The Detroit Windsor International Film Festival is kicking off tomorrow afternoon with some excellent films being shown in eight separate venues including a feature film debut at the DIA and continuing on through the weekend on both sides of the river.  Take a look at Tom Hendrickson’s video highlights or go directly to the festival website to purchase tickets and attend.  Support the successful and rapidly growing film industry in Michigan and have fun while you do it!  Where is the down side here?  Thanks ModelD!

We’re not gonna take it!  No!  We’re not gonna take it! We’re not gonna take it, anymore!!!  For you Beastie Boy fans old enough, those words may have been your adolescent right of passage, but we are re-adapting them for the ‘D’!  Let’s all join hands, sing Kum-bye-ya and stop the negative press on Detroit!  Naw, forget that!  Just click and digg this article to raise the positive awareness on Detroit!  Thanks to 313rd for getting the movement going!  Go HERE to see the top ten list of Detroit goodness, and add more!

We are in the process of launching a great new interactive site called the Detroiter Online.  The site is in beta test now, and is not even available at it’s planned URL, detroiteronline.com, but that hasn’t stopped some impressive content from being added by the site’s early adopters.  The headline above is from a post by Tim Smith that sums up the feelings of many in the existing creative community these days.  It is really nice that some of the communities leadership are willing to put up some significant funding to attract new creative talent to the Metro Detroit area, but it is confusing that they would need to spend money on research to figure out how.  In essence, Tim makes the point that the focus should start first with support of the incredible amount of creative talent that already exists in the region before worrying about how to bring more this way.  And to do that, he recommends hiring local.  Here is his post - (more…)

Coming soon! DetroitMakeItHere.com: a user-centric information and
networking hub for creatives in Southeast Michigan.

The Web site, which will launch this spring, is powered by Crain’s
Detroit Business and an element of Detroit Renaissance Inc.’s $80
million Road to Renaissance economic revitalization plan. Detroit
Renaissance is the founding sponsor of the site.

The site will identify the region’s creative assets and map them,
present news and information about and important to the creative
economy, provide a forum for social networking and a space for
user‑generated content. It will also feature a calendar for creative
business events, as well as career and business related resources for
creative professionals.

This Web site will be a unique resource for the region, providing
detailed content for creative users that does not currently exist. Rest
assured the creative community will be fully immersed in the development
of the site. In fact, there is a group of nearly 40 local creatives who
are serving on the site’s advisory committee.

Keep visiting the CreateDetroit site for the launch date!!

There has been a lot of hype in the local Detroit media about hosting this Second Creative Cities Summit October 13-15th since Governor Granholm announced it and blogged about it February 15th. No location for the event has yet been identified. Neither the link in the MiLifeMiTimes article nor the Cool Cities page of MSHDA seem to provide any detail. MiLifeMiTimes goes on to say the first Summit was held in St. Petersburg Fl. in 2004, which is also listed in the Freep article released in the same media salvo on this issue. Digging in a bit further, I find that an organization called UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) hosted what they thought was the first one in Philadelphia last year, partnering with a local organization called Innovation Philadelphia. So I am confused - when was the first summit? From MiLifeMiTimes, the Michigan State Housing Development Authority’s (MSHDA) Cool Cities Team is a key organizer of the event. Freep also mentions Creative Cities Productions, which doesn’t seem to exist, at least to Google. Peter Kageyama, who is mentioned in conjunction with Creative Cities Productions is very active in Creative Class activities, more of which you can read about here. I am hoping to get some people engaged in this worthy effort, so I hope more information on this event is provided soon!

Over 40 original documentary films, many created by local talent will be on display starting Wednesday, October 17th at three different venues: The Detroit Film Center, the DIA, and Cranbrook. Besides the films being shown each evening, there is also an afterparty scheduled each night at a different location. A pass to the entire 5 day event will cost you $45, where you can attend any single evening for $7.50. The excessively young (students) and old (seniors) get a daily break - 5 bucks. You can purchase ticks direct from the Film Center, online via PayPal, or at the gate.  More info here.  If you would like to volunteer, contact nicole@detroitfilm.org.

In case you haven’t gotten there yet and you are into the fashion and design scene in Detroit, the last few days of DFW are rapidly drawing to a close.

Go to the St. Regis Hotel, 3071 W. Grand Blvd. @ Woodward in Detroit (next to the Fisher Theater)

Starting at 7:30 Friday,

Camilo, Gretta Wallace, Jill Robertson, Samaher Mohammad - Zaynini Fashion Intl.

Starting at 7:30 Saturday,

La’Tosha Williams-Qahhaar - La’Monee’ Couture
Lasijas Miller - Nethade by Lasijas
Cynthia Lamaide - LaMaide Designs Inc.
Fotoula Lambros / Emily Thornhill - Femilia
Beulah Cooley - The “Beulah Cooley Collection”

More detail and tickets on the DFW site.

Come to the DYC at 8am tomorrow to hear Smart Cities Radio host and CEO’s for Cities President Carol Coletta discussing what it takes to make a city successful and how Detroit measures up. Register here, get more info here, and get directions here. Joining Carol will be Detroit’s own Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future.

From 9 until 11:30am at The Parade Company, Josh Linkner, CEO of ePrize, will discuss how to create an entrepreneurial and innovative culture in the ‘D’. Best part - it’s FREE!! Click HERE to register, HERE for more info, or contact Jon Kreger .

Sponsored by

Don’t miss the opening event for Detroit’s newest young professional organization - Fusion! Come to Pulse Thursday, March 29th from 5:30 to 8:00pm to celebrate the launch of Fusion and mingle with the ‘D’s most influential young professionals. RSVP: Click here to RSVP
Location: Show map
Pulse Detroit
156 Monroe St
Detroit, MI 48226

Phone: 313-596-0488
Email: fusion@detroitchamber.com
There will be complementary food and drink specials
$5 Martinis
$3 Drafts