iNews Briefs, More & Community Events
Community Events
RENT: The Musical
Opened Thursday September 10th, 2015
Runs to October 3rd, 2015
Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays
Doors open at 6:30 PM for Happy Hour
try our special Tom Collins cocktail!
at The Prospect Playhouse
Do not miss out on the musical event of the year!
No Day but Today!
Click here for tickets: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/rent-the-musical-all-ticket-prices-in-us-tickets-17993960420?aff=ehomecard
Please join the Cayman Jewish Community for the following programmes:
Sunday September 27th
6:30 pm Sukkot Under the Stars
Tuesday, September 29th
4:00pm Sukkot Children’s Party
Monday, October 26th
Mark Halawa: From Kuwait to Jerusalem
Wednesday, December 9th
4:00 pm Pardes Rock Chanukah Concert
Wednesday, January 6th 2016
Jerusalem Uncovered: Rabbi Avraham Stolik
8th Annual CISPA Gala “Back to the Future-Celebrating 45 years of excellence”
Date: 10/10/2015
Time: 6:30 PM
Ritz Carlton Seven Mile Beach
Phone: 749 3360
Register
Event Description: The 8th Annual CISPA Gala “Back to the Future-Celebrating 45 years of excellence” is a time to celebrate Caymanians who recently attained their professional accounting designations as well as a chance to celebrate the past and look to the future
Directions: The Ritz Carlton, Grand Cayman
Annual Meals on Wheels Dress Down Day
SAVE THE DATE
Dress Down Day Friday, 20th November, 2015
Help feed our Seniors we believe no-one in Cayman should go hungry.
Individuals can help by purchasing an orange ribbon for $5.00 or a tee shirt for $15.00 and wearing them on Dress Down Day, we are encouraging companies to match employee donations.
For more information or to sign up to participate please feel free to contact us via email at [email protected] or via telephone at 949-3905.
CARE announces Cayman Islands 5th Annual Paws for wine
Sat Sept 26th Ristorante Pappagallo
Lions Club of Tropical Gardens Brenda Tibbetts-Lund Memorial 5K Walk/Run5K
Sunday October 3, 2015 in North Side at 6am
Public Consultation Meetings Begin for Marine Parks
Public meetings on the proposed Enhanced Marine Parks System are being held this month in all districts on Grand Cayman. The schedule is as follows:
* Bodden Town Primary School Hall on Wednesday, 23 September, at 7pm
* North Side Civic Centre on Thursday, 24 September, from 8pm
* East End Civic Centre serves on Monday, 21 September, at 8pm
Details of meetings for Cayman Brac and Little Cayman will be announced soon.
For more information of the proposed Enhanced Marine Parks System, visit http://www.doe.ky/marine/marine-parks-review/.
To submit an opinion about the proposals, email [email protected]
General queries can be directed to [email protected]
The deadline for submissions is Friday, 4 December.
Grand Court Jurors Report Date Changed
The Grand Court jury report date has been changed.
For Grand Court Jurors who are in the 1 July – 6 October 2015 session, the report date has been changed to Monday, 21st September 2015 at 9:45 a.m.
Please call the Jury Information line at 945-5072 for the most up to date information.
AIMA – CAYMAN ISLANDS CHAPTER MEETING
Ron S. Geffner, Partner and Head of the Financial Services Practice will speak at the AIMA Cayman Chapter Meeting on US Regulatory Developments and the outlook for the US and Cayman investment funds industry on November 24th at 12:00 noon.
Speaker: Ron S. Geffner
Start Date: 11/24/2009
End Date: 11/24/2009
Location: The Wharf Restaurant, Cayman Islands
Associated: Ron S. Geffner
CIBC FirstCaribbean Auto Fair
100% Auto Financing, Fast Approval, Low Interest Rates, * at:
CIBC FirstCaribbean Auto Fair
Saturday, 26th September 2015
10:00am – 4:00pm
25 Main Street, George Town, Grand Cayman
FUTSAL CUP SEP 28
THU SEP 17
Layman E. Scott Sr High School
The Layman E. Scott Sr High School is hosting a P-T-A meeting on Thursday (17 Sept) in the school hall at 7pm.
