What do LA Freeways and the Lewis and Clark Expedition have in Common? Why do Science and Numbers Matter?

By Robert Orr, Master of Coworking New Haven @ The Bourse

On Los Angeles freeways as in the far reaches of the Louisiana Purchase “explorers” are quickly daunted by a sense that there’s no discernible order. All pathways and landmarks defy logic or categorization. But Angelenos and Lewis and Clark prescribe order from chaos through the use of numbers. For Angelenos it’s Freeway numbers, for Lewis and Clark it’s longitudes, latitudes, and temperatures.

But these numbers are not so much scientific determinants as they are circumscribing nomenclature. Just as aboriginals develop complex naming systems to organize the complexities of nature within their imaginations, as documented by Claude Lévi-Strauss in his The Savage Mind, the mapping numbers of freeways and river routes render instant visualization nomenclature … Read More »

The Puzzle of Journalism in the Age of Apps and Digital Screens

By Josh Allen, Contributor @ The Bourse – New Haven Coworking Loft

In our age of “Breaking News” about celebrities and a stream of second by second tweets about our world’s tragedies (one of which is perhaps 99% of the content of those tweets), quality longform journalism is becoming increasingly difficult to find. Stories such as “Falling Man” by Tom Junod, stand out and linger in your memory past all the white noise around us. Real, lasting stories, written by some of the most talented journalists give us a full-bodied, richly textured understanding of our world, so very far beyond what we gain from the major “news” websites, TV stations, and local papers. Increasingly our news sources are becoming “streamlined” and “optimized” for digital screens of every shape and size. As … Read More »

Coworking = Less Bills = Happy You
Rapid Growth For Your Business is at The Bourse, New Haven’s Coworking Loft

By Robert Orr, Master of Coworking New Haven @ The Bourse

These days, where can you find office space where you never have to worry about all those hidden charges on top of “rent” that crash any business plan. You know, all the bills for electric, heat, janitorial services, coffee (and all the related refrigerators, sinks, grinders, espresso machines, stocking coffee/tea varieties, microwaves, etc.), common area management (CAM) fees, building insurance, faxing/data plan, wireless services, printing, toilet paper, staples, rubber bands, etc., etc., etc. They never seem to stop. All month. Every month. All year. And how about the responsibility of finishing a term lease if business heads south, not to mention the hefty deposit up front?

Going it alone can be risky AND expensive!

Wouldn’t … Read More »

The key to finding jobs in New Haven, CT or anywhere else: Stay Positive

by Josh Allen

As a “professional” job-seeker for the past six months, with three months looking for jobs in New Haven, Connecticut, here’s what I’ve done:

Filled out hundreds of Taleo online applications.
Sent countless e-mails with my resume and cover letter to everyone and everywhere I can think of.
Received a reply perhaps 1/30 times. That’s probably optimistic.
Interviewed somewhere between 10-20 times, to receive the following response: “At this company we deeply value our applicants. Nonetheless, we couldn’t really care enough to actually tell you anything of use, and decided to send you a generic rejection e-mail instead. But trust us, we really value your time and energy.”

That’s dismal. It’s discouraging. Which is why staying positive on the job search will give you the edge, and the necessary energy to … Read More »

In-Person Feedback.

One of the best reasons for working in a shared workspace like The Bourse Coworking is the face-to-face interchange that’s available. With people from compatible industries in your midst, it’s easy to run ideas past someone with a completely different outlook. That way your ideas find opportunity to evolve in ways you never imagine. Here’s a piece by Jack Templin, a founder and partner of Betaspring, on how to get the most from in-person feedback.

Tips for Entrepreneurs on Maximizing In-person Feedback

Soliciting and receiving in-person feedback is one of the most valuable skills an entrepreneur can develop. Compared to other types of feedback — reviewing your analytics, participating in forums, receiving feedback via email, etc — in-person feedback is, or should be, the most intimate and most valuable feedback you can get. In-person feedback is real-time, face-to-face, information-rich and highly personal.

