Midtown Wednesdays: April 2006

A Daily Resource: Network Weaving Blog

Valdis Krebs, June Holley and Jack Ricchiuto have come together to create the Network Weaving Blog. This is a great knowledge resource for learning about other communities applying new techniques to their activity, network building, and social network mapping. Read their white paper on Networking here.

Add this link to your blog roll. Go here.

Ed Morrison, June, Jack and Valdis will be leading the next session for curriculum hosted at Baldwin Wallace College June 29th and 30th.

More information is available here.
Download the PDF here.
You can register here.

A Successful Economic Development Strategy = A Healthy Map

A successful economic development strategy process produces sustainable activity. Sustainable activity (the things we do together to build prosperity) is built on an infrastructure of trusted open economic networks. Here is what the map of a community who has successfully built trusted networks (and most likely with practices that parallel open source economic development practices) looks like below. The connections are thick, dense and well integrated. Thanks to Valdis Krebs for use of the map.

What's your economic development value proposition?

Here is a past post from Ed Morrison's blog, ED Pro. It's worth repeating:

"Economic development is emerging as the ultimate competitive weapon and what is a major contributing factor to the speed? Networks.

"Of course, speed has been important in business ever since the California Gold Rush. What's changed in recent years is that a slew of new techniques make it possible to get things done much faster. Start with global outsourcing. A vast network of suppliers around the world stands ready to do everything from manufacturing products to drawing up legal contracts. This helps companies create supply chains that are faster, more flexible, and more efficient than ever before." Go to Business Week here.

Another factor is to stop using old methods. "Most are still bogged down in bureaucracy and old modes of doing things."

...How well do you build open economic networks? Not sure? Register for the Baldwin Wallace College June 29 & 30 (see side bar) and learn from some of the best.

New study on the economic development impact of libraries

The value of the libraries: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Unveils Results of Economic Impact Study
- Reinforces library's critical role in strengthening communities and reaching region's youth
- CLP annually sustains more than 700 jobs, an economic return of $91 million, and an additional $41 million in estimated value to the community

PITTSBURGH, April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- A new economic impact study unveiled today shows that Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh provides quantifiable economic benefits to the region and is the Pittsburgh area's most visited regional asset. The study was conducted by the Carnegie Mellon University Center for Economic Development.

"The Economic Impact Study confirms that the 110-year-old Carnegie Library system has successfully evolved with the times and remains an important force for our region," said Dr. Barbara Mistick, Director of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. "In an environment of increasing electronic resources, decreasing public budgets and evolving social responsibilities, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh provides valuable economic and educational support to the community." The library generates a return of more than $91 million to the economy of Allegheny County, which equals $6 for every dollar of local public funding, and $75 worth of annual benefits per person in the County.

One of the most significant findings of the study is the library's unique ability to reach the next generation of people in our region, as 70% of city residents between the ages of 13 and 36 have a Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh card. "Many would think that our youth's Internet usage and savvy would diminish the role of libraries. However, this study proves that Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh has been successful in meeting the changing needs of its card holders by transforming the system into a reliable resource where people can still borrow books, but can also do much, much more, including access the Internet and participate in a variety of community-based activities," said Maxwell King, president, Heinz Endowments.

Equally important, according to Dr. Mistick, the study clearly concludes that the library has a positive impact on area residents' quality of life. A majority of the 1,300 individuals surveyed, and participants in several focus groups, ranked the positive impacts Carnegie Library delivers as follows: promotes literacy and learning; improves the neighborhood quality of life; provides activities for children and teens; provides an informal gathering place and public meeting rooms; provides career, job and business resources; attracts customers to other businesses; and increases property values and safety. As an example, in 2005, more than 4,500 different groups participated in programs held across all library locations with almost 70,000 people attending. Beyond in-house programs, Carnegie Library conducted outreach programs to more than 3,000 groups in 2005, reaching 80,000 people. The study also demonstrates clear economic impacts on the people of the region as follows:
   - Annually, CLP generates a return of more than $91 million in combined economic output ($63 million) and customer value ($28 million). During its current capital improvement phase, the figure is even higher due to jobs and spending generated by renovations and construction.
   - In 2004, CLP provided a return of $6 for every dollar provided by the Allegheny Regional Asset District and the City of Pittsburgh.
   - Nearly one-fifth of the residents of Allegheny County are CLP cardholders.
   - Allegheny County receives $75 worth of benefits for each resident.
   - CLP is the area's most visited regional asset, with 1.6 million visitors in 2004 and an anticipated 2.2 million in 2006.
   - Most library customers identify the library's key community benefits to be a) promoting literacy and learning and b) improving neighborhood quality of life.
   - Accounting only for circulating books, DVDs and videos as well as databases, the library provides an estimated value of $41 million to library customers each year:
   * If library customers were to purchase the books they borrow, the estimated cost to them would be $27 million.
   * If library customers were to pay $3 to rent the DVDs and videos they borrow, the estimated cost to them would be $2 million.
   * The library provides free access to databases that in many cases would not be available to the public, providing as much as $12 million in value to the community in databases alone.
Jerry Paytas, Director of the Carnegie Mellon University Center for Economic Development, indicated, "With the finding that the library provides more than $75 worth of benefits for every resident of Allegheny County, this study confirms the value and impact that Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh has in our region, in terms of return on investment as well as its contributions to people and their communities."
"There are many common misperceptions about the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. For example, many people believe that Andrew Carnegie endowed the operations of our library, providing long-term security. Unfortunately, that is not true," said Dr. Mistick. "There is no guaranteed source of funding for our libraries. We rely on the critical support of the state, the city, the Allegheny Regional Asset District, as well as gifts, grants and support from our customers to provide the necessary funding to keep this tremendous asset alive in our region. We rely on the entire community to be advocates for our library."
ABOUT THE STUDY
The study was conducted using various data collection and analysis methods including an online survey completed by more than 1,300 individuals, several focus groups conducted with business users and community stakeholders, cost- benefit analysis and an economic impact model to measure library impact on jobs and the economy. This research was funded
by Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh through generous donations from the ALCOA Foundation and Eden Hall Foundation.
ABOUT CARNEGIE LIBRARY OF PITTSBURGH
"Free to the People" since 1895. Established as a public trust in 1895, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh serves the citizens of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County with a distinguished history of leadership among the country's great public libraries. Through its 19 neighborhood locations, including the Main Library in Oakland and the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is the region's most visited asset. Each year the library provides more than 6,000 free programs, classes and other learning and training opportunities that are tailored to meet the dynamic and diverse
needs of people living in Western Pennsylvania.
ABOUT THE CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The report was prepared by the Carnegie Mellon University Center for Economic Development (CED) which provides the research and policy intelligence to foster an innovative region. An affiliate of Carnegie Mellon's H. J. Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management, the Center harnesses the vast resources of one of the nation's top universities to
guide action in policy and strategy. SOURCE Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

Social Capital: The Bricks and Mortar of Open Economic Networks

How we behave toward one another to build trust and respect is what builds social capital between people. With trusted connections, information moves freely for innovation.

We call these connections open economic networks.

There is a growing world community studying how we build social capital and its value. Rome's Fabio Sabatini is a node in the global network of social capital research. You can access the Social Capital Portal here.

Here are highlights from this morning's e-update:

• International Conference "Building Stronger Communities: Learnings, Governance, Directions". The Conference will be held in Melbourne, Australia, on July 13-14, 2006. The deadline for paper submission is May 22, 2006. Go.

• Symposium "Democracy and Social Capital: a Czech-American Dialog". The Symposium will take place in Prague on June 1, 2006. Keynote lectures will be held by Eric Uslaner and Petr Mateju. Go.

