TWELVE CITIES PROJECT

This post is a bit (okay, a lot) late, so let me start off by saying this: You'll likely see me posting less about my observations during each trip until the entire project is completed. Throughout the trips I've made so far, I've come to realize that some of my thoughts, opinions, and perspectives are beginning to shift a bit on earlier visits. So to make sure I'm giving a clear message, I've decided to back off on individual observations a bit until the remaining five trips are complete.

That said, I thought I'd back-track a bit and share a short list of things that I found in Grand Rapids, Michigan, during my trip there earlier this winter. To keep it short and sweet, here's my top three takeaways from the trip:

1.) Grand Rapids is a giving city.

Grand Rapids is well-known for the level of philanthropy demonstrated by its residents. From major donors to grass-roots level support, giving is engrained in the city's culture. On several occasions during my visit, locals brought up projects that had been substantially supported by grass-roots giving, citing figures in the millions from hundreds of $10, $15, and $25 donations made by residents who believed in the project at hand. During each conversation, I told them that's something unique. That doesn't happen in every city.

2.) They dream big.

..and they do big, too. In its first year, ArtPrize drew over 200,000 attendees to downtown Grand Rapids, which was roughly 180,000 more people than they had expected. Three years later (today), it's been named one of the top 5 events in the world that you don't want to miss -- the only event from the United States that made the list, I might add.

3.) They love their entrepreneurs.

The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in Grand Rapids. In fact, it's getting stronger by the day. Initiatives and support systems like Start Garden are helping to foster an entrepreneurial ecosystem that emphasizes social connectivity as a critical component to a startup community. There's also a growing community of social entrepreneurs, too, with a HUB location coming to Grand Rapids soon.

A few years ago, I remember coming across an article in Newsweek pointing to Grand Rapids, Michigan, as one of America's "fastest dying cities". The piece cited a few statistics that shed light on the city's recent decline in population and - as if no further consideration was given - wrote the city off as a dying urban center.

Apparently I'm visiting a different Grand Rapids.

After a few hours of plowing (I almost mean that literally) through whiteout conditions this morning, I arrived in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to spend a week here examining how the furniture capital of the world catalyzes economic growth. Though I've only just begun my visit here and have barely touched the tip of the iceberg in regards to understanding Grand Rapids' story in its entirety, my first (half) day here has already convinced me that this is a city on the rise -- opposite of the dying city written off in a flimsy article.

I've long made the argument that cities are the engines of innovation that push humanity forward and have a duty to enable humanity to tackle its grand challenges. To describe it, I typically relate it to a weather system.

You wake up one morning to find out that a Severe Thunderstorm Watch has been issued for your area. If you're a weather nerd like me, you get a little excited - this means that conditions are right for something big to happen. Everything seems to be coming together for a fantastic light show later that afternoon. You have your eyes glued to the weather app on your phone all day, only to be disappointed when the promise of thunder fizzles out into a few showers before clearing out entirely that evening.

What happened? Or more appropriately, what didn't happen?

Though conditions were favorable for thunderstorms to develop, they didn't. The right things were in place - the moisture, the heat, the pressure levels - but they didn't interact and mix the right way. Sometimes I think cities fall into the same trap. We focus so much on making sure we have the right assets in place that we forgot about the equally important task of encouraging interact between those assets.

Collaboration shouldn't be a linear process. Encouraging interaction between leadership of various assets is important, but so is the construction of connective tissue between the communities that wrap around these assets and use them. If you view communities as collections of knowledge rather than groups of people, you see why this is important - assets such as business incubators, incentive programs, and entrepreneurial support organizations play an important role in enabling people to execute on ideas. But for new, innovative ideas to be formed, new knowledge must enter the equation and old ideas must intersect. Social connectivity and community development aren't only a critical part of an entrepreneurial ecosystem, but also serve as the belts that make a city's "engine of innovation" run.

I've been digging into the importance of connectors and visionaries in relation to a city's innovative capacity. While data for these individuals is hard to track because of how subjective both categories are, I remain convinced that they place a critical role in a EIE (education, innovation, entrepreneurship) cycle and will elaborate more in a future post.

After a few recent conversations, I feel compelled to write about a topic that's surfaced in many conversations lately: The importance of visionaries.

