Tag Archives: Ann Arbor SPARK

A big thank you to everyone who had a hand in launching Landline Creative Labs

By Mark | June 14, 2017

As we’re getting ready to rent our 10th and final office at Landline Creative Labs, now seemed like a good time to step back, reflect for a minute, and say thank you to everyone who played a role in getting us to where we are today. First and foremost, we’d like to thank all of […]

Posted in 209 Pearl, Art and Culture, Local Business, Uncategorized | Also tagged Adam Lacca, Andre Grewe, Bank of Ann Arbor, Barry LaRue, Bee Roll, Beth Ernat, Bill Kinley, Blake Woodruffe, Brad Hale, Brandon Fischer, Carol McEachran, custom furniture, DDA, Dick Beedon, Doug Coombe, Dug Song, Dustin Schultz, Frank Dodd, Gary Bruder, Grafaktri, Hedger Breed, Jean Henry, Jeff Irwin, Jeffrey McKelvey, Jennifer Olmstead, Joe Meyers, John Taylor, Karl Anderson, Kevin Lynn, Landline Creative Labs, Michael Gay, Mike Reyna, Muffy Mackenzie, Paul Saginaw, Paul Schutt, Phil Tepley, Richard Murphy, Roger Wallace, Safaa Pauls, Salt City Antiques, Sean Cool, Steve Hughes, Tim Gretkierewicz, Tony VanDerworp, Washtenaw County Board of Commissioner, Ypsilanti City Council, Ypsilanti Downtown Development Authority, Ypsilanti Incentive Program | 12 Comments

Richard Florida visits Ann Arbor, advocates for affordable housing, warns “When places get boring, even the rich leave”

By Mark | April 25, 2017

Richard Florida, the man credited with popularizing the belief that the so-called “creative class” is the primary driver of urban redevelopment, was in Ann Arbor yesterday to address a regional economic forum hosted by Ann Arbor Spark. As I didn’t take very good notes, and don’t have the time this evening to provide anything even […]

Posted in Ann Arbor, Art and Culture, Uncategorized | Also tagged Brexit, cities, creative class, demographics, Donald Trump, economic development, economic inequality, economic segregation, Elmira, gentrification, inclusive urbanism, Jane Jacobs, luddism, Martin Prosperity Institute, mass transit, Michael Shuman, populism, re-urbanization, Richard Florida, Rob Ford, service industry, shifting national demographics, tax the rich, the arts, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, the gay, The New Urban Crisis, The New Urban Crisis: How Our Cities Are Increasing Inequality Deepening Segregation and Failing the Middle Class—and What We Can Do About It, The Rise of the Creative Class, things that are boring, threats to the middle class, urban planning, urban redevelopment, urban renewal, wealth inequality, why don't the rich see the big picture | 29 Comments

Foiling anti-Ypsi plots hatched in Ann Arbor, singing and talking animal dissection with Annie Palmer, and discussing the whereabouts of our most evil trees… on episode twelve of The Saturday Six Pack

By Mark | April 13, 2015

This week’s episode of the Saturday Six Pack was an odd one. It started normal enough, with an in-depth discussion about the plot hatched in Ann Arbor to defund Ypsi’s Convention and Visitors Bureau, but then it kind of began a steady descent into madness, until, by the end of the show, we were pulling […]

Posted in Art and Culture, Marketing, The Saturday Six Pack, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged 1975, 7-Eleven, AAACVB, AADL, Alexis Ford, Alicia Ping, Andru Bemis, Andy LaBarre, Ann Arbor Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce, Ann Arbor District Library, Annie Palmer, Armada, Bert Lahr, Brigid Mooney, Canton Belanger, Casey Dixon, Chandelier, Chris Sandon, Cross Grove, Dave Menzo, Debbie Locke-Daniel, dissection, economic development, electronic music, evil trees, Family Dollar, fern sperm, ferns, Gary Owen, Jenna Parks, Matt Siegfried, Music and Arts Guild, Native Americans, Party Busters, People's History of Ypsilanti, Pete Larson, potato chips, Ronnie Peterson, Ruth Ann Jamnick, Scooter, Sia, Slurpees, trickle down economics, Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners, Washtenaw Development Council, YACVB, Ypsi history, Ypsilanti Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, Ypsilanti Chamber of Commerce | 19 Comments

Why Ypsilanti’s identity, independent of Ann Arbor, is important…. and why we should fight to keep our Convention and Visitors Bureau

By Mark | March 12, 2015

It was made public today that members of the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners are considering the possibility of forcing a merger between the Ypsilanti Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (YACVB) and its counterpart in Ann Arbor. This, as I understand it from my sources, is something that the Ann Arbor Area Convention and Visitors […]

Posted in Ann Arbor, Marketing, Rants, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged AAACVB, AAATA, Alicia Ping, Andy LaBarre, Angela Barbash, Ann Arbor Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce, brand identity, branding, consolidation, consolidation of services, dollar stores, economic development, excise tax, Family Dollar, hotel tax, hotels, identity, Joseph Sefcovic, Linette, mergers, Reconsider, Richard Murphy, Ronnie Peterson, Ruth Ann Jamnick, Saline, Sean Duval, SPARK East, the greater Ann Arbor region, venture LOCAL, Washtenaw County, Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners, Washtenaw County Hotel and Motel Association, Washtenaw Development Council, YACVB, YDDA, Ypsilanti Area Convention and Visitors Bureau | 73 Comments

Ann Arbor to millennials… “We hear you like trains and tall buildings. How many of each do we need before you’ll look beyond our sexism and homophobia and move here?”

By Mark | January 17, 2014

I was hoping that this kind of thing had died with the career of Richard Florida… I understand that it’s well intentioned, and I don’t disagree that Michigan needs to find a way to keep bright, innovative young people in the state. With that said, though, this reeks of desperation. And it brings back painful […]