Bus #3, Passenger #68
By Missy Schmidt (Chinese name: “Sweet Lioness” Mandarin naming 蜜狮 Pronounced mee-shee)
Traveling to China is a lot like “Amazing Race” with a little “Survivor” thrown in for good measure. The following is a recount of our adventures, a once in a lifetime experience with the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce.
Day Three (um, really? who knows at this point)
Another rainy day and we started out at the Bang Fu Chun Pearl Store (http://www.bonajadestore.com.cn/bangfuchun-EN.html) where another lovely young Chinese woman, whose name escapes me, lectured us on the superiority of Chinese pearls. She explained the difference between fresh water and ocean pearls, colors and quality, and then demonstrated the very large number of pearls one could retrieve from a fresh water oyster. She also expounded on the benefits of using their special Pearl Cream to make your skin more beautiful and younger looking. I wasn’t convinced when, under our breath, we had guessed her to be about 10-15 years older.
The Chinese are definitely an entrepreneurial people. The modus operandi on these trips is to connect local Chinese businesses, i.e., tourist restaurants and factory stores, with Americans via the Chambers of Commerce. Time spent at the stores takes precedent over time spent at historic sites, in our estimation. Restaurants are focused on serving foreigners. It was rare to see a Chinese face among the customers. Wei, our Beijing guide, is a self-proclaimed capitalist. In addition to some interesting information provided on the bus about Beijing, he pitched us on additional side tours, custom-made suits and dresses, massages, name stamps with both American and Chinese characters all delivered to your room within 24 hours.
While I appreciated the low cost of the trip, I did feel a bit like prey. Probably the same if partaking in an African safari. The predators are lovely, giving us lectures on their product, such as jade or pearls. But, nonetheless, predators in my mind.
After the pearl store, we walked just across the street to the entrance to the Summer Palace and World Heritage Site #4 on our trip (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_Palace). Bert and I had been hanging out on the bus, watching an unusual business transaction among some locals in the back of a very nice black car in the store’s parking lot. My imagination ran wild with thoughts of a Chinese mafia.
The Summer Palace is a bit of a misnomer. It’s actually a beautifully landscaped garden surrounding a totally man-made lake. The pavilions and temples and other surviving buildings are not open to the public but some may be viewed by peering through the windows.
The most interesting part was watching other people, especially the Chinese tourists. Umbrellas, cameras and curious tourists of every nationality.
Best single event of the trip
After a long, yet lovely, walk in the rain-soaked garden following Wei’s bobbing umbrella and his Bus #3 sign, we had our first optional, i.e. extra cost, tour, a lunch served in the home of a local Chinese family in the Hutong area (which later I found literally meant “alleys”). We traveled by rickshaw at break-neck speeds through narrow back streets to supposedly see how the real Chinese live. As a horror movie aficionado, I must admit I had visions of waking up in a bathtub of ice with a major organ missing during the rickshaw phase of this side adventure.
We were welcomed at the rickshaw stand by Mary; I never caught her Chinese name. Mary lives outside Beijing, a 90-minute bus ride on a good day, because she cannot afford to live in the city.
While she did not ride with us in her own rickshaw, Mary magically appeared before us at the entrance of the home where we were to eat lunch. Obviously, we were pedaled through the “scenic” route. The family consisted of a man (we were told to call him Mr. Who or was it Woo?) who cooked and served us lunch. His wife was at work and young daughter was at school. He claimed to have another job, serving lunch to tourists only on his day off. The food was probably the best of the Lazy Susan fare of the entire trip. But after seeing the tiny kitchen, lack of refrigeration and no bathroom facilities in the house, I popped a preventative stomach relief pill as soon as possible. The only toilet was a public one down the street, built by the government for the 2008 Olympics. I did wonder: what did they do before 2008? And bathing?
