MEET FAITH!

Thanks to all of you who already have responded. This note is a close-to-the-date reminder that a couple of you have requested, this week.

The next Michigan Communicators gathering is Friday June 17, 2016, from 9 a.m. until Noon, at Cass Community Social Services in Detroit with our host Faith Fowler.

Address: 11745 Rosa Parks Blvd. The entrance to the parking lot is off of Webb.

Why June 17? Over the past decade, our organization has been meeting usually on “the last Friday of the odd-numbered months”—but in 2015 we found insurmountable conflicts around Memorial Day weekend and, once again, we’ve decided to combine the “summer meetings” into a single June gathering.

Why Faith? As your coordinator, I’ve found that wherever I travel in Michigan one of the most talked-about religious innovators in our state is the Rev. Faith Fowler. Across the country, people are talking about her “D” sandals made from old tires dumped in empty lots across the city of Detroit.

Earlier, the Wall Street Journal covered her paper shredding business with the unique twist that its employees were adults who were beginning literacy training—so clients could hire paper-shredding crews with employees guaranteed not to read their sensitive papers. The WSJ thought the idea was brilliant.

But that’s not all—Cass is responsible for a vast number of meals and also housing opportunities for needy Detroiters. More recently, Cass opened a publishing house as well as a tea company.

PLEASE ATTEND—Our gathering begins, as usual, with a walk-and-talk time with our host. So you’ll get a chance to meet Faith and hear her tell the story of this amazingly innovative faith-based center in the city. Then, we also will have our usual roundtable for sharing news, updates and asking for help around the circle of professional communicators. We begin promptly at 9 a.m. and end at 12-Noon.

Have a colleague or friend you want to bring along? We always welcome newcomers.

Email me at [email protected] with any questions. Look forward to seeing you!

David Crumm

MEET FAITH!

PLAN NOW TO ATTEND the next Michigan Communicators gathering on Friday June 17, 2016, from 9 a.m. until Noon, at Cass Community Social Services in Detroit with our host Faith Fowler.

Address: 11745 Rosa Parks Blvd. The entrance to the parking lot is off of Webb.

Why June 17? Over the past decade, our organization has been meeting usually on “the last Friday of the odd-numbered months”—but in 2015 we found insurmountable conflicts around Memorial Day weekend and, once again, we’ve decided to combine the “summer meetings” into a single June gathering.

Why Faith? As your coordinator, I’ve found that wherever I travel in Michigan one of the most talked-about religious innovators in our state is the Rev. Faith Fowler. Across the country, people are talking about her “D” sandals made from old tires dumped in empty lots across the city of Detroit.

Earlier, the Wall Street Journal covered her paper shredding business with the unique twist that its employees were adults who were beginning literacy training—so clients could hire paper-shredding crews with employees guaranteed not to read their sensitive papers. The WSJ thought the idea was brilliant.

But that’s not all—Cass is responsible for a vast number of meals and also housing opportunities for needy Detroiters. More recently, Cass opened a publishing house as well as a tea company.

PLEASE ATTEND—Our gathering begins, as usual, with a walk-and-talk time with our host. So you’ll get a chance to meet Faith and hear her tell the story of this amazingly innovative faith-based center in the city. Then, we also will have our usual roundtable for sharing news, updates and asking for help around the circle of professional communicators. We begin promptly at 9 a.m. and end at 12-Noon.

Have a colleague or friend you want to bring along? We always welcome newcomers.

Email me at [email protected] with any questions. Look forward to seeing you!

David Crumm

TWO REASONS you don’t want to miss this gathering of “Michigan Communicators …” from 9 a.m. to 12-Noon on Friday March 18:

1.) OUR HOST IS FASCINATING—AS IS THE SITE: Regular participants, over the years, say that the 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. walk-and-talk tour, during our gatherings, is one major reason they attend. In this case, we’re pleased that the Rev. Amy Morgan is welcoming us to First Presbyterian Church of Birmingham, MI. That’s at 1669 W. Maple, Birmingham, MI 48009.

Amy has a background in the arts and cross-cultural issues as well as her seminary work at Princeton. She’s also a writer, serving as a co-author of The Girlfriends’ Clergy Companion, which has all 4-star reviews on Amazon. She currently serves on the board of WISDOM (Women’s Interfaith Solutions for Dialogue and Outreach in Metro Detroit) and on the Planning and Visioning Team of the Presbytery of Detroit.

