Events : Innovation + Job News

Bennett’s Curse Haunted House and Creepywoods Haunted Forest has put out a casting call for vampires and werewolves, ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night. The two Halloween attractions are hiring 100 seasonal workers.
 
Recognized by Top Haunts magazine as a star spooky attraction, Bennett's Curse Haunted House is located in Blobb’s Park, Jessup, and opens Sept. 21. Creepywoods, located at Huber’s Farm, Kingsville, opens Sept. 28. The former is hiring 60 part-time employees; the latter, 40 part-time employees. The casting calls attract numerous applicants, some of whom arrive wearing costumes and makeup.
 
Jill Bennett is co-owner with her husband, Allan Bennett, of the two attractions. The Haunted House, now in its 12^th season, draws 20,000 to 30,000 people annually. Attendance depends on the weather and fall sports. ”If the teams are doing well, we won’t do well,” she said.  
 
The Haunted House is a walk-through event with three attractions set in a 22,500-square-foot medieval-looking building that is used only for Halloween. 
 
It is open weekends from Sept. 21 to Nov. 3, except for the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Halloween Week, when it is also open. Admission fee is $30 per person. On Sept. 28 and 29, in partnership with the Maryland Food Bank, bring a can of food and the admission fee is reduced by $5. 

Creepywoods, now in its fourth season, is a one-third-mile walk in the woods that attracts 10,000 to 15,000 people. Bennett calls it  “classical Halloween,” with werewolves and witches. It is open weekends from September 28 to October 31. Admission fee is $20 per person.
 
Source: Jill Bennett, Bennett’s Curse Haunted House & Creepywoods Haunted Forest
Writer: Barbara Pash
 
 
 
 

Station North Arts & Entertainment, Inc. announced the third, and final, round of projects to receive funding for its “Think Big” initiative, which helps artists and musicians advance their projects.  

Station North, at 1800 North Charles St., received a total of $42,000 from the National Endowment of the Arts and the William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund.

"A lot of projects are done on a small budget of $100 or so. With the funding, we could give them $1,000 or so and get to the next level," says Station North Project Manager Rebecca Chan. 

Chan says the funding was about evenly split among the three rounds. A panel of judges chose the winners, aiming for a mix of performing arts, visual arts and community outreach in each of the rounds. "Think Big" funding started in October 2011 and, as word got out, Station North received an increasing number of proposals from which to choose. 

Judging from the first two rounds, "Think Big" also succeeded in bringing more people to Station North and its venues. "We had great audiences at all the events," says Chan. "There was an increasing level of energy and activities."

Ben Stone, executive director of the community-based nonprofit, says more than 40 applications were received for the third round. "A lot of the [grant recipients], like theater companies and dance companies, have regular events so people can come back again,” says Stone. “More and more people see Station North as a destination.”
 
He says winners highlight the artistic talent and diverse venues in the Station North District. They include:

“Vacation,” works by 11 artists, curated by Elena Johnston, at the Pent House Gallery in Station North District, through August 30.

“Submit 10 Baltimore,” created/produced by Rachel Hirshorn, writers present short segments of current works, Monday evenings at Liam Flynn's Ale House.

Mosaic Makers’ mural at 201 E. North Ave., site of Project PLASE’s men’s shelter.  

“Akimbo,” professional dance series organized by Nicole Martinelli and Sidney Pink, on Aug. 31, Sept. 15 and Sept. 19 at Station North.

“New Lens” video screening and panel discussion about youth employment, Sept.29, 10:30 a.m. at Charles Theatre.

”A Drop of Water” by Sarah Doherty, sculptural transformation of a vacant lot on the 2100 block of Charles St.

Hosted at the The Load of Fun/Gallery, “Speaking” with Johanna Drucker, lecture, workshop and exhibition on weekend of Sept. 7 and 8.

Baltimore Rock Opera Society “Pitch Party II,” vote on next productions, Sept. 29.

High Zero Foundation/The Red Room Collective screening of experimental film and video, 7 p.m. Sept. 19 at Charles Theatre.

Organized Sky Space Project’s Nights Lights, star-gazing and arts event, organized by Rachel London, 9 p.m. on Aug. 24 and Sept. 7.

Source: Ben Stone and Rebecca Chan, Station North Arts & Entertainment
Writer: Barbara Pash
 
 
 

Chef’s Expressions Inc., one of Greater Baltimore’s largest catering firms, wants to win over younger customers.

