Let’s Innovate for Vegas

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: Year five started, new board members seated, time to get back to work… a refresher for repeat listeners, an overview for newcomers. Links Innovate for Vegas Cohort https://innovateforvegas.org Innovate for Vegas Foundation https://innovateforvegas.foundation

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: Our fourth fiscal year ends today, June 30 as we record today’s episode, almost requiring a retrospective episode, so here we are… Links Innovate for Vegas Activity https://innovateforvegas.org Innovate for Vegas Foundation https://innovateforvegas.foundation

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: The roots of our organization are found in the original Code for Vegas, part of Code for America and that model of operation. We have since gone another way… Links Innovate for Vegas Activity https://innovateforvegas.org Innovate for Vegas Foundation https://innovateforvegas.foundation

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: With Greater Vegas suffering somewhat from a silo structure, intended or otherwise, we have had much to ponder concerning the way former brigades and newly-formed and forming cohorts of civic volunteers pursuing civic innovation could, maybe should collaborate. Links Innovate for Vegas Activity https://innovateforvegas.org Innovate for Vegas Foundation https://in...

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: Civic Volunteerism, Civic Co-Creation, and now Civic Innovation. A lot of Civic stuff to talk about lately… Links Innovate for Vegas Activity https://innovateforvegas.org Innovate for Vegas Foundation https://innovateforvegas.foundation From One Perspective https://www.govtech.com/civic

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: We have talked about Co-Creation before, as well as Civic Volunteerism and more recently Civic Innovation, now we can talk about bringing these together in Greater Vegas during CityCamp Las Vegas and the Smarter Smart City Challenge, and perhaps all of the time… Links Innovate for Vegas Activity https://innovateforvegas.org Innovate for Vegas Foundation https://i...

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: LinkedIn is not a good platform, we have covered this previously more than once, but we are going to give it one last try before our Unconference events coming up in September 2026 and January 2027, wherein we will find out if Follow & Forget is also Follow & Ignore… Links Innovate for Vegas Activity https://innovateforvegas.org Innovate for Vegas Foundat...

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: So we have two unconference events upcoming, one hackathon style event in September 2026 and one year-long event commencing in January 2027. These will be planned with input from those who will participate, so the more the merrier in every sense, and that is a challenge in and of itself here in Greater Vegas. Links Innovate for Vegas Activity https://innovateforv...

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: We deferred the Smarter Smart City Challenge from this year to January 2027 so we get a full year to enable and encourage everybody. In the mean time, since CityCamp was a source of some ideas and inspiration, why not add CityCamp to our 2026 agenda? Links Innovate for Vegas Activity https://innovateforvegas.org Innovate for Vegas Foundation https://innovateforve...

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: These are not challenges like the Smarter Smart City Challenge, but the sorts of challenges an organization like ours, and maybe others, have to work around to get things done, to get the word out, and to get more people to reach an Ah Ha moment, lean in, and take part. Links Innovate for Vegas Activity https://innovateforvegas.org Innovate for Vegas Foundation h...

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: Our fiscal year of Civic Volunteer Winter is coming to end on 30 June 2026, and our empty director chairs have cooled off just in time for those considering joining our Board. What are we up to for you to consider? Links Innovate for Vegas Activity https://innovateforvegas.org Innovate for Vegas Foundation https://innovateforvegas.foundation

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: Vegas is a strange place when it comes to inviting innovation. Well, the invitations are easy, it’s the RSVPs that appear to go missing… so let’s ponder some simple machines to help make this work. Links Innovate for Vegas Activity https://innovateforvegas.org Innovate for Vegas Foundation https://innovateforvegas.foundation Simple Machines https://en.wikipedia.o...

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: Word on the street, actual skill and ability, human interest, a desire to elevate community, all of it can be done with Artificial Intelligence. Or can it? Should it? Links Innovate for Vegas Activity https://innovateforvegas.org Innovate for Vegas Foundation https://innovateforvegas.foundation

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: It has been a while since we added a proper sequel to the Excelsior theme (there was an Excelsior episode entering our fourth year but also Part 1 and Part 2 prior), so let us collect a few of our current goals and initiatives and other such things for Part 3. Links Innovate for Vegas Activity https://innovateforvegas.org Innovate for Vegas Foundation https://inn...

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: No, not cancelled, but our efforts to kick off the Smarter Smart City Challenge for 2026 here in Greater Vegas were met with exactly the sorts of things we need to work through to enable and encourage ideation, innovation, and implementation at scale. Let’s talk about it. Links Innovate for Vegas Activity https://innovateforvegas.org Innovate for Vegas Foundation...

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: Our Purpose Statement is fairly clear, and specifically vague, but one of our Missions is to Cultivate a Culture of Innovation in the Greater Vegas area through collaborative pursuit of Community Elevating Initiatives by Civic Volunteers. Why is this a good idea? Links Innovate for Vegas Activity https://innovateforvegas.org Innovate for Vegas Foundation https://...

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: During this civic volunteer winter, it seems as though it might be a good time to begin state-wide outreach to like-minded people and organizations who point their innovation efforts back into Nevada for elevation at scale. Links Innovate for Vegas Activity https://innovateforvegas.org Innovate for Vegas Foundation https://innovateforvegas.foundation

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: The Smarter Smart City Challenge is still in the Early Sign-Up phase until we reach 150, and to be honest, we are still at zero. Seems like a good time to suggest some non-tech ideas for Challenge projects! Links Innovate for Vegas Activity https://innovateforvegas.org Innovate for Vegas Foundation https://innovateforvegas.foundation

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: Talking about Innovation and all of these things is easy, actually doing it, or more to the point, convincing people to do it, is quite the other thing. Links Innovate for Vegas Activity https://innovateforvegas.org Innovate for Vegas Foundation https://innovateforvegas.foundation

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: We have been trying out Luma as a calendar platform and of course LinkedIn, we know about that one. And remember, not everything is software. The case for building for purpose. Links Innovate for Vegas Activity https://innovateforvegas.org Innovate for Vegas Foundation https://innovateforvegas.foundation

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: Holopin never responded to our outreach, so Open Badges it shall be, and this is important in general for reasons we will revisit herein. Links Innovate for Vegas Activity https://innovateforvegas.org Innovate for Vegas Foundation https://innovateforvegas.foundation Open Badges (historical) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Open_Badges

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: We are putting together the Smarter Smart City Challenge at the time of this recording, seems like a good time to connect Challenges and our Challengers Initiative… Links Innovate for Vegas Activity https://innovateforvegas.org Innovate for Vegas Foundation https://innovateforvegas.foundation

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: The Smarter Smart City Challenge for 2026, slightly renamed and coming together nicely, will have people asking questions about the length of the challenge and the goals, not to mention how to participate. A good topic for today! Links Innovate for Vegas Activity https://innovateforvegas.org Innovate for Vegas Foundation https://innovateforvegas.foundation

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: We are putting together the big hackathon series or challenge or whatever we end up calling it, and never more than now is getting the word out about something in the Greater Vegas area so apparently difficult. Yipes. Links Innovate for Vegas Activity https://innovateforvegas.org Innovate for Vegas Foundation https://innovateforvegas.foundation

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: Getting ready for Smarter Smart City Hackathon 2026, the meta-planning phase is kicking off this week to set up for the real Hackathon series that will last through the year… Links Innovate for Vegas Activity https://innovateforvegas.org Innovate for Vegas Foundation https://innovateforvegas.foundation