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Sam: Hello! It's me, your friendly neighborhood Sam Sabin, back again to give you the lowdown on all things D.C. tech, innovation, startups, etc."But, Sam, where were you? And who took care of Barry, your small kitten?" Great questions! Barry the small kitten had a bandwagon of people at the ready to feed and snuggle him while I spent the week solo road tripping from Austin to Los Angeles, with hella stops to see friends, explore new places and so on.
From a stop at the Grand Canyon where a bro came up, stared at it and said "ya know, it's just *too* tall."
Maybe driving halfway across the country is not everyone's definition of vacation, but it is mine, and it was beautiful!!
Now, personal pleasantries aside, let's catch up on the D.C.-area tech news you need to know from when we were off late last week and today...
Sam: Maybe you've noticed those ads about homesharing and Airbnb popping up around the D.C. metro area. Ya know, the ads either campaigning for or against homesharing in various local neighborhoods as the D.C. Council debates a homesharing bill from Councilman Kenyan McDuffie (D-Ward 5) for tighter Airbnb regulations.
Share Better, a group generally working against homesharing startups like Airbnb, debuted its TV advertisement on April 20. It follows a woman portraying a lifelong Anacostia resident upset with how Airbnb has changed her neighborhood. They've priced out others, encouraged landlords to pursue short-term renters, rather than longer-term ones, in an effort to get more money and so on, the argument goes.
As NBC 4 Washington has confirmed, the woman in the video is an actress who lives in New York City, not Anacostia. Before we go into this, I should note that the ad never explicitly says that the woman in the ad is a real-life resident of Anacostia, and groups like Share Better hire actors for advertisements of these sorts all the time. But the outrage from Anacostia residents is real, as NBC 4 reports.
Airbnb is playing off of that. In a new television ad out this afternoon, Airbnb literally slams Share Better—showing portions of the advertisement and including Ward 8 resident Kanita Williams in the commercial. With the advertisement, Airbnb is trying to expose the backers of Share Better, who typically works with the hotel industry in its campaigns.
Y'all, I've been gone for one week and the debate surrounding the Airbnb bill that won't even be voted on for another two months HEATED UP REAL QUICK. Who would've thought???
Sam: Lanham, Md.-based edtech company 2U is the latest D.C. area company to enter the podcast arena. Launching last Tuesday, the company aims to highlight how different industry sectors could be affected in the future in the bi-weekly show. For example, the first episode deep dives into the manufacturing industry, and the second episode will focus on the future of aging. The show is an extension of the company's The Front Row publication, where 2U highlights stories from the intersection of education and technology. Read more: 2U's New Podcast Explores the Intersection of Education and Technology.
On Friday, Appian set its IPO price! Remember that news? Reston, Va.-based Appian is the latest D.C. metro area company planning to exit via IPO this year, with plans to trade on the NASDAQ. According to The Washington Business Journal, Appian will price its IPO between $11 and $13 per share, according to an amended SEC filing Friday morning. The IPO still does not have a date. WBJ has more.
And lastly, it looks like Montgomery County is getting a brand new incubator! According to WBJ on Thursday, the county is close to picking a partner to create the new tech and media incubator in Silver Spring. With a goal of picking a partner in the next 30 days, Montgomery County plans to reinvent the Silver Spring Innovation Center into an incubator space with work spaces, programming and hella opportunities to help grow businesses in the county. WBJ has more.
Sam: Per Fortune's Term Sheet today, Baltimore-based cargo container tracking solution provider AKUA has raised a $3M seed round. Crosslink Capital, who has invested in mattress company Casper and Ancestry.com, led the round.
Sam: You know how Apple always has some weird, outlandish plans for life and the future and technology? Remember how that includes its weird plans to convert D.C.'s Carnegie Library (yep, that Carnegie Library in Mount Vernon Square) into an Apple Store location? Well, we now have some mock-ups of what Apple is envisioning for this store front. Last Monday, the people behind the storefront present the renderings to the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission, proposing to add a skylight to the central hall of the historic library to let in more natural light and to restore the building's facade. The Washington Post has the renderings.
ALSO, don't you think I forgot about all-time favorite: Inno Approved. I have a new roundup for those socialites looking to plan out their next two weeks. Still need plans for tonight? Maybe celebrate Summer of Design 2017 at their happy hour tonight at 6:30 PM! All the details and more events in the latest Inno Approved.
Sam: When I flew back from L.A. Saturday night, I flew on Spirit Airlines for the first time because low-key it was $100 cheaper than any other option I had, and, girl, I am not one to pass on a deal.
When I flew, I was shook at how rude and ill-equipped the low-cost airline was to cater to all of their customers. When we started the safety procedures demonstration at the beginning of the flight, our flight attendant got on the mic and said "Alright, now is the time where I talk and all of you listen." Most of us went doe-eyed and shut up. Some people were still talking, and a few minutes later I realized the people still talking were speaking primarily Spanish.
At the end of the demonstration, which the same Spanish-speaking group spoke through, our flight attendant ended the demonstration with "To those who paid attention, thank you! To those who did not, good luck!" There were no attempts to offer the safety demonstration in Spanish.
I have a lot of problems with what happened, and maybe I don't know the full story. But maybe we should be thinking more seriously about how flights offer their safety demonstrations, and the lack of bilingual services readily available. Maybe the group talking really didn't care about the demonstration; but I can't shake the feeling that they just didn't know it was happening—and that's a problem.
Sam: I love tech that helps people! I love tech that helps government! I love this story about these new smart trash cans from DCist, which sounds real lame, but stick with me, it's dope!
See, it seems that the downtown D.C. area and Anacostia are the homes to a test pilot program through the D.C. government and business improvement districts of DowntownDC and Anacostia. Basically, there are a total of 87 "smart trash cans" that monitor how full the trash bins are, whether or not home trash is being thrown in there, the temperature of the bin and so. much. more. Tech is so weird and cool, y'all!
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Staff Writer: Sam Sabin, ssabin@americaninno.com
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