Observations from an Outsider....

For those who know me - you know that I don't really like meetings, committees, board rooms and for that matter pants (I wear shorts). However, when we decided to look at economic development as one of the core principals of the HuB - we knew we would have to engage with the community on a more active basis. And for the last six months we have been interacting much more and going to meetings, and being part of committees (but still wearing shorts).

The three "groups" I am part of are 1) The "Design Platform" for Economic Development sponsored by the county and EDC  2) The Regional Incubator group and 3) The Task force for Better Broadband in Sarasota County.

Although all three are organized and sponsored by the local government - they are very different in how they were formed, and also how they operate.

The first one - Design Platform was created as part of a long term economic development strategy by some consultants and community leaders. I am not sure how everyone was picked to be in the group (most are private sector, a couple of government people)... and I am not sure how many of them are really taking an active role in executing the mission. I have gone to a few meetings, and they are getting progressively worse and unorganized. Ironically of the three groups I am part of - there is an actual coordinator and real money being spent on this effort.

The second one was started, because we have four incubator projects going on in the county, and they wanted to have some way to share ideas, work and perhaps leverage experience. Everyone in the group is linked in some way to an incubator project, so they do take an active role in the group since it has relevance to their day-to-day objectives. I volunteered to help orchestrate the group, and help the collaboration process since I was the only one who has actually started and operated an incubator. I want to see this group succeed, because I do believe a healthy economy starts with the entrepreneurs in the community - but I am not sure there is much funding or real economic investment from the city or county on this one.

The third is one I started with the CIO of the city after the Google Island initiative. It is made up of the "tech" leaders from the county, city, school board, hospital. This is definitely an active group or people who understand broadband and play a key role in our future broadband plans. I enjoy this group because it is truly a Task force - we are doing the work - and executing the plan.

There seems to be two key factors that I believe are related to the success or failure of each one of these groups. 1) Expertise and 2) Investment.  As I look at each person around the table at these meetings, I ask myself - How much expertise does this person have in what we are talking about - and how much (time/money) are they willing to invest?

To me - that is the Elephant in the room....

I just want to go around the table and simply ask "What is your expertise you bring to the table and how much are you willing to invest?"

Is that too much to ask??? Am I being rude or politically incorrect?

In my opinion, it would make a group stronger - and more effective... but I fear that the truth may also be exposed, and perhaps that is why we never ask the hard questions. We don't want to know that we lack the expertise for some of these difficult problems, or that the people that should be at the table are not - probably because they don't have the time to waste. And if we truly ask everyone at the table to make an investment of time and money - perhaps we fear the table would be empty before you could say the word - "accountability".

Oil and Water...

It has been a confusing few weeks - almost surreal. Even after reading the reports, and following the news - its hard for me to understand what exactly is happening and why it is so difficult to solve. Unfortunately, we can't control what happened and we can only hope a bunch of smart people have a plan to fix what we have broken. So my focus on this blog, is to try to take a 30,000 foot perspective because the 20 foot perspective is too depressing.

So, here is what we know as fact:

1. Oil is underground.
2. Oil Company drills for Oil.
3. People buy Oil.

So, this may seem a little uncomfortable - but perhaps we need to look at #3 ... instead of focusing on #2.  Can we really live in a free market system with a straight face and protest Oil companies and then drive our Gas-powered car to the movies on Friday night? I am not completely unrealistic and expect everyone to stop buying oil or oil based products (because that would be about 80% of the stuff in your house) - but what I am advocating is reducing our waste of oil. There is a big difference in using oil to build products that we use effectively, and driving around town and burning gas just for the heck of it. (Florida is the 3rd biggest consumer of oil in the United States.)

Ironically, it seems we are arguing over POWER... how much POWER the Oil companies have and how they abuse it, and how little POWER the government has to stop this mess... but in reality neither of these entities have any power. We hold all the POWER. We make the decision whether to use oil or not. We make the decision on the future of energy. We hold all the POWER.

HuB Fund to support local economy during Oil crisis in the Gulf of Mexico

The HuB Fund, a 501c3 fund launched in partnership with the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice, is working on a plan to help local businesses address concerns that the local economy will be affected by the current oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

"Although we don't know if the oil will hit our beaches in Sarasota, we still need to take action to help educate out-of-state tourists that our beaches are currently unaffected." says Rich Swier, co-founder of the HuB. "Our goal is to leverage social meda and our production studio to drive a positive message and hopefully this will help educate people but also give encouragement to our local merchants that working together we can get through this challenging time."

The HuB has launched similar campaigns to help the local economy including "Google Fiber" and "I Love Downtown". Both campaigns were funded by the HuB with the goal of bringing awareness to Sarasota, Florida and also helping local merchants survive during the economic downturn.

