Work(s) in Progress:

I never thought the day would come that I felt like I was too busy to blog. I am not exactly certain what happened.

Fitness: I am holding steady at 13x and 23 to 24% (Omron) body fat. My most recent 3 mile run, at sea level, was done in 27 minutes, pretty much my fastest run ever. I can still run a 10K in about an hour. None of this is bad for a geeky 41 year old but I can do better.

Dating: I'd previously tried two free online dating sites (date hookup and plenty of fish) and went silent after my less than optimal experiences. In late spring, I decided to rework my profile, being very clear about what I was looking for, and put it back out there. I met the person who caused me to delete all of my online profiles on fitness singles (a paid site). I was completely and utterly swept off of my feet on May 16; hmm, last post occurring on May 12, could be related. We've been traveling a bit, check my flickr account for the sites we have seen in Carmel, Monterey, Big Sur, Bryce Canyon & Zion National Park.

Random: I keep getting invited to participate in things for which I cannot seem to say no: One last scientific review panel (autoimmune) for DOD; co-chairing a sub-committee on small business development and higher education for the economic development council of the Downtown Denver Partnership; co-chairing a sub-committee on Enterprise programs at the Business School for our annual strategic planning event; co-authoring what may be one of my last pure scientific research papers on work I started back in 2000; continuing on as a scientific collaborator for just a “few” more months; a strategic planning session for my friend's latest non-profit venture (Dani's foundation); and ironically, a few months back I sat on a panel for women in higher education administration about “Making Institutional Service part of YOUR Plan, or How to Say NO and When to Say YES.” I'm not so great at the NO.

Work: On top of those things for which I can't say no, work has been busy. We received 76 entries from across Colorado for our 8th Annual Business Plan Competition. We awarded our winners with a variety of cash and in-kind services from local businesses:

Olomomo Nut Company 1st Place $12,000

The Organic Dish 2nd Place $5,000

VibraLung, Inc. 3rd Place $2,500; Bioscience Award (Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority& We Work for Health) $5,000; Bioscience Award (CoreLogic) $1,000

Also Energy Finalist $1,000

Global CaféNation Finalist $1,000; International Award (CIBER & the Institute for International Business) $1,000; Non-Profit Award (The Ward Family) $1,000

Western States Biopharmaceuticals Finalist $1,000

Larry Nelson of w3w3.com took many terrific pictures at the awards luncheon for our competition. You can view them here (registration required).

Our finalists received a lot of press:

The Bard Center and our 2009 business plan winner(s) were also featured on KMGH-TV (ABC) channel 7 news. You can watch the segment here: Small businesses finding room to grow

We're already thinking about our 9th Annual Competition on June 10, 2010.

The founders of the Bard Center, Pamela & Richard Bard, recently co-produced a movie, Homecoming, starring Misha Barton & Jessica Stroup. There was a limited release in Denver at the Starz Film Center on the Auraria campus. I was honored to be able to attend opening night with the producers.

On August 1, Jung Park of Metroboom, the 2004 Business Plan Competition Winner, is hosted his annual Enthuse event, a unique social networking event incorporating fashion, music, dance, fine cuisine, & fundraising. I keep trying to get all of my advisory council members (well at least the men) to become customers. I love his custom shirts & suits.

We renovated our Center to better segregate our academic program from our incubator offices. Our renovated incubator spaceat the Bard Center has only 1 vacant office (320H). Our incubator is open to all early stage Colorado companies. Contact me if you are interested.

Our Bard Entrepreneurship Network (BEN) Meetups have grown up: cocktails & content. Join us August 26 at Elevated Third from 6 to 8PM. This month, Justin Perkins the CEO of Olomomo Nut Company & our 2009 Business Plan competition winner will be there to answer questions & let folks taste his products. Jim Kirchheimer, the Director for Economic Development for the Downtown Denver Partnership (DDP) will be there to talk about the benefits of membership and the resources available at the DDP. RSVP: http://www.meetup.com/Bard-Entrepreneurship-Network-Meetup/

I'm always on the lookout for other opportunities for entrepreneurs in our community.

Need $100,000 to start your company? The nationally run MillerCoors Urban Entrepreneurship Series is open to 21 to 35 year olds. http://millercoorsmues.com/
My friend Stephen Miller launched a new clean tech incubator and is helping to bring the Clean Tech Open to Colorado. He gotten some great press: Local Clean Tech Incubator opensmore information at www.cleanlaunch.com
Finally, biotech companies should consider attending or Consider presenting your company at the 1st Annual Rocky Mountain Life Science Investor Conference