Change Agent at Work

Tompkins has something to offer...

I was recently interviewed by The Cornell Daily Sun.  (read the article by clicking on the "read more" link later in this post).

Expanding on the coverage... it is important to stop and think about what Tompkins County is doing different.  What do they have?

It is true... Cornell University and Ithaca College certainly help - A LOT - but more than that (and in part due to the two colleges) Ithaca is doing a good job of promoting and sustaining...

South of the Border...

I've been extremely busy the last few days.

Pipeline 4 Progress is gearing up for the first of four Regional Input Meetings scattered throughout the Upstate P4P Region. 

Our first meeting is Friday - March 7th - in Binghamton, NY.

Please feel free to join us and participate in the collaborative discussions.

Earlier this week - on Tuesday...

I was NOT in Upstate NY talking about regionalism and collaboration.  I was in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Tough choices...

It is a little ironic that my first thought it writing this entry was the title "tough choices"... 

It's also the title of a book - Tough Choices: a Memoir by Carly Fiorina - former CEO of Hewlett-Packard.  I'll mention why later in this post (so keep reading).

The "tough choice" is whether or not I should write on political issues.  But this is very important - and after all - this is mikefullerblog.com - so why wouldn't I talk about it?

Finding others...

Twin Tiers Young Professional (TTYP) held their monthly wine club last night.  I have attended these events in the past - they're great.  I was able to reconnect with some old friends and meet some new people as well.

The wine club is meant to bring people together to socialize - current and future members. 

TTYP and other young professional groups around the region play an important role in helping attract and retain young people. 

People like to look around and see other people like them - in this case other young, under 40 people.  The case can be made for people over 40 too.

If you're in the Elmira/Corning area you should check out and support TTYP - http://ttyp.org.  Binghamton area - http://styp.org.  Ithaca area - http://ithacaforward.org.   

P4P Regional Action Initiative

Over the past two years, Pipeline 4 Progress (P4P) has focused on developing strategies to attract and retain talented individuals in our Region.  In 2007 we launched our P4P Connection and Come Home efforts… in 2008 we plan to expand and focus more energy on making those and other programs successful and vital to the area.  We have built exciting new partnerships and look forward the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.

Attracting talent from around the globe...

This morning I was having coffee and watching Headline News...  Iraq's Brain Drain was the topic of one story - then it hit me...

...well didn't hit me because I realize all over the world communities are competing to be "hip" and attract/retain talented professionals. 

But I realized we might be missing something.