"Our approach to bringing a community together is unique," comments Joey Panek, head of Social Media at the HuB, "we build a campaign primarily on the web using social media and interact with the community through video and conversation. Once we have engaged the community, it typically takes on a life of its own, and we no longer control or drive it - the community does. Which is exactly what we want."

More information on the HuB Fund is available at http://www.hubsarasota.com. Donations are accepted online. Donations are tax-deductible.

Why we shouldn't measure success in Profit - and other wacky ideas...

I may get burned at the stake for saying this - but I believe we shouldn't meaure success of a business by looking at a Profit and Loss statement. Matter of fact, that goes for the whole system. It's what is breaking the entire spirit of the free market system, and its killing the entrepreneurial blood line that built our country from nothing.

The entrepreneurs that built America, and for that matter the world - didn't care about financial risk, or financial projections... they set their mind on changing the world. And many of them died broke doing so. Profit was not how they measured success, but rather the ability to make the world a better place - whether it was curing a disease, exploring new horizons or opening our eyes to new technology - the mission wasn't money - it was discovery.

The free market system works if the power is in the hands of the entrepreneur who can create new markets, build new revenue and grow our economy through innovation.... but it does not work when the free markets are dominated and controlled by banks, lawyers and brokers. And the only thing the financial system cares about is profit... and not only do they measure it - they manipulate it and distort it - to the point where is an abstract measurement of the future - and tells us nothing of the present.

The irony here - is that entrepreneurs create the future, and the financial "horde" sell the future. But what happens when the entrepreneur is no longer empowered.... what exactly is the "horde" selling?? ... nothing.

There is a clarity of judgement in an entrepreneur that few people understand. It is the idealism within an entrepreneur that allows them to risk everything for a vision - not based on financial gain, but of something greater. A purpose. 

Lost inside the HuB?

I can't tell you how often get the question "what exactly is the hub?". Actually i can... About 10 times a day. I guess I should take full blame (or credit depending on your perspective).

It dawned on me last night while watching the final episode of LOST on tv (btw, if you are Matt Orr stop reading here, because I will reveal too much and ruin your week).

The television show Lost is about life and death, but it takes a less obtuse view that has been the cornerstone of religion, and actually puts a little science and interpersonal discovery into the mix. And for those who have watched the show I will do my best to explain what the HuB is by using analogies from Lost.

Ok... So first I look at the HuB much like the island....where we thought originally a bunch of random strangers were stranded after an airplane crash.... But as the show went on we realized that it was not randomness that brought them together but instead a very powerful connection between each one of the characters. Although I cant prove there is a dynamic force at play I have to believe that the HuB has a very similar power to the island - a magnetic force that draws creative people.

And although at first it seems highly random when I meet each of the new people that come into the hub....in hindsight it's obvious it is more than chance....a creative energy is present and seems to be growing stronger as we have a new member come onto our "island".

The other similarity is that there is a magical mix of trust, companionship and science. The show Lost does an amazing job touching some very powerful concepts like the effect of electromagnetic fields on time travel, and the power of human persuasion over nature. Although I don't think we will be building bunkers anytime soon... I feel like our quest to bring technology together with creativity follows the same path of discovery that we watched episode after episode trying to understand what the point of this damn show was??

So if you can explain the power of island... You can explain the hub. It is a place where people are drawn and find themselves challenged but also destined to build something new and redefine their community but also discover their ability to be creative and innovative beyond what they may have experienced outside the HuB.

I am not sure we all feel "lost".... But if we do... It's in the good way...we are looking at the world from a completely different perspective, and if  by being stranded on an island at first may make you feel like you are lost.... I can assure you that once inside the HuB you will never want to leave.

Oh yeah.... I haven't decided whether I am Jack or John Locke yet....but I know for a fact Matt is the swarthy guy with glasses. :)

Top 5 Reasons why we should brand Sarasota as "Creative Paradise"

Its not a new idea - just an idea that never seems to make it past committee. Sarasota needs a brand. (by definition a brand is what defines us and represents why we are unique). We can't just be "Your Beach Destination" or "Good Life. Good Business" (some of the more famous tag lines of Sarasota).

A brand is real, honest and embraced. Its not a tag line formed by committee. Of course everyone has their unique experience in Sarasota - and if you ask 100 people I am sure you would get 100 different descriptions... so by default a brand is inclusive and exclusive at the same time. But most importantly a brand needs equity - so you can sell whatever your selling. If its a weak brand, its a tough sell.

So I am going to make my case of why we should brand Sarasota as "Creative Paradise".

1. John Ringling - one of our founding fathers - and perhaps one of the most creative men in history. He was the original Walt Disney - the real Cirque du Soleil.... the first Creative Entrepreneur.

2. Arts Community - one of the most dynamic arts community for any city (much less a small city). Our Opera, Orchestra, Theatre and sub-culture of rising artists is bar none the best I have seen per capita in the world.

