hubevents: August 2012

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Energy (and Other) Events - August 26, 2012

Energy (and Other) Events is a weekly mailing list published most Sundays covering events around the Cambridge, MA and greater Boston area that catch the editor's eye.

Hubevents http://hubevents.blogspot.com is the web version.

If you wish to subscribe or unsubscribe to Energy (and Other) Events email gmoke@world.std.com

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Monday, August 27

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Boston Entrepreneurship Speaker Series: Jay Batson, Co-founder of Acquia

Monday, August 27, 2012

6:30 PM to 8:00 PM (EDT)

Bocoup Loft, 355 Congress Street, Boston

RSVP at http://bemss4-es2.eventbrite.com/?rank=209

"You gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, know when to run." - Kenny Rogers

This talk will focus on recognizing when it's time to decide whether to hold or fold. Jay has founded four tech companies, and encountered hold/fold moments in all of them. This situation arises in all kinds of ways - hold/fold a customer sales opportunity, hold/fold your role in the company, or hold/fold the company itself. Jay doesn't claim to have gotten them all right - but he's learned from all of the hold/fold moments. Come learn what he's learned from those moments.

Jay is currently the Co-founder of Acquia. Acquia is the second technology company Jay has founded, and is also his second commercial open-source effort (the previous having been Pingtel, acquired by Nortel). Jay's passion is to build great companies that build products that make users happy. So at Acquia, he searches out new products and service opportunities the company can offer its customers to make Drupal more valuable to those who use it.

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Nerd Night

Monday August 27, 2012

8pm

Middlesex, 315 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge

Featuring Nerd-appropriate tunes by DJ Claude Money

The lineup:

Talk 1. “Edvard Munch: His Life and Work In Context”

by David Curcio

Talk 2. “Sh*t [nerds] say: Just what the hell is a snowclone anyway?”
by Tim Sullivan

For more information about the speakers and the talks see http://boston.nerdnite.com/2012/08/19/nerdnite-august-27-meme-mad-libs-and-munch/

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Tuesday, August 28
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Micro-Finance OPEN HOUSE - Volunteering Opportunity with Social Enterprise
Tuesday, August 28
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EST)
Stata Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge

MONTHLY OPEN HOUSE
Philanthropist.org invites you to join us for our Monthly open house to learn about how to get involved with our new micro-finance and micro-philanthropy startup venture. We are currently looking to add members to our team. This is a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a promising new social enterprise. Please BRING YOUR RESUME! Also submit your resume and desired role in advance via: http://philanthropist.org/volunteer The ideal candidates are energetic problem-solvers, networkers, big-picture thinkers, and experts at execution.
Current opportunities allow qualified candidates to demonstrate deep involvement without the risk. At the moment, we only need ONE NIGHT PER WEEK of your time as we lock down our strategy, develop processes, and perform the basic "blocking and tackling" required to get a venture off the ground. The team currently meets weekly on Tuesday nights from 6-10pm.
Open House Agenda:
6:00-6:30 Networking/Introductions
6:30-7:00 Video Presentation
7:00-7:30 Group Interviews
7:30-8:00+ One-on-One Interviews
There is no Cost to attend, but please be on time as we cannot accept late arrivals.

Learn more:
give@philanthropist.org
http://www.youtube.com/user/philanthropistorg
http://www.facebook.com/philanthropist.org
For those looking for entrepreneurial adventure, consider joining us on our next inspiring Micro-Finance Profiling Field Trip in January. View Pictures from the last trip in September:
http://picasaweb.google.com/philanthropist.org/MicroFinanceFieldStudyDominicanRepublic
***Did you know? In the Dominican Republic (alone) the Market for Micro-Finance Loans is over $28 Million? The Average Loan is $361 USD with over 50,000 clients having small loans. Over 70% are women, and payback rates exceed 97% (better than traditional banking). Please see the few examples on Youtube, and research Micro-Finance prior to Arrival so you are fluent in terminology: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro-finance

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Minute to Pitch it
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM (EDT)
1 Marina Park Drive Boston

Minute to Pitch It
Join MassChallenge for an evening of speed pitching!
Be wow'd by pitches from the teams working to change the world. Finalists have one minute to pitch their companies to a crowd of supporters and startup enthusiasts!

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Suggestions?
events@masschallenge.org

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Data Science for the Bottom Billion: Learn and discuss about Data for Development (and get introduced)

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

7:00 PM To 9:00 PM

MIT Media Lab, Building E14 Room 525, 75 Amherst Street, Cambridge

RSVP at ttp://www.meetup.com/Data-Science-for-the-Bottom-Billion/events/77043292/

We will discuss the status quo of international development organizations, how they use data today, and what the opportunities for improvement are. We will also spend some time talking about our own interests in this space, and how we think we can contribute.

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Wednesday, August 29

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Scaling Crashlytics: Designing Web Backends for 100 Million Events per Day

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

6:30 PM

Microsoft NERD Center, 1 Memorial Drive, Cambridge

RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/BostonTech/events/76729932/

Working on the next hottest startup? Building an app that you know will take off?
Your backend web architecture is one of the most critical factors in your long-term success. It dictates your success in launching the next big customer, the amount of work your team will have to do in the face of scaling, and even your ability to bring new features online. Decisions you make now can save literally months of work over the coming years and give you the power to deliver features the competition can only dream of building.

The best part? It’s really easy. We’ll explore fast-message-queueing, a web architecture pattern we’ve employed at Crashlytics since day 1 to process millions of data-points a day. Learn how to design the backends used by some of the most successful Silicon Valley (and Boston!) startups as we walk through code examples and a live demo.

Topics include:
- Job queuing vast amounts of data
- Real-time frontend updates/notifications
- Monitoring performance metrics and troubleshooting
- Scaling from a single server to hundreds using the same pattern
- Lessons learned in production

The talk will be given by Jeff Seibert, the Co-Founder and CEO of Crashlytics, the leading provider of real-time crash detection and analysis for mobile applications. In 2007, Seibert co-founded Palo Alto-based Increo and served as its COO and Architect until its acquisition by Box.net in August of 2009. He subsequently oversaw the integration of Increo’s document processing, preview and annotation technologies into Box’s CCM platform.

Over the past 5 years, Seibert has designed, implemented, and scaled cloud-based and distributed processing systems intended to handle 100 jobs per day to 100 Million jobs per day. He holds a Computer Science degree from Stanford University and was selected as a Mayfield Fellow in 2007.

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Thursday, August 30

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Yemen at the Crossroads: Between Humanitarian and Development Priorities in the Face of Insecurity

WHEN Thu., Aug. 30, 2012, 6 p.m.

WHERE Cason Room, Taubman Building, 1st Floor, 5 Eliot Street, Harvard Kennedy School

GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences

ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Middle East Initiative

SPEAKER(S) Mohammed Qazilbash, Yemen Country Director, Mercy Corps

LINK http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/project/64/middle_east_initiative.html

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Saturday, September 1

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Sunday, September 2

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The Circus of the Possibilitarians
Sunday, September 2nd
3 pm
Cambridge Common, Cambridge

kicks off Harvard Square’s annual “Revival Month”

Bread & Puppet Theater: The Circus of the Possibilitarians . Held outdoors on Sunday, September 2nd at 3 pm on the Cambridge Common, near the intersection of Mass. Ave. and Garden St., Cambridge. Free performance [pass-the-hat donations welcome], rain or shine. For further details, call the Boston-area Bread & Puppet Theater information line 617-286-6694 or log onto http://www.breadandpuppet.org.

Soon to begin celebrating its 50th anniversary, the award-winning Bread & Puppet Theater, from Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, presents their The Circus of the Possibilitarians on the Cambridge Common, a public space they used to frequent prior to the mid-1980’s. Last year the theater finally returned to help launch Harvard Square’s inaugural “Revival Month.” And now a return engagement is in order.

The Circus of the Possibilitarians is a satirical horse and butterfly circus, addressing pertinent national and international issues in a clownish fashion, features rotten ideas, a wild dancing horse, a saxophone ballet, a solemn salute to the world's casualties and much more! Not to mention The Dire Circumstance Jubilation Ensemble providing a little bit of brass and a lot of noise. Please take note that if some of the circus acts are politically puzzling to adults, accompanying children can usually explain them. The audience is welcome to examine all the masks and puppets after the performance, and Cheap Art will be for sale. Examples of Bread & Puppet’s work can be found at http://www.breadandpuppet.org.

Bread & Puppet’s outdoor Circus on the Common is serving as the kick off to what is now Harvard Square’s annual “Revival Month,” an entire month of “reincarnations” which will spill over into early October with the return of the HONK! Parade: Reclaim the Streets for Horns, Bikes, and Feet Parade on Oct. 7th, a Bread & Puppet-inspired procession on Massachusetts Avenue leading into Harvard Square’s Oktoberfest. For complete information on Harvard Square’s “Revival Month” visit http://www.harvardsquare.com. For more information on HONK! and the parade that runs from Davis Square to Harvard Square, log onto www.honkfest.org.

Special thanks to the Cambridge Arts Council and the Harvard Square Business Association for helping make this event possible; funded in part by the Cambridge Arts Council.

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Tuesday, September 4

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Meet the Loeb Fellows: Ephemeral Urbanism

WHEN Tue., Sep. 4, 2012, 12 – 2 p.m.

WHERE Stubbins, Room 112, Gund Hall, 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge

GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Sustainability, Theater

ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Loeb Fellowship

SPEAKER(S) LZ Nunn, development director, Greater Lowell Community Foundation, Lowell, MA

Jim Lasko, founder/co-artistic director, Red Moon Theater, Chicago, IL
Helen Marriage, co-founder, Artichoke, London

COST Free and open to the public

CONTACT INFO syoung@gsd.harvard.edu

LINK http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/#/news/introducing-the-2013-loeb-fellows.html

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American Red Cross Workplace Safety Seminar
9/5/2012
8:00 am - 9:00 am
Microsoft New England R&D Center, One Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 02142

Description: The American Red Cross, the largest non-profit organization in the world and world leader in emergency response, is offering a Workplace Safety Seminar to business leaders in Massachusetts to assist in identifying gaps in safety protocols and save lives by having procedures in place for any anticipated emergency.
Key speakers and panel guests include:
American Red Cross Preparedness Health and Safety Services, offering the latest resources from the Red Cross to help your company identify gaps in safety procedures to be proactive in emergency preparedness;
OSHA, outlining safety requirements in various workplace environments;
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, presenting the plan that keeps their employees safe and why they feel it is so important to be a model of safety in the community; and
Cardiac Science, demonstrating the ease of operation of a state of the art fully automatic AED.

This event will be a benefit to your business, offering you an opportunity to find out not just what is required of you according to state and federal mandate, but the gaps in your preparedness plans that can help to protect and save the lives of your staff to keep your business running smoothing when an emergency strikes.
Audience: COOs, Property and Office Managers, Safety and Emergency Preparedness Directors and other business managers from Boston and across Massachusetts.
Twitter: #redcross
Contact: tara.craft@redcross.org

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Meet the Loeb Fellows: City Building

WHEN Thu., Sep. 6, 2012, 12 – 2 p.m.

WHERE Gund Hall, 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge

GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Environmental Sciences, Health Sciences, Sustainability

ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Loeb Fellowship

SPEAKER(S) CITY BUILDING

Ramiro Almeida, strategic planner, foreign affairs adviser and cultural activist, Quito, Ecuador
Lynn Richards, policy director, EPA Office of Sustainable Communities, Washington, DC
Ann Yoachim, environmental and health planner, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA

COST Free

CONTACT INFO syoung@gsd.harvard.edu

LINK http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/#/news/introducing-the-2013-loeb-fellows.html

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The Syrian Revolution: What Lies Ahead?

WHEN Thu., Sep. 6, 2012, 4 – 6 p.m.

