The Observation Deck

Bill Call wrote:How about a fund raiser for the new Lakewood Center for the Arts held on the same night as the Beck's Westlake fund raiser?

Bill

Call me a little old fashion, but perhaps we could get some sort of plan in place before we start raising funds!

Time to start all of these project running on a little better footing. I am tired of fundraisers to study things, and then hope a plan emerges down the road.


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PS - Is there any truth to the rumor the city is planning on resurfacing Wayne, Rockway and 17700-17900 area of Detroit over the next five years?

Deleted due to what appears to be seriously misunderstood information. See Jay Foran's followup posting for the truth on Lakewood Alive and Beck.

Phil-

Take the family to Ingenuity Fest this summer.

You gotta see this!

Phil Florian wrote:...Anyway, in short, it was LA's choice to dump the Beck and not the Beck's. At least that is what I hear from someone in LA.

Phil

Thanks for the note. I can understand why tarnish a good name that LA has worked so hard to build.


Phil/DL

Or you coul try the LO Lakewood Car Rally, Kar Kulture Show, Arts Festival, Starry Night, LO concert series, 4th of July at Lakewood Park.

Stop by our refreshment table, I think you might like the purple or the red.

To quote a damn good singer and/or a great Russian writer, "There's no place like home, no place like home, no place like...



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Phil Florian wrote:...Anyway, in short, it was LA's choice to dump the Beck and not the Beck's. At least that is what I hear from someone in LA.

Phil

Thanks for the note. I can understand, why tarnish a good name that LA has worked so hard to build.


Phil/DL

Or you could try the LO Lakewood Car Rally, Kar Kulture Show, Arts Festival, Starry Night, LO concert series, 4th of July at Lakewood Park.

Stop by our refreshment table, I think you might like the purple or the red.

To quote a damn good singer and/or a great Russian writer, "There's no place like home, no place like home, no place like...



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Phil and Jim,

Unfortunately you both have wrong information.

Here are the facts.

I contacted the Beck on Monday and spoke with various staff members. In light of the recent press release, I offered them the opportunity to come to the LA event last evening, make a statement and answer questions. This would be at the end of the Main Street presentation. They indicated they would attend. Later that morning we released an e-mail (and placed on our website) indicating they would attend.

Later Monday, I received a call from the Beck Center staff indicating they had changed their mind and would not attend. I indicated that I thought it was important. A meeting was set for Tuesday morning and I met with Fred Unger (Chairman of the Board) and Jim Walton (COO). Despite my best efforts to convince them to attend, both Fred and Jim felt that at this time there was no information to share in light of the recent press release and newspaper articles. They indicated that meeting with the general public could occur sometime in the future. The meeting was extremely cordial.

With this new information, mid-Tuesday we put out another e-mail to our members (and removed announcement from our website) indicating that the Beck Center would not attend as previously announced.

Jim, in your newspaper article regarding the Beck you indicated I would speak to the audience based on my conversation with Fred Unger. Where did you get this information? You never spoke with me or Mary Anne. I never indicated anything of the same to Mr. Unger or Mr. Walton. I was prepared to provide the summary above if anyone asked last evening....which no one did.

Phil, where did you get your information? Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Jay, thanks for the information. I had heard some information second or third hand and obviously misinterpreted it. Sorry about that. I will withhold anything that isn't my opinion or first hand information next time. Good to hear the real story!

Thanks!

Phil

dl meckes wrote:Phil-

Take the family to Ingenuity Fest this summer.

You gotta see this!

Absolutely! This is on the calendar already and I have a friend who is into this kind of thing coming up from Cincinnati to go with us as well. I was sad that I had to miss this event last year after hearing so much good stuff about it.

Jim, thanks for pointing out those other events! Sadly, cars don't interest me (skips a generation, I think, as my dad loved them) but I hope to visit the LO at the parade (weather and baby permitting).

Thanks!

Phil

Phil-

I am NOT a car person, but we've gone to the Kar Kulture events and had great fun. Granted, we didn't stay around as long as some might, but it was fun to see everything and everybody.

Jay

I got my information from a very well informed source, and the words I used to describe it were nearly word for word that were sent to me, late Monday afternoon. Let's just say, that the person is not a member of LakewoodAlive nor the LakewoodObserver.

If you would like to see the email, I would be happy to send it along.

I would also like to clarify, that the statement about tarnished image was not LakewoodAlive. I appreciate everything LakewoodAlive is doing to educate Lakewoodites about Economic Development. I also appreciate the time you have given me to explain not wanting to get involved with issues outside of education. As you might have noticed I have never missed a meeting and generally have glowing revues for all that take part.

LakeoodAlive has worked very hard to build their reputation, and I would have hated to see it tarnished had you been forced to read or answer questions that should have been answered by the Beck.

FWIW


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There is no reason for anyone to ever have to speculate, assume or guess about LakewoodAlive activity. Anyone may have "very good" sources, but there is only one source: LakewoodAlive officers. We are all listed on our webpage and we are all in the phone book. Please do not post or print information about LakewoodAlive activity without crosschecking with us directly....we will always be happy to provide accurate information.

Thanks.

Mary Anne Crampton wrote:There is no reason for anyone to ever have to speculate, assume or guess about LakewoodAlive activity. Anyone may have "very good" sources, but there is only one source: LakewoodAlive officers. We are all listed on our webpage and we are all in the phone book. Please do not post or print information about LakewoodAlive activity without crosschecking with us directly....we will always be happy to provide accurate information.

Thanks.

