Sometime after my 35th birthday, I was just easing into my new career as a Market Research Consultant with Ipsos Understanding Unlimited, my first foray into the for profit sector. Any free time I had was invested in preparing for my upcoming wedding or volunteering at the Know Theatre of Cincinnati. Although busy, it felt for the first time in a long time that I had finally created a healthy work/life balance.

One phone call from Eric Avner thankfully changed all that.

Eric, one of the city's most driven and well connected movers and shakers, can only be described as infectious when bitten by a big picture idea. His sincerity and his passion compel people around him to become as excited as he is about change. Not that this particular project he was calling about needed much lobbying for me to see that this was going to be big.

Eric had been in talks with Brian Boyle, a hurricane of a man that had bet the proverbial farm on the creation of an online publication promoting Detroit as a cool place to live. He believed that people would not only read it, but it would challenge Detroit's home grown negative media coverage in a way that would breed actual civic pride. It continues to do just that along with a growing number of other cities that have adopted the model. Eric called to tell me that he would be pushing hard to make Cincinnati one of those cities.

The premise sounded so simple. Focus on the positive, create new conversation around challenges that promote real change, and push the case for growth by demonstrating a region's talent, innovation, diversity and environmental assets. Eric explained that he was assembling a team to help launch the publication and assured me once we were up and running I could bow out gracefully. I was not completely convinced until he introduced me to the rest of the players:

Dacia Snider, the indefatigable publisher whose drive and belief in the project would keep it going through its most difficult times.

Scott Beseler, Pan incarnate. Fiercely independent with a photographic eye unlike any other I had seen. Scott's photographs set Soapbox apart from all other publications. His spirit and easy going attitude would endear him as one of my favorite people.

Dave Holthaus, the quiet Post writer who understood that a small business hiring three people is just as powerful and game changing as a large corporation hiring 10,000.

Kevin LeMaster, another quiet writer with an unwavering passion for and knowledge of Cincinnati's rich architectural history.

The staff has grown and changed over the last year and a half and I am now proud to call my colleagues the talented Feoshia Henderson, Randy Simes and Soapdish columnist, Casey Coston. They, along with an impressive line up of Cincinnati free lance writers, have helped to make my job manageable as well as immensely pleasurable. I will miss the daily interaction with all of these urban heroes.

Six years ago I was debating whether or not the move I had made to Cincinnati was the right one. I had left my friends, family, community and a job that I loved to take a position at the Cincinnati Ballet. The move was predicated on the urging of a good friend of mine who had convinced me a change to the Queen City would be good for me. Always lured by the curiosity of what is possible down the road not traveled, I took the leap. Life is ironic. And within two months, my friend was fired from his position as executive director and I was left with few friends and no real assurance of what was going to happen next.

In some ways the scene was set for something big to happen and it did.

I was lucky enough to find my way into a community of artists and other lost souls looking to dedicate some time, passion and energy into something larger than themselves. Every once in awhile, the universe provides us with the right combination of opportunity, talent and timing. When that happens, you turn off the part of your brain that asks "is this the most practical thing to do?" and instead listen to the voice in your gut that tells you "take the leap, this is going to be more fun than being safe."

It was within these serendipitous months that I met Jason Bruffy who had the idea to create a festival dedicated to experimentation and innovation. Dates were already set. A little money had been identified. A small group of people were interested. That's really all that it took to launch what is now a festival that employs hundreds of local, regional, national and international artists and sees over 6,000 curious butts in seats all over town.

Over the course of the next few days I'll use these blog pages to provide a little bit of history on how a rag tag group of poor non-profiteers launched their festival as well as why building community through endeavors such as these are important to progressive cities.

The Fringe is much more than just twelve days of theatre, film, dance and visual art. It is the essence of what we all seek – a community working towards a common goal. It is a movement in every sense of the word. It has momentum, it is unpredictable and it is transformative.

If you've never been, I encourage you to take a chance and see what it's all about for yourself. It's a way to see your city through someone else's eyes.