Fifth Annual E4S Food Meeting & Celebrating the 50th E4S Third Tuesday Network Event!

• Discover new ways to bring local sustainably produced foods to your employees and customers.
• Explore how your business can support local farming.
• Build a new industry in Northeast Ohio that will create new businesses and jobs.
• Rebuild our access to healthy foods that are not dependant on foreign oil.

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The Cleveland Foodbank made a commitment to incorporate sustainable design principles in the new food distribution center and registered the project to pursue LEED-NC. Hear from the project team about the real challenges and successes of this green building's design and construction, and the data gathered since the building's occupation.

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People on REALNEO’s website are used to thinking about new ideas and the way we can help create the city and region we want to live in. Rather than passive acceptance, readers at REALNEO are active shapers of the community.  Our area is increasingly considering the importance of health activities, lifestyle and the comfort and attractiveness of the region.  As a region, we are focusing on regional assets, including our parks and lake.  With that in mind, I want to discuss ClevelandBikes, a two year-old nonprofit, and our project to develop an asset to meet these goals…a bike station, a new piece of the transportation infrastructure.

 From Philanthropy News Digest is an article on NY Mayor Bloomberg convincing the private sector - corporations, foundations and philanthropists - to support public education overhaul in NYNY, raising from this over $300 million "without strings attached", which is "crucial to their ability to experiment and support research and development efforts within the system". A thought to share as we select and brief our new Cleveland Public Schools CEO. Feel free to share your thoughts...

Sustainability becomes part of everyone's everyday life in Cleveland as we all connect together and leverage the strengths of all. There was a perfect demonstration of that this week at REALNEO's home away from the office - A.J. Rocco's Espresso Bar and Restaurant - as a result of REALNEO member Sudhir Raghupathy bringing together a group of socially conscious young people he calls NEO Net Impact, on Tuesday, November 29, at A.J. Rocco's. Just two days later, A.J. Rocco's became the first downtown restaurant participating in a program to add their organic waste to a composting initiative in Ohio City.

Please join us for a special brown bag lunch, noon to 1 p.m., at the Cleveland Environmental Center, 3500 Lorain Ave. (lower conference) next Thursday, December 8.

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The
appointment of Christopher S. Ronayne, as the new President of
University Circle Incorporated (UCI) was announced today, November
14, at UCI’s Annual Meeting by R. Thomas Stanton, Chairman of UCI’s
Board of Trustees. Ronayne will lead the 40-member nonprofit
organization’s efforts to continue the development of University Circle
into one of the country’s premier urban districts. Ronayne is only the
seventh president to serve UCI since its founding in 1957. He succeeds
Terri Hamilton Brown, who is stepping down to join National City Bank.

As dusk approached on a dreary, rainy Cleveland 1st of November, the skies suddenly cleared and around 80 diverse NEO Stakeholders gathered at the Palace Theater for a shared experience of insight from Mayor Campbell and Next Generation Consulting CEO Rebecca Ryan followed by "world cafe" collaboration. See the results linked below.

Around 80 diverse people from around Cleveland came together Halloween Night for a arts, culture and intellect filled evening of brainstorming and discussion on what we as a region need to do to make this a "more better" place, especially considering making NEO attractive to the next generation. Visit the links below to see the results.

Both Mayor Campbell and Council President Jackson met with the arts community last week.  Attendance was low, both at the Play House on the east with Campbell and Cleveland Public Theatre on the westside with Jackson. The Campbell strategy was to identify a top 20 list of reasons Campbell has advanced the arts, with art summits, expansion of live/work zones and public funding through the "1% for arts" set aside that is a part of public construction contracts.  She says her track record merits her return to office for another four years.  Jackson said, through his leadership, he deserves credit for these initiatives as well, and his record in council deserves the public’s faith and confidence that he will work to represent them well.  But what would be an election without an added dose of cynicism? 

