skate to where the puck is going - multistate sustainable energy conference in youngstown

Next week kicks off a three-day multi-state conference to be held in downtown Youngstown on the subject of sustainable energy and economic development.

The topic is a trendy one at the moment in technology-based economic development, but a good one, because if you anticipate where the puck is going - or where the Obama administration will be allocating billion of dollars in the near future - it's in the sustainable energy field.

From the conference's website: www.sustainableenergyforum.net


The conference's agenda is available here.

Sunday, June 21 begins with the airing of the FUEL film on the YSU campus at 4pm (open to the public), followed by a Q&A with film's Director.



Monday, June 22 features introductions by the Mayor, Dr. McCloud, and the President and COO of the Parsons Corporation. In 2008, Parsons had 11,600 worldwide employees and over $3.4 billion USD in revenues.

the Keynote Address will be by Congressman Tim Ryan, Appropriations Committee, on the Energy & Water Subcommittee (jurisdiction on the Dept of Energy, Dept of Interior, etc)

a series of what looks like policy and planning discussions to follow during the rest of the day.

Tuesday, June 23 reviews regional research and advancement in the fields of biofuels, carbon management, energy conservation, renewable energy, hydrogen systems, and geologic sustainable energy.

Contributing partners include Parsons, Battelle, NETL (national laboratory), NorTech, the Mahoning/Shenango Advance Manufacturing Initiative, Global Green USA, and the U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development. From a 40,000 foot perspective, quite a lineup.

So when people are curious as to different approaches to economic development occurring in the Valley, here is a great example.


Again, watch to where the puck is going.

The puck is coming to Youngstown.

Center of Excellence in Industrial Metrology and 3D Imaging is up and running

what is metrology?

metrology = metron (measure) + logos (study of)

metrology is the study of how we measure things.

For example, say I wanted to measure the mass of water in a bathtub.

If I knew the volume of the tub by measuring its dimensions, since I know the density of liquid water, I could calculate the mass.

Or, if I had a small bucket and a scale, I could measure the cumulative weight of every bucket removed, and since I know the gravitational constant, could calculate the mass.

Of, if I opened the drain, and I measured the flow rate, plus I measured the amount of time to drain the tub, I can calculate the mass too.

In each case, the ability to measure things makes my task possible.

But I can only measure things if I have the right tools.

- - -

At M*7 Technologies located in Youngstown, they use scanning equipment to measure a given space or object. After they scan something, it requires an awful amount of data storage, depending on the level of tolerance (measuring something on an inch scale and a micron scale makes a big difference).

With a partnership between M*7 Technologies (a Youngstown Business Incubator portfolio company), Zethus Software (another company residing in the Youngstown Business Incubator who works on distributed computing), the YBI itself, Youngstown State, the Ohio Supercomputer Center, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST (these guys maintain the U.S. atomic clock, among others) - the Center of Excellence in Industrial Metrology and 3D Imaging was born.

And so Friday, a $1.6 million check was given to this Center of Excellence. It will be the official national test bed for three-dimensional imaging metrology.



from an article in the Business-Journal:

"The new center will be led by Allen Hunter, professor of Chemistry at YSU, and a team from the university’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, or STEM, College.

Hunter said earmarks such as the $1.6 million procured through Ryan’s office are vital to changing the role of the university and furthering new research and development projects. He credits the congressman for understanding the importance of local universities and the impact they can have on economic development.

“Federal dollars supporting research and development have increased ten times” compared to what they were a decade ago, Hunter noted.

Martin Abraham, dean of the STEM College, said a primary reason why the university is able to land funding for these important projects is because YSU has found a way to share ideas and information with various departments in science and technology, and establish partnerships with local businesses.

“A few years ago, this would never have happened,” Abraham said. But combining the science, technology, mathematics, and engineering departments into a single college under the direction of one dean enables the university to draw from a variety of intellectual resources.

