Cleveland

I first learned about the July 30, 2017, Common Ground event from an announcement by Global Cleveland on Twitter. I immediately knew I needed to attend, and share my thoughts about it in my blog.

I also want to thank Cleveland Foundation Senior Marketing & Communications Officer Jennifer Trivelli, who reached out to me via a Twitter direct message on July 7th to confirm that I knew about #CommonGroundCLE -- Greater Cleveland's largest outdoor community conversation and meal.

I attended the BlueBridge Networks Third Non-Profit IT Innovation Summit on July 27, 2017, at the Cleveland Museum of Art as a guest of Kevin Goodman, managing director and partner at BlueBridge Networks.

This was the second time I have attended this nonprofit IT summit, having attended in the BlueBridge Networks Non-Profit IT Innovation Summit II on November 5, 2014. I want to thank Kevin Goodman for inviting me again, and let the presenters know how much I appreciate them taking time to share their knowledge. 

We had four days of fun and four sunsets on Lake Erie!

Our extended Fourth of July weekend, July 1-4, 2017, was filled with many activities, each day ending with a beautiful Lake Erie sunset!

• July 1st Sunset - Lake Metroparks' Lakefront Lodge after Cleveland Shakespeare Festival at James A. Garfield National Historic Site

• July 2nd Sunset - Edgewater Park of the Cleveland Metroparks Lakefront Reservation

• July 3rd Sunset - Lake Metroparks' Lake Erie Bluffs Coastal Observation Tower after exploring both the Lake Link Trail & The Holden Arboretum

• July 4th Sunset - Sunset and Fireworks at North Coast Harbor after Neighborhood Parade

Thank you to all the great organizations that made these four days of fun possible. We look forward to visiting many more Northeast Ohio venues to enjoy Lake Erie sunsets.

Back in 2012, we wrote about attending a Crash Party, which introduced the ArtLens App and related gallery. Through this event, we became fascinated with the ways that the Cleveland Museum of Art uses technology to engage their visitors. Since 2012, we have visited the gallery and used the app many times and have written several ArtLens-related blog posts. We have watched both the ArtLens App and related gallery gradually evolve to expand their functionality and ease of use.

When we were invited by Cleveland Museum of Art Chief Information Officer Jane Alexander to attend the 2017 ArtLens Crash Party on June 21st, we knew that major changes were coming -- changes that were not just evolutionary, but revolutionary!

Ever have a day when you have a few things planned, but as the day proceeds, opportunities for more fun activities arise? That was my day on Saturday, May 6, 2017, when a couple of fun things evolved into a full day and evening of activities.

• Late Morning: Cleveland Flats - Drink Local. Drink Tap. Inc.'s "4 Miles 4 Water"

• Early Afternoon: Downtown Cleveland - Cleveland Public Library's "Superman: From Cleveland to Krypton – An Exhibit" Opening!

• Late Afternoon: Uptown Cleveland - Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA)'s Free Admission First Saturday

• Evening: Cleveland's University Circle - Cleveland Museum of Art's MIX: Model

Thanks to all the organizations that hosted these events -- from the flats to Uptown and beyond!

We were fortunate to receive an invitation to attend the April 26, 2017, Cleveland Museum of Art's "Alex Katz Media and Influencer Exhibition Preview."  The exhibition opened on Sunday, April 30, 2017, and will continue through Sunday, August 6, 2017. 

The museum's Director of Communications, Caroline Guscott, and Communications Associate, Kelley Notaro, greeted us as we arrived to start the evening. They introduced us to Curator of American Painting and Sculpture Mark Cole. It was great to have Mark Cole at the preview, so that we could ask questions about the paintings and learn some art history of the time period represented by this exhibition of Alex Katz's work.

We also met Diana K. Tuite, the Katz Curator from the Colby College Museum of Art.

To celebrate Earth Day, most years, we attend the Earth Day Coalition's EarthFest, and have written blog posts about our experiences at the event the past two years.

Earth Day 2017 was different -- out of some very negative things happening in our country, a very positive movement to take action grew! We mean, of course, the national March for Science in Washington D.C.!

The same day that it was announced that the national March for Science would be held on Earth Day, April 22, 2017, we learned to our delight that there would also be a March for Science in Cleveland!

The good people of Northeast Ohio came out in force! Congratulations to the March for Science Cleveland for this grand success!

This was the third year that we were invited to attend the PlayhouseSquare Launch Party for the KeyBank Broadway Series. Thank you, Digital Marketing Coordinator Alyssa Brown  for inviting us to attend this great PlayhouseSquare event on Tuesday, February 28, 2017!

It was an evening of fun and anticipation as each show of the new season was announced. For the past two years, the Launch Party announcements took place at the 2,800-seat Connor Palace Theatre, but this year, the event sold out the 3200-seat State Theatre!

In 2015, we learned that Cleveland draws the largest audiences in the country for these touring Broadway productions. This year, the Launch Party audience was the biggest ever for the event, so it will be exciting to find out if this will lead to the largest attendance in the history of PlayhouseSquare's KeyBank Broadway Series.

Record high temperatures at Brite Winter 2017!

On Saturday, February 18, 2017, Mother Nature did not deliver the normal sub-freezing temperatures that we have come to expect at Brite ​Winter. This year, we had record high temperatures across the area.

Unfortunately, Julie was not able to attend this year, so I went just for some of the evening activities this year with my son. Congratulations to the Brite Winter leadership on their eighth successful year!