Dave and some like-minded individuals created SolarYpsi in 2005 with the hope of making their hometown a solar power destination through tying solar power generation to the electrical grid.

Their web site showcases real-time reporting of electrical production via solar panels, tracking panels are located on top of the Ypsilanti Food Coop, the Riverstreet Bakery, Ypsilanti City Hall and an Ann Arbor Transportation Authority bus stop.

Here's Google's Search Story Creator in case you want to try your hand. Head over to absolutemichigan.com/solar for more Michigan solar information.

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Smile by pairadocs

The Michigan International Auto Show returns to DeVos Place January 26-29, 2012 with manufacturers from around the world setting up their finest traveling displays. The show is West Michigan’s largest consumer show and offers you a chance to view your next new car with some 300 new vehicles on display. From sedans to vans, SUVs & trucks to hybrids and sports cars. If it rolls on 4 wheels, chances are you'll see it at the factory representatives from nearly 40 different manufacturers.

“This year, visitors will find vehicles displaying increases in innovations and design, as well as energy efficiency models as the auto industry rises to the challenges placed before it,” says Terry Burns, Executive Director of the Grand Rapids New Car Dealers Association. “New models, new designs and new technologies are helping our industry bring itself back up along a path of recovery as we move into 2012 and beyond.”

A highlight of the show is the Million Dollar Motorway, which is expected to be bigger and better than ever before featuring a variety of high end cars including Bentley, Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, Maserati and Lamborghini, each valued at more than $100,000. There are also exhibits from the Gilmore Car Museum that offer you a chance to take a trip back in automobile history.

Here's a video from last year's show to give you an idea of what to expect.

Absolute Michigan is committed to helping our readers get more out of Michigan. To that end, we are adding an exciting new program featuring giveaways of products and services from all kinds of Michigan businesses. It's free, fun and all you have to do to be eligible is to be on our email list - sign up using the form below. We guarantee that we will not share your email address with anyone!

If your business is interested in participating, you can get all the information right here.

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Neither of these new laws would stop piracy, which Absolute Michigan is opposed to. Both, however, would put control of online content in the hands of large entertainment corporations and the government, placing a giant burden on web media outlets like Wikipedia, WordPress, YouTube ... and even little old Absolute Michigan.

With our Absolute Michigan, Michigan in Pictures and Leelanau.com websites all down yesterday, there was some time to think about the issue, and we'd like to share one thought: We live in a world very different from the early 1700s when Parliament enacted the Statute of Anne to address the concerns of English booksellers and printers (you can look it up ... for now, on Wikipedia).

We are encouraged at every turn and by every consumer device to sing along to commercials, dance to the latest music and in general, swim in a sea of ever-present media. You can debate the pros and cons of doing that but it seems that expecting our candid videos, blogged observations or Facebooked^TM thoughts won't incorporate background music or samples, brand names is flat-out silly. We need intelligent and well thought out laws that recognize the modern world, and SOPA and PIPA definitely aren't either of those things.

Click here to watch a short video or read more about this issue and please take a moment to contact your elected officials through the links we provide!

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2013 Dodge Dart by ChriKett Photography

The first Detroit Area Dealer Association (DADA)-managed Detroit Auto Show was held in December 1907 at Riverview Park. In 1987, the show was re-focused as an international event, and 2012 is their 24th annual under the new format. The center of the event are concept cars and exhibitions by car companies from Acura to Volvo and of course Detroit standards like Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, GMC and Lincoln.

Blogs & Social Media from the Detroit Auto Show

Our favorite for coverage this year is mLive's Detroit Auto Show coverage. They have a look at Energy Secretary Steven Chu's visit to the show, some concept car highlights from the 2012 floor and the back and forth between Governor Snyder and a Wayne State student. After Snyder issued a call for grads to stay in Michigan, biomed engineering student Ramkumar Annamalai  asked him why if eduction was so important has Michigan seen cuts that remove a lot of what attracts top students.  It's an interesting exchange that highlights one of the real challenges manufacturing and research in Michigan are facing. You can also get comprehensive reporting from the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News.

As usual, you can find unabashed car love with a healthy dose of humor from the  2012 Detroit Auto Show on Jalopnik.  Over at Autoblog they feature podcasts and articles including their Editor's top 5 picks from the show (spoiler: #1 is the 2013 Ford Fusion which also captured Autoweek Magazine's coveted Best of Show award). Another source that's getting more and more relevant is  Autoblog Green who has features on the frighteningly cute Tata, a sub-$19k Prius and the Smart-for-Us urban concept mini-truck pictured right. Pretty much everyone with a blog is covering it of course, from Motor Trend to Popular Mechanics.

The North American International Auto Show has gotten into the social media swing in 2012 with a Facebook page their NAIAS official Twitter. You can also of course dive right in to #NAIAS on Twitter.

Attending the North American International Auto Show

The NAIAS web site has everything you need to know about attending the public show and tomorrow night's black tie charity preview. If you do attend and take pictures or video, we'd love it if you'd share them with us in the Absolute Michigan Flickr group or shoot us the link to YouTube vids!

Detroit Auto Show Photos

The NAIAS has a nifty virtual show floor.  Christian Kettenbell took the photo at the top and he has a really nice slideshow from 2012. You can see a whole lot more by checking Detroit Auto Show and/or NAIAS on Flickr. The blogs & papers above are another great source of photos of production cars and concepts as well.    If you'd like to step back in time, check out this Detroit News Rearview Mirror feature The Detroit Auto Show: from beer gardens to tabernacles to Cobo Center.

Anything else to add or ask? Post it in the comments!

