Let's beat Artsopolis (and Silicon Valley) and save NEO artists money. The following article plugs an arts portal in Silicon Valley that they claim is getting the attention of lots of other arts organizations around the country. I do use Artsopolis when in SF and the protal is good, but it is no better than we can do here - and we need this capability to promote one of our greatest regional assets... the arts!!!

I received an email today from area economic development leader Kevin Cronin that should be of interest of content creators interested to commercialize books, music and images. Nice service - don't know if it is cost competitive... and wonder, can't folks in publishing here compete with this, as self-publishing will continue to be a growing business (some folks will always want dead trees to read ;-)

Good information posted in today's Good Morning Silicon Valley newsletter - the most interesting reference is: "Typically, we have seen that the civil liberties and education levels of a
nation strongly determine its level of technology adoption..." - let's make the nation of REALNEO as good as Denmark, with great IT, education, and civil liberites for all!

To a large degree University of California in San Diego gets credit for
reinventing their regional economy, most visibly through their
"Connect" services. Below is an article from their latest
e-newsletter which highlights how much they do to connect early stage ventures
there with all levels of funding - from "food and rent" grants to
partnering with large pharmaceuticals. Important model and lessons to learn of
NEO to connect with the new economy!

In the words of Northeast Ohio Arts Educator of the Year Mary Beth Matthews:

As a little P.S. to all of Cleveland's chronic complainers who like to whine and say,

"Nothing ever gets done in this city"
"People have no vision here"
"Clevelanders don't know how to work together"
"It's all just a lot of talk"
"New ideas don't stand a chance."
"The Cleveland Schools suck."

At Max Hayes, we refused to get caught up in all of that negativity...We're makin' it happen...Ha!

Ha is right - it has just been announced Mary Beth and her students will install a major public arts project at the Soap Box Track, right down from her school,

I noticed an interesting ad on the NY Times website, from GE, saying "Put Your Imagination to Work - Invite your friends to Collaborate" so I clicked it and found they are providing a cool interactive Flash drawing application that allows one to several Internet visitors to collaborate on a "drawing" - you can change background, line and fill colors and shapes and create a sketch of an idea or concept, and save it and send it to friends.

An
Entrepreneur's Success Story:
Ray Holan and Biodiesel Cleveland

Neighborhood revitalization requires more than affordable housing,
more than the right retail mix...

by Frank Mills

There’s a fascinating article in the NY Times today on a
massive spike in funds raised by venture capital firms – a 78% increase in the
3rd quarter over the second quarter results. Folks in the VC game
see this as bad news, as the industry in over-funded and they literally need to compete for good deals to fund.
I’ve met with many VCs in Silicon Valley and the general position a year ago
was that there was 10 times more VC funding available than there were good
deals to fund – and that was well before huge ramp-ups of the past few quarters,
which have probably pushed this multiple near 20X… VCs literally can’t invest
their pledged funds fast enough, and that is a problem for them. It is safe to
say any good entrepreneurial venture is now very fundable and in fact in a
position to shop for best VC deals around the country.

Most people probably don't realize Cleveland is the origin of wind power generation - renowned Cleveland innovator Charles Brush invented and built the first wind power generator behind his mansion on Euclid Avenue in 1888.

Next week, Cleveland again becomes a leader in the wind industry by posting the Wind Power Conference, November 9 & 10 at the Sheraton Cleveland City Centre Hotel.

Read more about the conference and wind industry opportunities for our region at a special REALNEO provided just for that Community Of Interest Link (COIL) - linked from here!

I just received an update from the President of NEORUG - Northeast Ohio Regional User Group of Hewlett-Packard computers - on an exciting session featured at their upcoming Training Symposium and Vendor Show - Thursday Nov. 4 from 7:30 AM until around 6 PM.

This article couldn't be more accurate about entrepreneurship issues in Northeast Ohio - although this is about the Lehigh Valley (around Allentown, PA). We're not alone in our problems, and we can learn from the analyses and strategies of others in similar circumstances.

While not obviously ED related, it is worth considering the following
study linking high fat diets - especially those high in trans-fats - to
learning problems. My conclusion - stay far away from trans-fats, and
keep NEO kids trans-fat free, for the sake of a better learning
workforce for the future... and there is clearly opportunity for any
region and foods related business to lead and prosper from excelling in the healthy food sectors...

UK government departments moved a step closer to using open-source
operating systems such as Linux after a study found that they are
"viable" products.

The software can "generate significant savings", the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) in its report.

This article offers good perspective on applied nanotechnology in healthcare, which was the subject of a recent conference in NEO...

<> Interesting article in the NYTimes on the advertising and public relations take on blogs.

EB
logs have had an astonishing season this year, enough to freckle the
faces of bloggers who do not, as a rule, get much time outdoors.

I received the following Executive Briefing from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer comparing an enterprise business strategy centered on Microsoft products versus migrating to Open Source (Linux platform, in particular).

NewsBytes
Sxip
Networks and Bryght have completed an authentication module for Drupal,
Open Source content management software. Drupal's tremendous popularity
with online communities makes it a natural fit with Sxip, the first
distributed personal digital identity network.

I found REALNEO last night via George Nemeth's BrewedFreshDaily blog, and it looks like an incredible platform for connecting entrepreneurs and regional residents with interests in nano, art, energy, the film industry, and job creation generally; I hope that I'll be able to build interest in REALNEO among my entrepreneurial students...

REALNEO objectives are shared by communities around the world, and we are all looking for comparable information technology solutions, so we are teaming up with global community and information technology innovators and leaders to develop the optimal solution for everyone in the world.

Nanotechnology comes of age...

...last Monday, when the United States Patent and Trademark Office
announced a new registration category just for nanotechnology
inventions.

See NY Times Article linked here

Regional leadership has shown conceptual support  to figure out how Northeast Ohio artists may use optimal information technology to enhance their abilities to survive and thrive - live doing what they love. for this desire, and money is being invested to help artists grow an industry around their activities, but the results are not yet optimal.

Cleveland artists and arts organizer Susie Frazier Mueller published an Op/Ed in the 10/24/04 Cleveland Plain Dealer on the importance of artists as entrepreneurs in Northeast Ohio, which makes important points to consder for deveoping the local economy.

I found a very detailed and positive review of Drupal, which you may want to read to better understand the application, its roll in our social network, and why we chose Drupal over all other options - public and private

Today, I received a notification about a federal EPA grant program that would be available and valuable in NEO (APPLICATIONS DUE NOV. 15) - and also notification of an alternative fuel related fund available from Toyota. Anyone interested in these COILs should investigate