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Management guru Tom Peters, the Prince of Pith, tells us that in the world of WOW!work (tm/sm/etc.) and WOW!projects(tm/sm/etc.), you are only as cool as your coolest friends. In that case, we were WAYcool the first week of March as we joined with hundreds of our new friends at the Iowa Creative Economy Unconference.
Hosted by the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs and featuring Richard 'Creative Class' Florida, this two-day experience was as exciting as it gets with your clothes on! Granted, it was an unconference with no suits, no ties and plenty of Hawaiian shirts. And, yes, everybody did get laid... er, that is 'leid' as in bedecked with the colorful plastic kind placed around your neck by our event hosts.
Anita Walker, director of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, and her creative and hard-working staff – especially Patricia Ohlerking, Sarah Oltrogge, Cynthia Nieb, Shaner Magalhăes and Jill Hermann – deserved and received resounding rounds of applause by attendees and presenters alike. We have rarely been to an event that was so abuzz with heartfelt accolades whenever folks got together to talk during the event. Even those who are jaded and too easily cynical about such government agency-sponsored events seemed juiced by the quality content and opportunities to network. It was two days of creative and free-flowing ideas.
And over the months and years to come, the beneficiary of all this creative juice that started flowing at the Unconference will be the state of Iowa. There was an undeniable and infectious spirit of optimism and determination that pervaded event organizers and attendees alike. The Unconference reeved up the momentum envisioned in Anita Walker's visionary challenge, "Imagine Iowa 2010: A Cultural Vision, A New Strategy for the New Ecomony".
This was our first trip to Iowa. During our former lives as corporate, high tech Road Warriors, we had little opportunity to visit places like Des Moines. We knew from our extensive e-mail conversations with DCA folks that there were some creative and visionary folks in Iowa, but we didn't know what else to expect. What a pleasant surprise! We're going back... soon and often. Des Moines rocks. Within walking distance of our hotel were all kinds of art, music, restaurant and club scenes... all connected by a pedestrian-friendly skywalk.
Despite a somewhat debilitating snowstorm, the Unconference actually kicked off the night before the official program with a Young Iowans Cultural Council gallery and pub crawl that was both invigorating and eye-opening. We were the first in the door at the 40,000 square-foot, five-story warehouse-turned-art-studios at ArtThreeSixteen.
There we met the architect/developer Davis Sanders and were inspired by his vision for turning this flood-ravaged building into a creative class hotspot. Talking with Davis we were reminded of visionary urban planner Jane Jacob's so-true observation, "New ideas need old buildings."
Among the many ArtThreeSixteen artists hosting this Open House for Unconference attendees, we met David Dahlquist. David is a brilliant artist, educator and story teller. His Dahlquist Clayworks studio is a valuable anchor to the growing community of creative classers that call 316 SW 5th Street home in downtown Des Moines.
After soaking up as much art as we could, we next braved the snowy cold to head over to the Vaudeville Mews. This hip-happening site hosted the evening's poetry slam, disc-spinning DJs and live electronica music performances. A good time was had by all.
We had so much fun the night before the official event started, we wondered if the DCA event organizers had set themselves up for "how do you top that" challenge.
We walked from our hotel to the Unconference venue in the Iowa State Historical Building. Sounds kinda stuffy doesn't it? Dusty folios, leather chairs, a stuffed bird and "Quiet please" signs reminding you of the serious business of history... Wrong!
The Iowa State Historical Society building is a modern, open, New Generation, living, multi-functional museum/resource center. The entire main floor of the museum/office complex was transformed into a lively cultural fair... a street scene inside this bright and airy space. Kids doing rope skip, crafters' demonstrations, artists all over the place... and did we mention the free food and drinks!? Plenty of sustenance to fuel the creative activity ahead.
After everyone had time to view the many exhibits and get comfortable, Anita Walker convened the event with enthusiasm. Often, the slate of conference opening, pre-keynote and keynote speeches can get a bit long in the tooth. You struggle not to yawn or bob your head too much. But this was an unconference, remember?
There wasn't a boring or inconsequential presentation anywhere to be found. We heard from Lieutenant Governor Sally Pederson, from Dr. David Skorton, new president of the University of Iowa, and from Iowa artist and motivational speaker David Williamson. David Swenson, economics professor from Iowa State University unveiled his and Liesl Eathington's study of the Creative Economy in Iowa. All this and not a snorer among them.
