JFK’s Spirit Alive at the MassTLC unConference

November 2013 marks the 50^th anniversary of the death of John F. Kennedy—a sad occasion for Massachusetts and for all who admired his example of vigor, intelligence and dedication to the greater good.

While President Kennedy is not here to see it, I believe he’d be proud of how Massachusetts has evolved into a world-class beacon for innovation and entrepreneurship by embracing and adapting enduring traditions, while setting a course for the new century.

Attending the 2013 MassTLC unConference last week, it struck me that JFK would have been impressed by the creative thoughts and ideas, diversity, optimism and generosity shown by the gathering’s 800+ enthusiastic attendees.

As a native Californian and Silicon Valley refugee who first came Boston for a college education and who’s lived in Massachusetts for 30+ years, MassTLC’s exceptionally excellent #unCon reassured me more than ever that …

Massachusetts is the best place in the world in which to live and work-- to start, run, and grow a technology business!

Interestingly, the current and future state of Massachusetts was presaged in how Kennedy perceived our Commonwealth a half-century ago.

John F. Kennedy, U.S. Representative and Senator, President of the United States
and unapologetic booster of Massachusetts leadership and innovation 

In his oft-quoted 1961 “City Upon a Hill” speech, then-Senator and President-Elect John Kennedy spoke eloquently about the state he called home, evoking the memory of John Winthrop and other courageous pilgrims who came to Massachusetts in 1630 in search of freedom and opportunity.

Kennedy commented “we are setting out upon a voyage in 1961 no less hazardous than that undertaken” by Massachusetts’ first migrants and quoted Winthrop’s exhortation to his fellow Massachusetts residents:

"We must always consider, that we shall be as a city upon a hill
—the eyes of all people are upon us."

Kennedy’s eloquence stands the test of time, with words that ring as true today as when he spoke them some five decades past. 

Consider these excerpts from his address:

“The enduring qualities of Massachusetts—the common threads woven by the Pilgrim and the Puritan, the fisherman and the farmer, the Yankee and the immigrant…. are an indelible part of my life, my convictions, my view of the past, and my hopes for the future.”

“Courage—judgment—integrity—dedication these are the historic qualities
of the Bay Colony and the Bay State.”

"For what Pericles said to the Athenians has long been true of this commonwealth:
'We do not imitate—for we are a model to others,' "

From Plymouth Rock to Kennedy’s New Frontier; and from the industrial revolution born in the mills of Lowell and Waltham to the thousands of 21^st century knowledge workers who now contribute to what Boston Globe HIVE and Globe columnist Scott Kirsner describe as Massachusetts’ “Innovation Economy”-- our Commonwealth truly does set a good example for others around the world to follow.

Pam Burton, Partner at Accelent Consulting (who recently returned to Mass from CA)
ponders which sessions to attend at @MassTLC 2013 unConference

And while Big Papi’s “F&$@g” eloquence doesn’t compare to Kennedy’s, our world champion Red Sox deserve to be included in Wikipedia definitions for teamwork, endurance and spirit.  Similarly those of us who work in the local tech sector would do well to imitate the New England Patriots’ example of guts, hard work and collaboration.

Two other JFK quotes fit this theme and point us where we need to go:

“Change is the law of life.
And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”

“Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.”

Massachusetts: Together, let’s keep making it happen!

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Click here to listen or download an MP3 recording
of JFK’s 1961 "City on a Hill Speech" in its entirety

Tags: 

MassTLC, unConference, innovation, entrepreneurship, Massachusetts, technology, Boston, Silicon Valley, John F. Kennedy, Red Sox, New England Patriots, Scott Kirsner, Innovation Economy, Boston Globe, Patrick Rafter

**This original Patrick Rafter article was initially published as a "guest' post on the blog of the Mass Technology Leadership Council on 1 November 2013, online at

http://www.masstlcuncon.org/innovation/jfks-spirit-alive-and-well-at-the-masstlc-unconference/ **

Everything I needed, I learned in New Bedford

Great Ideas from TEDxNew Bedford:

While the TED conferences usually take place in trendy locations like Palo Alto and Long Beach (CA) or Portland (OR), participants in this week’s TEDxNewBedford conference (http://www.tedxnewbedford.com) gathered in the resurgent town of New Bedford, unofficial capital of Massachusetts’ burgeoning SouthCoast region.

Once the city that boasted the highest per capita income in the world, New Bedford fell on hard times in the decades that followed the replacement of whale oil with petroleum as the principal form of illumination. Recently, under the leadership of its new Mayor (Jon Mitchell), New Bedford is increasingly seen as a place where "ideas come to life," as Mayor Mitchell said at a reception that capped a full-day of ideas.

This week’s event was organized by SouthCoast native and business innovator Chris Rezendes, whose consulting company INEX Advisors (www.inexadvisors.com) is sets a good example of helping tech companies to conduct biz in a more thoughtful, community-minded way.

I was inspired to participate in #tedxnewbedford, because my own business (Valuecasters) tries to follow Chris's example by "doing well by doing good," connecting people together for mutual advantage, and encouraging clients to give generously (because generosity is not only the right thing to do... it's smart business)!