Mary Anne

It came from a very official source, in writing.

Just not a LakewoodAlive source. I have sent you the letter.

I stand by my post.

From LakewoodAlive's release:
Beck Center Update
John Farina, Director of Development at The Beck Center for the Arts, has agreed to address the audience and take questions following the Main Street forum on Wednesday night at Lakewood Hospital's Wasmer Auditorium.

We think it will be extremely valuable for Beck Center representatives to hear first hand about LCPI's exciting plans for Main Street, and similarly, it will be most valuable for our members to hear directly about issues under study at the Beck.

The other paragraph which appeared as an update to your news-release came to me from the Beck Center and has the first of the three paragraphs mentioned in the paper. The author asked me not to post it on this board. But was sent to me after I sent the Beck Center my article to read, comment, and suggest changes before it was printed. The letter author suggested 7, I think, and I made 4 of them

Jay Foran wrote:Jim, in your newspaper article regarding the Beck you indicated I would speak to the audience based on my conversation with Fred Unger. Where did you get this information? You never spoke with me or Mary Anne. I never indicated anything of the same to Mr. Unger or Mr. Walton. I was prepared to provide the summary above if anyone asked last evening....which no one did.(Bolded by Jim O'Bryan)

So while the Beck may object to the story it was read by them and approved for lack of a better word. The information on LakewoodAlive was in your news release. I think your objections might be better directed elsewhere.




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Jay, Mary Anne, Phil, Jim:

Let’s not permit a change - for whatever reason – in the Beck Center’s communication/media strategy to cast either Lakewood Alive or the Lakewood Observer into bungling light.

We must acknowledge that both LA and LO are essential volunteer platforms working very hard, in very different modes, in very fast moving times with agents from the Beck Center to obtain for Lakewood citizens a sense of the stakes and the truth. Under such conditions volunteers are likely to accept as credible representations from the Beck Center about the agents speaking at an event.

The Lakewood Observer is an open source platform that operates through a hermeneutics of trust. The active and timely the participation of all informed agents, as burdensome as that might seem, will yield the highest levels of knowledge and more veracious representations of truth about the city.

Partnerships and relationships in open source civic space present wild cards and create untested predicaments.

Here we stand together in one.

I stand as an advisor to both Lakewood Alive and the Lakewood Observer, with admiration, respect and trust for the people differently involved in each platform along the bumpy road to raising the affectual, human, intellectual and material capital in the city at a time of significant change.

It is clear to me that Jim’s intention was to move into print a late-breaking shift in the Beck Center speaker, based on information received from the Beck Center. It was a simple who/what/when/where matter supplied by the Beck Center.

Looking at this through Jim's eyes, I'd say time was of the essence; the margin for error and stakes seemingly were not great. Double checking with Lakewood Alive, while a sound recommendation on the face of things, was likely more than he could handle in time’s crunch. He took a risk, made a judgment call based on the information supplied by the Beck Center. It’s difficult to say, moreover, whether or not the communication loop was working fast enough from the Beck Center to Lakewood Alive to permit a timely double-check.

I can't fault his level of care under these conditions. Nor can I personnally assure the quality that comes from the double check.

Yet I understand the frustration of Jay and Mary Anne. There is no cause to question the integrity and performance of Lakewood Alive in this event. And to suggest that Lakewood Alive pulled the plug on the Beck Center shows us how message and spin and get out of hand.

The collective intelligence and self-correcting powers of the LO Observation Deck become more valuable in these instances of confusion. Burdensome too. But these are the obligation we must bear as civic agents in times like these. Ultimately, it is through these burdens and commitment to truth and graciousness along the bumpy road of civic discourse that Lakewood is distinguishing itself from other places.

Even if our burdens with Lakewood Alive and the Lakewood Observer we build the supra-brand for Lakewood.

Please bear one another’s burdens in hope and good humor.

Kenneth Warren

Kenneth Warren wrote:Yet I understand the frustration of Jay and Mary Anne. There is no cause to question the integrity and performance of Lakewood Alive in this event. And to suggest that Lakewood Alive pulled the plug on the Beck Center shows us how message and spin and get out of hand.Kenneth Warren

Ken

This is a misreading of some of my poorly written posts. Jay and I have talked. It was not LA's tarnished image, it was the Beck Center's. It was not LakewoodAlive stopping the presentation, it was the Beck Center back pedalling as fast as possible.

To me the silence from the Beck Center is deafening.


FWIW

Over reaction to Beck Center leaving the fair city of Lakewood, maybe, but then again since the city and it citizens subsidized skating, spot renovation consultants, high school sports, or the necessity of a liquor licenses for profitability, what is more important then art? That is the question. Lakewood had best decided as a community what is important to the City culturally. The lack of a good newspaper, not a social event planner, which strikes controversy and motivates the current stagnate political and community leadership groups into motion to determine, define and implement what the citizens of this City want.

I am most certain that I don’t know the answer, but when a city has sixty-eight or more bars within its city limits I’m not sure the citizens themselves know. Obviously in Lakewood the liquor license would increase attendance.

I am convinced that what ever is done will not be done with monies due to a school system that is over funded for the results they achieve year after year. It seems strange a school system would argue over performance test that requires a curriculum so students will learn the basics of education before they graduate.

Back on the subject: Beck Center leaving Lakewood, perhaps it best they move to a city were its citizens will be more supportive to it’s needs as a cultural center. Unless the community is evolved the City throwing money at a problem, a historical Lakewood remedy, will only render the same results as Lakewood School District, mediocrity.