Detroit Auto Show Videos

You can watch the snarky, kind of slow and frankly down on the auto show 2012 North American International Auto Show Preview from Drive and the un-snarky and faster paced preview from Autoweek TV. Our favorite, however, is this selection of highlights from the Media Preview on the 2012 show floor by Global News ENG Cameraman Ben Jonah. Got other ones you like? Add them in the comments below!

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Eddie Rickenbacker, circa 1919. Photo from the National Archives and Records Administration holdings (ARC identifier 533720). Digital copy found on wikimediacommons.org

Ace of Aces

After shooting down twenty-two enemy aircraft and four barrage balloons in less than a year, Captain Edward “Eddie” Rickenbacker became the most celebrated Allied airman of World War I, earning him the title “Ace of Aces.” He received the Congressional Medal of Honor, the French Legion of Honor, the Croix de Guerre, the Distinguished Service Cross and seven other medals.

At the close of the war, Rickenbacker returned home to a hero’s welcome of ticker-tape parades and other events in his honor. He retreated to the seclusion of the New Mexican desert to contemplate his future. He had been a race car driver before the war, and automobiles again filled his mind. He decided to build a car bearing his name.

Building a Car

Rickenbacker teamed up with some of the best and brightest automobile entrepreneurs of the time. Harry Cunningham was a former race driver turned engineer, and Walter Flanders and Barney Everitt were two-thirds of the EMF Company of Detroit. Rickenbacker contributed engineering ideas learned from his pre-war days building, selling and driving race cars.

Rickenbacker set out to design and build a mid-priced car with many advanced features. The stylish six-cylinder model he dreamed of would have a low center of gravity, a vibration-free tandem flywheel, cabin heater, air cleaner and a locking steering wheel. A 94th Squadron “Hat in the Ring” insignia graced the radiator housing. When it came to decide where such a car would be built, there was only one choice: Detroit, the Automobile Capital of the World.

The Rickenbacker Motor Company

Rickenbacker built factory prototypes in 1920 and logged eighty thousand miles test driving the cars himself. In 1922, the Rickenbacker Motor Company (RMC) went into full production, with Rickenbacker as vice-president in charge of sales. He barnstormed across the country flying in his airplane, selling cars and dealer franchises. Eventually, the company boasted a network of twelve hundred dealers in the U.S and three hundred worldwide. Between 1922 and 1924, RMC sold fifty thousand cars with price tags ranging from $1,485.00 for the touring model to $1,995.00 for a sedan.

Sales were brisk and in 1924, the company introduced the Vertical 8 Super Fine model. A promotional brochure bragged that “almost without exception, Rickenbacker factory officials and their wives drive this coupe model…it is a type much coveted and appreciated by young ladies and dowagers. It is quite as suitable for a man as a woman driver.” Other ads claimed that the motor “improves with use. Take a look at the frame. Comparatively, the Brooklyn Bridge does not provide such a factor of rigidity and strength.”

A family with a Rickenbacker car (Click on the image to view it in a larger size)

Four Wheel Brakes

Advertising rhetoric aside, the company seemed to be doing everything right and they announced a new automotive innovation. Four-wheel brakes have been standard equipment since Rickenbacker introduced them more than eighty years ago. The announcement that the braking system would be standard on their 1924 models caused a commotion in the automobile business. Several auto companies—notably Studebaker—mounted a slander campaign, claiming that four-wheel brakes were dangerous and unpredictable.

Believing in himself and his product, Eddie Rickenbacker dismissed the adverse publicity. Rather than play down the accusations, he touted the merits of the braking system by stenciling “4-WHEEL BRAKES” on the spare tire covers. Detractors claimed that this was necessary to avoid rear-end collisions caused by Rickenbacker cars stopping too fast.

End of a Dream

Despite the company’s efforts, sales began to lag. In 1926, Rickenbacker resigned from his position, and the company struggled on until 1927, when it declared bankruptcy and halted production. Ironically, the German company Audi bought the design, tooling and spare parts and installed Rickenbacker engines in some models.

At the age of thirty-five and $250,000 in debt, Rickenbacker had to abandon his dream of building a “Car Worthy of its Name.” He vowed to pay off his creditors and changed his career course. He bought the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and later became Chairman of the Board of Eastern Airlines. A survivor in life as well as business, Eddie Rickenbacker survived two airplane crashes before passing away in 1973 at the age of eighty-two.

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We featured Chrysler's Super Bowl ad smash Imported from Detroit (starring Eminem) and the fantastic Grand Rapids Lip Dub (starring pretty much the entire city of Grand Rapids) on Absolute Michigan when they came out, but it looks like we may have missed the best of them all! Mark writes:

Billed as the first lipdub to feature senior citizens, this clip of a Grand Rapids retirement community drew national attention in July. The clip was produced with help from students at nearby Grand Valley State University.

It features his grandparents, but with 1.2 million views, Mark's not alone and we think you'll agree, this is one awesome video... (if you have another we missed, post it in the comments)

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25 Christmas Lane on a winter's eve, circa 2010 (Photo courtesy of Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland)

My favorite holiday movie is National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989). Clark Griswold, (Chevy Chase), our hero, has a plan for the traditional Griswold family Christmas that includes fifty thousand twinkling outdoor lights on the roof. When Clark drags his entire family out to see his masterpiece, the lights don’t work. The frustrating, yet entertaining, effort to fix the problem resonates with me (This includes Clark on the roof checking each individual bulb.). My favorite part comes when Clark prevails, the family is impressed, and he thanks his father for teaching him about exterior illumination.

