Thanks to everyone who attended our May Community Night!
Each month we invite the community to come together and help us as we plan our annual Ciclovia. We drink, eat, imagine, network and discuss important topics related to health, active living and sustainability in the Boulder area. We invite you to join us next month as we continue the dialog and fun.
Save the date for our June Community Night
“Bikes & Beyond!”
How can Boulder become one of the top cycling cities in the world?
When: June 5th, 2013.
Where: Shine @ 2027 13th Street starting @ 5pm.
What: Drinks, Discussions, Dance, New Friends & Live Music! 5pm-7pm Drinks, Food, Speakers & Discussions (FREE).
Participating speakers include representatives from the City of Boulder, Business and local community organizations. Get information on other fun Bike/Walk Month events that will be happening throughout June. Stay tuned for a complete list of speakers. Come learn about this years “Ride & Roll Zone” & “Connected Mobility Zone” at Boulder Green Streets 2013 Ciclovia
8:00pm-9pm Get Active! Join us for a FREE Rumba dance class hosted by Carmen Nelson. No partner and no experience required! Learn Rumba with live drumming!
9:00pm-11pm Live Salsa Music with the talented SABOR DE LA CALLE and DJ Nelson Nolson. Dance until you drop! $8/cover charge. 
All proceeds go to benefit our live music fund, Zona Latina, and outreach in Spanish.
Discussions on “Inspring Innovation & Developing a Creative Community”
The monthly Boulder Green Streets Community Night at Shine went on despite the late May 1st snow. A broad array of speakers explored the concept of innovation and inspiring a creative community, sharing how various Boulder programs, business models, and festivals add flavor to the city. Tim O’Shea, of Boulder StartUpWeek, shared how he’s seen many local startups blur the lines between dream, reality, work and play. Heather Bailey, Executive Director of Energy Strategy and Electric Utility Development noted that innovation is bread by allowing diversity in the room while exploring creative solutions.
Here are a few highlights:
- Energy expert, Heather Bayley, acknowledges current business models don’t match the communities values. Solution? Change the business model. “Innovation is bread by allowing diversity into the room while exploring creative solutions”. As we explore our energy future we show our desire to be innovative and creative as a city.
- Denise Parro, artist and founder of Arts Parts Creative Reuse Center plans to launch a 9,000 sq ft. reuse space as a resource for the resourceful and all the possibilities that come from that. She described how working with the school teachers she is helping to deepen the arts in the Boulder community by providing them with fun “recycled” materials and suggested art projects.
-The HUB’s Lauren Higgens noted that creativity is driven by providing sufficient resources and support to our social entrepreneurs.
- Boulder StartUp Week’s Tim O’Shea reminded us that it’s time to reclaim play and a sense of fun as it’s all too easy to lose track of that sense of exploration. He also noted that Boulder Startup Week features our local innovators that are being creative in a whole variety of ways.
- David Ortolano, of the Boulder International Fringe Festival, reminded us all that art is central to us as humans and it doesn’t have to be selective. -Hillary Griffith, founder of Boulder Green Streets, reminds us that social disruption can encourage creative thinking among residents and that this is one of the important aspects of Boulder Green Streets Ciclovia program!
Other News
We will be sad to see our spring CU interns leave. Thanks to Fernando, Cassidy and Lee Ann who have been a great help for the past few months. Thanks to all that attended the May event for your ideas and energy. We hope you’ll join us again in June. If you didn’t make the night, feel free to offer your ideas, suggestions, or thoughts by emailing us at Info@bouldergreenstreets.org
Boulder Green Streets ‘disrupts’ patterns. Instead of using our streets for cars, we take a day to open streets and invite the community to play. We consider what else our public space can be used for beyond the car. This interruption creates a reaction (good or bad) that unlocks our creative, community potential. It makes us ask for a moment what we can be, do, and become or maybe, what might we do differently. We remember for the day to ask what do we want in our city and why. Thanks to all of you for making Boulder a wonderful, dynamic place to live.
As always if you are interested in learning more about vending or sponsoring, or donating to this years event please stop by say hello. Please help us by sharing this email with interested friends, associates, family members and reposting relevant information to your social media. Enjoy pictures and updates via our facebook page, pinterest, and twitter.
Warm Regards, The BGS Team