The home, in his wife’s family for four generations, was, by Western standards, a hovel. The three rooms, dining/living, sleeping (for the entire family) and kitchen, could fit quite easily into our condo-sized living room at home. However, the family DID have a 50” flat screen TV with cable, a fairly new desktop, flat screen computer and multiple cell phones and other electronic devices plugged into the wall. Chinese and American family values are, well, different.
Mary and our host shared stories and introduced us to the family's pet cricket (in the cage).
We next drove to The Forbidden City (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_City), World Heritage Site #5 and the last on our trip in Beijing, built in the early 1400s during the Ming and Qing (pronounced Ch’ing) Dynasties. It served for 500 years as the ceremonial and political center of the government in China. I had no idea how much ground the City covered. And, I’m glad we had that bobbing #3 to follow for we would surely have been lost.
We walked and walked and walked, down wide alleyways, past once lush palaces, most of which had been renovated, sneaking into the occasionally opened museum room but always wary of the location of that #3. One would have to physically visit a minimum of 27 rooms per day for a year to visit them all (9,999). It wasn’t until we passed through another enormous gate into the wide open, cobbled square with three massive pagoda-shaped halls that I recognized where I was. This is where the Academy Award winning film, The Last Emperor (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093389/), was filmed. I can’t wait to see the film again; we walked where the last emperor of China lived.
Bert was titillated by the interestingly translated Chinese signs. He took pictures everywhere, including bathrooms.
We also learned this was where the last empress of China lived, a concubine who rose through the ranks to become the supreme leader in the late nineteenth-early twentieth century who would later become known as The Dragon Lady (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empress_Dowager_Cixi). I was stoked!
To my surprise, the last gate we walked through was the entrance to The Forbidden City, and it opened onto Tiananmen Square (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square), the largest square in the world. The small bridge leading over the moat was lined with soldiers. They were so young and thin, I feared their uniform pants would fall down. Looking out onto the square, to the right is the parliament building. To the left is the Museum of Chinese History. Straight ahead is the mausoleum of Mao Tse-tung (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_Zedong), the first leader of the Communist Party in China. Turning around on the bridge, I was literally chilled by Mao’s infamous and ever-watching gaze from the gated entrance.
Beijing is truly a city that never sleeps. With over 20 million residents, it has a serious infrastructure problem. Even though we were told approximately 5 million people per day use the subway system, the highway traffic is constant. You've seen the pictures of guards in uniform shoving people into the subway cars. This is a daily occurrence, according to our guide, who warned us to avoid the subway. There’s no rhyme or reason, no rush hour or choke points. Just constant traffic no matter the time of day or night. And, the myth about Asian drivers is true; the painted lines on the streets are merely suggestions. Sitting in the raised seats at the back of the bus gave us a great vantage point to verify the myth as fact.
I was surprised not to see more citizens of Beijing riding bikes. Based on auto-driving habits, I see why.
Near the Square was our last stop of the day, before another unmemorable Lazy Susan dinner. This was an unexpected, non-itinerary visit to the oldest pharmacy in China practicing Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), also known as their mainstream medicine and “alternative medicine” in the West, since the mid 1600s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_Chinese_medicine).
Bert and I opted not to participate in the TCM lecture. The “doctor” described how he and his colleagues would be touching our wrists to diagnose what ails us. We also avoided the “Chinese FDA” approved pharmacy with every herbal powder or ointment known to mankind (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongrentang).
Instead we walked outside and checked out the long line of street vendors selling exotic “fast foods” from fried sea horses on sticks to unusual crab species to, according to the sign, dog meat pies to what appeared to be a liquid nitrogen-frothing drink. The raw foods on sticks, squid and eel, etc. were all cooked to order right on the street. Wei, our guide, warned us not to eat anything, explaining that only Chinese tourists or Southeast Asians from Thailand or Vietnam would eat from these booths. “They eat anything,” said Wei.
Needless to say, we were less than hungry after the day we’d had. More snacks in our hotel room before bed.
