Thoughts on The CCTC Annual Meeting

It was an interesting evening attending my first Cape Cod Organizational Meeting/Dinner to kick off 2007. After some debate, I decided to attend the Cape Cod Technology Council’s Annual Dinner, which was help at the Ocean Edge Resort in Brewster, MA. As a quick aside, if you are ever on the lower cape and get the opportunity to go to the resort, I highly recommend it. The pictures located in their photo gallery do not really do the resort justice for it’s beauty both outdoors and indoors. The CCTC event featured Director of MIT Media Lab, Frank Moss, as well as several key business announcements for the group, including changes of board members and officers (usual group stuff). I met a few people at the cocktail reception before the dinner, including Gene Curry, Chair of the CCTC Nominating Committee.

Some quick observations of the dinner:

  • There was a great turnout, with what I would imagine to be nearly 200 people in attendance.
  • The concepts of OpenCape and Unwired Village were much talked about at the meeting, and I’m interested in learning more about the initiative, as well as its impact on technological growth in the region. It’s worth noting that OpenCape is pointing/parking their .org and .com domain names, which can have an adverse effect in relation to search.
  • The main course was good and the soup was excellent.
  • I did get to sit with nine very interesting individuals, and although conversation across the table was fairly difficult, I did get to meet a few key people from the Orleans Chamber, TD Banknorth and a small technology startup.

Thoughts on the Meeting
I thought that everyone up front spoke well and kept the business aspect of the meeting moving briskly. Notables included a light-hearted, “technology-focused”, “Thank you” to exiting Board Members by Clerk David Willard and Board Member Steve Kauffman’s introduction of Frank Moss. Kauffman’s statement, “I’m younger than I look, I’ve just had a hard life”, was fantastic. It was also interesting to learn that Orleans, MA is to be the first wireless network on Cape (and possibly in the area) and that, in coordination with the CCCC, the Cape Cod region had been approved for a $276,000 grant for continued education in technology. It’s these type of accomplishments that make me proud to be a part of the small business community and an example of how we can work to very powerful and long lasting goals.

Frank Moss’s presentation on the innovation and technology of the MIT Media Lab was very interesting and uplifting, as it related to technological innovation. I’m not certain as to how his comments being a “seasonal” cape codder were taken by the die-hard residents, but he definitely made a point to make a connection with the residents of East Orleans (I wish I had a 16 foot whaler to have made the connection myself!). I found Mr. Moss to be a very talented and engaging.

His topic for the evening was how MIT Media Lab was developing technologies and innovations for those that have the strongest needs - the disabled, disadvantaged and disenchanted. Among the technologies he brought were the MIT Biometric Departments advancements in technologies designed to assist those without the use of their limbs through the use of everyday electric-based brain impulses of the body, laptop technologies using a “mesh network” - or network that communicates between it’s own “nodes” for third world countries and a robotic “City Car” - designed to “rethink” the way we currently manufacture and develop automotive systems, by placing the key components - the engine, transmission and suspension - right into the wheels themselves.

His connecting point was that technologies and entrepreneurial develops unique to the Cape should be just that - unique to the Cape - in addition to how we can leverage new industry developments for benefit of our local communities. The people at MIT Media Lab are truly doing some exciting things in the field of technology, designed to help the disadvantaged become a more powerful and capable voice in society. Even if we never succeed in bringing some of these solutions to market (which seems highly unlikely), Mr. Moss and the team at MIT will have done much more in their legacy than just “selling software to fat, white guys”.

Concluding Thoughts
I had an excellent time at the CCTC Annual Dinner and had the opportunity to meet some very interesting and intelligent individuals. I especially appreciate the organizational staff (and Susan Bloom in particular) for being flexible at the last minute in their seating capacity and I look forward to attending additional CCTC events in the future.

Links of Interest:


February 9, 2007 | Filed Under Cape Cod, Small Business, Events | Bookmark this post |

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