• International Conference "Poverty Reduction in Conflict and Fragile States: Perspectives from a Household Level". The Conference will be held in Washington DC on November 14-15, 2006. The deadline for submitting a paper is June 12, 2006.
Go.

• The service "New Papers on Social Norms & Social Capital" has been activated within the RePEc (Research Papers in Economics) project sponsored by the State University of New York. To receive the report, a free subscription is required at the address go here.

Fabio Sabatini

University of Rome La Sapienza
Department of Public Economics and
SPES Development Studies Research Centre
Via del Castro Laurenziano 9
00161 Rome Italy

University of Cassino
Department of Economics
Località Folcara, Via S.Angelo
03043 Cassino (FR), Italy

LIVE BLOG:OneCleveland: A Competitive Regional Advantage

How do we reinvent the Midtown economy? What are our opportunities to expedite services in government, commercial, and education? What are our opportunities to design new approaches to visualization, conceptual learning and virtual experiences? (If you haven't had a chance to read the article "Digital Natives" yet, go here.)

OneCleveland builds relationships with telecommuniction providers to connect, enable and transform. A primary goal is to improve adoption of the use of technology and reduce costs. OneCleveland is talking about providing significant bandwidth access: 650 gigabites.

These kinds of broad fiber type of services will provide the kinds of connections necessary to support high definition televsion channels, for example. Think of this as multimedia converging on many lines. Broadband for the home is approaching 100.

111 Cleveland municipal schools were connected through one connection through the Clinic. New advances in networking multimedia for the early adoption industries such as health care and education which seem to be early adoption industries. The more capacity, the more applications possible.

Where are the applications? There is a pent up demand in Higher Ed and K -12. Industry is beginning to need the big bandwidth to produce efficiencies and new applications.

How do industries manage the remote processes? This broadband is capable of addressing these emerging needs. For remote offices, and virtual design work, for example.

Communities are starting to seethe broadband opportunities. One model that works: IT attraction factor - by having a region with the broadband capabilities OneCleveland is able to provide - such as the potential service to NEO - companies are attracted to begin to use the local broadband technology to generate new development opportunities.

OneCleveland's mission over the last two years has been to connect. The emphasis in the last 6 months has been to focus on larger institutions where there is an aggregated demand.

Too be near the broadband fiber enables greater access for the local businesses. OneCleveland is working on business attraction and business connections. The NEO community is getting alot of awards - one of seven most intelligent cities; nominated by Intel as a Digital City; and just received an Ernest and Young award.

Municipalities are looking closer at how to leverage this asset as a business attraction. Deploy fiber to the innovation zones, incubate the new opportunities; use th incubator model to leverage new innovations.

History: OneCleveland came out of Case. Early on the initiative received donated fiber and some equipment. The City of Cleveland was at the cross roads of a national effort to install fiber. This was completed just before the dot com bust. The bust happened and companies left leaving the fiber - - dark. To put this the fiber down under private efforts would cost $6 - 8 M.

OneCleveland is hoping to drive the cost down by developing a community wide broadband intranet to promote economic development. "The family plan." There is a need to break down the barriers.

Once you break down the barriers, the connections start building. Once everyone connects, the businesses starts changing. One Cleveland is targeting the businesses, services, government, and health care. If access is missing, the businesses will not stay or be interested in staying.

Once the capablities are improved the content will innovate. OneCleveland recently did a permit project with the City which reduced the permit process from several days to 2 hours.

Question: Who is paying for this? OC believes the community has the capacity to pay for this. OneCleveland was started with the assistance of donations, and bank credit; it now has 30 organization members, and 150 remote sites. The organization reached a break even point in 18 months. The (aggregated) demand enables lower cost services for each person. One Cleveland does partner with local providers to provide the service. The successful model engages an anchor tenant and then from there the cost diminishes, and new opportunities emerge and result.

A model: Medina wants to build out $8M worth of infrastructure in the community. This is the economic development model for that city. The Port Authority is now engaged.

Case and OneCleveland is putting dark fiber down the Euclid corridor and working with the RTA to build a wireless canopy.

There aren't that many people (other models across the country) building wireless meshes. Political roadblocks have cost Philadephia and San Francisco time. But, they have not built their activity with an economic development model in mind. Now, the community has leveraged the front end hype but now must address other roadblocks, such as engagement with government.

OneCleveland is promoting a very diverse business base of industries. With technology anything is possible and this opens the door to diversity.

Charge is based on use, and the number of connections - this drives down the cost. The challenge is getting to the real small businesses. OC is working with providers to bundle services, and help develop the applications.

Midtown example: spin off business from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and those that service/support the large organizations are what are providing opportunity in the area. Build off these existing businesses. OC would lke to seed an incubator in the Midtown area.

The business worker who we would like to attract are the knowledge workers. CCF saw the value in donating to the Cleveland Municipal Schools to educate future local workers.

OC would like to create the community buy-in. Using equipment to increase capacity with partners.

Q: How much investment must be made by hospitals?
A: Most hospitals already have the equipment. The greatest challenge is to connect to the neighboring institutions. Security comes into play with networking and public safety. Alot paraphenalia and devices are being added. RTA is enabling capability.

Comment: The present workforce is not ready for the new applications. We need a local skilled workforce. Tying the education and commuity into the network is very important. There is a need to create innovative programs to train the workforce; there is a need to create the educated workforce that is needed here - the attraction model needs to be linked to the workforce and education components.

CareerBoard, for example, works but not to create the links with employers to create the new approaches needed in workforce development. We can use the library system to reinvent workforce development. One example is to create a virtual university - these are the kinds of things we need to be thinking about.

EBS wireless spectum ideastream will manage the infrastructure. The real challenge as a community is to create mechanisms to maintain the access. How does this connect to other parts of the community?

The government has a low standard for Internet bandwidth. We have been reticent as a nation to step up and define the national vision for technoloy. This is lax, in part due to a hesitancy on the part of the providers to move forward - to do so would require more investment on their part to update infrastructure to accommodate higher level access.

To have access to the vertical rights. The major issue is the last mile: the political/social barriers.

Having a hybrid model of wireless and broadband is a good answer - having a pervasive wireless model is huge. IPTV (TV on your computer) 1.6 Megabits is what is needed.

Federal, state and community standards need to mature in order to have a broad impact.

There is a simple model to build in the community that works for aggregating capacity within a community or a region. OC costs are 50% lower than other providers because of the ability to connect.

OC is interested in addressing small businesses need to aggregate services. Bundle pricing for services.

Other communities have much more competitive environments for services. By working with Adelphia last year, for example, OneCleveland increased Adelphia business by 60%.

The best thing to do would be to network the innovation zones...

Adoption, content development and access are the targets for OC. What is regionalism? OC is starting to develop new social applications for the Voices and Choices web model...

It's not Rocket Science: Be open to change or lose edge

Albany Model: Here's a good article to pass around and circulate widely. It will help open minds and opportunities at your next meeting. At I-Open we call this building "open economic networks."

Follow it up with an article and report to download published by The Arts Council of Indianapolis and consultant, Rebecca Ryan. Read and download the report here.

Be open to change or lose edge

By CATHERINE HEDGEMAN Attraction and retention of Gen X
First published: Sunday, April 23, 2006

Attraction and retention of Gen Xers in the workplace requires that employers be aware of the value approach taken by young professionals when looking at employment opportunities.

This approach is different from our parents' (baby boomers) and grandparents' (traditionalists) and involves much more than an interest in decent pay and benefits.

We look for value-added items: ways we might contribute to the workplace; the importance placed on our participation on the team; potential for training and growth; how our employer is viewed by and contributes to the community.

In addition, when considering where to work, we Gen Xers look closely at location.