WHERE CGIS, Knafel Building, Room 262, 1737 Cambridge St, Cambridge

GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences

ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University

SPEAKER(S) Murhaf Jouejati, professor of Middle East Studies, National Defense University; member of the Syrian National Council

CONTACT INFO mivanova@wcfia.harvard.edu

NOTE This event is open to the public; no registration required.

LINK http://cmes.hmdc.harvard.edu/node/3235

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Meet the Loeb Fellows: Urban Transformations

WHEN Fri., Sep. 7, 2012, 12 p.m.

WHERE Gund Hall, 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge

GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Humanities, Social Sciences, Sustainability

ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Loeb Fellowship at Harvard's Graduate School of Design

SPEAKER(S) Karen Lee Bar-Sinai, architect and co-founder, SAYA/Design for Change, Tel Aviv, Israel

Deanna VanBuren, architectural designer, principal, FOURM, Oakland, CA
Ed Walker, social entrepreneur, founder/CEO, Regeneration Partners+ CityWorks, Roanoke, VA

COST Free and open to the public

CONTACT INFO syoung@gsd.harvard.edu

LINK http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/#/news/introducing-the-2013-loeb-fellows.html

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The Green Neighbors Education Committee, Inc. and the Foundation for a Green Future, Inc. present the next in our series of monthly Small Business seminars. Our seminars will have workshops and/or panels on topics of interest to small business people followed by networking sessions where entrepreneurs can meet each other and connect.

Our September 8th, 2012 topic will be on Financing for Small Businesses. It will run from 10:00 AM until 12:30ish PM. It will be held at the Codman Square Library, 690 Washington Street in Dorchester Center (Codman Square).

Please RSVP to otoney@comcast.net or call Owen at (617) 427-6293.

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The Fall 2012 Mid-Cambridge PLANT SWAP

Saturday September 8

NOON to 2 pm

Rain date—in case of DOWNPOUR—is Sunday, Sep. 9, 12-2

at Fayette Park (off Fayette St., across from the former Longfellow School and library, near corner with Broadway)

Bring anything that's growing in too much abundance in your garden. Elegant packaging not required, but please write down plant names. We expect to have perennials, biennial seedlings, seeds, houseplants, catalogs, pots, and lots of "whatever."

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WATERTOWN’S LIFE-FRIENDLY GARDEN TOUR

Sunday Sep. 9

12:30 to 5.

Free! The brochure, including a map, will soon be available at http://watertowncitizens.org/

It’s an annual (since 2007) celebration of chemical-free yards and gardens, featuring 9 gardens this year.

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FUTURE ENERGY - INVESTOR FEEDBACK FORUM
9/10/2012
6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Microsoft New England R&D Center, One Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 02142

Description: Future Energy is a brand new conference where you can see the most revolutionary energy technology of the future before it hits mainstream. At each Future Energy event, 8 startups present to a panel of energy and cleantech venture capital investors for feedback, advice, and networking. The audience votes on the best presenters who win prizes and media attention to help launch their business.

Applications to pitch can be submitted at http://ultralightstartups.com/future-energy/application-form/
The platinum sponsor for this event is the Shell International Game Changer program.
Audience: Entrepreneurs, Investors, Media, all are welcome
Twitter: @crisdeluca
Register at http://futureenergyboston.eventbrite.com/
Editorial Comment: Early bird tickets are $10 and general admission is $20. Not free but still relatively inexpensive access.

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Tour of International Markets
Thur, September 13th
6pm-7:30pm
Union Square, Somerville

As part of our ArtsUnion project, the Somerville Arts Council gives tours of Union Square international food markets. Join us and learn where to find ingredients like Nepalese timur (a fragrant spice used in pickles), squid ink pasta and Haitian akasan (a cornmeal drink). Beyond discovering the culinary exotica available in Union Square, we’ll learn about the history of these stores and how their clientele represents the cultural community of Somerville. Each tour visits three markets and we’ll point out others along the way. Featured markets include: Casa de Carne, Well Foods Plus Halal Market, La Internacional, Little India, New Bombay Market, Pao de Acucar & Brazilian Buffet and the Reliable Market. Without leaving Union Square, we’ll visit Brazil, Korea, India, Nepal, Guatemala and Haiti! Dates: Thur, September 13th, 6pm-7:30pm Cost: free How to sign up: send an email to artsuniontour@gmail.com

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SOMERVILLE GARDEN CLUB PLANT SALE

Sat., Sep. 15

9 to 1

Davis Square, at the intersection of College Avenue and Holland Street, Somerville

http://www.somervillegardenclub.org/

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Harvard Thinks Green 2

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

7:00pm

Sanders Theatre, Memorial Hall, 45 Quincy Street, Cambridge

Hear 6 all-star Harvard faculty presenting their big green ideas from business, government, science, energy, health, and planning perspectives.

Confirmed faculty speakers:

Professor Joseph Aldy, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, HKS

Professor James Anderson, Philip S. Weld Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry, SEAS

Professor Amy Edmonson, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management, HBS

Professor Joyce Rosenthal, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning, GSD

Professor Daniel Schrag, Director, Harvard University Center for the Environment; Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology and Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering, FAS

http://www.green.harvard.edu/thinksgreen

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New England Electricity Restructuring Roundtable

Friday, September 21, 2012
9:00am - 12:30pm
Foley Hoag LLP, 155 Seaport Boulevard, 13th Floor, Boston
Better Aligning Capacity Markets with Policy/Planning Objectives

Perhaps no development in the history of electricity markets in New England and throughout the US has been more controversial than the emergence of capacity markets. With New England contemplating numerous changes to its capacity market design (partially in response to a FERC order, and partially due to the efforts of ISO and other stakeholders to better align capacity markets with planning and policy objectives), now is a perfect time for a dedicated Roundtable on capacity markets.

In our first panel we will explore evolving regional capacity markets in three ISOs: New England, New York, and PJM. To share both the lessons ISOs are learning and the improvements they are contemplating, we are very pleased to have joining us President and CEO of the New York ISO, Stephen Whitley; Vice President of Market Operations and Demand Response at PJM, Stu Bresler; and Vice President of Market Development at ISO New England, Robert Ethier. We have asked Johannes Pfeifenberger, Principal at the Brattle Group, who has worked with many ISOs in the U.S. and beyond, to lead off the panel with an overview of the role of capacity markets and an "apples-to-apples" comparison of the three ISOs' capacity market designs and performances to date.

For our second panel we have invited a cross-section of leading stakeholder group representatives to share their perspectives on how to better align capacity markets in New England to ensure resource adequacy, while also meeting other important regional policy/planning objectives. Our illustrious panel will include:

Chairman Thomas Welch, Maine Public Utilities Commission
Commissioner Elizabeth Miller, VT Deptartment of Public Service
Peter Fuller, Director of Regulatory Affairs, NRG Energy
James Daly, VP Energy Supply, Northeast Utilities

We have also asked Bob Ethier to join this 2nd panel for the Q & A and discussion among the panelists.

Contact Name: Susan Rivo
susan@raabassociates.org

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Solidarity And Green Economy (SAGE) 2nd annual conference "Another World Is Possible"
9am-4pm Saturday, October 13th, 2012
in Worcester, MA
Much more: http://WorcesterSAGEalliance.org

A day of resource sharing, alliance building, and collective visioning to create and organize around equitable, democratic, and sustainable community economies.

The conference brings together activists, organizers, community leaders, entrepreneurs, academics, local government, non-profits, and other individuals and organizations committed to forging more equitable and sustainable ways of organizing our communities.

***Call for workshop proposals!***
Please fill out your workshop ideas/proposals by 5pm September 12th here: http://www.worcestersagealliance.org/?page_id=112

Matt Feinstein
Co-director, Media and Organizing Coordinator
Worcester Roots Project
w: 508-343-0035
c: 508-335-7783
http://worcesterroots.org

5 Pleasant St 3rd floor
Worcester, MA 01609

What's a co-director and a staff collective? Find out more here:
http://www.worcesterroots.org/about-2/staff-and-board/why-a-staff-collective/

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Opportunity

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Where is the best yogurt on the planet made? Somerville, of course!

Join the Somerville Yogurt Making Cooperative and get a weekly quart of the most thick, creamy, rich and tart yogurt in the world. Membership in the coop costs $2.50 per quart. Members share the responsibility for making yogurt in our kitchen located just outside of Davis Sq. in FirstChurch. No previous yogurt making experience is necessary.

For more information checkout.
https://sites.google.com/site/somervilleyogurtcoop/home

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Boiler Rebate
If your boiler is from 1983 or earlier, Mass Save will give a $1,750 to $4,000 rebate to switch it out for a new efficient boiler that uses the same fuel (i.e. if you have oil, you have to continue to use oil) so long as it is installed by July 31, 2012.

Call Mass Save (866 527-7283) to sign up for a home energy assessment or sign-up online at www.nextsteplivinginc.com/HEET  and HEET will receive a $10 contribution from Next Step Living for every completed assessment.

This is a great way to reduce climate change emissions for the next 20 or so years the boiler lasts, while saving money.

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CEA Solar Hot Water Grants
Cambridge, through the Cambridge Energy Alliance initiative, is offering a limited number of grants to residents and businesses for solar hot water systems. The grants will cover 50% of the remaining out of pocket costs of the system after other incentives, up to $2,000.

Applications will be accepted up to November 19, 2012 and are available on a first come, first serve basis until funding runs out. The Cambridge grant will complement other incentives including the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center solar thermal grants. For more information, see
http://cambridgeenergyalliance.org/resources/additional-resources/solar-hot-water-grant-program

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Cambridge Residents: Free Home Thermal Images

Have you ever wanted to learn where your home is leaking heat by having an energy auditor come to your home with a thermal camera? With that info you then know where to fix your home so it's more comfortable and less expensive to heat. However, at $200 or so, the cost of such a thermal scan is a big chunk of change.

HEET Cambridge has now partnered with Sagewell, Inc. to offer Cambridge residents free thermal scans.

Sagewell collects the thermal images by driving through Cambridge in a hybrid vehicle equipped with thermal cameras. They will scan every building in Cambridge (as long as it's not blocked by trees or buildings or on a private way). Building owners can view thermal images of their property and an analysis online. The information is password protected so that only the building owner can see the results.

Homeowners, condo-owners and landlords can access the thermal images and an accompanying analysis free of charge. Commercial building owners and owners of more than one building will be able to view their images and analysis for a small fee.

The scans will be analyzed in the order they are requested.

Go to Sagewell.com. Type in your address at the bottom where it says "Find your home or building" and press return. Then click on "Here" to request the report.

That's it. When the scans are done in a few weeks, your building will be one of the first to be analyzed. The accompanying report will help you understand why your living room has always been cold and what to do about it.

With knowledge, comes power (or in this case saved power and money, not to mention comfort).

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Free solar electricity analysis for MA residents
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHhwM202dDYxdUZJVGFscnY1VGZ3aXc6MQ

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HEET has partnered with NSTAR and Mass Save participating contractor Next Step Living to deliver no-cost Home Energy Assessments to Cambridge residents.

During the assessment, the energy specialist will:

Install efficient light bulbs (saving up to 7% of your electricity bill)
Install programmable thermostats (saving up to 10% of your heating bill)
Install water efficiency devices (saving up to 10% of your water bill)
Check the combustion safety of your heating and hot water equipment
Evaluate your home’s energy use to create an energy-efficiency roadmap
If you get electricity from NSTAR, National Grid or Western Mass Electric, you already pay for these assessments through a surcharge on your energy bills. You might as well use the service.

Please sign up at http://nextsteplivinginc.com/heet/?outreach=HEET or call Next Step Living at 866-867-8729. A Next Step Living Representative will call to schedule your assessment.