Slideshow on Flickr
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Sunday, October 10, 2010
China - a View from the back of the bus - Day Three
China - a View from the back of the bus - Day Two
Bus #3, Passenger #68
By Missy Schmidt (Chinese name: “Sweet Lioness” Mandarin naming 蜜狮 Pronounced mee-shee)
Traveling to China is a lot like “Amazing Race” with a little “Survivor” thrown in for good measure. The following is a recount of our adventures, a once in a lifetime experience with the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce.
Day Two (first full day in China)
Under a still overcast sky, we visited the Temple of Heaven (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Heaven) built in 1420 AD and our trip’s World Heritage Site #1 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_heritage_sites). Interesting trivia: the entrance fee is $6 USD per person; for Chinese nationals, the cost is but $30 per year. Street vendors were everywhere, taking advantage of tourists, hawking wares such as eagle-shaped kites, silk bags, parasols and a Hacky Sack game. And there’s no language barrier when negotiating price; the Chinese just pull out a calculator.
The property, about 500 hectares (1= 2.471 acres), is akin to New York City's Central Park with lots of green space and people everywhere. When I asked why so many people were out on a work day, I was told most are retired. If that's the case, then America is missing out. Older people came to the park and self-organized themselves into fan dances, tai chi exercises, pick-up games of Hacky Sack and poker, mainly a male activity. What a great way to spend your retirement years!
Next on the trip came the Jade Factory, the first of what were clearly government underwriters of the trip. The jade tour guide, named Meow-Meow (again, my American spelling), gave a very animated lecture on the 7,000-year history of jade in China and the differences in quality and hardness. She delighted in practicing her English and knowledge of America, and she was fascinated by my name, the main reason I wanted to know what my Chinese name would be.
We watched an artisan while carving and, of course, had the opportunity to shop for an extended period from jewelry displays and sculptures, ranging from the tiny to the most enormous and elaborate. The marketing acumen of the Chinese is amazing.
Wei, our bus tour guide, next delivered us to World Heritage Site #2 on our trip, the Ming Dynasty Tombs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_Dynasty_Tombs) where, besides a brief history of the site, told us the Chinese people are introverts. He said that many Chinese dishes are served covered, wrapped in dough and husks, and one must bite into them to discover what is inside. Same certainly doesn't hold true for the street vendors. They are not introverted at all, shoving products in our faces as we walked by, staking out the bus for our return and shouting "woman" at me if I wasn't walking close enough to touch. You can buy just about anything for $1 USD in China.
This stop, which seemed much shorter than the Jade Factory, was a bit disappointing, mostly due to the weather. We really couldn’t see very much as the actual tombs, we were told, are on top of the closely guarded and lush hill behind the museum. In our itinerary, we were told that one tomb was “fully excavated and open for exploration,” but darned if we saw it. The Emperor built the Tomb according to feng shui (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui) which is the historic Chinese practice of proper alignment of everything for positive energy or ch’i (pronounced chee). Today, we decorate our homes and offices touting feng shui as a marketing ploy.
Lunch, as we guessed by now, would be at another tourist restaurant. To our surprise, the stop also included our next shopping extravaganza, the Cloisonné Factory (http://goldenpalace.cn/), where another Chinese woman showed us a few artisans at work and lectured us on the enamelware originating in Beijing in the 1450s during the Ming Dynasty. Food first (typical Lazy Susan fare), and then a lengthy stay at the marketplace where the sizes, intricacy and prices of the product ran the gamut.
Next, our troupe drove a short distance from the Cloisonné Factory to the Great Wall (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wall_of_China), a 4,000 mile long, 2,000 year old marvel of human engineering and construction. Our 3rd World Heritage site in one day. I’m still not sure of our exact position on a map, due to the very long drive from Beijing to the Ming Tombs, but the entrance to this particular section was obviously geared to a large number of tourists. It included a photography booth with historic clothing, a courtyard with food vendors and China’s version of a “Dollar Store,” a “10 Yuan” store!
