Podcasts about jersey city tech meetup

Hey Community Builder Podcast Community, Excited about this episode I did with Dan Sullivan. We had a great conversation and some real life podcast hurdles to work through in order to get this episode done. I welcome you to embrace the process with a love/love relationship. Understand that it will make you a stronger person by dealing with challenges head on. The Obstacle is the way. Hope you enjoy this gem. Travis Travis's Show Notes 1. How and why did you start this community? Works full-time @ NJ Tech Council -> a statewide organization that helps support the ecosystem of innovators and entrepreneurs who propel the future that's been around for 20+ years Dan asked himself the question "how can we help inspire and energize the new jersey communities?, how can that be done?" Identify markets with potential and then pick a city -> Jersey City (dead zone) 2. Dan got an idea -> Let's create a Meetup. Let's find a way to do this and create a community. -> A community completely from scratch. Being new to the Meetup platform -> A very daunting task in and of itself Required before starting: a vigilant mind, someone that believes in themselves, and is ready to learn things along the way 1 year later -> Dan's completely transformed One of the rewards + benefits/positives of being in the role of being a community organizer. Organizer = THE Community CORE What's the ROI of being a community organizer? Image of the Community 3. Dan's Community Organizer superpowers: relationship building networking lack of fear to reach out to people -> that's what gets the ball rolling, a really slow roll. Connected to some key people -> the Mayor's Office + the person who ran their innovation department Taking a community from being unknown to known Plans to take the community in a thoughtful new direction + support from the Mayor's Office (happy to help you connect with other people) -> that's how it starts 1st event -> 30 people and standards have since grown Created an environment for people to connect, network, and build community. -> seeing and feeling this experience in real life feels like planting the seeds of a tree 4. Progress update: 1 year later -> 1 member to 1,500 members As of 8/9/18 -> already hosting over 1,000 people at community programs and events Free event on Thursday nights in your city about stuff you like 5. Whats happening now and what can you do to transform? (enter football analogy) -> leads to Dan creating innovative programs -> exploring the bizarre, differences in culture, cutting edge ideas, controversial ideas like sex tech, cannabis, entrepreneurship, and women in tech. Hosted 2 sex tech programs attendance over 100 people both times -> people found it very interesting The exploration of sex in society -> Mission in the industry is to break down the barrier that the media has created A community of people who were trying to get their startups of the ground funding and were laughed out of the room -> fast forward 1 year later, millions of dollars are coming in. Outlets blocking content for brands: KickStarter, Facebook advertising Trojan could get their ads out but not a company like unbound box or dame products. 6. Stepping aside and and letting a new leader come in Community video thanking Dan on his efforts This moment - a complete surprise Hosted a blockchain and going away event / handing over the keys Went out and took initiative to ask people to give feedback on their experience Realize when you're saying you're leaving, people get shocked and scared Strategic Partners -> how much impact the community partners made in the community -> Gives leaders and community organizers the confidence and inspiration to inspire other people to get started 7. How Partners impact a community Having the ability to quickly find where a business will find value and prove it Venue, speaking,

Episode Summary:    Led by Suzanne Waters, VP of Business Development at Reneu Energy, Benoy Thanjan joins three other solar industry leaders on a panel called How Solar Technology is Changing the World hosted by Reneu Energy and JCTech Meetup. The panel discusses solar energy, how it’s affecting us, what the future looks like, and how it’s impacting Jersey City. Coming from different sectors, each panelist offers their unique knowledge base to create a thorough picture of the field. Topics include industry growth, incentives, solar energy careers, obstacles & threats, community solar projects, and more.    About the Guests:    Suzanne Waters: Suzanne Waters is the Vice President of Business Development at Reneu Energy. She is an experienced solar professional with a broad knowledge of the industry, including project development administration, marketing best practices, financial strategy, and team leadership. Before joining Reneu Energy, Suzanne worked as the Business Development Manager and Proposal Team Leader at Vanguard Energy Partners, a national solar developer, and their affiliate firm, Vanguard Energy Capital. She oversaw proposal development and contract execution. Additionally, she collaborated on structured finance for large scale, multimillion dollar projects.   