3. Beaches - There are many beaches in the world, but few beaches offer such a dynamic view of city scape, islands, beautiful architecture and the calm horizon of the Gulf. Sarasota is a true paradise.

4. Entrepreneurial Culture - We have a wide-range of entrepreneurs - different from the valley (where the typical entrepreneur is a Stanford grad - 28 years old, who worked at Google or Yahoo, and is spinning off a .com business). Sarasota's entrepreneurs are more art than science. They range from ages of 18 to 88 and their ideas are ambitious. Our unique advantage of having some of the smartest people in the world buy winter homes or retire to our coast gives us a rising class of entrepreneurs that has the potential to drive a new economy.

5. Education Institutions - Although we don't have the likes of an M.I.T in our backyard - we have two of the most heralded creative institutions in the world - Ringling College of Art and Design and New College. Both are recognized as producers of amazing talent that bring some of the most creative ideas to life. And beyond college, we also have Pine View and new Technical Institute - which redefine high school education for the 21st century.

Well that's my pitch...

Whether my brand is liked by many or few - I hope at least we can agree that we need to have all stakeholders in our community come to the table and agree on the message. We are competing with cities all across the world, and we have less capital and in many cases much less incentives to offer. So we better put together one hell of a sales pitch if we want the next generation to move here and help us build the Sarasota of the future..... or we may just end up like Detroit - 25 years too late and dead.

Five things we need to focus on... to build a Creative Class

I always used to believe if you write something down, it makes it real. I must have a million thoughts that go through my head each day, but unless it is written down, it never seems to get attention. So, here I am writing down what I believe we need to focus on to build a strong creative class in Sarasota, Florida.

1. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT. Any city looking to attract and retain creative minds, needs to offer a dynamic social environment. Entrepreneurs live where they want to, and rarely does economics come into play when choosing the place to start a company. Since a startup doesn't need much office space, tax incentives are meaningless, and funding is far and few between - the one thing that matters most is quality of life. Everything from a strong arts and culture base to a dynamic night life come into play - but more importantly they need to connect with social circles of other creative minds to truly feel at home.

2. A SALES PITCH. Building a city is not much different than building a business. You have a product, a budget and you need to find a market to sell. Sarasota is unique, because it has an awesome product - the beach. But it also has a bunch of secondary products that have tremendous value - strong arts community, economic assets like Mote, Ringling College, etc... and also has a rising "startup culture". However, we don't have a strong sales pitch. Our messaging is fragmented and for the most part very weak. We need to have a cohesive pitch and target the creative class... otherwise we can't close the deal.

3. INFRASTRUCTURE. Such a broad term, so let me be more specific. We need to build the 21st century highway - Fiber and Wireless networks. If we want to attract tech entrepreneurs, we need to give them the one thing they need more than anything - BANDWIDTH. Our city currently has two providers but they focus mostly on connecting homes, not businesses. And the current offering to businesses is not enough. We need to have 1GIG+ connectivity in designated zones to attract entrepreneurs. 

4. LEADERSHIP. Our current leadership was spawned from an economy based on tourism and real estate development. If we want to attract the creative class, we need to represent the creative class in leadership positions related to economic development. What if roles were reversed??? Would we have 10 artists on the EDC Board - if we wanted to attract Real Estate developers?

5. LEVERAGE EXISTING ASSETS.  It seems like every time the topic of Economic Development comes up - the conversation quickly becomes a "We need X, and We need Y" argument.  Instead of taking an honest look at what assets we have, and thinking "creatively" - we are always coming up with excuses what we can't.  For example - "We need a convention center if we want to attract conferences." - NO, we don't. We have the ability to host conferences with existing assets - we just need to be creative and re-invent how a conference can be done. We need to stop trying to be like other cities, and just be ourselves, and work with what we got.

I always believe its more important to walk-the-walk...to prove a point... so here are three projects I have been involved in that have been highly effective and demonstrate some of the points above.

1. I LOVE DOWNTOWN (http://www.ilovedowntownsrq.com/) - a campaign to unite downtown merchants and to market to locals and tourists the great experiences we have in downtown Sarasota. The campaign included posters around the city, a strong social media campaign, and promotions.  It's an example, of how a strong sales pitch and marketing campaign can help hundreds of businesses.

2. GOOGLE ISLAND (http://www.googleisland.net/) - a campaign to compete for Google Fiber network. Thousands of cities applied to be considered for the Google Fiber Network rollout, and Sarasota was able to grab national attention through a very powerful campaign. The goal was to market Sarasota as an innovative city, but also fight for better broadband.

3. VINYL FESTIVAL (http://www.vinylfestival.com/) - a music festival launched in 2009 for social development. The primary goal is to attract young entrepreneurs and the creative class. The music festival brings talented artists to the area, helps local businesses during the slow season (Summer) and puts Sarasota on the map as a hip/cool location for music lovers.

In summary - If we want to attract Creative people, we need to be Creative.