2.) OUR SPECIAL THEME IS USEFUL TO ALL OF US: In 2016, our participants have asked that we identify a special theme for each gathering. In January, our special theme was public television and documentary film and our special guest was DPTV’s Rich Homberg. This time, our special theme is: Important Trends in Social Media. In this new 2016 format, we begin our “roundtable” portion at 10 a.m. talking about our special theme. In this case, we’ll get right down to important issues evolving in the way we all use social media. Then, by 11 a.m., we’ll return to our more traditional “roundtable” in which we’ll invite anyone who attends to share any update or request for help around the circle.

Email me at [email protected] with any questions. Look forward to seeing you!

David Crumm

HOPE TO SEE YOU 9 a.m. to Noon on Friday January 29!

We are meeting at Temple Emanu-El: http://emanuel-mich.org

Location is 14450 West Ten Mile Road in Oak Park, Michigan. This is an important congregation within Michigan’s Jewish community and has a relatively new rabbi, Rabbi Arturo Kalfus. As our group gathers, 6 mornings each year, we always look forward to a walk-and-talk tour with our hosts. It’s a great opportunity to see the synagogue and meet this  community leader.

NEW IN 2016:
A Special Guest from DPTV

At the end of 2015, “Michigan Communicator” regulars offered ideas for new formatting in our 6 morning gatherings for 2016. One key request from you was: Invite a special resource person to come for the first part of our 10 a.m. “roundtable” portion of the program. Our first special guest is Rich Homberg, the most prominent figure in public television in Michigan. In the past, Rich and DPTV have worked extensively on projects that have involved various members of Michigan Communicators. Rich and DPTV just announced a pioneering partnership with Michigan State University—major media news—just last week. Rich will come to talk with us about DPTV’s plans in 2016; he will invite Q and A and active conversation. This is a rare opportunity to have this kind of focused time with Rich to discuss projects in 2016.

 

 

HOPE TO SEE YOU 9 a.m. to Noon on Friday Nov. 20!

We are meeting at the Muslim Unity Center: http://www.muslimunitycenter.org/ That’s at 1830 W Square Lake Rd, Bloomfield Hills, MI. Our host is Imam Al-Masmari, an important Islamic leader in our community who was profiled in June for the website of the InterFaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit.

AN IMPORTANT GATHERING FOR US

FIRST, PLEASE NOTE: This is not a typical “last Friday” meeting time for us. We moved to November 20 to avoid conflict with the Thanksgiving weekend.

This is our final “Michigan Communicators” gathering of 2015. Our entire email list for this organization is 135 people and we are expecting, at this gathering, perhaps 18 to 20 folks will be able to attend. As the coordinator for our group, I know that we’re all extremely busy and we often have to make difficult “trade offs” in our scheduling to attend these gatherings.

This meeting will feature news about an important milestone in American Muslim publishing with HarperOne’s release of a landmark new “study Quran.” I’ll have a sample that HarperOne has sent along for us to present to our host that morning. Also, having a chance to see the Unity Center and to meet this dynamic younger Muslim leader is a valuable experience for all of us.

Also, many of our participants are in transition this winter, including myself as your coordinator. So we will share news about that, as well. Several major projects are dawning in 2016 and we will look ahead to those in our “roundtable” discussion.

Thank you for being a part of our circle! Hope to see you on the 20th!

David

HOPE TO SEE YOU from 9 a.m. to 12-Noon on Friday September 25!

We are meeting at Detroit’s Ecumenical Theological Seminary: http://www.etseminary.edu/home-1.html

The address is: 2930 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI 48201

There should be plenty of on-site parking. And, this gathering, I know, will bring many newsy threads together around our circle of professional communicators. Special thanks go to the InterFaith Leadership Council’s Bob Bruttell and our host Dr. Stephen Butler Murray, the new head of ETS.

Many of us are familiar with ETS and its historic location, but if you have not visited the site: You’re in for a treat!

ETS is a nationally known, innovative, urban seminary in the Christian tradition but with students of other faiths as well. It’s home is the 19th-century building originally constructed for Detroit’s First Presbyterian Church. And, if you know your Michigan religious history, you’ll know that (long before this building was constructed in the late 1800s), First Presbyterian was associated with pioneering ecumenical leader, scholar and professional communicator John Monteith. That amazing clergyman joined forces with the Catholic pioneer Gabriel Richard to engage in publishing and also, in their spare time, to found the University of Michigan. Think your schedule is busy? Imagine Monteith and Richard doing all of that without even a telephone system to connect them!

So, we’re visiting a building with spiritual and professional resonance for all of us.

Please come. You’ll make our gathering more lively and our ability to share ideas and news more effective.

We hope to see you in our circle that morning.