Steve Schwerd: Steve Schwerd is the owner of Schwerd Consulting, LLC. Schwerd Consulting is dedicated to design, engineering, representation, and support in all areas of solar photovoltaics. He has nearly 30 years in Consulting Engineering and an extensive background in Electrical Engineering. He became involved in renewable energy and design in 2008 and formed Schwerd Consulting in 2014 to allow for 100% dedication to the solar sector.    Juan Truyol: Juan Truyol works as a Project Estimator at Strata Solar, LLC. He is an experienced estimator with a background in estimating, procurement, and a demonstrated history working in civil construction as well as the renewables and environment industry. Truyol earned his B.S. in Civil Engineering and M.S in Construction Infrastructure and Management from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He’s skilled in construction engineering, project estimation, construction, and scheduling.    Chris Grablutz: Chris Grablutz is the Director of Business Development at PV Pros, Inc. He entered the solar industry in 2010 and has experience in engineering, project management, and operations. Grablutz joined PV Pros in 2017 and assists clients with owner’s engineering, testing, maintenance, and repair solutions. He’s passionate about solar energy and views his career as an exciting chain of challenges that continue to prevail.    Benoy Thanjan: Benoy Thanjan, Founder and CEO of Reneu Energy, advises several solar startup companies about investment and development. Reneu Energy is a premier international solar energy consulting firm and developer. The company focuses on developing commercial, industrial, and utility scale solar, plus storage projects. Additionally, the company sources financing for solar projects and hedges energy and environmental commodities. Reneu Energy has brokered $27 million in environmental commodities transactions.    Insights from Episode:   What technology goes into solar energy  Why building owners and land owners should use solar energy The incentives and benefits of using solar energy  How solar energy has changed in the last 10 years and where it will be in 30 years  How to enter the solar energy field as a career  The downsides and threats to solar energy Resources to learn more about solar energy  What community solar is and how people can benefit from it  How solar panels are recycled and reused   Quotes from the Show:   When asked about the technology that goes into solar energy… “In terms of technology, really just capturing data, having it, knowing how to sort it, and then knowing how to use it and evolve from it in the future is a tremendous resource for operations and maintenance of PV systems.” Chris Grablutz, Episode #42    Why should building/land owners look into going solar? “Building owners should definitely look into solar in New Jersey, it’s a way of saving money and going green. There’s green incentives for solar energy. There’s the 30% investment tax credit. There’s also solar depreciation.” Benoy Thanjan, Episode #42   “Landowners should look at (solar energy) because you could potentially have a solar field and could receive rent or someone could buy land as they develop a project.” Benoy Thanjan, Episode #42   What advice would you give to people looking to break into the solar industry? “The industry is great, so if you’re thinking about it, my first suggestion would be- do it. It’s a great industry, you’ll find many great people.” Chris Grablutz, Episode #42    “Our industry the cost goes down every year and other industries go up- steel, copper, aluminum. Solar goes down, so it will be the cheapest, most cost effective form of energy in the future.” Juan Truyol, Episode #42    “With energy storage, with policies continuing to drive the proliferation of solar, what it means for the benefit of the environment is fossil fuel plants will be shut down in large scales. Even PSEG recently announced their goal is by 2046, they will have no fossil fuel plants except for two of the newest natural gas plants.” ” Steve Schwerd, Episode #42    “Do not feel intimidated to come into the solar industry. We were all somewhat hesitant in the beginning and it turned out ok. No, for real, it’s not intimidating and there’s a lot of good people. There’s ups and downs like any industry, but overall 70/30, it’s good people wanting to teach you, mentor, and just have more cool people to work with ultimately.” Juan Truyol, Episode #42    Stay Connected:    Benoy Thanjan info@reneuenergy.com www.linkedin.com/in/bthanjan/ www.reneuenergy.com   Suzanne Waters  suzanne@reneuenergy.com www.linkedin.com/in/suzanne-waters-01bb6077/ www.reneuenergy.com   Juan Truyol jtruyol@stratasolar.com www.linkedin.com/in/juan-truyol-4995b958/ https://stratasolar.com/ www.facebook.com/strata.solar/ www.twitter.com/StrataSolar www.youtube.com/channel/UCx9ml4yKbGoaDkJxNyXfQMQ   Steve Schwerd www.schwerdconsulting.com/ admin@schwerdconsulting.com  www.linkedin.com/company/schwerd-consulting/about/ www.linkedin.com/in/steveschwerd/ www.facebook.com/Schwerd-Consulting-744150758955130/ www.twitter.com/schwerdsolar   Chris Grablutz https://pvpros.com/ info@pvpros.com www.linkedin.com/in/cgrablutz/ www.twitter.com/PVProsInc   Jersey CIty Tech Meetup We would like to thank you to Jersey City Tech Meetup for partnering with Reneu Energy on this great solar event.  For more information on Jersey City Tech Meetup. Please follow the links below.   https://jctechmeetup.com   https://www.meetup.com/Jersey-City-Tech-Meetup/

