Mark D. Drapeau's Blog (110)

Mark Drapeau (Washington, DC) —

You may recognize actress Janina Gavankar from her role on the popular HBO series True Blood, whose fifth season premiere happens this Sunday. But she’s also recognizable for her activities online, using Twitter and other social media and apps to interact with her friends and fans and promote her…

Arundhati Parmar (Minneapolis, MN) —

Video games conjure up images of couch potatoes shooting up aliens. But “gaming” has advanced far beyond that, often pushing the limits of how technology interfaces with the human body and mind. The recent Games 4 Health webinar discussed the many ways in which gaming is influencing people’s health and well-being.…

Mark Drapeau (Washington, DC) —

TEALS, or Technology Education and Literacy in Schools, is a grassroots initiative in the private sector high-tech workforce that recruits skilled computer science professionals to be part-time adjunct high school teachers. After a successful launch in the Seattle area, TEALS is coming to the Washington, DC region in Fall 2012.…

Nandita Pinisetti (Chicago, IL) –

Microsoft’s public sector developer evangelism group launched a U.S.-focused mobile app development campaign called MOBILE AMERICA in May, 2012. The concept is to bring patriotic citizens together with technological developers in order to create new and innovative software for civic good and fundamentally change how government interacts with its constituents.…

Brandon Glenn (Cleveland, OH) —

A health coaching startup founded by Cleveland Clinic wellness chief Dr. Michael Roizen and TV star Dr. Mehmet Oz has…

Mark Drapeau (Washington, DC) —

A few years ago, in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, a bar called The Taj opened. What was unusual about it was not so much the fact that it was the only bar in the eastern part of Afghanistan, but the method of payment: data. In brief, if Taj…

Josh Axelrod (College Park, MD) —

Mark Drapeau (Washington, DC) —

For those not directly connected with an active-duty military person or a veteran, you often only hear their stories vaguely, or in passing. Now, two very different people have created Homefront Heroes to…

Mark Drapeau (Washington, DC) —

The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, or NFTE, an international non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring young people from low-income communities to stay in school and recognize business opportunities, just launched…

Mark Drapeau (Los Angeles, CA) —

On Thursday, May 10th, Microsoft and Bloomingdale’s brought their popular “Geek 2 Chic” charity fashion show series to the west coast’s Silicon Beach. A mix of local entrepreneurs and tech-savvy professionals served as models, and between ticket sales and 10% of Bloomingdale’s purchases, thousands of dollars were raised for the Network…

Mark Drapeau (Washington, DC) –

Recently, I wrote an essay about how the open government movement could do a better job of engaging mainstream media, and more specifically how the simultanous Transparency Camp and White House…

Stephanie Baum (Philadelphia, PA) —

Pharmaceutical and medical device companies seem to view social media with the alternating fascination and horror of watching American Idol. But even if they have no wish to participate – unlike Bayer, which for example…

Mark Drapeau (Washington, DC) —

Recently, the White House Correspondents Dinner (AKA “Nerd Prom”) and its bevy of pre-parties, after-parties, and brunches hit Washington, DC by storm as it does…

Brandon Glenn (Cleveland, OH) –

Astronauts can encounter lots of potential health risks during long space flights.

And those risks are exacerbated by a lack of access to physicians, limited medical supplies and a small amount of storage on spacecrafts.

Add to that high costs – it takes $10,000 to launch one pound of anything to…

Mark Drapeau (Washington, DC) –

Microsoft and Internet2 have announced a new agreement enabling member universities to take advantage of Windows Azure to open up collaborative, instructional and research opportunities in the cloud. The announcement…

Stan Freck (Park City, UT) —

Everyone knows that the 2008 Obama/Biden campaign for President of the United States made sophisticated use of Twitter, Facebook, and other social media, not to mention creatively tapping into America’s young voters in other innovative ways. But if you thought technology in the 2008 presidential race was a…

Stephanie Baum (Philadelphia, PA) –

Social photo-sharing platform Pinterest has skyrocketed in popularity due to users passionate about topics like fashion and food. But now, “Big Pharma” companies are also beginning to use Pinterest to speak to their audiences.

Bayer Corporation…

Mark Drapeau (Washington, DC) —

Even when a successful nonprofit takes in a lot of money, much of it is earmarked for carrying out their main mission. Things like advertising, design work, and other activities, while valuable, are expendable if funds are limited. Now, a creative services company is helping them, pro bono.…

Mark Drapeau (Washington, DC) —

Due to severe budget cutbacks, NASA’s Administrator Charles F. Bolden, Jr. has instructed a number of his senior administrators to “lead a reformulation of the Mars Exploration Program” in order to continue space exploration on a budget. To do that, NASA is sponsoring a…

Mark Drapeau (Washington, DC) —

When you think of “games,” you might think of Gears of War for Xbox, or Angry Birds for iPhone, or perhaps Zynga games for Facebook. But increasingly, people working in the public and civic sectors see value in leveraging games and…