The Metrology Center is an outstanding example of what collective action can accomplish, Abraham said. “As manufacturing becomes increasingly more complex, it is ever more important that we can measure parts and design tools accurate to the nanometer scale,” he said. “Now, with everyone working together, we’ll be looking for ways to work with companies such as M7 and Zethus.”

He also noted the college is examining the potential of starting Ph.D programs in material sciences and engineering."

- - -

good work, Team Youngstown.

three Centers of Excellence down, hopefully 17 more to go.

what's at podcamp pittsburgh oct 18th & 19th?

why i'm going to podcamp pittburgh 3:

(1) - it's free
(2) - it's conveniently during a weekend
(3) - it's good opportunity to learn new things
(4) - i want to meet other Cleveburgh bloggers



It seems like the content of the conference is geared towards both beginners and pseudo-experts, and you can find the two-day schedule here.

some of the topics include:
"Intro to Blogging"
"Podcasting 101"
"Social Media Business Plans"
"Video Compression Best Practices"
"Using Analytics"
"Search-Engine-Friendly Blogging"
"Social Media and the Arts"
"Rustbelt Bloggers Roundtable"

so yeah, there will be a few of us caravaning from the Yo if you want to carpool.

It will held at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh downtown from 9am to 5pm both days and you can register here.


ps. I have been physically threatened to return to Youngstown saturday night from Pittsburgh because the following is going on that night downtown:

- Kelly Pavlik fight
- Ice event at the Chev which will air on Christmas on NBC
- YSU football game
- Oreo stacking cancer contest
- Mahoning River nude swim 2008

So there is also a chance some people will be returning Saturday night as well, or as was presented to me at knifepoint, I could actually bring some of the people attending Podcamp to Youngstown for the evening as the two places are so close.

While the jury is still out on my personal location Saturday night, I encourage you to attend Podcamp Pittsburgh 3 regardless.

recap: nsf director in youngstown

Dr. Arden Bement, Director of the National Science Foundation - a federal agency with an annual budget of some $6 billion and change - was on campus in downtown youngstown Monday.


His first public visit of the day was a short speech in Moser Hall to about 40 industry, academic, and community leaders. The level of questioning in the room was excellent.



This was followed by a presentation to about 150 students, YSU faculty and staff by Dr. Bement, with words of encouragement to the researchers on campus by Rep. Tim Ryan.


Dr. Bement then walked though a poster session with undergraduate and graduate researchers.

And finally, the ribbon was cut on the new Analytical Materials Instrumentation Center at YSU - constructed with funds from the NSF.

media recaps here and here.

UPDATE: Ohio's Third Frontier program just announced a $2.1 million grant to YSU to build the Center for Excellence in Advanced Materials Analyses.

Through a partnership with Youngstown-based Fireline TCON (in the Smoky-Hollow neighborhood) and the Ohio Supercomputer Center, the project will focus on the R&D and commercialization of products with increased resistance to thermal shock and lower thermal conductivity to improve liquid aluminum-resistant refractory materials for use during molten metal handling, melt treatment and castings.

Selma Diamond, eat your heart out.

tech center officially opens, tech center officially filled

there's room for more people on this bus.

tech-based growth. downtown reinvestment. prospering companies.

- - -

This week, the opening of the 2nd building of the Youngstown Business Incubator was celebrated downtown, a building that is already filled from top to bottom with employees from YBI's portfolio companies.



Instead of bursting as the seams, the original building of the YBI is now able to breathe again, having the capacity to draw in additional entrepreneurs and individuals who want to be a part of the next chapter of Youngstown.

photo tour of 2nd building from I Will Shout Youngstown here.
additional stories here, here, here, here, and here.

An article titled "Specialization as Strategy for Business Incubators" by M. Schwartz and C. Hornych in the most recent issue of the scientific jounal Technovation identifies four advantages for locating businesses in sector-specific business incubators (SBI) like the YBI:

- high-quality premises and equipment for tenant companies
- high-quality consulting/knowledge sharing in specific fields
- increased probability of networking between tenants
- high trans-regional visibility for tenants

check, check, check, and check.

