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Articles by ly. DC
Creative Mornings Wants You To Share A ‘Moment’
If you’ve ever been to a Creative Mornings breakfast lecture, then you know it’s the place where D.C.’s distinguished creatives take the stage to share lessons from their work. Just recently that proverbial stage (the location changes) has featured the artists No Kings Collective, Michael Lastoria of &pizza and Adam Cole of NPR. Now that stage could feature you.
Digital Inclusion Nonprofit Byte Back Is Getting A New Home
After 20 years operating out of a converted rowhouse in Brookland, digital inclusion nonprofit Byte Back is about to get a modern new home. The nonprofit, which teaches basic computer skills to the District’s underserved residents in a bid to close D.C.’s digital divide, will move to NoMa this summer. “We are thrilled to be moving into a space that fits who Byte Back is on the inside as an organization.
Let These New #dctech Jobs Chase Away Your Midweek Blues
Knucklepuck, a digital marketing firm based in Arlington, Va., is seeking a senior SEO consultant who not not only has killer search skills but also knows how to appreciate “a hard day’s work, the comforts of a beanbag chair and a quality pun.” The company, which is hiring for multiple roles, is growing “explosively” according to a spokesperson and this “SEO guru” will get to be a key part of that growth (apply here). Why work at Knucklepuck?
Kiddar Capital Is Launching Its First Public Fund
Back in March 2016, Falls Church-based Kiddar Capital hired Cheryl Foil to lead new tech investments for the private equity firm. Now, Kiddar Capital, which has its roots in real estate, is getting even more into the tech space. On Friday, the firm announced that it is launching a new fund — the Built World Fund.
DDOT’s RideDC App Gets A Nod From Harvard
The District Department of Transportation’s rideDC trip-planning app is getting some love from the folks at Harvard’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation.The app, which allows users to see all transport options around their location including buses, metro, bikeshare and more, is a semifinalist in the center’s 2017 Innovations in American Government Awards.READ FULL ARTICLE HERE
Explore The Fine Art Of Failure At This New Event Series
Failure is unfailingly part of the startup experience. And as we at Technical.ly like to say, that’s ok as long as you take the time to learn, constructively, from that failure.
Learn How to Write Secure Code at this Upcoming Event
In the age of election hacking, information security is a hot topic. Still, learning to integrate the best infosec practices into your code can be overwhelming. That’s why Women Who Code DC is hosting this tech talk — an introduction to, and attempt to “demystify,” security. The event will take place Feb. 9 at 1776’s 15th Street location. “You will not only work with live demos of insecure applications, but will also learn how to defend against attacks and write secure code,” organizers promise.
Nava PBC Gets a New Advisor Straight from the US Digital Service
Nava PBC, the civic tech startup that emerged from the initially-disastrous launch of HealthCare.gov, announced on Thursday that it has expanded its advisory council. The new member? Former head of the U.S. Digital Service, Mikey Dickerson. Dickerson, who ABC News described as “the disheveled White House staffer who’s cleaning up government IT” when he was appointed to the USDS in 2014, was part of the team that worked to revive HealthCare.gov in 2013.
This Crowdfunding Platform for International Aid is Beefing with the Peace Corps
Here at Technical.ly we write a lot about new companies using technology to change (and, they’re wont to argue, improve) the way a process has traditionally been carried out. It’s the startup way. But the flip side of this is, of course, the “establishment” — the companies or organizations who have been in place, developing the way things are done. Sometimes this establishment embraces innovation, other times it does not.
WAMU Made A Game About Commuting In DC And It’s So Stressful
Edward is a parent, he works in a restaurant and he’s got just $200 to spend each week on transportation and childcare. His commute via WMATAevery day takes 90 minutes and if he’s late to work three times he risks getting fired. What’s it like to be Edward? This is the question a new game developed in partnership by WAMU (D.C.’s NPR station), the American University GameLab and JoLT (a partnership between the AU GameLab and School of Communication) takes on.
