Better than you ever did: Friday has arrived, intrepid innovator, and you’re still standing … well done!
To properly commemorate this monumental achievement, please welcome Sir Elton Hercules John!
Flame broiled: A good day to fire up some kitchen creativity.
You and media: Now that your toes are tapping, we can begin our week-ending Oct. 20 innovation review – starting with Community Media Day, when disparate voices unite to champion free speech and accessible media for all (yes, even them).
That pairs nicely with the National Day on Writing, a National Council of Teachers of English pep rally for those intimidated by the blank page. (Two cents’ worth of advice: Just start writing, baby … it’ll come.)
Kitchen aid: Speaking of pairing nicely, make sure you select the right wine for International Chefs Day, a smorgasbord of creativity, sustainability, nutrition and future-chef inspiration perfectly seasoned every Oct. 20.
We have a deal: Also going well together were the then-17 U.S. states and the vast territories included in the Louisiana Purchase, which basically doubled the physical size of the nation and was ratified by the U.S. Senate on this date in 1803.
Come mister tally man: Also increasing volume (not of acreage, but of radios and also stacked bananas) was Calypso sensation Harry Belafonte, who recorded his signature tune “Banana Boat” (a.k.a. “Day-O”) 68 years ago today.
With a paddle: Hannes Lindemann arrives in Antigua.
Row, row, row, row, row, row, row, row, row … your boat: Also invoking boats (and likely eager to go home) was German physician Hannes Lindemann, who jumped in a 17-foot kayak and pushed off from the Canary Islands on this date in 1956, determined to cross the Atlantic Ocean solo. (He made it, barely, and for the record he used a sail).
A night at the opera: Still sailing along is the Sydney Opera House, which opened to the public on Oct. 20, 1973.
Pryor awardee: And it was this date in 1998 when the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor became a thing, with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts awarding the inaugural honor to comedian Richard Pryor.
In top form, Pryor quipped that it was “nice to be regarded on par with a great white man” – but expressed pride in the fact that, “like Mark Twain, I have been able to use humor to lessen people’s hatred.”
Jimmy neutron: English physicist Sir James Chadwick (1891-1974) – who earned a Nobel Prize for discovering the neutron and did the legwork that inspired the U.S. atomic bomb program – would be 132 years old today.
The Mick: Nobody swung it sweeter.
Also born on Oct. 20 were English polymath Christopher Wren (1632-1723), a pre-eminent 17th Century architect, inventor and man of many other talents; Hungarian American actor Bela Lugosi (born Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó, 1882-1956), who breathed life into (or sucked it out of) Dracula and other classic movie monsters; American baseball icon Mickey Mantle (1931-1995), whose childhood home in Oklahoma is now up for fractional ownership; Grammy-winning American musician Tom Petty (1950-2017), who fronted the Heartbreakers before breaking our hearts; and 49th Vice President of the United States Kamala Devi Harris (born 1964), the first woman, African American and Asian American to hold the office.
Happy birthday, pretty boy: And take a bow, Keith Barlow Hernandez! The 1979 National League co-MVP, world champion New York Met and famous actor turns 70 today.
Give Mex your best at editor@innovateli.com, where we’re off-base without your news tips – and your calendar events are always a hit.
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BUT FIRST, THIS
Have a NICE weekend: An in-demand on-demand rideshare program incorporating minibuses and flexible schedules is adding additional Saturday services in Nassau County.
Nassau Inter-County Express, the county’s official public transportation agency, is adding an extra day to the popular rideshare program NICE-Mini, which was introduced in the Summer of 2022 as a weekday-only service (8 a.m. to 8 p.m.) between Merrick and Lynbrook. Starting Saturday, riders will also be able to reserve rides (by phone or mobile app) to and from stops along the route between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. Saturdays, with one-way fares running $2.90.
Instead of making all stops on a set daily schedule, the NICE-Mini buses make by-reservation-only pickups and drop-offs along the way – a direct response to corporate ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft, according to NICE Bus CEO Jack Khzouz. “With the rising popularity of private ride services, NICE is looking to provide a similar level of flexible, convenient service at an affordable rate,” Khzouz added. “NICE-Mini has been well-received along the South Shore.”
