Category Archives: Uncategorized

And They’re Off! UFAR 5k on October 6

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It is such a pleasant path for a 5k run (or, in my case, a 5k walk)! Starting at the seminary, downhill past Springdale Golf Course, along the shaded trail through part of the fabled Institute Woods, where Einstein strolled, past the Institute for Advanced Study, then threading your way through the sycamore-lined streets of some of Princeton’s most impressive homes — and uphill (alas) to the seminary’s wide expansive lawn where cheering crowds await. Even for those who walk — and take an hour to get there — some are there to cheer and record the time. The three fastest runners, male and female, get prizes — and everyone gets a fabulous T-shirt. 

And it’s all for a good cause — to combat riverblindness.  The annual UFAR 5k to Combat Riverblindness is Saturday, October 6. The starting gun goes off at 10 a.m. Those who register now qualify for a discount, $20 instead of $25. Go online to http://www.riverblindness.org

Just by running, you will keep 12 people from going blind in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The medicine for riverblindness is provided free by Merck & Co., but distributing it to remote villages costs 58 cents per person per year for 10 years.  One-third of the 60 million people in the DRC are at risk for getting riverblindness, which starts with a rash and leads to sight loss, forcing children to leave school to care for parents.us


If you are not the running or walking type, or if you just want to help a good cause, please consider volunteering – handing out water (you get to set up your table in a shady spot) or marking the trail or ….lots of ways to help. Mark your calendar for October 6 and call Princeton United Methodist Church at 609-924-2613 or email office@princetonumc.org.  

Engineers, Ice Cream, and Art

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The Princeton University Engi­neer­ing School is host­ing an ice cream social  on Tuesday, August 21 at 4 p.m. to show­case Pro­fes­sor Michael Littman’s dis­play of iconic (and beau­ti­ful) engi­neer­ing objects from the early 20th cen­tury. Thanks to Ed Sproles for telling me about it! 

Littman, a pro­fes­sor of mechan­i­cal and aero­space engi­neer­ing, will give a short talk and demon­stra­tion of early tele­phones, radios, phono­graphs, and a player piano — all work­ing devices. The event will take place in the Friend Cen­ter Atrium and is free and open to the public. The Friend Center is on Olden Avenue between Nassau and Prospect. 


Littman’s dis­play cases are across the hall from Princeton’s Art of Science exhibit (image shown at left is Tropical Fish by Yunlai Zha, taken from Curator magazine.. View all the Art of Science entries here. Both exhibits are located in the Friend Cen­ter for Engi­neer­ing Edu­ca­tion, which is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mon­day through Friday.

Another free afternoon event, the McCarter Theater annual block party, is Wednesday, August 22, 5 to 8 p.m. You’ll  hear the Philadelphia Jazz Orchestra and you can buy a taste test of the best food in town including Tenneseee barbecue by my friends from Blue Diamond Que. Raindate, Thursday, August 23

Parking suggestion: if the dinky lot is full, the seminary lot or the Princeton University garage. The barbecue sauce and the Italian ices are fabulous, but wear something that doesn’t show drips! 

Sikh Candlelight Vigil

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A Sikh friend — an entrepreneur whom I met at Einstein’s Alley Entrepreneurs Group — sent me a notice that his community is holding an interfaith candlelight vigil on Wednesday, August 8.  The vigil is, of course, in response to the terrible massacre at the Sikh Gurdwara in Oak Creek, Michigan. There, also, people are reaching out to support each other. 

The Sikh congregation here, Sikh Sabha, has a 5,000 square foot facility at 282 Bakers Basin Road, just off Franklin Corner Road. Its  evening program will be as follows:

7PM to 8PM – Religious Service
8PM to 8:30PM – Tributes by:
• Lawrence Twp Mayor Jim Kownacki
• NJ Assemblyman – Daniel R. Benson
• Community Member – Jaspreet Singh
8:30PM – 9:15PM – Candlelight vigil
9:15PM – Langar (community kitchen)

Equality is an important tenet of the Sikh faith, which believes that those of all races, religions, and genders are equal in the eyes of God. And yes, that means that in this Eastern religion, men and women share equally, as well as rich and poor. At the Langar, the free community meal, rich and poor sit together and eat as equals. The Langar meal is an important part of the Sunday worship as well. 

An tenet of the Sikh faith that we can all strive for: “unity within diversity.” Amen. 

Dancing Heritage

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Do any dance aficionados remember Gregory Hines speaking at the then Trenton State College in the early ’80s? He was so eloquent, so gracious, and I’ll never forget how he urged everyone to dance with their small children ‘so they get your rhythm.’

