MCCA plays up $1.1M temporary Lawn on D

The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority spent $1.1 million to build a lush open space in the Seaport District to host concerts, artwork and lawn games, but it will be usable for no more than two years before the acres of newly laid sod and rows of fencing are ripped up to make way for an expanded convention center.

James E. Rooney, head of the MCCA justified the expense of creating the new, 2.7-acre open space, dubbed The Lawn on D, as a working experiment that will help fine-tune plans for a permanent green space farther up the block where there are currently state transportation department buildings.

"The idea in our research on great open spaces is that most of it has been redesigned two or three times before it achieves greatness," Rooney said. "And there is a lot of money in building open space and then rebuilding it, and then rebuilding it again. Our idea is to make this part of the design process, experiment with it, figure out what we did wrong, program it, figure out what worked and didn't work. Then build it once."

Rooney acknowledged that much of the area that has been spruced up — a once rock- and gravel-covered field now wired with electricity and Wi-Fi, hooked up with water and landscaped with trees and grass — will be torn up in 18 months to two years as the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center gets a $1 billion, 1.3 million-square-foot add-on.

"It's not all throw-away. Some of it we will be able to reuse," said Rooney, who noted that the event space, when not in use by conventioneers, will be open to the public to play bocce and ping-pong, and enjoy live music and interactive art. "We wanted to create a sense of space in the South Boston waterfront. ... Think of it as a college quad, that you just go out and just hang out with your friends, with Wi-Fi."

The MCCA said in May it was paying HR&A Advisors $200,000 for the concept and the design, and Chris Wangro, another New York consultant, $50,000 to develop programming for the space.

It is also a walkable connection to and from the Convention Center, D Street and the Aloft and Element hotels, as required under an agreement the MCCA has with their developers.

Mayor Martin J. Walsh called the lawn "really a great way of showcasing our city."

"It gives the neighborhood a sense of pride," Walsh said. "Having The Lawn on D is another way to make our city more innovative."

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Boston online retailer Wayfair files for public offering

Boston-based online home goods retailer Wayfair filed paperwork for its initial public offering yesterday, a long-awaited move for a company that has seen more than $1 billion in sales during the past 12 months.

According to the paperwork filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Wayfair is hoping to raise up to $350 million in its IPO.

Wayfair sells furniture and other home goods, and said it took in $574.1 million in the first half of the year. Still, Wayfair took a $51.4 million loss, largely because of sales and marketing expenses.

William Preston, a research analyst at Renaissance Capital, said e-commerce companies have done well with their IPOs recently.

"We've seen pretty good success in e-commerce this year," he said.

Founded in 2002, Wayfair will likely be the first U.S. e-commerce company to go public this year. Other e-commerce offerings this year have been from foreign companies.

Preston said one of Wayfair's biggest challenges will be proving to investors it can coexist alongside Amazon, the established king of e-commerce.

Wayfair has raised $363 million in venture funding, but co-founders Niraj Shah and Steve Conine each still own 28.9 percent of the company.

Wayfair said in the filing it will trade under the symbol "W" on the New York Stock Exchange.

A spokeswoman for Wayfair declined to comment.

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Experts: GE Healthcare move will be healthy for Mass.

GE Healthcare's decision to move potentially hundreds of jobs to Massachusetts — and the already-existing cluster of major life sciences companies — could help reduce health care costs and create greater access to cutting-edge medical technology in the Bay State, an expert told the Herald.

"Having these companies close by where research staff are studying these diseases, it probably means our hospitals remain on the cutting edge of medicine," said Barry Bluestone of Northeastern University. "So when a breakthrough comes and it's FDA approved, the first who get to use it are probably patients in the Boston area. We probably do benefit — by being the first adopters of new medical breakthroughs."

The Herald reported yesterday that GE Healthcare is relocating its U.S. headquarters for its life sciences division from New Jersey, where it employs about 400 people, to Massachusetts. It already has an office in Westboro.

Cambridge officials plan to meet with GE Healthcare execs about possibly locating there, said Brian Murphy, the city's assistant manager for community development. He added the company hadn't found a permanent location yet.

GE Healthcare spokesman Benjamin Fox did not return messages yesterday.

Analyst Ross Muken of ISI International Strategy & Investment called the Massachusetts relocation "a fairly sensible move."

