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Archive for the 'Issues & Topics' Category
At any given stage in an election season, political junkies, policy wonks, strategists, candidates, campaigners and the media know that the politics of voting blocs (evangelists, African-Americans, Hispanics, male/female, upper-class/lower-class, age groups, urban/rural, etc.) must be factored into any campaign. At least if you have any real interest in winning. And great campaign success, like terrific campaign failure, can affect political strategies for decades to come.
Well, hold on to your seats. Because we’re officially somebody. Whether you approve of using the “class” term or not, for the first time in history the “creative class” has been qualified (and quantified) as a voting force. Not only registering on the radars of present-day politicians but set to matter for elections to come. Hot dog!
Going back to the early 80’s, Reagan was the first Republican candidate to truly appeal to the evangelists, thus making them a voting force to be reckoned with, at the heart of the Republican base. And (according to the NY Times), their spiritually-influenced vote has changed campaigns and election outcomes ever since. It appears that, 28 years later, Senator Barack Obama has built the strong base of support of a new bloc. Yes, the creative class.
Acclaimed author and authority on creative cities, Charles Landry, is heading to Savannah for a lecture tomorrow, July 8th at 7:00 pm at the Charles H. Morris Center. Landry comes to school us in the ways of creative city-building.
Stealing Jim Morekis’s opener to this week’s Connect Savannah cover story, simply put:
Charles Landry is one of the coolest people you probably have never heard of.
Best known for his books The Creative City: A Toolkit for Urban Innovators and, more recently, The Art of City Making, Landry’s word works are considered THE guides to building a creative community. For those of you who know Richard Florida, the creative (albeit controversial) guru and author of The Rise of the Creative Class and Who’s Your City?, you’ll get a kick out of ole’ Charlie… (If Florida is the guy who described what a “creative” city/economy is and why you might want one, Charles is the guy who wrote the book on how you actually build one and what they look like around the world).
A taste of his acclaim:
You heard it here, folks. As of Monday I’m a 26 year old woman (my, how time flies.) But I’m not the only one having a good time growing up. Fitz (31, yikes) and Leigh (the big Three-OH), fellow Geminis, are also celebrating birthdays this week. It’s a bonafide birthday trifecta with TCCa-ers boasting May 26th and 28th birthdays.
If you feel like buying us a birthday beer (or chocolate), celebrating the short work week or just coming out to meet cool, creative professionals, join our cSpot fete. That’s right: cSpot and birthday suits (kidding). This month we’re at Lulu’s Chocolate Bar on MLK, right down from Venus de Milo. Mmmm, chocolate covered creatives. Sounds like a birthday bash to me! See you there…
who: The cSpot
what: Monthly cocktail shenanigans
when: Tonight! (Wednesday, May 28th) from 5:30-7:30pm
where: Lulu’s Chocolate Bar (map)
details: 42 MLK Jr Blvd
Popularity: 25% [?]
Now normally, I usually glaze over all the Savannah Morning News “headlines” that come through my RSS reader. This is mostly because SMN only includes a text-message-esque first sentence of their articles in the feeds they publish. I assume this is for advertising purposes, but it still kinda sucks, as I’m not really a fan of summary-only feeds that make me leave the comfy confines of all-encompassing Google Reader.
But, alas, I digress.
The Puente de la Mujer in Buenos Aires
This time however, I happened to stumble upon a particularly tantalizing headline (and accompanying first sentence) from one of my favorite SMN columnists, Bill Dawers. It read something like this:
Thesis Project Imagines a footbridge to Hutchinson
I’ll confess that my eyes rolled a little when Andreas Mayer began to tell me about his thesis project.
Text-message sized teaser aside, I must admit my interest was peaked. Footbridge to Hutchinson? Yes please.
On May 21st at the SEDA/TCCa offices at high-noon, we will be facilitating a blogging panel made up of the area’s preeminent bloggers (read: YOU), on behalf of one of our most favorite-ist new young companies, Balaya.
If that weren’t enough, we’ll even buy you lunch and give you a comfy chair to sit in.
Balaya. Together. Wherever.
Hopefully, many of have heard of a great new company we’ve helped out named Balaya. You may have even attended their announcement we hosted last November where we celebrated the news that their corporate headquarters would be in Savannah. (Hooray!)
Balaya provides advanced web applications that help members of any group communicate and collaborate more effectively from desktops and mobile devices. What’s even cooler is that SmackDab Studios (another company we’ve given relocation love to) is developing their flagship product. Gotta love that domino effect.
Tick-it™, it’s like email but sucks less
This is a little old in the news cycle, but I still thought it worthy of conversation: Apparently, a new economic study is claiming money does indeed contribute to personal happiness.
