Did you ever launch something and host an event on the same day? Pro tip: It’s fun. However. Never do it.
OK! So Blue Sky opened The Vault this week, a place where we’ll build out business resources you can search, sort, share and find when you need them. Our minds are racing with the possibilities.
The first major feature is The Blue Network, a sort of Pinterest-meets-Wikipedia presentation of biographies of 100 top Chicago innovators, nearly all of whom you’ve read about on Blue Sky since we launched 16 months ago. Startup founders and influencers in technology and innovation populate this collection, which you can view by professional industry and demographics. The Spark is there, too, and so is Blue Sky-specific site search.
Please check it out, let us know what else you’d like to see, and stay tuned. There will be much more to come.
Blue Sky Social, our new networking series, also kicked off Wednesday with an event at the House of Blues. At its best this community is humble, generous and open, and attendees told me they saw much of that spirit on display.
One of those top 100 innovators, Julie Friedman Steele ?, founded the 3D Printer Experience on LaSalle Street. She told Kate MacArthur why she thinks 3D printing is a gateway to understanding the future of technology.
Makers took the stage at Technori Pitch to discuss the fast-growing movement of small manufacturers using technology and social media to make and sell things. (Technori was founded by Seth Kravitz ?
More Top Picks Best Radar Detectors Under 300 Dollars
, who is also in the 100.) And Andrea Saenz of the Chicago Public Library said more than 80,000 people have come through the library’s Maker Lab since 2013 — and drew applause when she added that 70 percent of the visitors have been women.John Carpenter wrote about the desire to hire tinkerers whose side projects are evidence of a desire to create new things. “It’s the difference between a code monkey and someone who is in it for the long haul,” said Frank Nicolia, a senior digital recruiter at Onward Search. And Meg Graham visited Threadless for one of her more eye-popping Office Tours.
LuminAID emerged from the “Shark Tank” a winner. A Mondelez incubator program yielded a startup that got acquired. And in a display of practicality, investors talked about looking for solid solutions rather than “unicorns” in health startups.
Howard Tullman ?, a member of the 100 writing in Inc., offered more density of message per square inch than you’ll find most places. Elsewhere in the Hub were 4 key leadership lessons from top female executives and why your business should support social impact.
Is there anything left that you can’t get delivered? The answer gets closer to no with mixology deliveries from Cocktail Courier.
Sounds like just the thing for holing up with “House of Cards” Season 3. Francis?