Just Mesa’n around…

You might have noticed that there is a lot of talk these days around design and San Diego being a “Smart City.” UC San Diego has partnered with the City in the newly created MetroLab Network, brainchild of President Obama. Some challenges this new collaborative group hopes to tackle are traffic, parking, and infrastructure. This will be a great bridge between our leading university and civic leaders. Meetings roll out next week with events in downtown and on the Mesa. Cleantech San Diego will keep the conversation flowin’ with “Smart Cities San Diego: How Smart Are We?” on May 18. Then the Design Lab hosts their inaugural Design Forward event at Broadway Pier on June 16. See what’s going on here? This is why I keep saying we are proving the power of collaboration. There are plenty of ways for your ideas to be heard. Come be a part of history by helping design our city’s future.

Upcoming events (I’ll be at the fun table…)

• Filmatic Festival 2016: The Art of Science and Cinema
  Check out “Food for Thought” section below for more info on this event!
  May 7, Qualcomm Institute, UC San Diego
• Opening Night of Hollywood
  Grab your fur coat and head to opening night of Hollywood at the La Jolla Playhouse. This world-premiere play is based on the real life murder of famed director William Desmond Taylor and the drama surrounding the unsolved case. Set in 1922, it is sure to have fabulous costumes. Damn, I was born in the wrong era. Reports of “love triangles, hush money, and deception.” Just another day on the modern Mesa if you ask me. Hollywood is a “noir thriller set in the Golden Age of movies by Tony Award winner Joe DiPietro.” FUN! Let’s all get dolled up like the old movie stars, darlings.
  May 10, 7:30 p.m., La Jolla Playhouse
• MIT Enterprise Forum: Investor Dating Game
  If there is one networking event where you are guaranteed a great turnout and conversation, it’s at the MIT Enterprise Forum events. These people stick around late at night for some serious business chats. And they might know how to party, too. Next Wednesday they bring back their super fun Dating Game format. Date with a venture capitalist? Yes, please. This time they’ve got Mike Krenn, President of San Diego Venture Group, leading the show. Our eligible investors? Eric Gasser, VP of Hi-Tech Screening, Tech Coast Angels Board Member, and Co-Founder of Seed San Diego. And Jay Kunin, Strategic Consulting, Health Technologies, Angel Investor, and Entrepreneurship Educator/University Lecturer.
  May 11, 5-8:30 p.m., Sanford Consortium, UC San Diego
• Save that Date!
  Innovation Night with Jay Flatley
  May 17, La Jolla Playhouse

Food for thought…

Anyone else notice what’s going on these days on Facebook? We hop on to check out a friend’s status and all we get is the latest video they shared. And, you watch one video on Facebook and now it automatically has another teed up for you to enjoy. Pandora’s box just got a whole lot bigger. But what does this new trend of constantly posting inspirational, informative, hilarious, and sometimes rather absurd videos really mean?

I think it means that the people are taking back the power. That they are determining what stories they want to watch and share. They are determining what they think to be newsworthy and ultimately worthy of their friends’ time. And if you start to take stock, it seems to me the stories of triumph and inspiration are outweighing those of tragedy, stupidity, and our embarrassing political circus act.

Others agree that there is a definite shift in the way people are using video. This Saturday’s Filmatic Festival hosted by UC San Diego’s ArtPower will tackle this new form of self-expression. The thought behind the festival raises the point, “With declining movie theater attendance, individuals instead are watching and creating movies on their smartphones and tablets as a solitary act. Yet this same technology also allows us to share content, and connect with others, at any time and anywhere.” This festival will explore the “ever-evolving ways in which we are consuming and creating media, and to celebrate what movies are to become and our experiences of these new forms.”

It will be very interesting to check out how filmmaking has evolved. The festival invites visitors to experience the “excitement of merging traditional cinematic storytelling with the latest digital technologies and science.” Ah! That magic buzzword: storytelling. Whether you are an artist, activist, small business owner, or large corporation, you better know how to tell your story. I’ve had fun on a new project telling mine. Do believe the hype.

Tags: Blogs, Life on the Mesa