Alex Hillman
better coworking, better business, and better communities
better coworking, better business, and better communities
Joe Petrucci has taken a snapshot of the state of tech startups in Philly as this week’s feature on Flying Kite. He titles it an “underdog” story, an apt reference to a part of the Philly attitude that we know so well from our history.
Continue ReadingJust one more moment of brilliance from Indy hall members:
Continue ReadingIf I had to pick the lead-in to be used on every piece of press I get from today until the day I die, it’d be the lead-in that Chris Wink wrote for my Q&A on this past Friday’s edition of Technically Philly.
Continue ReadingBart had just handed me the telephone.
Continue ReadingReading this old letter (circa 2005) from prolific but otherwise anonymous writer/programmer/artist Why the Lucky Stiff, I’m reminded of the simplicity and playfulness that’s always driven me.
Continue ReadingI haven’t really had a chance to talk much about Code for America since the team was in Philly. I won’t go into what the program is or how it works, because frankly I don’t think I can do a better job than their about page. But I really enjoyed having the CFA fellows in town e...
Continue ReadingYesterday I shared my opinion that professional & personal relationships – not jobs – are the key to student retention in Philadelphia.
Continue ReadingRetention is a big problem everywhere, and here in Philadelphia it’s no exception.
Continue ReadingDeskmag just published a piece about a Dutch incubator’s research project about physical proximity and collaboration. Among the things that stood out to me, these two sentences had the most tips for what was happening in space design as related to collaboration:
Continue ReadingIndy Hall and Young Involved Philadelphia are partnering to help capture the reasons that people love Philly as our own Valentine’s Day celebration, including a party this Thursday. I’d encourage you to share reasons you love Philly on Twitter and include the hashtag “#whyilov...
Continue ReadingMy friend Thomas Fuchs, who also happens to be the author of Scriptaculous, also just authored a list of his “power tools” that he uses while creating badass webapps with his wife & co-conspirator Amy Hoy. He surprised me at the end – not because he’s wrong, but because I ...
Continue ReadingSpotted this on the new IgnitePhilly website in the about section. It was from a 2008, Philly’s first Ignite. It resonated deeply then and still does now.
Continue ReadingIn the summer of 2007, before Indy Hall was a place but was undeniably on the path of becoming a thing, we had a group of people who met on a semi-regular basis for a Junto, an event modeled on Ben Franklin’s “gatherings of mutual self-improvement”. P’unk Ave still holds them ...
Continue Reading2010 was different.
Continue ReadingMy buddy Jonathan Finnegan (a.k.a. Finn, or that guy who Karaoke’d “The Humpty Dance” and “Just a Friend” with a broken arm at Cogaoke in years past) asked me,
Continue ReadingAmong the interesting growth patterns I’ve seen as coworking has begun to make the transition from nascent “nerd clubs” to mainstream is varying instances of support from Economic Development Centers/Councils/Committees/Corporations .
Continue Reading“Philly kicks ass. The creative class term, though, always comes off to me as a way for someone else to co-opt the work of the doers. Don’t try to name us.” – Geoff DiMasi
Continue ReadingPhiladelphia’s tech community is special.
Continue ReadingIn 2007, when Geoff and I sat down to figure out how to make Indy Hall a real place for the real people we’d already recruited, we made a decision to operate it as a business.
Continue ReadingJust over a year ago, Parker Whitney showed up at Indy Hall during our search for an intern.
Continue Reading