Chicago: SYNC Tech Center Closes

Really? Because I’m sitting in the Sync, and they’re still selling desks as of this week. I can’t help but say Citation Needed here.

Would you mind listing a source of this non-announcement? Any source?

Really? Because I’m sitting in the Sync, and they’re still selling desks as of this week. I can’t help but say Citation Needed here.
Would you mind listing a source of this non-announcement? Any source?

Jonathan,

If you read the article it says in the first line, “As of Tuesday, March 1st….”

It is open today. Wednesday it won’t be.

An email went out today from the SYNC center to people.that worked there letting.them know. I suspect you don’t normally work there and therefore did not receive the email.

As I said at the end of the article, there will be a full story next week. I am not attacking the SYNC- I like the SYNC. That doesn’t change the fact that it is closing Tuesday, March 1st.

Jonathan,
They are not selling desks. If you ask to rent one, you will be told they are closing. I am as unhappy about as everyone else. It was a great space for the community.

I sorry to see them go. Mike worked hard to build a great open environment for business. The sync will be missed.

Mike worked hard???? LOL

OK, so who’s your source? Because as of a few hours ago, there’s a crowd of people standing around discussing this, and let’s just say your facts are very much in dispute.

PS — I work at the sync. Haven’t gotten an email. Would love to see it. Perhaps you could post it? And who was it from?

Told by who? Mike Rhodes rented a desk in front of me this week.

Jonathan,

Im not trying to cause controversy or argue with you. Here’s a simple solution: Ask Mike Rhodes if the SYNC is closing. Ask the building owner if they are shutting it down.

Talking to various people who are uninformed wont make it different. I’m sorry there seems to be confusion on the subject but its closed.

And if you don’t ask Mike before then, just stop by Wed when the doors are locked.

Mr. Domain,
As an outsider reading this site for news, what I see is a dispute over your breaking story by someone who seemed to be present at the facility in question. From the outsider's perspective, neither of you have presented more authority in this argument than the other, especially since this hasn't been reported anywhere else. As a journalist, you really should follow-up and just verify your news instead of just constantly arguing back against Jonathan on a 'I said so, just wait until you see' level. Very unprofessional. If you really do have inside information, you need to back it up with some sources or at least some follow-up investigation. Don't ask someone else to verify it for you… you reported it; it is your responsibility to 'ask Mike' to verify. Your integrity as a source of information is at stake here, and just letting posterity 'prove you right', if the news is accurate, isn't a solution, your credibility will already be damaged. Journalism 101.

"Journalist":

I appreciate that you read FG for news and frankly, I am shocked by the response of people feeling I have:

1. Attacked Mike Rhodes

2. Somehow lied about this

3. Didn't get the email.

To the email that went out to the people that worked at the Sync:

I have it and am certainly happy to print it- but I am waiting on approval from the sender since this all took on a "high tension" feel.

You bring up good points- and I think you'll be satisfied with the answers. As I am sure you are aware, there are more sides to this story than just Mike.

Later in the upcoming week I'll publish a balanced, objective story based on the facts.

Finally- this was not some attempt to be mean, or underhanded. As I keep saying, I LIKED the SYNC. It's a great space.

Based on the feedback I am getting from across Chicago, I get the feeling I have somehow touched a nerve and angered some people:

Let me say this: My only goal in running FG is to report news of the industry honestly and factually. I don't publish rumors and base everything I write in fact. If I fail in that somehow, I will accept it and own up to it. I am not trying to be a muckracker or rumor-mongerer.

I hope that the community wil accept that when they read my story next week.

Verified by Crains here:
http://bit.ly/h4L0iH

The Crain's piece sheds a lot of light on this. There's a big difference between the implications in this post on FG and the situation made clear in the Crain's piece. Chicago's startup community is in its infant stages, so having a place like SYNC fall off the map of course brought up a lot of controversy. However, "losing their lease and hoping to find a new space" is far less dramatic than the original impression that it was just shutting down. The last line of "Here is to hoping the closing of the SYNC isn’t permanent and they do raise their investment fund." makes sense in this context, and I don't think he was trying to lie or hide anything, but without the information about the lease/building issues it was not enough context at all and gave completely the wrong impression. It's also not surprising that they are still renting desks, as they probably hope to just carry those leases over to their new space.

j

Wow Edward. Right now I have more respect for Ron May than I do for you. He would have at least checked with Mike AND included a copy of the supposed email. I would think a guy who writes for crain's would have more journalistic integrity. I think I’m going to write them and suggest they rethink your status as a Crain’s writer.

Just man up and admit you are wrong. You tried to look like a big shot getting the scoop and in the process you completely stabbed a friend in the back and look like a tool. Plus you’ve probably ruined any chance of anyone in the tech space trusting you with their news again.

Journalist –

The distinction that needs to be made here is that Flyover Geeks is NOT Crain's, it is a tech blog. Asserting that this article is enough to dismiss someone from their post as a writer for another publication is not only unprofessional, but uncalled for.

Online journalism is about getting out the news before your competitor does, and I think this is a perfect example. Mr. Domain wrote a brief article, promising a full-length version later this week, he was indeed the first to report on the closing.

While I think it would have been apropos to allow the Sync to announce this themselves, I see nothing reported inaccurately in this post that isn't readily available in the Crain's article or the Sync's response.

I received a copy of "the supposed email." So either I'm part of Ed's hallucination or his information is accurate.

