Halloween Party With International Flavor Oct. 30 at the New Hazlett Theater - Dias de los Muertos

The New Hazlett Theater on Pittsburgh's North Side will hold a Halloween @ the Hazlett fundraiser on Friday, Oct. 30. The six-hour event will be themed to offer a modern take on the sacred holidays of Days of the Dead.

A VIP Fiesta from 8-10 p.m. will be followed by an All Souls Party from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.

El Dias de los Muertos is a festival of "welcome" for the souls of the dead. The celebration is prepared and enjoyed by the living and honors those who have passed. The customs surrounding this celebration are based on ancient traditions traced to the Aztec civilization in Mexico. The belief is that the souls of the deceased return each year to enjoy, for a few brief hours, the pleasures they once knew in life.

The night will feature all the rituals of traditional Days of the Dead celebrations, a dead celebrity contest judged by local celebrities, a day-glo art exhibit, and live performances by Attack Theatre, AWC Dance Ensemble, NAKA Entertainment, Vanessa German and Greer Reed-Jones.

Guests will be tempted with delicious delights by Bob Sendall's All in Good Taste Productions and many local favorite restaurants accompanied by thirst-quenching libations and a signature drink.

Tickets for the VIP Fiesta are $75 in advance/$100 at the door, and include admission to the All Souls Party. Tickets for the All Souls Party are $25 in advance/$35 at the door. All proceeds benefit the New Hazlett Theater's charitable mission to cultivate the arts and serve as a world-class venue for performance. FREE parking at the Children's Museum.

More information at www.newhazletttheater.org. READ FULL ARTICLE

Pittsburgh Named North America's Host City for United Nations World Environment Day, June 5, 2010

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today named Pittsburgh the North American host city for World Environment Day 2010. The theme is “Biodiversity: Connecting with Nature.”

Local government officials, businesses, organizations and individuals will work with UNEP’s Regional Office for North America (RONA) to schedule a series of events during the six weeks that “bridge the gap” between the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22 and World Environment Day on June 5.

The United Nations created World Environment Day (WED) in 1972 to stimulate environmental awareness and action. With thousands of events in UNEP’s six global regions including North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, West Asia, and Europe, World Environment Day is considered one of the largest environmental events of its kind. Host cities will be chosen in each region.

The selection of Pittsburgh by UNEP follows on the heels of Pittsburgh’s recent role as host of the September 2009 G-20 Summit and President Barack Obama’s efforts to showcase the region’s successful transformation from an industrial city to a present-day model of green economy industries, organizations and initiatives, which will all be on display during WED and at Bridging the Gap events.

Bayer Corporation, based in Pittsburgh and a longtime sponsor of UNEP programs, including World Environment Day in North America and around the world, was instrumental in Pittsburgh’s selection as 2010 North American WED host city.

“With the help of Bayer, one of UNEP’s most important global and regional World Environment Day partners, we are proud and pleased to spotlight Pittsburgh’s remarkable environmental and sustainability progress, particularly in the areas of biodiversity, green jobs and workforce development, and environmental education,” said Amy Fraenkel, Director, UNEP RONA.

“In terms of sustainability, Pittsburgh has come so far, whether it’s in innovation and research, environmental education or sustainable business practices,” said Greg Babe, President and CEO, Bayer Corporation. “As the North American host city for World Environment Day, the Pittsburgh region and the companies that call it home have a unique opportunity to showcase our progress and enhance the ongoing dialogue about this important topic.”

While UNEP thinks globally, with WED it asks communities to think and act locally and share their ideas and expertise about solutions to environmental issues.

“We are grateful to UNEP for singling out our region and giving us another opportunity to show the rest of the world that we have become a leader in green technology, environmental stewardship and sustainable development,” said Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato. “Through our Allegheny Green initiative, the County is leading by example, working to reduce our ecological footprint, and creating countywide policies and programs to further promote sustainable practices.”

“The City of Pittsburgh is honored to be chosen as World Environment Day host city for 2010,” said Mayor Luke Ravenstahl. “Through the Mayor's Office of Sustainable Development and Energy Efficiency, Pittsburgh demonstrates its ongoing commitment to our environment. In the next several months, I will be reaching out and urging local government agencies, businesses, organizations and individuals to get involved, create, support and/or sponsor WED activities.