This Local Security Company Is Headed To The Super Bowl
An event like the Super Bowl (the 2017 edition of which takes place this Sunday) is a serious security challenge for the host city. Last year, around 1 million people visited the Super Bowl in Santa Clara, Calif. And a whole host of agencies, from transportation to venue security, were charged with collecting data (video surveillance, etc.) and keeping people safe.
Heartful.ly’s Valentine’s Day Campaign Is Raising Money For Syrian Refugees
Heartful.ly, D.C.’s wedding registry for charitable giving, is now running its second annual Valentine’s Day campaign. And this year, perhaps more than ever before in the company’s short lifespan, the campaign is a political statement as well as a social values-based one.That’s why, this Valentine’s Day, Heartful.ly is urging lovers, family and friends to #sharethelove with Mercy Corps and its Syrian refugee program.READ FULL ARTICLE HERE
TechCrunch Is Hosting A Pitch Event In DC And You Can Still Apply
TechCrunch, the tech news publication and organizer of the giant yearly TechCrunch Disrupt pitch competition, is coming to D.C. The company is gearing up to host its meetup + pitch-off event on Feb. 21, an event during which the “cream of the D.C. startup crop” will be invited to pitch to a panel of VCs and TechCrunch editors. The prize on the line? The chance to attend TechCrunch Disrupt in New York this May.
DC Tech Leaders Weigh In On Trump’s Refugee Ban
“When we think of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen, we think of our colleagues, our startups and our partners who work hard every day to solve tough problems to make people’s lives better.” So writes 1776 CEO Evan Burfield in his Medium post response to Donald Trump’s executive order banning all immigrants from seven majority-Muslim countries for 90 days.
Comcast Tech Employees To Rally Against Trump Immigration Order Thursday Afternoon
Employees of Comcast’s Technology and Product team are planning to rally against President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration (also known as the “Muslim Ban”) on Thursday afternoon, our sister site Technical.ly Philly first reported. Rallies are planned to take place at the media and tech giant’s HQ in Philadelphia as well as at other offices around the country — including the one in D.C., multiple internal sources told Technical.ly. In D.C., the rally will start at 1110 Vermont Ave.
This Is How You Run A Women-in-tech Panel That’s About More Than Gender
All too often, when you attend an “X underrepresented minority in X field of tech” event, the discussion focuses exclusively on the challenges faced by that group. And while this isn’t a bad discussion to have, per say, it is limiting. Yes, being a woman in tech comes with challenges. It also comes with all of the joy and curiosity and innovation of being anyone else in tech.
Women in Tech Summit Gets a Lesson in Listening to Local Communities
When the Women in Tech Summit organizers unveiled the speaker lineup for their second annual conference in D.C. (coming March 24), some in the D.C. women in tech community saw a glaring error. One of the conference’s speakers this year (and, at the time, one of just two keynote speakers to boot) is a man.
Looking To Get Involved? Code Against Trump
Protesting, of the out-in-the-streets, sign-toting kind that has been seenconsistently since Donald Trump’s inauguration, is powerful way to express political displeasure. It can also be difficult to sustain. Which is why, as time goes on, many find themselves looking for a way to protest that aligns more smoothly with their personal lifestyles and skill sets. Sound familiar? Here’s an idea for the devs out there: Code Against Trump.
Here’s Your Chance To Exhibit At NET/WORK For Free
We’re hosting the fourth-annual NET/WORK Baltimore at the Baltimore Museum of Industry on Feb. 23. This isn’t your typical jobs fair — last year’s recap shows how NET/WORK ups the fun factor.This year we’re excited to feature more than 30 local tech companies, including both startups and more established firms that are looking to meet talented job seekers, students and recent grads who are interested in discovering opportunities in:READ FULL ARTICLE HERE
Here’s Where DC’s Startup Founders Are From (According To The Fosterly Census)
There’s a lot to be unpacked in the 2016 Fosterly Regional Startup Census, the official report on which was released last week. The census, which Fosterly hopes to do yearly from here on out, gathers data from a total of 217 startups in the DMV area, asking questions about the companies funding, founders, industry and more. It provides a lot of totally new numbers behind what’s happening in the region’s startup scene, and as local innovation enthusiasts we’re pretty stoked about that.