HEET will help answer any questions and ensure you get all the services and rebates possible.

(The information collected will only be used to help you get a Home Energy Assessment. We won’t keep the data or sell it.)

(If you have any questions or problems, please feel free to call HEET’s Jason Taylor at 617 441 0614.)

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Resource

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Sustainable Business Network Local Green Guide

SBN is excited to announce the soft launch of its new Local Green Guide, Massachusetts' premier Green Business Directory!

To view the directory please visit: http://www.localgreenguide.org
To find out how how your business can be listed on the website or for sponsorship opportunities please contact Adritha at adritha@sbnboston.org

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Massachusetts Attitudes About Climate Change – An opinion survey of Massachusetts residents conducted by MassINC and sponsored by the Barr Foundation found that 77% of respondents believe that global warming has “probably been happening” and 59% of all respondents see see it as being at least partially caused by human pollution. Only 42% of the state’s residents say global warming will have very serious consequences for Massachusetts if left unaddressed. The 18 to 29 age group is more likely to believe global warming is appearing and caused by humans compared to the 60+ age group. African-American (56%) and Latino residents (69%) are more likely than white residents (40%) to believe global warming will be a very serious problem if left unaddressed. The MassINC report, titled The 80 Percent Challenge: What Massachusetts must do to meet targets and make headway on climate change (http://www.massinc.org/Research/The-80-percent-challenge.aspx), contains many other findings.

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Free Monthly Energy Analysis

CarbonSalon is a free service that every month can automatically track your energy use and compare it to your past energy use (while controlling for how cold the weather is). You get a short friendly email that lets you know how you’re doing in your work to save energy.

https://www.carbonsalon.com/

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Boston Food System

"The Boston Food System [listserv] provides a forum to post announcements of events, employment opportunities, internships, programs, lectures, and other activities as well as related articles or other publications of a non-commercial nature covering the area's food system - food, nutrition, farming, education, etc. - that take place or focus on or around Greater Boston (broadly delineated)."

The Boston area is one of the most active nationwide in terms of food system activities - projects, services, and events connected to food, farming, nutrition - and often connected to education, public health, environment, arts, social services and other arenas.   Hundreds of organizations and enterprises cover our area, but what is going on week-to-week is not always well publicized.

Hence, the new Boston Food System listserv, as the place to let everyone know about these activities. Specifically:
Use of the BFS list will begin soon, once we get a decent base of subscribers. Clarification of what is appropriate to announce and other posting guidelines will be provided as well.

It's easy to subscribe right now at https://elist.tufts.edu/wws/subscribe/bfs

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Artisan Asylum http://artisansasylum.com/

Sprout & Co: Community Driven Investigations

Greater Boston Solidarity Economy Mapping Project http://www.transformationcentral.org/solidarity/mapping/mapping.html
a project by Wellesley College students that invites participation, contact jmatthaei@wellesley.edu

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Bostonsmart.com's Guide to Boston http://www.bostonsmarts.com/BostonGuide/

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Links to events at 60 colleges and universities at Hubevents   http://hubevents.blogspot.com

Thanks to

Fred Hapgood's Selected Lectures on Science and Engineering in the Boston Area http://www.BostonScienceLectures.com

Boston Area Computer User Groups http://www.bugc.org/

Arts and Cultural Events List http://aacel.blogspot.com/

http://www.massclimateaction.net/calendar/events/index.php

http://www.mitenergyclub.org/calendar/mit_events_template

http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/calendar/

http://green.harvard.edu/events

http://microsoftcambridge.com/Events/tabid/57/Default.aspx

http://boston.nerdnite.com/

http://www.meetup.com/

http://www.eventbrite.com/

http://www.greenhornconnect.com/events/calendar

http://harddatafactory.com/Johnny_Monsarrat/index.html

http://bostoneventsinsider.com/boston_events/

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Energy (and Other) Events - August 19, 2012

Convivial City http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/17/1121434/-Convivial-City

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Monday, August 20
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Identifying Architectural Modularity in the Smart Grid

Monday, August 20, 2012

12:00p–1:00p

Webinar, register at http://v.gd/sdm_rogers

Speaker: Brad Rogers, MIT LGO '09; Managing Consultant at Navigant

One significant challenge facing a broader deployment of modern grid technologies is integrating with legacy systems while driving toward elegant, interoperable solutions in future grid integration efforts. This challenge is compounded by the de facto approach of customizing point-to-point integration solutions, resulting in an "accidental architecture" of the existing grid.

The Design Structure Matrix methodology is applied to two publically available architecture models to demonstrate how this approach can help define smart grid architectures and to help identify architectural groupings that can lead to better modularization of smart grid systems and standardization efforts. The analysis concludes that initial smart grid architectural efforts can be improved upon by identifying areas of modularity and organizing around them.

Web site: http://v.gd/sdm_rogers

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): SDM activities - sponsored by GSC

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Intelligence and Neurons: can we begin to build a bridge?
Monday, August 20, 2012
2:00p–5:00p
MIT, Building 46-5165, McGovern Institute 5th Floor Reading Room, 43 Vassar Street, Cambridge
MIT I^2 presents a mini-workshop "Intelligence and Neurons: can we begin to build a bridge?"

We plan to discuss whether it is feasible and useful to work on (low-level) neural correlates of high-level intelligent abilities, such as social intelligence, language, theory of mind. A panel with optimistic and pessimistic views will argue about what can be achieved in the next 5-10 years and *how*.

We hope to get interesting ideas and perspective from the audience.

Panel:
Matthew Wilson, BCS Dept., MIT
Gabriel Kreiman, Harvard U., Children's Medical Boston
Nancy Kanwisher, BCS Dept., MIT
Joshua Tenenbaum, BCS Dept., CSAIL, MIT

Moderator: Tomaso Poggio, BCS Dept., MIBR, CSAIL, MIT

Alternate location 45-3189 (in case of overwhelming attendance)
Web site: http://isquared.mit.edu/
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free - Open to public
Sponsor(s): MIT Intelligence Initiative, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Brain and Cognitive Sciences
For more information, contact: Kathleen D. Sullivan
kdsulliv@mit.edu

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Tuesday, August 21
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GreenPort Forum: NEIGHBORHOOd SOLAR PANEL TOUR IN CAMBRIDGEPORT
Please join us for a local house tour of both solar thermal and photovoltaic panels. Learn about pros and cons of different approaches, installation issues and procedures, and paybacks.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2012
(Rain or Shine)

Tour Locations and Approximate Times:
6:30 -- 26 Glenwood Avenue
7:00 -- 116 Henry Street
7:30 -- 21 Acorn Street
8:00 -- 15-17 Whitney Avenue

GreenPort envisions and encourages a just and sustainable Cambridgeport neighborhood

For more information, contact Steve Wineman at swineman@gis.net

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Boston New Technology Meetup

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

6:30 PM

Brightcove Office, 4th Floor, 290 Congress St, Boston

RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Boston_New_Technology/events/74979712/

Come learn about 7 innovative and exciting technology products and network with the Boston/Cambridge startup community! Each presenter gets 5 minutes for product demonstration and 5 minutes for Q&A. Please follow @BostonNewTech and use the #BNT20 hashtag in social media posts: details here.

Products & Presenters:
1. Trendslide / @Trendslide - Personalized business intelligence when and where you need it! (Jeffrey Vocell / @JVocell)

2. SociableNow / @SociableNow - URL's let people contact you directly via voice and capture analytics! (James Jones / @outcast)

3. Handybook / @HandybookHQ - Lets you schedule household services like cleaners and handymen in 2 minutes! (Oisin Hanrahan / @OisinHanrahan)

4. Mapocosm / Map Explorer - Mobile app with innovative features for exploring and sharing custom maps! (David Asher / @AsherDavid)

5. ShopDAQ - Comparison shopping browser extension finds the best prices while you shop online! (Lenny Grover / @LennyGrover)

6. PowerInbox / @PowerInbox - Makes email interactive! Purchase items, play games and more within an email! (Dileep Thazhmon)

7. ADC2 Technologies - Superior video compression/decompression technology! (Dr. Angel DeCegama)

Agenda:

6:00 - Setup time for presenters
6:30 to 7:30 - Networking hour (we're still seeking a sponsor for dinner)
7:30 - Presentations, Q&A
9:00 - (Optional) Gather at a nearby bar for drinks and more networking

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"Do It Yourself Medical Technology."
Tuesday, August 21
7p.
Tavern in the Square, Porter Square, Cambridge

Jose Gomez-Marquez, Little Devices Group http://littledevices.org/
Science by the Pint https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/science-by-the-pint/

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Data Visualization MeetUp - Gabriel Florit: Instant Feedback

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

7:00 PM

Bocoup Loft, 355 Congress St., Boston

RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/bostondatavis/events/76659832/

Description:

Most creative processes exhibit instant feedback. A painter's brush stroke immediately colors the canvas. A guitarist's fingerpicking immediately creates sound. An opera singer's vocal chords immediately fill the room with her voice. Coding, also a creative process, often lacks this immediate feedback, replacing it instead with the familiar write-compile-load cycle. In this talk, Gabriel Florit will present various browser-based tools that try to add instant feedback to the creation of web graphics. Examples presented will be written in html/css/javascript/d3.

Thank you PayPal Data Science for Sponsoring this meetup! Pizza & Beer will be available.

About Gabriel:

Gabriel Florit makes data visualizations for the Boston Globe. Previously, he wrote software to keep track of trains, fell 200 feet off a mountain and got lost in Alaska for two years.

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Green tech Entrepreneur Forum & Brainstorming.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

7:00 PM To 10:00 PM

Eastern Bank, 647 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge

RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Boston-Clean-Tech-and-Energy/events/73500372/

The Agenda is:

We will introduce ourselves and tell about our interest, expertise or work (1st hr)

You can give a ~3 to 5 minute elevator speach about your startup if you would like. (We will divide the 1st hour by # of people.)

What stage is your ideas or startup? What is your goal?

Tell what personnel or additional expertise, funding, etc. you are seeking,

Discussion and Brainstorming on (2nd hr)

ideas for viable moneymaking startups,

methods of collaboration, networking, forming teams & partnerships etc.

marketing, media, social media, ideas that have worked well for publicity

Agencies, websites, companies that assist startups

Boston Greenfest & Gov't opportunities.

What would ou like to see in future meetups?

This bank is near the center of Central Sq., where Prospect and Mass Ave cross, - there is a Starbucks on the Northeast corner of the intersection. Next to Starbucks is a Flower shop, and next to that is Eastern Bank. You can see the conference room thru the window, so just wave to us and we will let you in.

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Wednesday, August 22

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Biz2Bands: A Music and Innovation Showcase

Wed, 08/22/2012

7:00pm - Thu, 08/23/2012 - 12:00am

Storyville 90 Exeter Street Boston, MA 02116

RSVP at http://biz2bands.eventbrite.com/

Biz2Bands is a unique hybrid event that showcases the enterprising spirit of the local music community and blends it with the entrepreneurial minds behind great start-up companies. It all comes together in a hip, sexy, comfortable environment that fosters creativity and positive interaction: a concert, a networking event, and a creative business showcase all rolled into one.

The event will start at 7PM with the start-up showcase and open networking. Music will start at 8PM.

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Midsummer Night's Feast: Potluck for Urban Gardening Enthusiasts

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

6:30 PM To 8:30 PM

Somewhere in Cambridge

RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Urban-Homesteaders-League/events/76883702/

Join us on Wednesday, August 22nd for a summer potluck feast!

Our goal is to unite food, farming, and gardening enthusiasts under one roof to build community and share tips on urban gardening and homesteading ideas.

This will mark the Northeast Organic Farming Association’s third potluck in the Metro Boston area.

