At first I thought this might be a joke. Some fine wool pulled over the eyes of overworked, underslept journalists.
The same week the “Bostlandia” video spoof comes out (shouldn’t it be Bostonia?) and there are all sorts of rumors flying around at Ruby Riot, surely this thing called “Intelligent.ly” isn’t for real. First of all, there’s the “.ly” which looks like a parody of tech startup names. Second, is this yet another incubator, accelerator, or co-working space for techies around town? Do we really need that?
To get some answers, I talked with Sarah Hodges (see photo above), digital marketer extraordinaire at Boston-based FitnessKeeper, who is heading up Intelligent.ly in her spare time with Dave Balter, the CEO of BzzAgent (part of Dunnhumby/Tesco). Yes, she assured me, Intelligent.ly is for real. And yes, we need it.
Just one thing: Don’t call it an incubator. Or an accelerator. Or a co-working space. Instead, try “peer-to-peer learning” center, Hodges says. Indeed, its name is meant to evoke the idea of “cultivating new skill sets,” she says.
Intelligent.ly is a community space in Boston in which entrepreneurs and innovators of all types can hang out, collaborate, take classes, and create new stuff. The space is on the third floor of 500 Harrison Avenue in the South End, in the same building that houses BzzAgent, Smarterer, ProctorCam, Help Scout, Promoboxx, Eat Boston, and Alphabet Arm Design.
The project is loosely modeled after New York City’s General Assembly, whose “campus for technology, design, and entrepreneurship” started in early 2011 and has supported startups like Postling, Profitably, and Yipit. But no office space or funding is being offered here in Boston. Instead it’s all about sharing and learning—and doing it in person, with one’s peers.
“People want to help each other here, and we have a tremendous amount of talent around Boston,” Hodges says. “But it’s hard to connect people who are eager to learn with people qualified to teach.”
Short classes at Intelligent.ly will cost about $20 to $50 each, to cover the costs of running the program and to pay instructors for their time. Topics will include the basics of branding, marketing, public relations, product management, and programming. Most of the teaching will revolve around the broader spheres of entrepreneurship, leadership, and professional development.
What’s more, the space isn’t meant to appeal only to Web or mobile tech startups, say—or even startups alone. “We want it to be an open forum.
