The event was sponsored by Boston World Partnerships, a nonprofit created by Mayor Thomas M. Menino to raise global awareness of Boston as a center of intellectual capital and innovation.
“The train itself is a connector, so we thought we’d have fun with that,’’ said Yoon Lee, executive director of Boston World Partnerships.
About 50 Boston area entrepreneurs and business networkers took part in the trip, which began at the JFK/UMass stop and continued until the Davis Square station in Somerville. In between stations, representatives from start-up facilities and organizations addressed the strap-hanging audience. Speakers used a bullhorn to make themselves heard over the train noise and station announcements.
Most of the riders who just happened to be on that train, unaware that they were witnessing a networking event, took the spectacle in stride.
“Is this some sort of flash mob?’’ one young man asked casually, before he returned to solitaire on his smartphone.
The JFK/UMass station was chosen as the start of the run to feature the nearby UMass Venture Development Center, located on the UMass Boston campus. The center’s director, William Brah, told the crowd that although the center is currently at capacity, hosting 20 start-ups, “we always have room for the next Akamai.’’
As the train made its way under Boston, two representatives from the Boston mayor’s office spoke to attendees, talking up the South Boston Waterfront “Innovation District’’ and City Hall’s “new urban mechanics’’ office, which is using new technology to improve city services.
“I’m happy to see the government getting involved,’’ said Kristen Ulwelling, a first-year Babson MBA student, who rode in the car for the entire length of the trip.
Somewhere under South Boston, Bill Jacobson, the cofounder of WorkBar, a shared office space facility near South Station, urged the crowd to take a break from their virtual lives and “go out and meet people, get together.’’
Jacobson said that more than 120 people work at his facility, which hosts 40 companies and has kindled one marriage.
