A Concert of Ideas: Join us for the first of three days of special programs in celebration of the launch of

The Renaissance Center for Knowledge Integration, Interdisciplinary Thinking and

Advanced Applications of Imagination at the University at Albany.

AGENDA

10:15 Arrivals and Registration

10:30 Welcome, Overview and The Concert of Ideas

12:10 Turning to One Another: Lunch and Conversation Circles

1:00 Sharing of Insights and Ideas

1:30 Panel: Synthesis and Vsion

Made possible by a generous grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York

A project of Creative Leaps International

Who should attend?

· Students interested in exploring ways to ignite innovative thoughts and entrepreneurial thinking.
· Faculty that wish to deepen their scholarship through orbital thought processes that expand interdisciplinary thinking and open pathways to new research opportunities.
· Entrepreneurs, freelancers and small business owners that have a connection to the creative economy and wish to experience how to integrate the creative and performing arts into their strategic thinking and planning.
· Entrepreneurial ecosystem thought leaders and administrators that want to share the gift of creativity and advanced applications of imagination with their constituents

What is the Renaissance Center?

The Renaissance Center is a revolutionary collaborative space and ideation laboratory for convening a diverse array of minds, methods, means and measures for positively impacting the course of some of society’s greatest challenges — a space of synergies and imagination that catalyzes new thinking, new perspectives, vital new relationships and partnerships. The Renaissance Center will cultivate and challenge the common interests of educators, leaders from business and government, artists, scientists and entrepreneurs, and serve as a springboard to collaboration, economic development, research and social change.

Who is Creative Leaps International?

Creative Leaps International (nonprofit, since 1992) is a highly innovative team of learning specialists, interdisciplinary thinkers, performing artists and scientists working worldwide as creative catalysts and agents of change in business, government, higher education and the social sector. They have performed their signature “Concerts of Ideas” as the centerpiece of hundreds of national and international gatherings on six continents, including projects of The White House, the United Nations, The Earth Summit, The World Bank, the Aspen Institute, the Center for Creative Leadership and scores of Fortune 500 corporations, including Pfizer, IBM, GE and Starbucks, as well as dozens of universities and business schools around the globe. Their performers are winners of more than 60 national and international awards and prizes for excellence and have performed on the stages of Carnegie Hall, Broadway, Lincoln Center and countless prestigious venues around the world.

Their most prized capacities are exceptional imagination and a gift for agile, 360° orbital thinking, that is, thinking generated from multiple perspectives — intellectually, culturally, across disciplines and generations. They are the founders and developers of the Renaissance Center concept.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLza4-xHK0k7kMSLSHHU83oBiXtVWVHsQo
(Open this hyperlink, then choose “Play All” to view playlist of excerpts in sequence)

Mark your calendars: On April 26, Lisa Avila, Co-Founder, President & CEO of Kitware, will be presenting at the BizLab-Clarkson Lunchtime Entrepreneurship Series.

Lisa co-founded Kitware in 1998 when she and four co-workers who were conducting computational science at GE Global Research left to form the software company.Today, Kitware has recorded more than $17M in revenue in 2016 and has offices in North Carolina, New Mexico, Virginia and France.

The company has more than 160 employees and recently relocated its headquarters from Halfmoon to Clifton Park.

But you’ll learn even more if you attend Lisa’s talk at the BizLab-Clarkson lunch on April 26. Tickets are $10 for the general public.

Attendees will have time to network, eat and hear a great speaker and be out the door in an hour!

Earlier this month, CommerceHub CEO Frank Poore spoke at the BizLab-Clarkson lunch. It was his first public presentation since selling CommerceHub for $1.1B.

“How Frank Poore made CommerceHub into a $1.1 billion company” – Albany Business Review

Free parking is available in back of the BizLab, on either side of Liberty Street and metered parking in front on State St.

Join us for the second annual 50/50 Day on April 26, 2018, and the greater #GettingTo5050 Movement. There are already over 20,000 events signed up in companies, schools, classrooms, museums, and homes around the globe to work toward getting to a more gender-balanced world that’s better for everyone across all parts of society, from the economy and politics to culture and home. We provide short engaging films, action pledges, discussion materials, and a full day of live-streamed programming featuring speakers, live events, and more. Everything is free!

The Rochester community will show a screening of the Tiffany Shlain film. Five speakers from the community will also talk about leadership lessons and empowerment. The venue is amazing, but only seats 250 people. So register for your spot! Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Contact Jennifer Sertl at jsert@rochester.rr.com.