"Clearly they want to draw on the great biology talent, the chemistry talent in the region," said Muken. "I think given where the customer base is, it's a natural fit. ... In general, it solidifies the state as a hub of biomedical research and cutting-edge scientific talent."

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Boston docs look to help with Ebola

Boston-area researchers, responding to ambassadors from Ebola-stricken nations who are frustrated with a slow international response, are looking for ways they can help West Africa as the region grapples with the deadly outbreak.

"Organizations like CDC and WHO have come late into the process and have not helped them build their own capacity," Dr. Michael VanRooyan, director of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, said after a meeting yesterday with current and former ambassadors from countries including Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Zambia and local researchers. They discussed having local experts train health care workers in Africa in both basic care and crisis management.

VanRooyan said there is frustration with the speed and scope of the world's response to the disease, adding that it took WHO far too long to declare the Ebola outbreak an international crisis.

"Moving forward, they need more than just a Band-Aid solution," VanRooyan said.

"Harvard is prepared to provide support to African countries through things like health care training, and to help overcome barriers in treating patients," said Mustapha S. Fofana of the Harvard-affiliated Fellowship in Disaster Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, who reached out to the ambassadors and helped organize the meeting.

The World Bank has pledged up to $200 million in emergency assistance to help Liberia. WHO launched late last month a $100 million plan, which includes hundreds of health workers being dispatched to the infected areas.

But Sierra Leone Ambassador Bockari Stevens told the researchers the region is still desperately short of equipment, training and isolation units. The ambassadors could not be reached for comment after yesterday's meeting.

"Beyond dealing with just Ebola, there's an urgent need to support the organization of health care services," said Barry Bloom of the Harvard School of Public Health. "The international community is largely focused on diseases, but the real weakness is in the whole health systems themselves."

Bloom said the meeting focused on practical solutions, rather than vaccines and serums that "are not yet available, and will not be available anytime soon." The Canadian firm NewLink Genetics said Wednesday it will have enough doses of an Ebola vaccine to begin its human trials this summer.

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Workers: It’s not up to Deval Patrick

Market Basket workers said they won't take their cues from Gov. Deval Patrick, after the governor said yesterday protesting employees need to return to work to "stabilize" the crippled Tewksbury company.

"We don't take direction from the governor," said Tom Trainor, one of the fired senior Market Basket workers leading employee protests and job walk-offs that, along with a customer boycott, have brought the chain of 71 stores to a virtual standstill as they seek the reinstatement of former CEO Arthur T. Demoulas. Demoulas was fired in June by a rival board faction led by his cousin Arthur S. Demoulas and since has offered to buy the company.

"We take direction from Arthur T., and if somehow he gets word to us that he wants us to go back to work and stabilize the company, that's what we'll do," Trainor said. "The governor should be using his power … to get the two sides to finalize the deal rather than telling employees to go back to work when they don't know what they're walking into or what will happen next week."

Patrick told reporters yesterday: "It's appropriate for the workers to know … that they can go back to work and indeed that we need them to go back to work to stabilize the company. I hope that they can see a way to do that while the buyer and seller work out the final terms of a transaction."

Patrick's call for warehouse and headquarters employees to return to work echoes repeated calls from the company's three independent board directors and the two new co-CEOs. The CEOs have set "final" deadlines of Aug. 15 and 18 for protesting workers to return to work without penalty.

A post yesterday on the protesters' website, wearemarket
basket.com, said what Patrick "doesn't seem to understand is that the 2 million customers are boycotting our stores because they want Arthur T. Demoulas back as the CEO with full authority. Associates going back without (Arthur T. Demoulas) will not stabilize the company."

Market Basket's three independent directors yesterday applauded Patrick's call in a statement: "We, as independent board members, cannot force any shareholders to buy or to sell, nor can we control the timing of their decisions. All we seek is to get our associates back to work earning a steady income so our customers can go back to shopping. It's well past the time when anyone can frame the crisis as 'us vs. them,' or a 'family feud.' There are too many families being impacted."

A spokeswoman for Arthur T. Demoulas declined comment.

Patrick may be getting involved because Market Basket is "pretty close to having the wheels off the bus completely, said Kevin Griffin, publisher of The Griffin Report of Food Marketing. "All of a sudden in the blink of an eye you have one of the healthiest companies in the commonwealth now in real danger. I think the governor is getting involved to put more pressure on both sides to try to get the deal finalized."

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Reported deaths, injuries jump at major Mass. hospitals

The number of "serious reportable events," such as deaths or injuries, at Massachusetts acute-care hospitals more than doubled in the last three years, according to data collected by the state Department of Public Health.

