Archive for category i-muse
End of The Year Thought 2006
Posted by Albegor in Como, i-muse, Net-Tailor on December 31, 2006
Making a sum of a whole year?
365 days I lived more dangerously than ever? đŻ
Well, a lot of things happened: the turning point on the project now called i-muse thanks to the two guys I put on alert with a simple SMS on last New Yearâs Day, the hard work on the Net-Taylor innovation project for the Sartoria Orefice, the Vespatour, the summer solo-tour on my Vespa around Italy that opened my eyes on the beauties of our country, some books that made me change – not because theyâre miraculous, but because I read them while I was ready to change -, the suffering for a love affairâŚ
All of this while I was still working as a waiter in a local pub whose owner had the kindness to kick me out after an apocalyptic night, with no appeal and as I was the last one who got working there. A rudeness I did forgive but not forgot, since it has been a work which gave me much more than it may appear to whoever looks at it with the eyes of the right-minded. đ
All in all a lot of things that made me grow up. And the more I think about where I am now, the more Iâm sure that nothing could have happened if I hadnât been involved in the project of the Sartoria Orefice, where I found people so kind to confront and work with on an delicate innovation project which is now considered as a case study, a project that made me grow up both professionally and humanly.
As always, itâs a combination of positive factors producing excellence, while a negative one is enough to unleash Murphyâs law! đ
Even the last year I wrote an End of the Year Thought 2005, but I didnât published it, a sign of a not too happy period. I do it now on the new blog since I saved it in my notes. I invite you to read it because itâs still current, unfortunately.
I wish you a happy 2007, the year of the pig! đ
The Coming of i-muse
Do you know what a purple cow is?
Itâs a marketing concept invented by Seth Godin to represent a remarkable product.
Remarkable in the sense that itâs so attractive in its market sector to become a commercial success. We think we have a purple cow, and now that we registered the trademark we can reveal what itâs all about: i-muse is not only a PDA guide for museums and art exhibitions, an innovative tool for the visitor well beyond traditional audioguides, but most of all is the entrepreneurial project by three young guys from Como who believed to be able to create something important starting from scratch! đ
The logo is self-explanatory, born from a flash of genius by Luca and generated by Guidoâs hint, the people to whom at the beginning of 2006 I proposed working on what was then an idea without a true form.
I got the idea while I was using an audioguide during my visit to the Joan Miròâs exhibition in 2004 in Como. Back then I was developing software for PDAs, I knew their potentialities, and then I asked myself: why not making a guide running on PDA? đĄ
In 2005, thanks to the voucher for technology innovation issued by Regione Lombardia, I committed a due diligence study to the Centro Volta, which is actually located in Villa Olmo where Miròâs exhibition took place. From that point it took me some time to realize how I had to go on: I had to find the right people, people with the skills I was missing.
I talked to Guido, a marketing expert, an old friend I didnât see for a long time, and to Luca, a great graphics artist with an experience in the videogames industry.
Thanks to them since the beginning of 2006 things went on at the right pace. We explored different paths, analyzed all the components of the project and finalized the application design. Slow but well since we were doing something else for a living.
After the award at the Startcup 2006 there has been the acceleration: the cash prize ( itâs better starting with a little, but a minimum is absolutely necessary đ ) and most of all the office inside the incubator at the Politecnico.
We also reached the finals of the ObiettivoICT contest, whose benefits will come the next year.
2007 is the year of the pig as the Chinese friends of Ciren told me.
Does that mean it will bring abundance even for us, in every sense? 
We hope so, in the meantime in the category i-muse you can find all the posts related to the project, a category Iâll keep alive and well while the work on the project continues.
Weâve Been Incubated!
Ok, itâs a bad expression which can give cause for never ending witty remarks, but for the three of us, me, Luca and Guido, recently awarded at the Startcup 2006, the regional contest for startup creation, the meaning is pretty clear: other than the cash prize by the Chamber of Commerce of Como, our real target was the incubation! đ
Weâre now hosted (incubated!) in the startup accelerator of the Polo Regionale di Como of the Politecnico di Milano.
We finally have an office, at the third floor of the building in Piazzale Gerbetto, where we can continue working on the project we started powered only by enthusiasm and hard work, aiming since the beginning to a result of excellence.
The office is fully operative by now from a technical point of view, while we still have a lot to do for what concerns furnishings, especially after weâve seen how the girls of Ciren and Urbano Creativo, neo-incubated at the second floor, set up their office.
We really need a female touch for that!
Professor Negrini, who gave us the award at the Startcup, told us this was his office before he moved to the Politecnicoâs building in Via Anzani. Really a privilege considering how much I think highly of him.
During the introductory meeting of the new startups he used a very motivating expression: âNow youâre entrepreneurs!â he told us.
