Agenda

Baystate Heart & Vascular Program Lecture, Tour

June 29: The Baystate Heart & Vascular Program will host a free community lecture and tour from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in Baystate Franklin Medical Center’s (BFMC) main conference rooms. Presenters Dr. Senthil Sivalingam and Dr. Heba Wassif will share information about the latest advances in heart and vascular care available in Greenfield. The event will include a tour of the program’s new location at BFMC. Heart-healthy refreshments will be served, and handouts will be provided. Sivalingam, a clinical cardiac electrophysiologist, will discuss slow heart rates, when it’s time to worry and seek treatment, and talking points to discuss with one’s physician. A graduate of Madras Medical College in India, he completed his internship and residency at Baystate Medical Center. He also holds a fellowship in cardiology from Tufts University School of Medicine/Baystate Medical Center, and a fellowship in cardiac electrophysiology from Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. Sivalingam joined Baystate Medical Center in 2012 and Baystate Franklin Medical Center in 2015. A non-invasive cardiologist, Wassif will discuss the risks, diagnosis, and treatment of heart disease, as well as new screening options to help improve one’s overall heart health. She received her master’s degree in public health from the Bloomberg John Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore, and her medical degree from Cairo University in Egypt. She served as an internal medicine resident at the University of Minnesota Hospital and Clinic and as the chief resident for the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center. She completed her cardiology fellowship at John Hopkins Hospital/School of Medicine in Baltimore and an interventional-cardiology fellowship with additional advanced cardiology training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School in Boston. Wassif joined Baystate Franklin Medical Center in 2015.

Centennial Motorcycle Ride

July 4-5: The Springfield Museums will host events tied to the launch of the Sisters’ Centennial Motorcycle Ride, a commemorative cross-country trip to honor the epic journey made by Adeline and Augusta Van Buren 100 years ago this summer. In 1916, the Van Buren Sisters were the first women to cross the continental U.S., each on her own Indian Powerplus motorcycle built in Springfield. During their historic trip, they became the first women to reach the 14,115-foot summit of Pikes Peak, and reached San Francisco after 60 days of riding. In 2002, the Sisters were inducted into the American Motorcyclist Assoc. Hall of Fame, and in 2003 they were inducted into the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum & Hall of Fame. Just as Adeline and Augusta did in 1916, Centennial Ride participants will begin their ride west in Springfield. The roughly 100 motorcyclists will gather on Monday, July 4 for dinner, music, and a viewing of fireworks from La Quinta Hotel in downtown Springfield. The next day, Tuesday, July 5, riders will attend an opening ceremony at the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History at the Springfield Museums. The Wood Museum features the famous Indian Motocycle Collection, an expansive exhibit of vintage bikes, photographs, and memorabilia detailing the Springfield-based company’s proud history from its inception in 1902. Ride participants will also hear remarks from ride organizer Alisa Clickenger, Robert Pandya of Indian Motorcycle, and Wood Museum Director Guy McLain. That portion of the program will take place at 10 a.m. in SIS Hall at the Wood Museum, and is open to the public with paid museum admission. Following those opening comments, riders will be able to tour the Indian collection and enjoy a new exhibit created in honor of Adeline and Augusta. “Crossing the Country to Cross Barriers: The Van Buren Sisters Ride into History” will feature a range of photographs taken on the trip and a variety of rare memorabilia items on loan from the Van Buren family. The exhibit runs from June 28, 2016 to July 30, 2017. Adeline and Augusta will also be the honorees at this year’s Indian Day Celebration at the Springfield Museums, which is scheduled for Sunday, July 24. “We are thrilled that we’ve played a part in connecting the Van Buren family with the Springfield Museums and providing the inspiration for this new exhibit,” Clickenger said. “What a terrific way to formally start our event, by being able to bring our riders to the Springfield Museums to experience how and where our fabulous story began.” Information about the Sisters’ Centennial Motorcycle Ride on July 5-23, as well as background on the Van Buren Sisters, adventure tours for women, and additional ride routes, can all be found on the event website, www.sistersmotorcycleride.com.

Lean LaunchPad Weekend

July 29-31: In today’s competitive market, startups and small businesses need all the help they can get. The Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at Elms College will hold a Lean LaunchPad weekend to help startups identify the specific problems their products or services can solve for customers. The weekend-long workshop, titled “Creating Customers and Value,” will help businesses fail less, save money, and discover target customers and ideal business models. The Lean LaunchPad weekend course combines hands-on experience, customer interaction, and business fundamentals to entrepreneurship. Participants will dive deep into the ‘value-proposition canvas’ to understand product market fit; they will also learn how to turn ideas into statements that convince customers to buy. The events will begin with a 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. session on Friday, July 29, and run from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, July 30 and 31. The workshop will include an “Idea Jam,” a look at business pitch concepts, team formation, networking, in-depth exploration of the value-proposition canvas, hands-on development of customer-value creation, an overview of market size and customer segments, and a business-pitch competition. The facilitators for the Startup Lean Weekend will be Jeremy Casey and Rick Plaut. Casey started Name Net Worth, a software startup company, in Springfield in 2014. His background as a serial networker, commercial lender, and communicator was the springboard to his transition from corporate America to entrepreneurship. He was president of the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield (YPS), has conducted workshops with many high schools and colleges in the Northeast, and has mentored many startup organizations through Valley Venture Mentors, helping them get their businesses started and providing ongoing feedback as they grow. Plaut became an entrepreneur in 2009 after 30 years as a corporate ‘intrapreneur,’ developing new products, customers, markets, and businesses. Currently founding his third enterprise, he is a partner in InCommN and was a partner at Universal Quality Machine. He and his partners at InCommN teach the principles of Lean LaunchPad to entrepreneurs, nonprofits, and businesses with a need for quick growth in new markets. He also shares the tools of Lean LaunchPad and the Business Model Canvas with students at a number of local colleges, including Smith, Elms, and UMass. He is also a mentor and facilitator for early-stage startups at Valley Venture Mentors, and is a board member and mentor for a variety of early-stage enterprises. All events will take place on the Elms College campus. The cost is $250 per person or $150 for Elms alumni.