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.

A major initiative of the Roundtable this month has been making NEO the world's most empowering learning environment. We have framed this objective around Ed's OSED and passing the CMSD levy in August. Last week, we were joined by Cleveland School Board vice-chair Louise Dempsey and discussed the CMSD strategy for the levy. This discussion defined how we should proceed in the short term, working in support of CMSD levy campaign objectives, and in the long term, planning an education summit for September. We'll plan next steps today at the Roundtable.

Those of you who follow economic development in this region are aware of the work of Next Generation Consulting and their CEO Rebecca Ryan, who is activating the Generation-X culture in the Akron and Canton area. This summer, Next Generation is working in the Cleveland area to relate findings in Akron to considerations in Cleveland. The Excellence Roundtable was first organized following a meeting we held with Rebecca this spring at the City Club and we are now working with Rebecca to expand her impact here - REALinks is providing technology and support for Rebecca to broaden her Gen-X outreach in NEO expand our insight on Next Generation value here. We're working with Cleveland Tech Czar Michael DeAloia in crafting this initiative and look forward to discussing it with the Roundtable.

In other business, we'll update discussions on our pursuits in East Cleveland and on developments with Whiskey Island. The “Friend of Whiskey Island�, Ed Hauser, hosted a great coming out party for Wendy Park last Saturday and today there is a public hearing at Edgewater Yacht Club on the future of the Coast Guard Station owned by Cleveland and in disrepair at the tip of Whiskey Island... this is the real beginning of the great lakefront development so long in the planning.

You should join us today for the NEO Excellence Roundtable. Let me know if you expect to attend.

Best regards,

Norm Roulet
REALNEO/REALinks
norm [at] realinks [dot] us
216-534-1743

The Caxton Building, Suite 319
812 Huron Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44115

About the NEO Excellence Roundtable: People who care about Northeast Ohio who are openly strategizing on how our region may achieve world-class status - we are establishing benchmarks for success and taking action in pursuit of measurable outcomes. Current pursuits include bridging the digital divide in East Cleveland, deploying the optimal social network for Northeast Ohio, exploring innovative approaches to funding regional economic development and entrepreneurship, and exploring innovative approaches to improve education in NEO.

We're nurturing face to face visioning and so have revived a storied tradition of roundtable lunches at the City Club, each Tuesday between 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM, where non-hierarchical area innovation champions are breaking bread and brainstorming. The NEO Excellence Roundtable format is casual and conversational - to join us for lunch, please contact coordinator Norm Roulet at norm [at] realinks [dot] us. Each attendee is expected to pay for one's own buffet lunch, which is $13 and always excellent - if that is a barrier to you attending, please join us regardless and we'll cover the difference.

In the interest of supporting this open collaboration, we've also established a virtual Community Of Interest Link (COIL) called NEO Excellence - please visit at http://neoexcellence.realinks.us. To participate in the community, please "create an account" using the link found at the home page - or, if you have an account at another REALinks site... like at REALNEO... you may log-in with your username followed by @ that site's URL (e.g. your username [at] realneo [dot] us), and then enter your password from that site.

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