Every city has them. They're the thinkers, the re-thinkers, the innovators and the dreamers. They have an enormous capacity to see "what could have been" and burn the midnight oil dreaming of "what could be." They have a passion for inspiring, they love to encourage others, and they have a special talent for capturing the vision of many and putting it into a comprehensive format. They have a burning desire to see their communities flourish and often work behind the scenes. They're connectors. They love to build relationships with others, hear their stories, and find ways to help them pursue their dreams and aspirations.

Visionaries are a critical component to any placemaking process and, more importantly, an enormous asset to any city.

We have an immense wealth of visionary leadership here in Northeast Indiana that often doesn't get the recognition it deserves. People like Holli Seabury, whose vision for a healthier Northeast Indiana has inspired many to work towards an active, healthy lifestyle. People like Heather Schoegler who understand the wealth of potential that can be unleashed through social connectivity. People like Gerald Coleman who have a passion for leading our city's young people and improve the quality of life they experience. People like Olivia Fabian who understand the importance of encouraging entrepreneurial thinking among our region's young people and are working feverishly to increase opportunity here by launching ventures of their own. People like Noel Knox who are constantly encouraging and cheering on the efforts of others, and people like Jim Cook who dare to ask the question "what if?"

There's dozens of others that could (and should) be added to that list, but the primary purpose of this post is to point out something I think is all too often missed. All throughout grade school and even into adulthood, "challenging the status quo" and "daring to be different" are popular slogans that stand the test of time and have a certain appeal to them. Everyone has a little bit of a rebellious side to them - we all like to think and act differently from time to time. But there's a keen difference between saying and doing - the number of people who like to say they're thinking outside of the box as opposed to the number of people who actually dare to question how important the box really is in the first place is a significant gap. Hats off to those who ask the big questions, who dream the big dreams, and who charge fearlessly into the unknown.

In relation to my earlier blog post, take note of these visionaries as I assure you a new crop of them is emerging all around the world today. Technological advances in communication have enabled them to connect much quicker than before. They have a greater capacity to inspire and are constantly being inspired by the work and stories of other visionaries around the world. They're weird people. They do weird things and tackle hard problems. They live life upstream and do things that don't make sense to many. They're driven by things that most of us don't understand and put in long hours with little or no compensation simply because they're passionate about the cause they're working towards. They're able to cast a vision of what something might look like or become and can't stand the thought of throwing that vision on the back-burner without attempting to execute on it first.

Some of them will make statements that confuse you. Some of them will work on projects that you don't understand. Some of them will reject conventional thinking and traditional paths in life. Some of them will choose not to pursue a degree and instead further their learning through alternative means (like me). Some of them will challenge your ideas and question your strategies. All of that is okay. Do not discourage them. It's okay to guide them and it's okay to offer insight, but give them the benefit of the doubt and have a little faith. Above all, hold on to them - they're an incredible asset to whichever community they choose to locate in. Do not lose them.

Over the past year I've had the humbling opportunity to meet so many visionary people around the world through the Twelve Cities Project, Thiel Foundation activities, and chance encounters where I happened to be in the right place at the right time. Of every visionary individual I've met, one commonality binds them all together: An undying passion for improving the lives of people around the world and creating opportunity for future generations. These are people who put in 16 hour days to selflessly help others around them - sometimes people they don't even know. They create value, but not for the purpose of personal wealth. They have a broader vision than that. They realize that the more value they're able to add to the marketplace, the more value and wealth others will be able to enjoy. This is why I so enjoy what I'm doing through the Twelve Cities Project, and what we're prepping for with the Twelve Cities Fellowship. In bringing these young visionaries to Fort Wayne and engaging them in the process of creating something, the opportunity at hand is enormous.

A few weeks ago, I spoke at a workshop that was part of the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Planning Conference on the importance of engaging millennials in placemaking activities when attempting to harness and tell the story of the place. I wanted to take of the key points I addressed in my presentation and elaborate on them here for you all to read.

The presentations throughout the workshop largely centered around the concept of placemaking and the different strategies cities are employing to enhance their quality of place. The examples and data shared told compelling stories of how critical quality of place is in the global competition for talent. I had the pleasure of speaking about millennial storytelling through placemaking during the last breakout session, followed by Mary Stagaman who gave a phenomenal presentation on the harnessing the story of a place through her work with The Story Project in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Which is absolutely fascinating and hugely inspiring. Check out their website!)