Beginnings

Wallace Bronner (1927-2008) knew that exterior illumination is essential for the holidays. We are all familiar with his enormous enterprise: Bronner’s CHRISTmas Wonderland, located on 25 Christmas Lane in Frankenmuth. Initially, this behemoth of holiday cheer started as a signage business. During the early forties, Wally worked as a sign painter and a clerk at the Hubinger Grocery Store, which was owned by his maternal relatives. Part of his job included designing window displays. In 1945, as Frankenmuth celebrated its centennial year, Bronner Display and Sign Advertising was in demand for painting signs and decorating store windows and parade floats. That year Wallace Bronner met Irene Ruth Pretzer, the woman he would marry on June 23, 1951 at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Hemlock, Michigan.

Signs designed by Wally Bronner for the city of Clare, 1951 (Photo courtesy of Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland.).

Irene was instrumental in helping Wally land a monthly window display contract with the Jennison Hardware Company of Bay City (c. 1947) (Irene had attended Bay City Junior College and boarded at the home of G.W. Cooke, president of the hardware company.). Bronner’s work for the hardware company resulted in a referral to the town of Clare, Michigan (1951). This first municipal holiday commission was to design decorative lamppost panels. After that job, Wally hired his friend Fred Bernthal to look for new clients in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Ontario.

Bronner also entered into contracts with General Plastics Corporation (Marion, Indiana) and Mold-Craft Corporation (Port Washington, Wisconsin). These companies provided street trims and ornaments, latex Santas, reindeers and nativity scenes. In 1952, Bronner staged two shows exhibiting outdoor Christmas decorations, one in the Frankenmuth Township Hall, the other at the St. Lorenz School gymnasium. Both were successful. However, both venues were temporary. Bronner decided to rent a more permanent building, a vacated one-room schoolhouse (formerly Frankenmuth School District Number 1). Thus, year round exhibit of Christmas decorations became possible! “At first the people of the community thought the idea to be rather unusual, but accepted it fully when Frankenmuth became known as the Christmas Town.” (Bronner’s 2005 Corporate History, page 35.)

“Thinking Big”

Wally Bronner with employees. (Photo taken in the 1960s. Photo is courtesy Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland)

Herman Bronner (Wally’s father) was a building contractor and stone mason. He convinced his son to “think big” by changing the plans for the first Bronner-owned building from two, L-shaped, rectangular buildings to one large, square building. The Bronner’s store at 121 East Tuscola (a lot adjoining Aunt Hattie’s grocery store) opened in 1954. It was divided into two sections, one space for the sign painting business, the other for Christmas decorations.

Wally was grateful for his dad’s vision and business acumen. The municipal clientele grew to include shopping centers and commercial interiors. As buyers selected decorations for their stores and churches, their wives requested home decorations. From 1954 to 1963, Bronner exhibited at the Saginaw County Fair, which, at the time, boasted numbers of three hundred thousand people. By 1960, the company was officially incorporated, and home decorations were added to the product line. In 1964, the first billboard advertising Bronners appeared on I-75, ten miles south of Exit 136 (Frankenmuth). Many travelling up North are familiar with that sign. Subsequent ones (more than sixty located in seven states) continue to extol the importance of holiday cheer and illumination.

Source material

Picturesque Story of Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, as related by Wally Bronner. Published by Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, 2005.

The History of Bronner’s Christmas Decorations by Doris A Paul. Published by the Frankenmuth Historical Museum, 1981.

Brad Redford, a native of Frankenmuth visited Bronner's last year and has a pretty funny video in his show Redford's Rundown. However, we're going to have to go with this awesome music video of Wally Bronner (Christmas Always) by Michigan rockers The Hard Lessons. A little tip: click that link and subscribe to their email list to download their entire new album Arms Forest AND stay tuned at the end of the video for the B-side of this song, O Holy Night!

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Clouds are Cooler than Smoke by Jon DeBoe

I guess it's Coal Week on Absolute Michigan. After taking a look back at the history of coal mining in the Saginaw Valley on Tuesday, we're back on the subject with news from the Great Lakes Echo.

Michigan coal-fired plants to close; wind and air to step up by Nick McWherter of the Capital News Service says that Consumers Energy will close seven coal-fired power plants in Michigan and has cancelled construction of another to focus on clean energy. In their news release on the topic, Consumer's President & CEO John Russell said that their investments - part of a $6.6 billion plan to add value to customers and improve the environment - were projected to create more than 2,000 construction jobs in Michigan and provide significant emissions reductions. Environmentalists concur:

“There are simply smarter ways to produce energy then relying on coal,” said Bruce Nilles, national director for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. The inherent costs associated with mining and burning coal make clean energy more attractive, he said. Economically and environmentally, coal does not make sense.

Michigan is now in position to make strides in clean energy throughout the state, he said.

“There is a significant shift going on in the electric sector,” Nilles said. “Michigan has a chance to really be at the forefront. It has one of the oldest coal fleets in the country; many of these plants are literally teetering. It presents a tremendous opportunity to put people back to work and eliminate all the pollution that today is having such profound impacts across the state of Michigan.”

The motivation for the decision is Michigan’s Clean, Renewable and Efficient Energy act. Established in 2008, the act requires utilities to supply 10% of their energy via renewables by 2015. Consumers is the second largest utility in the state and is at 5% renewable generation right now. Last month they also started construction of their first wind-farm, the Lake Winds Energy Park, part of a $1 billion investment in Mason County. Follow that link for details and a video from the Muskegon Chronicle.

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These visitors have generated $605 million of additional revenue, and between 2009 and 2010, the tourism industry grew by $2 billion, enough to generate an additional 10,000 jobs in Michigan. The campaign also generated $43 million in state tax collections, creating a return on investment (ROI) of $4.32 for each dollar Michigan spent on tourism advertising. Resident leisure travel rose 6.1% to $6.3 billion, and non-resident leisure travel that Pure Michigan ads are targeting rose 21.1% to $6.4 billion, the first time non-resident spending has exceeded Michigan resident spending for leisure travel.

