blogs

introducing Lori Vanelli's blog on "The Young of the Working World"

Submitted by Sandy Kristin P... on Thu, 03/31/2005 - 06:20.

Last fall, Lori Vanelli was an enthusiastic early adopter of the livejournal assignment for MGMT 250. This spring for MGMT 251, she found coming up with a topical focus for her blog writing a bit of a challenge, and I'm pleased that her tone of slightly irreverent reflection on herself and others has been retained as she has come to focus on the young of the working world. Over the course of February and March she has written about twixters, boomerang kids, quarterlife crises, and how she and her peers perceive themselves and the challenges that face them. Lori's livejournal is a great introduction to the NEO blogging scene from the point of view of a 20something, and I'm sure she'll stick with it even after the semester ends.

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introducing the Real Estate Management blog: Ryan Arlia

Submitted by Sandy Kristin P... on Tue, 03/29/2005 - 01:54.

Would you please take a look at Ryan Arlia's class project for MGMT 251? Ryan has chosen to focus on real estate management issues, and would like to get feedback on the posts he made in February and in March. His post about online marketing strategies is particularly interesting. Your comments on any of the posts would be most welcome... part of what Ryan needs to do for his project assignment is to so some experiments with how to build traffic to his blog, so if you have any suggestions for him, I'm sure he would appreciate hearing from you.

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Summit County's planning effort

Submitted by Ed Morrison on Wed, 03/23/2005 - 09:24.

The planning department in Summit County is guiding a planning process for the county. The Department of Community and Economic Development is asking questions, such as "How much farmland should Summit County have?"

You can read more about the process here.

This process touches on a deeper set of issues facing our region: No growth sprawl. Like Pennsylvania, Northeast Ohio has developed inefficient patterns of development. You can download the Brookings study from this page. You can also download a reportcompleted in 2000 on the costs of sprawl in Pennsylvania.

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what can Cleveland learn from Manchester?

Submitted by Sandy Kristin P... on Mon, 03/21/2005 - 03:03.

It's about more than the nightlife... how can we encourage social entrepreneurs like Joe Akka to make Cleveland one of their hometowns? Joe has a lot in common with Jurgen Faust, I think, with an appreciation for design that is evident at his Panacea, and yet he's not an art school graduate (he's a 29-year-old MD who is running an independent restaurant company based in the UK).

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German Wind Turbine produces output of 1 million KWH in a month

Submitted by Jeff Buster on Fri, 03/18/2005 - 11:26.

With financial help from the German government, the wind turbine manufacturer REPOWER designed, manufactured, installed, and commissioned this fall the largest capacity wind turbine ever. During the first month of operation the 5 megawatt turbine sent to the grid over 1 million kilowatt hours of electricity (average output of 1.3 mw/hr). Compare that to the production of the turbines in Bowling Green, Ohio where, in approximately 13 months, a 1.8 MW Vestas machine produced apx 1,300,000 kilowatt hours (avg. output of .137 mw/h) See details of the Repower machine at: http://www.repower.de/ and click on the 5MW website in the lower RH corner of the home webpage. The output differences between the two machines are primarily related to the larger size of the Repower machine and the difference in wind energy between the two locations – not differences in blade or generator technology.

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Come in from the Cold

Submitted by RWaxman-Lenz on Sat, 03/12/2005 - 10:45.

Mary Black: Songs for Ireland.  She invites us in with the warmth of her voice and the liveliness of her song.  How lucky we are to have the Cleveland Museum of Art include in their Festival of Performing Arts the talents of Mary Black, a singer from Dublin.  As she comes on stage, she tells us as that she loves the snow we have here in Cleveland and that last night she took the opportunity to romp in this white world and throw some snowballs.  Now she draws us into her world of melodies and Irish rhythms, playfully sharing her stories of Ireland and blending together Celtic and American folk music.  She sings to us of the sadness of a couple parting as a soldier goes off to war; she weaves a melody around the joy of two lovers; she energizes the audience with the drum beats and riffs of her supporting drummer, guitarist, and keyboard player.

Communities Grow out of Conversations

Submitted by RWaxman-Lenz on Sat, 03/12/2005 - 08:52.

I attended an outstanding meeting of facilitators on Friday, led by Jack Ricciuto, founder and CEO of Smart Meeting Design.  A group of 35 people met to discuss the value of facilitation and ways that it can be marketed and developed.  During the discussion, we surveyed the collective years of facilitation represented in the group to find that it was just over 400 years.  The discussion began with the idea that communities grow out of conversations.  We start with words that build conversations that develop relationships.  The question is often asked in northeast Ohio as to how to construct a regional plan, how to engage a community that values all this region has to offer.  Certainly part of the answer must lie in the possibilities created by Jack's planting the seeds for a Northern Ohio Facilitator Community of Practice. Check out his website at: http://designinglife.com/index.php/NorthernOhioFacilitation/CommunityofPractice.   

The Bottom Line: Backup Child Care Strengthens Businesses

Submitted by RWaxman-Lenz on Sun, 03/06/2005 - 22:54.

I am a senior-level manager who has a meeting with a major client. One of my staff responsible for the meeting calls in sick. The truth is that her son’s caretaker is out sick. My employee’s child care support breaks down, so I will be left with a dissatisfied client. This scenario is more common than one would think. According to an article in the February issue of CFO magazine, a survey conducted by the National Conference of State Legislatures found that child care problems force 80 percent of employees to miss work. According to the Child Care Action Campaign, U.S. companies have losses of about $3 billion each year resulting from employee child care arrangements breaking down. “On average, working mothers lose eight-and-a-half days per year, and fathers lose five days annually. The result is lower productivity, stalled projects, and higher turnover.�

A Utopian Vision

Submitted by Sandy Kristin P... on Wed, 03/02/2005 - 06:59.

Robert Paterson has shared a draft of a book chapter at his blog which offers a vision of how the generous spirit of the blogosphere might revolutionize our thinking about work and how it fits into our lives.

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check out Vision Downtown

Submitted by Sandy Kristin P... on Mon, 02/28/2005 - 06:05.

Check out this site: Vision Downtown -- it sounds like it is reporting on grassroots activism going on to redesign downtown Cleveland into a quality, connected place.

Is AHL a good enough sub for NHL?

Submitted by Amin Varghai on Sat, 02/26/2005 - 22:10.

Couple of days ago I went to a Cleveland Barons game in Gund Arena. I am not what you would call a die hard hockey fan, but I had a season pass to OSU hockey games when I was a student there. I was surprised to see attendance as low as it was at the Barons game. Considering the NHL has no games this season I would have guessed there would be more Canadians in the crowd. The arena being so empty gave us the chance after a few minutes into the first period to sit by the ice behind the goal.

I know the farm team for the Sharks is not the best team in its division, but have we actually become a city obsessed with major league teams that minor leagues do not even count. When I mentioned the game to my friends, most of them asked me who the Barons were? It's amazing that we can go to a professional hockey game for the price of a movie, yet the citizens don't even know this team exists.

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Another potential collaborator on sustainability issues

Submitted by Sandy Kristin P... on Sat, 02/26/2005 - 06:54.

Norm,

you may want to get to know Hilary Bradbury, who runs the Weatherhead Institute for Sustainable Enterprise... http://weatherhead.cwru.edu/wise/

she is a teleworker now based in LA, but s

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Libraries Contribute to Youth Development

Submitted by RWaxman-Lenz on Thu, 02/24/2005 - 21:44.

You might not think of a public library as the "in" place to be, but some teenagers do! The Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago reports on ideas being developed for new roles that public libraries can play in developing our youth. Here's what they say: "With growing numbers of teenagers visiting libraries to socialize, do homework, and use computers as well as the Internet, libraries have found themselves pressed to address the needs of this group. Although nearly a fourth of library patrons are teenagers, libraries traditionally have devoted less of their space, personnel, and financial resources to services for teens than to any other age group. An evaluation of the Public Libraries as Partners in Youth Development, a nine site demonstration project funded by the Wallace Foundation, suggests that communities should take a closer look at the role that public libraries can play in strengthening the skills of teenagers, building the capacity of libraries as institutions, and connecting libraries more closely to communities. The study suggests that library-based youth programs, especially in low- income communities, can teach teens specific job skills at the same time that they make libraries more visible assets in the community." Click to read New on the Shelf: Teens in the Library

To develop the brainpower of the next generation...

Submitted by Sandy Kristin P... on Thu, 02/24/2005 - 06:46.

If you are interested in developing the brainpower of our next generation of northeast Ohio residents and workers, please come read about the Northeast Ohio Breastfeeding Education and Advocacy Network!

How the birthplace of aviation lost that competitive advantage

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Thu, 02/24/2005 - 03:06.

I happened to catch the NOVA program "A Daring Flight" onÂ
Louis Blériot developing the first airplane to cross the English Channel, which in fact revolutionized the airplane industry at its beginning. Lessons Louis learned from Dayton's Wilbur Wright made this possible, and over the years following his Wright "schooling" Louis gained nearly every flight record in existence, with a plane that exceeded the Wright Brothers' accomplishments, becoming the most popular airplane in the world at that time. Understanding that transformation in time, place and industry offers many lessons for NEO now, in our transition.

