A Toast to Detroit!
My Dad grew up in the City of Detroit, East side to be more precise. I am thinking of him and the past, but also thinking about the amazingly bright future the City now has, on this day - the day LinkedIn opened our downtown Detroit office.
My Dad was proud to be from Detroit. Like all good Detroiters, he loved cars, the Lions, Tigers, the Polish Bakeries, Joe Muer’s (the original), Corktown, Lafayette Coney Island (pictured above – if you go, have two with everything). Though he loved the City, he also struggled to cope with the fact that the City went into a terrible decline for decades. He saw a glimpse of the comeback before he passed away.
If my Dad could see the City today, he would be blown away. A thriving downtown, many live-able, walk-able neighborhoods, sports teams moving BACK to the City?
So on this day that LinkedIn officially opens an office in Detroit, I have many feelings but two come to mind -
I am proud to work for LinkedIn, Our vision is to connect the world's professionals to make them more productive and successful, and our mission is to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce. We are making a concerted effort to create jobs, and economic opportunity in the Detroit market, and to positively impact the City.
I am smiling because I know my Dad would love to see the City that Detroit has become, and can potentially be.
So on this day - Here is a toast to my Dad, and Detroit. And again, if you go – two with everything!
PS: By the way - I have no explanation behind the grainy picture of my Dad, from the 1950's. There are hundreds of pictures of him, and 99% of these can only be described as demonstrations of him being irreverent (or, smart-ass). Toasting a polar bear is just another example of this! The other picture is that of random Lafayette Coney Island revelers, toasting the bride post-wedding, because that's what you do in Detroit.
Shout out to a few LinkedIn folks: Brian Frank, Mike Gamson, Jake Ruby, LaRon Johnson, Laura Meister, Amanda (Zipser) Fochtman
Board Director, Advisor, Former Senior Vice President Americas, Cisco Systems
6 年I am smiling too as I read this article Chris! Elated to see the progress in our city and love the fact that a technology company such as LinkedIn has opened their office in Detroit!
Building Brands with People-First Strategies, Delivering Results with Passion & Precision, and Empowering Sales at Every Aspect of the Funnel
6 年Right here with ya! I might not be from east side, but my heart will always be with the dirty D. West side represent.?
Excited & Passionate to help people be Happier & Healthier
7 年love this and cheers to Papa Kelleher!
Senior HR Business Partner Consultant (ex-LinkedIn, ex-Google)
7 年Great post Chris!
Hi Chris Kelleher great piece! And awesome to know that a smart billionaire like Dan Gilbert did what LinkedIn peeps do all the time-take intelligent risks and invest in massive potential.