Episode Summary   Reneu Energy’s Benoy Thanjan and Suzanne Waters talk in detail about what landowners need to know about going solar. They discuss the reasons why a landowner should look into going solar for generating income through a utility scale or community solar project, a description of different incentives available, and logistically how they would go about doing it.    Benoy Thanjan   Benoy Thanjan is the Founder and CEO of Reneu Energy and he is also an advisor for several solar startup companies. Reneu Energy is a premier international solar energy consulting firm and developer and the company focuses on developing commercial and industrial solar and utility scale solar plus storage projects. The company also sources financing for solar projects and hedges energy and environmental commodities. Reneu Energy has brokered $27 million in environmental commodities transactions.    Benoy received his first experience in Finance as an intern at D.E. Shaw & Co., which is a global investment firm with 37 billion dollars in investment capital. Before founding Reneu Energy, he was the SREC Trader in the Project Finance Group for SolarCity which merged with Tesla in 2016. He originated SREC trades with buyers and co-developed their SREC monetization and hedging strategy with the senior management of SolarCity to move into the east coast markets. Benoy also worked at Vanguard Energy Partners, Ridgewood Renewable Power, and Deloitte & Touche.   Suzanne Waters    Suzanne Waters is an experienced solar professional with a broad knowledge of the industry, including project development administration, marketing best practices, financial strategy, and team leadership. Before joining Reneu Energy, Suzanne worked as the Business Development Manager and Proposal Team Leader at Vanguard Energy Partners, a national solar developer, and their affiliate firm, Vanguard Energy Capital. She oversaw proposal development and contract execution, and collaborated on structured finance for large scale, multimillion-dollar projects. In addition, Suzanne has extensive experience in many aspects of the PV industry, with unmatched enthusiasm for its capabilities and  a BA in Economics from Rutgers College at Rutgers University.   Insight from this episode: The many benefits of leasing your land for solar projects. Federal incentives for solar systems owner such as the investment tax credit. The effects of the investment tax credit and the current safe harboring trend on the availability of solar panels.  The difference in the residential vs. the commercial investment tax credit percentage drop-down.  Other federal incentives such as MACRS (“Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System”)  The impact of state level incentives.   Infrastructure and types of systems for solar farms. How landowners would go about qualifying their land and what makes a location ideal for utility scale solar projects The importance of accessibility and proximity to transmission infrastructure    Quotes from the show:   “The system owners can recover their costs up front instead of over a 20-25 year period which is pretty much the life of the system. So, that’s something that definitely makes the projects more attractive to system owners.” Suzanne Waters, Episode #39     “The cost of panels have decreased. The efficiency of the panels are going up. It makes the whole situation a win-win” Suzanne Waters, Episode #39     “The federal incentives make up 50-60% of the cost of the project and that doesn’t include the state level incentives. If you have strong state level incentives it really helps” Benoy Thanjan, Episode #39    “In states that have better incentives the land owners are going to benefit from that” Suzanne Waters, Episode #39    Upcoming Event discussed on the podcast: Summer Solar Special:  How Solar Technology is Changing the World Reneu Energy is partnering with JC TechMeetup.  It is on Tuesday, July 30 from 6:30 to 9 at Surf City in Jersey City. Benoy Thanjan who is the CEO and Founder of Reneu Energy will be moderating.  The other panelists are Suzanne Waters from Reneu Energy, Chris Grablutz from PV Pros, Steve Schwerd from Schwerd Consulting, and Juan Truyol from Strata Solar. The event is free to attend and you can RSVP in the link below. https://www.meetup.com/Jersey-City-Tech-Meetup/events/262598987/  Stay Connected:   Benoy Thanjan info@reneuenergy.com LinkedIn.com/bthanjan www.reneuenergy.com Facebook: Reneu Energy   Suzanne Waters suzanne@reneuenergy.com  Linkedin: Suzanne Waters www.reneuenergy.com Facebook: Reneu Energy

