On September 18th, 2003, 400 local business, civic, and education leaders gathered at the Lambeau Field Atrium for an all day session with Richard Florida, author of the book The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It's Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life. The message to all of us: engage young people in your community to stop the "brain drain" from Northeastern Wisconsin and get going on making your community one where creative class people are attracted to. We've made progress, by starting with things like the Creative Future Cafe, and keeping it going through the continued participation of the YPN and EWDN.

In light of all this, I'll be picking up on features from around the country, at least to the best of my ability, that illustrate elements of Creative Class cities and metro areas that we could glean ideas as we march forward with our own creative future vision. Look for these ideas under the category Creative Class.