The total number of events soared from 366 in 2011 to 753 last year at acute-care hospitals, and from 123 to 206 over the same period at non-acute-care hospitals, the department said.

Dr. Madeleine Biondolillo, DPH's associate commissioner, said the increases can be attributed to a number of factors.

"The adoption of new national quality definitions led to an expansion of the number and types of events that need to be reported, which resulted in a marked rise in reporting in several existing categories, particularly falls and pressure ulcers," Biondolillo said in a statement. "The implementation of online reporting system reduced barriers and streamlined the facility reporting process to DPH. DPH also increased outreach to facilities to emphasize reporting as an important part of patient safety and quality improvement. DPH anticipates a continued upward trend in number of reported events in 2014 as facilities become increasingly efficient in evaluation & reporting."

At acute-care hospitals, the number of suicides or serious injuries resulting from self harm jumped from one to 22 from 2011 to 2013, while the number of serious injuries or deaths rose from six to 16 due to burns, and from five to 14 due to assaults or abuse. The number of wrong surgeries or procedures performed climbed from two to 11.

In a statement, Anuj Goel, the Massachusetts Hospital Association's vice president for legal and regulatory affairs, said: "Massachusetts hospitals are closely focused on eliminating serious reportable events (SREs) and make patient safety a top priority. Hospitals are diligent in reporting adverse events, including those that fall within the definition recently updated by the National Quality Forum (NQF) and adopted by the state Department of Public Health. The Massachusetts Hospital Association and our member hospitals have worked very closely with DPH to develop and provide guidance materials, educational sessions and best practices to ensure that hospitals are reporting events that meet these revised and expanded SRE criteria."

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Expert: Market Basket threat may be illegal

Market Basket issued letters to hundreds of protesting employees yesterday giving them until Friday to return to work or lose their jobs — a move that legally will be difficult to enforce, a labor expert told the Herald.

"An employer in this situation has to be very careful because no matter how this has been labeled, the rank and file employees are on strike, and strikers have certain rights, including the right not to be terminated for engaging in a strike," said Keith H. McCown, a top labor lawyer at Morgan, Brown & Joy, LLP. "Even though there's no union in the picture, these employees are withholding their services collectively and that is a strike."

Strikers can technically be replaced, but even then retain certain protections. McCown told the Herald that, under the law, supervisors do not have a similarly protected right to strike.

Workers launched the protests and walkouts July 18 calling for the reinstatement of Arthur T. Demoulas, who was fired as CEO in June by the company's board, which is controlled by rival cousin Arthur S. Demoulas.

Market Basket said yesterday it had issued the letters to about 200 "associates" — both at the supervisor level and in administrative support — working at headquarters and distribution centers who have stopped showing up.

The protesting workers estimated as many as 700 letters went out.

"Should you choose to ignore either of these directives, the company will consider you to have abandoned your job, thereby ending your employment with the company," Market Basket wrote in the letter, according to the web site WeAreMarketBasket.com.

Mike Meuse, a Market Basket operations supervisor and safety manager, told the Herald he was "shocked" when he received the letter yesterday, but vowed not to cave.

"If they release me on Friday, I guess they release me on Friday," said Meuse. "They can call it job abandonment, but I look at it as them terminating me."

Now that Market Basket has given workers an ultimatum, it has to follow through to preserve its credibility in the ongoing mess, said supermarket analyst David Livingston of DJL Research in Milwaukee.

"They'll have to let people go because if they don't, no one's going to believe anything they say," said Livingston. "I think these employees are prepared for that. I think they've got a cult-like following of Arthur T., and they're prepared to lose their jobs for this man."

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City eases zoning appeals for changes to small properties

Boston is trying to make it easier for small businesses and homeowners to make changes to their properties, the latest in what the city says is a series of improvements to the zoning process.

A new Zoning Board of Appeals subcommittee will hear requests for variances from zoning rules exclusively from small businesses and 1-2 family owner-occupied homes — a move that will "streamline" the process for minor changes, according to Mayor Martin J. Walsh.

"This change will allow one- and two-family homeowners and small business to request zoning relief without having to take time out of the weekday schedule to do so," said William Christopher, commissioner of Inspectional Services.

Meg Mainzer-Cohen, president of the Back Bay Association, said the zoning appeals process — formally asking for an exception to the zoning code — needs to be fixed.

