From Janko:

Have you ever found something online that makes you scream out:
“YES, this is exactly what I’m looking for!”

Something that weaves together design, economic development, technology, city planning, and the plans for the future . . .

It happened to me recently as I discovered the archives of Dr. Sherry Linkon’s radio interview show, Lincoln Avenue.

These shows regularly air on Wednesdays at 7:30pm on wysu, and you can now listen to the shows as mp3s or subscribe to them as podcasts. You can even leave comments about the interviews on the show’s blog.

It’s my humble opinion that everyone in Northeast Ohio should be listening to these shows. It’s a great way to get plugged in on all the things going on in the region…

Click thru for his list of must-listen-to shows.

i will shout youngstown: know thyself

I wish Cleveland was on this list:

When she was awarded the 2006 TED Prize, filmmaker Jehane Noujaim expressed a wish: a global acceptance of diversity, mediated through the power of film. (Watch her speech.)

The project is taking off, and its ambition level is spectacular. On May 10, 2008, Pangea Day, sites in New York City, Rio, London, Dharamsala, Cairo, Jerusalem, and Kigali will be video-conferenced live to produce a 4-hour program of powerful films, supplemented by visionary speakers, and global musicians.

The purpose: to use the power of film to promote better understanding of our common humanity. A global audience will watch through the Internet, television, digital cinemas, and mobile phones. Yes, of course, movies alone can’t change the world. But the people who watch them can…

I know what I’ll be doing that day. Please click thru and watch the video on YouTube. Perhaps you’ll join me.

TED | TEDBlog: 10 May 2008: Pangea Day

From Mansfield (an early CC sneak peek):

But it is also about something more —the potential to use technology to change things in America. Quite simply the march on Jena would not have happened (or certainly would have been much, much smaller than the 30,000 Blacks and Whites that came from all parts of the country, in addition to the marches that were held in literally hundreds of cities and towns across the U.S.) if not for the Internet. I personally received dozens of emails in the months and weeks leading up to the march, and if I had not been previously committed to attending a critical meeting with a client of my consulting business, I would have at least covered the march as a journalist, if I didn’t put down my writing pad and tape recorder, donned a black shirt, and marched right along. This could very well be the dawning of a new Internet-driven civil rights era in America…

CoolCleveland.com - Straight Outta Mansfield The Power Of The Net

Reading this reminded me of C. K. Prahalad’s book The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits. Perhaps we need to past it around to some of the folks at the top:

I often come away from meetings I’ve attended at the top of the pyramid cynical and discouraged about our ability to get ahead here in NEO. Often the agendas of those at the top of the civic pyramid are not equitably or sincerely focused on the constituents in the pyramid. On the other hand, when I engage people at the base of the pyramid - It is so easy to find sincerity, fairness, energy and unique knowledge and skills…

CIVIC SPACE IS EQUITY BASED | REALNEO for all

Joel Cheesman emailed me this link. Interesting idea:

Welcome to Reform Pittsburgh Now, the first interactive Political Action Committee based in cyberspace and dedicated to ideas. Unlike other Political Action Committees, RPN does not support candidates or campaigns. Our mission is to set the agenda for reforming local government in Pittsburgh by utilizing the social media.

Unlike political websites, RPN is fully engaged in the social media. Twice a month we will vcast the people, places and groups that are making a difference in building the new Pittsburgh. Through the use of two blogs we will ask for the input of neighbors and friends to help us to create a reform agenda for City Council. Through weekly activities and events we will build a social network of like-minded individuals who want to see good government prevail in our city. Once a month we will podcast an interactive, web-based talk show with opinion leaders and policy makers who will respond directly with the public. Through humor we will highlight what is working (and what isn’t) in city government. Finally, we will create a library of public documents to empower people and stregthen e-democracy in Pittsburgh. Then, we will expand our mission!

Unlike other web-based policy forums or blogs, Reform Pittsburgh Now is a registered Political Action Committee…

Anyone care to work on it further?

Reform Pittsburgh Now » About RPN

Jack and I have a talk about our board work on Saturday:

[T]he 20 year view creates a lens that reveals unseen connections to the gifts of the community in the present.

jack/zen » Blog Archive » The 20 year view

To give you an idea of what was talked about:

• Jonathan Fairman on the conservative nature of the profession
• Piet van Lier on engaging parents
• Kristien Marquez-Zenkov on paying students, parents
• Multi-generational disengagement
• Piet van Lier on parent patrols and the Cleveland Education Commitee
• Kristien Marquez-Zenkov on drive-by critiques

For the entire podcast, click on the link below.

Meet the Bloggers » Colectivo Education Forum

He promises more, which I’m looking forward to:

All the persons who worked on the campaign were unpaid volunteers . Since my experinece with REI several years ago at Case I haven’t been involved with such a intellectually stimulating group. I am intriqued to learn what motivates such a group to put their hearts and soles and wallets into a public interest effort – that public interest in this case was seeing that a 20 year, million dollar per week, county tax hike was put on the ballot and voted up or down by the Cuyahoga County Voters.

My friends and acquaintances collected 10s of thousands of signatures through the County, but we failed to garner the necessary amount to guarantee that when the signatures where vetted by the Board of Elections that there would be the 45,000 good registered voter’s signatures to guarantee that the sales and use tax increase would be forced onto the spring general county ballot.

So the dominant feeling was that we should not turn the signatures into the auditor and waste the county taxpayers money going through them only to determine that they were insufficient.

Did we FAIL? Yes and No. We failed with the math, but we succeeded with the organizational experience, we succeeded in bolstering the democratic process, we succeeded in achieving organizational experience which will allow the further democratization of the citizens of Cuyahoga County…

Which begs the question, what’s next? How do the citizens of Cuyahoga County stay engaged between election cycles? My cynical side thinks politicians are glad there’s time for efforts like this to cool off.

PUT IT ON THE BALLOT.COM FAILS TO GARNER 10% OF REG. VOTERS IN 30 DAYS | REALNEO for all