Media Lab Director to My Rescue…Twice!

I might just have figured out the worst corner in Kendall Square and the best company to have there…It’s a beautiful day here, so I was taking a leisurely after-lunch stroll when I spotted MIT Media Lab director and Xconomist Frank Moss sauntering equally leisurely on the other side of Binney Street at the corner of Third Street. I waited for him as he crossed over to where I was at the southwest corner of the intersection and we started chatting.

My back was to the street, when suddenly Moss grabbed my shoulders and said, “Watch out,” pulling me farther away from traffic. I turned around to see the body of a big truck that was having trouble making the turn onto Third roll into the curb near where I had been standing. Whew! (Thoughts of Xconomy’s “key man” insurance policy danced in my head.)

Not a minute after we had resumed chatting (and yes, maybe I was dumb for turning my back to the street again), Moss reached for me again. This time it was a truck with a crane (or was it a backhoe?) having trouble with the same turn—and the pointy part was aimed right at my head. Did I mention there’s a lot of construction going on in Kendall Square these days?

Now, today wasn’t the first time the Media Lab’s head honcho has bailed me out. Earlier this spring, I was on my way to moderate a panel at the Deshpande Center Ideastream conference when my taxi got into an accident with another cab on Beacon Street in Boston. As the two cabbies were arguing over who was at fault and I was fretting about being late for the conference, I was able to reach Moss on his cell (he was on my panel) and he swooped by in his cab and whisked me to the conference.

Thanks Frank, again.

Author: Robert Buderi

Bob is Xconomy's founder and chairman. He is one of the country's foremost journalists covering business and technology. As a noted author and magazine editor, he is a sought-after commentator on innovation and global competitiveness. Before taking his most recent position as a research fellow in MIT's Center for International Studies, Bob served as Editor in Chief of MIT's Technology Review, then a 10-times-a-year publication with a circulation of 315,000. Bob led the magazine to numerous editorial and design awards and oversaw its expansion into three foreign editions, electronic newsletters, and highly successful conferences. As BusinessWeek's technology editor, he shared in the 1992 National Magazine Award for The Quality Imperative. Bob is the author of four books about technology and innovation. Naval Innovation for the 21st Century (2013) is a post-Cold War account of the Office of Naval Research. Guanxi (2006) focuses on Microsoft's Beijing research lab as a metaphor for global competitiveness. Engines of Tomorrow (2000) describes the evolution of corporate research. The Invention That Changed the World (1996) covered a secret lab at MIT during WWII. Bob served on the Council on Competitiveness-sponsored National Innovation Initiative and is an advisor to the Draper Prize Nominating Committee. He has been a regular guest of CNBC's Strategy Session and has spoken about innovation at many venues, including the Business Council, Amazon, eBay, Google, IBM, and Microsoft.