Managing the creative class or the modern day working class "Da Vincis"

Business and innovation strategist Idris Mootee offers insights on managing the creative class.

China's New Creative Class

An interesting piece from the June issue of Fast Company about the projected rise of China's creative industries, challenging the idea that the Chinese will be content to “stamp out a widget, or knock off a DVD” while the West (spearheaded of course by Cool Britannia) leads the world in creativity.

China is not content to serve as factory to the globe. Call it economic foresight, or cultural pride, but despite the stratospheric growth of its economy–10.7% last year–China knows that cheap labor alone can’t sustain the boom. While a flurry of activity (and, yes, a government five-year plan) has stressed scientific and technological innovation, look a little closer and you’ll see that creativity in art and industry–in design, fashion, media, and the like–is fast becoming a driving national mission.

The article has plenty of awful puns about ‘cultural revolutions’ but also some fascinating examples of Chinese creatives doing amazing work in architecture, fashion, design, music etc. Apart from the intrinsic interest of the subject, it’s a good antidote against the lazy assumption that the West will enjoy an indefinite ‘creative advantage’ over the BRIC nations (not to mention the rest of the world).

Southern US cities lure artists to boost economy

In Raleigh, N.C., where the ballet used to practice in a mall, the arts are blossoming.

"The fact is, cities are realizing you don't get a lot of bang for your buck for large investments in conference centers." In contrast, he says, promoting arts is a bargain.

Public art installations, dance curricula in low-income city schools, and public investments in performance space have dramatically changed the fortunes of Greenville, S.C., which has doubled its workforce in the last 10 years.

The emergence of authenticity as the new business imperative

Could not LeBron James become the John D. Rockefeller of the Experience Economy?

Fascinating.

Creativity Makes an Urban Area Click

THE WARHOL ECONOMY: HOW FASHION, ART, AND MUSIC DRIVE NEW YORK CITY. Princeton University Press. 258 pages. $27.95)

She recited annoyances fairly similar to grumblings sometimes heard from Toledo’s own recent college graduates: The restaurants close too early. Not enough street-level culture. Officials seem unmindful to the interests of the city’s young people.

“Future generations want open communities and vibrant neighborhoods, not just downtown malls and new sports facilities,” she wrote, evoking the city planning philosophy of her admired Jane Jacobs as well as Richard Florida, her mentor and former professor whose Rise of the Creative Class became the decade’s influential public policy and planning manifesto.

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Breaking News: from Americans for the Arts

Last night, the U.S. House gave preliminary approval to an "Omnibus" appropriations bill for FY 2008 providing funding for about $474 billion in domestic spending programs. The Senate began considering this legislation today.

With the President's expected signature later this week, the bill will provide about $145 million for the National Endowment for the Arts - a $20 million increase over last year's funding. Arts education and public broadcasting programs are slated to receive modest increases over last year's levels and the federal museum office will see a slight decrease in funding.

Through this legislation, the National Endowment for the Arts is expected to receive a 16% increase - the largest given to the agency in the past 24 years.

The effort to achieve this funding increase has been built over the course of several years. Advocates like yourself have been attending the annual Arts Advocacy Day or actively contacting their Members of Congress calling on them to restore the NEA to the strength it once had in the
mid-‘90's.

Our cause on Capitol Hill, led by Congressional Arts Caucus co-chairs Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Chris Shays (R-CT), was championed earlier this year by House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Norm Dicks (D-WA) as he held, on Arts Advocacy Day, the first hearing on arts funding in twelve years. Americans for the Arts was called on by Chairman Dicks to organize the hearing and present a panel of witnesses that included Americans for the Arts President and CEO Robert Lynch, jazz musician Wynton Marsalis and a number of other arts leaders. The hearing focused on the role of creativity and innovation in the arts and highlighted research outlining the tremendous impact that federal investment in the arts can have. In June, Congresswoman Slaughter led the U.S. House to reject three amendments specifically designed to cut funding for the NEA, and instead approve a giant leap forward in NEA funding. During the floor consideration, Americans for the Arts advocates from 50 states sent over 26,000 messages to their Members calling on them to support an increase for the NEA!

Through negotiations with the Senate and the White House, the $145 million will provide for more direct grants to arts organizations around the country and increase the reach of the agency's national initiatives.

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities is set to receive $145 million, an increase of about $4 million.

Arts Education Funding for arts education at the U.S. Department of Education will receive a slight increase to about $38 million, from $35.3 million. The bulk of this increase is intended to provide funding for administering the first national survey since 1999 on the status and condition of arts education - a key element of our advocacy agenda!

Public Broadcasting The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the federal agency that provides support to our national public broadcasting network saw their annual budget increased from $400 million to $420 million for FY 2010. CPB is typically provided funding in advance due to the long range planning they must do.

Museum Programs The Office of Museum Services within the Institute for Museum & Library Services (IMLS) is slated to receive about $31.2 million, which is about a $556,000 decrease from what it received in FY 2007 funding.

What's Next: Passage of the Omnibus legislation will bring to an end the FY 2008 appropriations cycle. Due to the numerous veto threats made on most of the 13 appropriations bills, it took longer than expected for Congress to finish their work. At the end of this week, the House and Senate will recess until mid-January. The President is scheduled to give the State of the Union on January 28, 2008 and the FY 2009 budget will be announced in early February.

Americans for the Arts will provide full details on the FY09 budget when released.

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How To Turn Your Public Library Into Amazon.com

Check out this great article at PsychoTactics™

Imagine someone has just recommended a book that you simply must read. What is your natural reaction? You probably head down to the bookstore down the road. Or go to Amazon.com and order your book, don't you?

