As is our tradition, at the NEO Excellence portal, we have posted some notes and an attendee list from the First NEO-X-NY Roundtable, in a book bound at http://neoexcellence.realinks.us/NYNY.

Our roundtables are outcome oriented, and the outcomes we pursue from the first NEO-X roundtable include developing the Community Development Venture Capital (CDVC) Fund we introduced in New York, expanding the NEO-X network in support of economic development in NEO, and assisting NEO Expatriates to return to or collaborate with NEO.

The August 11, 2005, NEO-X Roundtable, at the Jones Day building in New York, New York, brought together a fascinating cross section of former Clevelanders now living or working in the New York area, sharing the common bond that we all still care about NEO.

Calling All Luddites - Thomas L. Friedman - NY Times

I've been thinking of running for high office on a one-issue platform: I promise, if elected, that within four years America will have cellphone service as good as Ghana's. If re-elected, I promise that in eight years America will have cellphone service as good as Japan's, provided Japan agrees not to forge ahead on wireless technology. My campaign bumper sticker: "Can You Hear Me Now?"

REALNEO is pleased to host a luncheon at the New York offices of Jones Day, 222 East 41st Street, Thursday, August 11th, 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM, for the NEO-X Roundtable.

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Drug Giant Takes on Global Health - Former Merck Chief at The City Club of Cleveland

CLEVELAND, OH—Raymond V. Gilmartin, former president, chairman and CEO of Merck & Co., Inc., will speak on the topic “A New Role for Corporate America: Partners in Global Health and Development� at noon on Friday, July 29, 2005, at The City Club of Cleveland.

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Dear Friend,

Just a quick reminder, there is an excellence roundtable today, 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM, at the City Club.

Please stop by to brainstorm on the power of NEO's virtual community, which spans the world and is far underleveraged here at home. The outcome of these discussions will be plans for an excellence roundtable we shall hold in New York, NY, August 11, at Jones Day's offices there. The purpose of extending roundtables beyond Cleveland is to better connect our interests here with the more powerful networks found beyond our physical borders.

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There is an article ( http://www.cbc.ca/cp/business/050630/b0630102.html ) from the CBC ( http://www.cbc.ca ) that talks about a new Toyota plant opening in Ontario. The combination of a well-trained and educated workforce, a comprehensive national healtcare plan (which saves employers money) and proximity to other employees led to choosing the Canadian facility over possible American options

One of the most telling statements is this one, made by Gerry Fedchun, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association:

"The level of the workforce in general is so high that the training program you need for people, even for people who have not worked in a Toyota plant before, is minimal compared to what you have to go through in the southeastern United States,"

In a recent article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, posted to the NEO Excellence community, business editor Paul O'Donnell wrote "I really didn't need Forbes magazine to tell me that Cleveland ranks 113th out of 150 metropolitan areas for best places to jump-start a business or career". Based on Forbes' analysis of our assets, O'Donnell observed one would conclude "the region is predominantly populated by reasonably educated engineers who spend discretionary income on the arts or sports, who work at companies that pay well but aren't hiring, and who live in safe neighborhoods filled almost exclusively with native Northeast Ohioans."

The war in Iraq is big news world-wide. Whether reports on casualties or offensives, the news papers, airwaves and internet are on constant high-alert for stories on developments, which they publicize daily. It is thus surprising a major Iraq-related story that has been big news world-wide was not featured in the mainstream US news until this past weekend. The story is of eight secret "Downing Street Memos" - DSMs - which raise considerable cause for global public debate on a lack of US and UK government honesty and openness leading up to America declaring war on Iraq. Why are the DSMs, which the press in Europe starting reporting on May 1st, just now becoming "front page" news in America... seven weeks after the story broke in the UK?

Plain Dealer "reader advocate" Ted Diadiun felt it necessary to dedicate his 06.19.06 Page 2 Sunday column to this question, and his explanation offers critical insight on the state of US mainstream news reporting and American and Northeast Ohio society today.

The 06.10.05 City Club forum featured Eduardo R. Menascé, president of the Enterprise Solutions Group for Verizon Communications, the national communications company formed by the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE. His responsibilities include oversight of all sales, marketing and service delivery for Verizon's largest business and government customers.

Admiral
Thomas H. Collins, who is committed to effective use of emerging
technologies and developing innovative methods to improve Coast Guard
mission performance, will be speaking on homeland security as it
relates to the protection of shipping and ports.

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Allah Made Me Funny, The Official Muslim Comedy Tour
Azeem, Azhar Usman, and Preacher Moss

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Eduardo R. Menascé - President, Verizon Enterprise
Solutions Group

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June 21: "Regional Marketing: New Frameworks for a Global Marketplace"

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I'm worried about my country. I love America. I think it's the best
country in the world. But I also think we're not tending to our sauce.
I believe that we are in what Shirley Ann Jackson [president of
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute] calls a "quiet crisis." If we don't
change course now and buckle down in a flat world, the kind of
competition our kids will face will be intense and the social
implications of not repairing things will be enormous.

WIth insightful perspectives from an information technology (IT) professional in India, the article below offers an excellent overview of the origins of Linux, what it is, where it fits in the IT world, trends in use, and implications on workforce demands. This is the perspective from India, and the global perspective, and the trends referenced are global, like Linux has 14 percent of the $50.9 billion market for server operating systems. Business professionals who do not understand these trends and implications risk tragic consequences.

An insightful opinion editorial in the 04.15.05 New York Times declares "Bush Disarms, Unilaterally", claiming over the past few years the US has abandoned the new economy war. The author states what he "can't figure out about the Bush team is why an administration that is so focused on projecting U.S. military strength abroad has taken such little interest in America's economic competitiveness at home - the underlying engine of our strength" - ultimately the question posed is why Americans are allowing ourselves to fall behind the rest of the world in deploying information technology research and access to our masses. The same reasoning can be applied to our homeland economy for Northeast Ohio - why do we allow 100,000s of area residents to stagnate in the old economy, divided apart from the digital economy?

Date and time:
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
4 - 6 PM
Levin College Atrium, Glickman-Miller Hall
1717 Euclid Avenue.

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Here's a good article from the Akron Beacon Journal on the changing job landscape in Northeast Ohio. Read more.

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In the March First Monday - An interesting transposition has happened. It used to be that the farther things were, the more difficult it was to know them. Today, thanks to communication technologies, we often develop relationships with what is far at the expense of what is immediately around us. This paper explores the increased irrelevancy that the near acquires through our use of online technologies. But by proposing a model of praxis that incorporates our actions online as well as offline, this paper also argues that online technologies can play an important part in bringing the epistemologically far near to us, and making the physically near relevant again.

The media's portrayal of hacking, hackers, and hacktivism
before and after September 11 - The intensified
national debate on the security of cyberspace after September 11,
2001 negatively influenced online political activism, which is now
forced to defend itself against being labeled as a form of
cyberterrorism. Many of these socially or politically progressive
activities remain unknown to the public, or if reported, they are
presented in a negative light in the mass media. These conclusions
are based on a analysis of of hackers, hacking, hacktivism, and
cyberterrorism in five major U.S. newspapers over a one-year
period.

Friday, March 04, 2005 12:00 PM

Dr. Imad Moustapha

At the 03.04.05 Cleveland City Club forum, Syrian Ambassador Dr. Imad Moustapha introduced his talk on conflict in the Middle East with the illuminating praise that he was very excited to speak here, as he had heard about the City Club long before he came to Cleveland, and that it is as famous world-wide as the Cleveland Clinic. That is the level of branding and marketing Cleveland needs - global praise and relevance for our brainpower and quality and connected places.