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About Bayer Corporation

Bayer Corporation, headquartered in Pittsburgh, is a subsidiary of Bayer AG, an international health care, nutrition and high-tech materials group based in Leverkusen, Germany. In North America, Bayer had 2008 net sales of approximately 8 billion euros (about $12 billion) and employed 17,000 at year-end. Bayer’s three subgroups, Bayer HealthCare, Bayer CropScience and Bayer MaterialScience, improve people’s lives through a broad range of essential products that help diagnose, prevent and treat diseases; protect crops and enhance yields; and advance automobile safety and durability. For more information, go to www.bayerus.com. READ FULL ARTICLE

Pittsburgh's Artistic Renaissance Highlighted in The Economist's "Intelligent Life" Magazine

Pittsburgh's growing reputation as a hotbed of artistic expression and creativity just got another boost from "Intelligent Life" magazine, a lifestyle publication of the renowned London-based news source, The Economist.

"As the host of the recent G20 Summit, Pittsburgh was a showcase of urban and economic renewal for the world," the magazine writes. "In three decades Pennsylvania’s Steel City has transformed itself from rustbelt victim to a more vibrant and economically diverse place.

"But while Andy Warhol’s hometown is enjoying its 15 minutes, the city’s dynamic art scene is also worth a look. With a top-ranked art school, a new director at the Carnegie Museum of Art and a city full of young talent and cheap rents, Pittsburgh is poised to become a solid base for the next generation of artists."

Read more at http://bit.ly/nspC6 READ FULL ARTICLE

Pittsburgh's Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild Going Global With Social Entrepreneurship Success Story – 100 Replica Centers in U.S. & 100 More Worldwide

By Thomas Buell, Jr.

Bill Strickland hadn’t thought of going global with his successful community arts-education and vocational training program until he met a casually dressed young man after a speech he had just given on the West Coast.

He took the guy’s card, because he’s a courteous man, and went back to his office at Manchester Bidwell Corp., which oversees the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild and the Bidwell Training Center on Pittsburgh’s North Side.

Strickland asked one of the “techie kids” around the office if he’d ever heard of a company called eBay and its co-founder, Jeff Skoll. Yes, in fact, he had.

Skoll, who is now worth billions thanks to his involvement in helping create the world’s largest online auction website, hoped Strickland would call him back once he figured out who he was. And Strickland did.

“I called him up and said, “Mr. Skoll, I’ve come to have a much deeper appreciation for who you are, man,’” says Strickland as part of a story that always seems to get a laugh. “He laughed and said ‘I thought you’d figure it out sooner or later.’”

So the two men got together, and the Skoll Foundation awarded Strickland’s organization a grant for half a million dollars because Skoll believed that the program, which takes at-risk kids and gives them hope through the creative arts, and also provides teens and adults with vocational training, could be replicated to work in other cities and in other countries.

That $500,000 was just a down payment. With Skoll’s ongoing support and now friendship, Strickland has launched an ambitious plan to open 200 centers – 100 in the U.S. and 100 more around the world – just like the one on Metropolitan Street, a stone’s throw from where he grew up in one of Pittsburgh’s toughest neighborhoods.

Three more centers already have opened in San Francisco, Cincinnati and Grand Rapids, Mich. Several more are on the drawing board in Canada, Ireland, Israel and Brazil, to name a few.

Already, the new centers have started to show the same results as the Pittsburgh location, which counts its successes in the thousands. More than 80 percent of the participating high schoolers graduate, and 90 percent of them go on to pursue some kind of higher education.

Unlike most public high schools these days, none of the centers has security cameras or metal detectors. In 25 years, they've never needed them, Strickland says. They are clean, open, brightly-lit and filled with state-of-the-art labs, studios, classrooms and performance halls.

“The architecture is very important,” he says. “My feeling is that if you build beautiful buildings you’ll get beautiful people. If you build prisons, you’ll get prisoners.”

Speaking of prisons, Strickland believes that the money his organization receives from a combination of state government, foundations and private donations is a much better use of funds than building correctional facilities.

“It takes a lot of money to keep people in poverty,” he says. “Why not spend that money on making people more productive. I work with people who are liabilities and make them assets to the community.”

As if solving the problems of inner-city America wasn’t enough of a challenge, Strickland, whose work has been the subject of three Harvard Business School cases studies and who recently published a book titled “Make the Impossible Possible,” also is working in Israel to adapt his concept to programs to bring together the Jewish and Arab communities.

“If you give anybody pride in what they can do and a reason to stay on this earth, then you can accomplish anything,” he says. “That’s what our programs are all about.”

Dr. Utz Kűpper from Cologne, Germany, met Strickland recently through a visit arranged by GlobalPittsburgh. Kűpper helped start a program serving similar populations in his country, but was amazed at Strickland's success.

"It is amazing what he has done here," Kűpper said during a tour of the Manchester Bidwell facilities (see photo). "I believe that his program can teach everyone that it is possible to achieve positive results."