While the state and national economies and overall tourism spending floundered in 2009, Michigan received 2% of all the tourism spending in the United States, good for a rank of 14th nationally, a success many credit to the Pure Michigan advertising campaign. George Zimmermann, VP of Travel Michigan says:

"Most Americans know Florida, California and Hawaii. We are just the opposite. We’ve only done a national campaign for just three years, with a modest budget. Michigan also is starting from a negative image of the Rust Belt, the depressed auto industry and urban decay in Detroit. The image of the state is much more favorable after visitors have seen the Pure Michigan ads.”

We encourage you to read on at Bridge for some other thoughts on the campaign including some criticism from Michael LaFaive of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.  They have a second feature that looks at how Pure Michigan stacks up against other state tourism promotion efforts.

One thing is clear, it's important to agree upon the numbers, because if the ROI is that high, Michigan would be foolish not to continue funding Pure Michigan.

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Buck on the run by oakwood

Opening day of deer season probably ranks pretty high in the list of Michigan holidays. I know a lot of businesses that will be closed for the next few days in recognition that their employees would just be out sick anyway with buck fever. And just as I know that the sunny skies forecast for today are making a lot of people dressed in orange unhappy, I know those same folks are happy that snow is on the way tonight!

The Michigan DNR has all the details on deer hunting in Michigan, including a reminder that much public land is open to hunting - be aware! While Michigan saw 750,000 hunters just a few years ago, less than 650,000 will purchase licenses for the November 15-30 firearm deer season. In 2011, some of these will be 10 and 11 year-olds due to Michigan's new Hunter Heritage Act. Speaking of the DNR, check out their MI-Hunt program, which allows you to locate public lands open to hunting. You can get a forecast for the 2011 Michigan Deer season from Game & Fish Magazine, and a lot more info from the White-tail Deer Portal from the DNR and MSU.

The Livingston Daily news reports that the overall deer population in Michigan has quadrupled since 1970, with southern Michigan's deer herd increasing 10 times! An excellent, in-depth report from Bridge Magazine titled Deer have Michigan on the run says:

The number of hunters in Michigan has been shrinking since the 1960s, according to state data. Hunting license sales have decreased 15 percent over the past 15 years, from 934,430 in 1995 to 786,880 last year.

The ranks of hunters are shrinking nationwide. But the effects of that trend are especially prevalent in Michigan, where deer dominate vast areas of the landscape, hunters are the primary method for keeping the herd in check and revenue from the sale of hunting licenses funds many of the state’s wildlife management programs.

Fewer hunters mean: Less money for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to manage wildlife; less money to maintain forests, marshes and other areas where birds and mammals reside; less money for conservation officers who keep poachers in check; and less money for small businesses that count hunters among their best customers.

It also means more deer - read on to learn about the impacts of our 1.7 million deer.

AnnArbor.com notes that Opening Day is Michigan's other Black Friday, as deer hunters spend an average of $800 each, making deer hunting a half a billion dollar industry in Michigan. If you are headed out, be sure to look in on our Sporting Goods section.

Happy hunting!

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Detroit Public Television (DPTV), in partnership with the International Joint Commission, the Great Lakes Commission, U.S. EPA, and Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition provided unprecedented access to the largest gathering of scientists, political voices, educators, environmentalists, and interested groups ever assembled to discuss the status and the future of the Great Lakes at greatlakesnow.org.

Sleeping Bear by ideowl

Great Lakes Week takes place October 11-14, 2011 and celebrates one of the world's true natural wonders, the five interconnected Great Lakes. Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior provide jobs, recreation and drinking water to more than 30 million people in the Great Lakes basin. Great Lakes Week is a new partnership to improve the places around the basin where people live, work, learn and play. This week's activities, meetings and conferences bring representatives of the U.S. and Canadian governments together with a broad coalition of public and private groups to highlight efforts to implement solutions for the lakes' most pressing problems. The event is headquartered in a single city for the first time ever and that city is Detroit.

Today's coverage kicks off at noon with an overview of Great Lakes Week, highlights of yesterday's Great Lakes Commission Meeting. Also on tap is the International Joint Commission of US and Canadian government agencies, a report on U.S. and Canadian efforts to restore the chemical, physical and biological diversity of the Great Lakes Basin, updates on critical issues from algae to aquatic invasive species and the Great Lakes Town Hall featuring top officials from both the U.S. and Canada answering on-site and virtual audience questions (Twitter hastag #AskGLW). Much more to follow tomorrow and Friday - check the schedule of events out for an idea.

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Vanishing Point by e.rabior

Business Week reports that Michigan made some major moves toward high-speed rail yesterday:

A high-speed passenger train service between Chicago and Detroit took two big steps forward Wednesday with a $196.5 million federal grant to Michigan and the state's acquisition of a 135-mile stretch of track.

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced that it has awarded Michigan the funds for signal and track improvements on the rail line between Kalamazoo in western Michigan and Dearborn in suburban Detroit.

..."Investing in rail service will spark economic development in communities along a corridor linking Detroit and Chicago, two vital Midwest cities," Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said in a statement. "A faster, reliable passenger rail system is a priority for younger generations and vital to Michigan's ability to compete globally as businesses look to locate or expand."

Snyder added that the rail upgrades will speed freight transportation for Ford and other companies. You can read the complete release from the Department of Transportation forecasting that this will create 800 new jobs in Michigan.

You can see the Wolverine in action right here. It's the train that runs three Detroit-Chicago routes daily. That's a neat video showing just how fast a 95 MPH train is, but this fantastic timelapse from 1988 shot with a Super-8 from trainluvr is too good to pass up! Here's Amtrak's Michigan schedule too.