I was most amazed to see a heavily-traveled, major highway cut through the mountainside under the Wall.
When we arrived, we looked up to see the Wall travel straight up to our right and left. Bert and I both climbed the easier, right side after noting that the left was literally a ladder. One would need to climb with both hands and feet. The left:
Bert went all the way to the top of the right side, where that section of the Wall ended, while I stopped at a look-out near the top. That way I was able to get a great long-range picture of him waving at me. Of course that was my excuse.
The steps up the Great Wall, even on the “easy” side, were difficult to maneuver; some were merely six inches in height while others appeared to be several feet. The railing was very low in some places. Holding on was nearly impossible. And, then there was the rain. I convinced myself that visibility was so bad, I wouldn’t be able to see anything at the top anyway. (Afterward: good choice! My calf muscles screamed at me for two days, due to the climb down.)
Also at the Great Wall were “lovers locks,” an ancient Chinese tradition where couples place a lock on a chain and throw away the key, thus preserving their love forever, and the “ribbon tree” where one makes a wish and ties that wish, in the form of a red ribbon, to the tree for it to come true.
As usual the day ended with a meal, this time in one of the many Beijing (formerly Peking) Duck Dinner Restaurants. In a private room, the chef brought several roasted ducks (scrawny by American standards) on a carving table and sliced the dark meat for us, adding it to the now standard Lazy Susan dishes. Our waitress showed us the proper way to eat Beijing Duck a la chopsticks, placing a small thin wrapper (similar to a tortilla) on our plate, topping it with several slices of duck, shredded scallions and cucumber and a sweet plum sauce. Wrapping the bottom and side flaps of the wrapper as you would a burrito, then eat with your hands. Delicious.
Stomachs adequately filled, with snacks back in our hotel room, we crashed for the night.
Slideshow on Flickr
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China - a View from the back of the bus - Day One
Bus #3, Passenger #68
By Missy Schmidt (Chinese name: “Sweet Lioness” Mandarin naming 蜜狮 Pronounced mee-shee)
Traveling to China is a lot like “Amazing Race” with a little “Survivor” thrown in for good measure. The following is a recount of our adventures, a once in a lifetime experience with the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce.
Day One (and ½)
At 4am, we met the rest of our group at the Norfolk International Airport, departing on a bus - we sat in the back, of course - to JFK airport in NYC where we would connect with our flight to Beijing in the northern city which serves as the capital of the People’s Republic of China (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing).
In addition to being Type-A, Bert and I are also techies. In addition to the multitude of snacks a la American and necessary preventative pharmaceuticals, we carried in our backpacks iPhones, iPads, a Flip video camera, a Sony still-video camera, an iPod and an assortment of chargers and adaptors to plug us in around the world.
Our geekiness may be due to, or a result of, our careers. My husband, Bert, is President and CEO of WHRO-Public Broadcasting for Hampton Roads, Virginia (http://whro.org/). Unique in the PBS system for its ownership by the region's 18 school divisions, WHRO is also the only broadcaster ever named to CIO Magazine's Top 100 Technology Companies with their focus on educational services such as online high school courses and teacher training for the entire state of Virginia.
For the first time ever on a trip, I outfitted my hubby with his own backpack to accommodate all of our paraphernalia. Normally, I am the family "mule," so named by my step kids, Jillian (13-3/4, going on 21, aspiring actress, singer and dancer) and Bertel (11, MacBook devotee and budding filmmaker). My backpack, aka "magic bag," has been known to produce just about anything.
Luckily the iPad has unbelievable storage space and battery life; Bert could watch his downloaded Sunday's Pittsburgh Steelers game and enjoy on the bus ride of SEVEN hours to NYC!
The flight to Beijing aboard Air China was uneventful. Good fortune was with us. We sat in the back of the plane where the curvature of the construction does not allow for three seats across. So, the ½ space next to the window served as our personal storage space. (Air China wasn’t picky about stowing gear under seats.) We were able to kick our shoes off, stretch out and sleep.
