Detroit

I waited and waited.
I raised the interest, and then when I had some takers, I stalled.

The Burton Theatre in Detroit was recently written up in the New York Times. Someone came to the bar a couple of weeks ago, and told me about the article. I looked it up, and promptly posted it to my Twitter account.

Within a day, I had a conversation happening on Twitter and Facebook with a few folks who were very interested in taking a day-trip to Detroit immediately. Friends, Rino and Frances wanted to go right away but my schedule didn’t fit. We planned a week in advance, sent invites to hundreds of people to join us in our treasure hunt, and wound up with myself, my wife, and Frances.

To be fair, I assassinated the plan to go the week earlier when Rino was available. But once again, a few motivated bodies were completely alone in our exploration of ANOTHER of Detroit’s rare spaces. Yes, other Windsorites have been here, but this opportunity to go in numbers was supposed to coax others to join in.

The Burton Theatre is a converted section of an elementary school on Cass Avenue. It’s three minutes (or less) from Comerica Park, one block east of Woodward Avenue.
It has been re-purposed to house patrons of the independent-film-ilk.

The theatre is tiny, with proper theatre seats, and perfect theatre snacks.

Parking in the (as advertised) secure lot, there was one other car. And the lot was not fortified, or behind locked gates. But as we pulled in, I saw a hunched young man carrying some stuff toward the defunct school.

“Nathan!” I shouted. I added him on Facebook after I read the New York Times article, and told him how proud I was of his awesome achievement.

He spun around a looked.
“It’s Tom from Windsor! There is a show at 2pm, right?”

“Oh hey! Yeah. Just park, he’ll watch your car,” he said, then turned around and walked around the corner of the building.
My wife, Jhoan, and our friend, Frances, laughed at his response, because he simply gestured to the other car in the parking lot…which we eventually realized was the “guard tower” for the secured lot.

This was more than sufficient for us, so we parked, got out, and swiveled our heads.

Looking across the street, there was a questionable used furniture store called “Mantra”.

“Chickens!” Frances yelled.
And beside that, furniture store was “Birdtown”, with several chickens and roosters running free. It reminded me of something Stephen Hargreaves regaled to me once about a scene in Corktown he’d seen with goats and pigs.

We ran over, took a few photos, and crossed back to the theatre.

Walking around back, following directional signage, we were led by a string of light bulbs on a fence. On the other side of the fence was a new-ish orange and green playground, inaccessible. Fifty yards away from the quarantined playground was a building in severely plundered disarray. It was jarring. We stopped to take it in, visually, and conceptually.

Then onward.
Directly inside the front doors was the teeny-tiny ticket window, cut out of a door, with more than enough bars protecting the ticket seller. Bullets could barely fit through the slits.

We got our tickets from “not Nathan”, and headed upstairs into the quiet building. Large mural art and other strange accoutrements were on the walls, and a love-seat made itself available in the main entrance.

Getting upstairs, the food and drink counter stood, with the incredible smell of fresh buttered popcorn, and the popcorn maker sharing a frame with Nathan himself, behind the counter. We got chatting about the recent press. The good and bad times they’ve already endured since opening in October. Scarface seemed to be a great movie idea at the time, but according to Nathan, if you can rent it, people are very apprehensive to see it in the Burton Theatre.

Nathan told us that the developer that bought the building has now rented out other sections of the building to other artistic endeavors, including gallery space. We’re geeked to see more in that same building on our next trip over, if those other developments do indeed pan out.

I scored a Faygo Redpop, and Jhoan secured some Raisinettes, and we headed in…the three of us.

It was a dark, short theatre. A short walk to the screen. It was clearly on an old grade school stage. Something about the retrofitting made you look for all the signs of what this space WAS. The four lamps that hung were especially nice touches, and the wooden floors, wooden stage, and HUGE baseboard heaters on either side of the room were not lost on us. We loved them all. We sat, pointing out all the little things about the space we could find.