The Timonium company has launched a new class of events called Social Expressions that targets 25-to-40-year-olds who might perceive that the caterer is too “elite” for them, Chef’s Expressions CEO Jerry Edwards says. Many brides and assistants to presidents are in this age range and hold the purse strings.

“We want to show them that we can do some cool events.”

Chef's Expressions, which pulls in $4.25 million in sales, caters weddings, corporate events, anniversary parties and other gatherings, hosts five-course wine dinners. But Edwards wants to get out the message that the caterer can offer cocktail parties and other informal events.

Edwards says the company will host one Social Expressions event every other month. The inaugural event will launch Aug. 23 with a tour around the Inner Harbor aboard Watermark Cruises' newest ship, the Raven. And aboard the Raven, guests can watch the Baltimore Ravens preseason game while sipping cocktails and eating mini corndogs, crab cakes with a Natty Boh tempura batter and chili served in a vodka shot glass. Advanced tickets cost $35 a piece and proceeds go to Living Classrooms Foundation.

Edwards says the events are for marketing purposes and he doesn’t expect to make money from these events, especially since the dollars generated will go toward a charity.

“We’re going after new clients. We want to reach out to a younger crowd. They may think that all we do are sit-down wine dinners.”

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Jerry Edwards, Chef's Expressions Inc. 

The 29 Days Later Film Project is accepting entries through Wed. July 11 for its Baltimore-based filmmakers' competition. Cash prizes will be awarded to the winners, whose films will be screened on August 21 and 22 at the Creative Alliance. The screenings are open to the public for this fourth annual event.

Anyone can enter, amateur or professional. The fee is $75 per team. Dean Storm, who cofounded the project with Dawn Campbell, says 27 teams, ranging from one person to a dozen people, have entered to date. Teams are mostly from Maryland, and especially Baltimore, but a few are from Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.

The kickoff for the project will be held July 11 at the Creative Alliance in Patterson Park. The teams then have 29 days, to August 9, to shoot and edit a four-to-eight-minute-long film on any topic of their choice. The one proviso is that they use a prop that will be given out at the kickoff event. Storm says that even he does not know what the prop is until that night. Everyone gets the same prop that, in past years, have included a pinwheel and a kitchen timer.

The films can be dramas, comedies, documenaries or animation. A panel of three judges will decide the winners. The winner of each day's screening will receive $150. There is also a grand prize of $500. Filmmakers retain the rights to their films.

Source: Dean Storm, 29 Days Later Film Project
Writer: Barbara Pash

A packed audience greeted the arrival of Baltimore’s latest cultural attraction, a new film series that doesn't yet have an official title or regular schedule. 

The Maryland Film Festival  and National Public Radio affiliate WYPR 88.1 FM are partnering in the series, which kicked off earlier this month. 
 
Organizers plan to hold the second filming in the series in September. After that, the film will be screened between one to three months apart. The site and ticket arrangement are still in the works, says Jed Dietz, director of the Maryland Film Festival.
 
The series’ first screening, “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” a Sundance favorite, was held June 5 at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Attendance was by word-of-mouth. On July 13, an interview with Lucy Alibar, the film’s screenwriter, will air on WYPR.
 
Dietz says that each screening will include an interview with someone involved in the film, whether screenwriter, director or actor. The interview will be recorded and then broadcast as part of the station’s “Maryland Morning” program, airing every weekday from 9 to 10 a.m.
 
Katherine Gorman, producer of WYPR’s “Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast,” says the series will focus on contemporary themes, hopefully with a Maryland connection, but availability of films is dependent on distributors.
 
The film series format follows that of the “Maryland Morning” show, which had interviews with filmmakers with a connection to the state, either filming here or from Maryland.
 
“We like that connection to Maryland. We’re trying to branch out, to have a national reach,” she says. 

Sources: Jed Dietz, Maryland Film Festival; Katherine Gorman, WYPR-88.1 FM
Writer: Barbara Pash
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Geeks get their day once again at Baltimore's 2^nd annual Hackathon. The event promises to be bigger, better and, most importantly, more lucrative than the first hackathon, held in 2010.

Described as a "high-tech science fair," the original hackathon attracted hobbyists, students and professional programmers who, in a couple of days, were supposed to take their tech idea from concept to creation. Ideas ranged from software handling organizational systems to transcription service. 

The same format applies to the 2^nd Hackathon, which runs from June 8 at 6 p.m. through June 10 at 6 p.m. at the headquarters of Advertising.com, located at 1020 Hull St. in the Locust Point neighborhood. 

