The International Center for Studies in Creativity (ICSC) and the Creative Connections alumni networking group at Buffalo State College will host the local component of the second annual Creativity and Innovation Day/Idea Week (CID), April 7-15. CID features eight days of activities that highlight creativity as it is used for more effective business practices and educational strategies.

CID/Idea Week in Buffalo will be highlighted by a public event on Saturday, Apr. 12, from 1 p.m.-5 p.m. in the Social Hall at Buffalo State College. This fun-filled, informative event will feature presentations from students and creativity professionals, a panel discussion on Creativity in Practice, mural artist and Buffalo State student Brian Nessline, who will join participants to create a giant, interactive painting during the day and much more. The event is free and open to the public.

Centered annually around Apr. 15 - the birthday of Leonardo Da Vinci, a most recognized creative individual - CID/Idea Week features sessions and seminars by students and alumni of ICSC, along with area business people and educators who will use examples of their work to show that creativity is not just for artists and has been successfully used to enhance the work place and the classroom for many years.

CID/Idea week in Buffalo will highlight a broad array of activities, some open to the general public. What follows is a partial list:

- Ed Pettitt, product engineering manager, Delphi Harrison Thermal Systems, will teach "Applied Creativity: Essential skills for a lean organization" to his colleagues at Delphi Harrison in Lockport, N.Y. Pettitt stated, "At Delphi, we feel the greatest sustainable competitive advantage we have is the ability of our teams to create and innovate."

- A local group of creativity professionals will open their monthly salon.

- Tony Billoni will host an "experience walk" around the Olmsted Crescent

- The Buffalo Museum of Science will present Jeffrey Welton as Leonardo Da Vinci

- Cyndi Argona and Jennifer Yund will host a discussion for educators to share activities used in the classroom to inspire creativity in their students.

Local organizer and ICSC alumna Tony Billoni stated, "Buffalo has had a great deal to do with the growth and practice of creativity and we at the center want to let the public in on a well-kept secret! Buffalo resident Alex Osborn was a founding researcher of creative studies and he is credited with developing and naming `brainstorming,' the practice of developing a great number of new ideas in a short period of time."

The second annual CID/Idea Week is an international event with more than 75 local organizers on every continent across the globe. CID/Idea Week is the brainchild of creativity consultant and Buffalo State alum Marci Segal. As a creativity consultant for more than 20 years she was moved to action when she read a paper in her Toronto home about a conference that declared Canada in a "creativity crisis." Her surprise stemmed from the fact that neither she nor any of her colleagues was consulted for this conference. Her aim is to call attention to the deliberate practice of creativity for one week a year to help raise public awareness of the fact that everyone is creative and can use that creativity to better their lives.

The ICSC is the first program in the country to offer classes in the theory and practice of creativity. The center also was the first to offer a graduate program and recently instituted a distance learning program offering creative studies to business people all over the world. Dr. Gerard Puccio is the center'sdirector. Speaking about CID/Idea Week he stated, "I've seen few ideas catch on as quickly as Creativity and Innovation Day. When we celebrate creativity we celebrate ourselves and our fullest potential. Come join us"