Nerds LOVE Bitcoin. It’s technologically and cryptographically fascinating.

But is it actually a currency? Kenneth Bromberg, lead programmer of Bloomberg’s foreign exchange platform, will explain what actually makes something a “currency”, why Bitcoin doesn’t fit that definition, and why it therefore doesn’t trade on the global currency exchanges.

Go here to sign up: meetup.com/BK-Tech-Talks/events/55386052

meetup.com/BK-Tech-Talks
Location: Etsy Labs, 55 Washington Street, Ste 712 , Brooklyn, NY
Monday, May 14, 2012, 7:00 PM

Creative Week NY, a celebration of creativity in advertising, design, digital media and all the arts that feed and touch those disciplines is taking place in Dumbo Brooklyn this week. There will be thought leadership events at Galapagos Art Space, GE’s live hologram experience (free and open to the public!) on Water Street, the Celebrate Brooklyn Creative Week Digital DUMBO Party hosted by HUGE, and the One Club’s unConference all day Thursday at 111 Front Street.

Several agency partners and firms based in Dumbo are presenting at events during Creative Week include:

• Big Spaceship
• Breakfast
• DDB (Spike)
• Domani Studios
• HUGE
• The JAR Group

We hear the GE hologram experience, THROTTLE UP at 56 Water Street is something you can’t miss (11am-9pm – free and open to the public, May 7-11).

See program of events for the full schedule of events. To attend, go to creativeweeknyc.com/attend. The Dumbo BID is a partner organization.

When: Thursday, May 3rd 2012, 7:00 PM
Where: Huge BK, 45 Main St. Suite 220 Brooklyn, NY 11201

Description:
Combining inspiration with e-commerce, New York-based startup Svpply has created the ultimate social shopping experience. It allows people from all over the world to efficiently browse through more than 1 million products, curate their own pages and buy products right then and there.

Join Huge as they host a Design Meetup with the brains behind Svpply to discuss everything from actionable discovery to e-commerce experiences on tablets and the upcoming Svpply iPad app.

To RSVP please visit http://www.meetup.com/Huge-Design-Events/events/62434132/

DUMBO Improvement District and Tech Triangle partners (the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership and the Brooklyn Navy Yard) commissioned an an economic impact study on the economic impact of the “Brooklyn Tech Triangle”. Here’s what they had to report:

The numbers speak for themselves: more than 9,000 jobs; $3 billion in economic output; and all of it could double by 2015. We couldn’t be prouder of how this industry is shaping the future of the Brooklyn (and New York) economy.

A few key take-aways:

• 188 tech/creative firms responded to the survey and DUMBO Improvement District Members made up 83% of them.
• More than 77% of our firms report that more than half of their employees live in Brooklyn. More than 31% say that 100% of their employees live in Brooklyn. Yah, we love it here too.
• 99% of firms already here want to stay and grow here and more than 76% of firms not yet here want in. Today the industry occupies 1.7 million square feet of space, primarily here and in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. That number will increase to 3.1 million by 2015. Wow. That’s a lot of demand. We know the market around here is tight already and we’re working to make more space available. Please reach out if you or a startup you know is having trouble finding space.

An infographic based on data from the study was created above.

Related, there are two venture capital and startup related events on Wednesday, April 25:

1. D3: Dumbo Demo Day, hosted by Digital DUMBO & NYU-Poly at 6:15pm at 20 Jay Street, Suite 312
2. Dumbo Startup Lab – VC Steve Berg Speaks on the state of NYC as a place for startups. 8pm at 68 Jay Street, #718

A link to the full report (Economic Impact of the Brooklyn Tech Triangle) can be accessed at brooklyntechtriangle.com/the-study/

Docracy is a Dumbo based site for free legal documents, provided and curated by the communities that use them. Their mission is to help take the mystery and fear out of legal agreements.

One way they are supporting this mission is by providing a free seminar series called “Legal Stuff Explained“, organized to spread some legal knowledge around the community (legalstuff.tumblr.com).

These popular seminars are taught by local lawyers to the entrepreneurial community of Dumbo and NYC. Join them every Thursdays at the NYU-Poly Dumbo Incubator (20 Jay Street, #313)

Next event topic on Thursday the 12th is “Intellectual Property Law for Small Businesses”. RSVP (or add your name to the waitlist) here: eventbrite.com/event/3236591733/eorg

To view all future events, go here.

