The last week or so has been particularly busy with a handful of events, significant events and activities that seem to represent a new and promising phase for the US - and maybe even more. and I’m saying that without Coffee!
For a little background, I’ve been doing some work on a few different fronts from early in the year: thinking through how I believe municipal governments might build healthier relationships with their (entrepreneurial) communities, developing better systems for my “Personal Knowledge Mastery” (Harold Jarche’s Seek - Sense - Share” framework), and working on ways to deliver this better.
I should note that, um, I don’t know what format these pieces will eventually take, but for now it feels more like a journal. Perhaps that’ll evolve.
Santa Fe Innovates
Santa Fe Innovates, led by Jon Mertz, is a new-ish social impact accelerator based in Santa Fe, and I think they’ve been doing it right. Jon and I met a few (several) years ago when he was involved with the Santa Fe Business Incubator and I found him to be not only a smart, thoughtful guy, but someone who was really promoting and lifting up Santa Fe’s entrepreneurial community. In 2020 he launched the Santa Fe Innovates accelerator focused on social impact. When they launched a new online pre-accelerator program earlier this year, it prodded me to think about how I might rethink the potential book and pretty standard economic development consultancy I was considering into something more “Startupy” - could I build something with more of a replicable and scalable package that would not only make planning and pricing more straightforward, but also have potential benefit to many other cities? Yes, I think so. (More on this Later.)
Code for America Summit
I’ve been a fan of Code for America since its beginnings at the Gov 2.0 Summits. While I’m not really a technologist/programmer myself, the benefits of both more open government and applying more modern tech and design practices to the ways government thinks and delivers services have always seemed obvious. Getting Albuquerque’s Code for America Brigade (Code for ABQ) to a place where it’s consistently delivering value to its members and the larger community is one of my current missions - and that’s been a struggle.
But their May 12-13 Summit, “Designing an Equitable Government Together” was pretty fantastic. I hope to write more, but the history, philosophy and future discussed by CEO Amanda Renteria and Founder Jen Pahlka was inspiring as were many many other sessions on how people should and are working together to design government that works for everyone. And Code for America doesn’t just talk about putting people, equity and inclusion first - it’s clear in everything they/we do. I’m still processing the many lessons and resources that were shared, but it definitely reinvigorated my commitment to making Code for ABQ work.
Into Civic Tech and/or Public Arts in the Albuquerque area? Join DataFest: ArtQuest June 12th and 19th at https://datafest2021.eventbrite.com !
CDC Guidance & Shots & Rude Boy Cookies & Booch Papi
The rate of immunizations (up!) and infections, hospitalizations and deaths in the US (down!) led to some great news last week that local governments and a lot of folks are still processing: The CDC is saying that for folks who’ve had their shots, masks aren’t needed outside and rarely needed inside either. In some ways, that’s still complicated, but for most people, it simply means that we can begin to move on.
While it wasn’t directly related, somehow a new opening for Rude Boy Cookies in Albuquerque brought that home for me. While too many businesses have gone dark, I was heartened to see that several of the storefronts that had been empty along Central in Albuquerque were showing new life. And among those, the new and still ska-inspired Rude Boy Cookies location across from UNM.
Substack Acquires People & Company
I’m not sure if it’s clear yet how these things have been coming together, but one bit of news last week hit me different - and sparked something too. For a long time (too long), I’ve been thinking of a blog or podcast that would be an opportunity for me to share thoughts and highlight the great people doing work around “building community” - though I’d focus on civic and entrepreneurial communities. One of the clear leaders in this space has been People & Company whose book and podcast, “Get Together” have been an ongoing inspiration.
The news on May 13th that Substack had acquired People and Co to lead development of its writers community told me three things: first, that Substack was really really serious about investing in writers and building their community; second, that it was time to get off my ass and start writing again, and third, that I should try that and share as I go with Substack. So, um, this (gestures around) now exists.
I’ll be building in public - and hopefully I’ll learn a few things along the way.
Find People & Company’s Community Building Resources - and buy their book! - at https://gettogether.world/resources
This Week: Google I/O & Good Tech Fest
The juxtaposition yesterday of Google’s I/O developer event and Good Tech Fest struck me as a reminder of the promise and challenge of these times.
While not a developer, I’d had the opportunity to attend Google I/O a couple times in person - just before they started giving out phones :/ - and yesterday’s on-line event reminded me of the good feelings I’ve usually had about Google. They’ve supported organizations I love, like Startup Weekend and Code for America and generally built cool stuff that the wider world could build on and work with. I saw a lot of that, the value they provide individuals and communities, and also at least a significant nod to personal privacy as part of the event.
However, not acknowledging the information that’s come out about the firing of Timnit Gebru and the workplace issues that make it an unfriendly place to work for many Black and other people of color sets up some real cognitive dissonance. I may still believe that most of the people working at Google are doing good, but not acknowledging what appear to be real cultural and systemic problems reinforces our public need to at least be more watchful of these tech giants.
Looser than Google I/O and the Code for America Summit, but also reinforcing the possibility and promise of good people working in tech is the Good Tech Fest which also started yesterday. I hope to share more about that as well, but it’s been a refreshing rejoinder to Google’s show and included a fun and inspiring Craig Newmark interview/keynote on making the most impact he thinks he can make. To paraphrase a bit, “He may not be the nerd that we wanted, but he might be the nerd that we need.”
Are we the nerds we’ve been looking for? We may be.