Cardinal Avenue Street Fair
The Cardinal Avenue Street Fair is Thursday (17 Sept) from 9 — 3pm. The street will be closed from 7.00 am to 4:00 pm starting from the Harbor Drive entrance to Albert Panton exit.
Humorous Speech Contest
The Toastmasters of Grand Cayman will be hosting their annual Humorous Speech Contest on Thursday (17 Sept) at the 3rd Floor George Town Public Library at 6:00 pm.
Cayman Islands Humane Society Pub Quiz
The Cayman Islands Humane Society is hosting a pub quiz on Thursday (17 Sept) at 7pm at Fidel Murphy’s.
Cayman Islands Small Business Association’s General Meeting
The Cayman Islands Small Business Association’s Annual General Meeting is Thursday (17 Sept) at 530pm at the George Town Town Hall.
Sunrise Art Club
The National Gallery’s Sunrise Art Club is Thursday (17 Sept) at 9am.
EY’s Art for the Elderly for Cayman Brac
EY’s Art for the Elderly for Cayman Brac hosted by the National Gallery is Thursday (17 Sept) from 1130am until 12:30pm.
Continuing Medical Education seminar
Continuing Medical Education seminar at St Mathews University for all allied medical professionals on Thursday Sept 17, 5:30pm — 9:00pm
Dr. Moody September 2015
Gordon Solomon Art
You are invited you to attend the opening evening of
Doctor Moody: Frames of Mind
A new series of work by Gordon Solomon
Cayman islands National Gallery DART Auditorium
17th September 5:30pm – 7:30pm
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oknWyXVUGc&feature=youtu.be
FRI SEP 18
Lighthouse School Celebrations
Lighthouse School will be celebrating Special Olympics athletes for their achievements in the world games on Friday (18 Sept) at 1:45pm.
John Gray Mentoring Program Training
The John Gray High School Mentoring Program is hosting a training session for mentors on Friday from 530 — 830pm and on Saturday (19 Sept) from 9am until 1pm.
Sat SEP 19
The Lions Club of Tropical Gardens Fish Fry
Sat 19th Sept. 12n – 5pm Cricket Field, George Town $10
SAT SEP 26
Men’s Breakfast Meeting
The Grand Cayman chapter of the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International is having its monthly breakfast on Saturday September 26th at 7:30am, at The Upper Crust restaurant in Camana Bay. Dr. Curtis Barnett to be our guest speaker.
Come out to hear the how God is making a difference in the life of men like you, right here in Cayman.
Conservation Council Meeting announced for Cayman Islands
The National Conservation Council will hold a general meeting on Wednesday September 23rd, 2015, from 2pm to 5pm in the ground floor meeting room (1038) of the Government Administration Building (Grand Cayman). This meeting is open to observers from the public and the press. The Agenda of the meeting is available on the Department of Environment’s website, www.DoE.ky
Golden Island Filmworks, Antigua plot $125m equity boost
A group of film industry veterans have teamed up with the government of Antigua on an initial slate of five features designed to boost the Caribbean island’s production ambitions.
Finance and production company Golden Island Filmworks comprises The Hurricane producer Rudy Langlais, Caribbean social entrepreneur Valmiki Kempadoo, Toronto-based producer Don Allan and veteran executive Neil Sacker.
The first five features will range in budget from $20m-$85m. A portion of all the films will shoot in Antigua and the first two titles are Rebels, about the formative years in Bob Marley’s life, and spy thriller Nick Carter: Killmaster.
The model is the result of a lengthy courtship of Langlais by Antigua and Barbuda prime minister Gaston A Brown and will use funds generated by the Antigua Citizenship Investment Program.
Additional funds from investors will raise the initial war chest to $250m.
“We are welcoming the leading directors, actors and filmmaking technicians of the world to Antigua and they are coming to create exciting films that capture the beauty, mystery, history and complexity of our country, our history, our people,” said Browne.
Langlais added: “My partners and I had a dream more than 10 years ago, that the Caribbean, which has produced brilliant statesmen like Alexander Hamilton, Nobel Prize-winning poets and novellists, Walcott and Naipaul, legendary athletes like Sobers and Richards and Bolt, and perhaps the world’s greatest cultural icon in Bob Marley, should add its “voice” now to filmmaking.