In the business world "location" is everything, but most companies don't usually extend it to the attraction and retention of employees. Fortunately, the Capital Region has awakened to this idea.

It was born of a commitment from government, business, higher education and people wanting to make the Capital Region one of the nation's great places to live, work and play. Undoubtedly, this will assist us in ending the brain drain, or loss of intellectual capital.

Every day now, it seems, we read about new businesses coming to town. New residential developments have sprouted and property values have increased -- as has traffic congestion on antiquated roads and highways. Our local colleges and universities are attracting better students and better athletes, who in turn have given the schools -- and the Capital Region -- a national presence.

All these things are signs of what is yet to come. It is truly exciting to see the Capital Region open the door to innovation, creativity and modernization.

Lately, though, my concern is growing over the effects of generational attitudes on economic development. I saw this firsthand when I attended a public meeting on the proposed Harriman Research & Technology Park.

Uptown Albany residents (including myself) and residents of adjacent Guilderland are concerned about what redevelopment of the Harriman State Office Campus may mean for their neighborhoods. While the worry is legitimate, there are ways to mitigate any impact.

What was disconcerting, however, was that much of the criticism of the Harriman project did not focus on any specific quality-of-life ramifications. Rather, much of it was outright opposition to the commercial, recreational and residential uses proposed. In fact, one man proposed that nothing be done and the campus be left as is.

I am still baffled by these comments, because they ignore the chance to transform the experience of uptown living into a more urban, high-tech living/learning/play environment, while also providing the city of Albany with an additional tax base.
If we could see into the future, we might see a market address that is a nationally recognized center for cutting-edge research and development in a wide variety of high-tech arenas. We might see a Harriman campus where college students study at benches and tables; where thirty-somethings and forty-somethings shop for a DVD, take out a library book or buy an ice cream cone; where young professionals and empty-nesters now have condos; where senior citizens tutor elementary and high school students in a community atrium.

All of these possibilities would be surrounded by commercial office space that is home to world-class technology companies that will provide new jobs and tax revenue. A project like this would certainly be an asset to the region and could only add to its attractiveness. Call me old-fashioned, but I am keeping an open mind.

NextGen Workbytes is written locally by and for Gen Xers learning the realities of the workplace. Catherine M. Hedgeman is a government relations associate with Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker LLP in Albany and is involved with a local young professionals' group.

Midtown Networking Opportunity: See the Future - Don't miss ICE Showcase Event Tomorrow!

SEE THE FUTURE: Ohio ICE Showcase Event

DATE:TOMORROW, Thursday, April 27
TIME: 3:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M.
PLACE: Cleveland Midtown Innovation Center, 4415 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland
Free Parking

Free Registration here.

DESCRIPTION:The electronics industry in Northeast Ohio creates many of the world's most innovative technology products. Come to the ICE Showcase this Thursday and see what our future economy may look like and how you can become part of it! Never before have so many organizations been willing to share their new research and technology in one place. Tour Orbital Research, Cleveland Medical Devices, CleveMed Neurowave, Flocel & Ohio MEMS Association. See demonstrations and meet the inventors from ABB, Rockwell, FLXmicro, Hana Microdisplay, Microfabrication Solutions, KSU
Liquid Crystal Institute & Computer Science Department, CASE, CSU and University of Akron. Speak to our region’s brightest engineers & leaders.

Network for jobs & internships.

Questions? Call 216-687-6950. Email Kathryn Ross here.

I-Open This Week: OneCleveland: Infrastructure for Regional Transformation

Date: Wednesday, April 26
Time: 5:00 P.M. - 6:45 P.M.
Place: Myers University, Chester Campus
3921 Chester Avenue, Cleveland, OH
Map Link

In a flat, networked economy regions that build collaborations quickly will move ahead. How Northeast Ohio collaborates to share resources and respond to change will determine the future of the region.

OneCleveland offers a regional next-generation broadband network connecting education, government, and business partners.

Seize your opportunity by designing new ways to access high-speed broadband capabilities for Internet communications, content development and distribution to transform our region.

Build innovative collaborations to accelerate service delivery to communites, influence how institutions collaborate, and leverage community assets to drive economic development. Join us for next steps!

Leader: Mark Ansboury, Chief Operating Officer, OneCleveland

Join us for Midtown Mornings. Share coffee and bagels, make new connections and explore business opportunities. Join us to network with entrepreneurs building the Midtown Innovation Zone. Download the PDF here.

Date: Friday, April 28
Time: 7:30-8:30 A.M.
Place: Nead Brand Partners
3635 Perkins Avenue, Suite 6a
Map Link

Coming Up: Wednesday, May 3: Building International Black Culture Networks
Time: 5:00 P.M. - 6:45 P.M.
Place: Myers University, Chester Campus
Cleveland, OH 4411

Questions? Contact:
Betsey Merkel, Network Development
The Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open)
Cleveland MidTown Innovation Center
4415 Euclid Ave., Suite 310
Cleveland, OH 44103 USA
Tel. 216-246-2447
Email: betseymerkel@i-open.org

Purdue's Center for Regional Development Appoints Ed Morrison as Economic Policy Advisor

Cleveland.-- April 24, 2006 -- The Center for Regional Development at Purdue University has appointed Ed Morrison to the position of Economic Policy Advisor. In the role, Morrison will assist the Center and the governor's office in the implementation of new regional models of economic development and workforce development.

"I am excited to be affiliated with Purdue's Center,” said Morrison. “Since its founding a little over a year ago, the Center for Regional Development has catapulted to a leadership role in regional economic development and innovation." Morrison will be helping the Center design and implement a $15 million U.S. Department of Labor Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) grant. The Center learned in February that it was one of 13 recipients nationally. The grant provides $5 million a year for three years for the the Center to design and implement a series of regional initiatives in North Central Indiana.

"The WIRED grant provides an exceptional opportunity to develop integrated initiatives that cross existing organizational and political boundaries. We will also be sharing what we learn among other WIRED regions across the country," said Morrison. Morrison will be coordinating the work of the Center with the office of Governor Mitch Daniels. The Governor will soon be releasing a statewide strategy that emphasizes the same type of regional strategies promoted by the WIRED grant.

In addition to his work with the Center, Morrison directs Leadership Indiana, an initiative of the Indiana Humanities Council. In this role he is guiding twelve regional forums across the state and building regional networks to implement a new model of economic development, Open Source Economic Development. This model of economic development emphasizes the importance of developing open networks to accelerate innovation.

Morrison is also one of the founders of the Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open), based in Cleveland. I-Open is developing new models and tools to accelerate regional innovation using Open Source Economic Development. I-Open is working with the Cuyahoga County Department of Development to implement this approach to strategy in Cuyahoga County. Morrison formerly headed the Center for Regional Economic Issues at Case. Contact: Betsey Merkel 4415 Euclid Avenue Cleveland, OH 44106 T 216-650-7267 betseymerkel@i-open.org

Building Resource Networks for Transformative Innovations

The mission of the Cuyahoga County Department of Development is to foster strong neighborhoods, support safe, decent and affordable housing, and promote economically sound communities through programs that address issues vital to local business growth and enhanced employment opportunities within Cuyahoga County.

Visit the Cuyahoga County Department of Development website here. Be sure to read the 2005 Annual Report here.

COMMENT: ECity and E4S

Susan Miller Says:

Holly Harlan is so busy advancing the Sustainability agenda at Entrepreneurs for Sustainability. And she is doing a bang up job of it! If only she had the staff and or time to suggest a sustainability curriculum insertion for ECity's new Entrepreneurs Prep School.

But EPrep is still hiring teachers according to their website.

