Brewed Fresh Daily

Yesterday, after the day long summit, I went to Kimo's to get some sushi and met Jack for a 'tini at Noosa in Mentor. Javier Kimo's new digs were warm and inviting, with a friendly conversation going on. It was a stark contrast to the summit. Javier's wife offered me some lychee tea and some silken tofu with ginger syrup. The combination was sweet and floral, the result delicious. I so needed to decompress. Over martinis, Jack explained that in Accidental Conversations and Collaborative Creativity, he's published that competition is a weapon that needs to be used with wisdom. He posts two comments that are very relevant to the discussion:

Did the group decide what industries and geographies we should most want to hurt by taking away their business? How often are this region's companies investing in any kind of enterprises outside the region, thereby hurting the region?

The first is interesting because for all the talk of collaboration and innovation, there was an implied them, the one's we needed to paint the target on. The second question is important because Wince-Smith explained from the podium that last year foreign investment in China surpassed that of the United States. Who's supporting the Chinese regime? American (Northeast Ohio) businesses? Finally, I just wanted to that John Ettorre, Bill Callahan, Steve Goldberg, and Valdis Krebs for being engaged in these posts. Steve compares me to a frontline war correspondent in the battle for economic development. Your comments are why it was worth me suffering through a day long conference like that one. So many of the people who should have been attending weren't able (or didn't want) to be there. I think they're doing the real work of economic development. Hopefully, the GOB Network sees fit to include them in the process.