crowdsourcing a creative economy in Arlington
Achieving Criticality / Making the Tree Grow / The Magic of Creative Crowds
Welcome everyone! We're present at the beginning of something big -- so big that I can't choose the right metaphor; in fact, I think constraining it to one metaphor would be unfair. I'd like to think I had time to think of something profound to write, but I will skip the extension of metaphor and talk in concrete.
Whether nuclear, organic, or something else, the conclusion is the same. We call what we're doing "crowdsourcing" for a reason. Our success depends upon each of us finding a large number of people interested in what we're doing, and joining with us on this website to discuss, decide, and take action.
I'd like to see each of us commit to bring in 20 new members of this site between now and 2/15/09. If all 20 of us did that, we'd have 400 new members by that time, and this would be taking off. Even if each of us can only bring in 10, we'd still have 200 new members by mid-February, and if each of those find another five, we would break 1000 before March rolled around. At that point, I think we'd be putting some CROWD in the crowdsourcing!
Remember, the important thing to tell people is that this is self-growing and self-directing. It is what we all want it to be, and it will grow as much as we commit to it, in the direction(s) we commit to growing it.
You want holistic health? Grow it. You want educational innovations? It's yours to nurture. You want new housing solutions? Branches wait to push outward. Business creativity? Entrepreneurially yours. Art and entertainment ventures and events? Ready to rock. Government as part of the solution? You bet -- here for the asking, uniquely so given Arlington's dedication to community. New markets for creative spaces, creative products, and creative services? Here, here, and here. You want something that stems from the cross-pollination of education and business, or (to shift metaphors again) explodes forth from some volatile combination of environmentalism and creative services? Waiting right here for criticality. If we make it so.
So let's make it so. Here's wishing all of us the very best. And let's have fun doing it.
Whether nuclear, organic, or something else, the conclusion is the same. We call what we're doing "crowdsourcing" for a reason. Our success depends upon each of us finding a large number of people interested in what we're doing, and joining with us on this website to discuss, decide, and take action.
I'd like to see each of us commit to bring in 20 new members of this site between now and 2/15/09. If all 20 of us did that, we'd have 400 new members by that time, and this would be taking off. Even if each of us can only bring in 10, we'd still have 200 new members by mid-February, and if each of those find another five, we would break 1000 before March rolled around. At that point, I think we'd be putting some CROWD in the crowdsourcing!
Remember, the important thing to tell people is that this is self-growing and self-directing. It is what we all want it to be, and it will grow as much as we commit to it, in the direction(s) we commit to growing it.
You want holistic health? Grow it. You want educational innovations? It's yours to nurture. You want new housing solutions? Branches wait to push outward. Business creativity? Entrepreneurially yours. Art and entertainment ventures and events? Ready to rock. Government as part of the solution? You bet -- here for the asking, uniquely so given Arlington's dedication to community. New markets for creative spaces, creative products, and creative services? Here, here, and here. You want something that stems from the cross-pollination of education and business, or (to shift metaphors again) explodes forth from some volatile combination of environmentalism and creative services? Waiting right here for criticality. If we make it so.
So let's make it so. Here's wishing all of us the very best. And let's have fun doing it.
Views: 5
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Beth Heller on -
Okay, so what about folks who do not live in Arlington? I don't want to dilute what's happening here with out-of-towners.
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Permalink Reply by Neil Takemoto on -
Great question Beth, as this will arise with those as close as Washington DC. My response is that we need to establish a model that's such an overwhelming success, in terms of inspiring people to raise the triple bottom line in placemaking, cultural and economic quality of life benchmarks to new previously unimaginable heights, that it becomes a lot easier to replicate elsewhere.
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Permalink Reply by Ted Bilich on -
I'd like to hear what others have to say about this, Beth. My strong personal view is that if someone has an interest in a topic, or in creative synergy, they should join up, whether they are in Arlington, Chicago, or New Delhi. They may have ideas that would work here. They may have ideas that they take away from here and grow elsewhere. They might be moving here, or might move here when they learn and participate in what's going on. They might have a business that they bring to the area, as you do, or they may otherwise serve customers or clients here. Plus, "here" is an ambiguous concept. I'm certainly in the DC metro area, and I am focused on a geographic "here" of Arlington, VA. But there is also the "here" of The Tubes of the Internets -- and this virtual community exists in The Tubes. It does, and will, surely have a physical manifestation in and around Arlington, but this Tube community can and should grow -- organically, explosively, or whatever. I don't see any "dilution" whatsoever by being a big tent (man, I'm still mixing metaphors). Naturally there will be more DC metro, and specifically Arlington, folks who join up, but that works for me, too.
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