Howie Schneider: News literate.
Read (and write) all about it: Several visiting professors will lend their expertise to a Nassau Community College series designed to improve K-12 instruction of reading and writing.
The Long Island Writing Project at Nassau Community College is readying its Fall 2023 Interactive Workshop Series, designed to help teachers from Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk improve their reading- and writing-instruction skills. Featuring in-person and virtual discussions, the series will highlight common themes and conflicts in modern literature with the help of three expert lecturers, including Howard Schneider, founding dean of Stony Brook University’s School of Communication and Journalism, who’s slated to preside over the opening virtual workshop Oct. 26.
Columbia University Teachers College Professor of English Education Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz and Central Michigan University English and Education Professor Troy Hicks will also step up, with virtual seminars covering racial literacy and reading/writing in the AI age. “The Fall 2023 event series … includes discussions with prominent speakers on today’s most relevant topics,” noted LIWP Director and NCC English Professor Darshna Katwala. “We believe that good education starts with effective teachers.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Throttle down: Slow down, Long Island boater! According to an important new study, there’s a good chance you’re going to kill a critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.
Listen up: Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast is the only podcast series – ever – to feature the father of bioelectronics, the mother of all cops, the guru of Long Island energy, the czar of Long Island commercialization and a former starting forward from your New York Knicks. (Missed one? No worries, they’re all right here).
ICYMI
Top Long Island economic-development organizations have assembled a five-point strategy to build a dynamic Long Island workforce, ready for today and tomorrow.
BEST OF THE WEST (AND SOMETIMES NORTH/SOUTH)
Innovate LI’s inbox overrunneth with inspirational innovations from all North American corners. This week’s brightest out-of-towners:
From California: San Francisco-based superior smartwatch startup Kieslect “enhances the human experience” with the dual-core, triple-speed Kieslect Ks2.
From Florida: Doral-based point-of-sale solutions provider On the Fly POS brings full order-placement functionality to personal devices with cutting-edge mobile app.
From Tennessee: Knoxville-based faith-based software-as-a-service provider Ministry Brands puts its faith in new donation-processing technology.
ON THE MOVE
Susan Hedayati
+ Susan Hedayati has been appointed vice dean for research at Stony Brook University’s Renaissance School of Medicine. She was associate vice chairwoman for research and faculty development and director of nephrology clinical, translational and population health research at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
+ Paule Pachter has been appointed to Manhattan-based WNET Group’s THIRTEEN/WLIW Community Advisory Board. He is president and chief executive officer of Hauppauge-based Long Island Cares.
+ Mike Greve has been hired as vice president/strategy and insights at Hauppauge-based Austin Williams. He was data strategy director at Grey Group in Manhattan.
+ Kristen Bashen has been hired as an environmental associate at the Group for the East End in Southold. She was previously an intern.
+ Garden City-based Adelphi University has appointed five new members to its President’s Advisory Council:
- June Griffith Collison, president of Dignity Health Community Hospital in San Bernardino, Calif.
- Renu Dalessandro, chief marketing officer at Jovia Financial Credit Union in Westbury
- Robert Kavner, lead director of Heliogen in Pasadena, Calif.
- Peter Principato, CEO of Artists First in Los Angeles
- Michael Sammis, retired chief executive officer, COO and CFO of Universal Music Publishing Group in Santa Monica, Calif.
Like this newsletter? Innovate Long Island newsletter, website and podcast sponsorships are a prime opportunity to reach the inventors, investors, entrepreneurs and executives you need to know (just ask Nixon Peabody). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Poly Want A Cracker Edition)
Know it all: So, you think you’re a polymath.
Did you say “polymath” back there? Yes … but what is that, exactly?
So many emergencies, so little time: Welcome to the latest global polycrisis, maybe.
Quantumania: Upstate Rensselaer Polytechnic is the world’s first college with its own quantum computer.
Poly and bark: Please continue supporting the amazing firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Nixon Peabody, where unparalleled legal sophistication and strong legal language always make the best case for private and corporate clients. Check them out.