Docracy.com
20 Jay Street, #313, Brooklyn NY 11201

(Source: WSJ)

An article over the weekend by the Wall Street Journal discussed the dearth of apartments and commercial space in Dumbo. The Observer’s BetaBeat, Brooklyn Paper, and The Real Deal also reported on the limited commercial space in Dumbo last week.

According to the WSJ article, three large development projects have been created on Water Street (between Jay and Bridge Streets) – 192 Water Street, 205 Water Street, and 220 Water Street:

But developers are betting that with little inventory available in the more-developed part of Dumbo, buyers and renters will be willing to pay similarly steep prices to live along the grittier border with Vinegar Hill, a six-block neighborhood along the waterfront.

“The concept that Dumbo is just a two- or three-block area is a misconception,” said Carre Harnett, director of leasing for the developer, GDC Properties, which developed one of the new properties, 220 Water St. “There are a finite number of developable buildings and a few parts of land, so we’re filling out Dumbo.”

…thanks in part to a rezoning a few years ago to allow for residential conversions and new construction, eastern Dumbo has seen a modest influx of apartments. Construction was sluggish through the recession, but several buildings ahave finished or are nearing completion.

At 205 Water St., Toll Brothers is building a 65-unit condo project that tries to emulate the warehouse buildings in the area, including using reclaimed wood from the Coney Island boardwalk as part of the interior decorating.

In addition, at 192 Water St., Alloy Development and Hamlin Ventures have converted a century-old tea warehouse into nine lofts, most of which were priced just under $2.5 million.

While many of the streets still feel desolate, a mix of stores—from a baby and maternity shop Egg by Susan Lazar to clothing boutiques like Blueberi and Trunk—have popped up.

Other development projects in East Dumbo not mentioned in the article are 37 Bridge Street (residential), 231 Front Street (commercial), 109 Gold Street (now a rental), 185 York Street (residential), and 51 Jay Street (commercial, on the market). I’m sure this contributed to the Jehovah’s Witnesses properties in Dumbo being considered for sale.

Have you heard that Underground Eats (UGE) launched a few weeks ago? We profiled this Dumbo based startup in October 2011, and they’ve had some exciting events and alternative dining events recently. One event they featured was the Mast Brothers Chocolate and Kings County Whiskey Tasting Tour, a perfect combination, in our opinion. Kings County Distillery is one of NYC’s oldest whiskey distillery. They use leftover cocoa husks from Brooklyn’s Mast Brothers Chocolate to produce their chocolate whiskey.

Unfortunately, this exclusive evening of chocolate and whiskey happened last week, but there will be others I’m sure. However, UGE’s member’s only site has lots more unique experiences, like a first class ticket (sold out and not available anywhere else) to an evening of culinary history and decadence, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s last supper. Culinary provocateurs Jonny Cigar of The Noble Rot, Hell’s Kitchen’s Rob McCue and Adam Banks of Bravo’s Chef Roblé & Co. have put together this 7 course experience.

The folks at Underground Eats have set up a special URL that will allow readers to register for teh member’s only site. Go to ugeats.com/DumboNYC to sign up. PSssst, we heard that there’s some special news coming up too, so sign up and get access to your exclusive dining experiences.

Previously:
{Dumbo Start-up Watch: Underground Eats, 11Oct2011}

Half of New York City’s best and brightest technologists live or work in Brooklyn, yet we travel to Manhattan every week for the best tech talks. Not anymore! BK Tech Talks are presentations about the most interesting problems and solutions that New Yorkers are working on. The first BK Tech Talk is next Monday, April 2 in Dumbo’s NYU-Poly Dumbo Incubator (20 Jay St, Suite 312, Brooklyn, NY). Dumbo based Mobile Commons‘s CTO Benjamin Stein, Michael Frumin, Systems Engineering Manager at the MTA, Jeff Maki, head of Transportation at OpenPlans will present the technology behind Real Time GPS Tracking of New York City Buses, including the unique technology challenges rolling out a high profile project in NYC.

meetup.com/BK-Tech-Talks
MTA BusTime: Real Time GPS Tracking of New York City Buses
Monday, April 2, 2012, 7:00 PM

MTA Bus Time is an amazing new project by the New York MTA that allows bus riders to find the real-time location of the next several buses that will arrive at their stop.

