New York City's Aspirations!

I need to do some of my own writing at some point but did see this last night and just had to repost it! Imagine New York pursuing this and what it would mean for the city!

Originally found on Crains - http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20110719/FREE/110719898

NYC to Silicon Valley: It's on
The Bloomberg administration Tuesday unveiled its request for a new engineering campus. It's the beginning of a long-term quest to challenge the West Coast for supremacy in the tech world.

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By Daniel Massey
July 19, 2011 3:25 p.m.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg issued an RFP at the Future of New York City conference.

Updated: July 19, 2011 5:12 p.m.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Tuesday details of a request for “universities near and far” to submit proposals to build or expand a science and engineering campus in the city—a project he called “one of the most promising economic development initiatives in the city's long history.”
In a speech at the Crain's Future of New York City conference, the mayor said a 1 million-square-foot applied science campus could spin off some 400 new companies and create more than 7,000 construction jobs and 22,000 permanent jobs in its first 35 years. Some $6 billion in economic activity could be generated, resulting in roughly $1.2 billion in new tax revenues added to city coffers.
“During the 1980s and 90s, Silicon Valley—not New York—became the world capital of technology startups, and that is still true today,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “But if I am right, and we succeed in this mission, it won't be true forever.”
The city is offering real estate on Governors Island, Roosevelt Island or at the Brooklyn Navy Yard at virtually no cost, and is pledging up to $100 million in infrastructure upgrades. It expects that contribution to be “matched several times over” by the winner or winners. Sources say the city could end up selecting two separate projects, and that Roosevelt Island is attracting the most interest, followed by the Navy Yard.
Roosevelt Island is believed to be the most attractive site because of its proximity to Manhattan, its public transportation and easy access to Queens neighborhoods that could accommodate startups launched by engineering students.
Governors Island has infrastructure and transportation challenges and the Navy Yard is not accessible by subway. Applicants can also propose other sites.
According to the request for proposals, the winning entry must lay out a plan to develop research that will lead to the formation and expansion of companies in the city in industries with substantial growth potential. It calls for institutions to propose graduate-level programs on the campus and mechanisms to transform research into commercial activity.
“We understand we will not catch up to Silicon Valley overnight,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “But—as with everything we do—we are taking the long view.”
The initiative was launched at the end of 2010 when city officials asked educational institutions for expressions of interest in building a new engineering and applied sciences campus. The city received 18 responses from 27 institutions around the world, including Cornell University, Stanford University and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. They outlined ideas ranging from environmental sciences to nano-engineering. All of the institutions that expressed interest are eligible to respond to the request for proposals.
Cornell, which in the expression of interest phase proposed four hubs, including one encompassing technology for healthier living, sent a large contingent to hear the mayor's Tuesday speech. The university has put together a trustee task force to lead its bid, including Irwin Jacobs, the co-founder of Qualcomm; Andrew Tisch, co-chair of Loews Corp.; and Abby Joseph Cohen, a partner at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. All are Cornell alumni.
“We have been in New York City a long time,” said David Skorton, the university's president. “This is part of our DNA.”
Stanford issued a statement Tuesday afternoon saying it planned to make a proposal by the October deadline. The university's initial interest has centered on an engineering, computer science and business program based on Roosevelt Island. The university outlined plans for 200,000-square feet each of residential towers and academic buildings centered around an open green space, with cafes, retail shops, an auditorium and gym on the edge of the East River.
"Stanford University brings its entrepreneurial culture, excellence in engineering and technology, proven track record of partnering with industry and history of successfully transferring research advances to the marketplace," said President John Hennessy.
ALL FUTURE OF NYC COVERAGE

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Taxes, schools blamed for job woes
Greatest challenge to tech? How about them high taxes
Finding a cure for public education's ills
Responses to the call for proposals are due in October, with a winner or winners to be chosen by the end of 2011. Projects will be judged based on economic impact and feasibility (40%), respondents' track records (40%) and their connections to the local community (20%). Ground could be broken in 2013.
The opening of the first phase of the project, which includes at least 250,000 square feet of development, is scheduled for 2015.
Mr. Bloomberg described the effort as the city's “most ambitious attempt to counteract a decades-long economic trend that once threatened the very future of American cities”—the decline of manufacturing jobs. New York managed to survive an 81% drop in manufacturing jobs, to 150,000, between 1966 and 2001, when Mr. Bloomberg was elected. But it did so largely on the back of Wall Street, becoming dependent on its booms and suffering from its inevitable busts.
The request for proposals issued Tuesday is an attempt to shift the city's reliance away from Wall Street and toward a future based on technology.
In remarks at the conference, Bloomberg L.P. Chief Executive Dan Doctoroff said New York is “on the cusp” of establishing itself as a player in the tech world. “This can really be the catalyst for making that a reality for the long term,” he said.

You are invited to an Open House - Java Developer Hiring Event hosted by the Eliassen Group

Afternoon,



If you are a Java or Web Developer located in NYC and looking for your next opportunity, then please do attend the Open House/ Hiring Event for Java Developers and hosted by the Eliassen Group!

This is happening this Thursday, May 19th from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM.

The location is 12th Floor, 295 Madison Avenue, New York, NY

We have multiple opportunities right now with clients in various sectors including financial services, e-commerce, and others. My colleagues and I would welcome the opportunity to sit down with some of you and explore these opportunities further. These are primarily consulting assignments but we do also have clients looking for full-time staff. All are involving information technology, and specifically web and Java Development.

For further information regarding this even and the opportunities we are currently working, please contact me at 646-652-8576 or emai at rschaffer@eliassen.com.