All four of these match what's going on in these buildings in downtown youngstown.

- - -

In other news, two other YBI portfolio companies experienced some recent successes:

Humility of Mary Health Partners (HMHP) has agreed to be a a beta site for ErisRx, a software program from Eris Medical Technologies which manages billing and financial transactions in hospitals.

Syncro Medical Innovations was awarded a $350,000 research commercialization grant from the Ohio Department of Development's Third Frontier Initiative. Syncro has developed a magnetically guided feeding tube, and the funds will be used to build inventory, conduct clinical trials, and hire a clinical educator, staff engineer and marketing director. These funds are in addition to $500,000 provided by the federal government to Syncro for developing a feeding tube for battlefield trauma patients.

so, yeah, it's been a good week.

no time to rest though.

tune in to turning

Click here to see an ABC News video which features Turning Technologies, soon to grow into the newly constructed Technology Center adjacent to the Youngstown Business Incubator.

They have now received the coveted 4Star Quality Award from PC Magazine.

Inc. magazine ranked them the fastest growing software company in the country last year.

And they topped the most recent Weatherhead 100 list.

- - -

hometown ingenuity for global markets.
outta downtown youngstown.

1st look inside the new technology center

valued readers:

had the opportunity to make it inside the new Youngstown Technology Center this week. When construction is completed, the structure will connect to the Youngstown Business Incubator, and will be home for maturing companies that graduate from the YBI.

with both experienced and growing technology companies moving into downtown youngstown, this "managed cluster" of firms is growing into an even larger nexus for software development companies and their innovative partners, including the university just a few blocks up the hill.

let's peer inside . . .



shown above is the facade of the structure, as interior doors connect the Incubator to the Technology Center.

shown below is the view heading down federal street, as the Technology Center sits next to the Semple Building, also undergoing renovation currently for MORE tech companies. Then adjacent to the Semple is the landmark Home Savings and Loan.


Peering behind the blue tarp, we have the entrance to the building leading us to the inside.


Skylights running through the middle of the building will bring natural light to the lower floors.


And of course, miles and miles of cable will be spread throughout the building.


Here's a photo from the second floor with its yellow walls:


Each floor of the structure will have a kitchenette right in the middle for all of the floor's employees.


Here's a view from the back windows, looking out onto art deco home of the Youngstown Vindicator.


And finally, a view from the front windows looking out onto the multi-recital hall complex which houses the Youngstown Symphony, among other cultural organizations.


looks to be progressing nicely!

as the Tech Center finishes up in the next few weeks, more construction will shift to the Semple Building, to be followed by work on the beautiful Wells Building - the 4th structure of this cluster.

Youngstown is accelerating at a rapid pace - - jump on as we are moving forward.

cool cleveland (and the world), meet the chief evangelist

Check out this interview of Jim Cossler by Thomas Mulready from Cool Cleveland:



link to it. embed it.

sign up for Cool Cleveland's weekly newsletter on what's going on in Northeast Ohio and learn more about the "Youngstown Buzz".

and connect,
connect,
connect.

YBI's home page here.
YBI's MySpace page here.
YBI's Facebook here.
YBI's Subpopulated page here.

The Youngstown Business Incubator
241 Federal Plaza West
Youngstown, OH 44503
phone: 330.746.5003

a place where young companies and innovative people exchange ideas and grow their businesses.
contact
jcossler (@) ybi.org
for more information on how to join team youngstown.

nanotech manufacturer's forum on friday

This Friday October 26 the Deyor Performing Arts Center in Downtown Youngstown will host an event geared toward exploring nanotechnology applications in traditional manufacturing technologies.

Don't know what nanotechnology is, or how it may apply to you and your company?

Well, then this event may be perfect for you.

- - -

One can look at the potential impact of nanotechnology in the next two decades like the impact of information technology (IT) in the last two decades:

Even though entirely new sectors of the economy were generated by the emergence of IT and novel applications, the spread of IT to all corners of the economy is what really drove global productivity and made new applications stick. IT has affected the way we sell insurance, administer health care, inspect our automoblies, and communicate with our loved ones.