• What we’ll doLooking for an excuse to work on that project you’ve been putting off? Want to build something awesome but need some help? Join your fellow hackers on Thursday nights to initiate creative collisions and concoct contrivances of every conceivable kind! If you have questions about Open Hack, contact Samson Bonfante at samson@bonfante.org.

Come meet fellow Bitcoin’ers.

Bring your own project (sewing, knitting, needlework…or hey, anything portable) and a beverage for a fun evening stitching and sipping in good company. The CoG provides an empty table, well-lit work space and electricity, as well as witty banter and camaraderie. No instructor, craft along with fellow Makers. Free to members, $5 cash fee at check-in for non-members. (Membership has its privileges, join the Center of Gravity to access our awesome equipment, including sewing machines!)

Come join us at our Bi-Weekly Meeting! Here we discuss game development techniques, art, music, news, show off member projects and most importantly, have a great time. BGS Game Development Meeting is a free and open to the public event.

Ever wanted to make a 3D game cheaply on a low-to-medium end computer? Or a 2D game that utilizes the tools more commonly used in 3D engines, such as rigging? Unity may be just the game engine for you! Our Tech Valley Game Space Unity Orbit mentorship group can help provide you answers and resources to any questions you may have on this popular and free software.

• What we’ll doWelcome to Tech Valley Game Space Transmissions! This is our weekly livestream event where we’ll be playing video games with the TVGS community! You are welcome to be a part of the stream by coming by the the space during the stream, or by joining online on our Twitch or YouTube channels! Please be aware that if you participate you will be audibly and possibly visually recorded. • What to bring • Important to know

Imagine RIT: Innovation and Creativity Festival is a campus-wide event that showcases the innovative and creative spirit of RIT students, faculty and staff. Visitors experience the breadth and depth of RIT through interactive presentations, hands-on demonstrations, exhibitions, and research projects set up throughout campus. Multiple performance stages with live music and entertainment are also a hit with visitors of all ages. Held annually each spring, Imagine RIT is the kickoff to Rochester’s rich festival season.

Date & Time: Saturday, April 28, 2018, from 10am to 5pm, rain or shine.

Cost: Free and open to the public!

Location: Imagine RIT takes place throughout RIT’s campus in Henrietta, NY.

• What we’ll doEverything we do at Tech Valley Game Space (TVGS) is enabled by our enthusiastic members and volunteers. We are so grateful for your support, and we’re always striving to find new ways to leverage our collective energy to help the Capital Region game dev community thrive. We believe that the key to doing that is empowering all of you to take on a more active role in helping our local game development scene grow and flourish. With that in mind, we want to invite everyone to attend our volunteer coordination meeting. Many of you have been asking how you can get more involved with our group efforts, and this meeting will be a great chance to do just that. We’ve done so many great things together, and there’s no limit to what we can accomplish as long as we remain dedicated to improving. So, let’s get organized! • What to bring • Important to know

Come hang out at the Rev tech incubator! As per usual, we will have interesting talks, good conversation, refreshments.

• What we’ll doThis is the PERFECT night to come by the Center of Gravity and get a feel for this amazing creative community. Get a tour, get social, get your questions answered and get some quality pot luck. You never know WHAT the fare might be on TVCOG Pot Luck Nights! Could be anything from “Tacos Tuesday,” to “Can You Fry It?” to “Nitrogen Ice Cream” and more. • What to bringIf you’re coming for the pot luck, bring something to share. It can be appetizers, an entree, salad, chips & dip, a dessert, even beverages are welcome. • Important to knowCheck our Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_228909937126448

The Zone Orientation Series is a sequence of classes designed to introduce new members to key pieces of equipment and training at the Center of Gravity. Members who need a refresher on the topic are also welcome to attend! This week’s class will be an introduction to the 3D printers available at the COG. Focus will be on the Makerfront, mBot and Makerbot printers and the software used to prepare models for printing (called slicers). This class is only open to paid members of the TVCOG. For more information on becoming a member: http://www.tvcog.net/membership-plans-fees/

Join BGS for an open night of free coworking! Bring your workstation with you and set up shop for the night to work on your current game project, or start a new one with other developers and artists! Get input from peers on your game, gain knowledge from experts, and help out beginners as all work towards making awesome games. BGS Project Night is a free and open to the public event.

On the first Tuesday of each month we have our Open Night. It starts with a very short (15 min) business meeting and then we open the floor to members. Members give a short presentation bragging about the cool things they have accomplished in the past month or shamefully admit they have failed.
So come out and meet the geeks.

