Get Into the Holiday Spirit at GlobalPittsburgh First Thursdays International Happy Hour Dec. 6 at AVA Lounge

Get into the holiday spirit on a global scale at the next GlobalPittsburgh First Thursdays international happy hour at AVA Lounge in East Liberty on Thursday, Dec. 6 from 5:30-8:00 p.m. (or later).

This month’s over-21 event will feature holiday dress and customs from around the world. There will be free appetizers catered by Conflict Kitchen, bar specials, raffles and more. Bring your friends! Meet our visiting global delegations and mingle with many of the region's international entrepreneurs and innovators.

GlobalPittsburgh First Thursdays is a regular monthly night of networking and socializing with different themes, different activities and different locations - but always with an international flavor - on the first Thursday of every month. It's an evening of friends, interesting conversation and good spirits with an international flair.

AVA Lounge is located at 126 S. Highland Avenue in East Liberty.

Admission is FREE for paid GlobalPittsburgh members. Admission is $5 at the door for everyone else. Membership information will be available at the event, but you may also join GlobalPittsburgh now at www.globalpittsburgh.org/membership and get in free on the night of the event.

Many thanks to support from Vibrant Pittsburgh, whose mini-grant program helps make these events possible.

If you have questions, please contact Nadya Kessler in the GlobalPittsburgh office at 412-392-4513 or by email at nkessler@globalpittsburgh.org. Photos from past First Thursdays and a few other GlobalPittsburgh events, activities, and programs can be viewed at www.flickr.com/photos/globalpittsburgh. See you there!

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Free Tickets for GlobalPittsburgh Members to Screening of New Film & Live Appearance by Boyd Tinsley of Dave Matthews Band Tuesday 11/27

Current GlobalPittsburgh members and active hosts can receive free tickets for a special movie screening of "Faces in the Mirror" and live appearance by writer and producer Boyd Tinsley of the Dave Matthews Band tomorrow night (Tuesday, 11/27) at AMC Loews Waterfront 22 in Homestead, just south of Pittsburgh.

"Faces in the Mirror" is Tinsley's experimental musical narrative of Ben Fischer, a young man returning home to bury his estranged father. On the day of his father’s funeral, Ben embarks on a dreamlike odyssey through his past and present, spending time with friends and strangers who all offer support: a comforting young woman, a concerned old friend, a wise street prophet. Woven into this tapestry are memories of his parents and his guardian, Roberta. Ben’s is a journey through those ineffable spaces between confusion, anger, acceptance, and forgiveness.

Free tickets are available for current GlobalPittsburgh members and active hosts on a first-come, first-served basis by sending email to Thomas Buell, Jr., Director of Marketing at GlobalPittsburgh at tbuell@globalpittsburgh.com.

Those receiving tickets will be notified by 3 p.m. on Tuesday. If you're not a GlobalPittsburgh and would like to become a member to receive the free tickets, membership information is available at http://www.globalpittsburgh.org/membership. Join today and your annual membership is good until the end of 2013. Membership fees are $40 for an individual and $50 for a household.

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Pittsburgh-Based Plextronics Partners With Netherlands Group to Develop Flexible LED Lighting Systems

Plextronics, a Pittsburgh-based global technology company specializing in printed electronics, and Netherlands-based Holst Centre, an open-innovation initiative by imec (B) and TNO (NL), recently announced their partnership on shared research towards flexible organic light emitting diode (OLED) lighting and signage.

Flexible OLED lighting demonstrator

With its leading expertise in several of the functional materials needed to develop OLEDs, Plextronics complements the Holst Centre’s existing partners. The Plextronics-Holst partnership’s goal is to improve the scaling of lab device performance to large area OLED lighting and signage devices. This is game-changing technology that opens the door to many possible lighting applications in living and working environments.

An OLED device consists of a light-emitting material in between conductive and protective layers. In order to maximize the electrical current running through these layers, hole injection and hole transport layers are needed between the anode and the light-emitting material. For low-cost processing on flexible substrates, the materials to deposit these layers need to be compatible with solution-based roll-to-roll processing.

Plextronics is a leader in the discovery, development and manufacturing of solution-based hole-injection layers and hole-transport layers. It will make its current Plexcore® hole injection and hole transport inks available within the Holst Centre research program and in return can benefit from the research results for further optimization.