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by Michael Lesich

The Red Scorpion Tower by jacalynsnana

Michigan is transitioning from its 20th Century industrial roots to a global, interconnected, knowledge- based economy. Decisions about the future of our state’s economic direction are being made in the boardrooms of private companies and the halls of our state capitol. The most important innovation of my lifetime, the Internet, relies increasingly on a solid broadband infrastructure (land-based and mobile), to carry exponentially increasing traffic. Robust and universal access to the Internet is vital to the companies and residents of Michigan and the United States. However, we are still a long way from that critical goal.

As an owner of a small IT company, I know firsthand the benefits that come from readily available broadband access. We embrace telecommuting, remote access, and online education. We have the ability to hire the best person for the job, regardless of their location. Today’s knowledge workers, and their employers, benefit from telecommuting arrangements that reduce traffic, increase productivity, and enhance the quality of the products and services they provide.

In a recent USA TODAY Op-ed Julius Genachowski, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, correctly identified how universal broadband can stimulate job creation and economic growth. He focused on the ability of businesses to hire work-from-home employees, using the example of at-home call centers. "Twenty percent of call center jobs in America today are at-home jobs, powered by broadband," he wrote. "The ability to work from home provides new employment options for returning veterans, people with disabilities, and parents who need flexible work schedules."

Jobs4America, a coalition of companies calling for legislation to improve job creation in the U.S., has announced that 100,000 new call center jobs will be created in the U.S. over the next two years, including "300 new jobs in Holland, Michigan." These jobs and many like them would not be possible if not for broadband Internet access. Citing a study by Novo 1, Chairman Genachowski explained that "returning a call center to the U.S. from overseas can save companies about 15%." That savings means companies have more revenue to invest in expanding business and hiring new staff.

Broadband infrastructure efforts over the past 20 years have led to entire new industries and advancements. However, the growth and availability of broadband access has been largely focused on areas with a high population density. Rural areas and remote destinations were initially cost prohibitive. Advances in land-based and wireless mobile broadband technology have improved performance and lowered the cost to provide these services to a wide area. But we are a long way from universal access to all Americans, and this must quickly change in order to be competitive in a global marketplace.

Broadband increases local job growth (from 10 Ways Broadband Helps Rural Communities)

According to PEW Research, 35% of adults in the US use smartphones, and do much of their internet access on these devices. Increasingly, these users now expect access to the internet everywhere they go. When it is not there, many will not return. When it is not there, companies will not expand to those areas.

When it comes to education for students of all ages, internet access is increasingly at the core of the curriculum. Many students have better access to the internet and technology at home than they do at school. Providing Internet access at all schools across this country should be a priority for every educator and legislature. A student population accessing online courses, reference materials from around the world, and participating in collaborative endeavors with students across the globe represent the future of education, far beyond the walls of libraries of schools past.

Linda Teeter of the Michigan Action Center succinctly lays out the benefits of Bridging the Digital Divide in Michigan. "If every household, school, and community in Michigan had high-speed wireless broadband we would be able to boost productivity, rapidly improve communication speeds, and provide our children with the type of technology and education they need to succeed in an ever-evolving job market." She also includes several recent infographics from the Internet Innovation Alliance that "show how mobile broadband can benefit many aspects of rural communities as well as health IT" and can spur job creation.

With reliable high-speed Internet, Michigan businesses anywhere will be able to compete worldwide. Without reliable and universal high-speed internet, we will be competing with other states and even countries that have made the decision to put knowledge and information into the hands of their citizens. In these troubling economic times, we cannot afford to handicap our local businesses by failing to expand this critical 21st Century Infrastructure.

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X Marks the Spot - TEDxDetroit by slaytercreative

The 3rd annual TEDx Detroit takes place next Wednesday (September 28). TEDx events are locally planned & independently organized, designed to capture the flavor of the incredible TED conferences that bring together the finest minds in the world to share ideas with the power to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world.

TEDx Detroit will feature some of the region's leading creators, catalysts, entrepreneurs, artists, technologists, designers, scientists, thinkers and doers sharing what they are most passionate about - positive ideas for the world from Detroit & Michigan. Some of the featured speakers include Julie Clark, a former English and art teacher from Detroit, started The Baby Einstein Company in her basement, Bobby Smith of En Garde Detroit who has used fencing to connect with thousands of kids and Rob Bliss, the 22 year old social event wunderkind Grand Rapids who has created the world's largest pillow fight, zombie walk and LipDub video.

They have closed pre-registration but will announce how to get remaining tickets tomorrow right here, and they will also soon have information about how to watch live on Wednesday! There's more TEDx coming around the state. Check out TEDx Flint (October 22) and stay tuned to Absolute Michigan for information about more!

Here's a video taking you inside a previous TEDx Detroit. You'll also want to check out Why do we produce TEDx Detroit? by Charlie Curve.

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Over the eight days and nights of DDF—September 21 through September 28—a variety of Design Happenings will take place across at venues across the city of Detroit. The types of happenings will include studio tours, panels and roundtable discussions, fashion shows, and art battles to name a few.

Detroit Creative Corridor Center established the Detroit Design Festival to connect creative practitioners with one another, expose them to new markets and consumers, and of course put on display the creative talent that will help Detroit become a global center of creative innovation.

Art battles??!! Maybe someone can tell us what those are!

