Spanner searches for paperless nirvana
Editor’s note: Gary Spanner manages the economic development office at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in the Tri-Cities.
Over my 13 years in technology-based economic development, I have earned a reputation for being a pack rat. Let’s face it; I meet a lot of people and pick up a lot of information along the way. And it’s got to go someplace, so I developed a very sophisticated way to stay organized: rows of filing cabinets filled with hundreds of folders (I need 75 boxes to move my office). Of course, with the prevalence of computers and the Internet, I’m somewhat liberated from the need to find a paper folder for everything, since many things are now just a click away.
The scent of money
Our development office at PNNL connects businesses to funding opportunities in the Small Business Innovation Research Program. Every two weeks, we e-mail the free SBIR Alerting Service newsletter to more than 5,000 subscribers to tell them of current solicitations and events ( http://www.pnl.gov/edo/sbir/). This is a lot easier than distributing technical society newsletters with a mimeograph machine (you remember those, don’t you?) like we did for our Dad when I was a kid, though I do miss the smell.
Wild video
I don’t surf YouTube unprovoked, but when I hear about something getting a lot of hits, I’ll check it out. Two of my recent favorites are disposing of sodium in Lake Lenore (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid= 3825610222960975525), and the music video performed on treadmills ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv5zWaTEVkI).
Closer to home is this video taken during the 2006 Tri-Cities hydro races. I serve as a crew member of the Oberto/Miss Madison unlimited hydroplane racing team. After one heat last year, our driver, Steve David, pulled up to the dock all upset, but we couldn’t tell why because there was only a small scratch on the rear wing.
Later, the videographer showed us this clip from our onboard camera of another boat flipping over ours (http://tinyurl.com/34hzs8). Then we knew why Steve was upset.
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Candle-powered buzzboats?
Did I mention candle-powered toy boats? My “favorites” sites for this hobby are http://www.nmia.com/~vrbass/pop-pop and http://www.buzzboats.com/antique1.htm.
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Bringing back the departed
Most school graduates gravitate toward the larger cities for employment and entertainment after college or high school. But more and more, like salmon to a spawning stream, they’re eventually going home. The Tri-City Alumni Program is a fun way to reconnect to this area ( http://www.pnl.gov/edo/business/alumni/). The program’s free online newsletter features the accomplishments of entrepreneurs, professional athletes, entertainers and others who spent time in the Tri-Cities. Some are now investing back in the Tri-Cities and helping to grow the economy.