Kűpper, a retired urban development specialist, is just one of hundreds of visitors from more than 30 countries who have visited Manchester Bidwell in hopes of reproducing Strickland’s success story around the world. And now, Strickland says he's confident that his model will work anywhere.

“My board tells me that as long as I make the payroll in Pittsburgh,” he says, “I can save the world.”

Spend a little time with Bill Strickland and you’ll believe that he just might.

To learn more about Manchester Bidwell Corp., go to www.manchesterbidwell.org.

CLICK BELOW TO HEAR BILL STRICKLAND'S TALE ABOUT MEETING EBAY'S JEFF SKOLL:

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Pittsburgh Becomes Home to the U.S. Center for Energy Leadership: CEOs of Six Leading Energy Companies Join Together to Address Global Energy

The Chief executive officers of six Pittsburgh-headquartered energy companies have announced the creation of the United States Center for Energy Leadership (USCEL). The founding members of the Center are:

* Andy Hannah, CEO of Plextronics
* Aris Candris, CEO of Westinghouse
* Paul Evanson, CEO of Allegheny Energy
* Murry Gerber, CEO of EQT
* J. Brett Harvey, CEO of CONSOL Energy
* Keith Schaefer, CEO of BPL Global

The mission of the group is to establish a stable energy environment for the United States that includes energy independence, stable energy pricing and a portfolio approach to meeting increasing energy needs, according to Plextronics' Andy Hannah, who was a catalyst for the formation of USCEL.

USCEL also will advocate for new and innovative technological developments that will impact all of these areas. The group will also work to address specific governmental policy, investment and technology issues that have direct bearing on the energy industry.

"The concept behind USCEL was really about the fact that the energy issues facing our country have never been more important, and here we are, in Pittsburgh, with all of the leadership, technological innovation and experience you could ask for to collectively tackle these problems," Hannah said.

"While the organizations in this group may represent different and competing segments of the energy industry, it's clear to each of us that there's no one technology that can fulfill all energy demands. Instead, we need to utilize all of our resources to address the energy issues that face this country and develop innovative ways to re-establish the United States as a leader in energy technology development."

Aris Candris, CEO of Westinghouse, added: "USCEL is ideally suited to create and utilize technology and innovation in a manner that will help our nation, and the world, address the energy and environmental challenges we are now facing," he said. "Additionally, the goals of USCEL are completely consistent with those of the United States Department of Energy, which has announced its intention to further strengthen our country's commitment to scientific leadership in these areas."

Pittsburgh is ideally suited to be the home of USCEL, the group said. The region offers an abundance of natural resources, global business leaders, technology innovation, transportation and infrastructure support, and a university system that generates new technology and a qualified workforce.

"Pittsburgh is the nation's energy capital," said Dennis Yablonsky, CEO of the Allegheny Conference. "Working across energy sectors, Pittsburgh is making the extraction and use of traditional energy sources cleaner and more efficient. We're innovating smart grid technologies, pioneering intelligent building systems, and finding reliable and cost-effective alternative energy solutions. By working together we will provide sustainable energy solutions."

Facts about Energy and Pittsburgh:

* Pittsburgh was one of just 13 cities to receive the inaugural Solar America City award from the Department of Energy in 2007.

* The region has an abundance of natural resources, including vast reserves of coal and natural gas and abundant geological CO2 storage, rivers and waterways, and renewable energy sources such as solar and wind.

* It is also home to global business and industry leaders:

o Allegheny Energy is currently investing more than a billion dollars in environmental controls at its power generation facilities and is leading efforts to upgrade the nation's electric grid to meet growing power demands and usher in new, renewable sources of energy.

o BPL Global is dedicated to leading the transformation of energy efficiency and reliability of electrical networks around the globe as a leading provider of integrated smart grid software solutions and services that more efficiently manage demand, integrate distributed energy resources, automate substations, improve service reliability, and optimize cost and capital productivity.

o CONSOL Energy operates the two largest bituminous coal mines in the country, both of which are located in Southwestern Pennsylvania, as well as operating one of the largest natural gas production businesses in Appalachia through its subsidiary, CNXGas. In addition, CONSOL is the largest provider of coal shipping services on the Upper Ohio River and is the only US coal company with a Research & Development group seeking to develop long term technological solutions to environmental and energy challenges. CONSOL employs more than 8,000.

o EQT is the Appalachian Basin's leading natural gas producer and its development of horizontal air drilling has revolutionized the natural gas industry by increasing natural gas recovery while reducing the environmental footprint to extract the gas. In fact, new technologies, some pioneered by EQT, have recently made it economically feasible to recover natural gas from the Marcellus formation, which has the potential to stimulate the biggest economic boom since coal and oil sparked the Pennsylvania industrial revolution.

o Plextronics is considered a world-leader in the printed electronics industry, and its products enable companies globally to print organic solar cells and energy efficient lighting. Hannah sits on the Solar Technical Review Panel for the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), a world-leading lab in solar technology.

o Westinghouse technology is the basis for approximately half of the world's 435 operating nuclear power plants. The first of four Westinghouse AP1000™ nuclear power plants is on schedule to be completed by 2013 in China, and the technology has been identified for no less than 14 plants in the United States.

