GNMAA People Love Cheesecake

One of my interests is classic cars so I was looking forward to joining a few GNMAA folks and other enthusiasts at Eli's Cheesecake Festival on September 16. The two-day event was fabulous, attracting nearly 150 cars and about 10,000 people to Eli's bakery on the north side of the city.

Jennifer and I drive our 1941 Packard to the bakery thinking we would arrive early, only to find that cars had been lined up two hours before the scheduled opening. We were lucky to find a good parking spot near the back!

I was impressed with the family friendly environment. There was plenty for the kids to do, including play on several of those large inflatable carnival toys, watch a large-scale model railroad, make paper hats and other novelties in the craft tent, and enjoy entertainment on two stages. I was also impressed with the amount of community involvement.

The free event benefited multiple charities and community groups. Finally, the cars were all shapes, colors, and sizes. Big chrome, big paint, and big engines won the day!

Of course we saw Marc Schulman (see right), president of Eli's Cheesecake and a member of the GNMAA executive committee, and his wife Maureen, also an active GNMAA volunteer. Ralph Weber (also right), GNMAA's chairman of the board, was there and could have driven his classic Mercedes Benz, but didn't due to scheduling issues. David Snyder, Associate Publisher at Crain's Chicago Business, attended with his two daughters, one of whom became very sad when her helium balloon "flew away." For everyone else it was a really great day!

Orchard Road Comes to The Magnificent Mile

Representatives of the Orchard Road Business Association, Singapore's sister to North Michigan Avenue, visited with GNMAA staff and key leaders in our community on Monday, September 10, 2007.

Camille Julmy, a member of the GNMAA Administration Committee and a past chairman of the Board, set up the meeting. My counterpart and eight other representatives learned about GNMAA's structure and operating practices before lunch at the Signature Room at the 95^th (thanks to Angela Roman), a boat tour (thanks to Holly Agra), and a double-decker bus ride (thanks to John Curran). Greg Holland conducted a tour through Norstrom, Mitch Feldman narrated a tour of Water Tower Place, and they met Barry Graham at The 900 Shops for an explanation of this premier facility.

The group left Chicago overwhelmed with the beauty of the City and the hospitality of our people. I learned several interesting things about Singapore. For example, there are virtually no homeless people and panhandlers on Orchard Road due to local ordinances and severe punishment for offenders. Drug trafficking and the use of a gun in a crime are justifications for an "automatic death penalty." As one American youth you may recall from several years ago learned, the penalty for vandalism and many other lesser crimes is caning, an extremely harsh practice that our group attributed to police while the country was an English colony.

Interestingly, the City of Chicago and the city/state of Singapore are about the same size – about 225 square miles. Many comparisons hit home.

Camille and his Branding Committee are working on strengthening North Michigan Avenue's distinction as "One of the Ten Great Avenues of the World." Orchard Road, with many of the same high quality retail and hospitality businesses that have a presence on the Avenue, is another Great Avenue. Maintaining a relationship with the Orchard Road Business Association will have many benefits.