As you’ll see in its Agenda, this day-long event featured a fascinating smorgasbord of thought leaders who shared their thoughts, innovation best practices examples and a consistent theme of rallying attendees to think and differently, by running businesses that don’t focus solely on the bottom line.

TEDxNewBedford Attendees connecting together beneath
a massive whale skeleton (at the New Bedford Whaling Museum)

Attending the conference myself, I learned a lot and walked out of the event (onto the picturesque cobblestone streets of historic New Bedford), feeling energetic, inspired, and re-invigorated.

While my “lessons learned” are too numerous to include in this post, here’s a sample of some of the excellent quotes, factoids and thought-challenging observations that struck me:

Chris Rezendes:      
Chris kicked off the event by saying something to the effect of “Modern business requires us to consider and master complexity, value & time,” and quoted these sage words Guru Neem Karillia Boba made circa 1600:

“To know and yet not to do is in fact not to know.”

Mark Lovett asked “Will ‘happiness’ ultimately destroy our planet?” and introduce me to the concept of ‘collaborative consumption” in which technology and peer communities are favorably improving how we share, barter, lend, rent and swap ‘stuff’ with those we know.

Let your neighbor use that weed-whacker gathering dust in your garage

Brenda Berube of the Fall River Public School system pointed out that today’s public school education still share three principal challenges that were present for immigrant students 100+ yrs ago: Safety, technical skills, citizenship

Dr. Jack Shoykhet, an immigrant from Ukraine, impressed us with his real world examples of how government can achieve more with less through ‘relentless innovation.’ His work: Synching record systems of the Department of Defense with that of the Veterans Administration, using IT to slash the cost of tracking prisoners, unifying the massive Intelligence systems of various Fed agencies, and implementing telemedicine and blended learning to make healthcare and higher ed more efficient: very, very impressive. I joked with him at a break that Gov. Romney & Pres. Obama would both do well to follow his example.

Filmmaker Kevin Kertscher educated us on a broader definition of “diversity” and shared how organizations leverage and benefit from collective and performance diversity in business and government

Speakding on “Stewardship Through Participation:  Marine Ecosystems & Global Exploration,” Durval Tavares surprised me with the estimate that 95% of the worlds oceans are unexplored! He then shared stories on how SouthCoast companies are looking below the waves to see what lies in the oceans’ depths and discover sustainable opportunities might surface.

Local Physician Derek Hausladen, MD noted that Med School students aren’t taught anything about the relationship between patient care and time management, nor about economics, business. Yet with people now living 50% longer than our ancestors (not because of medicine but because of cleaner sewage), we need to examine our perceptions of the value of time in medicine and also to seek realistic and fair expecations of time in the doctor>><

Julie Fraser of Iyno Advisors, asked the audience to meditate on the thought “What if we were able to apply our work disciplines into our personal lives?” and then shared methods to repurpose processes and techniques she learned in the manufacturing industry to let people “have the life you want.” Her out of the box approach suggested how we could adapt the 6 Sigma approach to ‘continuous improvement’ in business toward persuing our personal passions improving our lives. As she reminded us: “All manufactured goods started with someone being dissatisfied who was moved to make things better.” Fascinating idea.

While I wish I could go on to summarize all the other ideas that other speakers shared at the conference… time doesn’t permit that today.

Suffice it to say… the first TEDxNewBedford (in September 2012) was a phenomenal event and the universal consensus of the attendees:  time well spent, and something they’ll want to do again.

Thanks to Chris and Team for their inspiration and hard work in making it a reality!

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On the Job with Steve Jobs

A personal Steve Jobs memory...

I've been selling/marketing/promoting Apple products and related tech since 1982-- the Apple II and Apple III days.

In 1985, I worked in Boston as a sales rep for Businessland and I understand I was one of the top salespeople of Macs among all the Businessland stores nationwide. I ate and drank Macintosh night and day and somehow got companies to buy the original dinky 128 Macs by wowing them with them with cut and paste in MacWrite and its wacky San Francisco font. Whenever someone came into our store looking for a Mac, they'd get sent my way...

One day (much to my chagrin), I was out of the store on my lunch break when a unshaven guy with dark hair, black turtleneck and jeans came walked into my place of employ. While I would have recognized him in a nano-second, my colleagues didn't recognize this ungainly character who said to the salesperson who went up to serve him:

"I'm looking for a computer for my business, what can you show me?"

The other sales guy replied:

"Well, if you're looking for a business computer.... you're going to want an IBM PC."

Steve Jobs looked him in the eye and said "Wrong answer!," and walked out of our store over to the Computerland store across the street where their Mac guy replied to the identical question with "A business computer? There's really no choice other than the Apple Macintosh."

The guy in the black turtleneck said "Right Answer," and promptly put in an order for 20 Macs.

I don't take lunch breaks any more.

Steve and the company he built has kept me employed, informed, entertained and engaged ever since.

Thus while I knew his demise was imminent, I can't help feeling "iSad"

For all of us who owe our jobs to you, thank you Mr. Jobs.