I wore a face mask to ward off my usual sinus infections brought on by air travel.
The plane’s TV monitor revealed our route was over the North Pole rather than across the Pacific Ocean as we had originally anticipated. Ah-ha moment. Now the shorter flight length of 14 hours made sense. (Several years ago, I’d flown to Japan from San Francisco in 15 hours, AFTER a flight of five hours from the East to the West Coast!)
We arrived in Beijing Airport around 6pm, to the largest single terminal airport in the world, reputed to be shaped like a dragon, and built specifically for the 2008 Olympics. Due to fog (or smog?), it was dark enough outside to appear much later than it was. We learned the odd darkness for the time of year and day could also be attributed to the fact that, despite being larger in land mass than the U.S., China has but one time zone for the entire country. Our Chinese guide on the back-end of our trip explained: his countrymen had experimented with Daylight Savings Time at one point but abandoned it quickly due to the ensuing chaos.
Jason (his chosen American moniker), our tour guide who we preferred to call by his Chinese name, Wei, attempted to teach us the most important words we would need on our trip. I’m using phonetic spellings: Nee-How (Hello) and Shay-Shay (Thank You). He warned us not to use the more familiar Nee-How-Mah (Hello, How are you?) as we would have no idea what the typical 150-word Chinese response meant.
Traveling to our first restaurant in the Chinese capital of Beijing, Niaochao LiJing Dining Hall http://www.jiangheshui.com/, for the advertised “classic SU ZHE YUE Dish” served on a Lazy Susan, we enjoyed some of the infamous Beijing traffic. The typical Beijing commute means lots of traffic. There is no real rush hour; they experience “rush hour” 24 hours per day, seven days per week. The dining hall, located across from the infamous 2008 Olympics Bird's Nest, served a local micro brew called Yan Jing. Not bad even when served warm. We never did get a tour of the Olympic venues as per our itinerary, but we did stop on our last (rainy) day in Beijing for some pictures from the side of the road.
After dinner on the way to our bus, we encountered our first, according to Wei, “professional” beggars. He cautioned us to ignore them as they could be most aggressive. As we drove, Wei also noted the “national flags of China” flying from the balconies of the high-rise apartments, laundry to the uneducated Westerner. No matter how nice the building, those “flags” were always flying everywhere we went in China, city or countryside.
In Beijing, we stayed at the Marriott City Wall where we promptly passed out after dinner – after plugging in our many electronics to recharge – in anticipation of an early start the next day.
Slideshow on Flickr
Read the series...
China - a View from the back of the bus - Prologue
Bus #3, Passenger #68
By Missy Schmidt (Chinese name: “Sweet Lioness” Mandarin naming 蜜狮 Pronounced mee-shee)
Traveling to China is a lot like “Amazing Race” with a little “Survivor” thrown in for good measure. The following is a recount of our adventures, a once in a lifetime experience with the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce.
Prologue: When my former classmate, Meg Pier, and I recently reconnected (thanks Facebook), I enjoyed reading her professional blog, View From The Pier, where she republishes her words and pictures from such high profile publications as the Boston Globe. I was delighted when she invited me to guest author a post for her blog when, on my Facebook status, I declared myself "going off the grid in China."
Neither my husband nor I are the group tour types. My last was 35 years ago with my high school French class tripping to Paris, Brussels and London. In hindsight, I didn't appreciate the experience, evidenced by my lack of interest in the simple act - at the energetic age of 15 - of climbing the Eiffel Tower.
My husband and I are both Type-A personalities, independent in spirit and mind. Our jobs are such that we engage daily with the public. I work for the Hampton Roads Partnership, a core group of regional leaders working to improve Hampton Roads' competitive position in the global economy. I write for and manage my organization's blog, several websites, member and stakeholder communiqués, annual reports, meeting presentations, executive summaries and briefs, etc. Practicing my career, according to Mother Nature's wisdom, I do my best to write ten times as much as I talk (10 fingers, only 1 mouth), and anyone that knows me can tell you, I talk a lot.
The Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce (Hampton Roads Chamber) tempted us with an unbelievably low price for a 9-day trip to China – all transportation (ground and air), 4- & 5-star American hotels (which we find to be VERY important on a trip to Asia), 3 meals per day, English-speaking tour guides (another important feature) and entrance to first-class attractions including the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai.
While China had not been on either of our "bucket" lists, who could refuse such a deal!?!
Slideshow on Flickr
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Saturday, April 24, 2010
200 Years Ago
During James Madison's first presidential term, the United States conducted its third census in 1810. The population totaled 7.2 million, including 1.4 million African Americans, of whom 1.2 million were enslaved.
The population west of the Appalachian Mountains was only 1 million. Can't wait to find out how things have changed in 200 years when the 2010 Census results are published.
From James Madison University's Madison magazine.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Urgent message regarding WHRO state funding
The Virginia General Assembly will vote on the governor’s amendments during the scheduled re-convene session on Wednesday, April 21.
WHRO needs your help. The need is critical, and it’s urgent. I’m referring to Governor Bob McDonnell’s proposed budget amendments to phase out all state funding for public television and radio over the next four years, beginning July 1, 2010.
Under these amendments, over the coming two-year budget cycle, Virginia’s public broadcasters will lose over $2.2 million – funding that provides on-air and on-line instructional programming, as requested and used by teachers in the classroom all over the Commonwealth. All funding would be terminated in the subsequent two years.
The governor’s amendments would also implement a four-year phase-out of all state funding to support public broadcasting’s programming in the arts, cultural matters and public affairs. Statewide, the reduced funding in this category totals $592,835 beginning in 2011, with total elimination scheduled over the following two years.
This is NOT a question of saving Big Bird. The on-air general viewing programs are funded by our members/donors. This is a question of maintaining the educational services that public broadcasting stations provide to the schools, educators and students of Hampton Roads. The funds allocated to public broadcasters like WHRO in Virginia budget's are used to provide direct support to public education in Virginia...NOT to fund general viewing programs, as too many assume.
It is critically important that the Hampton Roads legislators hear from their constituents, and to that end, we’re asking you to email or call your legislators within the next 48 hours, urging them to restore funding to public broadcasting to the level recommended by the Conference Committee and approved by the House and Senate...and continue to give the public school teachers in Virginia valuable tools for the classroom.
The Virginia General Assembly will vote on the governor’s amendments during the scheduled re-convene session on Wednesday, April 21. I can’t stress more emphatically the influence your voices have on the General Assembly. Please let them hear from you within the next 48 hours, and please share this message with your friends who value what we provide to education in Hampton Roads.
Please call and email your representative of the Hampton Roads delegation. If you’re not sure who that is, you can visit the “who’s my legislator” page of the Virginia General Assembly website.
Thursday, April 08, 2010
1.8 Billion and growing
The following table shows the estimated population for each geographic region, the number of Internet users, and the penetration rate (this term means the percentage of the population that uses the Internet) in each region.
From this table, the year 2009 ends with 1,802,330,108 Internet users. This represents a 26.6% penetration rate.
Source: http://www.InternetWorldStats.com estimates for December 31, 2009. Notes: a) Population data comes from the US Census Bureau; b) Internet estimates come from ITU, Nielsen Online, GfK, official telecommunications regulating agencies and other trustworthy sources; c) Mexico is included in Central America and Turkey is included in Europe, according to the United Nations grouping; d) P.R. means the Penetration Rate, in percentage.
Copyright © 2010, Miniwatts Marketing Group.
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Vision Hampton Roads is ready; Governor McDonnell Speaks at Regional Day
Make valuable connections at Regional Day on Thursday, May 6 from 8:00-10:30a.m. at the Chesapeake Conference Center in Chesapeake, Virginia.
