Entrepreneur

This a blog post about two stories. First, as the title indicates, it is my opportunity to share my photos, the people with whom I connected, and some of what I learned at the Futureland AI Forward Summit on Thursday, November 20, 2025. The second story is how I am having a busy month, and to save time, I used AI for the first time to write part of this blog post.

First Story

I want to mention here that it was great to see the performance of Myles "Humble G" Smith of International Multimedia Group, and later have a great conversation with him and Jalá Smith. I had written a blog post which featured Humble G many years ago , so it was great to see him perform again!

In the afternoon, I attended TerDawn DeBoe's presentation, "Workshop: From AI Overwhelm to 10X ROI in 90 Days." You can learn more about her work at WorkWithTerDawn.com and InstituteOfBusinessai.org. I was interviewed about what I thought of her presentation, and if she uses it in a future promotional video, I will add it to this blog post.

Second Story

The second story was driven by my goal to create the text for this blog post quickly. It was after 11:22 pm, and I was finishing the draft of my blog post about the Grand Opening: Upland Sims Park Expansion - City of Euclid. I was tired, but I had set a goal of starting the text about the Futureland event, and I did not want to go bed without beginning to write it. I decided that since the Summit was about using AI, and was sponsored by Google, I would try for the first time using the Google Gemini AI platform. I gave it minimal promps and the text I had shared on social media. By 11:40:38 pm, I had an OpenDocument (.odt) file of a blog post text, and then decided it would be easier for me to add an HTML file to my website. I had Gemini create the HTML (Hypertext Markup Language - HTML5 version). I finished the evening at 1:02:09 am by choosing the following privacy option: "The activity you selected is being permanently deleted from your account and no longer tied to you."

The most important takeaway from the Summit is that our Northeast Ohio leaders are looking to use AI and other technology to better serve our community. I did talk to a couple of the presenters about how many unscrupulous people are using AI to steal creative people's intellectual property, to create false propaganda, and for other unethical activities. I shared with them the case of the felon in the White House creating an AI video of himself as a king dropping feces on the public that does not support him. They shared my concerns, and I was impressed that they did make the Summit focus on positive uses of technology in the world. As I shared on Bluesky social while I was writing this blog post, many ". . . of the presentations weren’t even about AI per se, but just about how to use good data and technology to better serve the community. Technology in the hands of good people can truly improve lives."

I currently don't plan on using AI, since it does not meet my current needs, but at the same time I think it is important to learn what it can do. I highly recommend attending future Futureland Summits, since their presenters did an excellent job of introducing technology that could further positive objectives in our community.

I am a very lucky man! In October and November 2019, I was very fortunate to attend many great events. I am publishing seven blog posts today because I really want to thank the organizers of these events. With so much happening, I have not been able to publish my blog posts on a timely basis, but still wanted to recognize and recommend these organizations.

In the interest of time, these are not my usual full blog posts, so I encourage you to click on the links and watch the videos in the tweets to learn more:

• Akron MakerSpace Grand Opening
  November 16, 2019.
  Thank you to Akron MakerSpace Founder and President Devin Wolfe for inviting me to celebrate the opening of Akron MakerSpace's impressive new space!

I am truly grateful to all those who made these great events possible.

I was very impressed with the Flashstarts 2016 Accelerator Class. At the November 30, 2016, Flashstarts Demo Day, the startup founders made their presentations, after which I had a chance to talk to them. I also truly enjoyed meeting other new people and reconnecting to the people I knew who attended this event at The City Club.

• Drive My Way

• Komae

• Markers

• Parihug

• Wheedle

On October 27, 2015, we were very fortunate to be invited to attend Case Western Reserve University's think[box] Thinkapalooza!

Even before the new think[box] space opened, we had heard about how great it was going to be. Thinkapalooza was part of the grand opening of Case Western Reserve University think[box]'s new space for promoting innovation and entrepreneurial enterprises. Its new name is the Larry Sears and Sally Zlotnick Sears think[box] and it is located in the Richey Mixon Building. It is one of the largest centers of its kind for an academic institution.

think[box] is a resource that will first focus on the students, faculty, and staff of the university, but will also be open to others in the surrounding community.

September 19, 2015 -- what a day!

I am a person who likes to attend a lot of events, but this day was unusual even for me! I got up at 6:00 a.m. to prepare for the day, and did not get home until late at night.

The reason for sharing my day with you, the reader, is twofold:

• I learned about a lot of interesting things.

• I want to thank everyone that made the day's events a grand success. Most of the people involved are donating their time to make our community better.

Here is how I spent my day:

• WebSigCleveland.org Meeting - Introduction to Web Application Vulnerability

• Akron-Summit County Public Library - Akron Mini Maker Faire

• Launch League - SpaceWalk 2015 Reception

On the evening of Tuesday, September 8, 2015, we knew we both needed to be on the second floor of the Terminal Tower. A grand opening was scheduled. The event by itself could have been just another gathering of talented people that we often attend in Cleveland, but what was opening represented much more -- the foundation for future Cleveland entrepreneurship in a centralized hub connecting startups to critical resources.

Cleveland StartMart Grand Opening

It was fascinating to meet and learn about the Flashstarts 2015 Accelerator Class at the Flashstarts' Demo Day, Wednesday, August 19, 2015 at House of Blues Cleveland. I find it very enjoyable to engage in conversation with such creative Cleveland entrepreneurs.

Flashstarts 2015 Accelerator Class:

1. Brilliency
2. Colign
3. Free-D
4. Gemma
5. inTouch
6. Schedulytics
7. Science United
8. Triple Analytics
9. Virtual Compass
10. We Can Code IT
11. Windrush

I had a blast!

On Wednesday, February 11, 2015, LaunchHouse transformed its building into a showcase of experimentation and experience, as the latest LaunchHouse Accelerator companies demonstrated their original product ideas at the LaunchHouse Accelerator Expo (LHXPO).

I use the word "experimentation" because this year, the focus was on hardware products and the science behind them. The active involvement of NASA Glenn Research Center with this year's LaunchHouse Accelerator supported this new level of experimentation.

I also use the word "experience," since attendees could get up close and personal with many of the products by actually trying them out.

I was fortunate to attend TechPint Cleveland V: Winter Jam on January 22, 2015, at the Beachland Ballroom. As the name implies, this was the fifth TechPint in Cleveland (there have also been Akron TechPints).

As in the past, the interesting location is also part of the draw of the event. Beachland Ballroom allowed for a creative atmosphere. With tickets sales exceeding 300, it was great that the Beachland Ballroom was able to open their back room to accommodate an additional 50 attendees. I heard that TechPint came very close to selling out all 350 tickets -- a big congratulations to the TechPint leadership team!