Might there be an entrepreneur for sustainability who is ready to help prepare the next generation? Or a teacher who is ready to branch out into a new area of middle and high school curriculum (read science + economics)?

Could E4S interest The Entrepreneurship Preparatory School in a series of lectures? We are becoming better at building the links.

This seems like a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor, before these kids launch into the business world. Would it not be great to expand their thinking beyond the old school business model and have them consider how to put sustainability systems in place from the very beginning of their business planning?

Imagine classes of students from the EPrep School matriculating through the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs or the CSU Business School and then through the Erb Institute at University of Michigan. Wow!

reply »

This comment is at this address. Perhaps if it cannot come up, Mr. Zitzner or someone who is teaching entrepreneurship can address it by replying to the post.

http://www.gcbl.org/education/k-12-initiatives

Richard Dawkins

Provided by Entrepreneur Melvin Hendrix: A comprehensive link to Richard Dawkins here.

LIVE BLOG: E City

Review of Midtown Wednesday social network map. The MT map shows clusters that are in some cases, connected within but not with other parts of the whole system. As time moves on, collaborative behaviors will present in the map as being more densely connected.

ECity is a model that represents alot of replication and simply stolen ideas from other best practices and models in the country.

Media well covers the poor rate

National Fdn for teaching entrepreneurship - how do we teach new ways for building entrepreneurship in Northeast Ohio?
All kids are taught how to present a business plan (in 70 hours). The program is supported with an alumni program. Students participate in programs discussing ethics, etc.

Then, the question came about: what could this look like if a school was built. If an entrepreneur states what it is they want to do clearly, there are people who will help you and collaborate to share resources. Barbara Bird Bennett suggested a Charter School be started. Excellent Schools (a Google model) located in Boston offered to teach and share best models.

Planning started in 05' to create a great urban school. Through networking, Marshall headed the school by enrolling in the Excellent Schools program, a one year full time program.

What is a Charter School? If you want to start one you need to have an Authorizing Agent. such as a State University or other Nonprofits. E City went to the Cleveland Schools for recommendation.

School days are 10 hours/day and/or more if needed.

How can this model be replicated in other areas of NEO? That is not an easy question to answer...ideas for this are welcome.

Marshall:
Zealous teacher model is what is needed to accelerate and support ongoing scholarship. The goal is to have every child attend a four year college.

In 2000 Marshall started a Charter School with 85 students, no teachers, no parents, only teachers who were mission driven. Curriculum was designed around standards. Can reading and math be standards level? Assessment is constantly leveraged to keep everyone on target. How and where students are performing can be assessed at any time. An effective use of time example is: cuttiing time off in passing from one class to the next.

Standard curriculum is offered morning to 4 PM. The arts and extra help is from 4PM on. All students receive a great amount of positive support for accomplishing good grades and leadership. Head of School works hard at strengthening relationships with parents and students.

Entrepreneurial spirit: persevere, tough leadership, long hours, courage. Students are also required to complete a business plan. A Charter School has the ability to make changes quickly for curriculum and teachers.

Two models are shown in videos. One in

Glenville E 105th St. School to open in August. Lots of individual donors, foundations. What the books and assessements needed? 69 students are signed up.

Charter Funding: is relatively parallel to the public schools. With the difference being $500,000 per year that neds to be raised.

Challenges: to replicate the model and to engage the community to strengthen support for the school. How do you take this school?

Office supplies, furniture, paper and supplies are needed.

Leverage the regional network of colleges and univeristieis: Regional colleges tracking students
There is a need to integrate cognitive science when designing curriculum
Goal: to discover alternate solutions
Currciulum: bike rodeos; healthy lifestyles in Cleveland; career choices; internships: mentoring and business experience
Green industry
E City goal: students create a business plan, then go to college, then start the business in NEO
What is the value of creating free environment with digital access
How can diverse learning styles be addressed in the curriculum?
Identify Midtown entrepreneurs to strengthen new approaches to creating innovative learners
Answer: what does the market need? Team work and individual work styles

A Good Report: Building the Link Between Creative Cities and Innovating Nations

Here is an interesting report from the Canadian Policy Research Network.

The description: "Creative cities are vital to meeting our community and national economic and social goals. By happy coincidence, the conditions that foster creative cities also foster economic innovation, social inclusion, democratic engagement and environmental sustainability."

Click here for four new papers from CPRN that outline the key role of arts and culture in enterprise, especially in today's knowledge economy.

What are our opportunities to strengthen creativity and innovation in Midtown?

Stage-Gate Product Innovation Workshop: Thurs 4-27

In a networked economy, product life cycles are shorter and new products make old ones obsolete. Innovation is key to moving forward quickly and, so is process.

The Beachwood Chamber of Commerce, Kalypso Partners and The Nance College of Business Cleveland State University are hosting a day long workshop with Dr. Robert G. Cooper, "the quintessential scholar" in the field of new products and developer of the "Stage-Gate" process widely used by firms world wide.

The Stage-Gate web site offers a Knowledge Center where a selection of articles, research,
knowledge and working papers are available free of charge. Go.

The Stage-Gate Product Development Institute, Inc. offers more information about the process.

Program information and registration is available here.

Moving from Command and Control to Link and Leverage

Ed Morrison passed along a phrase he heard about change happening in business : "We're moving from command and control to link and leverage."

We are seeing this more and more in the successful regions that move ahead.

Consider this article sent by Mark Zust about building trusted networks. Anaheim set an example of "decentralizing bureaucracies and loosening cosseted government regulation... confirming..the vitality and audacity of private enterprise. The city has made itself a laboratory for free-market thought."

Read about the exponential growth in real estate values that resulted here.

Midtown Mornings: This Morning!

A big THANK YOU to everyone who brought good energy and great ideas to the first installment of MidTown Mornings at Nead Brand Partners. Who knew people could be so engaged at 7:30 am? If you couldn't make it this morning, not to worry – the sessions are EVERY FRIDAY from 7:30-8:30 am. As we agreed at the meeting, the next step will be for everyone (attendees and non) to contribute one or more Talking Points to our new "PB Wiki", which is an open site you can submit to. Betsey Merkel will send you a link, or you can find it on the Midtown Wednesday Blog. Your ideas will be formatted into a handy guide to give to prospects, peers, and anyone else who wants to know more about the personal and business benefits of being involved with Midtown. Please look over the list below of first initiatives that we can complete or at least move forward in the next 30-60 days. Please contact me directly if you have ideas/resources to jump-start any of the following ideas. Thanks for your help, and we look forward to seeing you next Friday. Fresh gourmet coffee and bagels will be beckoning....
Mark ;-)

Initiatives:
1. Create a tagline that everyone in Midtown believes in (ie: "Things are Popping" them developed by Superior/St. Clair coalition)
2. "I support Midtown" window sticker for businesses, residents, and supporters not located in Midtown. Available FREE (?)
3. Plot a simple, easy to implement marketing and communication plan that erases geographic boundaries and broadens the definition of what constitutes "Midtown"
4. Start a Venture Capital network (ie: begin dialogue with Red Room Revolution, MidTown Cleveland, individual investors, etc.) – Who do YOU know?
5. Capture Success Stories - Informal conversations, then document in writing and with video (Cinematographer Alex Michaels is ready and willing to help).
6. "Green" Rooftops - Julien Adler has agreed to begin dialogue with director of the Cleveland Green Building Coalition. Anyone know someone from the W.P. Hickman Systems company featured in this week's Crain's Cleveland Business? (check out CCB, page 7).
7. Midtown Eats - Build a list of local restaurants and other favorite hang outs by posting to the PB Wiki. This is a work in progress, so please contribute!
8. Plan a Midtown Tour (patterned after Sparx in the City or Cool Cleveland). We welcome specific ideas, resources, and volunteers. This could be a moveable feast, fundraiser, walking/biking tour, festival, or any combination. Who can we partner with who is already doing something similar in the area?

