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July 18: Sundown in St. Elmo Friday, July 17, 2009

The St. Elmo Merchants Association presents the second Sundown In St. Elmo, a Saturday evening monthly event series that coincides with the popular World Music Summer program at the Incline Railway Lower Station. The Sundown In St Elmo series features working artist receptions, poetry readings, live music and giveaways and promotions from participating merchants.

The next Sundown in St. Elmo event will kick off Saturday, July 18th at 6pm. Participating businesses include Umbra Essence Candles and Gifts, Pasha Coffee and Tea, Body Wisdom Therapeutic Massage, Mojo Burrito, Blacksmiths Bistro and Collective Clothing. Each of the businesses will offer in-store specials as well as a variety of activities between 6pm-9pm on the third Saturday of each month. All events are free and open to the public.

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Lessons Learned Editing a Blog

This is a voice, calling to you from the ether. Hello, friend. How’d you do?

Frankly, it’s just the voice of the very same person who, for nearly a year now, has been working as CreateHere’s resident blogger. Say what you will about distant Wizard-of-Oz-esque floating heads and puppet-string ad writers, most of Chattanooga’s writers are lucky enough to have viable, celebrated creative outlets. Why hide from the work we do, when so often that work is engaging and significant? I’ve always been very upfront about what I do here, and I’ve never shied away from writing in much the same way I would in other venues. No ether, no fog, no special effects, no special accents. No need, really.

I’ve had the great privilege to write on behalf of an organization I care for deeply, and that’s made all the difference. This week, I’ve matched that privilege with the epic honor of editing blog posts from my colleagues, the CreateHere fellows—the people who make this place what it is.

I’m gonna join the crew today and write a little post of my own, because it’s been an enlightening week. Editing, as it turns out, is very different than writing (surprise). Where writing takes research and planning and coffee and big-picture and guidance, editing takes awe, pure and simple.

Earlier this week, we heard from TJ Bowman, a man obsessed with the meaning of beauty; Thomas Perry, a cheeky curator; and Fynn Glover, an earnest community organizer, just to name a few. It should go without saying: their voices are very different, but equally valuable.

How, then, to put them together, to bring some order to the chaos, some vision to the many, many voices? That’s a question I’ve heard a lot lately, working closely with Chattanooga Stand.

And what I’ve concluded, after editing and canvassing and copywriting and phone banking (all very much related), is that you don’t force order on that chaos. You celebrate entropy, and you stand in stunned awe of diversity in thought. The ticks, the nuances, the soaring heights: they are all indispensable in this mission to be better writers, better Chattanoogans, better global citizens.

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Chattanooga, You Amaze Me.

Hey there, Chattanooga. I answered four questions for the future. Have you?
Please, take your stand now.

Nearly 10,000 people have spoken up about what they want for Chattanooga’s future. Already, Chattanooga’s participation is an astounding success! The Stand campaign is raising the bar across the country, even the world, for survey-based community visioning efforts.

How high is the bar being raised? Really, really high: our goal is to get 25,000 responses to a four-question survey by August 31.

The numbers speak for themselves:

ImagineCALGARY*
City: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Population: 956,000
Total Participants: over 18,000
Campaign Length: estimated 12 months
Participation Rate:1.88%

*ImagineCALGARY maintains “the largest community visioning process of its kind anywhere in the world!”

VisionPDX
City: Portland, Oregon
Population: 568,000
Total Participants: over 17,000
Campaign Length: 24 months
Participation Rate: 2.99%

And now….

Stand
City: Chattanooga, Tennessee
Population: 170,880
Total Participants: nearly 10,000
Campaign Length: 2.5 months
Participation Rate: 5.7%

Proud to be a Chattanoogan,

Sarah Lester
Campaign Coordinator for Stand

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Chattanooga: We Couldn’t Have Done It Without You Thursday, July 16, 2009

As Chattanooga Stand gears up for another huge weekend, the fellows at CreateHere would like to extend our appreciation to those citizens that have taken the time to share their thoughts and opinions about the future of this beautiful region.

Stand expects to reach 10,000 completed surveys this weekend and we are firmly aware that this success has been made possible by the willingness of people from all walks of life to engage in community dialogue. Chattanooga’s unique history of civic engagement and community visioning has shown that the voice of any thoughtful citizen can make a positive difference in this city, and it is Stand’s mission to continue the envisioning of a constantly improving Chattanooga.

So if you’ve completed one of those yellow surveys, THANK YOU! And if you haven’t, please think about the issues that are important to you, and let us know by answering four simple questions. We want to hear as many voices as possible for our collective future, so please, please take a Stand for Chattanooga!

Hope to see you this weekend at Nightfall, Movies in the Park, or the Chattanooga Market.

By Fynn Glover, Stand Field Organizer

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LeadHere: Jack Murrah on Leadership and Education Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Every week, the fellows at CreateHere get to devote an hour of their time to LeadHere, our leadership development program. In the past we’ve held discussions about urban development, visited the Bethlehem Center for Stand, brainstormed with Rock City, and worked on our public speaking skills.

We were lucky enough to have Jack Murrah come and join us for some good discussion at lunch today, over Sticky Fingers barbecue. For those of you who are not familiar with Jack, he is the former president of the Lyndhurst Foundation, having been involved with the arts in Chattanooga for many years. He is a wonderful man, with a passion for the good of the community.

As we ate, Jack talked about formal and informal community leadership, his experience in the messy arena of civic engagement, and his thoughts on public education in our city. “Leadership exists outside of traditional roles within companies… sometimes it’s nothing more than putting up your hand to volunteer,” he said. “Leadership is an action.”

Sharing a story about a local neighborhood association, Jack spoke of the source behind a successful interaction: a woman who had lived in the neighborhood for many years. After facing a resistant audience he realized that, “together we had the capacity that we didn’t have apart from each other.” Simple enough, but too often when people think of leadership, their minds drift to the Lone Ranger. What about the many interactions that go on behind-the-scenes?

Having been a teacher for several years, Jack has a passion for education; he shared with us his concerns about national public education and told us an interesting fact about Hamilton County Schools. “They are recognized nationally for their innovations and positive changes, the problem has been that we don’t talk about that here.”

By Chris Nystrom, Culture Fellow

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