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Thursday, August 21

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*A Service Rooted in the Sikh Tradition* A Demonstration of Solidarity and Support

Thursday August 23

6:00 pm
Trinity Church, 206 Clarendon St Boston
Guru Ka Langar* meal to follow

Offered by the Gurdwara Sahib in Milford, Guru Ram Das Ashram and Gurdwara in Millis, Gurudwara Guru Nanak Darbar in Medford, and the Sikh Sangat Society of Boston in Everett

Hosted by the Islamic Council of New England, the Jewish Community Relations
Council of Greater Boston and the Massachusetts Council of Churches

*The langar, an integral part of Sikh religious practice, demonstrates a commitment to sharing and equality, and is much more than just a meal.
Please join us in the Undercroft beneath the Sanctuary to continue our time together as all are fed a traditional vegetarian Indian meal by the local Sikh community.
In solidarity and support, join us to pray for those killed at Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin and peace among all people. Musicians from the four Sikh Gurdwaras in Massachusetts will share shabads (songs) from the Gurmat Sangeet (Sikh Sacred Music) Tradition. All are welcome to listen and learn about this religious community. Christian, Jewish and Muslim Leaders
will speak in support of religious liberty for all. All are invited to stay for the Guru Ka Langar (meal) to follow.

In solidarity with the Sikh community, you are invited to cover your head when entering the Sanctuary as you feel comfortable. If you would like to participate, scarves will be provided at the entrance to the Sanctuary. In several Eastern traditions, including Sikhism, it is customary to cover one's head while entering a holy space as a mark of respect.

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SOMERVILLE CONFERENCE ON THE CREATIVE ECONOMY

Thursday, August 23, 2012

7 to 9 pm
Artisan's Asylum, 10 Tyler Street, Somerville

Uncover What's Next for the Creative Economy
CreativeNEXT is a series of 21 state-wide events held bythe Massachusetts Creative Economy Council, an advisory Council to the Legislature and the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, and a variety of local partners. The MA Creative Economy Council is tasked to develop a statewide strategy for the enhancement, encouragement, and growth of the creative economy in Massachusetts. Working with the Creative Economy Industry Director this listening tour will help to guide the future priorities of the Council. The greater Boston event, co-hosted by the Artisan's Asylum and Union Square Main Streets, will take place on Thursday, August 23, 2012 from 7 to 9 pm at the Artisan's Asylum, 10 Tyler Street, Somerville. Join colleagues in a discussion on furthering the visionary growth of your business and other creative industries across the state. Who should attend? Businesses, Organizations, and Individuals working in: Marketing: Advertising and marketing agencies and professionals Architecture: Architecture firms and architects Visual Arts + Craft: Museums, galleries, theatres and curators, artists, + artisans Design: Industrial, interior, graphic, web, fashion firms and designers Film + Media: Film, TV, animation, and radio businesses and talent Video Game: Companies, programmers, and individuals producing games Music + Performance: Venues, producers, and performers Publishing: Content creation, editors, writers and distributors What's on the agenda? You are! We want to hear from you, about you, as we explore future opportunities for like-minded businesses within the creative landscape. Through a round table discussion we hope to gain valuable insights concerning the growth and sustainability of your business within the state of Massachusetts.

For more information and to register your space: http://creativenextgreaterboston.eventbrite.com

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National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance
SUSTAINABLE VISION VENTURE LAB
8/23/2012 - 8/27/2012
9:00 am - 8:00 pm
Microsoft New England R&D Center, One Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 02142

Audience: Faculty and students from New England and throughout the country working to commercialize ventures for the developing world
Description: Sustainable Vision VentureLab is an intensive, five-day, highly experiential and immersive workshop designed to enhance the success of base of the pyramid ventures. Students from Boston University, Northeastern, MIT (including Legatum fellows) Harvard and Tufts will meet and work with students from other programs around the country to develop strong, sustainable business models that create products or services for the benefit of people living in poverty.

$100 per team
Register at https://secure.nciia.org/WebObjects/NciiaApplyForGrants.woa/wa/EV/instantRegistration?i=1000319

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Saturday, August 25

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Fruit Trees: New Orchard Maintenance

Saturday, August 25

10:00 - 11:30 a.m.

Nightingale Community Garden, 512 Park Street, Dorchester

So you have planted some new fruit trees. What do you do now to ensure fruitful trees for future seasons? This informative program will illustrate the training, pest control, pruning, soil building and fertilization techniques required to grow healthy trees and delicious fruit. Co-sponsored by Boston Tree Party.

Program is FREE but registration is required by calling 617-542-7696 or info@bostonnatural.org

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Save the Silver Maple Forest nature hike
Saturday, August 25
4pm
meet at Alewife Station on the Red Line (passenger pick-up area), Cambridge

The Silver Maple Forest, an urban forest adjacent to Alewife Reservation in Cambridge, is slated to be cut down to make way for housing development.

This walk will introduce people to the Reservation and Silver Maple Forest so they can understand the importance of this urban wilderness and join activists and concerned citizens working to preserve it.

In this walk we will learn to identify some of the wild plant foods and medicines found here.

Leading the walk is Jules Kobek, co-founder of DIO (Do-It-Ourselves) Skillshare and knowledgeable forager.
call 617-492-2340 for more info about walk

Heavy rain cancels (call if not sure)
Be prepared for rough ground and possibly mud, mosquitos, and ticks (I strongly recommend wearing long pants tucked into socks and long sleeves)

for more info about the Silver Maple Forest, check-out these websites:
Coalition to Preserve the Belmont Uplands: http://www.belmontcoalition.org
Friends of Alewife Reservation: http://friendsofalewifereservation.org/homepage.htm

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Tuesday, August 28

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Micro-Finance OPEN HOUSE - Volunteering Opportunity with Social Enterprise

Tuesday, August 28

6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EST)

Stata Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge

MONTHLY OPEN HOUSE

Philanthropist.org invites you to join us for our Monthly open house to learn about how to get involved with our new micro-finance and micro-philanthropy startup venture. We are currently looking to add members to our team. This is a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a promising new social enterprise. Please BRING YOUR RESUME! Also submit your resume and desired role in advance via: http://philanthropist.org/volunteer The ideal candidates are energetic problem-solvers, networkers, big-picture thinkers, and experts at execution.

Current opportunities allow qualified candidates to demonstrate deep involvement without the risk. At the moment, we only need ONE NIGHT PER WEEK of your time as we lock down our strategy, develop processes, and perform the basic "blocking and tackling" required to get a venture off the ground. The team currently meets weekly on Tuesday nights from 6-10pm.

Open House Agenda:

6:00-6:30 Networking/Introductions

6:30-7:00 Video Presentation

7:00-7:30 Group Interviews

7:30-8:00+ One-on-One Interviews

There is no Cost to attend, but please be on time as we cannot accept late arrivals.

Learn more:

give@philanthropist.org

http://www.youtube.com/user/philanthropistorg

http://www.facebook.com/philanthropist.org

For those looking for entrepreneurial adventure, consider joining us on our next inspiring Micro-Finance Profiling Field Trip in January. View Pictures from the last trip in September:

http://picasaweb.google.com/philanthropist.org/MicroFinanceFieldStudyDominicanRepublic

***Did you know? In the Dominican Republic (alone) the Market for Micro-Finance Loans is over $28 Million? The Average Loan is $361 USD with over 50,000 clients having small loans. Over 70% are women, and payback rates exceed 97% (better than traditional banking). Please see the few examples on Youtube, and research Micro-Finance prior to Arrival so you are fluent in terminology: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro-finance

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Minute to Pitch it

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

6:00 PM to 9:00 PM (EDT)

1 Marina Park Drive Boston

Minute to Pitch It

Join MassChallenge for an evening of speed pitching!

Be wow'd by pitches from the teams working to change the world. Finalists have one minute to pitch their companies to a crowd of supporters and startup enthusiasts!

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Suggestions?

events@masschallenge.org

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Upcoming
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Tour of International Markets
Sat, September 1st
2pm-3:30pm
Union Square, Somerville
As part of our ArtsUnion project, the Somerville Arts Council gives tours of Union Square international food markets. Join us and learn where to find ingredients like Nepalese timur (a fragrant spice used in pickles), squid ink pasta and Haitian akasan (a cornmeal drink). Beyond discovering the culinary exotica available in Union Square, we’ll learn about the history of these stores and how their clientele represents the cultural community of Somerville. Each tour visits three markets and we’ll point out others along the way. Featured markets include: Casa de Carne, Well Foods Plus Halal Market, La Internacional, Little India, New Bombay Market, Pao de Acucar & Brazilian Buffet and the Reliable Market. Without leaving Union Square, we’ll visit Brazil, Korea, India, Nepal, Guatemala and Haiti! Dates: Sat, September 1st, 2pm-3:30pm Thur, September 13th, 6pm-7:30pm Cost: free How to sign up: send an email toartsuniontour@gmail.com

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The Circus of the Possibilitarians
Sunday, September 2nd
3 pm
Cambridge Common, Cambridge

kicks off Harvard Square’s annual “Revival Month”

Bread & Puppet Theater: The Circus of the Possibilitarians . Held outdoors on Sunday, September 2nd at 3 pm on the Cambridge Common, near the intersection of Mass. Ave. and Garden St., Cambridge. Free performance [pass-the-hat donations welcome], rain or shine. For further details, call the Boston-area Bread & Puppet Theater information line 617-286-6694 or log onto http://www.breadandpuppet.org.

Soon to begin celebrating its 50th anniversary, the award-winning Bread & Puppet Theater, from Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, presents their The Circus of the Possibilitarians on the Cambridge Common, a public space they used to frequent prior to the mid-1980’s. Last year the theater finally returned to help launch Harvard Square’s inaugural “Revival Month.” And now a return engagement is in order.

The Circus of the Possibilitarians is a satirical horse and butterfly circus, addressing pertinent national and international issues in a clownish fashion, features rotten ideas, a wild dancing horse, a saxophone ballet, a solemn salute to the world's casualties and much more! Not to mention The Dire Circumstance Jubilation Ensemble providing a little bit of brass and a lot of noise. Please take note that if some of the circus acts are politically puzzling to adults, accompanying children can usually explain them. The audience is welcome to examine all the masks and puppets after the performance, and Cheap Art will be for sale. Examples of Bread & Puppet’s work can be found at http://www.breadandpuppet.org.

Bread & Puppet’s outdoor Circus on the Common is serving as the kick off to what is now Harvard Square’s annual “Revival Month,” an entire month of “reincarnations” which will spill over into early October with the return of the HONK! Parade: Reclaim the Streets for Horns, Bikes, and Feet Parade on Oct. 7th, a Bread & Puppet-inspired procession on Massachusetts Avenue leading into Harvard Square’s Oktoberfest. For complete information on Harvard Square’s “Revival Month” visit http://www.harvardsquare.com. For more information on HONK! and the parade that runs from Davis Square to Harvard Square, log onto www.honkfest.org.

Special thanks to the Cambridge Arts Council and the Harvard Square Business Association for helping make this event possible; funded in part by the Cambridge Arts Council.

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American Red Cross Workplace Safety Seminar
9/5/2012
8:00 am - 9:00 am
Microsoft New England R&D Center, One Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 02142

Description: The American Red Cross, the largest non-profit organization in the world and world leader in emergency response, is offering a Workplace Safety Seminar to business leaders in Massachusetts to assist in identifying gaps in safety protocols and save lives by having procedures in place for any anticipated emergency.
Key speakers and panel guests include:
American Red Cross Preparedness Health and Safety Services, offering the latest resources from the Red Cross to help your company identify gaps in safety procedures to be proactive in emergency preparedness;
OSHA, outlining safety requirements in various workplace environments;
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, presenting the plan that keeps their employees safe and why they feel it is so important to be a model of safety in the community; and
Cardiac Science, demonstrating the ease of operation of a state of the art fully automatic AED.