"There's a big difference between THE IMPLICATIONS IN THIS POST on FG and the situation made clear in the Crain's piece." [EMPHASIS added.]

I believe the "implications" you are reading into this post are entirely self-generated.

Ed's scoop was accurate, and the post was neither negative nor a shot at Mike or The SYNC.

Journalism102 here's a little journalism 101 — There's a huge difference between the level of writing in Crain's and what Flyover boy is giving us here. Although he might be factually accurate, he lays out the facts in a very Enquirer way. There are a lot of people who are ticked at Edward over this. People can complain or not complain to Crain's and they can decide how to handle it. Any work you do on your own carries over to any other company you represent.

journalist2 –
I am pretty sure I am in agreement with your first few statements. So, I'm not sure you are understanding me and/or paying attention to what I'm saying. Laying out the facts "in a very Enquirer way," would, in fact, be factually inaccurate. I don't disagree that this should have been handled differently, but Ed was doing what his blog is here for, keeping his readership up to date on the latest tech news. You're right, people can handle this however they want to, but that doesn't change the fact that doing so is quite honestly, a waste of time and effort on their part.

Why are you guys being such a bunch of haters?
Stop getting all hot over a very simple piece of news and try to rally the community together in a positive way to help the situation rather than pointing fingers. I was hoping to read this thread to see what other entrepreneurs are intending to do to help, but this is just annoying back and forth about nothing. And frankly seems like a bunch of really self serving drivel.
As for attacking "Ed", the most vocal readers here seem really annoying and kind of ruin the site themselves by consistently missing the point. I need to gain back the brain cells I've lost reading all of this by having a mature conversation amongst adults or something.

I have not published the email because the person that sent asked me not to as that person is upset by all the controversy it created.

Mike Rhodes has been made aware of the email that went out by the person that sent it today. And as you can read above, other people received it as well.

If people are "ticked" that I relayed information sent to me by a representative of the SYNC, there is nothing I can do about it. Whether I reported it or not, the announcement would have gone out saying the same thing- and because a number of other people got the email, it was hardly a secret.

I did not "imply" anything- I said the SYNC is closing, and it is. I assume the line where I called it a "sad thing" was missed by the angry parties. Anonymous commenting on the Internet makes it easy for people to say whatever they like without personal responsibility- which I do not do. My name is on everything I do.

1. Who cares really? A Space is shutting down. That's it. businesses come and go.
2. The Chicago Tech and Start up community will not miss a beat because of this. The Chicago Tech and Start up community will simply go one doing what it does best. Nothing of value came out the incubator or the space, so it's not as if anyone's rug has been pulled out. There are numerous other options available to the community: Lightbank (has money), ExcelerateLabs, ITA. Google started in a garage, not an 18,000 square foot loft.
3. The ones that loose here are the snake oil salesmen, the ones that want to run workshops on finding funding, collect people's money on false promise. Like so many televangelists.

I want to jump in and do a blogger defense for Ed here. I’m Kathryn and I run TINC Magazine, which I haven’t done too much with, but what I HAVE been doing is publishing Chicago Art Magazine. Despite the difference in industry I see EXACTLY what’s going on here…. it’s HAND WRINGING.
Nervous nilly handwringing is a type of manipulation used by non-bloggers/writer in order to control those of us who DO distribute news and information. So I will say what Ed can’t say, and I won’t be able to say when it’s my turn and I’m getting in trouble: stop trying to silence him.
He got an email, he posted it. It’s a free country and it’s how we’re allowed to roll.
At the art magazine, we did a story about the city shutting down a type of homespun gallery called an “apartment gallery”. As the story grew, every art hipster came out of the woodwork, saying ,“Don’t out us, man.” and “because of your story, everyone is going to get busted”.
Ed, stick to your guns and ignore the hand-wringers. If you listen to them, you’ll never print anything. It starts innocently enough, and people seem to do it from a place of sympathy for the subject.. but it is censorship pressure – despite their exterior motivations.
I met an art critic who was just getting started and I said, “until someone tells you that you’re singlehandedly destroying the art world, you haven’t arrived”.
So Ed, congratulations. You’re getting in trouble, and that’s the best compliment I can pay you. Weak writers ask for permission, strong writers ask for forgiveness.
Anyway, SYNC is moving, not closing per se. There’s clearly been a shakup as two parties are going their separate ways. Mike’s email is now public, I posted it and Ed will too. So to all the nervous nillies out there.. stay calm. The tech world is filled with strong, scrappy, self-starters who overcome adversity every day. They don’t need your protection.

Thanks Kathryn, I couldn't have said it better myself.

Kathryn, why stop there: strong writers give clear attribution to their sources, seek comment from interested parties, don’t run a story with a single source, and limit the use of anonymous sources to situations where the information would not come out without that protection. None of these were done here.

Calling people for comment is a) a courtesy and b) results in more accurate coverage. The distinction between “closed permanently” and “intends to move to new location” is an important one.

My concern over the accuracy of this information was purely self-interested. As posted, there was no way to evaluate it at the very practical level of “Should I pack up my desk on the way out today?” which was frustrating. A simple, “I got this email from XYZ but haven’t talked to Rhodes yet” would have gone a long way.

I like that pretty much everyone commenting here is a journalist (as am I), which speaks to the value of this website. I don’t buy the “it’s just a blog, who cares” school of thought. You do important work. And you’re filling a niche – thanks for that. Onward!

By way of introduction, this is me:
http://www.eylerwerve.com/jonathan/