MTA Bus Time was built on an open source and open standards-based platform using commercial technologies provided by multiple different partners. It uses GPS hardware and wireless communications technology to track real-time bus locations, integrate with route and schedule information, and makes the result accessible across a huge array of interfaces, including the web, a mobile website, on iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, SMS text messaging, and via an open developer API.

Bus Time ran as a pilot on the B63 bus line in Brooklyn early last year, was expanded to Staten Island in January of 2012, will launch in the Bronx by the end of 2012, and will be deployed across all of New York City by the end of 2013.

Go here to sign up: meetup.com/BK-Tech-Talks/events/55116342

NY Content Meetup is a monthly meetup in Dumbo for content providers, startups, social media community managers, and anyone else interested in meeting with influencers who are creating community around content online.

From From BKLYNhaus, the organizer:

Connection Through Creation

What does a New York Times Producer, a Founder and Principal at race + vine and an acclaimed Fashion Photographer and Blogger have in common? They are all speakers for our March 21st NY CONTENT MEETUP!

Speakers:

• Emily Rueb (@rueby), Senior Producer, New York Times
  Put A Bird On It: What I Learned About Community Engagement From the Hawk Cam

  Using the New York Times’ Hawk Cam as her case study, Emily will discuss the journalistic challenges of covering a live streaming event that required 24/7 monitoring and where the subjects were not available for comment. Without a strategy and content approach the Hawk Cam could have been just another Yule log, as bill Keller, then the executive editor of the times, called it in an essay. But what she discovered instead was an opportunity to leverage the wisdom of the crowds to build an engaged, active community that took the story to unexpected places/levels.

• Meagan Cignoli, Fashion Photographer & Blogger (Web: @meagancignoli | ilovemeagan.com | meagancignoli.tumblr.com)
  Creation & Connection Intertwined

  Fashion photographer and blogger Meagan Cignoli explains the value of establishing a personal brand through dedicated promotion and active influence. Knowing first-hand the importance of promoting yourself, your work, and getting others to promote you, she will guide you with tips and ideas to successfully market the most important asset you have…. YOU!

• Michael Parrish DuDell, Founder and Principal, race + vine (@notoriousmpd)
  Michael Parrish DuDell is a writer, speaker, entrepreneur, and all-around media renaissance man. He is the founder of race+vine—a consulting firm specializing in content marketing, millennial engagement, and brand advocacy.
  Content Marketing: Meet Your New Business

  For over a hundred years, the publishing industry has remained relatively static. But in the last 5 years the Internet has created a new model, allowing every business the opportunity to enter the content game. In this talk, marketing expert Michael Parrish DuDell shares why it’s absolutely essential for every business to begin thinking (and acting) like a publisher.

Date/Time: Wednesday, March 21, 2012, 7:00 PM
Location: 20 Jay Street, Suite 904, Brooklyn, NY
** FREE wine and other refreshments will be served **

The Dumbo Improvement District is asking tech and creative companies to take a brief survey about your organization and its needs.

Take the survey now (survey will close soon)

Note: This survey is for firms currently located in Dumbo and beyond in Brooklyn and those who want to be here in the future. All answers to the survey will be kept confidential and data will be presented to us in aggregate form.

From the BID:

We’ve teamed up with the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership and the Brooklyn Navy Yard and NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn, partners in the recently dubbed Tech Triangle, to study the economic impact and space needs of the tech and creative sectors in Brooklyn. With this info in hand, we can work with our public and private partners to create conditions within the Tech Triangle that nurture and support the growth of your company and many others like it.

Each firm that fully completes the survey and enters a contact email will be entered in a drawing to receive:

• a private boxing lesson for up to 20 people (complete with Grimaldi’s pizza-fest) at the legendary Gleason’s Gym,
• lunch or dinner for up to five (5) people at La Defense in 2 MetroTech Center,
• or a guided tour of the Brooklyn Navy Yard for ten (10).

The DUMBO Improvement District asks that you please also help us spread the word! We want firms both inside and out of DUMBO to take this survey. Whether they’re interested in getting out of a living room or relocating to this thriving tech community, we would love to better understand their needs. Tweet the survey link using #techtriangle.

(Photo by bekka payack)