This event will be a benefit to your business, offering you an opportunity to find out not just what is required of you according to state and federal mandate, but the gaps in your preparedness plans that can help to protect and save the lives of your staff to keep your business running smoothing when an emergency strikes.
Audience: COOs, Property and Office Managers, Safety and Emergency Preparedness Directors and other business managers from Boston and across Massachusetts.
Twitter: #redcross
Contact: tara.craft@redcross.org

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FUTURE ENERGY - INVESTOR FEEDBACK FORUM
9/10/2012
6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Microsoft New England R&D Center, One Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 02142

Description: Future Energy is a brand new conference where you can see the most revolutionary energy technology of the future before it hits mainstream. At each Future Energy event, 8 startups present to a panel of energy and cleantech venture capital investors for feedback, advice, and networking. The audience votes on the best presenters who win prizes and media attention to help launch their business.

Applications to pitch can be submitted at http://ultralightstartups.com/future-energy/application-form/
The platinum sponsor for this event is the Shell International Game Changer program.
Audience: Entrepreneurs, Investors, Media, all are welcome
Twitter: @crisdeluca
Register at http://futureenergyboston.eventbrite.com/
Editorial Comment: Early bird tickets are $10 and general admission is $20. Not free but still relatively inexpensive access.

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Tour of International Markets
Thur, September 13th
6pm-7:30pm
Union Square, Somerville

As part of our ArtsUnion project, the Somerville Arts Council gives tours of Union Square international food markets. Join us and learn where to find ingredients like Nepalese timur (a fragrant spice used in pickles), squid ink pasta and Haitian akasan (a cornmeal drink). Beyond discovering the culinary exotica available in Union Square, we’ll learn about the history of these stores and how their clientele represents the cultural community of Somerville. Each tour visits three markets and we’ll point out others along the way. Featured markets include: Casa de Carne, Well Foods Plus Halal Market, La Internacional, Little India, New Bombay Market, Pao de Acucar & Brazilian Buffet and the Reliable Market. Without leaving Union Square, we’ll visit Brazil, Korea, India, Nepal, Guatemala and Haiti! Dates: Thur, September 13th, 6pm-7:30pm Cost: free How to sign up: send an email to artsuniontour@gmail.com

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New England Electricity Restructuring Roundtable

Friday, September 21, 2012

9:00am - 12:30pm

Foley Hoag LLP, 155 Seaport Boulevard, 13th Floor, Boston

Better Aligning Capacity Markets with Policy/Planning Objectives

Perhaps no development in the history of electricity markets in New England and throughout the US has been more controversial than the emergence of capacity markets. With New England contemplating numerous changes to its capacity market design (partially in response to a FERC order, and partially due to the efforts of ISO and other stakeholders to better align capacity markets with planning and policy objectives), now is a perfect time for a dedicated Roundtable on capacity markets.

In our first panel we will explore evolving regional capacity markets in three ISOs: New England, New York, and PJM. To share both the lessons ISOs are learning and the improvements they are contemplating, we are very pleased to have joining us President and CEO of the New York ISO, Stephen Whitley; Vice President of Market Operations and Demand Response at PJM, Stu Bresler; and Vice President of Market Development at ISO New England, Robert Ethier. We have asked Johannes Pfeifenberger, Principal at the Brattle Group, who has worked with many ISOs in the U.S. and beyond, to lead off the panel with an overview of the role of capacity markets and an "apples-to-apples" comparison of the three ISOs' capacity market designs and performances to date.

For our second panel we have invited a cross-section of leading stakeholder group representatives to share their perspectives on how to better align capacity markets in New England to ensure resource adequacy, while also meeting other important regional policy/planning objectives. Our illustrious panel will include:

Chairman Thomas Welch, Maine Public Utilities Commission
Commissioner Elizabeth Miller, VT Deptartment of Public Service
Peter Fuller, Director of Regulatory Affairs, NRG Energy
James Daly, VP Energy Supply, Northeast Utilities

We have also asked Bob Ethier to join this 2nd panel for the Q & A and discussion among the panelists.

Contact Name: Susan Rivo

susan@raabassociates.org

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SOCIAL INTEL: GAINING INSIGHTS FROM AN OPEN SOURCE KNOWLEDGE DISCOVERY PLATFORM
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
6:00 PM To 9:00 PM
Microsoft N.E.R.D. Center, One Memorial Drive, Cambridge

Because social media is essentially 'real-time' information, it provides an efficiency mechanism to reduce intelligence time to action if it can be harvested effectively. Fusing social media with traditional intelligence information provides additional context and connections of entities and events, which increases quality, relevance and predictability.
Learn how with IKANOW's open source platform, Infinit.e, your organization can gain valuable intelligence by fusing social media data with traditional enterprise data.
Presentation will be given by one of IKANOW's Intelligence Analysts and food and drinks will be provided by IKANOW.

Register at http://www.meetup.com/Open-Analytics-Boston/events/67990392/

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Opportunity

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Where is the best yogurt on the planet made? Somerville, of course!

Join the Somerville Yogurt Making Cooperative and get a weekly quart of the most thick, creamy, rich and tart yogurt in the world. Membership in the coop costs $2.50 per quart. Members share the responsibility for making yogurt in our kitchen located just outside of Davis Sq. in FirstChurch. No previous yogurt making experience is necessary.

For more information checkout.
https://sites.google.com/site/somervilleyogurtcoop/home

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Boiler Rebate
If your boiler is from 1983 or earlier, Mass Save will give a $1,750 to $4,000 rebate to switch it out for a new efficient boiler that uses the same fuel (i.e. if you have oil, you have to continue to use oil) so long as it is installed by July 31, 2012.

Call Mass Save (866 527-7283) to sign up for a home energy assessment or sign-up online at www.nextsteplivinginc.com/HEET and HEET will receive a $10 contribution from Next Step Living for every completed assessment.

This is a great way to reduce climate change emissions for the next 20 or so years the boiler lasts, while saving money.

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CEA Solar Hot Water Grants
Cambridge, through the Cambridge Energy Alliance initiative, is offering a limited number of grants to residents and businesses for solar hot water systems. The grants will cover 50% of the remaining out of pocket costs of the system after other incentives, up to $2,000.

Applications will be accepted up to November 19, 2012 and are available on a first come, first serve basis until funding runs out. The Cambridge grant will complement other incentives including the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center solar thermal grants. For more information, see

http://cambridgeenergyalliance.org/resources/additional-resources/solar-hot-water-grant-program

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Cambridge Residents: Free Home Thermal Images

Have you ever wanted to learn where your home is leaking heat by having an energy auditor come to your home with a thermal camera? With that info you then know where to fix your home so it's more comfortable and less expensive to heat. However, at $200 or so, the cost of such a thermal scan is a big chunk of change.

HEET Cambridge has now partnered with Sagewell, Inc. to offer Cambridge residents free thermal scans.

Sagewell collects the thermal images by driving through Cambridge in a hybrid vehicle equipped with thermal cameras. They will scan every building in Cambridge (as long as it's not blocked by trees or buildings or on a private way). Building owners can view thermal images of their property and an analysis online. The information is password protected so that only the building owner can see the results.

Homeowners, condo-owners and landlords can access the thermal images and an accompanying analysis free of charge. Commercial building owners and owners of more than one building will be able to view their images and analysis for a small fee.

The scans will be analyzed in the order they are requested.

Go to Sagewell.com. Type in your address at the bottom where it says "Find your home or building" and press return. Then click on "Here" to request the report.

That's it. When the scans are done in a few weeks, your building will be one of the first to be analyzed. The accompanying report will help you understand why your living room has always been cold and what to do about it.

With knowledge, comes power (or in this case saved power and money, not to mention comfort).

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Free solar electricity analysis for MA residents
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHhwM202dDYxdUZJVGFscnY1VGZ3aXc6MQ

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HEET has partnered with NSTAR and Mass Save participating contractor Next Step Living to deliver no-cost Home Energy Assessments to Cambridge residents.

During the assessment, the energy specialist will:

Install efficient light bulbs (saving up to 7% of your electricity bill)
Install programmable thermostats (saving up to 10% of your heating bill)
Install water efficiency devices (saving up to 10% of your water bill)
Check the combustion safety of your heating and hot water equipment
Evaluate your home’s energy use to create an energy-efficiency roadmap
If you get electricity from NSTAR, National Grid or Western Mass Electric, you already pay for these assessments through a surcharge on your energy bills. You might as well use the service.

Please sign up at http://nextsteplivinginc.com/heet/?outreach=HEET or call Next Step Living at 866-867-8729. A Next Step Living Representative will call to schedule your assessment.

HEET will help answer any questions and ensure you get all the services and rebates possible.

(The information collected will only be used to help you get a Home Energy Assessment. We won’t keep the data or sell it.)

(If you have any questions or problems, please feel free to call HEET’s Jason Taylor at 617 441 0614.)

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Resource

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Sustainable Business Network Local Green Guide

SBN is excited to announce the soft launch of its new Local Green Guide, Massachusetts' premier Green Business Directory!

To view the directory please visit: http://www.localgreenguide.org
To find out how how your business can be listed on the website or for sponsorship opportunities please contact Adritha at adritha@sbnboston.org

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Massachusetts Attitudes About Climate Change – An opinion survey of Massachusetts residents conducted by MassINC and sponsored by the Barr Foundation found that 77% of respondents believe that global warming has “probably been happening” and 59% of all respondents see see it as being at least partially caused by human pollution. Only 42% of the state’s residents say global warming will have very serious consequences for Massachusetts if left unaddressed. The 18 to 29 age group is more likely to believe global warming is appearing and caused by humans compared to the 60+ age group. African-American (56%) and Latino residents (69%) are more likely than white residents (40%) to believe global warming will be a very serious problem if left unaddressed. The MassINC report, titled The 80 Percent Challenge: What Massachusetts must do to meet targets and make headway on climate change (http://www.massinc.org/Research/The-80-percent-challenge.aspx), contains many other findings.

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Free Monthly Energy Analysis

CarbonSalon is a free service that every month can automatically track your energy use and compare it to your past energy use (while controlling for how cold the weather is). You get a short friendly email that lets you know how you’re doing in your work to save energy.

https://www.carbonsalon.com/

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Boston Food System

"The Boston Food System [listserv] provides a forum to post announcements of events, employment opportunities, internships, programs, lectures, and other activities as well as related articles or other publications of a non-commercial nature covering the area's food system - food, nutrition, farming, education, etc. - that take place or focus on or around Greater Boston (broadly delineated)."

The Boston area is one of the most active nationwide in terms of food system activities - projects, services, and events connected to food, farming, nutrition - and often connected to education, public health, environment, arts, social services and other arenas. Hundreds of organizations and enterprises cover our area, but what is going on week-to-week is not always well publicized.

Hence, the new Boston Food System listserv, as the place to let everyone know about these activities. Specifically:
Use of the BFS list will begin soon, once we get a decent base of subscribers. Clarification of what is appropriate to announce and other posting guidelines will be provided as well.