Similarly, while your life or manufacturing firm may not be a producer of nanotechnology theories and experiements, the applications of nanotechnology may have a great impact on your future well-being and profitability.

Here is the Agenda and Confirmed Speakers:

8:00 - 8:15am Registration
8:15 - 8:25am Welcome
Mike Garvey, President, M7 Technologies
8:25 - 8:45am 3rd Frontier Update
ODOD Representative - TBD
8:45 - 9:15am Nanotechnology 101
Alexis Abramson, NorTech
9:15 - 9:30am Innovation Academy
Dave Karpinski, NorTech
9:30 - 9:45am Q & A
9:45 - 10:00am Break
10:00 - 10:30am Raw Nano Materials for Manufacturers
Andy Sherman, President & CEO, Powdermet, Inc.
10:30 - 11:00am Nanostructured Ceramic Metallic Materials
Mark Peters, Fireline TCON
11:00 - 11:30am Nano-enabled Products and Technology at PPG
Dan Rardon, PPG
11:30 - 12:00pm Nanotechnology Environmental Health & Safety
John Monica, Porter Wright Morris & Arthur
12:00 - 12:15pm Break
12:15 - 12:45pm Luncheon Keynote
Daniel Branagan, CTO, NanoSteel
12:45 - 1:00pm Q & A
1:00pm Closing Remarks

Hosted by Fireline TCON, JumpStart, and the Youngstown Business Incubator, you can register for the event here.

need a lift?

Two events are taking place in our area next week which may be of interest to local entrepreneurs, business-folk, and generally, anyone in the public who a passing interest in technology.

The more people we get there from the Valley, perhaps the better chance we will have of getting necessary funds to advance our tech-based economy.

The first event is TechLift: Youngstown
To be held Thursday, September 20th
drinks and networking: 5pm
program begins: 5:30pm

from the JumpStart website: (also for registration)

Join Northeast Ohio's entrepreneurial community and celebrate the launch of TechLift, a NorTech initiative of the Third Frontier Project Entrepreneurial Signature Program. TechLift is dedicated to enhancing Northeast Ohio's technology entrepreneurial companies by providing unique services, entrepreneurial mentorship and access to resources. If you are a technology entrepreneur in Northeast Ohio, you can benefit from TechLift at no cost to you. Meet the TechLift Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, learn about the programs being offered, and network with local business leaders and other like-minded entrepreneurs at this exciting rollout event.

In addition to learning about what the regional partners are doing to embrace this initiative, you'll hear about IdeaCrossing – a free online community supporting entrepreneurship by connecting entrepreneurs with the investment capital, business assistance, and resources they need to build their business.

Agenda:
5:00 - 5:30pm Registration, Networking, Complimentary Appetizers, & Cash Bar
5:30 - 5:55pm Welcome, Julie Michael Smith, Youngstown Business Incubator
TechLift Introduction, Chris Mather, TechLift
Entrepreneurs-in-Residence:
Kent Kristensen - Electronics
Donna Richardson - BioSciences
Ron Zieske - Advanced Materials
Darrin Redus, JumpStart
Youngstown Business Incubator, Julie Michael Smith
5:55 - 6:05pm IdeaCrossing, Tiffan Clark, JumpStart Inc
6:05 - 6:15pm Regional Partners
6:15 - 7:30pm Networking

Venue:
The Avalon Inn Resort & Conference Center
9519 East Market Street
Warren, Ohio 44484



The second event is 3rd Frontier - funding opportunities information session
To be held Friday, September 21th
program begins: 9am

Norm Chagnon, Executive Director of the Third Frontier Commission and John Griffin, Director of the Technology Division with the Ohio Department of Development will travel to Northeast Ohio to announce and discuss ALL of the Third Frontier Programs that will issue requests for proposals over the next 12 months.