Getting Creative in Philadelphia

Here is an interesting article about accelerating innovation in Philadelphia from Ed Morrison:

Philadelphia Business Journal - April 7, 2006 by Bernard Dagenais

The buzz surrounding the so-called "creative economy" has been around for years. Authors have made good money exalting artists. Now, the issue is coming to roost in Philadelphia, which will soon hold a Global Creative Economy Conference Summit.

The summit, which is being produced by the city-backed economic development group Innovation Philadelphia, provides the region with an opportunity to help mold creativity into a stronger economic force.

Peggy Amsterdam, president of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, thinks Philadelphia business leaders are missing something important and should be helping to drive the growth of the region's creative economy.

"This is something that the corporate community should be talking about, thinking about, promoting and seeding," said Amsterdam, who was one of the leaders of a group that set out to capitalize on the region's creative economy assets three years ago as part of a "Roadmap for Regional Growth."

Read more.

Casinos, Income and Tax Revenue

Crain's Editor Jeff Stacklin posted this about revenue figures that make traffic light cam proceeds pale. Go.

Question is, whose pocket does the money come from and what are those economic development consequences?

Myers Minority Business Contractors Assistance Program

Dr. Michelle Spain, Director of the MMBCAP, spoke about services Myers University offers to entrepreneurs:

This is from the program website: "MMBCAP is a small business assistance program recognized for providing technical assistance, education, resource development, and counseling to minority-owned businesses. The program has established the African American Male Small Business Institute to educate a homogenous group of men to increase their collective and individual ability to operate small businesses in the state of Ohio. Also MMBCAP will provide information on our annual events such as Women of Color formally known as Sisters to Sisters and Night at the Races and All that Jazz, as well as new events to be announced."

The site also includes information for starting your own business in a list of small business resources.

More here.

Unseen Small Business Contributions to Innovation Huge

Here is an article sent by one of our library information science partners about the unseen value small businesses bring to economic development. The article is from eJournal USA: Economic Perspectives 2006, by Derek Leebaert, entitled "How Small Businesses Contribute to US Economic Expansion":

"Small businesses contribute much more to the U.S. economy and society as a whole than can be calculated just from the spending and profit that they generate. These businesses tend to be more economically innovative than larger companies, more able to respond to changing consumer demand, and more receptive to creating opportunities for women and minorities, and activities in distressed areas. "Building, running, and growing small business is a part of a virtuous cycle of creativity and increasing prosperity that can be applied by dedicated and thoughtful people anywhere," the author says. "There are no secrets, and frequently money is less important than a considered combination of imagination and effort."

Read more here.

LIVE BLOG: NEO African American Cultural Center: A New Networked Hub of Collaboration

For LIVE BLOG: NEO African American Cultural Center: A New Networked Hub of Collaboration, please visit Djembe Project Blog.

Bill Peirce: Libertarian ViewPoint No. 2

The Proposed Gambling Amendment is an Abomination

“Learn and Earn,” the flagrantly mislabeled casino gambling proposal, is the worst constitutional amendment ever suggested in Ohio. If it were adopted, it would award a perpetual monopoly of casino gambling in this state to the owners of 10 specific sites: the seven existing race tracks, the Tower City complex and the Nautica Entertainment complex in Cleveland, and one unpublicized entity “no more than 3 miles from Fountain Square” in Cincinnati. The Ratner family, Jeff Jacobs, Jack Hanessian, Keith Nixon, Charles Ruma, and Brock Milstein are fine people, of course, but why would we write into the constitution that they have the exclusive privilege of extracting billions of dollars from the people of Ohio? It is even more puzzling that the citizens of Ohio would award such privileges to corporations headquartered elsewhere, including Penn National Gaming of Pennsylvania, Magna Entertainment Corp. of Ontario, and the MTR Gaming Group of West Virginia.

Once this monopoly is written into the constitution, it cannot be taken away except by passing another constitutional amendment. When the billions start rolling in, however, the holders of the privilege will be able to outspend anyone who would campaign to take the privilege away. The voters of today really are binding their children and grandchildren into this deal.

Ohio is asking absolutely nothing in return for this permanent privilege. The “Learn and Earn” ballot issue would not require any payment for the 10 casinos. Indeed, by specifying who will receive the licenses, the proposal prevents competitive bidding. In places where casino licenses are put out to bid (Pittsburgh, for example), gaming companies pay plenty for the privilege. A good estimate is that Ohio is giving away a privilege that it could sell for $4 billion dollars!

The backers of the proposal will argue that state and local governments will receive annual tax payments worth hundreds of millions. Even there, however, Ohio will be short changed. Pittsburgh will extract a tax of 54%, even after taking hundreds of millions up front. The Ohio proposal calls for a tax of 39%! The backers have referred to a tax of 45%, but 6% goes back to the racetracks to subsidize breeding race horses, so that leaves 39% for the public sector. Even for the paltry portion that does go to the public sector the designers of this proposal have had the arrogance to tell the legislature exactly how the money shall be spent.

I certainly hope that the people of Ohio will learn about this amendment before they give a few rich people a monopoly privilege that will earn them billions more.

Intelligent Economic Design: Two Fresh Viewpoints

Crain's caught Ed Morrison's insightful EDPro blog this AM, "We need smarter development, not casinos"

Bill Peirce, Libertarian candidate for Ohio Governor, sent along another must read. See below:

Although there is not much support for casino gambling among the candidates of the major parties, it is revealing that these experienced public servants did not realize that the “Learn and Earn” proposal would swindle billions of dollars from the taxpayers of Ohio. Blackwell and Petro doubt that casinos produce good jobs or economic development. Strickland likes the tax revenue but dislikes the increased gambling addictions. Flannery likes the tax revenue and thinks that Ohioans gamble anyway, so it is just a question of which state gets the revenue.

There are three coherent views on gambling. Some people oppose all gambling on paternalistic or moral grounds. A small fraction of people get into serious trouble from gambling. Also, some people consider gambling to be evil. If your inclinations are paternalistic, you might want to rid the world of gambling to protect the more vulnerable citizens. This argument is not very persuasive in the state of Ohio, which advertises the wonders of the state lottery to the people it tries to protect from gambling.

A second approach is to view gambling solely as a device for maximizing tax revenue for the state. If one adopted this approach, one would presumably advocate building a full-service casino at every major exit point from the state. Thus, the gambler headed for a casino anywhere else in the world would encounter a bigger and better one before leaving Ohio. Working with consultants, one would estimate the tax rate that maximized state revenue (perhaps in the vicinity of 60%), and then auction off the permit to build and operate each casino for a long, but finite period.

A third approach is libertarian. If people want to gamble, why should the state stand in the way? The state should not be involved, it should just stand aside while anyone who wants to operate gambling games can do so and anyone who wants to gamble can choose his game and his favorite supplier of gambling services. Under this approach, gambling establishments would not require any more regulation than movie theaters or pizza parlors. Profits from gambling would rapidly be bid down to the normal level as new casinos opened and advertised their wares.

It is clear that the police effort that now goes into eliminating illegal gambling is just a device for maintaining the monopoly in gambling that now produces high profits for the state or some favored party. If the state really does adopt the second approach—maximization of tax revenue—the policing is not much different from the force necessary for collecting all taxes. Ohio cannot permit illegal gambling today because it cuts into the revenue from the state lottery. But why would the state control entry into gambling in order to protect the profits of 10 private owners?

