SiliconGlades is a design and innovation firm with a social conscience in our work. We invoke the resilience of Silicon Valley and the tenacity of the Everglades, which explains our name. Among other things, we design alternate learning environments and hyper-local social impact programs that strengthen and empower communities economically. Please scroll down this page to learn about some of our current initiatives and stay tuned for more.
TESTIMONIALS
“Some of the best library programs result when librarians collaborate and support community-driven grassroots efforts and ideas. The leadership at SiliconGlades has proven that this is so. SiliconGlades has been a great friend to the Hillsborough County libraries - we enjoy working with them and admire their ideas and inspiration.” – Megan Danak, Principal Librarian, Library Services, Hillsborough County BOCC, Tampa Bay, FL.
“AlligatorZone is a brilliant idea. We have had three sessions at our Library and it has been exciting to see how engaged the children and families are with the entrepreneurs.” – Karin Bricker, Library Manager, Youth and Outreach Services, City of Mountain View Public Library, Mountain View, CA.
“Fear of the unknown is a huge obstacle to overcome in life. AlligatorZone exposes children to an entrepreneur's behind-the-scenes challenges, before they learn that their dreams are far-fetched or out of reach. While the realities and missteps are not glossed over, each personal story reveals a passion for that business. The deepest lesson taught at each program is that ideas can be made to come true.” – Ellen Book, Branch Manager, Pinecrest Branch Library, Miami-Dade County, FL.
“AlligatorZone is a brilliant idea. We have had three sessions at our Library and it has been exciting to see how engaged the children and families are with the entrepreneurs.” – Karin Bricker, Library Manager, Youth and Outreach Services, City of Mountain View Public Library, Mountain View, CA.
“Fear of the unknown is a huge obstacle to overcome in life. AlligatorZone exposes children to an entrepreneur's behind-the-scenes challenges, before they learn that their dreams are far-fetched or out of reach. While the realities and missteps are not glossed over, each personal story reveals a passion for that business. The deepest lesson taught at each program is that ideas can be made to come true.” – Ellen Book, Branch Manager, Pinecrest Branch Library, Miami-Dade County, FL.
"I wanted to thank you for bringing the AlligatorZone program here to Radnor Library. The presentations were fascinating, especially the BioBots group, and it was clear that both kids and adults really enjoyed it. In fact, I had one mom call me afterward to thank us for offering the program and ask when we would host again! She loved the STEM connection, and her daughter found it very inspiring and thought-provoking." - Carrie Sturgill, Head of Children's Services, Radnor Memorial Library, Wayne, PA.
"The programs and services offered by SiliconGlades spread greater awareness of the library to local entrepreneurs and small businesses. They introduce both kids and adults to entrepreneurial ways of thinking while at the same time foster conversations and collaboration among entrepreneurs, all in the context of the public library. AlligatorZone and Product Hunt Meetup programs have given us the opportunity to highlight library resources available to entrepreneurs and attendees, as well as connect business start-ups to helpful information and one another.” - Andrew Breidenbaugh, Director, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library, Tampa Bay, FL.
CoderDojo Tampa Bay Area (where kids learn to love coding)
CoderDojo Tampa Bay Area, part of a worldwide initiative to teach kids to code, was launched in May 2013 as a volunteer effort by like-minded technology professionals from startups and corporations in the Tampa Bay Area. The program is fueled purely by the passion of the mentors who want to see a booming technology scene in Florida. What began with the support of the Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative with the use of the free meeting rooms, is now expanding to the neighboring counties of Pinellas and Pasco. CoderDojo Tampa Bay Area is actively seeking mentors under a campaign labeled #1000Mentors launched with the support of the TampaBayWaVE accelerator. The goal is two-pronged. To find mentors who can help teach children to love coding, and to encourage closet-entrepreneurs to mingle with other technology and business professionals as they are mentoring children, and hopefully launch tech startups that they have been saving for the perfect moment or the perfect co-founder to materialize. CoderDojo Tampa Bay Area has been favorably mentioned in the media. Here are a few links:
CoderDojo: Teaching Next Gen Techies To Write Code (83degrees media): http://t.co/GhyaSNtbt6
Many hands make light work at CoderDojo Tampa Bay Area (Magazine.SiliconGlades.com)
CoderDojo Tampa Bay Area Mentor Musings: “One of the most gratifying things I’ve done” (Magazine.SiliconGlades.com)
"Children see that you can be excited about technology and still be one of the cool kids", says CoderDojo mentor Matt Galvin in #MentorMusings (Magazine.SiliconGlades.com)
Why Frank will bring his son back to CoderDojo (Magazine.SiliconGlades.com)
Follow CoderDojo Tampa Bay Area on twitter: @CoderDojoTPA. It is our belief that this one program will significantly and positively impact the economic future of the city, and the results will be seen in less than a decade. For more information on schedules and locations, please visit CoderDojoTampaBayArea.eventbrite.com. This registration process will be phased out in the foreseeable future.
