Join us for a great networking opportunity to meet the entrepreneurs presenting in Palo Alto.  Learn more about JumpStart and SayYES! to Cleveland. See the new Hyland Software facility.

2005 Featured Palo Alto Entrepreneurs are:

• Ayalogic - Mike Rojas, President
• Gene Express Inc. - Terry W. Osborn, Ph.D., M.B.A., President & CEO
• SageQuest - David B. Lowman, Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
• SamePageSolutions  - Andrew Vaeth, President
• Tooling University LLC - Chad Schron, Vice President & Tom Barrett, Vice President of Sales and Marketing

Cost:       Ticket Price: $25.00 includes drinks, hors d'oeuvres and a chance to win 1 of 2 fabulous door prizes:

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Attraction, infatuation, going steady, engagement…and finally marriage! Sounds like the evolution of your relationship with your significant other, right? Well your business relationships are no different. And COSE has a way you can form a new business relationship and take it straight to the altar!

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The last few weeks have seen the subject of education reach front and center across Northeast Ohio. Public school funding, the end of the BBB era and the hyper-politicizing of the selection of her successor, and the realization we need progress educating the region's children are all important drivers for discussion. The NEO Excellence Roundtable has maintained an ongoing dialogue on such key issues impacting economic development in Northeast Ohio, which we will broaden beginning at the August 16th session.

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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.

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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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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A Celebration of REI's past and Northeast Ohio's Open Source Future

Date: Friday, July 29

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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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A resounding theme among entrepreneurs in NEO has for a long time been "I don't get respect". Now, a new study by Stuart Mendel, Assistant Dean of the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University and Co-director of the college's Center for Non-Profit Policy and Practice, validates that "Cleveland could foster small-business growth as a way to erase the "Poorest Big City in America" distinction it earned last year".

At the 07.19.05 NEO Excellence Roundtable, we have some major developments to celebrate.

First, the Battle of Whiskey Island is over – the Island will remain a park… Ed Hauser will join us to discuss plans for the future, and the Burning River Festival he’s leading on August 13.

Second, the GCLAC kicked of Lead Awareness Week on 07.18.05, taking proactive steps to prevent lead poisoning of residents of Greater Cleveland – the most important pro-education, pro-quality of life initiative in the history of NEO.

What else do you and the people of NEO have to celebrate?

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Lead Awareness Week in Northeast Ohio kicked-off at 11 AM on July 18, 2005, with a press conference at the Zelma George Recreation Center, 3165 Martin Luther King Blvd., in the Mt. Pleasant/Kinsman area of Cleveland. City Department of Health Director Matt Carroll coordinated this informative and valuable insight-sharing session, with great support from area health professionals, community activists, Cleveland and Cuyahoga county staff, foundation workers and volunteers, all working together as the Greater Cleveland Lead Advisory Council (GCLAC). The purpose of the conference and week is to raise public awareness for the risks of lead poisoning, and support preventative action.

Ed Hauser once spent his time insuring the Flats was industrially sustainable, being a computer programmer for LTV. Then, a fortunate thing happened for Cleveland - LTV went bankrupt and Ed found a higher purpose for his life. He moved his loyalty and attention a mile or so up-river to where the Cuyahoga River meets Lake Erie at a parcel of land called Whiskey Island. Since discovering that urban oasis, Ed has dedicated his time and talent to insuring Cleveland is ecologically sustainable and a quality place for current and future residents and visitors by fighting to preserve Whiskey Island as a free and open natural park for all citizens to enjoy.

With the recent contributions by Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff of 10 laptops and by Progressive Insurance of 75 Pentium II CPUs for donation to those in need of help across the digital divide in East Cleveland, we have tangible evidence corporations may make a positive contribution to people's lives in NEO. Along the same lines of thought, at the last NEO Excellence Roundtable, participants interested in making NEO the world's most empowering learning community discussed the value corporations have had in supporting schools and even individual classrooms.

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The July 5th NEO Excellence Roundtable attracted a most diverse and remarkable group of participants and our discussions were bright and impactful.

The Greater Cleveland Lead Advisory Council is pleased to announce an important statewide lead awareness week in July, which offers an opportunity to blend awareness of the harm of lead to children with the importance of investing in education. Read on:

Event:     Northeast Ohio Business Plan Challenge 2005 Networking Event
Date:     7/12/2005 - 7/12/2005
Time:     5:00:00 PM - 8:00:00 PM

Location:     Bingham Building, 1278 W. 9th Street

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Barbara J. Danforth, Esq. - Executive Director, YWCA of Greater Cleveland

Despite decades of advancement, women still are not making it to the upper rungs of Cleveland’s corporate ladder. Not one woman has penetrated the Crain’s Cleveland Business list of top-paid CEOs. Only a small handful of women are seated at the top of Cleveland corporations. Across almost every industry, women earn only 76 cents compared to the dollar their male counterparts make. And this isn’t just the case in Cleveland; it’s a national issue.

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Big news and developments to discuss this week at the NEO Excellence Roundtable.

After working in academe innovating the Case Center for Regional Economic Issues, Ed Morrison returns to the private sector to lead Open Source Economic Development (OSED) for this region and the world, his way. Join Ed at the Excellence Roundtable as we explore next steps with him. As so many of us are building our community development plans around Ed's framework, today's Roundtable is where the planning continues.

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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."

Opening the 06.24.05 City Club forum, Vice President Sanjiv K. Kapur announced the expiration of the term of
President Kevin J. Donahue by celebrating the Club’s success under his
leadership. This year has been seen at the City Club perhaps the finest slate
of speakers and events in history and Kapur exclaims the
Club is better positioned than ever for the future. Looking forward, he
declares there are three initiatives underway by the Board of Directors:

Development – to insure overall organizational progress

Diversity – to insure a diverse membership and inclusive
community value

Distribution – addressing changing technologies to further
global appreciation for the City Club and programming

On the agenda today is Robert W. Briggs, Chairman of Fund
for Our Economic Future, presenting his perspectives on “Regionalization�.

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.

Plan to join in the discussions at the Tuesday, June 21, NEO Excellence Roundtable at the City Club of Cleveland as we advance innovative open source pursuits for holistic economic development in Northeast Ohio, including:

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Please join the NEO Excellence Roundtable for inclusive dialogue and pursuits to optimize the brainpower, quality places and innovation networks of Northeast Ohio. The Roundtable meets 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM each Tuesday for discussions and lunch at the City Club of Cleveland - related content posts here and at a virtual community for the collaboration at http://neoexcellence.realinks.us.

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The 06.07.05 NEO Excellence Roundtable had a very focused flow, starting with an update from Ed Hauser on Whiskey Island developments, following to next steps for East Cleveland, and concluding with a very enlightening discussion on making NEO the world's most empowering learning community.