Roanoke GameFest 1.0 is over and was a success. It did not produce the number we originally had anticipated, but getting the event off the ground this first time was a step forward. With a list of ideas and things to do differently the next time, we anticipate it to be a stable and growing event in the years to come.

This fantastic article appeared in the December 29 edition of the New York Times highlighting the city’s new Arts Museum to be opened in November of 2008.

There has been much discussion on this structure, and certainly this type of exposure is what was expected. We can anticipate more, similar coverage as we get closer to the opening.

Certainly, this positive PR helps with economic development, people recruitment, tourism and making Roanoke an overall cool city with YPs in the Creative Class.

Here is yet another holiday event geared at attracting young adults when they are home for the holdiay season.

This is in line with what Roanoke is doing today with the 2nd Annual Roanoke Holiday Career and Lifestyle Fair. To get more details go to the website.

This Friday, we are hosting the Roanoke Holiday Career and Lifestyle Fair catered to those home for the holidays and earlier this fall, Valley Forward created a Forum for the Future to hear more from young professionals and to better connect them to existing organizations locally.

Detroit is doing a mix of both - holding a forum during the holiday season to identify why your professionals have left that city. More and more regions are thinking creatively to address this issue.

We are also hosting the Roanoke GameFest 1.0 on Saturday and Sunday, December 29-30. We anticipate a huge LAN party of gamers from around the region.

If you are in Roanoke for the holidays and are looking for something to do, then come to these events and bring someone with you.

The economic development committee of Leadership Roanoke Valley put on one of the more creative approaches to regional economic development I have seen. They had a talk-show theme and used a lot of multimedia and outside speakers to present the cases for  economic growth that is too fast, too slow and just right. I was honored to be part of the panel on how to get it just right.

The discussion was intense and a lot of feedback and Q&A occurred prior, during and afterwards. You could sense from the organizers that they were ready to take the torch and act on some of these suggested approaches and ideas that was discussed.

Let’s hope their good effort does not go unnoticed, as I and others would like to see a DVD of the entire day.

Great job to this group and for their leadership in the community.

We see this time and time again. YPs living above their means. Savings rates that are negative. Too much credit card debt. And dissatisfaction with their pay in the workplace. This blog post gives a good diagram to better understand the situation.

 Who teaches young people about personal finance?

VTKnowledgeWorks has a new blogto keep folks update on their fine progress, entrepreneurship, and the local regional economy. It is a nice read and you should add it to your blogroll.

If you are looking to get information and exposure about the local employment market, then check out the Roanoke Connect database. You will receive emails every two weeks on a partial list of jobs locally, connections to local employers, and access to helpful job sites in the region. Over 2500 people have actively subscribed. Over 100 employers are actively using it. Over 60 success stories have occurred. Register now!

In preparation for the 2nd Annual Roanoke Holiday Career and Lifestyle Fair, we are putting together a page of brag points and on the back a cost of living comparison. We created a similar document last year. What is interesting is either Roanoke is more affordable or these other cities are more expensive. The source of this data is Sperling’s Best Places.

 For each of these, we compared $60,000 in Location A is equal to $ X in Roanoke.

• Charlottesville $60,000 equals $46,415 in Roanoke in 2007, $52,253 in 2006.
• Richmond $60,000 equals $51,789 in Roanoke in 2007, $54,521 in 2006.
• Washington DC $60,000 equals $36,992 in Roanoke in 2007, $40,226 in 2006.
• Hampton Roads $60,000 equals $48,235 in Roanoke in 2007, $55,733 in 2006.
• Raleigh $60,000 equals $48,713 in Roanoke in 2007, $57,680 in 2006.

All of these take an overall approach considering food, housing, utilities, transportation, health care and miscellaneous. What it does not compare is time savings of commute or travel to and from work. Roanoke would win that category too.

A low cost of living is a competitive advantage we must exploit. We will do this at the fair. If you would like to receive one of these sheets we are passing out, then email me.

On December 29-30 at the Roanoke Civic Center Special Events Center, a plethora of sponsors will be hosting Roanoke GameFest 1.0.  There will be 240 slots available at this LAN party playing both PC and console games. The cost of admission is $30. Watch a video on the event. Please register and bring someone with you too.