Well, maybe you can go online to your public library, and make the order.

You'll be surprised at how happy a librarian would be, to take that order! MORE

The Need for Big Ideas In Fort Collins' Arts & Culture

Beet Street's vision is inspired by the model of the Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York. When we say "inspired" we refer to aspects of that concept that will work well in our market and play well with the established arts and culture of in the community.

That said, we continue to find inspiration for future programming and areas of focus from all over the world. Innovation in the arts and culture inspire us to propel this vision for Fort Collins beyond our stated intent and find opportunities to engage and excite participants with the goal of keeping visitors coming back to Old Town for future generations.

Check out Innovation Odyssey: Sustaining the Tradition of Innovation in Boston's Arts & Culture The mix of arts & culture, research and development, technology, health care, etc. is not unlike the mix of opportunities found here. In many ways, I see more risk-taking, visionary and collaborative ventures than found in many of our country's largest cities. The only thing that sets us apart is scale.

What are your big ideas for arts and culture in Fort Collins?

Bring your children to Old Town to bask in the arts

New Year's Eve- December 31st, 2007 - Come join in the fun downtown for the 12th annual First Night Fort Collins 2008! Enjoy the wonderful and diverse entertainment presented at this non-alcoholic New Year's Eve celebration. First Night Fort Collins 2008 promises new performing acts, storytelling, history, interactive craft projects, old favorites, street performers, international dancing and much more. More First Night info

Included in the cost of your First Night admission, Beet Street is pleased to present a special performance of The Bella Luna Cirque in the Lincoln Center Performance Hall located at 417 West Magnolia Street

Bella Luna Cirque features cirque-style jugglers, dancers, aerialists, clowns, acrobats, gymnasts, living statues, magicians, balloon twisters, mimes, stilts walkers, comedians, body artists.

While our scale is different, these considerations should be top-of-mind

I love that housing continues to pop up all over Old Town. It adds to the vibrancy of our central business district and brings a wonderful urban feel to downtown. I hope, as more development projects come to Old Town, that we never lose the "sense of family" you can find in the nooks and crannies of the district that welcome children to play and explore with their parents. Those experiences will cultivate a new generation of downtown residents who will be important to the city's future.

CEOs for Cities released their report on City Kids today. I think the report offers some interesting insights:

For 50 years, having that first child usually meant heading out of the city in search of a more “family-friendly” lifestyle. But now that young adults are 33 percent more likely than other Americans to live in close-in neighborhoods, progressive urban leaders are asking if they can break the traditional pattern of family migration to the suburbs.

To get answers, we turned to the Institute of Design. We asked teams of designers there to help us develop a deep understanding of the market and how they might be moved to alter their behavior.

Their approach was to study pioneering urban parents. Rather than ask people what they might do in hypothetical situations, they studied what people choosing to raise their children in cities are actually doing. They also interviewed urban and suburban “discontents” -- parents not completely satisfied with their current situations.

What they found is that the top concerns of parents about city living are safety, space and schools. But they found that satisfied urban parents had ways to address each of these concerns. The very nature of the city alleviated their safety concerns with its density and “eyes on the street.” They supplemented their lack of private space by using the city’s public spaces, such as parks and sidewalks. And they augmented their children’s education with the city’s diversity and cultural and other assets.

For pioneering city parents — and we found many of them — cities are the perfect place to raise children.

City Kids

8 important consumer trends for 2008

No doubt 2008 will be as trend-heavy; to get you going, here are eight trends to watch and capitalize on in the new year. Oh, and may we be among the first to wish you an innovative, prosperous, trendy 2008!

Want to get your hands on all the trends that are on our radar for 2008? Then please check out our 2008 Trend Report

How are local arts marketers in Fort Collins factoring in the emerging behaviors of audiences?

Sundance 2008

Sundance Institute

Sundance Film Festival 2008 Competition Films Announced

Sundance 2008 Photo Preview: Part 1

Sundance 2008 Photo Preview: Part 2

Sundance Film Festival 2008 Out of Competition Films Announced

Today's NYT Biblio File considers Andy Warhol

WARHOL’S FAME WILL OUTLIVE THE PLANET. BY HOLLY BRUBACH

Have we suspected this all along?

A recent Wall Street Journal op-ed presents an interesting viewpoint contrary to the recent belief that Creative Class/Cities will be the final word in economic vitality.

The Rise of Family-Friendly Cities It's lifestyle, not
lattés, that our most productive workers want. http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010911

"Such a shift in emphasis could mark a new beginning for many long-neglected urban neighborhoods across the country. It's time to recognize that today, as has been the case for millennia, families provide the most reliable foundation for successful economies."

Does Fort Collins have what it takes to be a top 100 arts town?

We think so.

And, at a very early breakfast meeting featuring John Villani, the author of The 100 Best Arts Towns in America, 35 citizens of Fort Collins who are devoted to arts and culture think so, too.

Villani told the group that he believes that "a University town like Fort Collins - with an impressive theater community and diversity in visual and performing arts has real potential to make a national impact."

Pretty heady stuff. And, not out of reach.

And now, in the afterglow of a successful launch and flipping the switch on our website and some preliminary communications tools, we recognize that our real work begins today. We remain grateful to the many people in our community who want to join us in this journey.

Have any big ideas with the potential to differentiate Fort Collins nationally?

Thank you Fort Collins!

What a great evening. Great music, food and friends - and let's not mention the perfect weather.

So many people to thank for such a great show of support. We hope you are looking forward to more Beet Street programming.

So tell us the truth - What did you enjoy? And, in your opinion, what didn't work?

We wouldn't ask if we didn't want to know!