I can hear your thoughts: “Duh.”
Personally, I know if I had a little more disposable income (ahem, Fitz, a raise?) I’d sleep easier at night. But can an income level really affect true life satisfaction? Two University of Pennsylvania economists think it can.
Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers presented their findings to the Brookings Institute several weeks ago. Their theory, while generally accepted by everybody and their mother, proved controversial among economists as it rebuts a 34 year old theory positing just the opposite. The Easterlin paradox, named for economist Richard Easterlin, was published in 1974 and has been widely accepted since as a “key concept in happiness economics.”
Easterlin’s findings indicate that, contrary to expectation, happiness at a national level does not increase with wealth once basic needs are fulfilled (think Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs). Further, he theorizes that relative income - how much you earn compared to a counterpart - matters more than one’s absolute income. Admit it, you’re smirking because you make more than your cubiclemate.
In honor of Earth Day 2008, the newly-formed Savannah Bicycle Campaign (SBC) is sponsoring the Savannah Wheelie Earth Day Ride. It will depart from Earth Day festivity-hub, Forsyth Park, at 3 p.m, on Saturday, April 19.
And…drumroll please…
Mayor Otis Johnson and County Commission Chairman Pete Liakakis are leading the ride! That alone will have me cheering front and center (especially should they sport padded bike shorts). What can I say, I’m a sucker for politicians in spandex.
The SBC was unveiled by representatives from the cycling community on Monday in Johnson Square. The group will work through the political, public policy and citizen advocacy processes to develop more and better bicycle facilities in Savannah, such as improved bike lanes, racks, and signage, and to develop a public campaign to educate bicyclists and drivers about safe practices on and off the roadways (thanks to John Bennett with SustainableSavannah.com for sharing).
I should start off by saying that I’m not a “cyclist.” I don’t even have a bike (anymore.) And, for that matter, the last bike I had was a blue Schwinn that my best friend and I both got for Christmas in 1990.
So, I guess what I’m saying is that I’m no expert. Despite all that, I’m still fired up. I’m speaking of course about the Tour de Georgia. You know, the event that is North America’s premier professional cycling event (Tour de Georgia is ranked as a Hors Classe (2.HC) event by the UCI, which is cycling’s international governing body, making it North America’s highest rated professional cycling stage race along with the Tour of California) with over 600 miles of racing, 800,000 visiting spectators and a direct economic impact of over $148 million over the last five years? THAT Tour de Georgia?
Surely you know all about it? Yea, me neither.
What’s got me all worked up? Tourists. Yea, you heard me…Tourists. Lots of ‘em.
Last week I had the pleasure of being the last person in this office to visit the A.W.O.L. offices downtown on Drayton Street. I know, lame…what took me so long? I have no idea, but I’m glad I finally stopped procrastinating and dropped off our “donation” of two (optionally functional) LaCie hardrives with Tony. As usual with these guys, my expectations were blown.
Never heard of AWOL? Well, either you’ve been living under a rock, or aren’t very cool. Sorry, but its true.
AWOL (All Walks of Life) is one of the coolest non-profits in town and has stirred themselves up a bevvy of followers, a killer program and a good deal of grant money in the last few years. Their mission is pretty simple: “to promote and provide self-awareness through the use of poetry, hip-hop and life.” Basically, they provide young people and at-risk youth with safe afternoon and night-time youth programs. Programs that, though spoken word (poetry) and hip-hop, encourage education, respect, creativity and most of all, nonviolence.
Posted by Fitz Haile on February 27, 2008 at 06:44 PM
Well, not reaaally. I’m sort of being dramatic…imagine that. But, I did happen to get an email from Hannah’s little sister this week that made me think.
It so happens that earlier this year, the mini-Meurer decided to go out on her own
as a graphic designer…which, as I’m sure you know we think is just peachy. For one thing she’s a really good one and for another it’s yet another new creative business in Savannah. Go Sarah! Following in the big sis’s footsteps…we love it!
Anyway, Sarah sent out an email promoting a new St. Patty’s Day t-shirt she’ll be selling…it’s quite spiffy looking. So much in fact, I thought I’d give her a little crap about it because after all, that’s what you do to little sisters…even if they’re not yours.
At any rate, when I read the back I thought to myself: “Is Savannah the poster child for debauchery?” I’ll grant you, this is a big stretch…but we get paid to think about how Savannah looks to outsiders, so we’re always sensitive to this kind of thing. But I mean, if you think about it, we do have a pretty generous stance on alcohol and nicotine consumption.
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