Future City | Small is BIG – The Allure of Local

Why do so many people love St. Pete? And how can we keep it that way as we grow?

When cities get into expansion mode, they tend to reach out to or get courted by national chains and big developers, often diluting the unique local culture that sparked that growth in the first place.

Championing locally owned and operated businesses and empowering entrepreneurs, citizen volunteers, event planners and artists is vitally important, not only for community development but as an economic driver.

When it comes to the future of our city, our LOCAL-ness is really a branding tool we can use to identify, craft and nurture distinct flavor that is uniquely St. Petersburg, and share that with the world. (Not to mention that buying local keeps money circulating at home rather than into the pockets of huge corporations halfway across the planet.) Going native is good.

So as our city continues to grow ~ Join us for this Future City Conversation ~ and let’s ask ourselves; “What do we love most about the ‘Burg ~ what do we want to make sure we don’t lose ~ and how can we keep St. Pete’s local flavor alive?”

Small Is BIG – The Allure of Local
A Future City Conversation – during Et Cultura St Pete 2017
Wednesday, November 15th
11:00 am – 12:15 pm at Station House St. Pete

Featuring Guest Speakers:
Olga Bof – Founder & Executive Director of Keep Saint Petersburg Local
Brian Bailey – Co-Founder of I Love the Burg St. Pete
and
Carla Jimenez – Former Board Member of the American Independent Business Alliance, Co-Founder of the Tampa Independent Business Alliance & “Independents Week”, Former Owner of Inkwood Books
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This “Working Lunch” Interactive Session is part of Open Partnership Education Network – OPEN’s Future City theme, powered by Duke Energy, designed to spark conversation and learning around what it takes to build the kind of smart, inclusive, sustainable, and livable city we all want to call home in the future.

Over the course of three days, we will host six Future City discussions during lunch time (between 11 am and 2 pm) Station House St. Pete on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday November 15 -17th as part of the Et Cultura festival.
To see the full line-up of Future City programming, please go to https://etcultura.com/future-city/

The Open Partnership Education Network – or OPEN, is partnering with Et Cultura to bring intellectual conversations and next level thought-leaders to St. Petersburg as part of our mission to create a smarter, better connected city, that learns and grows together.
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Here is how ticketing works:
• Priority entrance and seating for these sessions first goes to paid Et Cultura Ticket holders. (Get tickets at https://etcultura.com/tickets)
• Any remaining seats at the OPEN Interactive Sessions can then be filled by the general public, at no cost.
• All seating is first come, first serve.

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