Thursday, May 08, 2003
You may have missed it, but last week, Richard Florida's Creative Summit took place in Memphis. 100 Creative People (anointed by Florida and his team) came together (plus about 25 gate crashers, apparently). They have announced what we all must do to build creative communities.
They call their advice the Memphis Manifesto...which, according to Florida and his associates, "will be the definitive report on transforming cities that want to compete for the Creative Class". (It ended up being less than two pages of really pithy guidance...kind of like a Ten Commandments for economic development.)
In an effort to stimulate even more creativity in coming up with their Commandments, the organizers asked the Creative Ones to ponder such questions as ""How do we sell 'anti-monoculturalism' to the American economic machine?"
Their Commandments range from "cultivate and reward creativity" to "embrace diversity" and "be authentic". (My favorite: "nurture creative workers". I can see a new business opportunity...a line of nurturing products and places. Yanni, are you listening?)
Sit back, pour yourself a soothing herbal tea, and read more about New Age Economic Development.
posted by Ed Morrison |
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Some Background on EDPro Weblog
The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it.
One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information.
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Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development
As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking.
Background on Ed Morrison
Download some background information on me here.
The Jibberish of the Creative Class