Since February 2016, SiliconGlades has begun the process of decentralizing CoderDojo's structure to allow for it to be propagated through the public library system, and grow stronger and faster and wider. To help your local public library start a coding club for kids and youth, please use the checklist titled 'How To Organize a Coding Club For Kids and Youth at Your Local Public Library - A Checklist made available at https://tmblr.co/ZBoHYr2323z-a
CoderDojo: Teaching Next Gen Techies To Write Code (83degrees media): http://t.co/GhyaSNtbt6
Many hands make light work at CoderDojo Tampa Bay Area (Magazine.SiliconGlades.com)
CoderDojo Tampa Bay Area Mentor Musings: “One of the most gratifying things I’ve done” (Magazine.SiliconGlades.com)
"Children see that you can be excited about technology and still be one of the cool kids", says CoderDojo mentor Matt Galvin in #MentorMusings (Magazine.SiliconGlades.com)
Why Frank will bring his son back to CoderDojo (Magazine.SiliconGlades.com)
Follow CoderDojo Tampa Bay Area on twitter: @CoderDojoTPA. It is our belief that this one program will significantly and positively impact the economic future of the city, and the results will be seen in less than a decade. For more information on schedules and locations, please visit CoderDojoTampaBayArea.eventbrite.com. This registration process will be phased out in the foreseeable future.
Since February 2016, SiliconGlades has begun the process of decentralizing CoderDojo's structure to allow for it to be propagated through the public library system, and grow stronger and faster and wider. To help your local public library start a coding club for kids and youth, please use the checklist titled 'How To Organize a Coding Club For Kids and Youth at Your Local Public Library - A Checklist made available at https://tmblr.co/ZBoHYr2323z-a
Bootstrappers Breakfast(R) Tampa Bay Area
Bootstrappers Breakfast Tampa Bay Area is a Silicon Valley program that we brought to Tampa in January 2013. See recent media coverage: Coffee Connections: Breakfast With Tampa Entrepreneurs [83 Degrees Media]. Please remember, the group does not listen to sales pitches or non-business banter. This is a serious on-topic business meeting. Please be on time for the rapid-fire introduction-round, or wait your turn to introduce yourselves when you can contribute to the discussion and help others with ideas on how to solve their business problems. Listen to others business problems and share your lessons learned, just as they will do for you. Consider this as your free advisory board to suggest solutions to your business problems. Click here to sign up for the next Bootstrappers Breakfast Tampa Bay Area.
AlligatorZone - Town-hall meetings where startups MEET KIDS AND FAMILIES in a learning environment.
AlligatorZone is a program where kids meet cool startups. AlligatorZone has been designed to help startup entrepreneurs simplify their pitch so that even a fourth-grader can understand it. The presenters would be startup entrepreneurs in their early stages of product design/development, or looking to pivot. In a highly interactive session, entrepreneurs get the opportunity to refine their messaging, poll the audience on features and pricing, and learn about their pain points or perspectives that the entrepreneur may never have thought of while designing an offering. The kids learn through a process of inquiry and voicing opinions. AlligatorZone has become a gathering place for members of the community, including families, children, grandparents, dads and moms who want to support entrepreneurs in their area. Think of it as a daytime happy hour with a noble purpose. AlligatorZone is being brought to the Tampa Bay Area community with the help of the Tampa Hillsborough County Public Library who provide free space and promotional efforts. Click here for a poster from the library. Click here to see a running calendar of AlligatorZone at various public library locations.
AlligatorZone is free to attend. Sign up at http://AlligatorZone.Eventbrite.com. Please send an email to the team at events [at] siliconglades [dot] com to be considered for presenting your startup to your local community. We at SiliconGlades are designing this as a template that can be extended throughout communities globally. Follow AlligatorZone on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/alligatorzone.
AlligatorZone in Tampa Bay Area, is supported with space and promotion as a library program in cooperation with the Tampa Hillsborough County Public Library, and past sponsors included Economic Development Innovation Initiative of the Hillsborough County. Their logos appear below.
AlligatorZone is free to attend. Sign up at http://AlligatorZone.Eventbrite.com. Please send an email to the team at events [at] siliconglades [dot] com to be considered for presenting your startup to your local community. We at SiliconGlades are designing this as a template that can be extended throughout communities globally. Follow AlligatorZone on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/alligatorzone.
AlligatorZone in Tampa Bay Area, is supported with space and promotion as a library program in cooperation with the Tampa Hillsborough County Public Library, and past sponsors included Economic Development Innovation Initiative of the Hillsborough County. Their logos appear below.
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