"We're trying to make it an annual event. The idea is for people to come together and [during those three days] work on projects that are technical in nature, either software or hardware,” says organizer Jason Denney, a member of Baltimore Node, a member-run space for hacker space.

There are hackathons all over the country. Since the first Baltimore hackathon, says Denney, two more sponsors have been added to the original five. This has enabled the organizers to add more prize money. This year's sponsors are Northrop Grumman, Looking Glass, Advertising.com, Paypal, Code for America, smart logic and Thunderbolt Labs. 

At the first event, a prize was given for best overall hardware or software project, team or individual. This year, there will still be a best overall hardware or software prize. But, in addition, there will be prizes for smart design, most difficult technology, aesthetics and public service project. Winners in each category will receive a $600 cash prize.

Organizers are hoping to increase attendance from the original event's 70 people to 100. Denney says anyone can register and compete for the prizes. Registration and tickets are online. A nominal fee covers entrance, food and a T-shirt. 

Source: Jason Denney, 2^nd annual Hackathon
Writer: Barbara Pash
 

The Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship, an initiative of the Howard County Economic Development Authority, wants to ignite entrepreneurship in the county. To that end, the development authority is sponsoring its first-ever Race for Innovation, and hoping that it is the spark the sets the fire.
 
The event is scheduled for Tues. June 19 from 1 to 5 p.m. at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel.  
 
The idea is for teams to work with coaches to develop ideas into business concepts, which are then pitched to investors.

"We want to drive more innovation and ideas” in Howard County, says Julie Lenzer Kirk, director of the Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship, located in the development group's Columbia office. “At the same time, we want to bring intellectual property” into the county.
 
Gloria Jacobovitz, program director, calls the event “high energy.” Says Jacobovitz, “We came up with the idea to help business development. An event like this usually takes a weekend but we will do it in a few hours.”
 
Jacobovitz notes that the event gives entrepreneurs and start-up companies an opportunity to interact with investors. “They are going to work together. It will create synergy between them,” says Jacobovitz, who expects 100 participants at the event.
 
The Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship was launched in December 2011. The event is an attempt to branch out to the broader entrepreneurship community, says Kirk, and thus it is open to all, not only Howard County residents.
 
“We are hoping to start a bunch of new jobs in Howard County,” Kirk says. “That’s why we are doing this event.”
 
Sources: Julie Lenzer Kirk, Gloria Jacobovitz, Howard County Economic Development Authority, Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship
Writer: Barbara Pash, [email protected]

Parking Panda, the Baltimore startup that finds a spot to put your car, is cruising into new cities and attracting new funding.

Within a few months, it will begin marketing in Philadelphia, its third site. San Francisco, Chicago and Boston are next on the list. Last month, it expanded to Washington, D.C. The company recently received $250,000 from investors, with another $250,000 in the works, CEO Nick Miller says. Miller founded the firm in 2001 with Adam Zilberbaum, chief technology officer. 

The company doesn't have exact dates for the expansions after Washington, D.C., says Miller. In part, it depends on demand and how many parking spaces can be arranged. 
 
Parking Panda locates available parking spots in private driveways and garages that drivers can reserve in advance on the web or via mobile phones. In Baltimore and Washington, D.C., it is working with two garage companies, PMI and Central Parking.
 
In addition, Parking Panda works with private home-owners and small business to rent their driveways, parking lots and garages. “We have quite a few private driveways that are rented for Ravens [football] games,” says Miller, who tries to line up parking for other events like festivals and farmers markets.
 
Also, he adds, “we work with certain neighborhoods, like Federal Hill,” where on-street parking is scarce and there are no parking garages.
 
Miller says the price the driver pays is set by the parking garage or driveway owner. Parking Panda takes a 20 percent fee on whatever is charged.  “If they charge $10, we get $2,” he says.
 
Parking Panda has a few, small parking competitors in the area, says Miller.

”But no one is doing what we do, with parking garages and private parking.”
 
Source: Nick Miller, Parking Panda
Writer: Barbara Pash

Mentoring, for a start. Perhaps an awards program. The mission of the new Women in Tech group is to support women in technology fields but the details of how that will be done are still being decided.
 
That discussion will take place at the initial meeting of the Women in Tech group, sponsored by the Chesapeake Regional Tech Council, an Annapolis-based membership group. The meeting will be held Wed. April 25 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the headquarters of IntelliGenesis, in Columbia.
 
IntelliGenesis is a defense contractor whose president and CEO, Angie Lienert, a Chesapeake Regional Tech Council board member, is spearheading the new group.
 