My favourite thing, through watching Cold Souls (starring Paul Giamatti, as himself), besides the movie was the heaters kicking in and hissing loud enough for me to notice. I loved that the history of this building was still getting in its words edgewise. “Thissssss wassssss a sssssschoool,” it seemed to say, “now it’sssss ssssssomething elsssssssse.”

We greatly enjoyed this film, which wasn’t playing in Windsor and likely never will, unless the Windsor International Film Festival brings it to town in the summer. Which means, upon extrapolation, that there will be many more great films showing daily at the Burton Theatre, which is a nice reassuring feeling. We found this gem of an experience, because it wanted to be found. Nowhere that I’m aware of can we yet see independent (small budget) films being screened daily in Windsor. So we went to where it was being provided.

A slightly less-exciting deviation from the films,  I had the supreme pleasure of taking the long, twisty walk to find the “Men’s Lounge” in the basement…where I was greeted with a pool table in a gigantic “boys” bathroom where it would be easier to wash my shins in the sink than my hands. Enjoy the photos below.

We were (I am) greatly appreciative that we have easy access to this place. Sitting quietly, largely, in one of the most unique cities in the world…15 minutes from my own business in downtown Windsor…on Cass Avenue…or as the baseboard heaters would say, “Casssssssssss.”

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In the middle of October, I was lucky enough to be chosen to attend a limited-seating event in Detroit called TEDx Detroit.
TED.com has been one of the most uplifting, challenging, brilliant websites I’ve been visiting for the past four years.
Tedx Detroit was a spin-off, localized version of the talks on TED.com, from the conference in Monterrey, California every year.

Getting chosen, as one of two Canadians on-hand for the event (Mita Williams of Leddy Library also chosen) was an honour.
Sitting in a conference room at Lawrence Tech University at 10 Mile Road, I was surrounded by 200 DOERS. Idea people, entrepreneurs, visionaries, and curious people who make it their mission to SHOW UP, and then do more than that.

The speaking series was a cross section of the brilliance moving Detroit forward. This event was a connecting, resource-heavy link-up.

Speakers at this TEDx Detroit event were many, and so I thought I’d narrow their talks down to things they said that stood out to me in each talk:

Dr. Gary Gabel
- Before we turn three years old, we have been rewarded THOUSANDS of times for whining, and complaining (ie. need food, need diaper changed, need more blankets). He related this to consumers, citizens, complaining about things hoping for a reply. An answer. Instead of fixing it themselves. Some of us never get out of this habit.
- How did the market crash open the possibilities the be the person I want to be? Good question.

Dawn White – Accio Wind Energy (named after a Harry Potter spell)
- Accio Wind Energy, in Detroit, looked into getting rid of the spinning blade technology for windmills, because it has been controversial. Animal harm, vibrations, etc.
- Get rid of spinning blades? She thought of the Dyson Vacuum cleaner.
- There are fans without blades. I have one.
- They use a PANEL design, with TUBES inside that capture wind energy.
- Because they are located in the manufacturing hub, they can make these for FAR LESS than anyone else in the country (or world). They can get “wind energy tubing” for pennies per foot because of Detroit’s manufacturing infrastructure.
- Using current workforce and assembly line keeps costs down and invigorates Michigan economy.

Fabienne Munch – Herman Miller (Furniture)
- She spoke about thiking WAY ahead of the normal time frames we think of with regards to future business needs…or world needs.
- Think about 2050. How will businesses work?
- She stated a quote that made me think big. It was from Max De Pree, of Herman Miller.
“There are two ways of competing in this business – you can nickel and dime the competition to death, or you can take giant steps that distinguish you from them. But the only way to take giant steps is to have giants.”
That last bit is beautiful.

Aaron Crumm – Adaptive Materials Inc.:
- Coal fired power plant consumes 100 train cars of coal a day!
- Personalized power generators = future of alternative energies
- Too many steps to get from energy source to battery, and eventually to consumer.
- Detroit based company ready to change this.

Richard B. Sheridan:
- His big truth – If it doesn’t work, and it isn’t obvious – the design is STUPID. You shouldn’t have to guess whether to push or pull a door. Its design should make it obvious, as should other items’ designs.
- Did you ever notice that the save button on Microsoft programs is a FLOPPY DISK?! Relevant?
- We need anthropology to learn how to make things better for people. Study people to see what is actually needed in products.

