"Intelligent Community of the Year" week has begun. We were pleased that Mayor Bloomberg sent us a note last week saluting our work and welcoming the Top Seven and the other invited guests to town. It will be read by his Managing Director for the Division of International Business, Terry Jackson on Thursday morning to open the event.
We are pleased that the Mayor, who truly "gets technology," recognizes the quality of the community leaders who will be here. I am also pleased that Councilwoman Gale Brewer, who wins by over 80% of the vote each time she runs for the New York City Council, will for the fifth year welcome the Top Seven when they get to their reception in the Time Warner Center on Thursday night. She is a passionate advocate of broadband in New York.
So many impressions of the Top Seven, current and past, float into my mind. One question we were asking last week was which of the seven would send the most people to the stage at Steiner Studios after they are named. I believe the record is held by Mitaka, Japan (2005), which sent at least 10 or 11 of their delegation up to receive the award. It was fitting and symbolic, since the added theme that year was "collaboration," and the city's Mayor, Keiko Kiyohara governed through a collaborative process of committees scattered throughout the community. There was certainly no one in the delegation who put their ego first in New York. It is a characteristic that is again and again surfacing when we look at places that are successful.
Looking at the stage from the photo of that event, I realize how we have gone more "Hollywood," from the past few years, thanks to our added support but mainly through the creation and work of our Summit Manager, Linda Kahn. Now we are at a film studio with far more "operatic" effects! We will also be filled to capacity and are getting concerned that we may not have enough shuttle buses to get people to the studios, which are located at the Brooklyn Navy Yards.
I am looking forward to the week and seeing if we can connect some dots between the investment communities such as those in New Brunswick and Taoyuan County have made and the current economic crisis. While I try not to enter with an preconceived notions, I do want to find out if the communities that continue to invest in infrastructure remain confident that they are creating communities that will not only "hang on," but begin to emerge prevalent after the financial winds blow through. I also suspect that the wave that hit the USA, has not so dramatically impacted Taiwan, the Maritimes of Eastern Canada and the other parts of the world from which our communities will be coming.
To be honest, I am very pumped about this year's dialogue and events. I am preparing for my conversations with the Top Seven and New Brunswick's Premier and cannot help thinking about the scene on that stage Friday afternoon. How many? Who? What will the reaction be?
We are pleased that the Mayor, who truly "gets technology," recognizes the quality of the community leaders who will be here. I am also pleased that Councilwoman Gale Brewer, who wins by over 80% of the vote each time she runs for the New York City Council, will for the fifth year welcome the Top Seven when they get to their reception in the Time Warner Center on Thursday night. She is a passionate advocate of broadband in New York.
So many impressions of the Top Seven, current and past, float into my mind. One question we were asking last week was which of the seven would send the most people to the stage at Steiner Studios after they are named. I believe the record is held by Mitaka, Japan (2005), which sent at least 10 or 11 of their delegation up to receive the award. It was fitting and symbolic, since the added theme that year was "collaboration," and the city's Mayor, Keiko Kiyohara governed through a collaborative process of committees scattered throughout the community. There was certainly no one in the delegation who put their ego first in New York. It is a characteristic that is again and again surfacing when we look at places that are successful.Looking at the stage from the photo of that event, I realize how we have gone more "Hollywood," from the past few years, thanks to our added support but mainly through the creation and work of our Summit Manager, Linda Kahn. Now we are at a film studio with far more "operatic" effects! We will also be filled to capacity and are getting concerned that we may not have enough shuttle buses to get people to the studios, which are located at the Brooklyn Navy Yards.
I am looking forward to the week and seeing if we can connect some dots between the investment communities such as those in New Brunswick and Taoyuan County have made and the current economic crisis. While I try not to enter with an preconceived notions, I do want to find out if the communities that continue to invest in infrastructure remain confident that they are creating communities that will not only "hang on," but begin to emerge prevalent after the financial winds blow through. I also suspect that the wave that hit the USA, has not so dramatically impacted Taiwan, the Maritimes of Eastern Canada and the other parts of the world from which our communities will be coming.
To be honest, I am very pumped about this year's dialogue and events. I am preparing for my conversations with the Top Seven and New Brunswick's Premier and cannot help thinking about the scene on that stage Friday afternoon. How many? Who? What will the reaction be?
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