Personally I do rely a lot on the network of competences that can be established among the ten startups now incubated in Como and itâs actually a pleasure being able to discuss and relate with other companies operating in the same sector. From these relations new interesting opportunities can be generated.
After the pizza-dinner with Luca and Guido to celebrate our first meeting in the office, as you can see in the pic, and the usual tea break at 17 ò clock with MetalCâs staff at the third floor, we can say that being incubated is not a bad thing at all! đ
We Won!!!
I donât know if it has been for the logo made by Luca, the strong points of the project, the quality of the documentation we submitted, the presentation held with Guido at the Chamber of Commerce of Como last week or even the elegant suit tailored for that special occasion by the Sartoria Orefice ;), or most probably a combination of all these elements, but the end results is that we won the Special Award of the CCIAA Como at the StartCup 2006. đ
Weâre working on something not really new, something others already did by using the latest mobile technologies applied to the sector of cultural goods, but maybe the difference is that we aim our idea towards excellence and the commission got it and decided to choose us, although they told us the other projects were very interesting.
Yesterday in Milan professor Negrini gave us the award during the exciting ceremony of the StartCup finals.
The first picture captured that moment with me and Luca on the stage. The emotion was great, the same emotion that passed through the hands of the photographer.
The second one depicts the team, almost complete since Guido was missing, with professor Negrini and Paolo and Samantha of Opla S.r.l., our main collaborators. The third one shows all the winner groups on the stage of the main hall of the UniversitĂ degli Studi.
After the ceremony we had a nice walk around the Duomo of Milan thanks to an exceptionally good weather for the season and I took a pic of the Madunina on top of it.
The cash award will help us to quickly get to the prototipation phase of the project, motivate a team that relied upon its own forces until now, and most importantly it opens the perspective to be incubated as a startup in the offices of the Polo Regionale of Como. This if what we actually were looking for, good job i-boys!
Here the article about the incubation published by the local daily newspaper La Provincia.
The 16 Slides at the Chamber of Commerce
On last friday me and Guido, one of the members of the team I assembled since the beginning of the year to work on a technologic innovation project, held a 16 slides presentation at the Chamber of Commerce of Como.
We have been invited to present the project to compete for one of the special prizes of the StartCup 2006, the annual competition organized by the seven universities in Milan aimed to promote the creation of startup companies.
In front of a commission composed by Paolo de Santis, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Como, Pierluigi della Vigna and Roberto Negrini, two of the best professors I had when I was attending university, as well as Giorgio Corradi, manager for the incubator at the Polo Regionale of Como, we began the presentation with beating hearts.
We felt secure about the strong points of the project, since weâve been seriously working on it since the beginning of the year, and we did see it slowly evolving on the right path, but you never know what can happen on such occasions, especially considering it was our first presentation outside the working group.
The presentation went well and the commission seemed positively impressed by the project. They asked us a lot of questions and we well exceeded the time we initially had.
There are five candidates in total for this special prize and on wednesday 25th in the main hall of the UniversitĂ degli Studi di Milano theyâll announce the winners.
Weâll be there with fingers crossedâŚ
RenĂŠ Magritte in Como: LâEmpire des Lumières
Le basier, La saveur des larmes and Lâempire des lumières.
These are the three paintings by RenÊ Magritte which impressed me the most during the visit to the exhibition now taking place in Como. An exhibition that is getting a lot of positive comments both from the critics and from the public and will probably reach and then exceed the number of visitors of the two exhibitions devoted to Picasso (77,000 visitors) and Mirò (70,000) which have taken place in the same rooms of the awesome Villa Olmo in the last two years.
I really liked it and I recommend that you visit the MagritteComo website to get the right directions to come in Como and visit the exhibition. It will last until july16th.
I spent two hours admiring all of the 80 creations of the Belgian Genius and I felt relaxed and enriched when I exited the Villa. I used the word Genius since he refused the title of âartistâ, preferring the title âthinking manâ, since he considered himself as someone who communicated thoughts through painting just as others did using music or writing.
Villa Olmo and its park on the lake is the perfect place to host such surrealist pieces of art. Inside the Villa they used the Dilumo, which stands for Dispositivi luminosi mobiliâ (mobile lightning devices). Theyâre light metal structures covered with the black sheet used in theatrical sets. Every piece is illuminated by optical fibers. Thatâs the only light in the exhibition and contributes a lot to the mysterious atmosphere you can feel along the route.
I read some interesting things about the life of Magritte and in particular I recall that he enjoyed inviting groups of friends to show them the latest paintings and play the âtitle gameâ to choose the title for them. đ
Too bad audioguides you can use along the exhibition only covered 22 of the 80 pieces. Probably I wonât miss the chance to visit it a second time, maybe accompanied by a real guide! đ
In my opinion, mobile technology could be very useful in this kind of events and in fact itâs the subject matter of a project Iâve been working on since last year. More news about it soon.