Agenda (subject to change)
830am – Registration, Investor-Roundtable Standup, Startup Mixer
9:45am – Case study: “Connect. Innovate. Accelerate”
11am – Innovation Alley Expo and Working Lunch
12:10pm – Keynote Address by Pocket Sun (speaker bio)
1:10pm – Live Pitches w/ Q&A
2:30 pm – In the Spotlight – A Celebration of Licenses, Patents & Spinouts
2:45pm – Bright Awards

Registration closes on April 9, 2018 for Exhibitors and on April 25, 2018 for Attendees. Anyone wishing to register after the deadlines should contact Julianna Fortain (jellis9@buffalo.edu) to register.

RocGrowth Candids is a bi-monthly event featuring regional entrepreneurs share their personal stories and the lessons they’ve learned building successful businesses. We also feature innovative leaders who impact our community’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

REGISTER HERE

We are pleased to host Aaron Newman, a dynamic serial entrepreneur who, prior to founding CloudCheckr, already had several successful startups to his credit. Founded just seven years ago, CloudCheckr already employs more than 100 people in Rochester’s Village Gate. Aaron’s innovative approach to technology and community leadership falls right in line with RocGrowth’s vision of the New Rochester. If you too are interested in helping to shape the future of our community, this is an event you don’t want to miss!

We start and finish with informal kibitzing over drinks and hors d’oeuvres. As usual, we open with a brief performance by a local artist. In between, we conduct an open interview, followed by Q&A, with our featured guests. Event is free, but attendance is limited to the first 100 RSVPs. Register soon since the events “sell out.”

The event is free, thanks to our sponsor, Complemar. We humbly request a $5 donation to our host, the non-profit Downstairs Cabaret Theatre.

We look forward to seeing you there!

-The RocGrowth Team

Startup Tech Valley – Where entrepreneurs come together after hours!

Join us to hear pitches from:
Voiceter Pro, LLC – revolutionizing AI-assisted searches in the real estate industry and other markets
Taste – a personalized recommendation platform with an initial focus on the restaurant industry
Hudson Virtual Tours – 3D virtual tours transport you to any home or business
One-Simple Worldwide, Inc. – offering enterprise quality IT and cyber security for small-mid size businesses

Plus updates from Node40 and Leet Systems / CoLab!

One of the several ways a game can present valuable information to it’s players is through the use of a user interface (UI). In this session, Greg Giles will teach attendees the ins and outs of developing interfaces with the UI systems of the popular Unity game engine. Instructor: Greg Giles Cost:$40 for non-members$24 for Bronze Members$20 for Silver Members$10 for Gold MembersTickets available at http://buffalogamespace.bigcartel.com/product/the-how-why-of-ui Want to attend the entire series? Get the Season Pass and save! Visit http://buffalogamespace.bigcartel.com/product/bgs-spring-2018-workshop-series-season-pass to grab yours today.

SUNY Best is Binghamton’s top networking organization that supports ongoing exchange of professional knowledge and experience throughout the Southern Tier.

Topics for this event TBA.

This event is open to the public.

• What we’ll doLooking for an excuse to work on that project you’ve been putting off? Want to build something awesome but need some help? Join your fellow hackers on Thursday nights to initiate creative collisions and concoct contrivances of every conceivable kind! If you have questions about Open Hack, contact Samson Bonfante at samson@bonfante.org.

Come meet fellow Bitcoin’ers.

Bring your own project (sewing, knitting, needlework…or hey, anything portable) and a beverage for a fun evening stitching and sipping in good company. The CoG provides an empty table, well-lit work space and electricity, as well as witty banter and camaraderie. No instructor, craft along with fellow Makers. Free to members, $5 cash fee at check-in for non-members. (Membership has its privileges, join the Center of Gravity to access our awesome equipment, including sewing machines!)

This Monthly Meetup is generally targeted towards users who are using WordPress (or looking to learn about it) for Blogging and Content Management. Discussion about Blogging with WordPress, Using WordPress on your own sites, easy security tips, what to look for in themes and plugins when installing them, and much more. General topics will be focused more on content and basic information about plugins and themes. If you’re using WordPress to power your blog, business site, or just want to learn more about it, then this is the meetup you’ll want to attend. You may still see some short bits of code during talks or questions, but stick with us and we’ll promise you wont drown. You can always give both this and the design/dev meetup a shot and see where you feel more comfortable (or attend both each month). For more in-depth discussion in theme design, plugin development and other more advanced topics, check out the other meetups running every 3rd Thursday each month named the “Design/Dev” Sessions.