It's easy to subscribe right now at https://elist.tufts.edu/wws/subscribe/bfs

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Artisan Asylum http://artisansasylum.com/

Sprout & Co: Community Driven Investigations

Greater Boston Solidarity Economy Mapping Project http://www.transformationcentral.org/solidarity/mapping/mapping.html
a project by Wellesley College students that invites participation, contact jmatthaei@wellesley.edu

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Bostonsmart.com's Guide to Boston http://www.bostonsmarts.com/BostonGuide/

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Links to events at 60 colleges and universities at Hubevents http://hubevents.blogspot.com

Thanks to

Fred Hapgood's Selected Lectures on Science and Engineering in the Boston Area http://www.BostonScienceLectures.com

Boston Area Computer User Groups http://www.bugc.org/

Arts and Cultural Events List http://aacel.blogspot.com/

http://www.massclimateaction.net/calendar/events/index.php

http://www.mitenergyclub.org/calendar/mit_events_template

http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/calendar/

http://green.harvard.edu/events

http://microsoftcambridge.com/Events/tabid/57/Default.aspx

http://boston.nerdnite.com/

http://www.meetup.com/

http://www.eventbrite.com/

http://www.greenhornconnect.com/events/calendar

http://harddatafactory.com/mobileapp.shtml

http://bostoneventsinsider.com/boston_events/

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Energy (and Other) Events - August 12, 2012

Election 2012: Will Voting Machine Errors Affect the Final Count?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/10/1118789/-Election-2012-Will-Voting-Machine-Errors-Affect-the-Final-Count

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Monday, August 13

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The Boston Wikipedia Meetup Group Monthly Meetup
Mon Aug 13
7:00 PM
Clover Food Lab7 Holyoke St., Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/wikipedia-5/

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Tuesday, August 14

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FREE Webinar: The Art of Small Biz SEO

Tuesday August 14, 2012

12pm PDT / 3pm EDT

Lorna Li

Low Cost Tactics to Attract More Ideal Customers Online

86% of all consumers use search engines. In fact, most people START their shopping process with Google research. If you show up in organic search results for the keywords your target customers is typing into Google, that’s FREE traffic. But it takes effort to show up on the first page for those keywords – you need to create content and get links to that content.

Furthermore, Google is constantly changing its algorithm, which can seriously impact your search engine traffic. What used to work last year, no longer works, or might even hurt your website this year. Finally, as a small business, you may find it really tough to compete against larger competitors with budgets that sustain firehose of content and teams dedicated to promoting that content. Don’t Lose Hope!

Get Ready to Turn Your Website Into a Customer Magnet

The great news is, once you create your core pages of content, if you follow some basic guidelines, your website will continue to attract targeted visitors all by itself. In this small business SEO webinar we’ll cover powerful, low cost ways small businesses can get on the map, and increase visibility in search engines. Discover:

The Number #1 SEO Mistake that small businesses make that creates a colossal waste of time & money

3 Powerful ways small businesses can use to outshine big competitors in a crowded landscape

5 low cost methods to creating killer content that attracts visitors & makes you irresistible to customers

Why the MOST overlooked aspect of your website is the secret to saving time, money, and energy trying to promote your business online.

The 7 Deadly Sins of Link Building that can destroy your beloved business website.

PLUS BONUS Resources to Help You Grow Your Green Business

When you sign up for this FREE SEO Webinar, you’ll receive the Green Marketing TV newsletter, which includes 7 days of powerful marketing strategies, PLUS The Sustainable Branding Kit, for FREE. Here’s a sneak peek:

3 Powerful secrets to creating a strong sustainable brand with an army of followers

The Number #1 strategy to protect your brand from accusations of green wash

The keys to telling a remarkable sustainability story that makes you LOVED by customers

How your business can spark a social movement and inspire thousands

Why business for good is good for business

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Tour of International Markets

Tues, August 14th

6pm-7:30pm

Union Square, Somerville

As part of our ArtsUnion project, the Somerville Arts Council gives tours of Union Square international food markets. Join us and learn where to find ingredients like Nepalese timur (a fragrant spice used in pickles), squid ink pasta and Haitian akasan (a cornmeal drink). Beyond discovering the culinary exotica available in Union Square, we’ll learn about the history of these stores and how their clientele represents the cultural community of Somerville. Each tour visits three markets and we’ll point out others along the way. Featured markets include: Casa de Carne, Well Foods Plus Halal Market, La Internacional, Little India, New Bombay Market, Pao de Acucar & Brazilian Buffet and the Reliable Market. Without leaving Union Square, we’ll visit Brazil, Korea, India, Nepal, Guatemala and Haiti! Dates: Tues, August 14th, 6pm-7:30pm Sat, September 1st, 2pm-3:30pm Thur, September 13th, 6pm-7:30pm Cost: free How to sign up: send an email to artsuniontour@gmail.com

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Comparing Boston v. SiliconValley & NYC w/ Social Media APIs,TextMining (Group1)
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
6:30 PM To 7:30 PM
Microsoft New England Research and Development Center, 1 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Boston-Predictive-Analytics/events/71583112/
Price: $5.00/per person
Refund policy
The $5 fee will first go to pizza (50%), then charity as described below (25%) and some O’Reilly books (25%) to be given away to the group. The fee is towards reducing no-shows which range anywhere from 30-50% of rsvps when there is a free event. Please note there is a no-pizza, $2.50 for charity, session #2 at 7:45.

Boston's Meetup Tech and Business scene has grown stronger; however Silicon Valley and New York City have both higher adoption and scale. What might Boston do to improve its Tech and Biz community landscape?

Social Network Analysis and Machine Learning are used on data pulled from Meetup's API. The talk will cover the application-side, analytics using R, and some on pulling data via an API.

Background/Summary:
This talk is a follow-up to the "Utilizing Meetup to Analyze Boston, Silicon Valley and NYC" presentation I gave back February. This extension includes additional Social Network and Machine Learning analysis towards addressing questions such as "What specific Meetup Groups would be helpful for Boston towards improving its tech and biz scene relative to Silicon Valley and NYC?"
There are two main layers of the presentation:
(1) Regional Comparisons: Silicon Valley, not surprisingly, has a higher percentage of tech and business groups than either NYC or Boston. NYC is slightly above the national average; whereas Boston has an on-par tech scene, though lower than average percentage of business groups. This will be explored in more detail.
(2) Analytics: Social Network Analysis and Machine Learning as a means to describe different communities. "R" (tnet and RTextTools libraries among others) was used with data originating primarily from the Meetup API.
Please note the talk is low on hardcore Computer Science, i.e. there is not going to be discussion of achieving 99.999% accuracy using 20 different models ensembled together ala Amazon or Netflix. Please refer to Stanford's Online Learning website (www.coursera.org) which has a great ML course; and both Coursera and Udacity have upcoming Social Network Analysis courses. It would be great to have a 2-hour ML event; however this is not the time for it.
The fee, which is to reduce the no-shows/waitlist, will partially be given to charities. One thought is to have the donations given to a local non-profit for whom Meetup could be a benefit (much as it has shown to be in tech and biz communities). Interestingly, this brings up a different set of questions including "What is the adoption rate of Meetup in inner cities?" As of this time I don't know which organization; however there's time to explore this before the event, and I may be able to go back into the Meetup data and local economic data to see if those sources can be helpful. If you are interested in helping out in identifying a non-profit organization, then please let me know.

Sponsor: Boston Predictive Analytics

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Wednesday, August 15

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Social Innovation Forum Impact Investing Information Session

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

1:00 PM to 2:30 PM

Boston, MA

Root Cause believes that social innovation is critical to ensure that our public and private resources are leveraged in the most effective ways to address our nation's social problems. Yet, it is often difficult for emerging innovations to receive the recognition and support they need to develop and spread their impact.

Root Cause's Social Innovation Forum provides a unique opportunity for innovative nonprofit organizations and social enterprises to gain visibility, expand their networks, and build capacity.

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Hear What's Possible for Sound in Tablets: A Conversation with Dolby Labs

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

7:00 PM

Boston Globe, 135 Morrissey Blvd., Dorchester

Hear What's Possible for Sound in Tablets: A Conversation with Dolby Labs

The way we engage with media is being transformed by the boom in tablets and other mobile devices. But while the picture quality for movies, TV shows, online video and games is fantastic, most new devices don’t feature high-quality audio. It’s a key issue people are starting to notice: more and more people are demanding high-quality audio. They’re not satisfied. Why?

Poor content quality and hardware limitations like small speakers mean you’re not getting the best listening experience possible. You may have noticed that the speakers on their devices are small, or on the back of the device… or that the volume and dialogue is wacky between the YouTube news clip and the Netflix movie they’re watching on the tablet. Dolby wants to show you why sound is essential to great mobile entertainment on all devices.

Who: Dolby executives: Mary Anderson, Sr. Director of Marketing, Electronic Media // Dawn Leonetti, Senior Partner Marketing Manager

RSVP at http://meetupbos.hackshackers.com/events/76338992/?a=ea1_grp&eventId=76338992&action=detail&rv=ea1&rv=ea1

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Thursday, August 16

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Creative Economy Roundtable
Thursday, August 16
8:30 am
BSA Space, 290 Congress Street, Boston
Register online at creativenextarchitecture.eventbrite.com/

Governor Patrick’s Creative Economy Industry director, Helena Fruscio and the Boston design community

You may also be interested in the fall 2009 issue of ArchitectureBoston on Creative Economy

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Future by Design & Thinking

Thursday, August 16, 2012

2:00 PM to 4:00 PM (EDT)

The Westin Boston Waterfront, Grand Ballroom, 425 Summer Street, Boston

Panel moderated by Mr. Gaylon White

How do we fully engage organizations to think about the changing landscape of business and services? Design & Thinking, a documentary, hopes to be that catalyst.

'Design Thinking' is a terminology from the design profession that has been communicating the changing landscape of our societies, by sharing how designers think and do things.

This film travels through large corporations, entrepreneurs and change-makers to present a big picture of how they react to fundamental changes. Audience journey with design figure Bill Moggridge, MBA dean Roger Martin, Coca Cola, non-profit Code for America, design firms, Hollywood director, and even a cooking school and PhD student.
DesignThinkingMovie.com

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Boston GreenFest
Thursday, Aug 16   5 pm - 9:30 pm
(Performers/Food)
Friday, Aug 17       noon - 9:30 pm
(Exhibitors/Food/Vendors/Performers)
Saturday, Aug 18    11 am - 8 pm
(Exhibitors/Food/Vendors/Performers)
Sunday, Aug 19    10 am - 5 pm
Featuring: The Movement Festival!
(Dance/Food/Vendors/Performers)

Boston City Hall Plaza, One City Hall Square, Boston

http://www.bostongreenfest.org/index.html
info@bostongreenfest.org
617-477-4840

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Evolution in a Toxic World: How Life Responds to Chemical Threats
THURSDAY, AUGUST 16

6:00 PM

Harvard Museum of Natural History, Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge

Lecture and booksigning with Emily Monosson

Toxic chemicals: They have shaped our bodies, our world, and all life around us. Today, species are rapidly evolving in response to toxins like PCBs, dioxins and pesticides. Emily Monosson, adjunct professor at UMass Amherst and author of the new book,Evolution in a Toxic World (Island Press), will discuss how life on Earth survives in the face of increased amounts of both age-old and new synthetic chemicals in our environment. Free and open to the public

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Friday, August 17

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MIT vs. Harvard Case Competition - 2012

Friday, August 17, 2012

9:00a–5:00p

MIT Building E51, Wong Auditorium, Amherst Street, Cambridge

The Case Competition is the flagship event organized by Consulting Club at MIT and Harvard Graduate Consulting Club. Held for the first time in Summer 2008, this event offers graduate students from Harvard and MIT the opportunity to work in teams on a business case under the mentorship of professional consultants. This 10-day event begins with a Kickoff presentation of the case (to be held at Harvard this year), followed by team mentoring sessions with consultants and industry experts. The final presentation, to be held at MIT this year on August 17th, is a day long event showcasing the top Harvard and MIT teams.

Web site: http://web.mit.edu/mitconsulting/www/case_comp/2012/

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): GSC Funding Board, Consulting Club at MIT, Large Event Fund (LEF)

For more information, contact: Armen Mkrtchyan
ccm-exec@mit.edu

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End of Summer FreeCycle

WHEN Fri., Aug. 17, 2012, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.

