Welcome to The Future of Cleveland! On April 22, 2009, invited by hosts CoolCleveland.com and Cleveland State University, a couple hundred people assembled in the 3rd floor game room of the newly renovated Fenn Tower on the campus of Cleveland State University for food, drinks and the opportunity to engage with each other, and with eight CSU executives-in-residence on their subject of expertise: Entrepreneurship & Science: Dr. Julian Earls, former director, NASA Glenn Research Center; Economic Development & Community Building: Steven Minter, former director, Cleveland Foundation; Politics, Public Service & Health Care: Grace Drake, former Ohio state senator; Innovative Education: Barbara Byrd-Bennett, former CEO, Cleveland Metropolitan School District; Business & Law: David W. Whitehead, former Vice President, FirstEnergy Corporation; and Public/Private Partnerships: Dr. Stuart Mandel, Asst. Dean for the Levin College of Urban Affairs.
Clevelanders noshed on hors d’oeuvres and enjoyed a few drinks, and then the fun started. We rang a bell, and participants organized themselves into groups to speak with one of the six executives on their area of expertise. The only ground rule was to be constructive and positive, in the spirit of Cool Cleveland, and in the spirit of the Cleveland State University setting. After 15 minutes, the bell rang again, and participants rotated, round robin-style to the next executive. After a third round, we asked each of the executives to read out the results of their three 15-minute discussions. Those results are found in the subsequent postings to this blog.
Read the comments, and add a few of your own. We’ll keep you informed of our progress and the possibility of a follow-up session.