The Tech Garden

Hackers Invade Tech Garden

Seventy-five participants from Buffalo, Rochester, Binghamton, Syracuse, Albany, and Ithaca, gathered at The Tech Garden last month for Hack Upstate. During the weekend hackathon, developers, innovators and designers pitched their ideas for new software with the goal of gaining team members for the weekend's program.  Eight ideas were chosen. The winning team developed a new Google Chrome add-on that would allow two individuals anywhere on the globe to connect their Chrome browsers virtually and share documents without downloading or paying for programs such as Dropbox or Box.com that are fee-based.  Sponsors included the iSchool at Syracuse University, Rain Agency from NYC, and SUNY Oswego.  

A Hack Upstate participant pitches his idea during a hackathon at The Tech Garden.

Hack Upstate facilitates collaboration among the Upstate New York hacker community to contribute to the growth of Upstate New York's technology sector, and to create a robust network of technologists and regional technology companies. For more information, visit www.hackupstate.com.

Syracuse Startup Weekend companies win at Emerging Talk

SU student, Anthony DiMare, received an RvD IDEA Award of $5,000 at Emerging Talk.  His startup, Regattable, was created at Syracuse Startup Weekend.

Each year, Emerging Talk draws over 250 attendees, half of which are students with ideas or ventures, many from the Student Sandbox at The Tech Garden. This year, two of the weekend's winning companies originated at Syracuse Startup Weekend at The Tech Garden last fall. The Elbow Room, founded by a team that includes Ryan St. Pierre won $5,000 in the High Tech category of the RvD IDEA competition; plus $3,000 in the College of Engineering and Computer Science's Invention and Creativity Competition. Elbow Room will now advance to the NYS Business Plan finals. The venture is a people-counting infrastructure that takes information about the physical world and turns it into actionable data that can be used to solve micro-scale and macro-scale problems. For more information, visit http://emergingtalk.syr.edu.

Tony Shaw and Ryan St. Pierre, IDEA Connectors and Emerging Talk organizers, have companies that started at Syracuse Startup Weekend. St. Pierre's company, Elbow Room, won $8,000 from two awards at last month's Emerging Talk.

 

SoulScarf – One of "America's Coolest College Start Ups"

Inc.com has selected SoulScarf, a student sandbox participant, among the top 12 "America's Coolest College Start Ups." Inc.com's roster includes the most promising college ventures. SoulScarf's mission is to knit together the threads of fashion and philanthropy one customer, charity, and scarf at a time. For every thick wool scarf that Syracuse University student and SoulScarf founder Celeste Currie sells, she donates 20 percent of the proceeds to a charity of the customer's choice. Founded in October 2012, she had already donated more than $2,000. To learn more, http://www.soulscarf.com.

Celeste Currie, founder of SoulScarf, showcases her inventory at The Tech Garden.

 

Tech Garden names Maria Rizzo next Artist-in-Residence/Curator

Ty Marshal is passing the torch to local artist Maria Rizzo, who will serve in the unpaid position for one year. Rizzo's paintings have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout New York and abroad. http://www.mariarizzoart.com/ 

Since November 2012, Marshal has served as artist-in-residence/curator of The Tech Garden. The residency provides artists with space to hone their curatorial skills in an innovative and professional atmosphere. During this time, Marshal has curated various showcases featuring the work of local, national and international artists, exploring the intersection of visual art, technology and commerce. 

 

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