On June 26th Global Cleveland hosted its first roadshow in Washington, D.C. Designed to demonstrate Greater Cleveland’s job and lifestyle opportunities, the event connected Global Cleveland with at least 118 (out of 137 surveyed) D.C. residents who answered, “Yes,” when asked, “Are you open to moving to Cleveland?”
Over 200 professionals attended the event. Each had responded to email and social media invitations from Global Cleveland and the area’s community leaders and activists to attend the free reception held in the National Press Club Ballroom in the center of the nation’s capital.
Before entering the Ballroom, attendees flocked to the a Community Partner Center with its display of information and takeaways from over 40 colleges, universities, employers, real estate, recreation and other organizations. Once inside, guests were entertained with posters comparing the cost of D.C. real estate to the prices in Cleveland – a real eye-opener for some. Video monitors vividly demonstrated the kinds of job and life-style options in Greater Cleveland.
The latest audio and video technology was employed to kick-off the program, with former DC resident Jeremy Paris speaking from Cleveland on the reasons why he chose to move back to Northeast Ohio. Jeremy is now Executive Director of the Group Plan Commission, which is reconstructing Cleveland’s Public Square in time for the 2016 Republican Convention. Other speakers included Lee Crume, Director of Sales, JobsOhio; Les Johnson, Federation of the Gay Games; Baiju Shah, Global Cleveland Chairman; Shannon Lyons, Chief Business Development Officer at LaunchHouse Accelerator, John Hoppes, National Recruiting Director, Progressive, and Jack Schron-President, Jergens Inc. and Cuyahoga County Councilman.
Results from the successful D. C. event are now being analyzed by Global Cleveland to determine best practices for future events. Research from Cleveland State University’s Center for Population Dynamics will determine locations for any future roadshows. The most likely next stops for the roadshow are Chicago and New York City, where clusters of Northeast Ohio residents currently live.
Here’s one example of how our program resonated with one of the attendees:
