Engaging the Next Generation

Do you think all Gen X'ers are lazy apathetic slackers? Think
again...they are entrepreneurs, stay at home dads, and are making
political waves. In this session, Rebecca Ryan shares the results of
over 7,000 interviews and focus groups with the next generation: what
they think of their politicians, what they're looking for in their
communities, and how they prefer to make a difference at work and in
their neighborhoods.

Generation-Xers - people born between 1961 and 1981 - are critical to the development of the new economy in Northeast Ohio... they are most likely to start new businesses as entrepreneurs... they shop, eat out and support the arts... they are starting families and so seeking long-term homes... they're fun. Recognizing the criticality of appealing to the Gen-X population, Akron had the wisdom to hire the world's leading authority on Gen-X, Rebecca Ryan, of New Generation Consulting in Madison, Wisconsin, to explore the Gen-X attractiveness of living in Akron. As part of that analysis, Next Generation Consulting has conducted focus groups in Cleveland - Rebecca will be our featured guest at the 08.30.05 Excellence Roundtable and will preview her findings for us.

We were so impressed with her initiative, first presented on Ideastream's Ideas program, we invited her to the City Club for an informal discussion with community leaders... thus, Rebecca was the featured guest for our first City Club Roundtable, before we formalized the concept into a weekly forum. That discussion grew into the NEO Excellence Roundtable, and our relationship with Rebecca grew into a friendship and collaboration... she's insightful, energizing and upbeat.

Rebecca will be in Canton on August 29th and 30th, to kick-off an initiative she is leading for their Chamber of Commerce, called "From Brain Drain to Brain Gain", and we've arranged for her to join us after that event as our featured guest at the 08.30.05 Excellence Roundtable.

Rebecca will also be in Akron on August 24th for the Akron Chamber of Commerce Board Meeting - they are the sponsors of her work there. To read more about Rebecca and her work in Akron, visit additional coverage on REALNEO here.

If you plan to join us for the 08.30.05 Roundtable, please reserve immediately - Rebecca has a strong following and so we expect a full house for this unique and fun insider discussion..

Please RSVP ASAP to Norm Roulet at norm [at] realinks [dot] us

About the NEO Excellence Roundtable: People who care about Northeast Ohio who are openly strategizing on how our region may achieve world-class status - we are establishing benchmarks for success and taking action in pursuit of measurable outcomes. Current pursuits include bridging the digital divide, deploying the optimal social network for Northeast Ohio, exploring innovative approaches to funding regional economic development and entrepreneurship, and exploring innovative approaches to improve education in NEO.

We're nurturing face to face visioning and so have revived a storied tradition of roundtable lunches at the City Club, each Tuesday between 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM, where non-hierarchical area innovation champions are breaking bread and brainstorming. The NEO Excellence Roundtable format is casual and conversational - to join us for lunch, please contact coordinator Norm Roulet at norm [at] realinks [dot] us. Each attendee is expected to pay for your own buffet lunch, which is $13 and always excellent - if that is a barrier to you attending, please join us regardless and we'll cover the difference.

In the interest of supporting this open collaboration, we've also established a virtual Community Of Interest Link (COIL) called NEO Excellence - please visit at http://neoexcellence.realinks.us. To participate in the community, please "create an account" using the link found at the home page - or, if you have an account at another REALinks site... like at REALNEO... you may log-in with your username followed by @ that site's URL (e.g. your username [at] realneo [dot] us), and then enter your password from that site

Location