Technology is a predominantly male field. There are a lot of women but they’re surrounded by men, says Kris Valerio, executive director of the Chesapeake Regional Tech Council.
 
“We want to nurture the women. We want to have female mentors, and we want to inspire young women to pursue technology as a career,” Valerio says. “This is about supporting colleagues and creating positive messages.”
 
The Women in Tech group is modeled after a pilot program the Chesapeake Regional Tech Council conducted a few years ago. Lienert took the initiative of moving the pilot into a formal program, Valerio says.
 
Valerio expects about 40 people to attend the meeting, judging from the number who have already registered and the inquiries she is getting. Although the council is a membership organization, non-members can attend the initial Women in Tech meeting.
 
“We don’t have an agenda yet” for the group, Valerio says. “At the introductory meeting, we will outline our goals and see what interests arise.

Source: Kris Valerio, executive director, The Chesapeake Regional Tech Council
Writer: Barbara Pash

It would be hard to find a more unlikely theme but, nonetheless, the gb.tc (formerly, Greater Baltimore Technology Council) is hosting its first local “fail conference,” officially titled Bmore Fail.
 
The event takes place on Fri. April 20 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at an indoor soccer field, the Clarence Du Burns Area, 1301 South Elmwood Ave., Baltimore.
 
“The idea is to create an environment where risk-taking is okay and safe to do,” says Sharon Paley of gb.tc. “To succeed in business, you have to be prepared to fail.”
 
Bmore Fail welcomes entrepreneurs, investors, developers, designers, students, artists and others in the innovation and creative communities. Activities for “communal sharing” include a “failure wall,” where attendees can write about their personal experiences, and a “fail off,” where stories of failure and redemption will be told and the audience will vote.
 
“We’re saying, ‘This happens to everyone,’ so let’s come together and learn from each other’s mistakes,” says Paley, who expects 300 people to attend Bmore Fail.
 
The agenda is still tentative. There will be speakers, question-and-answer periods, breaks and a performance by the Baltimore Improv Group.
 
Talks will be on: “Virtues of Failure” by Ron Schmelzer, Bizelo; “Psychology of Fear of Failure” by Dr. Daniel Wagner, clinical psychologist; “Extreme Consequences” by Joe Bocuzzi, airline safety expert, and Dr. Paul Foster, GBMC; “Taking the Plunge” by Tracy Gosson; “Capital Failure” by Rob Rosenbaum, TEDCO; “Security Failure” by Hart Rossman, Cyber Security Services & Solutions at SAIC; “Learn to Fail” by Andrew Coy and Pat O’Shea; and “Peaks and Valleys” by Bryan Sivak, CIO for State of Maryland.
 

 
Source: Sharon Paley of gb.tc
Writer: Barbara Pash

Two Baltimore City public high school students are representing Charm City at the prestigious Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in May.

The students, both grand prize winners in the Baltimore Science Fair, are enrolled in a little-known nonprofit, the Ingenuity Project. The project spends $1 million a year to encourage middle and high school students in Baltimore City public schools to excel in science.

"We're one of the best-kept secrets in the city," says Karen Footner, Ingenuity's spokesperson.
 
Footner, an educational consultant, says the project dates to 1993 when educators and advocates of the city school system asked why Baltimore had never had a winner in the Intel Science Talent Search, the nation’s oldest and best known youth science competition.
 
Acceptance into the project is competitive, based on school grades and multiple tests. Students apply in 5^th and 8^th grades. The project is held at three middle schools (Roland Park, Hamilton and Mount Royal) and one high school (Baltimore Polytechnic Institute).  If accepted into the project, students have to request to attend those schools.
 
“The money is spent mainly for teachers for accelerated math and science classes,” says Footner, noting that 80 percent of the funding comes from the Abell Foundation and Baltimore City Public Schools.
 
There are currently 486 students in the program, split evenly boys and girls and of whom half are African-Americans.
 
Since 2005, seven Ingenuity students have been semifinalists, and three have been among the top ten winners nationally in the Intel Science Talent Search. “For Baltimore City kids, that’s extraordinary,” Footner says.
 
The Ingenuity Project will host a fundraiser April 17 at the Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park Museum, featuring  science writer Flora Lichtman.
 
Source: Karen Footner, educational consultant
Writer: Barbara Pash

They thrilled you at the Olympics. You loved them at the World Figure Skating Championships. Now, ice skating is coming closer to home.