And, yes, it’s OK to invite colleagues, if you wish.

David

HOPE TO SEE YOU this Friday July 31!

We meet at 9 a.m. and we’re gone by 12-Noon.

Brother-Al-Mascia-and-Cantor-Steve-Klaper-at-Song-and-Spirit-Berkeley-MIMany of you already know our location for this gathering: The Song and Spirit Institute for Peace in Berkeley, Michigan. This center for arts and music and creative service to the poor now is nationally known.

Address: 2599 Harvard Rd, Berkley, MI 48072
http://www.songandspirit.org/home/index.html

ReadTheSpirit magazine recently featured Al and Steve in a Cover Story about their creative collaboration on both music (and a music video) setting Pope Francis’s new prayer for creation to a singable melody.

You’ll perhaps remember that we skipped the May gathering, due to an inability to resolve the scheduling around Memorial Day. We’ll also gather again on the last Friday of September, that time at Detroit’s Ecumenical Theological Seminary.

Look forward to seeing you! And, yes, it’s OK to invite colleagues, if you wish.

David

HOPE TO SEE YOU on Friday July 31!

We meet at 9 a.m. and we’re gone by 12-Noon.

Many of you already know our location for this gathering: The Song and Spirit Institute for Peace in Berkeley, Michigan. This center for arts and music and creative service to the poor now is nationally known.

Address: 2599 Harvard Rd, Berkley, MI 48072
http://www.songandspirit.org/home/index.html

ReadTheSpirit magazine recently featured Al and Steve in a Cover Story about their creative collaboration on both music (and a music video) setting Pope Francis’s new prayer for creation to a singable melody.

You’ll perhaps remember that we skipped the May gathering, due to an inability to resolve the scheduling around Memorial Day. We’ll also gather again on the last Friday of September, that time at Detroit’s Ecumenical Theological Seminary.

Look forward to seeing you! And, yes, it’s OK to invite colleagues, if you wish.

David

FIRST, a huge “Congratulations!” to Michigan Communicator Joe Grimm, his team of students at the MSU School of Journalism and Detroit Public Television for producing 100 Questions and Answers About Veterans. That very collaborative book has taken off in recent days—thanks to other Michigan Communicators, including the Detroit News’s Neal Rubin. Take a look at the ReadTheSpirit front page today for news about the headlines whizzing coast to coast on the Veterans multimedia book.

This illustrates the value of what we do collectively in this professional network. As your coordinator, I could go on about others who helped with this effort: Michigan Communicator Chris Stepien also played a role and so did Dmitri Barvinok and …

THE NEWS TODAY

We meet on the last Friday morning of “odd numbered months” each year, so normally we would meet in May. However, the logistics with a May 25 Memorial holiday proved impossible. Too many people are traveling on either side of that holiday.

PLAN AHEAD FOR JULY and SEPTEMBER—Bob Bruttell of the InterFaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit and I are collaborating on two great locations for those gatherings. On September 25, Bob has arranged for us to meet at the Ecumenical Theological Seminary in Detroit. Please plan ahead for that special gathering. The July location hasn’t been confirmed yet, but will be soon.

Please read the news, above, about what our colleagues have achieved by collaborating with this remarkable MSU veterans project—and how that multimedia “book” is taking off nationally this week.

See you in July!

David Crumm

The second Michigan Communicators gathering of 2015 is coming right up from 9 a.m. to 12-Noon on Friday March 27.

Special thanks to our colleagues in the LDS church who are hosting this gathering in Westland. We will be meeting at the LDS church’s Westland stake. Several years ago, our group visited an LDS “stake” (a church house where a number of congregations meet) in Birmingham and participants found that very interesting. I still hear colleagues mentioning that morning and, of course, the LDS church remains in the news so our opening walk-and-talk portion is something you won’t want to miss. (Thanks to Amanda Ordaz, who you’ll meet that morning, and Greg Geiger.)

To map or GPS the location: 7575 North Hix Rd, Westland, MI 48185
The main denomination also lists the stake here:
http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/statistics/unit/westland-michigan-stake/

We continue to follow our long-standing practice of meeting by 9 a.m. and devoting our first hour to a tour and Q and A with our hosts, which gives participants an ever-growing background in southeast Michigan’s diverse religious and cultural communities. (Note: We are looking for hosts for future 2015 meetings.)

Our roundtable runs from 10 a.m. until 12-Noon and we always end at 12 on the dot.

This year, we are expanding Michigan Communicators to welcome an array of new professionals working on creative media projects involving religious and cultural diversity.

See you there!

David Crumm