Month: April 2015

Alligators in Philly?  Yes – Coming to the Philly area for the first time on April 8th, 2015, is AlligatorZone, the free program where your kids can meet cool founders of some hot Philadelphia startups.  We’ll be at the Radnor Memorial Library at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 8, 2015.  The session lasts for a little over an hour, and families continue to network after every AlligatorZone, making for a very uplifting community gathering that celebrates local entrepreneurship and innovation.

AlligatorZone is perhaps the only startup networking event for kids and teens, where grownups can join in.

The alligators in AlligatorZone are metaphors for the troubles that can take a startup down.  The kids and families in the audience help the startup founder not only refine their pitch by forcing a simpler explanation of their offering, but they also provide eye-opening insights that the founders may never have thought of.  The public library is also a place for learning.  Thus, like baseball, soccer or basketball games, AlligatorZone has since become another activity for families to drive their kids to and join them in the experience.

Since its launch in June 2014, AlligatorZone has expanded to 8 cities in both coasts, and continues to enthrall kids aged 7 and above, teenagers, moms, dads and even grandparents.  AlligatorZone is now coming to the Philly area at the Radnor Memorial Library in Wayne Pennsylvania, thanks our request to TechGirlz.org for an introduction to a library in the area that would be welcoming of this unique and uplifting program.

Here’s what to expect at an AlligatorZone:  It is a program for kids (typically 7 years and older) and teens.  However, parents and accompanying family members often can’t resist joining in the discussion because entrepreneurship has such an infectious enthusiasm that one can’t avoid.  There have been instances in which passersby in a library stop what they are doing and watch in wonderment at an entrepreneur doing a show-and-tell of a startup product.

See videos of what parents say about AlligatorZone:

The presenting startups in every AlligatorZone include some well-funded startups as well as startups that are very early in their launch.  Regardless, the founders show up with joy and humility, delighted at the opportunity to pay it forward to the community that has enabled their success.

If you like watching entrepreneurs on TV as a family, then you will absolutely love AlligatorZone.  On April 8, 2015, the program starts at 4:30 p.m. and you will get to talk to two fascinating startups from the Philly area.  Each founder talks for about 5 minutes and then kids get to have a conversation, ask questions and voice their opinions.  Usually, after the entire hour-long session is over with both startups presenting, the founders hang out and spend time with the families, and it turns into an uplifting community celebration of local entrepreneurs.  Often founders come to the session with their own families and kids, making AlligatorZone a family event for startups.

Here are the startups you will be meeting at Radnor Memorial Library on April 8, 2015.

Marvin Weinberger, Founder & CEO of American Certified, a shopping website where you can buy the best American-made products. American Certified sells everything from clothing, to toys, pet food, jewelry and more.

Daniel Cabrera, Co-founder & CEO, BioBots, a device that can build 3D structures out of living tissue.

Sign up at http://bit.ly/1zq0u6Z and come with your kids and teens and entire family.

AlligatorZone thanks TechGirlz.org for their support in bringing this program to the Philly area!  Hope to see you Wednesday April 8, 2014 at 4:30 p.m. in the Winsor Room at the Radnor Memorial Library at 114 W. Wayne Ave, Wayne, PA 19087

Hope to see you soon at another session of AlligatorZone.  Check out the running calendar at http://AlligatorZone.eventbrite.com.

Bookmark www.AlligatorZone.org, follow updates at http://www.twitter.com/alligatorzone and like us on www.facebook.com/AlligatorZone.org.

AlligatorZone is one of several impact-programs being designed at SiliconGlades.  If you know of startups that would make for interesting presenters to an audience of kids, teens and families, please send your suggestion to events [at] siliconglades [dot] com, or direct-message at @siliconglades

This report was posted by a volunteer from SiliconGlades, an innovation firm that designs, among other things, hyperlocal social impact programs such as AlligatorZone.  In other words, SiliconGlades designs programs that bring communities together for a common uplifting purpose, right in your neighborhood.