Young ice skaters can take their talent to the Next Ice Age, a Baltimore-based ice skating company that last month formed an apprentice company.
 
Tim Murphy, co-founder with Nathan Birch of The Next Ice Age, says the apprentice company, for ages 8 to 12 years old, will train and work with aspiring young skaters in the region.
 
The apprentice company will give its debut performance Sat. April 7 at 6 p.m. at Gardens Ice House, at 13800 Old Gunpowder Rd. in Laurel. The performance is free and open to the public.
 
Murphy and Birch, both former members of the John Curry Skating Co. who have worked with Dorothy Hamill, founded the Next Ice Age in 1988. It is a five-member professional company that performs for 10 weeks per year at the Carousel Hotel in Ocean City and venues like at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and the Columbia Festival for the Arts, in Howard County.
 
Murphy says that two years ago, The Next Ice Age decided to open an educational arm by founding the student company, for high school age skaters. The apprentice company followed in 2012.
 
“We can train the students the way we’d like, with the music and choreography, in the hopes of their moving on to the professional company,” says Murphy.
 
Entry into the 12-member student company and 10-member apprentice company is by invitation only. “We teach ice skating so we know the students in the area,” says Murphy.
 
The companies practice at the Gardens Ice House, in Laurel, although members come from throughout the area, including Baltimore City and Baltimore County.
 
“The Next Ice Age is the resident company at the ice house,” says Murphy. “It’s their first residency. We have to go where the ice rinks are.”
 
Source: Tim Murphy, The Next Ice Age
Writer: Barbara Pash

The man who won a Nobel Prize for developing a break-through in how scientists study cells will be the featured speaker at a Baltimore event that looks at the future of biomedical research.
 
Dr. Martin Chalfie will speak at the University of Maryland Baltimore County’s 15^th annual Life Science Symposium , which is free and open to the public. Dr. Chalfie will talk about the work that won him Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2008.
 
The event will be held Wed. April 18, from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the UMBC Ballroom, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore.
 
Over the years, the symposium has had a wide range of topics and speakers, but the theme is always cutting-edge research, says Caroline Baker, UMBC director of corporate relations and acting director of the career services center.
 
“It’s an opportunity for us to bring world-class scientists to this region,” Baker says of an event that generally attracts 200 people, among them science educators, healthcare professionals, biotechnology business leaders and members of the state’s bioscience community.
 
Besides Chalfie, who is a professor of biological sciences at Columbia University, the other featured speaker is Dr. Charles Bieberich, UMBC professor of biological sciences, who will talk about understanding the mechanisms and developing therapeutics for prostate disease.
 
Before the talks, there will be a faculty session in which UMBC faculty members doing life science research will talk about their work and recent discoveries.
 
“The goal is to create an opportunity for life science educators, biotech executives and scientists to come together and learn about exciting research, and to network and talk about their ideas,” says Baker.
 
Source: Caroline Baker, University of Maryland, Baltimore County director of corporate relations and acting director of the career services center
Writer: Barbara Pash

Wine lovers can now taste a new local label on the market.

Open Door Cellars is offering three varietals -- chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon and merlot. And the wines come in a box, not a bottle. The wines are being made at a winery in California under the supervision of Michael Fishman, a wine connoisseur and company co-founder with Greg Rochlin.
 
“We are starting distribution in Maryland, Delaware and Washington, D.C. We intend to make it a national brand. As we grow, we will take office space,” says Fishman who, with Rochlin, also co-owns Quarry Wine & Spirits.
 
Prestige Beverage Group is distributing the wines in liquor stores, wine shops and restaurants. They come in bag-the-box packaging that, Fishman says, preserves freshness longer after opening than a bottle. It's also more eco-friendly, the business owners say, yielding 85 percent less packaging compared with bottled wines. 
 
The boxes are available in two sizes: 3-liter (equivalent to 4 bottles), priced in the mid-$30s, and 1.5-liter (two bottles), in the low $20. The price is the same for all the varietals.
 
Fishman says they started Open Door Cellars in response to a need they saw in the market for such wines in the convenience and affordability of bag-in-the-box packaging.
 
“There are other bag-in-the-box competitors but not as this price point,” he says. “Our goal is to provide broadly distributed, high-quality wines.”
 
Fishman declined to provide financial figures for Open Door Cellars. The privately-held company has hired one full-time employee, a sales representative, and two part-time employees, to conduct in-store wine tastings. He expects to hire more employees as the company grows.
 
 
Source: Michael Fishman, Open Door Cellars
Writer: Barbara Pash