The whole New York trip was definitely meant to be all about work, but of course on the flip side work must be balanced with play.  Thursday night the whole team decided to head out to PS450 near downtown Manhattan.   A lot of folks from college we invited out showed up to have a good time, but without doubt we were bound to run into people we hadn’t seen in years.  That’s just the way New York works, you’re walking down the street and all of sudden its someone you haven’t seen since school.   One of the people that showed up was an old friend of mine, Vinnie.

Educated at Univ of Michigan’s B-school (and the streets of New York haha), Vinnie has cultivated himself into quite the number man.   I remembered he was doing financial work for PriceWaterHouse Coopers, so we chatted about that for a second, however it turned out he no longer worked there.  He is now actively working on his own financial consulting firm, Four Corners.  He has been working with a couple of other starts-up, helping them to develop pitch decks, financial forecasts and relationships with investors.  Now how lucky is that?   One of the last missing links to the Motown Initiative is team member with an accounting and revenue strategy background.  I just had to invite Vinnie down to the office for a sit down.

The next day, we had about a four hour conversation.  It was a mixture of catching up on the past and discussing opportunities of the future.  All said and done, Four Corners is now going to be working with Motown Initiative to ensure that we remain adequately funded and inline with our revenue goals post website launch.

I feel as if I’ve mentioned 4^th Deck Productions (4DP) before, but allow me to give a proper introduction. Based in NY, 4DP represents the content and development arm of the Motown Initiative. From original programming, to lifestyle events and commercial productions, they do it all. In the upcoming weeks we’ll be working on the pre-production component of our first MotownIni video. There will be a series of brand videos that will use to help spread the good word about the Initiative. Currently, 4DP is focusing on their latest client Mitsue artist. I think 4DP is going to be able to derive some exciting content from their work with her.

March 19th, 2009….Yesterday one of my partners in NY attended the VideoNuze conference and he came back with a plethora of knowledge.  We even spoke with our first VC, which was kinda exciting.  An entire report has been compiled on our activities from the event, but I have to keep that document somewhat internal. I will entertain you guys with some very key excerpts though. (follow the jump)

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Greetings to all,

This is my first entry,  im getting settled into the site and what not, so bare with me.  Overtime it should start looking a little more cool and hopefully I’ll get you guys engaged through commentary / suggestions.

My writings here will serve to keep everyone abreast of Motown Initiative activity from an “insider” perspective.  What is the Motown Initiative you may ask? Well let’s start with the word Motown.  If this word doesn’t automatically bring the city of Detroit to mind, you’re gonna wanna start by clicking here (a little wiki action for ya :)).   Now going back to complete name.

Motown Initiative is actually the code name for an upcoming tech-start up I believe has the ability to  breathe new life into Detroit.  By bringing relevant business that is non-automotive dependent to the heart of the city,  Motown Initiative hopes to rebuild the economy of Detroit step-by-step.   Imagine a broadband tech company that not only defines its success by monetary measurement but by social impact as well.   Working with local community organizations, educational institutions, philanthropists, broadband industry leaders and local businesses, Motown Initiative will work to redefine Detroit business.  This is in short the best description of the business Motown Initiative will establish.

So if you are like me, and you have a genuine interest in seeing the historic city of Detroit revitalized,  I encourage you to track my blog rss feed.   As time goes on the direction and details of the Motown Initiative plan will be revealed.