Some of the programs to be announced include the Biomedical and Engineering & Physical Science Research and Commercialization Program, Third Frontier Fuel Cell Program, and new offerings including the Ohio Research Scholars and Advanced Energy Program.

This information session is free and open to the public. Anyone interested in learning more about Third Frontier funding opportunities available for 2008 is welcome to attend.

Time: 9:00-11:00 a.m.

Location: Hilton Akron/Fairlawn Hotel, 3180 West Market Street, Akron 44333

RSVP with Kelly Coolbaugh South at 216-241-8458 or ksouth@nortech.org by September 17th.

donnie iris concert tonight, he's using technology "youngstown style"

Tonight Donnie Iris and The Cruisers will be playing at the new stage built next to the refurbished B&O train station downtown.

Big Don plays shows all around the country, but when he comes to Youngstown tonight, the setup will be a little different.


You see, down by the Mahoning River, the fans will have the ability to choose the next songs Donnie and his band will play.

How?

By using technology developed at the Youngstown Business Incubator.

The wireless keypads from Turning Technologies will be passed out to the crowd.



The public chooses, and instantaneously, Turning's Technologies calculates the vote totals.

Is this the first time in the nation technology has been used for this reason?

And the band played on . . . down by the B&O.


- - -

Donnie Iris and The Cruisers
Friday, June 22

Outdoor Stage
B&O Station
530 Mahoning Avenue
Downtown Youngstown

All tickets general admission.
Gates open 6:30 pm
Opening act, 8:00 pm
Donnie Iris & The Cruisers 9:00 pm

YBI MySpace Featured in Small Business Trends

The MySpace site of the Youngstown Business Incubator was highlighted by Small Business Trends this week. You can read the article here.

Check it out:

"With so many exciting Web 2.0 applications, you can quickly get the idea that the only place innovation happens is in Silicon Valley. And maybe Boston and Seattle.

But innovation takes place quietly all over America. It even takes place in former high-flying cities of earlier generations — cities that in their day were the equivalents of Silicon Valley. Cities like Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Akron and others. Including Youngstown."

And from the Chief Evangelist:

"Within two weeks of our MySpace page going up, we were approached by three recent graduates of Youngstown State University. Each had lived in the Mahoning Valley their entire lives. Each graduated from college with a degree in computer science. Upon graduation, the three formed a software app development company, which is our sweet spot. They have developed a couple of software utilities that we are very excited about and we look forward to working with them on launching the products. But, until they saw our MySpace site, none of them had ever heard of YBI."

- - -

In other news, there is a new blog in out midst:

Youngstown Renaissance
ytownrenaissance.blogspot.com

If the first three posts are an indication of future work, this will be a very quality local blog.

defrag brought us together

Last Friday we had the good fortune to be guests on the Louie Free Show. The recording was posted today in the archives and you can listen to the show here. About an hour into the mp3 we start talking, and the interview lasts 90 minutes.

Much thanks to those who took the time and effort to come to Youngstown and join us. The panelists on the recording are:

- Ken Warren, Lakewood Public Library and Lakewood Observer
- Sherry Linkon, YSU Center for Working Class Studies
- Hunter Morrison, YSU Center for Urban and Regional Studies
- Phil Kidd esq., Defend Youngstown

The discussion revolves around various topics including connecting people with technology, citizen journalism, why history matters, the unique sense of place in Youngstown, and channels to more forward.

This guy was outside the studio:



and picking out few words here and there...
- gypsy punk music
- catholic school beatings
- pickpocket poetics
- bedrock of democracy
- hyper-local dojo
- ambushing a priest
- extracting passionate people
- operation in chaos making
- jim traficant on phil donahue
- the politics of resentment
- "those people"
- the succession of the successful
- getting screwed; being militant
- the new competitive position
- 40 years in the desert
- antibalas afrobeat
- the generation of social capital
- every neighborhood gets a blog
- youngstown as experimental laboratory
- good news grounded in fact

Also here is the show from last week's show about Youngstown on Ideastream wcpn.

the 3rd coolest thing I have seen on the internets

A buddy of mine at work showed me this cool website today: Hindsight.