This inaugural event brings business and civic leaders, government and citizens together to learn more about the region, build relationships, share ideas and celebrate “living regionally” and the comprehensive “Vision” for our region’s economic future. Regional Day is a time to share information, provoke ideas and collaborate among the region’s citizens, elected officials, municipal and public agency representatives and anyone else who has an interest in the future of Hampton Roads and wants to be involved in shaping that future.
Festivities will include a Regional Crier taking a roll-call vote from each local government’s chief elected official (or their designee) to support the “Declaration of Interdependence,” a regional compact for our municipalities addressing such issues as legislative unity, education, public safety, transportation, and public communication. Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell will deliver the keynote address. Breakfast will be served. This event is open to the public.
To register as an individual ($25) or sponsor a table ($500), visit: VisionHamptonRoads.com and click on “Register for Regional Day” or call the Hampton Roads Chamber’s Reservation Hotline at (757) 664-2558, dial extension 5.
This event is brought to you by the Hampton Roads Partnership in collaboration with:
• Franklin/Southampton Area County Chamber of Commerce
• Future of Hampton Roads
• Greater Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance
• Hampton Roads Center for Civic Engagement
• Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce
• Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance
• Hampton Roads Planning District Commission/ Transportation Planning Organization
• Isle of Wight/Smithfield/Windsor Chamber of Commerce
• Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce
• WHRO’s Center for Regional Citizenship
Thank you to our Regional Champions: CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Corporation.
What is Vision Hampton Roads? Against a backdrop of challenging economic conditions, community leaders and organizations throughout the Hampton Roads region collaborated to create Vision Hampton Roads, a five-year plan, developed with input from the public, for expanding and diversifying the local economy and positioning Hampton Roads as a strong, competitive and internationally recognized presence and global thought leader. It is the goal of Vision Hampton Roads that Hampton Roads will be recognized as a region fueled by innovation, intellectual and human capital, viable infrastructure and a strong sense of place. Achieving this vision will call for careful and continuous planning, diligent governance, dynamic regional cooperation and engaged citizens. Visit VisionHamptonRoads.com to see the final document and implementation plan.
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Published in the Virginia Maritimer
My blog post covering the Virginia Dept. of Rail and Public Transit's Public Hearing on high-speed rail in January was picked up by the Port of Virginia and published in their March-April 2010 issue of Virginia Maritimer. Click on the magazine cover graphic above to download the PDF (36 pages, 2.7MB).
Visit the blog to see the original post on SmartRegion.org.
Saturday, January 09, 2010
Thinking, acting and living as one in Hampton Roads, Virginia
Public Comment Period
January 5 - February 5, 2010
The Vision Hampton Roads document (draft) was released on January 5, 2010.
This is a 30-day public comment period required by the Economic Development Administration (EDA). You can view/download the document, i.e., our regional roadmap, at http://VisionHamptonRoads.com. We encourage you to take the Public Comment Survey and pass this link along to your friends, neighbors and colleagues.
During the next 30 days, the plan's link will appear on the websites and e-correspondence of many regional organizations. We're depending on word-of-mouth (and email) to help create meaningful public participation in order to promote democracy and civic engagement, build public trust in government and enhance credibility within the community.
The Vision document is the product of over eight months of work, involving over 150 community volunteers.
A Public Responsiveness Summary will follow the 30-day comment period, showing respondents how their feedback impacts the plan. In early February, the final document will be developed for final review, approval and submission to the EDA.
Vision planning has placed Hampton Roads on a path to regional transformation by embedding a working process in all that we do...to think, live and act regionally.
Sunday, January 03, 2010
Seeing is believing
"Climate change is a really abstract thing in most of the world. Whether or not you believe in it is based on your sense of whether, for example, it is raining more or it is raining less, on whether it is getting hotter or colder. Or on what the computer models say about this, that and the other measurement? All of that, strip it away. In the world of the arctic and alpine environments, where the ice is, climate change is real and it’s present. The changes are happening. They’re very visible. They’re photographable. They’re measurable." -- James Balog
If you don't believe that we're losing ice from our planet, then you need to see this presentation at TED Global:
Here's a complete transcript of the talk.