First and foremost, remember that placemaking is participatory. Millennials are highly entrepreneurial and often express their attachment to a place through entrepreneurial expression. Include them in the conversation. If a young person expresses interest in a committee, project, or community happening - hold meetings at a place where they're able to attend. Include them on email threads. Grab coffee with them and see if they have an idea of how things might be done differently or more effectively. Allow them to be fully engaged in the process and continually remind them that their insight is valuable. 

One of my favorite examples of this recently was the My City project put together by A Better Fort. A few local millennials realized that there was a gap in community engagement among our city's young people - they didn't have something to cling on to, something to call their own. To fill that void, they brought over a dozen hip hop artists from around the region together to produce a music video and song that not only ignited community pride but also encouraged community engagement among our millennials. As a by-product, we saw an increase in community attachment from this population as well - they were suddenly part of the discussion. They were included in the process of making their home a better place.

Today, the music video has over 200,000 views on YouTube. While a lot of us thought it would be a vehicle for showcasing what Fort Wayne has to offer to young people around the globe, I think the most significant impacts of it were more internal. Yes, it has become a marketing tool for us to show the rest of the world what we've got - but more importantly, it shows us what we have to offer ourselves. The response to the music video in the days following its release was huge. I've never seen so many posts on Facebook from people my age saying they were "so proud to live here" and "glad to call this home." 

While there's several lessons to be derived from this project, what's most critical to understand about it? That it was participatory and it used a communication medium that millennials are familiar / comfortable with. If you intend to use placemaking as a tool to harness and tell the story of place through millennials, you must allow them to construct it themselves. Certainly offer them resources and support, but they need to be steering the ship. When attempting to communicate with millennials, remember that they're the experts. No matter how you craft the message, allowing millennials to communicate your message to other millennials directly using mediums that they all understand will likely be more effective than another generation attempting to convey that message to them. One degree of separation versus no separation.

What does the story of a place have to do with its future?

Quite a bit, actually.

A few weeks ago, I spoke at the OKI Regional Planning Conference in Columbus, Ohio, on how to engage the millennial generation in telling the story of a place through the process of placemaking. The day was filled with wonderful and inspiring examples of what cities around the globe are doing to place emphasis on people-centered approaches to community development. Today, Northeast Indiana put that foot forward and really made our region shine.

The Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership's "Made Here" brand has evolved over the past few years. For most of us, our first exposure to it was through the "Talent Made Here" campaign, then later through Vision 2020. This morning, the Partnership unveiled the next evolution of the Made Here brand - this time, taking a people-centered approach that focuses on the stories of people who call this region home through a series of (beautifully produced) videos. They also encourage you to submit your own videos to share your story (made here). 

This is what placemaking is about - taking economic development to the grassroots level and empowering residents to have a significant impact on the future of their place. The "Your Story. Made Here." campaign is an inspiring display of the people who have made Northeast Indiana what it is today and a vehicle to capture our story through moving forward. After all, you can't know where you're heading if you don't know where you've been.

Hats off to Katy Silliman, Courtney Tritch, Laine Mello, Erica Schweyer, and the rest of the staff at the Regional Partnership for their hard work on this campaign. Shout out to One Lucky Guitar, too, for the beautiful job they did on this project!

Throughout the Twelve Cities Project, I've been emphasizing the importance of connectivity. I'm a connector at heart - I love to connect with people, and I love to connect people to each other when opportunities arise. I've met a fascinating, diverse range of people throughout my Twelve Cities trips so far and would love to connect with you, too.

So, let's connect.

In today's world of ever-advancing social technology, it's easier than ever to have a face-to-face conversation at a moment's notice, even when thousands of miles apart. Let's connect through Skype (or Facebook / Google+, if preferred) and get to know each other.

Here's the deal:

1.) Click here to view my availability and select a time / date that works for you. 2.) Fill out this form and click submit. 3.) Try to think of at least one way I might be able to help you and let me know what it is when we connect. (No pressure. If you can't think of anything, that's alright!)

Plan for a 15 to 20 minute conversation for us to get to know each other. 

You all are rockstars.

Last night, I posted this video on YouTube in an effort to raise funds for the remaining trips of the Twelve Cities Project. I'm about halfway through the project's visits, and at the time of posting the video another $5,000 still needed to be raised to cover remaining expenses.