The site lists 85 Happenings, all "unfolded" in their blog. Competitions, presentations, panels, roundtables & lectures (Leon Krier next Tuesday sounds great), performances, benefits (25 chefs!), fashion shows, film screenings, cocktail receptions/dinners/parties, tours of all kinds, of art exhibits like Bordertown (cities and borders), Mind the Gap (public design ideas competition for Detroit's in-between spaces), Woodward Windows (empty storefront windows as galleries) - so many events of so many types at so many venues that it feels like Detroit may be generating some of the same energy that Grand Rapids will be for ArtPrize. Anyone think that the rest of Michigan should jump on board next year and celebrate the positive in all our communities?

Anyway, here's the video from detroitdesignfestival.com and we hope you get a chance to check out (and report on) some of the fun of DDF:

DDF - Fathead from Charlie Kelly on Vimeo.

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The UAW and GM bargaining teams negotiate the Treaty of Detroit, 1950 (Photo courtesy of Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University)

As the national debate over universal health care continues, it is instructive to look back to 1950. The “Treaty of Detroit,” signed that year, represents a pivotal moment in the offering of full medical benefits to the American worker.

Pattern Bargaining

Under Walter Reuther, the United Auto Workers (UAW) evolved the negotiating practice of pattern bargaining with the Big Three. In essence, the UAW would pick a strike target among Ford, Chrysler and General Motors (GM) during each negotiating year. The other two companies would match the concessions won by the UAW from the strike target and avert costly strikes at their own factories.

In 1950, the UAW pattern bargaining target was Ford, and among the major issues were pensions and full medical benefits. Ford quickly settled, and, after a 104 day strike, Chrysler agreed as well. GM followed suite. In what was hailed as the “Treaty of Detroit,” all autoworkers at the three carmakers would receive full pensions and full medical care. The trickle down effect was felt across the United States, as companies in the automotive and other industries followed the trend. For the first time, large segments of workers in the United States would have affordable health care, provided through their companies. Individuals and families who couldn’t afford to see a doctor, or for whom a medical emergency was an economic disaster of epic proportions, were now part and parcel of the growing health care system.

Personal Experience

Reuther himself had been forced to use the existing health care system in extreme fashion. He had been the victim of an assassination attempt in his house in northwest Detroit on April 20, 1948. After returning home after a late UAW meeting, Reuther was hit by a shotgun blast through the kitchen window as he was opening the family refrigerator. Wounded in the chest and right arm, Reuther suffered a long process of recovery and knew from first-hand experience the costs associated with the extremes of medical care. No doubt this played heavily on his mind as he negotiated the Treaty of Detroit.

Walter Reuther recuperates after the 1948 attempt on his life. His wife May watches over him. (Photo courtesy of Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University)

For much more about Walter Reuther, visit the Walter P. Reuther Library. Of particular interest is No Greater Calling: The Life of Walter P. Reuther. It was developed to commemorate his 100th birthday and also has text and even audio of speeches, photos and more.

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The Project Shiphunt Students

mLive has a nice feature on some Michigan students who helped discover 2 wrecks in Lake Huron. 122 years ago, the 138-foot schooner M.F. Merrick was hit by the steel freighter Etruria, sinking both ships. The students used historical records and diving experts to identify the ships, and helped to document the vessels in 3-D for the newest exhibit at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center. The article explains that:

...the crew of Project Shiphunt — which included five high school students from Saginaw — had identified two previously undiscovered wrecks in more than 300 feet of water just outside of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

"That was just powerful, to be the first human eyes to look at these since they went to the bottom," said James Delgado, director of Maritime Heritage at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and expedition leader for Project Shiphunt. "We were looking for a ship that was sunk in a collision, and we ended up finding two other ships that were sunk in a collision."

The project was a joint venture sponsored by Sony and Intel corporations that incorporated technology, oceanography, archeology and history into a hands-on curriculum that brought history to life for the Saginaw students during six days in May. The students directed the mission, charted the map in search of the steamer Choctaw, and manned the massive research vessels as they painted the floor of Lake Huron with triple-beam and side-scan sonars.

You can learn more about Project Shiphunt in a video from Sony/Intel. Definitely watch this if you can - it's a very cool video and shows how engaged the students were with the actual work of exploration. The documentary will air on the Current cable channel at 10 PM on Aug. 30th so check that out too!

To my mind, this is what education should be. Here's a 3D visualization of the ROV exploring the MF Merrick that's pretty neat as well.

3D Shipwreck - MF Merrick with ROV from Mike Postons on Vimeo.

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For the past eight months, the 29 year old has been driving a 1930 Model A as his everyday car. His project, dubbed “365 Days of A,” has him parking his Ford Explorer and Honda Accord and, for one year – with no exceptions for weather or distance – driving the beautiful blue Model A instead.

“It’s something I wanted to do for a few years,” says Klinger, who owns a 1919 Model T and ‘a few other cars.’ “I wanted to show that an old car like this can be driven every day.”

Head over to 365 Days of A to follow Jonathan through the ins (learning to slow down) and outs (fixing what goes wrong) and saga of his Model A experiment from Day 1 (October 13, 2010) to Day 252 (and beyond). Be sure to check out the FAQs for the who, what and where.

The video below looks at how they got the A into shape, and you can see a lot more on their 365 Days of A playlist!

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Speed by IreJustin

Applications are now open for the 2011 Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition. The Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition will award more than $1 million in cash winnings, plus in-kind awards of services, staffing and software to top entrepreneurial businesses and also includes a competition for college students with an idea for an innovative business.

To qualify for the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition, businesses must make a commitment to locate and grow in Michigan. These companies must also be at the commercial stage of business development, past proof of concept. It's open to businesses who operate in technology-driven sectors including alternative energy, IT, advanced manufacturing, life science, medical devices and advanced transportation.

Any undergraduate or graduate student who is enrolled in at least two classes in a Michigan public or private university or college for the fall 2011 semester is eligible for the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition, and student teams may also submit.