"Without a question, something should be done and must be done," Mainzer-Cohen said. "It's part of what has contributed to Boston's reputation for being hard for small businesses."

Still, some said the changes don't go far enough.

"The limit to the one-two family owner-occupied is a really tight definition of what small is," said Skip Schloming, executive director of the Small Property Owners Association.

Kate Norton, a spokeswoman for Walsh, said the subcommittee guidelines are based on the state building code, which defines a building with more than two units as commercial.

Last month, Walsh announced extended hours for ZBA hearings and that they would be televised.

"This is one part of a bigger initiative we've been rolling out over time and will continue to roll out," Norton said. "Everything we're doing around ZBA is designed around making it a more user-friendly experience."

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Market Basket’s board calls on parties to end impasse

The three self-described "independent" directors of Market Basket's seven-member board yesterday repeated their demand for an end to the "standoff" by store employees supporting ousted CEO Arthur T. Demoulas, while an industry expert says he doubts the company can hold out much longer in its current state of impasse.

"We have a series of difficult business decisions to work out," the directors said in a statement. "However, there is no reason to continue to hold the 25,000 associates, 2 million shoppers and our local economies hostage to an ongoing business negotiation between shareholders.

"We must end this zero sum game and act in the best interests of our associates, customers — and in the end, our company," they added. "We are ready to meet. It's time."

A spokeswoman for Arthur T. had no immediate comment.

The three directors — Keith O. Cowan, Eric Gebaide and Ronald G. Weiner — last week called on him to return in run the company in a non-CEO capacity while he continued to pursue his stated intent to buy the half of the supermarket chain controlled by his rival cousin, Arthur S. Demoulas, and his allies.

Arthur T., who was fired in June by a board majority headed by Arthur S., rejected the proposal, dismissing it as "games" and "windowdressing."

Kevin Griffin of The Griffin Report of Food Marketing, a Duxbury-based trade publication for the food industry, said he doubts the standoff, which has left store shelves empty and driven away customers, can go on much longer.

"Every day that goes by, the company is losing its value, its market share and its reputation," Griffin said. "It's become a public spectacle, and the appetite for this is waning. This is a crisis situation. You have a company in free fall. I would encourage them to think about all the people who make their livelihood from this chain, and I would encourage them to get the deal done."

Last Thursday, thousands of part-time employees were told they would not be working this week because there is so little business at the chain's 71 stores.

Ann Dufresne of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, yesterday said she could not say whether any employees have filed for unemployment insurance.

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Developer set to launch $210M Seaport cargo project

Groundbreaking on the $210 million Boston Cargo Terminal project in the Seaport will take place in a matter of weeks, a project official told the Herald yesterday.

The nearly 30-acre property is expected to include three commercial warehouse buildings, a 120,000-square-foot building with a lufa farm, 160 parking spaces, and a Harborwalk path.

The complicated deal involves land owned by the Boston Redevelopment Authority and leased by Massport. The developer is Cargo Ventures.

Two previous groundbreakings had been scheduled with Gov. Deval Patrick and Mayor Martin J. Walsh, but were postponed, said City Hall spokeswoman Kate Norton.

The project official said the developer was in talks with the New England Teamsters & Trucking Industry Pension Fund to help finance the project, but that nothing had been finalized.

That official said the Teamsters pension fund was already helping finance another project by Cargo Ventures — the One Harbor Street property in the Marine Industrial Park, whose current tenants include Vertex.

Officials at the Teamsters pension fund did not return messages for comment yesterday.

It's been a long road for the project, which was originally proposed in 2007 before the economic downturn delayed the development. The BRA approved a revised plan in April.

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Medtech industry on life support

More than a year and a half after the implementation of a controversial medical device tax, the industry is still struggling in Massachusetts, experts say.

"I can't tell you how many of my former associates are unemployed," said Ronald Adams, who was laid off from Hologic.

Adams was the senior director for research and development for Hologic, but since he was laid off, he has been taking no salary while he tries to get his startup off the ground.

He said there are some jobs out there, but not many.

"What's out there are not ones that are particularly enticing," he said. "There's not that growth in the industry anymore which is creating good opportunities."

Tom Sommer, head of the Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council, said medtech companies are still trying to figure out the best way to operate under 
Obamacare.

"I think that companies are grappling not only with the medical device excise tax ... they're also dealing with a new health care environment," he said. "I haven't seen job growth at all in the last year or so."

