(04-05-2006) Bono to Speak at Michigan Club's Dinner -- AP*

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dsmith2904

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Bono to Speak at Michigan Club's Dinner

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Bono, the lead singer of U2, has agreed to speak at the annual dinner of The Economic Club of Grand Rapids, the organization's executive director said.
Lorna Schultz confirmed Wednesday that the Irish rock band's frontman had accepted the club's invitation to the dinner, which will be held May 4 at the DeVos Place convention center.

"We're thrilled that he's accepted our invitation and we look forward to him on May 4," she said. The dinner will be open only to club members and their guests.

Schultz said her organization was still working with Bono's representatives on a topic for his speech.

Bono is among 191 nominees, including politicians and peacemakers, for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. The singer was proposed for his fight against world poverty.

Past speakers for the annual dinner include F.W. DeKlerk, former president of South Africa, and John Major, former prime minister of Great Britain.

Update

Grand Rapid's WoodTV has an article about how Bono ended up accepting the invitation to speak at The Economic Club that can be read here.
 
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Well, here's one speech of B's that I won't be going to since I'll be at his Dallas appearance the following night!

GREAT news! :bonodrum:
 
How awful; what's next? The Des Moines Rotarians? The Jaycees of Bent Fork? The Schnitzenbaum Bar Mitzvah?

He's becoming the Georgie Jessel of rock and roll...slippery slope, Baby Bon, slippery slope...
 
FEELINNUMB said:
How awful; what's next? The Des Moines Rotarians? The Jaycees of Bent Fork? The Schnitzenbaum Bar Mitzvah?

He's becoming the Georgie Jessel of rock and roll...slippery slope, Baby Bon, slippery slope...

In addition to the past speakers mentioned in the news item, that organization has also hosted Margaret Thatcher and Colin Powell, to name just a couple more. You needn't be so worried (or snide?) about "Baby Bon" just yet.
 
*tries to figure out if she knows anyone who belongs to the Economic Club of Grand Rapids*
 
I would bet it is one of those speaking engagements for a fee (but I would also bet the ranch that those fees go to DATA or a similar entity).
 
The man is going on tour even when he's not on tour. LOL.:lol:

Give the man a break, folks. Maybe he wants to be able to keep an eye on what's going on here, in this country, getting any excuse necessary to be able to live here a few days more, not just reading a paper and keeping up with the news from overseas. Or maybe he's just become totally uncontrollable at home, and Ali feels the need to kick him out once in a while for her own sanity..."tour mode" hotwired in his system:)

In any case, he can't just go on vacation to Malibu and crash at Edge's place if he wants a few weeks to "spy" on us. Edge has got his own intense situation going on the next few months....
 
ooh, ooh, ooh...that's just a couple hours west of me...
but dammit I don't belong to the club:sad:

I wonder how the Economic Club of Grand Rapids has gotten so many special speakers over the years?! That's quite an invite list they have going....

Interesting place for a Bono appearance, as the whole economy of the state of Michigan is currently very affected by globalization issues what with the US automakers pulling out in a big way. Maybe he's seriously interested in gauging sentiment on that count.

cheers all!
 
FEELINNUMB said:
How awful; what's next? The Des Moines Rotarians? The Jaycees of Bent Fork? The Schnitzenbaum Bar Mitzvah?

He's becoming the Georgie Jessel of rock and roll...slippery slope, Baby Bon, slippery slope...

What is that suppose to mean anyway? You obviously have no clue what Grand Rapids is like or how big it is. The only city in Michigan bigger is Detroit. I wouldn't go insulting things you obviously know nothing about.
 
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I’m intrigued that these speaking engagements are falling during the week between the two weekends of the Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans :hmm:

As the first weekend features Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen it isn’t that far of a stretch

The idea of Bob, Bruce and Bono is just a little much more my brain to handle :drool:
 
ShellBeThere said:
I wonder how the Economic Club of Grand Rapids has gotten so many special speakers over the years?! That's quite an invite list they have going....

Interesting place for a Bono appearance, as the whole economy of the state of Michigan is currently very affected by globalization issues what with the US automakers pulling out in a big way. Maybe he's seriously interested in gauging sentiment on that count.

cheers all!

Yes, why did Bono choose to speak in Grand Rapids, Mich.? Does he know someone there or does someone know him? :hmm:

Personally, I'm still crossing my fingers that Bono will someday speak before the Detroit Economic Club. Their schedule of speakers is about to end for 2005-06, but there's always next speaking season ... or he could drive across the state while he's here. :wink:
 
canedge said:
Bono is speaking there becuase the people have the money. He knows that 'Economic Clubs' etc. can support his cause. He is not a cheap date.

I think you're right. Grand Rapids, Michigan isn't very well known, but like Blue Room said, it's the largest city in MI besides Detroit, and actually the GR Metro area (1.3 mil) has more people than Detroit (.95 mil). Besides this, west Michigan is home to some of the wealthiest families in the world, whether you recognize their names or not. DeVos is worth more than twice that of Donald Trump. I'd imagine Jay VanAndel is about the same. There's also the Meijers, Princes, Gaineys, etc. These people are billionaires and not only that, they are all very philanthropic and for the most part, religious. Like Warren Buffet, they kind of keep to themselves. But if you spend a day in GR, you'll immediately notice that everything here has been funded by their money. VanAndel Arena, DeVos Childrens Hospital, Frederick Meijer Gardens, The DeVos Center For Arts and Worship, the DeVos Hall, the DeVos Place, the VanAndel Museum, the Gainey Athletic Complex, etc, etc. I don't know much about the Economic Club, but since DeVos and VanAndel are both charter members (duh) I'm assuming they provide most of the funding for this club and are probably footing the bill for Bono to speak. DeVos is running for governor here and as a semi-conservative Republican from a traditional religious background, he probably needs a dinner with Bono to get some I-care-for-poor-people-and-social-justice spin. Maybe Bono's not getting paid to speak, but either way there's some mutual backrubbing going on. DeVos and co are worth gazillions, just the type of people Bono's always schmoozing with, and DeVos knows this can only help him in the court of public opinion.