Holst Centre will use the Plexcore® inks in its shared research program on Flexible OLED Lighting and Signage to create functional OLED demonstrators, facilitating their characterization and evaluation as it would be applied in a production environment.

Ton van Mol, Program Manager Flexible OLED Lighting and Signage at Holst Centre said, “Having Plextronics on board is a major asset to our research program. The company’s unique knowledge perfectly complements the existing expertise in the program. It adds strength to the shared effort aimed at making flexible, affordable, and durable OLED lighting commercial products for future lighting solutions.”

“Holst Centre is a leading research institute for printed electronics that is renowned for facilitating partner companies to use the open innovation model. Plextronics will apply the knowledge gained from this work to enhance our Plexcore® hole injection and hole transport products used in large area hybrid lighting panel manufacturing today and all solutions processed manufacturing applications under development ,” said Mathew Mathai, Director, OLED Lighting at Plextronics. “We are excited to participate in the OLED Lighting Technical Integration Program with other ecosystem partners to help solve the challenges of scaling OLED lighting.”

About Plextronics 
Plextronics, Inc. is a global technology company that specializes in conductive polymers and printable formulations that enable advanced electronic devices. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the company's develops customized inks to enhance the performance of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) for next generation displays and lighting applications, lithium ion batteries, polymer metal capacitors, and emerging organic electronic devices.

The privately held company was founded in 2002 as a spinout from Carnegie Mellon University based upon conductive polymer technology developed by Dr. Richard McCullough. Plextronics has developed this technology for market adoption and currently manufactures and delivers its conductive polymer products around the world. The company is ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004 certified. For more information about Plextronics, visit www.plextronics.com.

About Holst Centre 
Holst Centre is an independent open-innovation R&D centre that develops generic technologies for wireless autonomous sensor technologies and for flexible electronics. A key feature of Holst Centre is its partnership model with industry and academia around shared roadmaps and programs. It is this kind of cross-fertilization that enables Holst Centre to tune its scientific strategy to industrial needs.  Holst Centre was set up in 2005 by imec (Flanders, Belgium) and TNO (The Netherlands) with support from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Government of Flanders. It is named after Gilles Holst, a Dutch pioneer in Research and Development and first director of Philips Research. More information at www.holstcentre.com 

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GlobalPittsburgh Annual Dinner - Dec. 17 at LeMont - Your Passport to Pittsburgh; Making the Western Pennsylvania Connection - Register Today!

Join us on Monday, Dec. 17, 2012 for the GlobalPittsburgh Annual Dinner to learn why the eyes of the world are focused on the Pittsburgh region as a global center for energy innovation, education, technology, environmental research and business.

Now is your chance to learn more about the many benefits we provide to the regional community and economy, while having fun, networking with friends old and new, eating delicious food, enjoying a stunning view of the Pittsburgh skyline, getting your picture taken in a free photo booth, and winning valuable prizes at the same time. We're calling it Your Passport to Pittsburgh - Making the Western Pennsylvania Connection.

This year we'll be livening things up a little. You will have the opportunity to meet and learn from the valuable resources in the Pittsburgh region, just as our delegations of global leaders do when they come here as part of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program.

Upon arrival, you will receive a GlobalPittsburgh Passport similar to the itinerary we prepare for our visiting delegations. You will stroll around the room and engage with some of the same leaders from the region who have met with international visitors in the past year.

You will eat some of the best food in town from gourmet serving stations, see old friends and meet new ones, converse with some of the top experts in fields including energy, engineering, sustainability and higher education, and enjoy a cultural performance. Bill Flanagan of the Allegheny Conference will be your local “tour guide” as emcee for the evening. At the end of the evening, your Passport will give you a chance to win several valuable prizes.

Just like our visiting delegations, you will have a chance to interact with some of the host families who regularly welcome visitors into their homes. When you depart for home, you will have learned something about Pittsburgh and made some important connections that will benefit you in the future. This promises to be an Annual Dinner to remember. We look forward to seeing you.

CLICK HERE to register today. Tickets for current GlobalPittsburgh are $80 each, which includes an entry to the grand prize drawing and one drink ticket. A delegation of eight people is $640; a delegation of 10 is $800. For non-members, tickets are $100 each. Non-members can pay $120 for a discounted family membership and admission for one. A delegation of eight is $800; a delegation of 10 is $1,000.