Still, a report released last week said that most of the 15 biggest medical device companies in the world continued to hire. The problem, Adams said, is the small- and medium-sized companies are not seeing the same growth.

Implemented to help pay for part of the Affordable Care Act, that 2.3-percent excise tax on most medical devices has been controversial and was opposed by many before it went into effect. According to some reports, medical device companies have paid $1.4 billion to the IRS.

Companies are also becoming more conscious of cost, because providers often do not want to pay for the newest — often more expensive — treatments and equipment.

Sommer called it "a new cost-conscious environment."

Because of changes like these, the funding for new medical device startups has fallen dramatically.

A report by the Evaluate Group found that venture funding for medtech companies in 2013 was the lowest in five years.

"When I moved here (in 1995), I could give you a list of 30 medical device startups. Now you could count them on one hand," Adams said. "With all the changes that have happened, the venture community doesn't invest in medical device startups anymore."

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Boston-based robot is meant to aid families

The world's first social robot for the family, "Jibo," is being made right here in Boston by a leading roboticist who believes that in a few years, the platform could be as ubiquitous as the iPad.

"Jibo's role is to be your personal helper," said famed MIT roboticist Cynthia Breazeal, creator of the bot. "To help families and extended families do the wide range of things they need to do."

Available in black or white, Jibo is six pounds and 11 inches of digital personality. Its job is to act like a personal assistant, or a coordinator of family chaos. It connects to devices via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It comes with its own storage cloud and the ability to send and receive reminders, take pictures, tell stories and even facilitate video conferencing.

I recently sat down with Breazeal as she demonstrated Jibo. The simplicity of the robot is striking: It's a base that sits at attention and props up a hemisphere-shaped "head." The form factor is a triumph in subtlety, with the smallest movements and expressions giving Jibo the ability to appear to dance, laugh and emote.

A promotional video for Jibo shows the robot reading "The Three Little Pigs" to a child, just as a parent might — playfully and under a makeshift fort.

"Jibo brings all kinds of content to life with engagement and expressivity," said Breazeal. "Jibo isn't an e-reader. It's a storyteller that makes eye contact with you."

It's with that in mind that Boston Children's Hospital has agreed to begin piloting Jibo next year. Already, about 50 robots have been donated to the hospital through a successful crowdfunding campaign.

Breazeal envisions Jibo could serve to make certain people less isolated. Children undergoing treatment are one example, and senior citizens are another.

For instance, she imagines a third-party developer creating an Uber app for Jibo that makes transportation easier for the elderly.

Jibo's ultimate success will depend on generating interest among developers to design apps that extend and expand upon core functions.

For Breazeal, the success of Jibo's crowdfunding campaign was validation that "people are in fact ready to have a social robot in their life." The campaign has raised over $1.5 million in under four weeks. Already, more than 3,000 devices have been pre-
ordered and are scheduled to ship around the end of next year. A home edition costs $499, and it's $599 for the developer edition.

Team Jibo includes leading engineers in Silicon Valley and Boston, speech recognition experts, serial entrepreneurs and even Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca, an early backer of the project.

Of course, this technology faces its share of challenges. Any device that relies this heavily on the evolving science of speech recognition will face hurdles, as evidenced by the litany of complaints from owners of Microsoft's Xbox One interactive console.

But Breazeal believes Jibo will survive and thrive because it's a device that encourages human interaction — as opposed to tablets and smartphones that often hog our attention and isolate us.

Said Breazeal, "I think we need to create technologies that bring the family together."

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Is it necessary for owner to baby his 2004 Corvette?

I own a 2004 Corvette coupe purchased new in 2003. It has only 6,000 miles on it and is driven once a month in spring, summer and fall. I have a battery tender and had the battery replaced in 2010 for safety. I originally had yearly services, have had the coolant replaced a couple of times again to play it safe. I always have Mobil 1 oil changes and always drive to fully warm up the car — no short trips. I have been going every two years for the past couple of services. The car is covered in an attached garage. I try to get non-oxy gas and put a fuel stabilizer in every fall. Can I go even longer, say three years at this annual mileage? I have developed a small leak of transmission fluid from the transaxle. It appears to stop at a drop or two if I increase driving. I have been told seals can sometimes leak if the car is not driven regularly. What do you think about my maintenance program?