Career Advice for Young People

Submitted by Ted Takacs on Sun, 02/20/2005 - 11:44.

I wrote an email to a young person interested in a Business-IS career path. I wanted to make them aware of project management resources, since I believe that project management "best practices" are essenial knowledge for any business or technical leader. Rather than benefiting only this one young person, I thought I would publish my advice in a blog.

Ted's Advice to Young People

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The Entitlement of Voting

Submitted by Kevin Cronin on Sat, 02/05/2005 - 23:06.

The “right� to vote, the subject of nonviolent protests, bloody confrontations and solemn pronouncements by Supreme Courts and Congress for centuries, is very much in doubt. Like a desert mirage, the image of an effective election, with widespread, universal voting looms before us, but always out of reach. In a practical manner, the right to vote is defined, not by the United States Constitution or the lives lost to ensure a vote, but by the amount of money legislators, Governors and other state officials are willing to spend to implement fair elections.  The President and Congress should treat the right to vote as a full entitlement, guaranteed by the Constitution, and provide the money needed to ensure accurate elections. 

Child Development

Submitted by Sandy Kristin P... on Wed, 02/02/2005 - 11:32.

I attended the panel yesterday at the Natural History museum, and I commend Ed Morrison and Roberta Waxman-Lentz for recruiting such a wonderful variety of speakers. I was impressed with the work that has already been done in Northeast Ohio to begin connecting child development work and economic development work, though there is still much work to be done.

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Strong Environmental Policies Generate Economic Leadership

Submitted by Kevin Cronin on Wed, 02/02/2005 - 09:02.

This morning’s PD cited a Michigan research paper that concluded that economic cars, hybrids and the like, will generate a stronger economic return for European manufacturers, who have adapted to meet the more aggressive, European environmental standards and are now poised to reap the economic benefit of this growing market in the US. As a result, the study says, the US government should assist, despite the current $400+ billion budget deficit, in the retrofit/reengineering of the US plants to be able to compete. Of course, the industry could have also asked for assistance in meeting the environmental demands decades ago to seize the leadership mantel now held by European manufacturers, but for decades, US auto industry opposed stronger environmental standards, rather than adapt. Another significant, unmentioned lesson also warrants noting: Sound environmental policy, environmental leadership, can generate economic leadership in a very short time.

New Thjeme Module Project

Submitted by Ted Takacs on Tue, 02/01/2005 - 13:18.

All Theme Module development work will be documented in this book.

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Resources on Early Child Development and Economic Development

Submitted by Ed Morrison on Tue, 02/01/2005 - 12:09.

Here are some useful resources that build the connection between early child development and economic development.

The 1998 Commission on the Future of the South report

At 01/19/05 Community of Minds: Ed Morrison, Director, REI

Submitted by Ed Morrison on Thu, 01/20/2005 - 16:17.

Thanks to everyone who attended the Community of Minds event this evening. I appreciate especially those of you who came up to me after my talk with words of thanks and encouragement.

As requested by several of you, I've posted my presentation here on REALNEO (PDF file - 2.1 mgs) - regarding the session and presentation, please feel free to comment below, or add a page to this book with your comments (you must set up an account to post and comment).

Forum: The Economics of Early Childhood Development

Submitted by RWaxman-Lenz on Thu, 01/20/2005 - 11:26.


A two-part forum on: The Economics of Early Childhood Development

 Awareness: Session; One February 1, 2005, 4:00-6:00PM, Cleveland Museum of Natural History on Wade Oval in University Circle

 Alignment and Action: Session Two, February 14, 9AM to 12PM, Hanna Perkins Center for Child Development in Shaker Heights

NOTES: 01.18.05: Connecting in to NEO's Sustainable Economy at E4S Meeting

Submitted by Adele DiMarco Kious on Thu, 01/20/2005 - 09:20.

Close to 200 people gathered Tuesday evening at the Great Lakes Brewing Company's Tasting Room for 2005's kick off meeting for Entrepreneurs for Sustainability.

The organization's founder, Holly Harlan, set the stage by having local entrepreneurs, like Kathleen O'Neill Web of the Coit Road Farmer's Market and Jim White of CLEER TEC, perform a skit sharing how their work is contributing to the vision of a Sustainable Economy in Northeast Ohio.

Caution signs on the convention super highway

Submitted by Ed Morrison on Mon, 01/17/2005 - 19:37.

Scott Suttell, the managing editor of Crain’s Cleveland Business, throws up a caution sign to convention center proponents. He points to a USA Today article on a new Brookings report.

The report deflates the argument that convention center investments make a lot of sense. The reason: a soft national market and an over-supply of space. The market is not down just a little. It has fallen 30% to 50%, according to the report.

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