It's been several months since my last post. It was about the soon to be TEDxFullerton event, 9.10.10, the first ever TEDx event in Orange County CA.
TEDxFullerton began the conversation about what is meant to be a "creative" community. What were the "ideas worth spreading in Orange County" which would achieve this goal? Our attendees were composed of Orange County's (and it turns out LA's) leading thinkers, doers and members of the "creative" community - CEOs, civic leaders, nonprofit executives, educators, artists, venture capitalists, inventors and entrepreneurs. Photos from TEDxFullerton can be found on Flickr and videos on YouTube.
TEDxFullerton was truly a "creative" community event. As you can imagine, as curator I was exhausted and thrilled by this adventure. After wrapping up all the post event details, the question for me became "how to harness the positive energy unleashed by TEDxFullerton?" Is there a way to continue to inspire and engage Orange County's "creative" community?
Richard Florida's "Creative Compact: An Economic and Social Agenda for the Creative Age" says this about "creative" community: "We need a social compact attuned to the demands of the Creative Economy. At bottom, this Creative Compact must harness the full creative capabilities of the workforce in ways that simultaneously improve productivity and extend the benefits of the Creative Economy across industrial and service workers as well as the creative class."
Yes, we are all "creative," part of a larger whole "creative" community. The "creative" community is not just artists; it's everyone from scientists to school crossing guards, from engineers to garbage collectors.
So, in late 2010, I launched Creative Orange County, a "creative" community think tank. My vision is to inspire and engage Orange County's "creative" community to be a "Creative Community Showcase" (thank you to Richard Florida, again, for this term) by partnering and collaborating with like-minded individuals and organizations on unique endeavors.
I'm in the startup phase, but already I have had some great meetings with like-minded individuals, organizations who feel it's time to champion Orange County CA's creative potential and unleash a wave of endeavors towards our mutual goal, Orange County as a "Creative" Community Showcase.
As I move forward, I look forward to sharing my journey. If you're interested, please join me. I can be reached at creativeorangecounty@hotmail.com.