Episode Summary   Suzanne Waters, Vice President of Business Development at Reneu Energy, returns to the show to talk with Benoy about why commercial and industrial building owners should go solar. This episode serves as an excellent primer for building owners who are potentially looking to go solar as Benoy and Suzanne cover topics such as the benefits of solar, types of systems, and financial opportunities for building owners.   Benoy Thanjan Benoy Thanjan is the Founder and CEO of Reneu Energy and he is also an advisor for several solar startup companies. Reneu Energy is a premier international solar energy consulting firm and developer and the company focuses on developing commercial and industrial solar and utility scale solar plus storage projects. The company also sources financing for solar projects and hedges energy and environmental commodities. Reneu Energy has brokered $27 million in environmental commodities transactions.  Benoy received his first experience in Finance as an intern at D.E. Shaw & Co., which is a global investment firm with 37 billion dollars in investment capital. Before founding Reneu Energy, he was the SREC Trader in the Project Finance Group for SolarCity which merged with Tesla in 2016. He originated SREC trades with buyers and co-developed their SREC monetization and hedging strategy with the senior management of SolarCity to move into the east coast markets. Benoy also worked at Vanguard Energy Partners, Ridgewood Renewable Power, and Deloitte & Touche.   Suzanne Waters  Suzanne Waters is an experienced solar professional with a broad knowledge of the industry, including project development administration, marketing best practices, financial strategy, and team leadership. Before joining Reneu Energy, Suzanne worked as the Business Development Manager and Proposal Team Leader at Vanguard Energy Partners, a national solar developer, and their affiliate firm, Vanguard Energy Capital. She oversaw proposal development and contract execution, and collaborated on structured finance for large scale, multimillion-dollar projects. In addition, Suzanne has extensive experience in many aspects of the PV industry, with unmatched enthusiasm for its capabilities and  a BA in Economics from Rutgers College at Rutgers University.   Insight from this episode:   The benefits of going solar.  Different types of systems, their pros and cons, and who they’re best suited for.  Three major financing methods and tax incentives for solar.  The rise of offsite solar, how it is structured, and opportunities it’s creating.  Community solar as a potential revenue opportunity for building owners.  Quotes from the show:   “If You’re going to go solar, you’re definitely going to reduce your electrical cost.” Suzanne Waters, Episode #38     “Most solar systems can live between 20 and 30 years so you’re going to have a relatively short return on your investment for an asset that you’re going to have for a really long time.” Suzanne Waters, Episode #38      “The fixed electric pricing definitely makes is easier to forecast and budget plan so you can hedge against electricity price volatility and inflation.” Suzanne Waters, Episode #38   “Customers and employees are looking for companies that can say that they’re sustainable and they’re making sustainable efforts.” Suzanne Waters, Episode #38   “As solar becomes more acceptable as an asset to finance, the returns are getting lower and lower.” Benoy Thanjan, Episode #38    “Last year there was 6.53 gigawatts of corporate renewable deals, both wind and solar, and it was actually the highest ever.” Benoy Thanjan, Episode #38   Resources mentioned:    Solar + Roofing Episode #11 For more detailed information or questions about topics from this episode email info@reneuenergy.com   Upcoming Event discussed on the podcast: Summer Solar Special:  How Solar Technology is Changing the World   Reneu Energy is partnering with JC TechMeetup.  It is on Tuesday, July 30 from 6:30 to 9 at Surf City in Jersey City.   Benoy Thanjan who is the CEO and Founder of Reneu Energy will be moderating.  The other panelists are Suzanne Waters from Reneu Energy, Chris Grablutz from PV Pros, and Steve Schwerd from Schwerd Consulting.   The event is free to attend and you can RSVP in the link below.   https://www.meetup.com/Jersey-City-Tech-Meetup/events/262598987/  Stay Connected:   Benoy Thanjan info@reneuenergy.com LinkedIn.com/bthanjan www.reneuenergy.com Facebook: Reneu Energy   Suzanne Waters suzanne@reneuenergy.com  Linkedin: Suzanne Waters www.reneuenergy.com Facebook: Reneu Energy

https://www.meetup.com/Jersey-City-Tech-Meetup/ https://westock.io/

I had the opportunity to pitch #StartingTrouble and the work we are doing to change the conversation about #MomsWhoWork at the Jersey City Tech Meetup hosted by Wylei at their awesome new HQ in downtown Jersey City on April 19, 2017. Here's the pitch.