I was reminded of that when I saw the essay on Hines in the new online exhibition, launched by the Dance Heritage Coalition (DHC) of America’s Irreplaceable Dance Treasures: The First 100. It features newly commissioned essays, bibliographies and research resources, and curated visual materials. What a great resource! Thanks to the National Endowment For the Arts for this.

How to help your child get your rhythm? Let them stand on your feet — and then dance. My children’s feet were as big as mine when I learned that tip, way too heavy to be standing on me, but it’s not too late for my grandchildren — and perhaps yours.

Professional Speaker? Slam Dunk

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It’s always a plus when you get to hear a professional speech coach — the teacher who trains the rest of us how to do public speaking. It’s an even bigger plus when she’s giving out tips.

Eileen Sinett, speech coach and author of Speaking That Connects, will speak at the Princeton Regional Chamber breakfast on Wednesday, July 18, 7:30 p.m., at the Nassau Club. Her topic: “Body Language and Beyond: How to effectively communicate to groups.”
This is one chamber event that I’m sure to attend, in part because I’ve participated in other Sinett sessions that have been super helpful. When it comes to deciding where to be on Wednesday, it’s a slam dunk.
Perhaps I’ll see you there!

Help Make Sculptures Dance

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At Grounds for Sculpture, renowned sculptor Gyuri Hollosy will make three life-size sculptures; each sculpture involves two figures that are intertwined, dancing through space.  


“Each figure will have its own emotional persona but when they are intertwined they will create intimate and dynamic relationships within the art of their dance — demonstrating how dance inspires art and art inspires dance.”


Help make this happen by contributing to Hollosy’s Kickstart project. 

Digital Danger and Speaker Success

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Jeff Bedser, CEO of Princeton Internet Crimes Group (left), and his cohorts function as Web Gumshoes, finding Internet-based threats and recovering money. Bedser will speak at the Princeton Regional Chamber lunch on Thursday, July 12, at 11:30 a.m. at the Princeton Marriott. (Usually held on first Thursdays, this lunch was postponed because of the July 4th holiday). 
Eileen Sinett will tell of another kind of danger — the unconscious mistakes  you might make when you pitch a sale, introduce a colleague, or make a short speech. An author, consultant, and keynoter, she speaks at the Princeton Regional Chamber breakfast on Wednesday, July 18, at 7:30 a.m. at the Nassau Club. She will sign copies of her book, Speaking That Connects. 


And keep the environment safe by remembering to bring your hazardous stuff (monitors, TVs, old batteries, chemicals) to the Obnoxious Stuff Collection Day  on Saturday, July 14. (OK, it’s really Household Hazardous Waste and Used Electronics Collection, but you get it). If you invite your neighbors to load up their car with their stuff, they might shovel your driveway next winter. The last time I went, the line was minimal — I shot right through. 

Cornerstone Community Kitchen on the Fourth

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ON THE 4th: Chris Cox (left, a member of PUMC) and David Perkins (volunteer,
works at Princeton Plasma Physics Lab) helped serve 72 hot dogs with
all the fixings — beans, watermelon, and apple, grilled on the lawn.

Every Wednesday at 5, the Cornerstone Community Kitchen welcomes all to a free community meal, served at tables. The nutritious hot meals — cooked by TASK — have included roast chicken or chili and rice. On the Fourth of July, the meal was extra special — hot dogs with all the trimmings, grilled on the lawn, complete with Sousa marches from a boom box.  Who came? Some regulars — families, couples, and singles — some new people who heard about it from friends, some who were simply walking by on Nassau Street and accepted the invitation. What a great way to celebrate the Fourth! 

A Gutierrez ‘Good Turn’

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Hospitality requires more than a cheery smile. Even the signs matter, when it comes to welcoming a stranger. That was my church’s problem. To the 100-year-old sanctuary (at the corner of Nassau and Vandeventer) we added a two-story education wing (accessible from the Park Place lot). It can be daunting to get from the parking lot to the pew – or to any of the other rooms used by a myriad of community groups.

A chance encounter at a Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce event helped us find a solution. As part of the Midsummer Madness event in Palmer Squarewe had a Princeton United Methodist Church table. (It was fun!) At the end of the day, we chanced upon  Raul Gutierrez, who helped us carry our exhibits to the car.  
We got to talking about signs with Raul and his wife Claire. They had recently left the ‘big ad company’ scene to open their own shop, and Raul just happens to be a big-time wayfinding expert. Wayfinding is the technical term for ‘making signs,’ and he had recently redone the signs for the Philadelphia Airport. 
(Raul is the subject of an article in U.S. 1 Newspaper this week because he co-chairs the Plainsboro Business Partnership. As part of the Princeton Regional Chamber, the PBP is staging a free (to those attending) summer event (like the Palmer Square one) but in Plainsboro’s Fountain Park(Market Square). It’s Tuesday, June 12, 5 to 8 p.m.)