The Extreme Ice Survey is the most wide-ranging glacier study ever conducted using ground-based, real-time photography. EIS uses time-lapse photography, conventional photography, and video to document the rapid changes now occurring on the Earth's glacial ice. The EIS team has installed 27 time-lapse cameras at 15 sites in Greenland, Iceland, Alaska, and the Rocky Mountains. EIS supplements this ongoing record with annual repeat photography in Iceland, the Alps, and Bolivia.
Monday, December 28, 2009
2010
 | Looking for signs of life in 2010? √v^√v^√♥ (that's an EKG, btw) You can find/follow me over at: Facebook.com/Missy.Schmidt Twitter.com/Missy_Schmidt LinkedIn.com/in/missyschmidt YouTube.com/MissySchmidt08 Follow my work at: SmartRegion.org HRP.org |
And, if you're a fan of fancy emoticons, symbols and art shapes, check out: http://facebook-emoticons-symbols.blogspot.com/
I haven't given up blogging here... just busy with blogging for work and Facebook, etc. is so much quicker/easier to update and connect with others on a personal basis.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Hartford, I'm coming for you!
Yes, Hartford Insurance, I'm coming for you! No, not because of any health care issue, but a customer service issue. And, not even MY customer service issue. It's an issue with literally hundreds of your customers and your customer's customers.
Confusing, you say? Explain, you say? Here goes...
I moved to Hampton Roads, the 757 area code, in May 2007. I did not want to give up my one and only mobile number of many years from the 540 area code. However, some people still tied to landlines are hesitant to call a "long distance" number. So, in order to accommodate my new found friends, neighbors and colleagues in the 757, I obtained my own personal toll-free number.
Little did I know that the toll-free number I now "own" belonged to the elusive (and evidently non-existent) "Deb Johnson" of Hartford Insurance Workers Comp Claims. How do I know this?
Because, I have received literally hundreds of calls from doctors' offices, patients, and who-knows-else looking for help from this person.
And, yet another one...today! Nearly 30 months later.
I've tried polite; I've tried to be proactive. I've called Hartford. I've asked everyone that called to please tell whomever gave them my number that I was NOT "Deb Johnson."
I've called back the many people who've left desperate voicemails searching for "Deb Johnson" despite my mailbox message clearly NOT by "Deb Johnson" including one from a Latino family that didn't speak English.
I've explained to people that despite NOT being "Deb Johnson," I also do NOT work for Hartford and am really sorry they have a problem that I cannot fix.
So what to do? Send Hartford a bill for services rendered? Give up on providing a toll-free, land-line way to reach me? Suggestions?
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Hampton Roads' Identity Crisis
I finally had the opportunity to listen to the 8/31 Hearsay with Cathy Lewis radio show on WHRV via iTunes.
Someone called in and blasted the region for the moniker “Hampton Roads” again. It prompted me to share this with Cathy and her staff via her Facebook page and her new blog and now here:
Your caller re: "Hampton Roads" prompts me to suggest a future show on Regional Awareness. The region-wide Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) aka VisionHamptonRoads.com in process now has shown that Hampton Roads has an "identity crisis" that must be addressed, nationally, state-wide and locally.
The collective "we" just don't know it... yet. We have so much going for us in Hampton Roads. We should all be proud to live in this wonderful metropolitan region, and I'm looking forward to big things on the horizon.
But, perception is everything, and we, the citizens of Hampton Roads, have to recognize and celebrate our own greatness in order to share it with the rest of the world.
Did I "drink the Kool-Aid"? you betcha! and, I'm helping to make the next batch!
Monday, August 31, 2009
It's the people-driven economy, stupid!
Is social media a fad? Or is it the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution? Welcome to the World of Socialnomics ...
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