I-Open This Week: Midtown Wednesdays: NEO African American Cultural Center: A New Networked Hub of Collaboration

Date: Wednesday, April 12
Time: 5:00 P.M. - 6:45 P.M.
Place: Myers University, Chester Campus
3921 Chester Avenue, Cleveland, OH
Map Link

African American Museums across the country struggle to remain competitive for resources. Most of the museums have similar missions and broadening scopes. Read about the Greensboro International Civil Rights Center and Museum here, a typical story today. More here.

Organizations strive to be relevant to local economic and social growth. Our opportunity is to preserve history as well as strengthen social networks in the African American community. Regions that undertake these goals build innovation and accelerate entrepreneurship. This week we will begin by leveraging new open source economic development practices and tools.

Join us for an open space session to explore new and different ways to strengthen cultural museums and historical organizations in Northeast Ohio. Together we will envision new models and discover what a Northeast Ohio African American Cultural Center could provide to regional prosperity.

Leaders: Eugene Cranford, Community leaders

In Transforming our Regional Economy: Action Plan 2006 led by the Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners, innovation zones are one of five transformative initiatives designed to create focus and bring to scale grass roots initiatives to transform Northeast Ohio.

Join us and discover your opportunities as we build innovation zones around our colleges, universities and libraries in Brainpower, Dialogue and Inclusion, Innovation Networks, Marketing and Branding and Quality, Connected Places.

We're building the network! Join us for Midtown Mornings, a fresh new networking breakfast hosted by Nead Brand Partners. Download the beautiful brochure here.

Date: Friday, April 14
Time:7:30-8:30 A.M.
Place: Nead Brand Partners
3635 Perkins Avenue, Suite 6a
Map Link.

Coming Up: Midtown Wednesdays, April 19: E-City: Building New Models for Education
Time: 5:00 P.M. - 6:45 P.M.
Place: Myers University, Chester Campus
Cleveland, OH 4411
Map Link

Questions? Contact:
Betsey Merkel,Network Development
The Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open)
Cleveland MidTown Innovation Center
4415 Euclid Ave., Suite 310
Cleveland, OH 44103 USA
Tel. 216-246-2447

Midtown Mornings: A Fresh New Way to Network in Midtown

Join us for the inaugural Midtown Mornings!

Build your networks and revitalize your Midtown business opportunities every Friday morning.

Breakfast and networking at the beautiful Nead Brand Partners Loft located in the heart of Midtown.

See it to believe it here.

Date: Friday, April 14, 2006
Time: 7:30 AM to 8:30 AM
Who: Midtown Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders
Cost: Donation to cover coffee and breakfast goodies from Stone Oven in the Galleria

Check out Midtown Mornings here.

Universities play major role developing entrepreneurs and business, research shows

From this week's ED Pro.

New Jersey policy planners recently gathered at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) to learn from noted MIT Professor Richard K Lester and his associates how to bring entrepreneurs to Newark.

Lester and his researchers recently completed a three-year international study that examined ways to bring about similar results in regions and cities around the world

Read more.

MIT Walkability Ranking

Here's a post about MIT graduate student Holly Krambeck, who is working on a walkability ranking system for cities.

As such cities grow more congested with cars, changes are often made at the expense of pedestrians, even though walking is the most common means of transportation in developing countries. Or developing urban areas.

Read more about promoting walking in Midtown; make your experience more than just a few traffic lights. What are your requirements? Learn here.

Building Sustainable Communities Through Network Building

Here is an excellent article co-authored by Valdis Krebs and June Holley. More here.

This is another guide for us as we build the Midtown Innovation Zone.

Follow Up: Midtown Innovation Zone Meeting at Nead Brand Partners

Thanks to Mark Zust and Mark Brand for acting quickly, hosting a next step process for developing the Midtown Innovation Zone. Last evening's gathering was a follow up to several recent Midtown Wednesday forums.

Last night's ideas are organized by the Innovation Framework created from Ed Morrison's 25 years of work in economic development. This map guides communities and regions in Oklahoma City, Lexington Kentucky and the State of Indiana. The Framework offers leaders a starting point to begin to understand areas of contribution and our connection to others.

Valdis Krebs teaches us about the power of collaborative networks. We have mapped our Midtown networks. See how they have expanded through Midtown Wednesday forums in 12 weeks here.

Jack Ricchiuto teaches us the value of appreciative leadership skills to build trusted sustainable networks. Here are some appreciative questions to think about as you read the idea list:
What part of the map do you see yourself contributing to?
What opportunities do you see to create new replicable models of innovation?
Who do you envision working with you?

June Holley teaches us the value of building networked hubs of activity, learning to work together on small projects and moving forward quickly.

This is a starting point to reveal emerging innovation and entrepreneurship in Midtown. Our next step is a Midtown strategic process to align passions and strengths; identify transformative initiatives together and begin taking ideas to action, what we call "strategic doing". We can leverage I-Open practices and tools to do this. Read about the Commerce Lexington model here.

We will post next steps soon. We welcome comments and feedback.

Brainpower
Videos about innovation
Committees of people with shared goals to help Midtown: people work on whatever committee goal interests them: Some skill groups needed: a finance committee, a marketing commiittee, a business committee, a residential committee

Branding and Marketing
Media platforms
Information kiosk
Banners
Street signage
Video board (street scale)
Community Internet portal
Neighborhood information, services and resources on neighborhood websites
Available rental space website with pictures
Branding businesses in local TV show. See: Prelude2Cinema
Brief ads promomting Midtown as the place build networks
Midtown online directory: whatever you need is in Midtown!
Target audiences in advertisements: college students, business persons placed in Crains, Small Business News and COSE newsletter
Shameless pugs - on web, signage, ads
Target magazines that focus on entrepreneurship and redevelopment for articles (maybe even local?)
Virtual MT story (allow users to add successes as they occur)
Radio interface with cell phone reporters : "Midtown Happenings"
Create a Midtown Magazine

Building Innovation and Entrepreneurial Networks
"Midtown cash"
Frequent buyer programs
Arts discount
Coffee card (punch)
Coupons
Water harvesting/portable potties/biodiversity planting/energy pellets/renewable energy/horticultural enterprise zone
Tax incentives for student housing

Build a network of all real estate owners and management; invite them to get involved through email and mailings
Create a plan showing potential future of MIdtown as a thriving community of residents and businesses: target people interested in helping to achieve this
Investment clubs for Midtown businesses
Micro funding networks
Consider tax increment financing -TIF (neighborhood agrees to higher taxes. 25% increase provided mooney is spent on neighborhood prioritites)

Funding sources:
Innovation financing forum/grants
Fundraisers/grants/MT Mutual fund/local investors

Quality, Connected Places
Develop a sense of place by: launching a progressive meal going to different places of business warehouses not restaurants to talk and mingle
Bike racks/free bikes
B2B scavenger hunt
How do we connect to Midtown beyond E. 55th ?