So at the Palmer Square event — Raul graciously volunteered his expertise with our ‘wayfinding dilemma.’ True to his word, he and Claire showed up with a clipboard ready to go. We began at the Park Placeentrance and worked our way through every nook and cranny while they took reams of notes. The result: a professional ‘wayfinding’ plan, showing where to put each sign and what it should say.

(In the photo on left Raul takes a picture to show where a sign should be posted for one of two wheelchair entrances.)

The Gutierrez’s pro bono efforts have made a huge difference in our ability to offer hospitality. To complete the plan, we need to commission and get permanent signs. The signs are only temporary. But, at least, the arrows now go to the right places. Thank you, Raul and Claire! This was a good example of one chamber member helping another.
P.S. The newest sign at PUMC is on the front lawn — a big banner for the Princeton Cornerstone Community Kitchen, a weekly-on-Wednesdays meal from 5 to 6:30 p.m., free to the community in an effort to build community. We’re partnering with TASK (also a chamber member) for this and had a great turnout for the first meal yesterday. Help us spread the word!

Privilege at Princeton

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If you’re looking for entrepreneurial tips, gleaned from the Princeton Entrepreneurs Network 16thannual reunions meeting today, look elsewhere. This is a riff on privilege.

The setting: PEN is a loose network of successful Princeton alums in various cities, and for reunions it planned an excellent day-long program in the e-quad’s Friend Center. Following a keynote from a successful entrepreneur were useful workshops, a lunch panel of other successful entrepreneurs, and an afternoon of biz pitches followed by the awards. I stayed through lunch and went back for wrapup. 
The University in general exudes “privilege” and especially in this setting.
“Everybody has a rich aunt or uncle” said Mayra Ceja (Tiger Cub Advisors) in her workshop “Pitch Clinic: Stop Pitching and Moaning and Start Converting Investors.” It was a casually dropped comment, and she was trying to prove the point that you shouldn’t ask for outside money until you had some skin in the game, and that you should approach friends and family before you asked outsiders to invest. But — 
In the general population of entrepreneurs not everyone does have a rich aunt.
“My father started a business at the same time I did,” said Ben Lerer, the engagingly modest founder of Thrillist.com, an ecommerce supplier and trend tracker for men and a venture capitalist with Lerer Ventures (photo above). Lerer, a self-labeled slacker who got through Wharton with B minuses, had a great idea: e-commerce for young men. (Young men’s magazines set trends but didn’t have local or timely action opportunities, and city magazines were actionable but not geared for the post college market.) Starting in 2005 he built the business from the ground up and revenues went from $3 million to $15 million in the past two years.
Upon questioning, it turns out his father partnered with Ariana Huffington to cofound the Huffington Post. Previously his father had built a successful corporate communications business that he sold (presumably to Time Warner because he ended up as EVP of AOL Time Warner). Surely the first $250,000 for Thrillist was not hard to come by.
In the general population of entrepreneurs not everyone’s father is a wealthy communications guru.
For example, the man who sat in front of me, a Princeton entrepreneur, has been building his company for 17 years. He agreed that the label “privilege” applies not just to money but also to advantages with contacts, expertise, dinner table conversation, and networking.
“My father was a jeweler,” he said. “He had no background in business.” Versus — what better background to lift a social media/ecommerce business off the ground than to be related to an executive at the Huffington Post? 
I’m not saying that privileged offspring don’t earn what they get. Goodness knows I know silver-spooned kids who loaf their lives away. I like Ben Lerer. He’s a cool guy with a cool business and savvy as well.

But as I was packing up, I checked my Twitter feed for #princetonreunions and what I saw stopped me cold. From a female black alumna: “So how come within first 30 minutes of my 35th, 2 women thought I was the ‘help.’”

In the general population of Princeton and Princeton University, not everyone acknowledges their inbred racism.
I do think we are all trying to do our best. I do think those careless women felt terrible about their gaffe. And just because someone comes from a background of privilege doesn’t discount their hard work and what they can accomplish with what they have.
Lerer said that when his father sold his second business, he (the son) realized that in his effort to make money he wasn’t appreciating the day-to-day. “It’s not about the light at the end of the tunnel, it’s about the tunnel.” That’s an inspiring thought. 
to be continued.