Hey Austinites -
Come to Happy Hour on Monday, February 16th at Momo's at 6 PM.
This is a special gathering of tech industry folks, entrepreneurs, musicians and artists who want to meet and hear from mayor candidate Brewster McCracken.
McCracken has been criticized by his opponents for the top city office for being "ambitious".
That's right, apparently some people running for office think it is a terrible thing to have ambition and a vision for the future of one of the country's most vibrant and energetic cities.
Here is what essayist Paul Graham says about ambition:
"Great cities attract ambitious people. You can sense it when you walk around one. In a hundred subtle ways, the city sends you a message: you could do more; you should try harder."
He adds:
"If you look at the historical evidence, most people who did great things were clumped together in a few places where that sort of thing was done at the time."
Well, I think Austin has proven itself as an ambitious city. I think that's why most of us live here. We want to do more. We want to work harder. We want to do great things. And if the worst thing Brewster McCracken's opponents can say about him is that he's "ambitious," then I think we've found our next Mayor!!
Our civic leaders in the past did not shy away from an ambitious vision of what Austin could be in the future, and today we all get to live in this great place because they saw that the "Technology Industries" would bring jobs and growth. They attracted companies like MCC, Motorola, IBM, Sematech, AMD and others to Central Texas - and created the thriving hub of innovation that we have today.
Michael Dell had ambition and vision when he started his company in a dorm room at the University of Texas. He did not say "the computer industry needs a steady hand over the next few years"- but instead he looked for new ways blaze the trail toward success.
We have to continue that search to make Austin the home of entrepreneurship and creativity in order to remain a competitive community. Clean energy, biotech, and other industries need to find their way to Austin's tomorrow. We cannot afford to stand still with a steady hand or look backwards at this critical time.
Please come out on Monday to listen to Brewster McCracken tell us why he is running for mayor. I would never tell anyone how to vote, but a chance to meet and listen to the candidate is a good thing.
It will be a lot of fun, and an eclectic crowd of cool people.
Oh, I have the honor of introducing Brewster at the event.... so you will have to listen to me for about four minutes. :)
When:
Monday, February 16, 2009
Where:
Momo's
618 W 6th St # 200
Austin, TX 78701
Time:
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Cost:
FREE (Donations to the campaign are welcome!!!)
I hope to see you there...and bring friends.
Have A Great Day.
thom
Thom,
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to seeing you tomorrow- and supporting Brewster. Ambitious is great for Austin. This is the way that we should be building our fine city! Thank you for the info!