For information, contact Nadya Kessler at 412-392-4513 or nkessler@globalpittsburgh.org. If you would like to become a sponsor please CLICK HERE to learn more about sponsorship opportunities.
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New Cooperation Agreement Between GlobalPittsburgh and Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education Expands Efforts To Attract International Students to Region

A newly-signed cooperation agreement between GlobalPittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education (PCHE) will further enhance efforts to promote the region around the world as an education hub and attract international students to its many colleges, universities and English Language Programs, according to leaders of the two non-profit organizations.

"This partnership will strengthen what GlobalPittsburgh has been doing for several years through our channels within the U.S. government to attract international students and make a valuable contribution to the Pittsburgh Region," said Michael Malloy, Acting Chairman of the GlobalPittsburgh Board of Directors. "Education is one of this region’s major exports and top economic drivers, and we can now expand our outreach by ensuring that we are cooperating to coordinate our efforts."

Kenneth Service, Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education, said the new agreement “builds on endeavors already under way at many of the PCHE schools, and we are proud to be a partner with GlobalPittsburgh in promoting Pittsburgh throughout the world. One of Pittsburgh’s foremost assets, which sets it apart from many American cities, is the breadth and diversity of its institutions of higher education.”

Through the new Memorandum of Cooperation, the two groups will further expand their existing commitments to:
• Actively market and promote the Pittsburgh region and its many educational assets around the world with the goal of attracting international students to study in the region
• Engage locally with companies and organizations to raise awareness of the value and importance of the Pittsburgh region’s educational assets as a valuable export resource with significant economic and cultural benefits
• Pursue possible academic partnerships between universities and/or departments and international institutions that might lead to student and faculty exchanges, training opportunities and research opportunities
• Co-host visiting international delegations, groups and individuals who may be interested in educational opportunities in the Pittsburgh region

GlobalPittsburgh already promotes the Pittsburgh region and its many educational assets around the world through its Study Pittsburgh initiative (www.studypittsburgh.org), which was formed in 2010. In addition, the organization has for the past 53 years hosted international delegations, groups and individuals through the U.S. Department of State and other programming organizations, and connected a network of people and organizations in the region sharing a common vision of advancing the Pittsburgh region as a truly global community.

The Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education (PCHE) is a consortium of the 10 accredited colleges and universities in Allegheny County. It was founded in 1966 to provide a means for sharing resources, insights and information among its member institutions; engage in cooperative activities and projects; and offer a common voice on matters that affect all of the member institutions.

Both organizations currently count among their supporters Carlow University, Carnegie Mellon University, Chatham University, Community College of Allegheny County, Duquesne University, La Roche College, Point Park University, Robert Morris University and the University of Pittsburgh.

GlobalPittsburgh’s Study Pittsburgh initiative also includes Penn State University, Washington & Jefferson College and West Virginia University. PCHE also includes the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. 

The new cooperation agreement builds on recent developments announced by each organization. GlobalPittsburgh already promotes the region through the U.S. Department of State’s network of more than 400 EducationUSA advising centers around the world, and was recently selected to host a training institute in December for 25 new EducationUSA advisers.

GlobalPittsburgh also signed a partnership agreement in May 2012 with the U.S. Commercial Service to promote the Pittsburgh region’s educational assets through the Commercial Service’s international network of trade offices.

The Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the 13-member Institutes of Technology Ireland (IOTI) to "strengthen, promote and develop co-operation in education, training, research, and innovation among the member institutions."

In economic terms, international students make a significant positive impact in the region, contributing an estimated $270 million in tuition and living expenses to the regional economy, according to new reports issued this week by the Institute for International Education. More than 9,800 international students are enrolled in the Greater Pittsburgh region, IIE reported.

"The benefits that accrue to the Pittsburgh region from its colleges and universities go far beyond the direct provision of educational services and training to thousands of area citizens," said PCHE’s Kenneth Service. "The 10 PCHE institutions play a key role in supporting Pittsburgh’s growing global reputation."

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Support GlobalPittsburgh With Your Online Holiday Purchases - Percentage of Spending will be Returned as Investment in GlobalPittsburgh – At No Cost to You!

With the holiday shopping season approaching, we have a tremendous opportunity to raise additional funds for GlobalPittsburgh — but it requires your help. It won’t cost you a penny.

We've partnered with We-Care.com to offer the We-Care Reminder. It allows us to receive a donation whenever you shop online at hundreds of participating merchants — at no extra cost to you.

