I’ll be in Traverse City, Michigan on September 18 to lead a discussion about social entrepreneurship. My hosts will be Marguerite Cotto, from Northwest Michigan College and Elaine Wood, from the Northwest Michigan Council of Governments. Both of these women are active in promoting business and community development in the Traverse City area. Marguerite tells me that our venue, on the campus of NMC, has beautiful views with a treehouse-like feeling. Just what’s needed to feed the dialogue with our imaginations.
You may be wondering, why Traverse City? Dave Murphy, who is a long-time resident, and an advisor on A Bigger Voice, has been telling me for some time how beautiful the area is. Living near Boulder, Colorado, I know something about living in a place with gorgeous views. But then Dave tempted me with photos–of cherry orchards and Ma Murphy’s cherry pie, of the shoreline literally across the street from his house, of delicate spring flowers in wooded areas, of colorful fall foliage, and of icy rock formations spawned from winter storms.
In addition to painting a picture of the Midwest’s version of paradise, Dave described to me something even more special–the people who live there. Dave and I have had many long conversations, a labyrinth of topics woven from our shared interests. Inevitably, Dave would say, "I think you would love to meet a friend of mine. She’s doing this interesting work….." After awhile, I began to wonder how so many remarkable people could be found in such a modestly populated area.
It seems that this part of Michigan attracts people who have passionate causes, innovators with wisdom that can change the world. Perfect for a conversation about social entrepreneurship. I’ll be especially interested in seeing what happens when the conversation takes place in person, as so much of my work is done virtually.
Many individuals who focus on creating social good consider "profit" to be a dirty word. I’m not one of them. Ever since I first heard the phrase, "doing well and doing good," I’ve embraced it as a model for social entrepreneurship. My ability to do good in the world increases exponentially when I create a community of kindred spirits around a big idea. And I increase the likelihood of sustainability of such an effort when making money is part of the picture.
The pilot clients for A Bigger Voice showed me that building a community and building a profitable business are parallel, not sequential paths. It’s a "both/and," not an "either/or." Early on, the emphasis is on community-building (witness the start of this blog last December). And the seeds of a profitable business need to be sown at the same time. (I started writing a business plan for A Bigger Voice last spring, even though I knew I was a long way off from launching it as a business.)
Some of the ideas that we’ll be exploring in Traverse City:
- What role does story play in attracting kindred spirits to a community?
- How do community building and PR work hand in hand? How are they different?
- How do you meld the wild and wooly nature of community with the structure of business?
- When is community-building a parallel, but separate path and when is it intertwined with building a business?
- How does technology (e.g., social media) change how communities form and what they can take on?
- How can virtual communities inspire and affirm our work with local communities, where there is a physical presence?
- How is bottom-up change possible now, more than ever? And why is focusing only on top-down change becoming less effective?
- How are "digital natives" changing the way that social causes develop?
While I have plenty of opinions about the answers to the above questions, I’m more interested in starting a long-term conversation, one that will continue well after I leave the sandy beaches of Traverse City and return to the foothills of Boulder. My experience with A Bigger Voice team of consultants has taught me that the "third way" always emerges from vibrant dialogue.
If you are already registered for the gathering through Marguerite or Elaine, please say a little about yourself in the comment section of this post–why you are attracted to social entrepreneurship, the big idea that you are trying to spread in the world, and what you’d like to get out of the discussion.
If you would like to join the gathering, please email abiggervoice [at] gmail.com for details on location and time.
My thanks, in advance, to Marguerite and Elaine for organizing this event. I can’t wait to see who shows up.
My father Steve and I will be attending this conversation, and are looking forward to it. As a digital native fascinated by the potential energy of ideas and groups and visions harnessing the internet and technology, I’m similarly intrigued by the push toward simplicity and transparency occurring alongside (and parallel with) the rapidly changing technological landscape.
Complex prospectus papers were, at one time, the symbol of a business idea on the right track. Now we’re seeing a strong movement toward business ideas being presented with and supported by a relateable story and an identifiable persona. While still keeping an eye on numbers and the ability to pay fair salaries, we’re seeing a concern for asking why businesses are conducting trade or gathering funds in certain ways. There is, absolutely, a push for doing “well” and doing “good.”
With the incredible plethora of information available through the internet, and with the potential for making information and ideas accessible and shareable online and through technology, people not only ask for transparency and simplicity, but they demand it promptly. The responses of traditional corporate models (“We will look into that, thanks.” or “Someone will get back to you on that.” or–the worst of all–“That’s an upper-level management concern; that’s not information you need to know.”) are no longer acceptable.
There is a hunger out there for businesses that speak to their target audiences, rather than just sell to them. There is a need for business owners and strategists to interact with their intended consumers or clients, rather than just develop great slogans and taglines. People want a dialogue with like-minded consumers to occur before, during, and after their experience with a product or business (see Amazon’s comment and review sections, or corporations’ quick responses to user discussions on getsatisfaction.com, or the rise in social media built on consumables, like shelfari, thesixtyone.com, or even itunes’ iMix feature).
Social entrepreneurism has myriad definitions, I think, but one facet of those definitions is often some impetus to answer those needs.
