Looks for many exciting events and announcement coming later this year!

TulsaNow’s board President, Scott Grizzle, had this to say: “TulsaNow’s website, and the internet is a whole, exists solely for the purpose of freely sharing information. This could no longer be possible if corporations making an unsubstantiated claim of economic harm are given influence over what is allowed online and who is punished.”

Because of this issue, TulsaNow participated in “Internet Blackout Day” by shutting it’s site and forum down on January 18th. We would like for those who would normally visit our site to read up on the issue. A particularly good explanation from publisher and copyright-holder Tim O’Reilly can be found here . Then, if you believe like we do that this legislation should be stopped, please contact your representatives and let your voice be heard.

To find out more about Tulsa’s current trash service and the proposed changes, visit TalkTrashTulsa.com. There you can also find information for contacting your city councilor and even sign a petition if you support the changes.

Both spoke about the positives and minuses of each plan and what they think is and isn’t working in Tulsa now. Changing the City charter would be a big change for City Hall, but would it make things much better? Much worse? Or would it all stay the same.

It’s definitely worth spending a little time before November 8th with these two giants of local civic politics. (divided into 4 parts for easier viewing)

Want to download it for later viewing on your PC, iPod, iPhone or other mobile device?
Download it in four parts here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4

How do we separate the politics from the policy? We invite the experts!

The architect of our current City Government, Former Mayor Roger Randle and Former Oklahoma City Mayor Kirk Humphreys will go one-on-one to help you understand the ins-and-outs of both forms of government.

Is our City fine the way it is? Will changing fix the problems in City Hall? We hope that in the end, you will be prepared to decide the City’s future.

When: Friday, September 16th, 5:30pm

Where: TCC Metro Philips Auditorium (9th & Cincinatti)

Cost: Free

Have questions for the speakers? Submit them in advance to: info@tulsanow.org

Well Now You Can!

If you own an iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch or Android-powered phone, you can now access the TulsaNow Forums through the “Tapatalk” app for mobile devices. This app lets you quickly check in on the forum while you’re riding the bus, in your hotel, or anywhere else where you might not be in front of a regular computer.

While TulsaNow does not charge for this (or any) service, the developer of the app does charge a one-time fee of $2.99 to cover development costs of the app. That price also allows you access to thousands of other forums worldwide, for no additional charge.

Get it today:

Our 10th Anniversary Party was a smashing success! We filled the first floor of Harwelden with people who love our city, and love making it better. We got to explain the history of TulsaNow to a great crowd of people and give them previews of what’s next. We also got to honor three local citizens who have been working hard to improve our city. For more details on the awards, check out our post on TulsaNow Awards Winners.

It was an amazing time, and a great way to celebrate an amazing organization!

For those who couldn’t be there, our 10th Anniversary presentation can be seen as an interactive slideshow (incompatible with some versions of Internet Explorer) or video

Nominated by public input, and then voted on by the public, TulsaNow celebrated their 10th anniversary by honoring three local citizens from three categories who have been working effortlessly to make Tulsa a better place to live.

Outstanding Civic Leader

Given all the amazing elected and appointed officials, as well as employees of the local civic organization, this was no small task. The nominees in this category were:

• Bill Leighty (TMAPC Chairman)
• Dennis Troyer (Former City Councilor)
• Kathy Taylor (Former Mayor)
• Seneca Scott (District 72 Representative)
• Theron Warlick (City of Tulsa Planning Department)

Outstanding Business Leader

Many developers and business owners have shown they are willing to take great risks to put great projects ahead of the bottom line. The nominees in this category were:

• Blake Ewing (Joe Momma’s, etc.)
• Elliot Nelson (McNellie’s, etc.)
• Greg Gray (Club 209)
• Jeff Hartman (Courtyard Marriott – Atlas Life)
• Macy Snyder (Mayo Hotel, etc.)

Outstanding Citizen

These are people who use their personal time and resources to help make Tulsa great for Tulsans. The nominees in this category were:

• George Kaiser
• Jonathan Belzley
• Mary Beth Babcock
• Matt & Diama Norris
• Shelby & Rachel Navarro

The winners for 2011 were:
Kathy Taylor, who accepted her award and spoke about all the great citizens bettering Tulsa that she has worked with over the years.

Elliot Nelson, whose father Jim Nelson, accepted and read a written statement about how citizen’s support of great projects makes great projects possible.

George Kaiser, whose efforts to give back to the city that supported his family was chronicled by Tulsa Community Foundation director Phil Lakin.

TulsaNow has joined as a cosponsor, along with a number of other Tulsa organizations, of an “Creativity Summit” that will be held on July 27 at the Circle Cinema.  The event will bring together a number of community leaders to assess the current environment for creativity in Tulsa and discuss how we can continue to grow a welcoming atmosphere for creativity in Tulsa. Full details can be found at the Creativity Summit website: http://tulsagrad.ou.edu/csdc/index_CREATIVITY.html

Although the website indicates that the registration fee is $35, since TulsaNow is a cosponsoring organization the registration fee will be $25. Simply mention in your registration e-mail that you’re a member of TulsaNow.