In a word — overkill. Like you, I'm a hard-core Corvette enthusiast. I have a pair now — the 1970 C3 Stingray I've owned and driven since 1972 and a 2009 C6 that I purchased in 2012. For the first two decades of its life, I serviced the C3 within an inch of its life, as you've been doing. Then, as I began driving it less and less each year, I began doing less and less maintenance. I just serviced it this spring — oil/filter/lube/brake fluid — for the first time in four years. The car still runs well, shows no signs of neglect and still puts a smile on my face every time I drive it, about once a month, like you.

I service the C6 per GM's maintenance schedule. I put about 4,000 miles and one oil/filter change per year on the car — no small expense with 10.5 quarts in the dry sump oil system. I change the clutch fluid every couple of months, and the brake fluid every two years. At 19,000 miles, I plan to change the air and cabin filters this year.

Like you, I spent decades over-maintaining my vehicles. Three reasons: I bought them used and had to keep them at least 10 years/150,000 miles; I couldn't afford to have them professionally serviced; and, of course, peace of mind.

Was it necessary? No. Is it wrong to over-maintain? No. It's your vehicle, you obviously are fully vested in owning and enjoying it and if your maintenance schedule gives you peace of mind, continue with it.

One caveat: I wouldn't go longer than two years on the oil and filter — just for the peace of mind.

I have a 2008 Toyota Avalon, excellent condition, 90,000 miles. I have had this car serviced regularly at the Toyota dealership ... oil changes, filters, tire rotations, etc. Now that I am due for 90,000-mile service and a brake job, is it best for me to have this done at the Toyota dealership (more expensive) or at a reliable auto service center, of which it appears there are many?

I looked at the 90,000-mile maintenance schedule for your Toyota and see that the only items requiring replacement are the air and cabin filters, and the engine oil and filter. Tire rotation and a number of inspections are also suggested. I see no reason why these services could not be successfully performed by an independent service agency. The fact that you mention "there are many" and don't identify a specific shop you've dealt with, along with the fact that you've had the vehicle serviced at the dealership so far suggests that you should stick with what's worked for you. The dealer has all your service records and apparently has done satisfactory work for you, so why change?

Paul Brand, author of "How to Repair Your Car," is an automotive troubleshooter, driving instructor and former race-car driver. Readers may write to him at: Star Tribune, 425 Portland Ave. S., Minneapolis, Minn., 55488 or via email at paulbrand@startribune.com. Please explain the problem in detail and include a daytime phone number. We cannot provide personal replies.

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Boston ‘permits’ hacks

Boston kicked off its first "hackathon" yesterday, turning to the local tech community to come up with ways to improve the city's outdated permitting system.

"Today is the first step in creating a user-friendly, fully online, permitting process," Mayor Martin J. Walsh told a room full of software developers yesterday at the start of the two-day "HubHacks" at District Hall in the Seaport District.

This weekend is the "centerpiece" of the city's plans to overhaul the permitting system, Walsh said.

Andrew Arace, an engineer at Geonetics in Boston, was working on a better method to search for addresses in the city's master database. He has been working with the city to improve the system, but said he came to the hackathon to build something that the city might not come up with on its own.

"We'd like to show what's possible," Arace said.

Arace and his teammates were working on one of four challenges this weekend. Other teams are trying to improve the process for obtaining permits for moving vans, and create a comprehensive system for finding the necessary permits for a specific job and a tracking system for permits.

William 'Buddy' Christopher Jr., the city's new head of the Inspectional Services Department, said the current permitting process is too complicated.

"Right now the process is very confusing; it's laden with contradictions; it's laden with inconsistencies," Christopher said.

Tech-savvy enough to wear a smartwatch and have several hackathons under his belt, Christopher said such events can produce great results.

"You get to experience people who look at things so differently and they ask all the right questions," Christopher said.

Yesterday, software developers and potential permit users worked side-by-side.

"I'm actually looking to open my own restaurant," said Adrian Wong, who said he has found most of the permits he will need are not available online.

Bill Oliver, a former IT director for a city in Connecticut, said he is spending his weekend working on Boston's permitting system because he has seen what happens with ineffective government systems.

"People want better government," he said. "They want it to work for them, not against them."

After this weekend, the city will put out a request for proposals to help improve the online permitting system, with the idea that many of the projects from this weekend will be formally submitted.

"Technology is never a solution by itself," said Jascha Franklin-Hodge, the city's new chief information officer. "But it's impossible to tackle the challenges, big or small, without great technology."

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