Innovation Cafe
Office tours
Create a sense of place and face to face

Midtown church bells
Restaurant tours
Rooftop parties
Bowling events
Out door dining
Tribe games group tix

Complimentary beer
Artscape messaging (temporary)
Sculpture, sponsored businesses, like guitars sponsored by United Way
Celebrate local culture through cultural events that the whole community gets involved in (ie., Chinese New Year in Midtown)
Local artists sculpt installations curbside, curbside parks, signage

Block parties
Farmers market
MT tours (with trolly)
Dine around

Treasure hunt
Progressive ''walk''
Appetizer and dessert stations at business open houses
Street fest /art fest /entertainment
Clean up saturday or spring clean up afternoon

Dialogue & Inclusion
Who is the target audience?
Residents, employees who live elsewhere, company management, building owners
Collaboration events with the quadranagle at Superior and St Clair and Midtown
Chat room(s)
Blog
Wiki
Backpack software
Midtown Directory list of:
safety (police, fire, etc.)
services
businesses
available space

We would like to connect to specific skills and location of skills.
Create a Midtown Ambassadors program

Directory of Interest: a list of who is interested in what. People connect via shared interest. People should list not just their business but what topics interest them.
Forums to post opportunities with clients where help is needed
Face to face introduction

A "Who we are" program featuring Midtown businesses - website/ad campaign/
community newsletter, paper, e-news; directory of businesses; welcome brochure/directory
Coffeee house/bakery/ culinary institute

Weekly or bi-weekly referral meetings desiged to educate neighbors and refer business
Midtown blood Drive

Monthly or Quarterly anniversary parties to celebrate milestones for companies in Midtown

Leveraging a Free Platform: Prelude2Cinema PB Wiki

Take a look at how Alex Michaels has developed the free wiki site PBWiki (like Peanut Butter and Jelly) as his company website here.

Try your own at PBWiki.

Accelerating Projects and Good Eats: Two New Midtown Tools

Innovation and entrepreneurship is accelerated by good food (!) and early adoption to technology tools. You can accelerate your efforts by developing an ease with working with a variety of technnology platforms. There are plenty of free tools on the web for communicating, partner and team working and just about any kind of service you need.

Here are two fun new tools I put up for entrepreneurs in Midtown, both off of the Ning.com site:

A group work/update platform: Midtown Innovation Network here.

And, a restaurant guide: Midtown Eats here.

Just let me know if you would like to contribute rave reviews or cautions about where to eat in Midtown! Email me here.

An Excellent Website and Cool GIS applications: What are Midtown's Opportunities?

A note from Kevin Cronin. His source: WorldChanging: Another World is Here

...As we discuss frequently here, mapping tools and other geospatial technologies are changing the game quickly. Case in point? The California Infill Parcel Locator, a pilot program of Berkeley's Institute of Urban and Regional Development (IURD). The parcel locator is pretty simple: it measures the ratio between the assessed value of a plot of land and the assessed value of the structures and improvements on that land, and then overlays the results onto a street map.

Read more here.

Designing for pedestrians in Midtown

Kevin Cronin sends us this excellent reminder about the value of designing Midtown communications for a pedestrian scale:

...I would favor small kiosks. The difference, in my mind, is scale. The large billboards are quick messages for cars as they head out of town. If someone is walking around, I'm all for wired kiosks and displays (which also would probably be paid for by advertising, but would be less intrusive).

I still urge some of the activities we've discussed - community portal, low budget information sharing (bulletin boards and
flyers), banners on major streets...

Canadian Innovation and Entrepreneurship Networks

Canada is a leader in building networks of collaboration with Canadian universities and colleges. Check out Innovation Canada.

Visit the Ontario Regional Innovation System here and read about the latest in innovation and entrepreneurship from the organization's newsletter here.

LIVE BLOG: Midtown Wednesdays: Building Global Networks to Africa

Rich Brhel shows us a copy of Folsom's Mercantile College, Cleveland (currently Myers University) college course offerings from the 1850's.

Participants today include leaders for Cleveland Bikes, Hiram College alumni, Myers University professor, law, Afican American entrepreneurs, family planning, biofuels and manufacturing. Each individual represents new opportunities to build innovation and entrepreneurship.

Making Global Connections - Gwen Fischer talks to us about the value of making connections. Gwen traveled in Zimbabwe, Mozmbique, Tanzania and many other parts of Africa during 2001 and 2002. Africa was deteriorating at that time. Gwen started to think about these questions: What do I know? What skills do I have? What interests me? What resources do I have available?

This became obvious when Gwen traveled to different parts of Africa realizing quickly that people

What Next? Where can these be useful? Whom do I know? How can I find others I don't know yet? Gwen began by mapping who she knew and how they are related to each other.

Next steps for a Journey to Africa: Gwen began to learn from people and organizations who she knew and settled on some strong personal decisions. With a Rotary teaching award Gwen began many trips to teach in Africa.

NGO's teach aids prevention.

Professor Dudley is a leader is sending millions of books to South Africa BookSmart in Africa. This is one of many collaborations and connections bringing resources to Africa. The Internet has made the difference.

Another realization: is that we are all the same. Eileen Burutsa is an African leader who now lives in Akron who raises resources for her homeland Zembabwe.

Gwen spent a year in Africa teaching children in Africa and studying infant growth.

We're all the same: Nurturing Children and Empowering the Marginalized Kudzai Shava is Gwen's research assistant. Shava was selected as one of 8 from Africa awarded the Claude Aki Award.

Nurturing Children who have been Neglected or Abandoned Sparrow Village (South Africa) Aurora Rotary, Anglican Research Center

International and Institutional Connections Gwen is connected to the Fulbright Scholar Program, Africa American Institute, Rotary International, etc. Personal connections can be leveraged to help us to strengthen the work we do.

Gwen shows us many photos of the beautiful scenery, schools and people. A poor school is one teacher sitting on the floor with one book for the class. Gwen shows us another science class proud of the one piece of equipment: a cart for doing experiments at, but there is no other equipment to do experiments with.

Girl Child Network Trust / Zimbabwe (another example of how we are all alike) and the Princess Program (Cleveland) exchanged one round of letters. The Zimbabwe group was very excited to learn that their sister group in Cleveland have the same problems they do.

HKMU: photos of professors, classes of the medical school

How can we replicate? We need to not be jealous of others with good ideas. We need to be generous and share ideas with others. Focus on how can this idea be of benefit to others? Following up is very important and you must find out what others think.

Richard Dawkins - thinks about ideas or "memes"; human beings are social creatures and learn by sharing in small clusters to solve problems; adolescents growing up in dysfunctional communities are of greater risk to suicide.

An idea for others:
Start a school

Make a film about how a blind person gets through each day.

Carl Williams: works on strengthening international African and African American connections.

- - - will stay June 7th through

Kudzai will visit for one month this summer.

Phil Lane talks about Hiram College's lab in renewable energy. It is unusual for a lab exists at this liberal arts college. Sugar cane and corn are two crops that will be a future fast track to wealth for Africans. If Zimbabwe could begin to use their land to grow these crops as well as blue green algae. The lab at Hiram needs all the support we can provide. Every delemia the earth faces boils down to energy and politics.

Alot of the traditions have gone to the wayside in Africa because people are struggling to survive. In 2001 the exchange rate was 100:1; today it is 1000:1. This kind of economic instability reduces peoples and cultures to nothing.

This summer:
1) I-Open hosts a forum to work with African visitors this summer to create co=operatives to begin building renewable energy solutions for Africa.
2) What about shipping bikes to Africa?
3) Film summer guests to Midtown this summer
4) Map our international networks

Network---> Foundation support

local African American organizations welcome, event and netowrks to Africa
- summer visitors connect with the forum group
- engage the World Trade Center/Cleveland
- computer rehab Payne/30th//RETT3 - Kevin Cronin
- knowledge of global business networks
- find out about businesses interested in Africa
- Kudzai - setting up computer centers/internet cafes managed by the blind- this is a huge market inZimbabwe
- Pharm companies funding efforts in Africa for children
- Trade TO the US/Midtown - cheap labor
- funding topic: children
- solar experts

I-Open Curriculum at Baldwin Wallace College: Closing Summary: Ed Morrison

I-Open presented curriculum for new practices and tools for open source economic development March 27 & 28th at Baldwin Wallace College. Ed Morrison provided this wrap up - a story about that morning's meeting of the CuyahogaNext (formerly Blue Ribbon Task Force) process demonstrating strong First and Second Curve behaviors and the affect on economic development:

Open source economic development offers an opportunity to spread the word about new opporutnities the Second Curve economy offers all of us.