Patrick Rafter/Valuecasters (Wellesley, MA)

prafter@valuecasters.com

MassTLC calls for Mass Tech Sector to create 100K New Jobs

Mass Technology Leadership Council Issues

“The MassTLC 2020 Challenge”:

Launching the Next Wave of Innovation

in New England’s Tech Sector

MassTLC calls on tech leaders in Massachusetts

to “Think Big & Play Big,”

and create 100,000 new digital economy jobs by 2020

BURLINGTON, Mass.—April 1, 2010—At its annual meeting, The Mass Technology Leadership Council, Inc. (New England’s leading tech business association) yesterday put forth a dynamic vision for the future of Massachusetts technology: calling for private and public sector influencers to creatively and effectively leverage Massachusetts’ unique assets, to adopt positive new beliefs and behaviors, and to commit themselves towards meeting the challenge of creating 100,000 new technology jobs in-state by the end of the decade.

Jointly addressing a public audience of 400 tech executives attending today’s Annual Meeting, Steve O’Leary and Bill Warner (MassTLC Chairman and Trustee respectively) sounded a dynamic and passionate clarion call to “think big and play big.” O’Leary emphatically listed the state’s unique resources and laid out the challenge:

“Massachusetts has potential for technology growth that is second to none. No other place on the globe can match our state’s unique assets: our history of innovation, our higher education leadership, our concentration of venture capital, and our per capita gross domestic product. Much as Massachusetts revolutionized the worlds of politics, industry, transportation and technology entrepreneurship in past generations, the current generation of technologies, infrastructures, ideas, and other innovations can drive a new decade of unprecedented growth and job creation.”

The MassTLC 2020 Challenge calls for concerted collective and individual efforts to make Massachusetts a great place to do business: for tech startups, successful mid-level and large Massachusetts-based companies, and for regional divisions and headquarters operations of world-class, multinational corporations. The challenge also calls on Massachusetts to take advantage of its established leadership in these key technologies:

• Ubiquitous Computing

- Mobile Applications

- Broadband and Web Infrastructure

- Software-as-Service and Cloud Computing

• New Media and Publishing:

- Online Video

- Marketing and Social Media Software

- Digital Games

• IT-Driven and Web-Driven Productivity

- Business Analytics / Workflow

- Healthcare IT

- Life Sciences, Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals

- Cleantech, Energy Efficiency and Conservation, Green services/tech

• Robotics

• Other innovations to come.

"The technology sector is a crucial driver of innovation, entrepreneurship, and job growth for the Massachusetts economy – today and tomorrow,” said Gregory Bialecki, Secretary of Housing and Economic Development for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. “The Patrick Administration looks forward to continued collaboration with the sector to create jobs and opportunity here in the Commonwealth"

Get Involved in The MassTLC 2020 Challenge

“Massachusetts is already home to high-impact entrepreneurial startups, fast growing mid-sized companies, and to the headquarters or innovation centers of multinational technology leaders inculding Akamai, AT&T, Cisco, Comcast, EMC, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Raytheon and Verizon),” said Tom Hopcroft President & CEO, MassTLC. “By 2020, more and more of the world’s most innovative digital economy companies will want to locate their operations and base their teams in Massachusetts. Realizing that vision will require intelligent and diligent effort, imagination, flexibility, risk-taking and more than anything --- earnest participation, close involvement and regular input from all participants in the Mass tech ecosystem.”

To help meet this challenge, the MassTLC Board is developing an ambitious agenda of

focused initiatives including:

• Expanding programs designed specifically for job creation and growth

• Strengthening the organization’s commitment to fostering startups, while launching

new efforts to help mid-sized companies become billion dollar companies

• Pursuing collaborative efforts with universities, state government, and other industry organizations to train and retain the workforce talent necessary to drive growth

• Helping to make the Massachusetts a national leader in high-bandwidth,

broadband deployment

The MassTLC wants to hear what’s important to YOU

Tell us what’s on your mind: What’s working? What isn’t? What’s missing? What’s essential to succeed? Are you on board? How do you plan to meet the Challenge and how can we can we work together to grow the Mass tech sector this decade? E-mail your ideas for initiatives, programs, and policies to challenge@masstlc.org. We welcome your input and look forward to the dialogue.

About The Mass Technology Leadership Council, Inc.

The Mass Technology Leadership Council, Inc. is the only business association that addresses the critical leadership issues of innovative technology and technology-enabled companies. Drawing on the rich legacies of Massachusetts Network Communications Council, the Massachusetts Software Council, and the New England Business and Technology Association, Inc., the organization is dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship and promoting the success of companies that develop and deploy technology across industry sectors. The Mass Technology Leadership Council conducts educational programs, hosts industry events, facilitates networking, sponsors research, advocates in favor of technology policies that promote innovation, entrepreneurship and competition, and recognizes industry-leading companies and people.

For more information, visit http://www.masstlc.org or http://blog.masstlc.org .

Press Contact:

Patrick Rafter, Ambassador, Mass Technology Leadership Council

patrick@masstlc.org , 617-901-2697

Twitter: @masstlc, #MA, #jobs, #tech, #innovation