Minneapolis Idea Exchange (MiX) Brings Creative and Innovative Leaders to Minneapolis to Inspire Ideas that Power Community

Minneapolis Idea Exchange (MiX) Brings Creative and Innovative Leaders to Minneapolis to Inspire Ideas that Power Community

MINNEAPOLIS (September 3, 2015) — The Minneapolis Idea Exchange (MiX), an initiative of the Minneapolis Downtown Council’s Intersections: Downtown 2025 Plan, will host MiX 2015 on September 28, October 1 and October 2. With three days of speakers and events, MiX will partner with the 35^th annual Westminster Town Hall Forum to inspire attendees to think about creativity and community in innovative ways.

Nationally-recognized creators and advocates for empowered communities will build on the momentum created at MiX 2014. MiX 2015 will feature:

• Pete Docter: Minnesota native
• Tavis Smiley: author, publisher, social justice advocate
• Dan Buettner: Minnesota native, founder of Blue Zones, an organization helping Americans live longer, healthier, and happier lives

“We’re thrilled to have three dynamic speakers discussing topics of significance at this year’s MiX event,” said Tim Hart-Andersen and Mary Shaffer, co-chairs of the 2025 Plan MiX Committee. “Minneapolis has been highly-ranked at the national level on many lifestyle indicators ranging from innovation to overall vitality, and we want to continue to see that expand and support a thriving world-class downtown.”

MiX is the venue that makes it possible for ideas to come together from national inspiration to local talent and a community of doers. During MiX 2015, attendees will be inspired to tap into their creativity, learn from communities of justice and take a cue from the world’s healthiest people. In addition to thought-provoking speakers, MiX will transform the corner of Nicollet Mall and 12^th Street to create an outdoor experience complete with music, good eats, local drinks, interactive activities and social events. The events are free and open to the public.

MiX Speaker Schedule

Pete Docter

Monday, September 28, 7:00 PM

Inside the Creative Community: The Power and Process of Animated Film

Pete Docter is a film director, animator, and screenwriter at Pixar Animation Studios. He contributed to the story and characters of Toy Story, Pixar’s first full-length animated feature film, and served as the supervising animator for the film. He wrote story treatments for Toy Story 2 and Wall-E and directed Monsters, Inc., Up, and his latest release, Inside Out. He has been nominated for six Academy Awards and won Best Animated Feature Film for Up. Born and raised in Bloomington, Minn., he graduated from the California Institute of the Arts where he received a Student Academy Award. In 1990, he was hired as Pixar’s third animator and began work the day after his college graduation. Website: pixartalk.com/pixarians/pete-docter/

Tavis Smiley

Thursday, October 1, 7:00 PM         

No One Left Out: Creating Communities of Justice

Tavis Smiley is an author, publisher, social justice advocate, and host and managing editor of the late-night PBS television talk show, Tavis Smiley, and the public radio program, The Tavis Smiley Show. He has written or edited 18 books, including The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto, co-authored with Cornel West; My Journey with Maya, a memoir of his friendship with Maya Angelou; Death of a King, an account of the final year in the life Dr. Martin Luther King; and Covenant with Black America, a collection of essays addressing economic and social disparities. He is the founder of a nonprofit foundation committed to empowering young people and to alleviating poverty across all sectors of society. Website: pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/

Dan Buettner

Friday, October 2, Noon

A Blue Zones City: Living Like the World’s Healthiest People

Dan Buettner is the founder of Blue Zones, an organization committed to helping Americans live longer, healthier lives. He teamed with National Geographic and the world’s best longevity researchers to identify lifestyle choices in specific parts of the globe where people live measurably longer lives. Their research has been published in his bestselling book The Blue Zones: Nine Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest and his recent book, Blue Zones Solution: Eating and Living Like the World’s Healthiest People. In 2009, he brought his nine principles for longevity to the town of Albert Lea, Minn., where participants in his program added an estimated 2.9 years to their average lifespan. Website: bluezones.com

All keynote events will be hosted at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1200 S. Marquette Avenue in Minneapolis. Additional activities that are free and open to the public will happen near 12^th Street and Nicollet Mall on Monday, September 28, Thursday, October 1 and Friday, October 2.

About the Minneapolis Downtown Council:

Founded in 1955, and one of the oldest central business associations in the nation, the Minneapolis Downtown Council (MDC) is a membership-based entity that works to create an extraordinary downtown. The MDC’s collaborative developments of Intersections: Downtown 2025 Plan was designed to help downtown businesses, community leaders and citizens build on downtown assets and implement future goals. For more information, please visit http://www.downtownmpls.com/.

About the 2025 Plan: 

The Downtown 2025 Plan is a vehicle to help leaders and citizens build on Downtown’s assets and guide its development in ways that reflect the community’s aspirations for a Downtown Minneapolis that is thriving, livable, green, connected and welcoming in the decades ahead. This includes initiatives to double downtown’s residential population, transform Nicollet Mall into a must-see destination, implement a Gateway area and other green elements throughout downtown, create a compelling and walkable environment around the clock, lead the nation in transportation options, end street homelessness, forge connections with the University of Minnesota and more. The 2025 Plan is a Minneapolis Downtown Council initiative established in 2010.

About the Minneapolis Idea eXchange:

MiX is a community-powered event that encourages discourse on the topics impacting our city and celebrates the nationally recognized ingenuity and talent rooted in Minneapolis. The Minneapolis Idea eXchange is an initiative of the Minneapolis Downtown Council and supported through community leaders, or MiX Luminaries including Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges.  For more information, visit http://www.minneapolisideaexchange.com/ or follow along @MiXMpls on Facebook and Twitter.