Accelerate Lansing

Snow Angels

JManzella — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 16:45:24 +0000

Calling all good neighbors! With a newly-enforced snow ordinance helping to keep our sidewalks safe, it’s important to remember that some folks simply can’t go outside and shovel snow. Whether because of age or ability, no neighbor of ours should have to pay a fine or unnecessarily risk hurting themselves. That’s where the Snow Angels come in – sign up below, and we’ll connect you with other good neighbors in your area who want to make sure nobody gets left behind next winter. We’ll get together as the weather cools to strategize about how to find the folks in need.

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Regional Broadband Action Team

JManzella — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 14:15:04 +0000

So Google picked Kansas City as the home of the world’s fastest broadband. Congrats to them! While it was nice to hope that a giant benevolent corporation would sink a billion dollars into our region for advanced and experimental telecommunications infrastructure, it’s time to get a little more realistic about how we give ourselves a competitive advantage in our information infrastructure.

To that end, the Greater Lansing Quick Response Team is re-convening, this time under a new moniker, to pick up where we left off. We’re pulling the group together again for an open-ended conversation about what’s next; there are plenty of possibilities – public-private partnerships, regional broadband plan, EDA grants, etc. – that are open to us IF we work together seamlessly as we did over a year ago. Below are the details, hope to see you there!

Regional Broadband Action Team

Tuesday, May 3; 1:00pm to 3:00pm

Greater Lansing Convention & Visitor’s Bureau Boardroom

500 E Michigan Avenue, 1st Floor

Lansing, MI 48912

Please RSVP to Joe@acceleratelansing.org

REO Town Arts Benefit

Joe Manzella — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 22:17:22 +0000

Accelerate Lansing is hosting a reception celebrating and supporting local art. We will hold a silent auction of art related to the Deluxe Inn Project to raise funds (50/50) for REACH and a fund set aside by the REO Town Commercial Association to commission public art in the REO Town area.

Wednesday, October 20th

5:00pm – 8:00pm

REO Art Alley

1133 S. Washington

Lansing, MI 48910

There will be drinks available, snacks for sure, and tunes thanks to DJ Rod P – a local DJ and violin virtuoso. If you would like to make a donation, checks can be made payable to “Accelerate Lansing” with “Art Fund” in the Memo. Donations to Accelerate Lansing are not tax-deductible, but direct donations to RTCA or REACH are, so contact Joe Manzella if you would like to arrange a direct donation.

PARK(ing) Day

JManzella — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 17:21:12 +0000

UPDATE:

PARK(ing) Day rocked! If you couldn’t make it out, Bryan Robb was kind enough to time-lapse it for you. Enjoy!

Park(ing) Day 2010: Lansing, Michigan from Bryan Robb on Vimeo.

When: Friday, September 17th

Where: Downtown Lansing

PARK(ing) Day is an annual, worldwide event that inspires city dwellers everywhere to transform metered parking spots into temporary parks for the public good. To do our part, Accelerate Lansing is partnering with Let’s Save Michigan to temprorarily transform three parking spots in Downtown Lansing into an urban oasis.

Join us Friday, September 17th, to celebrate our city’s public spaces, our downtown, and the fact that we could get one of the few remaining temperate Fridays off from work to chill in lawnchairs on astroturf all day.

If you catch us at the right time, you’ll see the MSU Break Dancing club, a violinist, a few lawn games, and any number of things you do outside.

It IS a national movement, but it’s also something fun to do in this town. To learn more, visit the National PARK(ing) day website.

Contact Rory Neuner for more info.

Public Space for Public Art

Joe Manzella — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 00:20:20 +0000

UPDATE:

Capital Gains did an amazing spot on this project! See some pics and read the story below:
Decoding the Deluxe Inn: Part 1
Decoding the Deluxe Inn: Part 2

Artist Dates: July 30th, July 31st, August 1st (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
Work Hours: Noon to 8pm, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

Public Exhibition Dates: August 1st – August 8th
Public Exhibition/Viewing Hours: Noon-Dusk Only

Supplies Provided: Pizza and Water
(Please bring your own paint, contact josephmanzella@gmail.com if this is an issue)

The Event:
Artists from Greater Lansing, as well as neighbors from Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Chicago, will be descending on ReoTown to temporarily transform the former Deluxe Inn site into a space and showcase for public art. They will be given three days, pizza, music, and a blank canvas to paint murals, stencils, and other forms of graffiti.

Once their art is complete, the site will become an open-air exhibition, and will remain so during daylight hours for the following week to showcase the talent and highlight the positive impact of public art.

Professional photographers and videographers will be consulted for pro bono coverage of the event.

