Blissfully mixing business with pleasure, Hamilton’s weekly Arts Industry Networking Night is a night of kibitzing like no other. Veterans and up-and-comers from Cleveland theater, modeling, photography, and retail gather, swap cards, and flash Blackberries against a backdrop of events and activities ranging from runway fashion shows to meet-and-greets with visiting visual artists. “I see it as a Paris-café kind of thing,” says Cleveland diva Suzy, a model who hosts the parties. “People from the arts community get together to get ideas flowing. Everybody wants to work, so who doesn’t want to network?”

This article appears in Apr 12-18, 2006.