The Reminder is a browser extension for Firefox, Safari, Chrome and Internet Explorer. It takes less than a minute to install on your computer (home and work). It's a breeze to download, and it's easy to use!

There are three things you can do to help:

It’s this easy:

1. Go to http://globalpittsburgh.We-Care.com/Start and download the We-Care Reminder. (Then forget about it. It works automatically.)
2. When you visit a participating merchant, you’ll see a message thanking you for supporting GlobalPittsburgh.
3. Just shop as you normally do, and a donation will be made — without taking a penny from your wallet. 
4. Ask your friends and family to do the same, even if it's only forwarding this email.
5. If you blog, tweet, use Facebook, or are involved in any form of social media, use it to spread the word!

Together, we can turn money already being spent on gifts, travel and your own purchases into support for our programs at GlobalPittsburgh.

It only takes a few clicks, so please do it before you close this blog post. To get started, just visit http://globalpittsburgh.We-Care.com/Start.

P.S. If you’re reading this at work, please forward it to your personal email account to make sure you install the Reminder at home.

For access to more merchants; exclusive, money-saving offers; and the ability to track your donations, you can visit our Online Mall at http://globalpittsburgh.we-care.com.

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University of Pittsburgh Offering Free Weekend Course, “Muslims in Global Context: Afghanistan, Pakistan & India,” Nov. 16-18

The University of Pittsburgh’s Global Studies Center will host a free minicourse titled “Muslims in a Global Context: Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India” from Nov. 16-18 in Room 2400 of Pitt’s Sennott Square, 210 S. Bouquet St., Oakland.

Designed to provide an opportunity for the public and students to better understand culture and politics in Central Asia, a region that is critical to U.S. national security, the weekend minicourse will consist of a series of lectures on the factors and trends that continue to shape the countries of Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan.

The program will begin at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 16 with a lecture titled “Why Does It Matter: A View from the East and West” presented by Muqtedar Khan, professor of political science and international relations at the University of Delaware and founding director of that school’s Islamic Studies Program.

Other lectures will include “Governance and State in Afghanistan” presented at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 17 by Jennifer Murtazashvili, Pitt assistant professor of public and international affairs, and “Education and Youth in South Asia,” presented at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 17 by Mohammed Shafiq, associate professor of administrative and policy studies in Pitt’s School of Education.

A complete agenda and registration forms are available at www.ucis.pitt.edu/global/mini-course/536. The deadline to register is Nov. 14.

Pitt and Carnegie Mellon students may register to receive one credit for the course; teachers may receive ACT 48 credit; and the general public may attend any of the minicourse lectures for a noncredit learning experience.

The minicourse is co-sponsored by Pitt’s Global Studies Center within the University Center for International Studies as well as by Carnegie Mellon University’s Office of the Provost and Division of Student Affairs. READ FULL ARTICLE

Search for Truth in Political Advertising Captures Interest of Foreign Delegation; Highlights Need for Fact Checking

By Steve Hallock
Truth was the primary subject of the day in the conference room of GlobalPittsburgh last Friday. The eight foreign journalists and politicians visiting the Pittsburgh as part of a tour to observe and learn about the 2012 presidential election wondered why we Americans and our media allow blatant lies to enter the discussion.

The group of journalists and
politicians from Indonesia,
Singapore, France and Sweden
during one of their meetings
in Pittsburgh last week.

Beyond the obvious First Amendment concerns, this is an important question, and an ironic one, considering the parties – besides the politicians – most involved in disseminating political information: the journalism and advertising industries. The first tenet of the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics admonishes, “Seek Truth and Report It; Journalists should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering and interpreting information.” This includes the sub-tenet: “Test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid inadvertent error. Deliberate distortion is never permissible.”

And here is the first principle of the American Advertising Federation’s Institute for Advertising Ethics: “Advertising, public relations, marketing communications, news, and editorial all share a common objective of truth and high ethical standards in serving the public.”

Deliberate distortion? Inadvertent error? A common objective of truth? Are they kidding? Anybody who paid attention to the campaign, and the presidential debates in particular, must be snorting derisive laughter about now.

As I discussed with the foreign delegation, this is not a new phenomenon. Truth has been hostage in American political process since the days of Washington and Jefferson; but, as we all agreed, the big lie and the accompanying negativity have grown even bigger in this era of immense media dynamics that has come to include not only the newspapers of yore but also television, radio and the blogosphere. The lies are louder now and repeated more often to the extent that they play a greater role not only in setting the public agenda but in shaping it.

