The "big thing" may not be so after all Tuesday, August 03, 2004 The Thing Theory of Economic Development holds that you need a Big Thing to promote economic development. Just about any Big Thing will do: a convention center, a really big convention, a casino, a bunch of casinos, a stadium, a bunch of stadiums (the Olympics). It turns out, though, that these Big Things don't really help economic development much at all. In Boston, the Democratic Convention produced far less economic impact than projected. Read more. (Free registration required.) In Athens, the numbers for the Olympics don't add up either. Read more. In a global economy where value is embedded in knowledge, brainpower matters. Innovation and entrepreneurship networks matter (to translate brainpower into wealth). But Big Things don't matter much at all. posted by Ed Morrison |		This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. links 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. So, spread the word...Share the knowledge. Tell a friend about EDPro Weblog. If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site: Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber: 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.

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