Walk-ins are welcome but if you plan on attending please do RSVP.

Thanks and see you Thursday!

Robert Schaffer
Sr. Technical Recruiter
Eliassen Group
295 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10017
T: (646) 652-8576 C: (914) 391-9596
rschaffer@eliassen.com
www.eliassen.com

Linkedin Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/bobschaffer

Progressions - From Recruiting to Larry, Moe and Curly to T-Rex

Today was a day for progressions; not necessarily progress, but progressions. I was looking at was several trends, things that we do, watch and listen to and just considering how things change and evolve. I figured why not put them out there. . . for what they are worth. Besides it has been awhile since I wrote anything here.

The first one is in regard my profession. How we find candidates has changed dramatically. It use to be back as recent as 2000 that the newspapers were still a source of candidates. Certainly before that time they were. When I started at Merrill Lynch they had people responding to advertisements in the New York Times and the Newark Star Ledger with typed resumes on crisp paper and mailed with a proper cover letter.

That has changed. Currently we have replaced the file cabinet with all those paper resumes with an internal database. The job advertisements listed in the paper are now on Monster. The New York Times in fact partners with Monster. As I focus on IT Professionals I am also using DICE. the point is we are now in the digital age.

The story does not end there, however, with the digital age. It is also the age of the Internet. The web itself progresses and today it is all about the niche. There really is no longer a central hub like the Times.

Television and the media is experiencing the same trend. There was once only the major networks. Now we have cable networks, satellite TV, and things like Hulu among others. The audience today is distributed across all of these. Likewise in recruiting, there are today multiple sites and places online and off to locate candidates. Those include Linkedin, things like Meetups, which is part online and part offline, various groups-which are an extension of the professional associations of the past, and even Facebook. Let us not forget Craigslist, which is a throwback to the newspaper classifieds, but online. Just as media and its advertisers can no longer focus on mass audiences, so to recruiting must turn to the appropriate niche. That is just the progression.

Jumping to another progression is the Three Stooges or the "Do not try this at home" theme. You remember Larry, Moe, and Curly. . .and let us not forget Shemp. The three idiots that did all kinds of insane and idiotic things. Sometimes extremely painful things. They would routinely bring a chuckle to my face, and occasionally a gasp from others that did not go for such absurdities.

Not too long ago you had to go cable for such stupidity - to JackAss. In fact I have caught AMC playing the stooges too! Today, however, there is Youtube. Now any sixth grader who can crash his skate board, or put himself on fire and just beat himself up pretty good, and ultimately limp away, can potentially be a star. If he does it right, he could have a million hits on his video. Really though, Jackass and Youtube trace back to the Stooges, who I would gamble were doing the same act in Vaudeville before going to the big screen and then the little screen after that.

This is the last one, the last progression. It was perhaps the most speculative, and one that I was simply wrong about. This afternoon I was listening to regular old FM radio briefly in the car-Q104. Imagine that! Anyway, they proceeded to play Tall Cool Woman in Black Dress, the classic Hollies tune. As I listened to it I realized that it shares the same rhythm as the classic T.Rex song Bang a Gong. Another progression, as I thought that the Hollies recorded the song in the sixties. Actually it was recorded in 1972. The T.Rex Classic it turns out was recorded and released in 1971, so if there was any progression it was the other way around. Oops.

In short things always progress, one way or another, and that does not necessarily infer progress.

A New Tact. . . and a Web Developer role in PA

If you have arrived here, you probably just clicked thru from Facebook, perhaps Linkedin. Below are the details for a Web Developer position I am staffing in King of Prussia, PA. I am trying out Facebook ads. Normally, Eliassen posts these opportunities on Monster and DICE, but this is something I am experimenting with.

If intersted in the opportunity, please do send your resume to rschaffer@eliassen.com.

If you have any questions, please contact me at 646-652-8576.

Here is the opportunity:

Web Developers (CSS, Javascript, XHTML)
Our client, a leader in e-commerce, is seeking front-end web developers to join their growing team. The candidate will work with a team of software engineers to define and implement new features, components, and services from specs employing Java-based technologies.

Candidates will:
Develop pixel-perfect Presentation Layer / GUIs based on functional specifications, requirements, and comps from the design team.

Collaborate with Art Director / Designer, Information Architects and Project Leads in the development of Information Architecture Design Documentation for new site builds.

Act as technical advisor to Graphic Designers, Information Architects, and Marketing teams in assessing proposed project feasibility given current webstore functionality.

Function independently on project assignments with minimal supervision.

Display a high level of attention to detail.

Exhibit a passion for researching and learning emerging web technologies

Minimum Requirements:

o Minimum 2-4 years experience hand-coding table-less, XHTML/CSS layouts.

Expertise in the usage of CSS / CSS2.

Passionate about producing clean, standards-based semantic mark-up.

Experience using JSP, JSTL and JSON to develop dynamic websites.

Proficient with XML.

Advanced JavaScript experience; ability to write Object-oriented JavaScript, or at minimum have experience using any of the industry-standard JavaScript libraries such as prototype, scriptaculous, dojo, etc.

Solid understanding of development best practices for Search Engine Optimization and Accessibility.

Proficient with Adobe Photoshop or Fireworks, and in image optimization techniques.

Understanding of browser capabilities and design constraints on the web, with expertise in developing and testing across multiple browsers & platforms.

Strong attention to detail, good communications skills, and a positive attitude.

Experience in managing multiple projects on tight schedules.

Prior experience in e-commerce development is preferred.

B.S. Computer Science or related degree required.

Ability to demonstrate previous work via URLs.