Background:
Greater Lansing is home to incredibly talented urban artists. Properly done, a designated public space for graffiti and other urban art forms can decouple the art’s creation from its historic nature as a form of vandalism, while leveraging this talent to improve our community.

This project intends to work within the context of urban revitalization, cultural enrichment, and neighborhood empowerment to cultivate an appreciation for different art forms in a location-based manner. While the original intent was to host a fundraiser for the Land Bank, time constraints ruled this out early on in the planning phase. The focus, instead, will be to highlight the successful shuttering and demolition of this blighted property, showcase ReoTown as a place for artists, highlight the need for public spaces devoted to public art, and clearly demonstrate the ability for ‘street artists’ to color within the lines when lines are given to color within.

Artist Dates: July 30th, 31st, August 1st
Artists will be given space and time to transform this structure into a showcase for their art form – they will begin their work at about Noon on Friday and, during daylight hours only, continue painting or working until 8pm Sunday.

Exhibition Dates: August 1^st – August 8^th
The art will be on display and open to the public, volunteers will switch off throughout the day to answer questions and keep an eye on the art. Other artists will be invited to display their art as well in the courtyard, and MSU’s organic farming group is going to plant a temporary edible garden in the courtyard.

How you can help:

Volunteer for event days
Get paint
Think of and host an event to host during the exhibition week
Spread the word to everyone you know!

E-mail Joe with any questions: josephmanzella@gmail.com

Michigan Works Legislative Breakfast

JManzella — Wed, 26 May 2010 14:47:05 +0000

Thanks to Capital Area Michigan Works for bringing Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, Rep. Joan Bauer, Melissa Horste from Sen. Levin’s office and local legend Tony Baltimore from Rep. Rogers’ office together this morning! The open format allowed people from groups like GRC, Accelerate Lansing, Spotlight MI, The Arts Council, and a whole host of other pro-Lansing and Pro-Michigan groups to get the ear of our legislators and let them know our priorities.

Afterward, Tom Ruis of GRC and MSU Young Alumni Assoc, Amanda Vander Muelen of Spotlight Michigan hung back and talked with Joan Bauer about getting those groups in front of the entire Capitol Caucus (all of the legislators from Greater Lansing) to push our causes forward at the state level. Stay tuned for more on this!

Spotlight MI

If you haven’t heard of Spotlight Michigan (@SpotlightMI), it’s time to learn more! They are a group of MSU students and alumni charged with fostering a more entrepreneurial mindset and retaining young college grads in the State of Michigan. They have an excellent report that highlights exactly what is needed to keep grads in MI. Find it here.

Grand River Connection

While we’re doing shoutouts, check out Grand River Connection(GRC):

Potential Project:

Coordinate with GRC, Spotlight MI, MSU Alumni Association, YSG, and other groups to meet with the Capitol Caucus of the MI legislature to make sure they’re working for Michigan’s future! If you want to help out, contact Joe at manzellaj@leapinc.biz.

Update: Public Art Project

JManzella — Wed, 26 May 2010 13:57:37 +0000

Round 2! Many of you might remember when we started this pr0ject last summer – Luke Pline and Chris Van Wyck are moving full-steam ahead with collecting your pictures for the project and getting it rolled out as soon as possible. Luke will be setting up photo shoots in the next few days and Chris, one of the creative geniuses Greater Lansing is happy to have, is going to handle the finished product.

Luke is looking to set up a ‘meeting’ at the Tin Can in the next week to go over final logistics, I’ll post a date/time as soon as we get something hammered out.

4/28/10 – Lansing State Journal: Knapp’s redevelopment key to area sustainability

Tremaine — Mon, 03 May 2010 13:24:48 +0000

Phillips: Knapp’s redevelopment key to area sustainability

Tremaine Phillips, April 28, 2010

Support for the re-development of the historic Knapp’s building is a great way for Greater Lansing residents to honor the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. Knapp’s rejuvenation will provide a significant economic and aesthetic boost for Greater Lansing and will put more momentum behind our community’s sustainability efforts.

The expected LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver rating will add to Greater Lansing’s growing portfolio of LEED buildings. The Knapp’s renaissance will also enhance the walkability of our community, which was stressed at the Michigan Land Use and Prosperity Summit as an increasingly important community trait in the eyes of millennials and baby boomers alike.

Furthermore, Knapp’s location – a stone’s throw from the CATA Transportation Center – will strengthen our community’s case for mass transit. The transformation of this abandoned icon into a beacon for urban living, office and retail parallels an undeniable national trend – sprawling exurban development is out and sustainable urban redevelopment is in.