What Coworking Looks Like For DC’s Food Businesses
Union Kitchen may have won our D.C. Innovation Award for Maker Space of the Year, but the Ivy City-based food incubator can also be accurately described as a coworking location. “Companies are literally working side by side,” Union Kitchen Marketing Manager Kelly McPharlin told Technical.ly, and this physical proximity allows a kind of community where the approximately 100 member companies can easily share lessons learned and even collaborate on projects together.
Cool Job Alert: Be Upside’s Chief Data Scientist
Downtown D.C.-based Upside, the platform that aims to entice small business travelers to save money by offering them cheaper options and free stuff, runs on “data science magic.”For real — that’s how cofounder Scott Case described it when we interviewed him back in July. And now that Upside has officially launched, the company is looking for someone to oversee all that “magic.” That means Upside is hiring a chief data scientist.READ FULL ARTICLE HERE
Far From Shutting Down, The Sunlight Foundation Is Busier Than Ever
Back in September, Sunlight Foundation cofounder and Board Chairman Mike Klein published a blog post to the open gov nonprofit’s website suggesting a somewhat uncertain future for the foundation.
iStrategyLabs Built An App To Help You Name Your Startup
Naming your startup may seem like the fun part, but this key step actually presents all kinds of challenges and possible pitfalls. You want a name that is unique and fun and easy to pronounce but also that speaks to what your company is and does. It’s a delicate balance that even a lot of real, honest-to-goodness, money-raising startups don’t get quite right. Viable is an iOS app created by the Shaw-based agency that gives you a “viability score” for your proposed venture name.
Hackathon Diplomacy: French Embassy Event Aims To Boost Franco-US Relations
Joseph Nelson, the General Assembly instructor behind that Michelin Challenge and this wine recommendation engine, has a new project going. He’s helping to organize a French Embassy Hackathon series — a project of the French embassy in the U.S. that seeks to support closer Franco-U.S. integration, especially in education. The hackathon will take place in two parts, the first focused on student mobility and the second focused on French immersion programs in U.S. schools.
Michael Chasen Moves On To Drones
Michael Chasen, cofounder and CEO of Blackboard and founder of SocialRadar,is moving on to a new gig. He’s the new CEO of PrecisionHawk, a Raleigh, NC-based drone tech company, the company announced on Wednesday. Drones are yet another new field for Chasen, whose professional background is predominantly in mapping software and edtech. Chasen led Blackboard for 15 years, and took the company public in 2004.
This Is How To Build An Instagram Creative Community
The social web is always at its best when it’s actually social. Sometime around March last year, Capitol Heights-based photographer Anna Meyer got an Instagram notification: a message from fellow D.C. photographer Carl Maynard, who goes by @carlnard online. She’d never met Maynard before — in fact, she’d never interacted with him on Instagram, either. “But he messaged me a few times and tagged me in some posts, suggesting I join this walk he was hosting for photographers,” she told Technical.ly.
Relive All 360 Degrees Of The Women’s March On Washington
On Friday Jan. 20 while Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration parade marched along Pennsylvania Avenue, a small but somewhat destructive group of protesters gathered on K Street. Of course, the media was there in force. At one point, while traversing the block of K Street between 13th and 14th, just in front of the Washington Post offices, I spotted a guy holding a 360 degree camera. Even amid the myriad recording devices on display that day, they’re pretty recognizable.
How Teaching Math In Malawi Inspired This Local Guy To Start A Crowdfunding Company
When Gret Glyer graduated from college in 2012 he started working at Enterprise Rent-A-Car. But for Glyer, who grew up in Fairfax Station, Va., it didn’t really work out. “The whole nine to five thing is completely unappealing to me,” he said. So Glyer started looking into how he might spend some time overseas, and eventually settled on an opportunity to teach math in Malawi, the landlocked country in southeastern Africa.
If You’re Not Being Creative At Work, What’s The Point? This Workshop Can Help
Feeling stuck and uncreative in your work? Some may say that’s the lay of the land in many fields (i.e., if you’re not an “artist” of some kind your work can’t possibly be “creative”), but Monica Kang is trying to spread a different message.