“We have wanted to join our colleagues around the world to share our stories and join in telling stories together. Now that time is here. Exciting films will come of this collaboration.”
Eric Weissmann and Lizbeth Hasse and Erin Harrison of Creative Industry Law Group and producer-financier Karen Longley Gordy, who will serve as a principal in Golden Island Filmworks, facilitated the deal.
Joseph Cohen of American Entertainment Investors and Larry Becksey of Intellectual Property Group served as Golden Islands’ advisors in the closing.
viNGN CEO: ‘ST. Croix will be silicon valley of the Caribbean’
From The Virgin Islands Consortium
ST. CROIX — Imagine this island being the hub for the world’s major technology firms — Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Uber, and Apple, just to name a few. Ponder for a second the impact of these businesses establishing data centers and other ventures indelible to their global operations right here. Now, think of the jobs that would be created, the resources these companies would pour into the local economy and the opportunities instantly made available for a new generation of IT graduates.
You would have just birthed, in your mind, the Silicon Valley of the Caribbean, according to Dr. Tonjia Coverdale, the new CEO of viNGN, who confirmed to The Consortium that they’ve been in talks with the major U.S. tech firms to setup shop right here, armed with some of the fastest fiber optic speeds in the U.S., and Economic Development Authority (EDA) benefits attractive to companies looking to avoid high taxes.
viNGN boasts some of the fastest fiber optic broadband speeds in America through its fiber network that many of the territory’s Internet service providers feed from. Recently, the government-owned company upped its capacity to 10 gigabits per second for interconnectivity between the three islands by installing its sub-sea cables. Previously, viNGN only had intra-island connectivity — meaning it already had its network setup in the respective islands, however the capability to connect all three through the network remained a hindrance, forcing the firm to lease 2.5 gigabits of space from AT&T.
But the recent occasion saw the territory becoming the only 100 percent interconnected jurisdiction of all the 56 states and territories, according to Dr. Coverdale. The benefits of such an accomplishment stand to revolutionize the territory, with the epicenter of the operations being on St. Croix.
“I want people to understand what we have here in the Virgin Islands. We are a major player,” Dr. Coverdale told The Consortium last Friday following her keynote address at the opening ceremony of St. Croix’s first IT Academy at the St. Joseph High School.
Dr. Coverdale described viNGN’s service as providing true upload and download speeds. For example, some companies here offer 20 megabits of download speeds, but only 1 megabit of upload. viNGN offers true speeds both up and down because of its fiber optic network, and the firm has way more capacity than any other company in the territory. In fact, most of the major Internet service providers here — including Innovative Communications Corporation and Broadband VI — have partnered with viNGN.
“For example, what upload speeds can do is really encourage a community of filmmakers, and this can become a center for the film industry because no one’s able to upload speeds of that capacity,” Dr. Coverdale said.
Dr. Coverdale, a former University of the Virgin Islands professor, revealed that operators of the telescope located on the east end of this island, across from Cramer Park, ship 40 terabits of data daily by FedEx.
“We’re working diligently with them now, and with viNGN’s connection, they can now upload that data in 5 minutes,” Dr. Coverdale revealed. “viNGN revolutionizes the way we communicate, and what it does for the Virgin Islands is we become a haven for people looking for this kind of opportunity. Because we honestly are the only ones who have it.”
The exuberant energy costs in the territory pose a threat to the revolution, Dr. Coverdale admitted, but there’s a solution for that, too.
“We have a solution that I’m not ready to discuss at length yet, but I will say that it is possible for us to use the natural resources that we have, especially on St. Croix, to combat some of those energy issues.”
She added: “I do want to say that St. Croix is going to be the epicenter for this technological revolution. We have targeted here, starting with the Cisco academy, and St. Croix is going to be the Silicon Valley of the Caribbean.”
And Dr. Coverdale said viNGN is “always in touch” with the major U.S. tech firms. She said the key issue right now is to identify how these companies want to get involved and what is possible. The IT major placed a self-imposed short timeframe to start seeing results.