WHERE Science Center Arcade, Harvard Yard

GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Special Events, Sustainability, Wellness/Work Life

ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR FAS Green Program, Office for Sustainability

NOTE Get ready for the new school year! Clean out your office or home, then donate any good, reusable items to the FreeCycle, or just come browse and take anything you might need!

All staff, students, and faculty are welcome. There will also be representatives from Harvard Dining Services and Commuter Choice talking about some of their great programs, as well as free ice cream if you bring your own bowl and spoon.

FAS Staff, email energy@fas if you have donations to be picked up before August 15th.

LINK http://green.harvard.edu/node/5397

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Boston GreenFest
Friday, Aug 17       noon - 9:30 pm
(Exhibitors/Food/Vendors/Performers)
Saturday, Aug 18    11 am - 8 pm
(Exhibitors/Food/Vendors/Performers)
Sunday, Aug 19    10 am - 5 pm
Featuring: The Movement Festival!
(Dance/Food/Vendors/Performers)

Boston City Hall Plaza, One City Hall Square, Boston

http://www.bostongreenfest.org/index.html
info@bostongreenfest.org
617-477-4840

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Saturday, August 18

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National Security Innovation Conference 2012 - ID INNOVATE

Saturday, August 18, 2012

8:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Cambridge Innovation Center, 4th floor (Venture Cafe) and 5th floor (Havana Conference Room), 1 Broadway, Cambridge

We welcome your participation in the First Annual National Security Innovation Conference. The thematic selection for 2012 is ID Innovate. All of our programming will be focused on topics related to identification technology and innovation.

The purpose of ID Innovate is to bring together leaders in the academic, government and technology sectors in order to benefit all respective parties and further the collaboration between identification technology and innovation.

ID Innovate is organized by Z-Square Technology, a security technology firm based in Cambridge, MA, and our events will be held in Kendall Square, an epicenter for innovation. We hope that your attendance at ID Innovate will result in new strategic paradigms and professional relationships.

POINT OF CONTACT (For attendees, speakers, media inquiries): John Silva ( john.silva@zsquaretech.com )

mobile: 312-972-9876 office: 617-401-2447

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Boston GreenFest
Saturday, Aug 18 11 am - 8 pm
(Exhibitors/Food/Vendors/Performers)
Sunday, Aug 19 10 am - 5 pm
Featuring: The Movement Festival!
(Dance/Food/Vendors/Performers)

Boston City Hall Plaza, One City Hall Square, Boston

http://www.bostongreenfest.org/index.html
info@bostongreenfest.org
617-477-4840

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Unfolding Changes in Cuba's Economic Organization and Food Production

Sat. 8/18/12

3-5pm

Center for Marxist Education, 550 Mass. Ave. 2d Floor, Central Square T stop, Cambridge

Cuba is undergoing significant changes in its economic organization and food production. Two of the speakers, Duncan McFarland and Cristina Martinez, participated in a week-long conference in July co-sponsored by the University of Havana and the US-based Radical Philosophy Association. Conference presenters frankly discussed problems that prompted the ongoing changes, and reviewed how they are unfolding.

Our third speaker,Tom Whitney, is a long-time Cuba solidarity activist who has worked on Cuba Friendshipments and defense of the Cuba Five. He recently reviewed the food situation in Cuba and the proposed changes in its agricultural practices, including the development of urban cooperatives to produce and distribute food.

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Sunday, August 19

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Boston GreenFest
Sunday, Aug 19 10 am - 5 pm
Featuring: The Movement Festival!
(Dance/Food/Vendors/Performers)

Boston City Hall Plaza, One City Hall Square, Boston

http://www.bostongreenfest.org/index.html
info@bostongreenfest.org
617-477-4840

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Monday, August 20

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Intelligence and Neurons: can we begin to build a bridge?

Monday, August 20, 2012

2:00p–5:00p

MIT, Building 46-5165, McGovern Institute 5th Floor Reading Room

MIT I^2 presents a mini-workshop "Intelligence and Neurons: can we begin to build a bridge?"

We plan to discuss whether it is feasible and useful to work on (low-level) neural correlates of high-level intelligent abilities, such as social intelligence, language, theory of mind. A panel with optimistic and pessimistic views will argue about what can be achieved in the next 5-10 years and *how*.

We hope to get interesting ideas and perspective from the audience.

Panel:
Matthew Wilson, BCS Dept., MIT
Gabriel Kreiman, Harvard U., Children's Medical Boston
Nancy Kanwisher, BCS Dept., MIT
Joshua Tenenbaum, BCS Dept., CSAIL, MIT

Moderator: Tomaso Poggio, BCS Dept., MIBR, CSAIL, MIT

Alternate location 45-3189 (in case of overwhelming attendance)

Web site: http://isquared.mit.edu/

Open to: the general public

Cost: Free - Open to public

Sponsor(s): MIT Intelligence Initiative, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Brain and Cognitive Sciences

For more information, contact: Kathleen D. Sullivan
kdsulliv@mit.edu

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Tuesday, August 21

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GreenPort Forum: NEIGHBORHOOd SOLAR PANEL TOUR IN CAMBRIDGEPORT

Please join us for a local house tour of both solar thermal and photovoltaic panels. Learn about pros and cons of different approaches, installation issues and procedures, and paybacks.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2012

(Rain or Shine)

Tour Locations and Approximate Times:

6:30 -- 26 Glenwood Avenue

7:00 -- 116 Henry Street

7:30 -- 21 Acorn Street

8:00 -- 15-17 Whitney Avenue

GreenPort envisions and encourages a just and sustainable Cambridgeport neighborhood

For more information, contact Steve Wineman at swineman@gis.net

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"Do It Yourself Medical Technology."

Thursday, August 21

7p.

Tavern in the Square, Porter Square, Cambridge.

Jose Gomez-Marquez, Little Devices Group http://littledevices.org/

Science by the Pint https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/science-by-the-pint/

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Upcoming
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SOMERVILLE CONFERENCE ON THE CREATIVE ECONOMY
Thursday, August 23, 2012
7 to 9 pm
Artisan's Asylum, 10 Tyler Street, Somerville

Uncover What's Next for the Creative Economy
CreativeNEXT is a series of 21 state-wide events held bythe Massachusetts Creative Economy Council, an advisory Council to the Legislature and the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, and a variety of local partners. The MA Creative Economy Council is tasked to develop a statewide strategy for the enhancement, encouragement, and growth of the creative economy in Massachusetts. Working with the Creative Economy Industry Director this listening tour will help to guide the future priorities of the Council. The greater Boston event, co-hosted by the Artisan's Asylum and Union Square Main Streets, will take place on Thursday, August 23, 2012 from 7 to 9 pm at the Artisan's Asylum, 10 Tyler Street, Somerville. Join colleagues in a discussion on furthering the visionary growth of your business and other creative industries across the state. Who should attend? Businesses, Organizations, and Individuals working in: Marketing: Advertising and marketing agencies and professionals Architecture: Architecture firms and architects Visual Arts + Craft: Museums, galleries, theatres and curators, artists, + artisans Design: Industrial, interior, graphic, web, fashion firms and designers Film + Media: Film, TV, animation, and radio businesses and talent Video Game: Companies, programmers, and individuals producing games Music + Performance: Venues, producers, and performers Publishing: Content creation, editors, writers and distributors What's on the agenda? You are! We want to hear from you, about you, as we explore future opportunities for like-minded businesses within the creative landscape. Through a round table discussion we hope to gain valuable insights concerning the growth and sustainability of your business within the state of Massachusetts.

For more information and to register your space: http://creativenextgreaterboston.eventbrite.com

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National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance
SUSTAINABLE VISION VENTURE LAB
8/23/2012 - 8/27/2012
9:00 am - 8:00 pm
Microsoft New England R&D Center, One Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 02142

Audience: Faculty and students from New England and throughout the country working to commercialize ventures for the developing world
Description: Sustainable Vision VentureLab is an intensive, five-day, highly experiential and immersive workshop designed to enhance the success of base of the pyramid ventures. Students from Boston University, Northeastern, MIT (including Legatum fellows) Harvard and Tufts will meet and work with students from other programs around the country to develop strong, sustainable business models that create products or services for the benefit of people living in poverty.

$100 per team
Register at https://secure.nciia.org/WebObjects/NciiaApplyForGrants.woa/wa/EV/instantRegistration?i=1000319

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Save the Silver Maple Forest nature hike
Saturday, August 25
4pm
meet at Alewife Station on the Red Line (passenger pick-up area), Cambridge

The Silver Maple Forest, an urban forest adjacent to Alewife Reservation in Cambridge, is slated to be cut down to make way for housing development.

This walk will introduce people to the Reservation and Silver Maple Forest so they can understand the importance of this urban wilderness and join activists and concerned citizens working to preserve it.

In this walk we will learn to identify some of the wild plant foods and medicines found here.

Leading the walk is Jules Kobek, co-founder of DIO (Do-It-Ourselves) Skillshare and knowledgeable forager.
call 617-492-2340 for more info about walk

Heavy rain cancels (call if not sure)
Be prepared for rough ground and possibly mud, mosquitos, and ticks (I strongly recommend wearing long pants tucked into socks and long sleeves)

for more info about the Silver Maple Forest, check-out these websites:
Coalition to Preserve the Belmont Uplands: http://www.belmontcoalition.org
Friends of Alewife Reservation: http://friendsofalewifereservation.org/homepage.htm

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Tour of International Markets

Sat, September 1st

2pm-3:30pm

Union Square, Somerville

As part of our ArtsUnion project, the Somerville Arts Council gives tours of Union Square international food markets. Join us and learn where to find ingredients like Nepalese timur (a fragrant spice used in pickles), squid ink pasta and Haitian akasan (a cornmeal drink). Beyond discovering the culinary exotica available in Union Square, we’ll learn about the history of these stores and how their clientele represents the cultural community of Somerville. Each tour visits three markets and we’ll point out others along the way. Featured markets include: Casa de Carne, Well Foods Plus Halal Market, La Internacional, Little India, New Bombay Market, Pao de Acucar & Brazilian Buffet and the Reliable Market. Without leaving Union Square, we’ll visit Brazil, Korea, India, Nepal, Guatemala and Haiti! Dates: Sat, September 1st, 2pm-3:30pm Thur, September 13th, 6pm-7:30pm Cost: free How to sign up: send an email to artsuniontour@gmail.com

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The Circus of the Possibilitarians
Sunday, September 2nd

3 pm

Cambridge Common

kicks off Harvard Square’s annual “Revival Month”

Bread & Puppet Theater: The Circus of the Possibilitarians . Held outdoors on Sunday, September 2nd at 3 pm on the Cambridge Common, near the intersection of Mass. Ave. and Garden St., Cambridge. Free performance [pass-the-hat donations welcome], rain or shine. For further details, call the Boston-area Bread & Puppet Theater information line 617-286-6694 or log onto http://www.breadandpuppet.org.

Soon to begin celebrating its 50th anniversary, the award-winning Bread & Puppet Theater, from Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, presents their The Circus of the Possibilitarians on the Cambridge Common, a public space they used to frequent prior to the mid-1980’s. Last year the theater finally returned to help launch Harvard Square’s inaugural “Revival Month.” And now a return engagement is in order.

The Circus of the Possibilitarians is a satirical horse and butterfly circus, addressing pertinent national and international issues in a clownish fashion, features rotten ideas, a wild dancing horse, a saxophone ballet, a solemn salute to the world's casualties and much more! Not to mention The Dire Circumstance Jubilation Ensemble providing a little bit of brass and a lot of noise. Please take note that if some of the circus acts are politically puzzling to adults, accompanying children can usually explain them. The audience is welcome to examine all the masks and puppets after the performance, and Cheap Art will be for sale. Examples of Bread & Puppet’s work can be found at http://www.breadandpuppet.org.