Business doesn’t have to be “too complex” for the average joe to participate and comment; it doesn’t have to start in a thinktank populated by graduate degrees. Marketing can be a tweet, a plurk, or a blog post. A business vision can be successfully pursued on Facebook. A compelling and relateable story can spread through masses of people via blogspot, Digg, and Stumbleupon, with more efficiency and a better rate of return than a massively-funded ad campaign shown on Superbowl Sunday–and the story usually has better staying power.
There is so much about the way groups are forming and interacting, the way individuals are connecting and pursuing their shared values, and the way new technologies are appearing on a daily basis to serve those needs… well, as I said, I’m fascinated. I can’t wait to hear from others on their own perspectives, experiences, visions, and questions.
I dig this stuff. (And I Digg this stuff! Ah, digital humor.)
And my Dad? He was one of those guys in the early 80s who attended “Computer Club” get-togethers, who let his 6-year-old play around with programming his computer in BASIC and praising her programming creations instead of becoming incredibly concerned that a 6-year-old was messing with his computer’s programming language, and who insisted to a skeptical wife who was really tired of having their hard-earned money spent on “toys” that really, one day this computer thing would be all the rage. He was mostly right about that–but he probably could have done without a game or two, for mom’s sanity’s sake. Dad was one of the first to really believe in corporate simplicity and transparency and ground-up-accountability in an era when it wasn’t entirely popular to think that way. And he demanded that from his employers in a way that embodied integrity and a wise-ass sense of humor, not unlike that employed by many of the online entrepreneurs today. (C’mon, like a business founded on something called “Google” was intended to be taken with straight-laced seriousness?) So, yay Dad for being on the frontlines of a social movement, even if you landed there initially because you simply believed Pong was cool and that people were and should act fundamentally honest. And that’s why, from my perspective, I think he’s intrigued by the conversation too.
Thanks, Marissa, for feeding the conversation with your ideas on what social entrepreneurship looks like to you, from the digital native’s perspective. I love your description of how transparency and participation by the masses, enabled by technology, are part of the business landscape today. The message for me is that entrepreneurs in general, not just social entrepreneurs, can ignore at their own peril!
I’m looking forward to seeing you in Traverse City.
Hello, Carol –
I’m looking forward to this gathering for multiple reasons. My colleagues and I are exploring areas of engagement in an era where information can be thin, overload is high and the media landscape is changing rapidly.
I’m a journalist and direct Circle of Blue, the international network of leading journalists, scientists and communications designers that reports and presents the information necessary to respond to the global freshwater crisis. It’s an ambitious mission, but we’ve found that we a) lack fresh, compelling information; b) lack science or data necessary for informed decision-making; and c) are extremely diverse in how we share and consume information. Interesting to see “transparency” popping up in the conversation – well-distributed information leads to transparency and accountability.
Recent links for Circle of Blue are here:
Circle of Blue
http://www.circleofblue.org/
A new platform…
http://www.csrwire.com/News/13007.html
Students to develop solutions… Aspen Design Challenge – Designing Water’s Future
http://www.csrwire.com/News/12874.html
Looking forward,
Carl
* Thanks, Dave, for using the never-fail Ma Murphy’s Cherry Pie as a lure.
Thanks, Carl for the description of your work and the challenges associated with it. I’m looking forward to a rich discussion.
Hi Carol,
Thanks so much for sharing “A Bigger Voice” with the 20 of us who gathered to meet you (and each other) in Traverse City. You helped us form our own little community in the brief time we met.
Even though we had some common themes, it was an eclectic group & quite a task to manage all of the introductions & various purposes folks had for being there, plus work with us on some of the methodology you’re developing through ABV.
I appreciated that Marguerite Cotto was so prompt in getting information out to the group to help us stay connected. And we owe her a big thanks for providing us with a great venue & lunch.
No question you have many new friends in TC.
Thanks again & I hope many of us can keep the conversation going. Hopefully our own networking will produce some stunning results.
Dave
Thanks, Dave and Marguerite for your feedback. I’m thrilled that the energy from the event continues on.
In thinking back on our time together, I’m struck by how eagerly this group of 20 individuals jumped in to shape the conversation. A bright sign of community emerging, indeed–from Karen’s lead in having each of us stand up during introductions to the many definitions that popped up on “doing well and doing good,” to Leslie’s reminder of the voices around monetization that hold us back from a fully sustainable cause to Ned’s suggestion to schedule time to meet to Elaine’s brainstorm on reading a cornerstone book together. You are quickly choosing what you want in forming a community.
I can’t wait to see what happens next. Thanks for the rich conversation and connections as well as your intention for a future visit to beautiful Traverse City.
Greetings Carol & Co.!
You’ve left quite an energized group of people in Traverse City – calls and e-mails touching base were about the possible and the stunning! I know there are many ways to say “thank you” and Elaine and Dave and I would certainly agree that the best is through the continuing and lavish conversations-to-action on our end.
So, we’ll keep folks up to date on the seeding of TC and certainly start our plans to have you out here again.
Warmest regards,
marguerite
Didn’t even realize they had a decent looking shoreline. I always imagined it as really dirty and ugly for some reason, but that picture looks amazing. Pretty nice view to wake up to, that’s for sure!