We invite innovators and entrepreneurs to come to Cambridge, MA, to collaborate with us to create the innovations that will shape the next century. We are the world’s most innovative city, and we want you to be part of that.

Xconomist Tim Rowe is Founder and CEO of Cambridge Innovation Center.

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