This is a really good idea:

Are you thinking of leaving behind the sprawl, packing up your belongings and moving from the burbs to the city?  Or, maybe, you’ve just always wanted to live in lovely Downtown Providence.  Either way, now is your chance.  The Providence Foundation, Live Downcity and the Downtown Neighborhood Alliance are collaborating with seven Downtown and surrounding properties to bring you a comprehensive tour of available residential space.

http://bit.ly/XV6MM

The good folks at Johnson & Wales' School of Technology invited me to speak, and we've collectively turned the opportunity into a joint JWU and RI Nexus event on a topic close to my heart: innovation and entrepreneurship among college students and recent grads.

I've been thinking about this topic a lot the past couple of years, and have become convinced that these very young entrepreneurs and innovators could and should play a key role in the transformation of Rhode Island's economy.

I've talked with dozens of you in RI's info-tech and digital media community about the possibilities and challenges, and appreciate the opportunity to get my thoughts down and engage a larger audience in the discussion.

Here's the description for the event - I hope you can make it.

Young Innovators & Entrepreneurs: How a New Generation is Reshaping their Careers and the Economy

Xavier Auditorium
259 Pine Street
Providence, RI
Google Maps
Thursday, April 2nd 9:30-11:00am

Innovation and entrepreneurship among college students and recent graduates has surged in recent years. The economic downturn is further fueling this trend, as more members of this new generation realize that pursuing their passions, and starting their own businesses, is the best route to building a more fulfilling, lucrative – and even more secure – career.

Simultaneously, across the nation, academic, business and government leaders are beginning to recognize that nurturing these young entrepreneurs and innovators is key to reshaping their communities' economies.

Using info-tech and digital media – the industry sector at the vanguard of new generation innovation – as our lens, we'll survey these dynamics, their implications, and strategies for taking advantage of them. We'll do so from the perspective of both students and recent grads looking to forge their careers, as well as from that of faculty, business professionals, public officials and others interested in supporting their efforts.

Received this email over the weekend. Maureen would love to hear from folks. Please note that they are only able to respond to inquiries of interest.

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Dear Jack

I read about your work in Providence in today's New York Times article.
I wanted to reach out to you about a segment that I recently launched at
Forbes on our online video network called BreakOut. I'm seeking to
profile entrepreneurs with groundbreaking or really unique interesting
companies or ideas. As the name suggests, we're trying to be the first
news outlet to introduce these companies to the world, so we aren't
featuring companies that have been featured by other large media outlets
(A local Providence tv station or the Providence Journal would be fine
but Fortune or the NY TImes wouldn't).

I'd be delighted to hear any suggestions you might have for this. Look
forward to hearing from you. Feel free to pass this request onto anyone
else you think who might be interested or have ideas!

Here's a link to the segment:

http://video.forbes.com/breakout/guide

Regards, Maureen Farrell

Staff Writer, Forbes
mfarrell@forbes.net

Not sure how long this has been up now - just saw it. Great looking site.

http://connectprovidence.org/