As a Betaspring Partner, … Read More »

Effective Titles. Coworking depends quite a bit on social media. After all, the main tools you bring to a shared workspace are your cell phone and your laptop. To reach your audience, you have to develop skills at effective social media marketing. At The Bourse, New Haven’s Corking Loft, we understand this need, and offer linda.com lunch workshop courses, as well as Skillshare classes. Alternatively, perhaps you would like to teach such a class –– please contact us about setting something up. Here’re some interesting tips from Kevin Lau reposted from his blog, Kevin K. Lau.

Three Simple Tips to Making Effective Titles for your Social Media Marketing Campaign
by Kevin Lau

Content writing is one of the most tried and tested ways to succeed in getting the word out on your social media marketing campaign. It does not matter whether … Read More »

In Relationships I Might just be the Perfect Hipster Repellent

by Simone

Ever since I wrote this post, I’ve been mulling over the issue of male/female relationships in this town. It’s been a few months and although I no longer feel like I’m emitting a “don’t fucking touch me” vibe, it still seems like flirtation is non-existent in New Haven. I’m not ready to for a relationship with anyone but I wouldn’t mind if a guy passed me on the street and smiled at me. I might actually smile back.

When I’m in Toronto, there never seems to be a shortage of male attention. I regularly get hit on by a colorful collection of characters that include sketchy single dads, teen thugs, Greek guys over the age of 75, nerdy awkward collegiate types, and the criminally insane. With that said, the one kind of guy … Read More »

How Kids (NextGen) Are Remaking Our Consumer Behavior
reposted from Co.Design, by Susan Fabry

INNOVATION ENGINE

PERHAPS MORE THAN AT ANY OTHER TIME, THE ADULTS OF TOMORROW ARE DETERMINING OUR TODAY, WRITES CONTINUUM’S SUSAN FABRY.

Understanding consumer behavior has become a vital component in design today. But there’s one important factor that designers don’t often consider when it comes to behavior change: our children (#nextgen). We tend to believe that it’s us adults who lead by example to pass “good behavior” down to the next generation, but increasingly it’s kids leading the way to promote positive change. Call it “trickle-up” behavior change.

AS TECHNOLOGY SPEEDS UP OUR WORLD, IT’S YOUNGER AND YOUNGER CHILDREN WHO ARE SETTING TRENDS.

As flu season approaches, one particularly visible example of this is the “vampire sneeze.” Only a few years ago, it was common for all of us to cover our … Read More »

Note from The Bourse: As tomorrow’s election approaches, the presidential campaign builds momentum for caustic attack ads, claimed “facts” of suspicious origin and sound bite smoke rings that melt in the gentlest breeze. It’s easy to make the connection between the campaign process and the intransigence of congressional debate down the road. Indeed, the massive isolation American citizens suffer as result of a century of auto-centric policies prevents any kind of constructive debate from entering daily routine, to be any part of our current American culture. However, new life currently breathing into our long decayed cites might offer recipes to end the madness and rekindle the conversation of true democracy.

The Democracy of Urbanism
By Robert Orr

Stepping through Updike’s magnificent portals at the Connecticut State Capitol into the open air of Hartford recently, I turned to my colleague, a Hartford native, and … Read More »

Barry Levinson Explores iPhone Fimmaking, Environmental Disaster in “The Bay”
REPOSTED FROM CO.CREATE BY: KRISTIN HOHENADEL

The famed director of “Rain Man” decentralized the gear and process for his environmental horror, “The Bay,” gathering found footage from iPhones, webcams and actors.

Oscar winner Barry Levinson has made hit films spanning many decades, from Diner to Rain Man. But his latest, The Bay, a faux documentary cum eco-horror movie about flesh-eating isopods in the Chesapeake Bay, is a stylistic departure in which the 70-year-old director used more than 20 consumer-grade cameras to create “found” footage from iPhones, Androids, 911 calls, web cams and more to piece together the fictional story of a nightmarish 24 hours in the otherwise quaint seaside town of Claridge, Maryland.

“You’re working with a different set of tools than you normally work with,” Levinson said recently in an interview at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. “It’s … Read More »