what will make YOU stay? what IS making you stay? your answers matter.

(photo credit: 'why pittsburgh?!' an IWSI event that took place in september. we are the third city after detroit and pittsburgh to host an IWSI event)


From GP:

to all of my friends who think this is some sort of a joke- or that we are implying that everyone is leaving... please take a minute to think about the work we have put into an event that is different from anything you have ever been to.

love cleveland? yeah. so do i. how much? let's not get into that. my chances of finding what i think i really want are getting slimmer by the minute, but i'm here because i like it. i actually love it. everything about it. and i hope we realize that we are at a critical point in our city's history... and i don't want us to screw it up.

i have watched friends leave and never look back. i listen to constant negativity about the city and work day in and day out to turn this around. i am part of a network of midwestern cities that supports my work, sometimes more than my neighbors support my work. i am asking for your support because the event we are hosting tomorrow has a lot of potential.

you're staying in cleveland? i am too. and i'm going to write it on a piece of paper and have someone take a picture of me with it so i can send it downtown so people can stop TELLING me what i want and know what i actually want. that's what's behind this.

i am including copy from my news release. please try to open your mind to the possibilities instead of keeping it 'business as usual'...

what will make you stay? what IS making you stay? it's all part of it.

gp

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“I Will Stay If...” CLEVELAND Edition
A local event connected with GLUE’s “I Will Stay If…” campaign.

On Wednesday, November 18th, 2009, GLUE (Great Lakes Urban Exchange) invites you to join community members and leaders in a conversation about what makes a city sustainable, the continuing issues and challenges facing our city, and the new developments that are putting Cleveland on the map. What will make YOU stay? What IS making you stay? We want to know!

We invite all Clevelanders to join us for an evening of networking and idea-sharing. Co-sponsored by Cleveland365.com, this unique and high energy event will feature dynamic speakers and an interesting forum for young professionals and community members to talk about new and exciting happenings in Cleveland. Participants in the program include Matt Zone, Ward 17 Councilman and driving force behind the new Gordon Square Arts District; Randell McShepard, VP of Public Affairs at RPM International, Inc., co-founder and chairman of PolicyBridge; and Lillian A. Kuri, Program Director for Architecture, Urban Design and Sustainable Development for the Cleveland Foundation and key player in the Greater University Circle initiative.

The Great Lakes Urban Exchange (GLUE) was founded by a Pittsburgher and a Detroiter to catalyze conversations across Rust Belt communities about (among other things) the loss of population and sustainable economic activity. After two years of hosting multi-state conferences, building networks online, and creating opportunities for urbanists across the region to connect with a variety of policy and organizing experts, GLUE launched its “I Will Stay If…” (IWSI) campaign in Detroit earlier this summer. Pittsburgh’s event “Why Pittsburgh?” was held in September. (http://rustwire.com/2009/09/14/i-will-stay-if-comes-to-pittsburgh/) Cleveland is the third GLUE city to host an event and plans for similar parties in Buffalo and Milwaukee are in the works.

IWSI parties aim to bring together a diverse crowd of people in a GLUE city to participate in this vital conversation. In Cleveland, we want to know not only what will make you stay, but what is working for you already. Why are you here? How can we attract others like you? We are documenting the answers you give through a photographic exhibit that will travel our region. Eventually, GLUE will use the photographs as a non-traditional data set to share with policymakers. In the meantime, this event is an opportunity to celebrate everything that makes our city special, and the reasons we live here.

Cleveland’s own IWSI party, “I Will Stay If…” Cleveland Edition will take place at Speakeasy (1948 W. 25th Street-under the Bier Markt, 44113, http://speakeasy216.com) on Wednesday November 18 from 5:30 – 8:30 PM. Please join us and participate in the IWSI documentary project with acclaimed local photographers Bryon Miller and Suzanne Cofer. Food and drink specials are available to event participants. $5 suggested donations are welcome at the door. For more information about GLUE, please visit http://gluespace.org. To learn more about what’s behind IWSI, please visit http://iwillstayif.org. For donor, organization and event information please visit our website http://iwsicleveland.blogspot.com or contact iwsicleveland@gmail.com.