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Creative Class Adds Heat |
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There is a growing recognition that creative entrepreneurs and networks of small businesses are at the heart of growth and sustainability of local economies. This idea of the power of creative individuals flies in the face of those who think that large corporations are the primary source of jobs and community development. The misguided fascination with incenting corporate relocations leads to the plague of corporate welfare that further unlevels the playing field for independent small business. This unlevel playing field contributes to rural depopulation as the urban centers offer the sweetest relocation deals. Learn more by reading Carnegie Mellon Professor of Economic Development Richard Florida's latest book, The Rise of the Creative Class. |
After a lunch and fun break, it was time for a taste of the headliner, Carnegie Mellon's distinguished professor of economic development and best-selling author of The Rise of the Creative Class, Richard Florida. He led a panel discussion, "Plugging the Brain Drain: Strategies for Keeping Our Best and Our Brightest," that featured a wide ranging group of Iowans who got to ask Dr. Florida penetrating questions that were on everyone's mind in the audience. Florida replied with eye-opening statistics and insightful anecdotes that got everyone thinking about how our regional and local economies can tap the dynamics of the creative class in an increasingly mobile network economy.
The panel discussion was an ideal set up for the afternoon's diverse and inspiring workshops. Our only frustration with the Unconference was that, as workshop presenters, we were busy working when there were so many interesting sessions going on that we would have liked to attend!
The good folks at the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs wanted Sohodojo and NARFI (North American Rural Futures Institute) at the Unconference to represent a much-needed perspective for their state's constituency, that is, the recognition of the dynamics of creative class in the small. It isn't in the cards for all of our rural and distressed urban communities to get a make-over and face-lift that will turn us into urban, hip-happening creative class hotspots.
While the economics of scale can help urban areas tip themselves over to creative class magnets, these is much that we can do to tap these dynamics in rural and distressed urban communities. While the "three T's" – Technology, Talent and Tolerance – are vital to all communities, our rural and distressed urban communities can tap the power of a fourth "T" – Ties – as we learn how to evolve ourselves into extended communities that transcend physical place.
The challenge for urban creative class hotspot wannabes is to figure out how to capitalize on "quality of place" as an attractor for creative class talent. The challenge, more often, for rural and distressed urban communities is to overcome the challenges of place through the intentional development of social and business networks that extend beyond place and connect us to the creative network economy.
This is the message we brought to the Unconference in our workshop, "Creative Class In The Small: Economic Fire in Rural and Distressed Urban Communities." Our "unworkshop" was filled both times that we presented, indicating the extent of folks' interest in how rural and distressed urban communities can tap creative class dynamics. As we evoked introductions at the beginning of each session, the quality and experience of the folks at the Unconference came through loud and clear. The Unconference was a watershed event bringing together movers and shakers from all levels of state government, from community organizations, and of course, all manner of creative classers. While everyone we talked to felt that they left the Unconference with valuable new knowledge and insights, the real value of this event will play out over the weeks, months and years ahead.
Bottom line, Iowa gets it. From Governor Tom Vilsack and Lt. Governor Sally Pederson on down, the good folks in Iowa's state government understand the shift in the tides that are shaping the landscape of the Creative Network Economy. Faced with the dramatic challenges of Heartland depopulation, struggling local economies and no new 'get rich quick bubble' in sight, Iowa has come to terms with the new realities of the network economy and creative class dynamics. They are putting their money where their creative minds are taking them.
We cited DCA Director Anita Walker's challenging statement at the top of this article. Take a moment to read "Imagine Iowa 2010: A Cultural Vision, A New Strategy for the New Ecomony". Then take a few more moments and dig into the extensive study, The Creative Economy in Iowa, commissioned the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs.
Chew on this information for a while and then ask yourself, "Does my state get it like they do in Iowa?" Are we doing as much as we can to understand and foster a quality of life for our state's citizens that will catalyze the creative among us? Do we have the political will to let go of the old ways of thinking so we can redirect our focus to the path leading to the new Creative Network Economy?
Some states are in the race with Iowa. Too many don't even know the game's afoot. Too many states are still trying to fill their war chests with incentives and barely legal kickback funds to grease corporate welfare programs. Too many of our states would rather woo a senior executive of a multi-national corporation that might relocate an office to their state rather than sit down and listen to the ideas and challenges of their local small businesses and growing numbers of contingency workers.
To those states still living in the past, to those hoping that they can buy their way out of their current economic slump, wake up. It's time to think differently and boldly, to recognize the dynamics of the creative class that are shaping our network economy. Failing to do so, your only future will be to eat Iowa's dust!
Best Regards,
--Timlynn Babitsky and Jim Salmons--
Founders and Research Directors
Sohodojo - 'War College' of the Small Is Good Business Revolution
Director and Entrepreneur/Futurist In Residence
NARFI - North American Rural Futures Institute
The creative economy is a network economy. If you want to know more about these important ideas and you want to supplement your reading of Richard Florida's The Rise of the Creative Class, we recommend the following:
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