Get your applications and much more information at www.acceleratemichigan.org and check them out on Facebook. Check out last year's winners including $500,000 winner Armune BioScence.

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Golden Sunset on Lake Superior by unifiedphoto

The Detroit Free Press has launched a summer-long feature on the Great Lakes, water and Michigan. It starts with an interesting read by John Gallagher entitled Water shaped Michigan's past: Now it's a key to state's future that looks at the economic impact of the lakes and their potential as a source of new jobs and technology. It begins:

Michigan grew up on the Great Lakes. It can grow anew from their cool, abundant waters -- if they are used wisely and protected.

The greatest natural resource in all of North America and perhaps on our planet, the sweet water seas brought people to Michigan's peninsulas and moved Michigan ore, timber and manufactured goods to markets around the world.

The lake waters nourish our crops, slake our thirst, cool our machinery and change our weather -- sometimes rather abruptly. They provide fun, fish and spectacular vistas for millions of people.

In a world where 1 in every 6 people lacks daily access to fresh water, the Great Lakes are a treasure of immeasurable value.

And yet they have been exploited, depleted and polluted. They are threatened by invaders, foreign and domestic, some already in the waters or on the way, others on dry lands.

Where (in my opinion) it gets interesting and requires a whole lot of thought is the point when you start to think about the Great Lakes as an exportable commodity. When I read things like "Michigan has more water than Saudi Arabia has oil," I get scared. Thankfully there are some positive signs:

In the past year or two, all sorts of efforts have begun in Michigan to create a blue economy -- purifying water, recycling it, measuring how clean or dirty it is and providing water-based expertise to the world. The market for water technology is estimated at $500 billion a year and growing.

"We're sitting on liquid gold," said Dave Egner, director of the New Economy Initiative, a coalition of nonprofit foundations hoping to steer Michigan toward a new economic future.

Read on at the Freep and have a look at the New Economy Initiative as well. If you have the time, check out the trailer for one of my all-time favorite films, Waterlife by Kevin McMahon. It's a spell-binding look at the state of the lakes shot in beautiful HD. The official trailer is below and you can watch a longer version here.

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Driving Michigan is Absolute Michigan's new show that explores the state of Michigan and the people who are moving us towards the future. It's hosted by Seth Bernard, a musician of  Earthworks Music with a passion for Michigan. The video was shot by Ken Lake of Mythic Michigan.

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Painting A Picture Of Optimism by DetroitDerek Photography

Later this week (April 27-29) the 3rd annual  Future Midwest Conference kicks off in Detroit. It's the largest digital business conference in the Midwest and  seeks to accelerate business and cultural transformation by uniting community passions with emerging technologies. In 2011, they've selected Eastern Market in Detroit as the conference venue. In this interview, conference co-founder Adrian Pittman explains that:

FutureMidwest is a digital business conference that focuses on the impact of technology in five areas:

• Integrated marketing: How to integrate digital platforms into a well-rounded marketing mix
• User experience: How to create an engaging experience across a variety of digital media
• Mobile: How it's impacting information exchange and user access and how to utilize it
• Business Intelligence/Analytics: How to define metrics that matter most and apply them
• Regional growth: How the Midwest is participating in the information age

The conference features 2 full days of presentations, panels and exhibitions about technology, social media and how all of this ties into creating a new future for the Midwest. The 2011 conference debuts  Funded by Night, one-day competition to fund tech startups where 25 companies will create to will compete to win a $100,000 convertible note from two local venture capital firms Detroit Venture Partners and Ludlow Ventures.

Any video with a space cow in it has to be good, and the 2010 conference video is no exception!

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The daylong event's theme is designed  to educate, inspire and connect great minds by honoring innovators who have passion, curiosity, creativity and adaptability to change the world with revolutionary ideas. Guest speakers include Carl Ganter, director and co-founder of Circle of Blue; Ellen Gustafson, co-founder of FEED Projects; environmental activist  Peter Sinclair; Dominique Jaurola, founder of Hunome; photojournalist  Paola Gianturco;  James Gartner, television and film director; Carl Erickson, cofounder and president of Atomic Object; American conductor  Kevin Rhodes; author and Great Lakes advocate Jerry Dennis, author; educator  Yong Zhao;  and marine science educator  Teresa Carey who you can learn about in the video below!

TEDx  is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience.  TED started in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment and Design. You can click that link for a lot more information and some amazing TED Talks that take you from the deepest caves to the planet Saturn and explore cool innovations such as transforming education with video or Google's driverless car with all kinds of luminaries including Bill Gates (state budgets), Jane Goodall (what separates us from the apes) and web innovator Ze Frank.

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Chrysler spokeswoman Anita Thawte explained "Mr.  Daniels has starred in numerous Hollywood films and is well known in promoting an Upper Peninsula lifestyle that meshes so well with the power and payload of the U-series."

The specs of the vehicle are indeed impressive:  a massive 177 sq. ft. hood that can hold 7 deer, a gigantic bed that is rated for 4 tons of pasties and a powerful and eco-friendly V14 diesel that can operate in zero-emission mode when burning maple syrup.

Chrysler is reportedly exploring other concepts including "Smuggled from Saginaw", "Got a Ride from Grand Rapids" and "Walked over from Washtenaw".

If you liked this...

via Leelanau.com: Donald Trump unveils "Trump Leelanau" in Maple City (many, many more there as well!)

Mar 30, 2011: Weird Wednesday: April Fool's Day - Michigan's State Holiday?