It combines hybrid maps of America with information about housing construction to create an animated display of the growth in a region.

Here is an example with the San Jose metro area:



It reminds me of a fireworks show, celebrating in our case "no-growth sprawl".

You can jump to the map of the Youngstown region and all of NEO here and here.

Here is a screen shot of the animation, highlighting 1917. The dots in powder blue mark the constuction of homes in this period. From Warren, though Niles, Girard, Youngstown, East Youngstown, and onto Struthers, one can see how the growth just follows the river all the way through the Mahoning Valley.


And in the 1950s and 1960s, waves of construction just spreads out from the density near the river.


awesome.

our incubator: designing & thinking outside the box

An insightful interview with Jim Cossler, the Chief Evangelist of the Youngstown Business Incubator, was posted a few hours ago on the Defend Youngstown blog. You can read the entire interview here. A few of the most interesting highlights are included below, supplemented with some visuals of the buildings involved:

"YBI is currently at 105% capacity, because we have actually had to give up some of our conference space to accommodate the phenomenal growth of our firms. We have even been forced to use our entire basement here. The new center, which is being built immediately adjacent to our facility, will allow us to move some of our most successful firms out into it, freeing some space for a healthy list of startup ventures that have been eager to move in and join us."

"Beyond this fully funded project, we have another $2.75 million in secured funds for further development within the block. At this moment, I believe that we will be directing those dollars toward the renovation of the Semple Building, which sits between the new Center site and Home Savings & Loan. The Semple project can be completed by mid to late 2008, and will house YBI graduates and other tech companies that we might attract to Youngstown."


"Further down the road, our sights our set on renovating the Wells Building and adding it to our campus. There is no time frame set for this project, as we have not yet secured the entire amount of funding necessary for it. Doing so will require very active and aggressive work from our entire local legislative delegation."



Check out the crown on this building. Hopefully the terra cotta will be saved and cleaned in the future.

We lost a beautiful facade during the (see below) for the Youngstown Technology Center - the first expansion project Cossler mentions for the emerging Youngstown Technopole - which will now open in March 2008 instead of December 2007 because the review committee rejected the initial six proposals. The second attempt at the bidding will begin soon.


As we say a final goodbye to pieces of our history, piece by piece, who knows if there will be more beauty in what follows in its place?

- - -

What next, then?

Assuming all of these ideas come to fruition (the Semple & the Wells renovations) what should be the next step in the distant, but rapidly approaching future?

- - -

One problem the incubator has right now is its connectivity to the university.

Not many computer science undergrads are familiar with what's occuring downtown. In fact, when does entrepreneurism ever get thrown into the faces of the students?

Perhaps that future step needs to be even closer in proximity to the students, by incorporaing a new building directly on campus - creating a contant message to everyone at the university that innovation and entrepreneurism happens in Youngstown.

I can see it right now, at the corner of Rayen and Wick, right where the ugly parking lot sits across from the Main Library and south of the current location of the business school.

- - -

Recently a design competition was held to build the deuxième Centre Georges-Pompidou in the city of Metz, France. You can see the winning entry here, with its sweeping views of the beautiful cathedral in Metz.


It's my favorite church in Europe - and a great place to sleep under if you miss the 3am bus back to your apartment (another story).


One of the losing designs however, was created by the architect Dominique Perrault. It looks like an open box.

So what about incorporating this open-box design into a building that is supposed to represent out-of-the-box thinking?



Let's borrow this design for a moment and have some fun with envisioning what can be inside:

I can imagine four stories within this new building.

1st floor - space for companies accepted into the incubator network.

2nd floor - space for the ramped up and highly improved computer science department at the university, including office space for professors, research faculty, and graduate students.

3rd floor - space for enterprenurial classrooms. Each classroom will contain the presentation and multimedia equipment necessary to hold a new series of classes - classes required for every business student, engineering student, industrial artist student, and computer science student at the university. Classes that mix all of these majors into teams competing or working on select projects with applications in industry.

4th floor - that's for the readers of this blog to answer.

In the comments section, please contribute to what else you believe this building needs . . .

turning comedy into winners

This past Saturday at the Oakland, a "Comedy Showcase" was held, highlighting stand-up comedians from throughout the region.

I sat in the back.


As you can see in the picture, the stage is being set up for the upcoming show "Misery" this weekend and next (his feet are cut off in a bloody fashion in their version). Click here for additional details about the show.

Here's a clip of local comic Murad Shorrab explaining what you gain when you date him:


Local talent such as Murad will be performing at the next "Stage" at the Oakland on friday, march 16th.

Several other singers, belly dancers, performance artists, sword swallowers, and circus freaks will be there as well.

- - -

Fast forward to this week, where the "Funniest Penguin" contest was held at Peaberry's on Youngstown's campus.


What's cool about this event is that they incorporated technology from the Youngstown Business Incubator into the voting process. To judge each of the ten comedians who performed on stage, the audience was provided with wireless keypads from Turning Technologies, one of the companies in downtown's growing cluster of software development companies.


Along with other "professional" judges, the audiences' opinions were factored into the final score and choosing a champion.

stand-up comedy + technology + public engagement = a new way to connect to people

It makes one wonder about all the different scenarios by which Turning's technologies can be incorporated into other forms of entertainment and public engagement . . .

mp3 walking tour of downtown

My brother told me about these mp3 walking tours that Rick Steves puts on his travel website for Paris. The concept works like this: you go to his webpage and download the free audio files which you can then upload to your mp3 player or iPod. The topics (on Steves' site) include the Louvre Museum, the Orsay Museum, Versailles, and a walk around the historic parts of Paris. You can access the site here.


Then, as you listen to the audio tour at your leisure, you learn historical and architectural facts as you walk around the area.

Something Youngstown needs at some point in the near future is a highly visible touist information point to get information about local attractions and maps in the downtown to guide visitors.

But until this happens, maybe we can create our own walking tour with the assitance of local historians, architects, and community websites that can be downloaded by the public for free.

Imagine, a person goes to a local website like www.downtownyoungstown.com and downloads (1) a collection of audio files which describes places with significant historical or architectural revelance downtown and (2) a map of downtown Youngstown with all the attractions labeled and numbered, which corresponds to separate audio files.

Imagine walking through Youngstown learning about the Man on the Monument pictured below, and how it is not the original statue put up after the Civil War.


Imagine learning about the Warner Theatre and the history of the Warner Brothers in Youngstown as you walk throught the DeYor Performing Arts Center.


Imagine tourists walking down Wick Avenue, learning about the hidden architectural gems in the all of the churchs built over 100 years ago.

hmmm...can this idea become a reality?

Youngstowners, go spend your NEO bucks!

First off, I regret that this is my first post of the month. Trying to blog from internet cafes and random people's apartments in eastern europe is a difficult situation to say the least. I have tons of blog ideas in my head right now, and I just need to get them onto the internet.

Getting back to business . . .

Bit by bit over the past two weeks, I have been completing my Voices & Choices Choicebook online. It works like this: over the past two years, the Voices & Choices program has been both identifying the problems of Northeast Ohio's development and collecting possible solutions to our challenges.


The Choicebook is the attempt to have individual residents give their opinions on what solutions should be targeted for implementation. If you are a regular reader of this blog, and have not completed this online survey, please consider doing so.

If you are regular reader from Rome or Paris or Washington DC or Youngstown (thanks for your continual support, by the way) or anywhere, and seek the opportunity to contribute to charting our future, click here to begin.

Each section takes about 8 minutes to compete, and there are six sections. After getting input from the public through these Choicebooks, the results will be aggregated and an agenda will be created.

Choosing neighborhood projects with technology

- Was at lunch with a friend yesterday and we were discussing a paper about how social pressures impact autonomous decision-making, which inhibit reaching the best solution.

- Read a community bulletin board two days ago and the posts were complaining about how people in the community don’t get involved in local efforts.

