Cleveland

Another month, another BIG 2016 event where Cleveland shines -- The July 18-21, 2016, Republican National Convention!

July is the third consecutive month in 2016 where Cleveland had a huge event that reflected positively on our area.

While I did not attend the actual Republican National Convention, which was directed to out-of-state convention delegates visiting Cleveland, I did attend related events that engaged many local people and visitors.

With the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame offering free admission, the unveiling of the new Cleveland Public Square, and special programing by the great cultural institutions of both North Coast Harbor and University Circle, there was an amazing amount of activity crammed into four days.

Here it is...

NASA Glenn Research Center Celebrates 75 Years With an Open House

When Stuart saw this headline in a Cleveland Scene article on March 11, 2016, we knew we had to be there! Our first full blog post was about a tour of NASA Glenn Research Center as part of a Cleveland NASA Tweetup in 2012. We were excited to go back for another tour!

We attended the NASA Glenn Research Center 75th Anniversary Open House at Lewis Field on May 21 and 22, 2016. There was so much to see that the two days just left us wanting to see and learn more.

On Saturday, May 14, 2016, the Cleveland Young Professional Senate held their fourth annual YPCLE: Young Professional Civic Leadership and Empowerment Conference at The City Club of Cleveland. This year, it was entitled YPCLE: The Millennial Caucus, and was part of the Greater Cleveland Caucus Series. This series is the result of a partnership between the Cleveland Young Professional Senate, the Cleveland Foundation, The City Club of Cleveland, and others.

I am so glad that I was able to attend this event, and pleased that some college students who I invited also attended. I look forward to learning how the ideas developed at the caucus will be become an action plan for our community.

My goal for this blog post is:

• to give those who did not attend information on what occurred

• to create a public repository for some of the information I gathered in relation to the event

• to remind us of the work yet to be done

I have attended the grand opening of the Cleveland Public Library TechCentral MakerSpace. The technology center staff at the Akron Public Library gave me a tour during the Akron Maker Faire. Now, I am pleased to be able to write about the Cuyahoga County Public Library's new Innovation Center at their Garfield Heights Branch. I was fortunate to be part of a special orientation tour given to members of the Cleveland Digital Publishing Users Group (CDPUG) for their March 31, 2016, meeting.

It was an evening of excitement and anticipation!! The announcement of the 2016-2017 KeyBank Broadway Series was a Broadway production itself!

Clevelanders have come to expect PlayhouseSquare and partner organizations to provide great theatre. We think that Cleveland theatergoers who have never attended the 2016-2017 KeyBank Broadway Series Announcement Celebration would be happily surprised by the high level entertainment and engagement of the launch. It is not a simple announcement of the upcoming season, but instead a very entertaining production with musical guests and interesting interviews with facts about the upcoming season's Broadway shows and about PlayhouseSquare.

The announcement of each show was accompanied by a special surprise. PlayhouseSquare presented the evening as a Cleveland event, not just a theatre event, to encourage pride in our city.

The Saturday, March 12, 2016, inaugural Greater Cleveland Caucus: A Town Hall Meeting on Community Solutions engaged over 400 attendees from throughout Greater Cleveland to spend their Saturday morning in serious dialogue about key community issues. In addition, representatives from more than 70 nonprofit organizations staffed informational booths before the caucus started, and then joined the attendees in brainstorming priorities within eight “caucus areas.”

I want to start by thanking the Greater Cleveland Caucus Series partners for this 2016 initiative. I hope that the Caucus Series, and their related events (such as debate watch parties), provides structure for positive outcomes for Cleveland's future, and acts as a catalyst to involve more Greater Cleveland citizens in that future. 

UPDATE -- MAY 9, 2016: Videos of the Fred Talks speeches from the March 12 Greater Cleveland Caucus Town Hall have now been added to this blog post!

2012 to 2016!!! Our fourth Blogiversary of celebrating the fun of exploring our community and writing about our experiences!

Like last year, I want to start by thanking my great co-writer and wife, Julie Smith! I always enjoy sharing the journey with her.

It brings me joy to look at the blog posts we did this past year -- great memories of fun times, plus the anticipation of a new year full of possibilities!

Since we have enjoyed Brite Winter for several years now, we are posting our @sos_jr tweets and photos/videos as our way to thank and congratulate the organizers of this unique outdoor winter event in Cleveland.

We visited Brite Winter 2016 during the evening of February 20, 2016, but the full event went from 3:00 p.m. until 2:00 a.m. on the West Bank of the Flats. We did not get to see everything, so be sure to look at some of the tweets we shared from others.

Having seen the incredible ice sculptures last year, we made it a point to attend the second annual Cleveland's North Coast Harbor Ice Fest. 

We are posting our @sos_jr tweets and photos/videos from Cleveland's Ice Fest at North Coast Harbor here as our way to thank the organizers.

The Ice Fest was located between the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and the Great Lakes Science Center. The Cleveland Ice Fest at North Coast Harbor is a great event -- worth taking the time to visit!