Events
Updates @ALISconference
Yesterday I attended the opening session of The Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) in Los Angeles, and I wanted to share some early themes from the convention. Attendance at the conference is back up to 2,500 (similar to 2007), which some attendees see as a sign that optimism has returned to the market…
ULI Women’s Leadership Breakfast
Arrowstreet is co-sponsoring a ULI Women’s Leadership breakfast on Friday, January 25 at 8:00 am with Beacon Communities. The event is complimentary for ULI members and a nominal fee for non-members. We encourage our industry colleagues to attend!
How Play and Humor Help Us Innovate
[Part 2 of a series of posts from ICSC’s RetailGreen conference.]
In a unique presentation at the ICSC RetailGreen conference, Professor Barry Kudrowitz of the University of Minnesota demonstrated “How Play and Humor Help Us Innovate.” My friend and fellow conference committee member Ed Doyle of Target discovered Mr. Kudrowitz at a company team-building retreat and was so impressed that he brought Mr. Kudrowitz to our conference. Now, this presentation was not directly about sustainability or retail development. Instead, it was about “innovation.” It was fantastic! Via a series of hands-on activities, Mr. Kudrowitz led the audience through mind-mapping exercises, word games, and even a game called “the bears and tigers”. The most interesting thing we learned was that more ideas equals better, more creative ideas…
Disrupt and Interrupt: Thoughts from Retail Green
[Part 1 of a series of posts from ICSC’s RetailGreen conference.]
In the first General Session of the ICSC RetailGreen conference in Phoenix last month, I moderated a panel discussion called “Disrupt and Interrupt”. Since it was the beginning of the conference, we wanted to speak broadly about sustainability issues that retail developers encounter when planning projects and business initiatives. The panel consisted of Audi Banny of Estée Lauder, George Caraghiaur of Simon Property Group, Jim Hanna of Starbucks, and Riggs Kubiak of Honest Buildings. Some of my questions were pre-planned, but we had fun taking live questions through an email account and a scrolling twitter-feed which we projected above the stage. It all worked quite well. Audience members kept me well-stocked with comments and questions.
Understanding Charter School Facility Development
Yesterday morning I was part of a fascinating panel discussion on the critical issues associated with the development of charter school facilities. The workshop was sponsored by Build with Purpose, Nonprofit Finance Fund, and Boston Community Capital, who were recently jointly awarded a $3.3 million federal Credit Enhancement grant to support the development of high quality charter school facilities throughout the northeast. The panel featured experts in charter school finance, law, architecture, and real estate development in an interactive discussion about the process of developing new school facilities…
Casino Bowl
It’s not easy coming up with a different theme to Arrowstreet’s annual Bowling Tournament each year, but somehow we continue to do it. This year we took a gamble with the Casino Bowl and decked out Lanes & Games with pillars of casino chips and an inflatable slot machine to set the scene. “Pit manager” Kathie greeted everyone arriving with lucky dice necklaces and casino chips while I as the “pit boss” invited everyone to try their luck playing a game of spin & win…
Designing for Food at the Architecture Boston Expo
I will be a panelist at the Architecture Boston Expo this year for the “Designing for Food” workshop on November 16th at 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM. We look forward to a lively discussion about the challenges and opportunities of planning, designing, and operations for urban agriculture. The workshop abstract is below…
Speaking at ICSC RetailGreen
ICSC’s RetailGreen is the premier annual conference that gathers leaders in sustainability to focus on the retail development industry. Those of us on the programming committee have seen the conference grow, largely due to the interest shown by the developers and retailers in attending, and also because the program content is so strong. Along with highly technical workshops and “big-picture”…
Excel Academy Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
October 3rd was a great day at Excel Academy Charter School’s East Boston campus. I attended their ribbon cutting ceremony to commemorate the completion of the project and, while it was drizzling and dreary outside, the sun was clearly shining in their newly completed addition. Packed full of students, faculty, board members, and public officials, energy and excitement filled the room…
Summer Bowling at Flatbread Pizza
This summer at AST introduced a new weekly tradition of heading over to Sacco’s Bowl Haven for flatbread pizza, socializing, and candlepin bowling. It’s been a great way for the firm to blow off steam and engage in some (healthy) competition. Results this year showed an even spread week to week of close games and high intensity. Competition was fierce;…