I will stay if ... Cleveland Edition!

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 http://www.facebook.com/l/b40d4;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://www.facebook.com/l/b40d4;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://www.facebook.com/l/b40d4;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://www.facebook.com/l/b40d4;gluespace.org. To learn more about what’s behind IWSI, please visit http://www.facebook.com/l/b40d4;iwillstayif.org. For donor, organization and event information please visit our website http://www.facebook.com/l/b40d4;iwsicleveland.blogspot.com or contact iwsicleveland@gmail.com.