A look at the N.Y. Tech Scene from the NYCEDC Entrepreneur at Large:
If you had any doubt about Mayor Mike Bloomberg's drive to embrace and promote the growing start-up economy in NYC, just take a look at his Twitter stream from last week.
Mike Bloomberg @MikeBloomberg
Visiting @boxee to discuss the latest efforts to grow #NYC's #tech industry (@ Boxee HQ) http://4sq.com/QSFsTJ
That was fun! / MT @NYCMayorsOffice: Last night the Mayor and @jack took a cab outfitted with Square technology http://instagr.am/p/QPxh7jThD2/
Congrats and welcome to #NYC @Jack @Square #tech #jobs / Square Acquires a New York Design Firm http://nyti.ms/Sy1iec
Check out photos from last night's #NYCConnects at Gracie Mansion on @NYCMayorsOffice @flickr page http://bit.ly/OBmxRA
Homegrown firms like @Tumblr @Seamless @Boxee @Foursquare are thriving in #NYC's booming #tech sector http://bit.ly/SFKAhl
The week began with Mayor Bloomberg and entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and government officials, who gathered for a summit on how N.Y. can keep its Tech Edge. The closed-door conference was attended by Kickstarter co-founder Perry Chen, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, and Union Square Ventures founder Fred Wilson, among others.
The event was followed up by a public event at Boxee HQ with CEO Avner Ronan and a slew of tech industry leaders and CEOs. Bloomberg was there to celebrate New York's tech-sector job and startup opportunities. "These are exciting times in the technology sector," said Mayor Mike. Starting a company in New York "is probably the best place in the world to do that," said Ronen. "This is the Big Apple, and for those people who really want to be challenged mentally, this is where you want to be," Bloomberg concluded, "Those kinds of people also tend to have the skill sets required by technological companies."
Even valley stalwarts like Google joined in the praise fest. Eric Schmidt, Google's CEO, said "it's good for Silicon Valley to have a competitor." And given that Google now owns 111 Eighth Ave for a rumored cost of $1.9 billion, Schmidt's compliment has been backed up by Google dollars.
Mayor with Boxee CEO Avner Ronan
Later that evening, Bloomberg opened Gracie Mansion to a whose who of NYC tech. To celebrate NYC Connects 2012, Bloomberg pitched a great big tent in the back yard, open a bar and fed the throngs of hungry tech geeks.
Wired coverboy Bre Pettis was there with a brand new MakerBot 3d printer -- the Replicator2 -- cranking out great 3d things. Mayor Bloomberg and girlfriend Diana Taylor checked out the new MakerBot as a crowd gathered. Lots of other digerati were there as well; General Assembly's Adam Brimer, Google editor Caroline McCarthy, NYC chief digital officer Rachel Sterne Haot and LiveStream founder Max Haot, as well as Google chairman Eric Schmidt.
Bloomberg, who seems to be enjoying his emerging reputation as the leader of the tech growth spurt in the Big Apple, took to a bit of prop comedy from the podeum -- swapping out a number of pairs of Warby Parker sunglass frames. Many photos were taken, and the mayor seemed to take it all in stride.
Mayor with MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis
Mayor wearing Warby Parker
Mayor Bloomber with iPad DJ's AndrewAndrew
This week's events -- while not as overwhelming as last -- continue to build the NYC tech scene's reputation for happenings. (Hat tip to Gary's Guide for always knowing what's going on).
Thursday, Oct 11
PandoMonthly Presents: A Fireside Chat with Dennis Crowley
You can't run an event series exploring New York's burgeoning tech scene for too long without having Dennis Crowley as a guest. Crowley is the founder and CEO of Foursquare, but you may know him from Best Buy and Gap ads and pretty much every story about the ascendency of New York's tech scene.
Projective L.E.S., 72 Allen Street
Saturday, Oct 13
Film Experience Hackathon
Meet at the Apartment
101 Crosby St
Coders, hackers, filmmakers and visual artists will join forces to create new and innovative ideas demonstrating how technology can enrich the end-to-end movie experience.
Over the course of the weekend, teams will self-assemble and create a proof-of-concept, prototype and/or fully working application that is focused on one or more of the following film experience areas:
Discover: Improve the experience of discovering, learning about, locating, and ticket-buying/streaming/downloading a movie.
Watch: Enrich the movie-viewing experience itself through multimedia and interactive elements.
Engage: Rethink the ways that viewers can share opinions, reviews and have conversations -- online and/or offline -- about movies.
CONFIRMED JUDGES
Christina Warren (Mashable)
Marc Schiller (BOND Strategy and Influence)
Craig Hatkoff (Tribeca Enterprises)
Lance Weiler (Filmmaker)
Julia Kaganskiy (Creators Project)
Jessica Brillhart (Google Creative Labs)
Have a great week in N.Y. Tech!
Tips, events, or N.Y. Tech news? Email me at Srosenbaum (at) nycedc (dot) com.