Apr 1, 2010: Tim Allen co-opts Pure Michigan, declares for Governor

Apr 1, 2009: Bank bailout "tweak" to spur auto industry

Apr 1, 2008: Canadian Freeze Ray wreaks havok on Michigan

Apr 1, 2007: Massive trade sends Legislature, Governor to Guam - things are looking up for Michigan and the Tigers

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reboot by TerryJohnston

Full Disclosure: I saw these folks in action on the behalf of Absolute Michigan Community sponsor The Center for Michigan and was quite impressed with their work!

Birmingham-based agency Brogan & Partners is offering one small business in Michigan the tools and support to reinvent and refresh its brand through the Michigan Business Reboot Contest. The contest is a chance for Michigan-based businesses to win a $75,000  marketing and public relations makeover  that includes marketing strategy, creative, social media and public relations. The deadline is next Friday (April and all you have to do to enter is to explain in 250 words or less (or with a video) why your company deserves a reboot.

So much of Michigan's current "brand"  is tarnished with the endless stream of cuts and losses that we thought it would be a good idea to ask Brogan's Creative Director Laurie Hix about the assets she thinks Michigan companies should be basing their brands on in 2011:

"Every Michigan's business brand should be based on their competitive differentiator. Of course, that differentiator needs to connect to its target audience, but you can't pander to your audience. Just like a teenager trying to be in the popular group shouldn't try to be something he is not. If it's not based in truth your brand will have no foundation and will crumble. And in today's era of social media you will be called out on it.

So what assets should Michigan companies be basing their brands on? What they excel at and what sets them apart. But admittedly, when you are beaten up like many Michigan businesses feel, sometimes it's hard to step away, look at yourself honestly, peel away the layers and see what makes you different. That is where an agency like ours can help."

Click the button for a shot at a reboot and add any thoughts you might have about the assets YOU are branding on below!

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Vineyard by ramjetgr

Michigan Radio Morning Edition host Christina Shockley is asking those in the know What's Working in Michigan? There's no better time to take a look at things that are already happening to improve our state's economy and our lives. Here's a snapshot of a few of the voices:

Linda Jones, the Executive Director of the Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Council on Michigan Wine: Success in a Bottle: "It combines our second and third largest industries: agriculture and tourism. Michigan is a long-standing fruit-producing state, especially on the west side of the state, but increasingly throughout Michigan we are planting wine grapes with new varieties that are being developed."

jibba jabba scribba scrabba rail jam 17 by emperley3

Scott MacInnes, the City Manager of Houghton on Turning winter in the U.P. into a tourist destination: "People around here live up here because they enjoy the weather. We do three or four special events in the downtown. We have Michigan Tech's Winter Carnival, which is a huge mid-winter festival for us up here. So we just have a lot of neat activities going on that really make the winter go by fast and make it enjoyable."

Rick Wilson, Heritage Sustainable Energy on Wind energy takes off in Michigan: "One of the things that I like to think, and that I believe, is that it's a homegrown source of power that is critical to our everyday lives. Traditionally, here in Michigan, 80 percent, I think, of our power, especially in Lower Michigan, is coming from large, somewhat archaic (not all of them, but, you know) coal-fired facilities. They may not even be located in Michigan. Some of them are located down in the Ohio River Basin and Indiana and surrounding states. So, to have, not only renewable generation here in our home state, but also just power that's generated right here in our back yard is something that's important for us as a community and as a state."

Read more stories from Michigan Radio and post what you think is working below!

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Thanks Blogging for Michigan for the find!

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Fading to Sky by Jeff Casemier

The Grand Rapids Press reports that four of West Michigan's leading companies are launching a design hub this summer in Grand Rapids that is modeled after other successful programs in other cities:

Dubbed GRid70, the concept will bring together creative professionals from Amway, Meijer Inc., Steelcase Inc. and Wolverine World Wide Inc. at 70 Ionia Ave. SW, where they will share ideas while drawing inspiration from the urban environment.

The goal is to capitalize on the region's sometimes unheralded design expertise by mixing creative teams from different industries and, hopefully, spawning the sorts of "happy accidents" that inspire innovation, new products and different ways of thinking.

...GRid70 was born from a group of about 30 West Michigan CEOs who formed a committee, called What's Next, to develop ideas for bolstering the area's economy, reputation and its attractiveness to potential employees and entrepreneurs.

"This puts a stake in the ground that communicates the area's design strengths not only to Grand Rapids, but to the world," said Carol Coletta, who heads CEOs for Cities, a Chicago-based urban consulting firm hired by What's Next.

Read on to learn about the new Masters of Design Methods program that will be housed in the building. Also see Michigan design hub opens in Grand Rapids in Business Week, the GRid70 Facebook, a brief explanation of the concept and this video from WZZM TV-13:

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"Winds of Change" Point Betsie
Lighthouse by Michigan Nut

The Pure Michigan Facebook fan page topped 200,000 fans over the weekend. According to the Street, this makes Pure Michigan one of only four state tourism Facebook pages with more than 100,000 fans and the first state tourism Facebook page with over 200,000 fans:

"We could not be more pleased with the increase of Pure Michigan Facebook fans," said George Zimmermann, Vice President of Travel Michigan, a business unit of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. "As we look ahead to summer travel, our fans are sharing their favorite vacation spots and experiences, which we know will result in new and more visitors to Michigan."

Tourism is a major source of revenue for Michigan's economy. Since its launch in 2006, the award-winning Pure Michigan campaign has attracted seven million new, out-of-state visitors to the Great Lakes State, visitors who spent $2 billion at Michigan businesses and paid $138 million in Michigan taxes, primarily sales tax. The campaign generated $3.29 in tax revenue for the state for each dollar spent on Pure Michigan advertising.

Way to go, Pure Michigan and speaking of Facebook, don't forget the Absolute Michigan and Michigan in Pictures Facebook pages!

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