Need Something New? Here Are 7 #dctech Jobs To Apply For This Week
On Friday, Jan. 20 Donald Trump became President of the United States, and since then the protests have been nearly constant. There was that small but somewhat violent protest on K Street on Friday, the giant Women’s March on the Mall on Saturday, protests against Trump’s move to advance the Keystone XL pipeline and Dakota Access pipeline on Tuesday and that Greenpeace “RESIST” banner near the White House on Wednesday. Many, it seems, are looking to make their displeasure heard.
Can Those Food Delivery Bots Travel The District’s Streets Safely?
It’s a dilemma for the ages, isn’t it? The challenge of transporting people and things from point A to point B seems likely to be with us for as long as space and time — and faraway loved ones and online shoe shopping — exist. The newest innovation in response to this problem is autonomous transportation technology.
Measure Raises $15 Million to Scale up ‘Drones as a Service’
“We don’t make drones. We make drones work.”So proclaims the homepage of downtown D.C.-based “drone as a service” startup Measure. Bold, perhaps, to lead with what your company doesn’t do.But analyst Vania Wang says it’s important to make that distinction because, as Measure sees it, there are three main types of companies in the drone marketplace.READ FULL ARTICLE HERE
Why Donna Harris Thinks The Trump Administration Could Be Good For #dctech
Donald Trump may not have been popular among the D.C. electorate (lol, that’s an understatement), but now that he’s President there’s an argument to be made that he might prove positive for the local tech ecosystem. This is an argument that 1776 cofounder, and soon-to-depart co-CEO, Donna Harris makes in a recent interview on the Kojo Nnamdi show.
DC’s Eatsa Offers a Uniquely Pleasant Dining Experience (Thanks to Robots)
From Seamless to Amazon Go, technology is rapidly changing how we eat. D.C.’s latest tech-forward eatery, eatsa, is no exception. Founded in 2015 in San Francisco, the all-vegetarian, quinoa-centric chain integrates automation technology into its operations. I stopped by one of their two freshly minted D.C. locations to see what they had to offer. Upon entering the modestly sized downtown location, I marveled at its futuristic layout. Barring one friendly assistant, there are no employees in sight.
Watch This Documentary At Hera Hub For A Dose Of Women-in-tech Inspiration
It’s no secret that women are the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs in America. From Silicon Valley to New York to Mississippi, women are starting businesses and raising millions of dollars to solve the world’s most complex problems. Now their stories are being told. On Jan.
General Assembly Aims To Connect Grads To Jobs With Career Lab Event
Coding bootcamps are often lauded as a valuable way to increase the tech talent pipeline for a (relatively) low cost. But even with the consistent cry that there isn’t enough talent to meet demand, it can be challenging for grads to land that first job. Let’s be real — landing a first job in any field is hard.So as bootcamps grow and expand, one area they are focusing on is career services — helping grads land jobs and boosting those “placement” numbers.READ FULL ARTICLE HERE
Why Jessica Bell Decided To Start A Podcast
Jessica Bell knows how it feels to be an outsider to that stereotypical definition of a “techie.” The California native came to D.C. for a career in the political/think-tank realm, but transitioned to web development through chance and a General Assembly bootcamp. Now Bell helps organize DC Tech Meetup and DCFemTech and works at the Washington Post and is so involved in the #dctech world that you’d be forgiven for considering her the ultimate insider.
Get ‘Code Curious’ with New York Code + Design Academy
You know that friend who always talks about getting into coding but is daunted by the commitment? Or maybe that “friend” is actually, well, you?
Stay Connected After this Weekend with the Women’s March Mobile App
The Women’s March on Washington has handy digital resources for the event and beyond. In addition to a Facebook Messenger chatbot and a Saturday livestream, organizers have also released a Women’s March App for users to connect, organize and voice solidarity even after the march has ended. The app, built by SF dev firm doubledutch, is available for free download on the iTunes App Store and Google Play.
Startup Weekend is Coming Back to DC this Spring
Startup Weekend, a decentralized Techstars event that happens in cities around the world every few months, is a perennial #dctech feature. It convenes a group of would-be entrepreneurs, designers and developers on a Friday evening for pitches, after which attendees divide themselves up into groups and work toward an MVP of their startup product by the demos on Sunday afternoon. Not a lot of sleeping happens.
Nominate Someone Cool To Represent DC At SXSW 2017
March in Austin may seem a ways off, but D.C. is ready to get the South by Southwest ball rolling. As with 2016, the Washington, DC Economic Partnership (WDCEP) and Fosterly are teaming up to lead a cohort of WeDC Ambassadors to the festival. These ambassadors will “engaging with leaders and influencers from around the world on behalf of our creative community” and “contribute an element of authenticity to DC’s presence at SXSW,” officials say.
Need Last-minute Women’s March Info? Try This Chatbot
The organizers of Saturday’s Women’s March on Washington, which found early success after the election thanks to Facebook events, have built a Facebook Messenger chatbot for all your (simple) questions about the event.Need to know where and when the March starts? Or who the speakers will be? Or what the mission of the event is, anyway? Ask the bot.READ FULL ARTICLE HERE
Galley Takes Another Step In Its Slow NoVA Takeover
Ivy City-based meal delivery startup Galley has really mastered the art of the slow, thoughtful expansion. This week the company announced it is now serving in Tysons Corner and McLean — a further addition to its continuous march up into NoVA in the past year. Galley’s first expansion into the NoVA ‘burbs was in the Rosslyn-Clarendon corridor in February 2016, followed by the addition of Ballston and Virginia Square in May.
Yo, Business Travelers: DC’s Upside Officially Launched This Week
As of this week, Upside is making savings obtained via “data science magic” available to all business travelers. The travel booking startup founded by Priceline founders Jay Walker and Scott Case incentivizes business travelers to chose cheaper travel options by offering them free stuff (in the form of gift cards) in return for their flexibility. We profiled downtown D.C.-based Upside back in July when the platform was still in beta.
What It Takes To Make Sure Inauguration Visitors Can Snapchat The Whole Thing
An inauguration is and always has been, in virtually every sense, a huge logistical challenge for D.C. Roads must be blocked, scaffolding mounted, emergency services planned. But in at least this one area the logistics get more challenging every four years — communication technology. See in January 2013, at Barack Obama’s second inauguration, just 51 percent of the American population owned a smartphone (according to Pew).
Meet the Lawyer Behind #dctech’s Most Prolific Twitter Account
The first time Robert Williams sent me an email I was just days into my Techncial.ly DC reporting gig, but already very familiar with @TheSiliconHill. I didn’t know any of its backstory, though. “I am the semi-anonymous acting manager of the Silicon Hill account on Twitter,” he wrote. “Please feel free to contact me any time.” I was intrigued. It took us several months to get around to it, but we finally did meet on a hot summer afternoon at Glen’s Garden Market in Dupont.
Keep This Handy: DDOT Built A New Interactive Map For Inauguration 2017
Road closure maps have always been a feature of inaugurations. Visitors, locals, businesses and emergency services alike need to know where and how they can and can’t travel. But historically these maps have been printed and, well, this has some drawbacks. For example, say a road closure changes just days before the event — how do the authorities communicate this with all the necessary stakeholders?
APX Labs Is Now Upskill
Herndon, Va.-based APX Labs announced on Monday that it has changed its name to Upskill. According to a press release, the name change is meant to “better reflect its mission to elevate the impact of people in the connected industrial workplace.” Recall, the newly-renamed Upskill builds enterprise software to bring augmented reality to the manufacturing space. Read our profile from last October to find out what that means.
These DC-based Founders Drop Some Serious Knowledge in Our Tomorrow Toolkit ebook
Starting, and building, a company is hard. It’s also a tremendous adventure. We here at Technical.ly are lucky to hear stories about this adventure, its ups and its downs, every day. All this inspired us to create the Tomorrow Toolkit, an ebook we published in partnership with Comcast NBCUniversal. The 20,000-word, 20-chapter ebook shares lessons on starting and building a business — from creating an MVP to finding a cofounder to raising capital and beyond.
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