Little, other than self-policing, can be done about misinformation in the world of advertising, especially in the dominant media format of broadcast – given traditional Federal Communications Commission reluctance to police the industry and considering the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court Citizens United ruling that defined inanimate corporations as people with the right to spend unlimited amounts of money on even a distorted or false message.

Journalists, though, can put aside the false god of objectivity on behalf of the larger principle truth.

This is why I agreed with the visiting journalists and politicians in their approval of CNN correspondent Candy Crowley’s real-time fact-checking during the second presidential debate, when Republican candidate Mitt Romney wrongly claimed that President Barack Obama had taken 14 days to identify the attack on the Libyan consulate as the work of terrorists. Crowley interjected, to the audience’s applause, that the president actually had invoked “terrorism” terminology the day after the attack.

Crowley stepped beyond the role of moderator and donned her garb as journalist. Her unexpected baring of Romney’s deceit suggested a possible remedy to the problem of how the media can cut through the thick underbrush of distortion and obfuscation that dominate today’s political campaigns.

I told the small international entourage during our conversation that journalism instructors strive to push students toward understanding the difference between accurate reporting and truthful reporting. Accuracy is, of course, important. When journalists quote public officials, even when those officials are telling lies, they must quote them accurately. But it is not enough to be accurate. Nor is it enough to be balanced – to report, for example, that a mayor has accused a city councilman of accepting bribes and to get the other side by reporting the councilman’s denial. The journalist’s responsibility, in the role as government watchdog, is to report whether such pronouncements are true.

Crowley is on to something. As the nation ponders the meaning and lessons of its most recent national and local elections, those responsible for delivering the messages should also consider how they can do it better next time – in a way that serves not only the audience but also the democracy the Fourth Estate is supposed to monitor. In this era of live media everywhere all the time, on-the-spot media fact-delivery would be a welcome prescription.

Next-day analysis, after the majority of Americans have watched the debates and gone to bed, certainly is worthwhile. But it comes late, after the initial message has settled into the nation’s subconscious – after the damage of the deception has been largely done.

In future debates, moderators should build upon the Crowley initiative and become more than time-keepers. Let them instead enter the debate realm as well-informed keepers of the facts. Let them give fair warning to candidates that any lies detected during the course of the debate or during interviews for public consumption will be subject to verification – in the same piece reporting their utterances.

In his 1849 essay on civil disobedience, Henry David Thoreau wrote that if one honest man would stand up against slavery, that would be the beginning of the end of slavery. In this campaign season, one broadcast journalist stood up against a campaign lie. If others would follow this lead, we might see, if not an end to the lies, at least more reluctance to deceive.

Steve Hallock is director of the School of Communication at Point Park University in Pittsburgh.
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Get Into the Holiday Spirit at GlobalPittsburgh First Thursdays International Happy Hour Dec. 6 at AVA Lounge

Get into the holiday spirit on a global scale at the next GlobalPittsburgh First Thursdays international happy hour at AVA Lounge in East Liberty on Thursday, Dec. 6 from 5:30-8:00 p.m. (or later).

This month’s over-21 event will feature holiday dress and customs from around the world. There will be free appetizers catered by Conflict Kitchen, bar specials, raffles and more. Bring your friends! Meet our visiting global delegations and mingle with many of the region's international entrepreneurs and innovators.

GlobalPittsburgh First Thursdays is a regular monthly night of networking and socializing with different themes, different activities and different locations - but always with an international flavor - on the first Thursday of every month. It's an evening of friends, interesting conversation and good spirits with an international flair.

AVA Lounge is located at 126 S. Highland Avenue in East Liberty.

Admission is FREE for paid GlobalPittsburgh members. Admission is $5 at the door for everyone else. Membership information will be available at the event, but you may also join GlobalPittsburgh now at www.globalpittsburgh.org/membership and get in free on the night of the event.

Many thanks to support from Vibrant Pittsburgh, whose mini-grant program helps make these events possible.

If you have questions, please contact Nadya Kessler in the GlobalPittsburgh office at 412-392-4513 or by email at nkessler@globalpittsburgh.org. Photos from past First Thursdays and a few other GlobalPittsburgh events, activities, and programs can be viewed at www.flickr.com/photos/globalpittsburgh. See you there!

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