Charles “Chazz” Miller – Public Art Workz:
- BRILLIANT presentation about his role in teaching art to inner city Detroiters.
- CREATING the market for art, then creating the art.
- His creations are imaginative, and involve making things look better in order to pick up the morale of the community.
- He showed images of working models of amazing, interactive street furniture. A Poe”tree” (poetry) that tells you a different poem, out loud, when you touch different branches of the tree-shaped sculpture. Great ideas, great man.

Matt Dugener – Enliven Software
- He spoke about creating an “entrepreneur community”. Making it work by COLLABORATING!
- He said, “In Texas, when you’re an entrepreneur, you’re a hero. In Michigan, you’re a criminal.”
- People wonder why you’re not in the Big 3, and they’re more suspicious than supportive of your business.
- He sees a problem that was taught at all levels, but apparent in Windsor/Detroit – We taught everyone how to be employees, and not employERS.

Dan Izzo – Bizzo.biz
- Dan’s company, I think, is willing to supply investment (after looking at an upstart’s business plan etc.) to an entrepreneur. 67% of the equity of the comany is owned by Bizzo until the money is returned to Bizzo…then the equity FLIPS, and the entrepreneur owns 67% of the business…Bizzo keeps 33%…as an investor…BUT…one condition…
-The business MUST open within Detroit’s city limits!!! BRILLIANT!

Paul Schutt – “Issue Media Group” – “Model D blog” – “Metro Mode”
- Paul’s company focuses on showing the face of the New Detroit using publications, online and offline.
- He’s raising profiles of of DIVERSTIY in business and art in Detroit.
- He points out that the media like to write about the STP (Same Ten People). This needs to be changed, by stepping in and offering more diverse stories and looks at other gifted peopel in the area…acting as a content farm for mainstream media.
- Create Once. Publish Everywhere.

Thanks to all the organizers in Detroit who made this happen, and who allowed me to attend.
It was phenomenal, even though I had to leave early to get to work.

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I think if I ever hear anyone try to tell me that there’s nothing to do…that they’re bored…I will spit.

Waking up (if you want to call it that) after four hours of sleep, I dragged my mind across the Ambassador Bridge to an event that I had to APPLY to be accepted into the audience.

It’s called TEDx Detroit. It’s a spin-off from TED – Technology, Education, Design – Talks geared toward sharing Ideas Worth Spreading.
If you want a hint of what this means…go to ted.com and allow your mind to be blown. Every time I send people over to this site, weeks go by, and we meet again…and they tell me how many hours they spent exploring.
It’s damn-near addictive.

The inspiration of big ideas is a special thing.
And this is exactly what draws hundreds of people to these events…these TED sponsored events.

This event was geared, like most TED and TEDx events, where inspired and interesting people come together and expound on the expression of terms like, creative, doer, design, dreamer, make, and yes, SHOW UP was said several times. Love that.

Needless to say, this auditorium at Lawrence Tech University is chock full of big-time doers. There are contemporaries in this room that have something different from most idea-people I come across.

This room is FULL of POSITIVITY. There is no mincing words here. They are extraordinarily positive. Their ideas and problem solving is heavily based in the betterment of all. The main focus is action, instead of grumpy analysis, and spoken/written idea. This group lives by DOING.

Being in here, you can literally walk up to anyone, and realize that they have something to teach you…about SOMETHING YOU THINK YOU ALREADY KNOW ABOUT. Humbling and fabulous.

Again, this was not an open forum. You had to apply. 500 people asked to be accepted. Less than 200 were asked to attend.
My job, as is everyone’s in this auditorium, is to take this Detroit-focused discussion about growth, community, focus, co-operation, inspiration, invigoration, and spread these ideas. Share them.

What this really makes me want to do is offer these kinds of group meetings to people in Windsor. There are enough idea people in Windsor to sustain one of these great collections of concepts that need to be put into action.

If you’re curious, the next time you see me, ask me about some of these presenters.

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