The first session (Monday, March 27) outlined the importance of people moving their thinking to second curve paradigms. The CuyahogaNext (formerly Blue Ribbon Task Force) process is an example of a new and inclusive way of thinking. But, there are still difficulties communicating with people, who, as David Morganthaler says, "are prisoners of their own paradigms." The County process has afforded us all the opportunity to observe examples of First and Second Curve thinking.

For example, in the latest CuyahogaNext meeting groups assembled to work on next steps for the transformative initiatives. Group No. 1, designing next steps for Innovation Zones, demonstrated First Curve thinking - and here's how: ground rules were set, all three exercises were completed, prototypes were built and innovation zone criteria were discussed. Examples of the group's outcomes include: the decision to set up of 3 to 4 zones in NEO and that zones are not confined to geographic boundaries but are lead by anchoring organizations. This group moved quickly, finshing 30 minutes early and all exercises completed.

Contrast this approach to working together to Group No. 2 focused on the development of clusters. The first question is essentially the same for all of the meeting's working groups: How do we build networks? Group No. 2 instead chose to request the County give all of the alloted funding (for the entire process) to Group No. 2. Group No. 2 spent the first 90 minutes trying the get through the first question. At the close of the meeting Group No. 2 was only able to complete 1/2 of the first question and set the date for the next meeting. Group No. 2 was comprised of philanthropic, foundations, and intermediary leaders. Their's was an effort with a questionable faith to resolve these issues. It is valuable for us to learn that First Curve thinking is slower. And certainly not as much fun. Nor productive. This is what happens when participants demonstrate little appreciation for strengths.

Group No. 1 included Eric Fingerhut, Prof. Pete Rea (Baldwin Wallace College), Collette Hart (Cleveland State University), James Haviland (MidTown Development Corp.), Ed Morrison (I-Open) and two leaders from NASA.

Group No. 2 addressed:
What we need to do is to worry about this as a boundariless problem
Strengthening what the big vision is for each participant
We don’t need competition among groups: we need learning to take place
Sharpen our focus on how will we move quickly to build collaborations

Participants resolved to establish a new pattern of behavior. And from these two examples it is clear to see why our region moves so slowly. One example of First Curve and Second Curve thinking was right next to each other.

Peter Rea is a consummate appreciate leader; for example, he admitted he didn’t know about Midtown and didn't hesitate to be open to learning.

There is a complex set of tasks that need to be done appreciatively and on a short leash.

This is similar to embarking on a family vacation; the group decides what to do next and in doing so may make wrong decisions. But the end result is people are working together to get to next steps.

These are the lessons Jack Ricchiuto, Valdis Krebs and June Holley teach us about appreciative leadership, building collaborative networks, working together in focused hubs of activity sharing resources to achieve specific outcomes quickly.

Valdis reminds us of this lesson: We must transform from the inside-out and the bottom-up, to “criticize by creating,” as Michelangelo said.

There was alot of frustration in the meeting room; but, we are seeing a gradual transformation happening. And, new people are engaging from the libraries, NASA, and Baldwin Wallace College …many new links.

The Short List for Thursday's Working Meeting

Notes for Next Steps for the Thursday Working Group, follow up to last week's Midtown Wednesday forum. Hosted at the office of NEAD Partners. Map Link

Infrastructure to Build
1) Ongoing engagement process to teach new practices and tools for economic development. Open to civic, government, academic and business stakeholders
2) Midtown Business Network List
3) Communication platform(s)
4) Midtown Mutual Fund

Some Next Steps:

1) Resources to identify
Inventory Midtown resources and capabilities
Midtown guidebook
Promote cuurent success stories

2) How to Connect
Blog
Online calendar
PBWiki - virtual workplace
Brand: we are all witnesses
Video documentation of Midtown

3) F2F Programs & Events
Block party
bark at moon
Midtown Mornings: at 5 different Midtown venues
Midtown Wednesdays - open forums at a local cafe
BiMonthly working groups/forum "Midtown Thursdays"
Technology/BioTech Center - Haviland
Church Gallery event
Midtown Farmers Market

4) Communication platforms
Kiosk
Banners
i-pod
Flyers that are emailed as PDF's
Video Boards
Taste tents

5) Sense of Place
Innovation Cafe
Perkins Plaza
Green space/reclaim
Victory gardens
Farmers market
Create Saturday Jaunt map

6) Build a diverse funding platform for initiative support
MTC
fund raisers
Grants
MT Mutual Funding via Nat'l City
City of Cleveland
Nationwide Wide Insurance
Parkwood Financial Group
Fairport

7. Promos
Midtown Cash
MT Credit Card
Frequent Buyer Program

Join us! Thursdays Working Meeting: MidTown in the Mix: Making connections to tell the MidTown story

Here is the official NEAD Brand Partners invitation for the Thursday working group, follow up to the Midtown Wednesday forum last week. Anyone who has initiative and is known for getting things done is welcome to join us.

We'll take a close look at actionable initiatives we can accomplish to accelerate innovation and entrepreneurship in Midtown!!
_________________
_________________
MidTown in the Mix: Making connections to tell the MidTown story

When: 5:30-6:30 pm, Thursday, April 6, 2006
Where: Nead Brand Partners offices, 3635 Perkins Avenue. We're located just two minutes away from Myers University. Go to www.neadbrandpartners.com for easy directions. Click on Contact Us/Getting There. Parking is free in the large, enclosed lot. Travel to the back of the building and look for the door (with oval window and entry keypad) next to Loading Dock B.

Brewski Reception immediately following. Brews include your choice of gourmet coffee and specialty beers.

RSVP by Tuesday, April 4

Thanks to all who attended the i-Open event. It was a lively, powerful dialogue that reinforced MidTown's successes and ongoing potential as a vibrant live/work community.
Now, the real work begins. We look to you for ideas and answers on the big question: Where do we go from here and how do we get there? Please join us for a one-hour discussion on how to clarify the MidTown brand, promote the area, and create venues to build networks and communities. If you believe in MidTown, this meeting is a must-attend. Please RSVP by April 4. See you Thursday! Mark Zust and Mark Nead, Growth Partners.
PS - Go to www.midtownwednesdays.blogspot.com for notes from last week's i-Open discussion and info on upcoming events.

Mark Zust, Growth Partner
NEAD Brand Partners
Strategic branding for all points of contact.

3635 Perkins Avenue, Suite 6a
Cleveland, Ohio 44114

www.neadbrandpartners.com
www.neadchange.blogspot.com
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Leading the Charge: Workforce Development Skill Training and the Midtown Gaming Network

Tune up your skills by gaming! Read this article to learn how workforce training skills are accelerated by gaming. Go.

Video game ‘slackers‘ target of Orlando media fair
By Barbara Liston Tue Jan 24, 3:25 PM ET

ORLANDO, Florida - While many parents look at teenagers tethered to video game controls and see slackers, Dr. James "Butch" Rosser, chief of minimally invasive surgery at Beth Israel Israel Medical Center in Manhattan, sees potential surgeons.

Rosser says laparoscopic surgeons who have played video games can perform surgery 27 percent faster with 37 percent fewer errors. Laparascopy uses a scope to perform abdominal or pelvic operations through a small incision.

Rosser‘s video game skills study, and his "Top Gun 4 Kids" surgical skills games, are one of the features of Otronicon, a unique 10-day digital media festival under way this week in Orlando, Florida.

The festival, targeting 11- to 18-year-olds, has the long-range strategy of building a trained local work force that can grapple with future digital technology business.

Read More Here.

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