I look forward to supporting the Knapp’s project and others that help Greater Lansing to become a more sustainable and livable community.

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20100428/OPINION02/4280308/1087/OPINION02

4/12/10 – Lansing State Journal: Google or no, I love Lansing

Tremaine — Mon, 03 May 2010 13:24:44 +0000

Manzella: Google or no, I love Lansing

Effort to draw fiber network is cause for pride

Joe Manzella – April 12, 2010

A group of volunteers spent way too much time together over the past few weeks working on the Google Fiber-to-Home Initiative, and whether Google chooses Greater Lansing as the test site for ultra-high speed fiber or not, we need to be proud of our effort. The deluge of support from residents, organizations, and municipalities throughout the region is a testament to what we as a region are capable of.

This is how regionalism works – no attempts to scuttle the boat for a seat at the helm. Was it messy? Yes. Could things have gone differently? Probably. Did we do what was needed to get the job done? Without a doubt.

This past month was much bigger than anything Google could have hoped to put together. In spite of the short time frame and a few naysayers, our leaders and our neighbors banded together with one loud voice to tell anyone who would listen that we are proud of our home town, that we are done with being modest, that we live in a place where innovators thrive, where hard work is rewarded by more than heartache, where people work together and achieve great things.

That is something far more valuable than what Google could give us, and it is something we gave to ourselves.

This exercise was another chance for our region to achieve, and any such effort is worth a letter of praise. Greater Lansing isn’t just a name – it is a mentality. It is time we stop comparing ourselves to other cities and start being the city others compare themselves to. We can do it if we work together, let’s make it happen.

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20100412/OPINION02/4120309/Manzella-Google-or-no-I-love-Lansing

5/10/10 – The Michigan Daily: In bid for Google Fiber, Ann Arbor faces competition from cities in home state

Tremaine — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 05:32:24 +0000

In bid for Google Fiber, Ann Arbor faces competition from cities in home state

BY: SARA BOBOLTZ
DAILY STAFF REPORTER
PUBLISHED APRIL 11th, 2010

Residents of Ann Arbor have already shown their support for Google Fiber via Facebook, Twitter and various publicity stunts — including a three-minute Diag “flash mob” — before the March 26 nomination deadline.

But Ann Arbor faces stiff competition from other communities throughout Michigan and the country that have also demonstrated interest in the one gigabit-per-second Internet connection, which Google claimed on its blog will be 100 times faster than the average connection speed available in the United States.

One of the most notable cities vying for Google’s attention is Topeka, Kan., which re-named itself Google for the month of March. The company responded by changing its name to Topeka for a day as an April Fool’s joke.

The 600 communities that are vying to be Google Fiber trial locations include the Michigan cities of Grand Rapids, Lansing, Birmingham, Detroit, Royal Oak and Kalamazoo. Google stated on its blog that it wishes to implement a “fiber-to-the-home” connection in “a small number of trial locations” throughout the country.

“We plan to offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people,” the blog states.

According to a statement on the Office of the Governor’s website, Jennifer Granholm met with Google officials in California on March 10 to promote Michigan cities as test sites.

“Google Fiber is a perfect fit here, as no state can match the exploding new technology investment in Michigan in recent years,” Granholm said in the statement.

Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo launched websites — Goog616.com and Kalamazoogle.com, respectively — to garner support for bringing Google Fiber to the cities. The websites also provide visitors links to nominate the communities for Google Fiber.

On March 19, hundreds of Grand Rapids residents formed a “flash mob” in the city’s iconic Calder Plaza. The city’s Google Fiber Facebook fan page was also the largest among cities across the country, with over 38,000 members.

In addition to organizing public displays of support, Grand Rapids volunteers poured through Google’s blog, looking for criteria the company would use in determining a test site, according to Peter Brand, a Grand Rapids business owner involved with Goog616.com.

“There were a few cities that tried to do gimmicky things to try to catch (Google’s) attention,” he said. “But we needed to show them that there was going to be no red tape they were going to have to cut through once they were here.”

Volunteers also collected video endorsements from various city government and economic leaders in Grand Rapids and submitted them to Google, Brand said.

Tremaine Phillips, member of the economic development organization Accelerate Lansing, said the capitol and surrounding municipalities submitted an application together.

In order to get the community involved in the initiative, Phillips said a town hall meeting took place to discuss the network. A Facebook fan page was also established that has attracted more than 4,000 members.

Added to Lansing’s credentials is the fact that Google co-founder Larry Page attended East Lansing High School.

http://www.michigandaily.com/content/other-michigan-communities-vie-googles-attention-secure-fiber-network