“I want to see some movement,” she said. “So if we start with smaller projects and ramp up to the large ones, I’m fine with that.”
She added: “The companies are definitely aware of what we have down here. We are on the map.”
IMAGE: Dr. Tonjia Coverdale, CEO of viNGN.
For more: http://viconsortium.com/business/vingn-ceo-st-croix-will-be-silicon-valley-of-the-caribbean/
‘Turning Tides’ will put spotlight on Caribbean studies
From Trinity College Hartford Connecticut
Trinity College Teaming with University of the West Indies for Interdisciplinary Forum in Trinidad and Tobago Next Year
Hartford, Connecticut, September 10, 2015 – Scholars, artists, and activists are invited to take part in a new forum co-sponsored by Trinity College and The University of the West Indies that will reach beyond borders, across languages, and among the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. The inaugural conference, “Turning Tides: Caribbean Intersections in the Americas and Beyond,” will be hosted by The University of the West Indies at its St. Augustine campus in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on February 18-20, 2016.
“Turning Tides” aims to provoke wide-reaching and transdisciplinary conversations about the instabilities, changes, developments, perspectives, and future trends that intersect the cultures and societies bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and beyond.
“This is the first time that a liberal arts college is teaming up with one of the most important universities in the English-speaking Caribbean to host a conference of this magnitude,” said Dario Euraque, Trinity College professor of history and international studies. Euraque is the chair of Trinity’s contingent of the organizing committee that is currently planning the conference and is co-director of Trinity’s Trinity in Trinidad study-away program, along with Milla Riggio, James J. Goodwin Professor of English, and Pablo Delano, professor of fine arts.
The upcoming conference goes hand-in-hand with a new program house that Trinity will rent at The University of the West Indies. “President Joanne Berger-Sweeney and I traveled to Trinidad in April for the groundbreaking of that program house, which will be inaugurated early next spring,” Euraque said. “We felt that as a way to consolidate those relationships, it would be interesting to co-sponsor a scholarly conference not only involving faculty, but one that would also attract scholars of renown about the Caribbean from all around the world.” He added that Berger-Sweeney has said she plans to attend the conference, as have several Trinity faculty members.
Another objective of the conference is to highlight the Caribbean studies offered in Hartford. “President Berger-Sweeney is supporting the establishment of a Caribbean Studies Center at Trinity College. After all, Hartford has one of the largest Caribbean populations in the United States outside of New York. Many people in the region, and sometimes our own students, aren’t aware of this,” Euraque said. “This will highlight the power of Trinity College as a place to study the Caribbean.”
Students in Trinity’s study-away program in Trinidad also will be encouraged to participate in the conference. “The study away program there will be validated or valued in ways that sometimes study in the Caribbean is not,” Euraque said. “Sometimes it is reduced to thoughts about having fun on the beach and so forth. Our program is not that. This conference will really highlight the academic dimensions of study and travel.”
Of course, Euraque added, that doesn’t mean that there is not time for excursions. “One of the features is that the students go for 10 days to Caribbean Costa Rica to compare what the Spanish-speaking Caribbean is like to Trinidad, which is English-speaking,” he said. “It’s not what many people have in their minds, which is the islands only. The Caribbean includes many counties in Central America and eastern Mexico – including the Yucatán – wherever the Caribbean Sea touches. It crosses many international boundaries and across cultures; it’s not just islands.”
Euraque said that many conferences issue a call for papers, but “Turning Tides” is curating an event that is much wider in scope. “We actually have a call for presentations,” Euraque said. The conference is actively seeking proposals for complete panels, individual papers, posters, roundtable discussions, performances, and alternative-ses¬sion formats that offer a fresh vantage point on past and present transnational and transcultural developments in the Ameri¬cas.
The subjects may include history, immigration, colonialism, art, religion, and much more, Euraque said. “Whatever can connect to that theme of the conference.”
Proposals should be sent as e-mail attachments (Word document or PDF) to Dario Euraque and Heather Cateau by October 15, 2015. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by November 1, 2015.