- Received an email today from the Youngstown Business Incubator and it stated the CEO of Turning Technologies won an award from Ernst & Young for “Entrepreneur of the Year” as that company produces the #1 audience response system in the world.

- Listened to a radio show this morning and some city residents were complaining about elected officials and how as citizens they have very little input in the matters of local government.

What do these have to do with each other?

Maybe we can come up with a method to increase residential participation, strengthen the power of neighborhood organizations, create neighborhood improvement projects, and disseminate local technology all in one swoop.

Well I have an experiment to propose:

Youngstown City Council will set aside $40,000 for this “grassroots neighborhood development” exercise. Each of the 10 residential zones in the city (as defined in the Youngstown 2010 plan) will be appropriated $2,000 to spend on neighborhood improvement projects – and the money can be spent on anything the neighborhood chooses, reached by consensus or some voting technique. A $10,000 bonus will be awarded by the city to the two neighborhoods with the best ideas, as chosen by the Community Development Agency or some committee.

Letters will be sent to every household describing (a) the structure of the program, (b) a number to call if they want to join a neighborhood blockwatch, and (c) a fill-in page where residents can anonymously list projects in their neighborhood that deserve funding and why. Their responses can be mailed or dropped off at some central location in their neighborhood. They will also be told of a future date where the neighborhood will come together to vote on how to spend the money.

At these various neighborhood meetings, a powerpoint presentation that contains all of the ideas provided by the neighborhood residents will be shown. Incorporating Turning Technologies’ audience response hardware, the people in attendance will use that technology to help them to autonomously choose how much they favor certain projects, and perhaps consensus can be reached on how to spend the $2,000.

This type of system may produce certain benefits:

(1) In addition to having ten initiatives to fund as chosen through the process, city officials will also now have a laundry list of suggestions as submitted by a hopefully diverse set of individuals.
(2) Give residents the feeling they have the direct ability to impact how money is spent and thus, a larger (and more content) voice in the process
(3) Introduce residents to the products of YBI companies and the novel approach of incorporating technology into the decision-making process.
(4) Increase the possibility of individuals joining a neighborhood group, and increase the ability for the neighborhood to improve its surroundings.

Well, this is just a brainstorm after absorbing some opinions today. Can something like this ever work, or have the desired effect of a stronger Youngstown?

we are all outlaws in the eyes of america

world cup fever baby!


Had the chance to make it out to Germany this week for one of the USA World Cup matches. Click here and here to see some pre-game video. After licking our wounds from the 3-0 thrashing by the Czech Republic (Boze moi!), our group of 23 buddies found some solace in schnitzel and hefeweizen. The match was in Gelsenkirchen, kinda like the Youngstown of Germany because of its industrial heritage.


Our group even represented a good mix of cultures: Ohio, Iowa, Idaho, California, New Mexico, Tennessee, Scotland, Northern Ireland, England, El Salvador, France, Germany – people would just come up to us, asking to have their picture taken with us. “Where are you from?” they asked, and we could just say, “well, from all over the place really”.

A poll on the Youngstown Vindicator’s website, the local newspaper of record, asked its readers how much they were interested the world cup. The results:

Yes, I am really interested: 9%
Umm, I am moderately interested: 7%
No, I could care less about the damn thing: 84%

In cities around the world, people are meeting in public places to watch these matches, even if their country is not represented. From shopping malls in Hong Kong to militia strongholds in Somalia to a campo in Patagonia (thanks CNN international for the story this morning)

I hope tonight we fare better. I have an Italian roommate, who has many Italian friends coming over to watch the match. If it is a rout, the living conditions may become unbearable.

But one last Youngstown kick: these matches will going on every week until mid-July. Is there any chance of putting a big projection screen somewhere downtown so the public can come together to watch these games?

Maybe the international community will come out in full force in addition to other futbol fans. Maybe coaches can bring their soccer teams, who will come with their families. Maybe high school teams can join as well. The final match is Sunday July 9th.