The Ohio Community Computing Center Network, the umbrella organization for free public computer centers and teaching centers, has provided testimony to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio stating that the SBC/AT&T Merger and the Verizon/MCI Merger are not in the best interests of the public.   The following is a summary, raising the concern that further telecom consolidation will reduce vital high-speed Internet opportunities for low-income urban and rural areas.  Today, high-speed Internet is critical for education, work and other activities of daily life.  While technological advances in more robust networks, immense Internet speed and additional services are exciting, if only a portion of spciety can participate in yet another technological evolution, Ohio will again be left struggling.  The testimony called for efforts to reduce the divide that finds low-income and rural communities with lower levels of broadband access and an end to telecom efforts to limit the rights of cities to invest in broadband services directly, on behalf of their residents.

What Happens When the Federal Government Can’t Get Emergencies Right? And what does it say about our level of preparedness for disasters, wrought by nature or terrorists, even after the 9/11 disaster and the debate, planning and funding that all follows?

In NEO today, we see a growing consciousness in the alternative energy and sustainability movement, a resounding catalyst in the digital cities OneCleveland phenomenum, and many other indicators that we are finally developing a vibrant new economy mentality.

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Images, videos and stories from the 2005 Cleveland Ingenuity Festival

Earlier this month, REALNEO IT Analyst Derek Arnold attended the O'Reilly Open Source Convention and Drupal Conference in Portland, Oregon, and he brought back more than new code, knowledge and relationships - he brought back the State of Oregon's vision of being "an epicenter for Open Technology (Linux and Open Source-enabled hardware, software and services)". The State of NEO needs to embrace such a vision!

newCAT (New Collaboration in Arts and Technology) CEO William Scheele shared his vision for the future of his not-for-profit arts organization at the 08.23.05 Excellence Roundtable, including collaborating with the Ingenuity Fesitval on an innovative slate of digital arts events not to be missed - see schedule of newCAT Ingenuity events below. Bill also previewed a poster that will be sold for $5 at the Ingenuity Festival to raise funds for newCAT... shared below. See you at the Ingenuity Festival...

Around two dozen NEO arts champions came together for the 08.23.05 Excellence Roundtable, which featured overviews of current work by newCAT, CIA and CPAC, among many important regional, innovative arts initiatives.

On Thursday, August 25 from 9-11 a.m at the Cleveland Environmental
Center (3500 Lorain Ave.), EcoCity Cleveland hosts the third in a
series of workshops designed to help nonprofits sharpen their Web site
skills. In this training session, we move beyond the basics to discuss
more advanced tools for effective communications such as surveys,
integrating your group email, and alternative software to build
community online.

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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.

The Excellence Roundtable is pleased to host OneCleveland/OneNEO CEO Scot Rourke, August 9th at the City Club, for an insightful discussion on the latest developments with his influential initiative bringing ultra-broadband communications and related applications to Northeast Ohio.

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NOON - 2 PM: Celebrate this historic event and show your support to keep our waterfront parkland and public access marina. In 2004, Cuyahoga County acquired the 20-acre parkland and 10-acre marina for continued public access and recreation. In June 2005, Wendy Park at Whiskey Island was dedicated. The initial cleanup and restoration efforts of the parkland, the only natural shoreline in downtown Cleveland, and the River Boardwalk are complete.

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This is day two of the the planning conference, joined with the 17th
annual Cleveland Planning and Zoning Workshop. Check the conference web
page at www.ohioplanning.org for updated and expanded information.

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This the start of a two-day planning conference will address a wide
range of planning and zoning topics that affect our daily lives.
Register before August 15th for early bird rates. Check the conference
web page at www.ohioplanning.org for updated and expanded information.
Online registration available.   Contact phone:
216-443-3700.  Contact: khopkins [at] cuyahogacounty [dot] us.

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Learn the latest in water quality monitoring, protection, and
restoration. Track one will cover credible water quality monitoring,
while track two will cover tools for watershed restoration.  Phone:

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Lake County has a $90 million/yr. farming industry and is twice as
productive farmland as any around the state. Despite the pressures of
urban sprawl, farm preservation efforts are underway. Hear from Tom
Rapini of Lake County Farmland Conservation Taskforce.

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