IMAGE: Trinity College’s organizing committee for the new conference, “Turning Tides: Caribbean Intersections in the Americas and Beyond,” first met in January 2015. Pictured are: Eric A. Galm, associate professor of music; Stefanie Chambers, Charles A. Dana Research Associate Professor of Political Science; Davarian L. Baldwin, Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of American Studies; Thomas M. Wickman, assistant professor of history and American studies; Milla C. Riggio, James J. Goodwin Professor of English; Donna-Dale Marcano, associate professor of philosophy; Janet L. Bauer, associate professor of international studies; Dario A. Euraque, professor of history and international studies; Cheryl Greenberg, Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of History; Kent D. Dunlap, professor of biology; Anne Lambright, Charles A. Dana Research Associate Professor of Language and Culture Studies; Maurice L. Wade, professor of philosophy; and Jeffrey Bayliss, associate professor of history. The committee also includes Gary Reger, Hobart Professor of Classical Languages; Katherine L. Bergren, assistant professor of English; and Mandi Haines, senior associate director of admissions and coordinator of international recruitment and financial aid. Photo by Pablo Delano, professor of fine arts.
4 local and regional tech conferences in 2016 to get ready for now!
From Miami Caribbean Code
In the last few weeks, we’ve covered topics catering to the aspiring tech entrepreneur. From our favorite co-working spaces in Miami and around South Florida that we think will help you and your business thrive, to our favorite startups and startup innovators in South Florida and the Caribbean to inspire you, to a few fundamentals all entrepreneurs new to startup life should know. Today, we advise on some of the best tech conferences right in your own community designed to help you keep learning and growing your business.
BLACK TECH WEEK
Aiming to add more impactful programming around Black History Month, Black Tech Week, a week long event series held the last week of February, celebrates innovators of color and diversity among Miami’s burgeoning tech community, and the tech industry as a whole. Created in 2014 by Code Fever, Black Tech Weeks kicked off its first week of events in February of 2015. Many organizations, startups and tech companies were involved in the week’s festivities. Some of those festivities throughout the week included 2 pitch competitions offering the chance to win cash prizes, a panel discussion on creativity with a focus on monetization and distribution of indie content with David Banner, and a women’s innovation brunch. Catch the next ‘Black Tech Week’ February 22-28, 2016 in Miami, FL.
EMERGE AMERICAS
Based in Miami, FL, but making an impact worldwide as not just a local tech hub, but a tech hub for the world, ‘eMerge Americas’ is where people and ideas come together connecting tech leaders and innovators in North America, Europe and Latin America. Its core roles: “a platform for the advancement of technology; a forum for idea exchange; and a launchpad for innovation.” The 2015 event met 10,000 attendees from 50 countries, 500 companies, 125 startups and 200 speakers. If you were unable to attend this year’s event, or are just learning of it, you can watch the 2015 keynotes on their website, but be sure to prep for eMerge Americas 2016 conference happening April 18-19. Currently, applications are being accepted for their Startup Showcase.
KINGSTON BETA
A pioneering tech event since 2007, Kingston Beta is an event series bringing together aspiring entrepreneurs, developers, designers, tech leaders and those simply wild about all things tech and innovation in Jamaica and around the Caribbean. At Kingston Beta, you can expect to learn, inspire, be inspired and connect with others in the Caribbean tech community while picking up new skills and learning about new resources to grow your business. Kingston Beta is produced by ConnectiMass, a Jamaican-based nonprofit promoting tech entrepreneurship throughout the Caribbean, especially among young people and women.
MC2 REGIONAL TECH SUMMIT
Our goal here at Miami Caribbean Code (MC2) is to connect the Miami-Caribbean tech community with the Caribbean tech community, becoming cross-regional partners in the process, and bringing the Caribbean up to code through education and empowerment. Established in 2014, MC2 held its first Regional Tech Summit in June of 2015. Tech leaders and innovators from South Florida, the Caribbean and beyond converged for a day on Miami’s Design District to converse about issues relevant to the Caribbean tech sector and come up with solutions together. The day ended with the Caribbean Tech & Innovation Awards where tech innovators were recognized and rewarded for their hard work. Save the date! Our 2nd Regional Tech Summit is set for June 23, 2016.
For more: http://miamicaribbeancode.com/4-local-and-regional-tech-conferences-to-get-ready-for-in-2016/
