Sunday, June 06, 2004
Richard Florida spent some time defending his theory of economic development during a conference on Mackinac Island, MI. He's got a message that's a bit skewed. He's spending too much time defending odd notions about the connection between economic development and the gay community.
While the content of his theory leaves some people scratching their heads, Florida is right about one point: Top-down economic development plans are virtually impossible to implement. The challenge is to design new approaches to economic development that rely on networks, distributed communities of practice, and open civic dialogue.
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.
If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site:
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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.
Professor Florida catches a few spears in Michigan
