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Next Convergence: August 9th
11 months ago
You Are Cordially Invited to Attend DMAF’s gathering of executives, professionals, and students from all areas of digital media and entertainment in Central Florida on Tue. April 9th.
In Orlando:
Location: Monkey Bar
26 Wall Street Orlando, FL 32801-2421 (407) 481-1030Time: 6:30-8:30 pm
Don’t miss the great food, drinks, and intelligent conversation
– and best of all, admission is FREE, courtesy of DMAF.
Don’t forget to bring a stack of business cards!
…and a friend
…and tell your colleagues!
Website:http://www.wallstplaza.net/monkeybar/
Please RSVP (Include Name, Business Name , and Email)
West Palm gives initial “ok” to funding digital film school project as city gateway, job creator
West Palm Beach city commissioners Monday tentatively approved establishing the Digital Domain Institute without any disapproval from the public, banking on the high-tech college to become the city’s premier industry. The artist rendering posted here below the proposed The Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts to be built in West Palm Beach. John Textor, the head of Digital Domain Holdings who brought Port St. Lucie a digital animation studio in exchange for land and money, wants to do a similar deal with West Palm Beach.
View the series of newspaper articles available on this topic:
West Palm Beach WBPF (8/30/10) (with video)
GrowFL is cultivating growth companies
0[More information at www.GrowFl.com]
Did you know that the 8% of Florida companies that considered “second-stage” are generating 36% of Florida jobs? If you are the CEO of one of these companies, you should be aware of the GrowFL initiative. There are a range of business services and even a special low-interest loan fund set up for qualified second-stage companies. More information about required qualifications are visible here.
Cultivating growth companies across the state is the mission of the Florida Economic Gardening Institute, funded by the Florida Legislature at the University of Central Florida and involving a host of partners committed to local delivery of statewide services to help second-stage companies achieve their potential. At no charge, GrowFL will provide a suite of high-end, high-speed technical assistance and business resources to companies that have grown beyond the startup phase and need access to information and decision-making tools typically only available to larger companies.
There are 5,000 companies in Florida that fit the specific criteria of second-stage growth companies. These for-profit, privately held businesses employ between 10 and 50 people, generate $1 million to $25 million in annual revenue, demonstrate growth in number of employees and gross revenues during three of the past five years, and qualify for the tax refund program for qualified target industry businesses.
Recently I attended a breakfast briefing regarding the program, and here are some of the highlights:
- Funded by the Florida legislature / No cost to companies.
- Focused on job-producing second-stage companies.
- Providing one-on-one technical assistance in growth sectors.
- Giving CEOs powerful new tools & ideas for business, matchmaking, and referrals.
- Community-based CEO networks for growth companies.
- Business loans available up to $250K @ only 2% interest.
Can the iPad Be Your Only Work Machine? (Part 1)
Part One: Creating on the Road
For the past two months, I’ve used my iPad more often than my MacBook or iMac for communication and socialization, primarily web surfing, email and Skype. I can easily get someone else’s creative content: ABC Player, Netflix for Instant Watching, the movies and television shows I subscribe to on iTunes, and more games than I have for my Nintendo DS and of equal (or better) quality. But I haven’t done as much creating on the iPad. Occasionally, I made changes to the DMAF website through the Bluehost Control Panel and via the WordPress engine; but my MacBook and iMac have the programs and workflow I’ve used for years to create new content.
Heading cross-country for a wedding, I decided to leave my MacBook and accessories behind and travel light: iPad and Apple’s small wireless keyboard, Kindle, pocket Nikon and my iPod Nano as my video camera. As an avid photographer, leaving my Nikon DSLR behind was the hardest. Not taking the laptop saved me eight lbs. and a carry-on. Although this was a week-long vacation, it’s hard for me not to bring some work along.
Work-wise, I’m creating a help manual for the DMAF website that includes 60 screenshots, many of them full screen, and decided that this trip would be the perfect opportunity to see how much creative content I could generate with only my iPad and it’s software.
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