* The city offers a strong university system, led by Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, which generates break-through technology and spin-off companies. Plextronics, for example, is a spin-out of CMU, and its technology is based on discoveries made at the university by Dr. Richard McCullough.

* In addition, the universities in Pittsburgh serve a key role in educating what ultimately becomes the local workforce, turning out a talented pool of engineers, scientists and other professionals to work at those companies.

* CMU is actively involved in solar energy initiatives. The university competed for three years in the Solar Decathlon competition in Washington, D.C. to construct a solar-powered house, and for four years in Solar Splash, an intercollegiate solar boating competition sponsored by ASME.

For more information, contact USCEL at uscel@plextronics.com. READ FULL ARTICLE

CNN's Fareed Zakaria to Speak in Pittsburgh on "The Real Solution to the Middle East Crisis" Oct. 13

Fareed Zakaria, host of CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS," will speak on "the real solution to the Middle East Crisis" in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009 at 8 p.m. at the Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland.

A leading authority and scholar on the global economy, geopolitics and international relations, Zakaria will be introduced by Paul O'Neill, former U.S. Treasury Secretary. His appearance is sponsored by the Pittsburgh Middle East Institute.

Zakaria is host of CNN’s international affairs program, “Fareed Zakaria GPS” which airs on Sundays worldwide. He writes a regular column for the U.S. edition of Newsweek and the Washington Post, and is the author of several books, including “The Future of Freedom,” and his recent best seller, “The Post-American World.”

In 1999, Zakaria was named "one of the 21 most important people of the 21st Century" by Esquire magazine. In 2007, his name was included among the 100 leading public intellectuals in the world by Foreign Policy, where he had once served as managing editor. He has received a host of awards and honorary degrees, most recently at Brown University where he was the 2009 commencement speaker.

He serves on the board of Yale University, The Council on Foreign Relations, and The Trilateral Commission. He received a B.A. from Yale and a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard.

“Internationally renowned thinkers like Fareed Zakaria, and last year’s inaugural speaker, Thomas Friedman, promote the mission of the Pittsburgh Middle East Institute by encouraging discussion and greater understanding of the significant issues of our time that impact both our city and the region of the Middle East,” said PMEI founder and president Simin Curtis.

Cost: $50 or $70 (Adults), $25 (Students) plus applicable service fee. For tickets, call 412-394-3353 or go to www.ProArtsTickets.org.

For more information about the Pittsburgh Middle East Institute, go to www.pittsburghmideastinstitute.org. READ FULL ARTICLE

Another View of Life After the G-20 - "Time to Reinvent Ourselves Again" with a 21st Century Global Renaissance

The Pittsburgh G-20 Summit has come and gone. So what now? How about another Pittsburgh renaissance, one focused on attracting talent from around the world and nurturing a globally conscious citizenry, answers David A. Murdoch, a partner at K&L Gates and Chairman of the Board at the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh.

"The world's leaders and their delegates left town more than a week ago," Murdoch writes in Sunday's Post-Gazette. "We and our neighbors have gone back to work, back to our routines. What now? Did the G-20 summit make a difference for our community?

"A theme embedded in Pittsburgh's DNA is one we rarely recall: 'To do a common thing uncommonly well brings success.'

"H.J. Heinz gave us this great quote after he put tomato paste in a glass bottle so it could not be infected by bacteria or ruined by wooden splinters.

"Without the financial power of a New York City or the political power of a Washington, D.C., we in Pittsburgh still find people beating a path to our doorway because they want to find out how we do common things uncommonly well.

"We can be rightly proud of our evolution from an industrial- to a service-based economy with strengths in high technology, health care and education. We can feel good about our transition from a land of dust and smoke to one of green hills and blue skies. These are the reasons President Barack Obama cited in bringing the G-20 to Pittsburgh.

"But sometimes it seems as though we have become too taken with our story, and too complacent about our future. It is time to re-invent ourselves again."

Continue reading Murdoch's opinion piece at: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09277/1002646-109.stm READ FULL ARTICLE