Bread & Puppet’s outdoor Circus on the Common is serving as the kick off to what is now Harvard Square’s annual “Revival Month,” an entire month of “reincarnations” which will spill over into early October with the return of the HONK! Parade: Reclaim the Streets for Horns, Bikes, and Feet Parade on Oct. 7th, a Bread & Puppet-inspired procession on Massachusetts Avenue leading into Harvard Square’s Oktoberfest. For complete information on Harvard Square’s “Revival Month” visit http://www.harvardsquare.com. For more information on HONK! and the parade that runs from Davis Square to Harvard Square, log onto www.honkfest.org.

Special thanks to the Cambridge Arts Council and the Harvard Square Business Association for helping make this event possible; funded in part by the Cambridge Arts Council.

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American Red Cross Workplace Safety Seminar

9/5/2012

8:00 am - 9:00 am

Microsoft New England R&D Center, One Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 02142

Description: The American Red Cross, the largest non-profit organization in the world and world leader in emergency response, is offering a Workplace Safety Seminar to business leaders in Massachusetts to assist in identifying gaps in safety protocols and save lives by having procedures in place for any anticipated emergency.
Key speakers and panel guests include:
American Red Cross Preparedness Health and Safety Services, offering the latest resources from the Red Cross to help your company identify gaps in safety procedures to be proactive in emergency preparedness;
OSHA, outlining safety requirements in various workplace environments;
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, presenting the plan that keeps their employees safe and why they feel it is so important to be a model of safety in the community; and
Cardiac Science, demonstrating the ease of operation of a state of the art fully automatic AED.

This event will be a benefit to your business, offering you an opportunity to find out not just what is required of you according to state and federal mandate, but the gaps in your preparedness plans that can help to protect and save the lives of your staff to keep your business running smoothing when an emergency strikes.

Audience: COOs, Property and Office Managers, Safety and Emergency Preparedness Directors and other business managers from Boston and across Massachusetts.

Twitter: #redcross

Contact: tara.craft@redcross.org

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FUTURE ENERGY - INVESTOR FEEDBACK FORUM

9/10/2012

6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Microsoft New England R&D Center, One Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 02142

Description: Future Energy is a brand new conference where you can see the most revolutionary energy technology of the future before it hits mainstream. At each Future Energy event, 8 startups present to a panel of energy and cleantech venture capital investors for feedback, advice, and networking. The audience votes on the best presenters who win prizes and media attention to help launch their business.

Applications to pitch can be submitted at http://ultralightstartups.com/future-energy/application-form/
The platinum sponsor for this event is the Shell International Game Changer program.

Audience: Entrepreneurs, Investors, Media, all are welcome

Twitter: @crisdeluca

Editorial Comment: Early bird tickets are $10 and general admission is $20. Not free but still relatively inexpensive access.

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Tour of International Markets

Thur, September 13th

6pm-7:30pm

Union Square, Somerville

As part of our ArtsUnion project, the Somerville Arts Council gives tours of Union Square international food markets. Join us and learn where to find ingredients like Nepalese timur (a fragrant spice used in pickles), squid ink pasta and Haitian akasan (a cornmeal drink). Beyond discovering the culinary exotica available in Union Square, we’ll learn about the history of these stores and how their clientele represents the cultural community of Somerville. Each tour visits three markets and we’ll point out others along the way. Featured markets include: Casa de Carne, Well Foods Plus Halal Market, La Internacional, Little India, New Bombay Market, Pao de Acucar & Brazilian Buffet and the Reliable Market. Without leaving Union Square, we’ll visit Brazil, Korea, India, Nepal, Guatemala and Haiti! Dates: Thur, September 13th, 6pm-7:30pm Cost: free How to sign up: send an email to artsuniontour@gmail.com

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SOCIAL INTEL: GAINING INSIGHTS FROM AN OPEN SOURCE KNOWLEDGE DISCOVERY PLATFORM

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

6:00 PM To 9:00 PM

Microsoft N.E.R.D. Center, One Memorial Drive, Cambridge

Because social media is essentially 'real-time' information, it provides an efficiency mechanism to reduce intelligence time to action if it can be harvested effectively. Fusing social media with traditional intelligence information provides additional context and connections of entities and events, which increases quality, relevance and predictability.

Learn how with IKANOW's open source platform, Infinit.e, your organization can gain valuable intelligence by fusing social media data with traditional enterprise data.

Presentation will be given by one of IKANOW's Intelligence Analysts and food and drinks will be provided by IKANOW.

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Opportunity

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Where is the best yogurt on the planet made? Somerville, of course!

Join the Somerville Yogurt Making Cooperative and get a weekly quart of the most thick, creamy, rich and tart yogurt in the world. Membership in the coop costs $2.50 per quart. Members share the responsibility for making yogurt in our kitchen located just outside of Davis Sq. in FirstChurch. No previous yogurt making experience is necessary.

For more information checkout.
https://sites.google.com/site/somervilleyogurtcoop/home

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Boiler Rebate
If your boiler is from 1983 or earlier, Mass Save will give a $1,750 to $4,000 rebate to switch it out for a new efficient boiler that uses the same fuel (i.e. if you have oil, you have to continue to use oil) so long as it is installed by July 31, 2012.

Call Mass Save (866 527-7283) to sign up for a home energy assessment or sign-up online at www.nextsteplivinginc.com/HEET  and HEET will receive a $10 contribution from Next Step Living for every completed assessment.

This is a great way to reduce climate change emissions for the next 20 or so years the boiler lasts, while saving money.

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CEA Solar Hot Water Grants
Cambridge, through the Cambridge Energy Alliance initiative, is offering a limited number of grants to residents and businesses for solar hot water systems. The grants will cover 50% of the remaining out of pocket costs of the system after other incentives, up to $2,000.

Applications will be accepted up to November 19, 2012 and are available on a first come, first serve basis until funding runs out. The Cambridge grant will complement other incentives including the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center solar thermal grants. For more information, seehttp://cambridgeenergyalliance.org/resources/additional-resources/solar-hot-water-grant-program

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Cambridge Residents: Free Home Thermal Images

Have you ever wanted to learn where your home is leaking heat by having an energy auditor come to your home with a thermal camera? With that info you then know where to fix your home so it's more comfortable and less expensive to heat. However, at $200 or so, the cost of such a thermal scan is a big chunk of change.

HEET Cambridge has now partnered with Sagewell, Inc. to offer Cambridge residents free thermal scans.

Sagewell collects the thermal images by driving through Cambridge in a hybrid vehicle equipped with thermal cameras. They will scan every building in Cambridge (as long as it's not blocked by trees or buildings or on a private way). Building owners can view thermal images of their property and an analysis online. The information is password protected so that only the building owner can see the results.

Homeowners, condo-owners and landlords can access the thermal images and an accompanying analysis free of charge. Commercial building owners and owners of more than one building will be able to view their images and analysis for a small fee.

The scans will be analyzed in the order they are requested.

Go to Sagewell.com. Type in your address at the bottom where it says "Find your home or building" and press return. Then click on "Here" to request the report.

That's it. When the scans are done in a few weeks, your building will be one of the first to be analyzed. The accompanying report will help you understand why your living room has always been cold and what to do about it.

With knowledge, comes power (or in this case saved power and money, not to mention comfort).

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Free solar electricity analysis for MA residents
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHhwM202dDYxdUZJVGFscnY1VGZ3aXc6MQ

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HEET has partnered with NSTAR and Mass Save participating contractor Next Step Living to deliver no-cost Home Energy Assessments to Cambridge residents.

During the assessment, the energy specialist will:

Install efficient light bulbs (saving up to 7% of your electricity bill)
Install programmable thermostats (saving up to 10% of your heating bill)
Install water efficiency devices (saving up to 10% of your water bill)
Check the combustion safety of your heating and hot water equipment
Evaluate your home’s energy use to create an energy-efficiency roadmap
If you get electricity from NSTAR, National Grid or Western Mass Electric, you already pay for these assessments through a surcharge on your energy bills. You might as well use the service.

Please sign up at http://nextsteplivinginc.com/heet/?outreach=HEET or call Next Step Living at 866-867-8729. A Next Step Living Representative will call to schedule your assessment.

HEET will help answer any questions and ensure you get all the services and rebates possible.

(The information collected will only be used to help you get a Home Energy Assessment. We won’t keep the data or sell it.)

(If you have any questions or problems, please feel free to call HEET’s Jason Taylor at 617 441 0614.)

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Resource

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Sustainable Business Network Local Green Guide

SBN is excited to announce the soft launch of its new Local Green Guide, Massachusetts' premier Green Business Directory!

To view the directory please visit: http://www.localgreenguide.org
To find out how how your business can be listed on the website or for sponsorship opportunities please contact Adritha at adritha@sbnboston.org

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Massachusetts Attitudes About Climate Change – An opinion survey of Massachusetts residents conducted by MassINC and sponsored by the Barr Foundation found that 77% of respondents believe that global warming has “probably been happening” and 59% of all respondents see see it as being at least partially caused by human pollution. Only 42% of the state’s residents say global warming will have very serious consequences for Massachusetts if left unaddressed. The 18 to 29 age group is more likely to believe global warming is appearing and caused by humans compared to the 60+ age group. African-American (56%) and Latino residents (69%) are more likely than white residents (40%) to believe global warming will be a very serious problem if left unaddressed. The MassINC report, titled The 80 Percent Challenge: What Massachusetts must do to meet targets and make headway on climate change (http://www.massinc.org/Research/The-80-percent-challenge.aspx), contains many other findings.

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Free Monthly Energy Analysis

CarbonSalon is a free service that every month can automatically track your energy use and compare it to your past energy use (while controlling for how cold the weather is). You get a short friendly email that lets you know how you’re doing in your work to save energy.

https://www.carbonsalon.com/

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Boston Food System

"The Boston Food System [listserv] provides a forum to post announcements of events, employment opportunities, internships, programs, lectures, and other activities as well as related articles or other publications of a non-commercial nature covering the area's food system - food, nutrition, farming, education, etc. - that take place or focus on or around Greater Boston (broadly delineated)."

The Boston area is one of the most active nationwide in terms of food system activities - projects, services, and events connected to food, farming, nutrition - and often connected to education, public health, environment, arts, social services and other arenas.   Hundreds of organizations and enterprises cover our area, but what is going on week-to-week is not always well publicized.

Hence, the new Boston Food System listserv, as the place to let everyone know about these activities. Specifically:
Use of the BFS list will begin soon, once we get a decent base of subscribers. Clarification of what is appropriate to announce and other posting guidelines will be provided as well.

It's easy to subscribe right now at https://elist.tufts.edu/wws/subscribe/bfs

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Artisan Asylum http://artisansasylum.com/

Sprout & Co: Community Driven Investigations

Greater Boston Solidarity Economy Mapping Project http://www.transformationcentral.org/solidarity/mapping/mapping.html
a project by Wellesley College students that invites participation, contact jmatthaei@wellesley.edu

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Bostonsmart.com's Guide to Boston http://www.bostonsmarts.com/BostonGuide/

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Links to events at 60 colleges and universities at Hubevents   http://hubevents.blogspot.com

Thanks to

Fred Hapgood's Selected Lectures on Science and Engineering in the Boston Area http://www.BostonScienceLectures.com

Boston Area Computer User Groups http://www.bugc.org/

Arts and Cultural Events List http://aacel.blogspot.com/

http://www.massclimateaction.net/calendar/events/index.php

http://www.mitenergyclub.org/calendar/mit_events_template

http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/calendar/

http://green.harvard.edu/events

http://microsoftcambridge.com/Events/tabid/57/Default.aspx

http://boston.nerdnite.com/

http://www.meetup.com/

http://www.eventbrite.com/

http://www.greenhornconnect.com/events/calendar

http://harddatafactory.com/mobileapp.shtml

http://bostoneventsinsider.com/boston_events/