BREAKING NEWS: Councilmen Rickey Peete, Edmund Ford, and businessman Joe Cooper indicted on federal charges – bribery for the councilmen, money laundering for Cooper. Click here for more info
I’ve read that it’s bad to throw computer equipment in the trash – instead, it should be taken someplace where it can be properly recycled. Question – does anyone know where in Memphis to take this stuff? I have an old monitor and two non-working printers sitting around the apartment, and I’m sick of looking at them and want to get rid of them. I’d prefer to do it the environmentally friendly way but I’m not sure what that is…
Mpact Memphis is having several meetings in December to plan its agenda for next year. For those of you not familiar with the organization, it’s a group of people, generally 21-40, who have come together to meet each other, to promote the city, and to work on projects to make the city a better place and to get other people in the 21-40 age range involved. I used to be a very active member of Mpact, but a little over a year ago they restructured the organization and picked a boring (although worthwhile) theme – financial literacy – as their central focus. It drove a lot of their members away, and now they’re getting back to the way things used to be. Mpact was a whole lot of fun in the 2002-04 era and if they can recapture that magic, I’m all for it.
There are two committee meetings I will probably attend. One is the Social Committee, which will meet Monday, December 4 at Side Street Grill (2078 Monroe) from 6 to 7 pm. That committee will plan fun events that will allow members to come together, socialize, and (god I hate this word but everyone uses it) network with each other. In the past they have planned happy hours, wine tastings, cooking classes, and all kinds of fun things. If you’d like to have a hand in planning those events (or if you have ideas of your own), please come out!
The other is the Promote Memphis committee meeting, which will take place Thursday, December 14 at Davis-Kidd Bookstore (378 S. Perkins) from 6 to 7 pm. Back in ’02-’04 when I was a member of this committee (committees were called “pillars” then) they hosted an intern program so corporate interns from other cities would get to see Memphis and meet locals; they hosted a program for college students teaching them how to network and find jobs; they created programs to showcase local art and music; they created an information packet for new Memphians. Hopefully they won’t narrow their focus to “what can we do to help Memphis corporations recruit and retain talent?” as they did toward the end of the Promote Memphis Pillar’s run in ’05 – I think there’s a lot more to promoting the city than simply asking how we can help corporations find and keep talented people. Anyway, I’ve had a lot of fun on this committee over the years, and look forward to re-joining it.
Couple of other committee meetings which I probably won’t attend but they may be of interest to you: A group will be meeting at Celtic Crossing (South Cooper at Oliver) this Sunday, Dec. 3 from 3-4 pm to plan Mpact’s annual party and fundraiser. Mpact has consistent hit it out of the ballpark with their annual parties and I’m excited to see what they come up with for 2007. Another group will be meeting at the Memphis BioWorks Foundation (20 S. Dudley, suite 900) to plan membership benefits for next year – for example, soliciting local restaurants and businesses to give discounts when an Mpact membership card is presented.
If any of this sounds like something you’d like to get involved in or hear more about, please come out, even if you’re not a current Mpact member. They’re rebuilding the organization and your input would be appreciated.
Hmmm… I have a suggestion for the Promote Memphis committee… “The Memphis Orientation Program for Hot Romanian College Students”… now that’s a program I would be happy to chair. We could hold the orientation sessions at my apartment to keep expenses to a minimum. I have lots of liquor, so, open bar for our overseas guests.
Wow, I actually went two entire weeks without mentioning Romanians. That’s probably a record.
Let’s move on to the “where can I find free alcohol downtown” portion of the post. Lansky at the Peabody will have free wine and cheese tomorrow, Friday, December 1. They will also be offering 20% off on their clothing.
Mode du Jour, a clothing store at 509 S. Main, will hold their grand opening Saturday, December 2, with brunch and mimosas from 10 until noon, and wine and hors d’oeuvres from 2 to 6 in the afternoon. They’ll also be offering 15% off purchases.
The annual St. Jude marathon and half marathon is Saturday morning – so if you’re driving downtown, be aware that there may be delays or detours. Here’s the route map, if you want to know what streets to avoid, or if you want to go out and cheer the runners. Thanks to regular reader Carmel for sending a link to the map. There’s a marathon after-party at Peabody Place mall from 2 to 4 pm, so come on by for that, whether you ran or not.
That’s the news for now. Temperature has dropped from 71 to 50 since I started this post. I think I’ll stay in tonight.