Article missed point of Get Down! Town
After participating in a wildly successful Get Down! Town event Aug. 27, I was disappointed to wake on Sunday to an article entitled "Greensboro Gets Down." The reality that critical facts were incorrectly reported is bad enough, but the News & Record seems to have completely missed the overall purpose of Get Down! Town.
First, the facts: There were far more participants at Get Down! Town than the "hundreds of college students" reported. Official estimates put the number at roughly 5,000. Also, synerG, the group that organized the event, is a wing of Action Greensboro dedicated to recruiting and retaining young professionals in Greensboro, not a "group of downtown backers."
The article belittles remarks by Mayor Holliday regarding importance of students to Greensboro, describing them as the "worst use of a line from the film Jerry Maguire."
What is most disappointing is the reporter failed to understand that Holliday's remarks embody the true spirit of the event and the mission of synerG. If students feel part of the community, there is a good chance they will remain after graduation rather than taking their talents elsewhere.
Jeffrey T. Nimmer
Greensboro
The writer is a synerG board member.
Comments (4)
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5000 seems a little inflated to me. If synerG wasnt "a group of downtown backers" why are they a wing of a group whos main goal seems to be to restore downtown? and why was the event downtown? why not have the event at UNCG? or at battleground park?
maybe you need to go away for the weekend and take a deep breath...the event was good. people liked it. They may stay after graduation or they may not. Get Down! Town definetly wont be a deciding factor.
Posted on September 3, 2005 8:06 AM
Get Down! on the Battleground
yeah i like the sound of that...why not try being "a group of Battleground Park backers"?
Posted on September 3, 2005 8:08 AM
The purpose of locating the college student event is to provide a central location, which downtown is. What is wrong with boosting Greensboro's downtown anyway? I was an exhibitor at the event - we were pleased with our results and with the entire night! Thank you Action Greensboro, synerG, and the City of Greensboro.
Posted on September 3, 2005 5:25 PM
I hate to keep repeating this theme,but if G'boro wants to retain the young professionals,then perhaps they should consider making G'boro more "business friendly". High property tax rates, county commissioners and city council persons who seem intent on wasting the taxpayers' money on pet projects like the woolworth fiasco, ACC hall of fame,etc. are not very inticing to these people. Give them real reasons to stay here insted of blowing your horn about what a great place G'boro is to live.
Posted on September 4, 2005 4:44 PM