[Update: you can read all about the event now. Providence Geeks coverage: Part I, Part II. Also, here is Matt Guilford’s excellent summary.]

5pm – 6pm, Wednesday, June 21
AS220
115 Empire Street, Providence, RI
Providence Geeks is delighted to announce the first in what we hope becomes a regular series of town hall meetings. We have invited representatives of the RI-WINS project to offer some background and details on their amazing endeavor.

The RI-WINS project was launched by the Business Innovation Factory “to create a statewide, border-to-border, wireless broadband network that breaks down barriers to innovation, improves interoperability among new products and technologies, and establishes Rhode Island as an ideal place to explore and test new business models.” For more information, see the RI-WINS web site.
Speakers include:

• Bob Panoff, RI-WINS Program Director


• Donald Stanford, Chair of the Business Innovation Factory and President of Stanford Scientific


• Tracy Emerton Williams, Rhode Island’s Chief Information Officer

The RI-WINS Town Hall is open to the public, and will start at 5pm on Wednesday, June 21 at AS220 (115 Empire Street, Providence, RI) and end at 6pm. The speakers will present short talks on their involvement in and perspective on the RI-WINS project, and will then field questions from attendees. If you have any questions, please contact Brian Jepson (bjepson AT gmail DOT com) or leave a comment below.

Photo Credit: Bret A. Ancowitz, M.D. of Garris Photography

Wednesday, June 14, 2006, 5:30pm – 8pm+
AS220
115 Empire Street, Providence, RI

A special speaker and demo for this event will be announced shortly. (UPDATE: Speaker announced here.)
Please RSVP using the comments on this blog entry so we can give the good folks at AS220 an estimated headcount. And while you’re at it, subscribe to our NEW feeds and/or join the mailing list (for the mailing list, send an email to Jack Templin at jtemplin at Gmail with your name and affiliation).

As always, for first-timers here are the details on the geek dinners:

• It’s totally casual. Wear whatever, bring whoever, arrive and vamoose whenever…


• Topics of conversation will vary as they will at any gathering of geeks, but many of us will be talking about AJAX, mash-ups, start-ups, new devices, business models, interaction design, digital art, and web services.


• Food and beverages are for sale at the adjoining Taqueria Pacifica and bar.


• There is WiFi so bring your connected device of choice.


• We have AS220’s performance space from 5:30pm to approximately 7pm. After that the geekery moves to AS220’s adjoining cafe.

Providence Geek and Projo blogger, Sheila Lennon, has created a most helpful Google Maps-based mashup of Southern New England beaches. Apparently there are other ways to get a tan than sitting in front of your dual 21” monitors 3 days and nights straight. Who knew?

If so, all you need is a winning idea. The winner of the NGEN Wireless Contest gets six months of access on the RI-WINS pilot network, $1,000, and more.

To enter the contest, you’ll first need to join the Business Innovation Factory’s N-GEN Network, which is “a coalition of young innovators committed to collaborative innovation”. Next, submit an awesome idea for a mobile wireless application that runs on the RI-WINS network, and make it so excellent that you’re the winner. Of course, if you win the contest, you’ll have to do some work and make your idea become a reality.

The contest is open to teams as well as individuals, so if you’re looking for a great opportunity to meet some like-minded wireless hackers, be sure to attend our June 14th geek dinner. For complete details on the contest, check out the N-GEN web site.