That said, I'm very grateful for the opportunity I've been given. Thanks to my favorite business professor, I'll be attending the event with my choice of three other Grand Rapids residents who will also represent Calvin College with me. A few of my other friends are also going so we'll be sure to post a full report...

(haha, there's a Dick DeVos political campaign ad on TV this minute....)
 
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I'm going, too, and I'll post as well.

I suspect Bono accepted the club's invite because of his efforts to broaden his appeal to conservatives. That said, G.R. is progressive when it comes to the arts (like the Festival of Faith and Literature that Cal College is sponsoring next week, featuring Salman Rushdie who as we know has a U2 connection.)

It should be a very interesting dinner, if only to see Bono amongst my relatives, for whom fashion has not changed since the 50s :)
 
silvrlvr said:
I'm going, too, and I'll post as well.

I suspect Bono accepted the club's invite because of his efforts to broaden his appeal to conservatives. That said, G.R. is progressive when it comes to the arts (like the Festival of Faith and Literature that Cal College is sponsoring next week, featuring Salman Rushdie who as we know has a U2 connection.)

It should be a very interesting dinner, if only to see Bono amongst my relatives, for whom fashion has not changed since the 50s :)

Hi there are you from GR? What company are you going with?

I agree that this is a win-win situation for both parties. Bono will broaden his appeal to the conservatives, and DeVos will broaden his appeal with the more liberal, social-justice minded folk and the younger crowd.

Calvin is trying so unbelievably hard (well, has been for the past decade) to get Bono at the Festival of Faith and Music (or writing, I guess he'd fit either, and we'd take him either way!). Yes, Rushdie is coming now and Steve Stockman (the U2 "Walk On" author) has come twice now. The festivals only get bigger and more popular every year, so I'm sure they'll hook Bono sometime, I'm just sad it wasn't before I'll graduate.
 
That's so cool that some of you will get to attend this event!

I've also noticed that B seems to like the Midwest in general for pushing the antipoverty agenda; remember he did that bus tour thing in '02 I think it was?

*crosses fingers that maybe he will decide to stick around and spend his birthday in Chicago*
 
Catlady said:
I've also noticed that B seems to like the Midwest in general for pushing the antipoverty agenda; remember he did that bus tour thing in '02 I think it was?

Yep, the Heart of America Tour was Dec. 2002. I was lucky to see him speak twice that week. It was so cool, seeing BONO just feet away from me in a little church!
 
I'm from Ann Arbor and I got my ticket through a friend of a friend, so I'm not sure where/with whom I'll be sitting. But I'm sure they'll be Republicans :)
 
Yes, as it has been proven in the past, it pays (if you are a conservative) to have a photo op with B. It worked very well for Mr Wolfowitz, when his candidacy for Pres of the World Bank was in serious trouble last year. There was something like 24 hrs to go before the Europeans were to vote to lodge a formal ptortest to the nomination, thus seriously jeopordizing it. I think. Wolfowitz got on the phone with Bono and said some very nice things about Africa. and B fell for it like a stone. This was one of those times where, for all his newfound political savvy, he displayed shreds of the niavete that still enders him to millions, but which in some cases proves to be troubling. After the phone call, Wolfowitx made the phone rounds with a number of European leaders, saying, in effect, "Bono likes me, so why does everyone hate me?" 2 or 3 days later, the nomination was mysteriously clinched, though to a soul the European media and the genral public despised him and still said his chnaces were in do8bt. But W had learned his lessons well. He did what Bono so often does: skip the public hurdles and go straight for the backroom jugular.

There is actually a LOT of political crap going on in MI, not just globaliztion issues. Like Ohio, the tsate is pretty evenly split on a number of things and is considered a politcal bellweather. Haivng grown up in Detroit, I can say that things are interesting politically. I think Bono is being wooed. The conspiracy theorist in me says that W. is desperate to win MI at all costs, so he gave a heads up to the local Rep candidate to woo Bono when all else fails....

This is the kind of politcal crap that makes me sympathize with Edge once in a while.....:(
 
Hmm, you've got the timing wrong. Those calls between Wolfowitz and Bono were definitely AFTER Wolfowitz was named head of the World Bank, not before.
 
No, Biff, I specifically remember reading it on here. I even printed out the pages because I found the story too incredible to believe, I wanted to preserve the story, it dpressed me for days on end. I hope I can find them, so I can link you to the archives where they took place. Bono and Wolfowitz exchanged calls afterwards, too, Bono wanted to congradulate him. But there were conversations beforehand, when what I described took place.
 
Teta040 said:
This was one of those times where, for all his newfound political savvy, he displayed shreds of the niavete that still enders him to millions, but which in some cases proves to be troubling.

what Bono so often does: skip the public hurdles and go straight for the backroom jugular.

This is the kind of politcal crap that makes me sympathize with Edge once in a while.....:(

True on all accounts.
and still Bono is ahead of the game.
He has nothing to gain politically..
Therefore he's used his perceived naivete so well.
Even though there's a long way to go...
Look at what he's accomplished !!
One can't argue with results..:up:
Even the esteemed Mr. The Edge :wink:
 
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