In the video, I only asked for $1 from each viewer - less than most of us spend on a cup of coffee or breakfast in the morning. Within 16 hours of posting the video, viewers and supporters had donated over $400. The generosity of the people I've met through the Twelve Cities Project - both here in Fort Wayne and elsewhere - never ceases to amaze me, and continually inspires me to keep moving forward.

At this rate, the remaining funds needed to cover the Twelve Cities Project expenses could be covered within a week. So, here's your challenge: watch the video posted last night and share it with your friends, family, and coworkers. Encourage them to donate $1 towards the project. Like the project's Facebook and Twitter pages to keep in touch, too! The further this message is able to spread, the greater impact each dollar will have.

A huge thank you to the individuals listed below who have donated within the past day, in addition to the dozens of others who have donated in the weeks prior (which you can view here):

Kim & Kevin Anema Brian Thornton Jennifer Fox Fred Cannon Mark Hagar Alec Johnson Tim Spencer Becky Rapp Amber Recker Holli Seabury Son Huynh Scott Hermance Dave Sanders Linda Butler Colton Strawser Chyanne Kaiser-Westlake Jeremy Diller 

This is cool.

Earlier today, John Paff sent me a note with a link to a site titled "Dollar by Dollar: Raising funds for one year of college, one dollar at a time." John knows I always get excited about creative millennials doing interesting things, so this instantly caught my attention. You're doing what? Taking donations to cover tuition? This is something worth reading.

As I clicked through the site, I learned bits and pieces of the story of a girl named Katie Dwyer and her tough situation: she can't afford to finish her final year of school. About to enter her senior year of pursuing a degree at Huntington University, she's found out that she no longer has the financial capacity to afford it. According to her site, she acknowledges that the tuition of small, private colleges isn't cheap and she has managed to rack up some "lofty student loans" but believes (and rightfully so) that it will be easier to pay off that debt by obtaining her degree than forfeiting it.

In a time when student debt has exceeded a record high of over $1 trillion, her story isn't unusual; however, the way she's dealing with it is. She's tapping into the growing concept of crowd-sourced fundraising and applying it in an innovative way. No, there aren't any rewards for donating to this campaign like you find on Indiegogo or Kickstarter - but she's only asking for $1.00, and the reward comes from knowing that you've helped someone out there overcome an obstacle that no one would want to face.

It relates to a question I've been throwing around in my mind for a while now - how far are people willing to go (financially) to support something based on emotional appeal, and at what point do they want to see a tangible return on their donation or investment? A prime example of this is the story of Karen Klein, the 68 year-old school bus monitor that was bullied to tears by middle school students. When video of the event surfaced on the web, a man by the name of Max Sidorov created an Indiegogo campaign to send Karen on a vacation. His target was about $15,000. Within a few days, he had raised over $500,000. Some people gave $10, some people gave $1,000 - it just depended on how deeply impacted they were by the story and at what level they felt connected to it. There were no rewards offered for the campaign, but it is arguably one of the most successful crowdsourcing campaigns in history.

So whatever your desire or motivation, I encourage you to check out Katie's website and pitch in $1. Just $1. That isn't even a cup of coffee from Starbucks, folks. Once you've donated, share the link with your friends and ask them to do the same. $1 and a few seconds from you could make the difference of a lifetime for Katie Dwyer.

In early June, I took off to the west coast for a week of exploring startup culture and entrepreneurship in the Silicon Valley. Needless to say, I was entirely unprepared for that trip - the Bay Area is different (in many ways) from any other location I've traveled to thus far. It was exhilarating, captivating, and terrifying all at the same time. I know many of you have been waiting for me to post my thoughts and observations from the trip, but you'll have to wait a bit longer - I've split the Silicon Valley trip into two parts. I'll be heading back there next week to participate in an event I was invited to by the Thiel Foundation, but will be taking a bit of extra time to digest how the Valley works and study some fascinating things going on in San Francisco like the 5M Project.

During my first trip to bay area (which was spent in San Jose, Mountain View, Palo Alto, and San Francisco), I learned more about trains than I ever have in my life. Similarly, I learned more about Fort Wayne's history than I ever knew existed, courtesy of Kelly Lynch. Since Kelly and I were both planning trips to the same area near the same time, it made sense for us to travel together. So we packed our bags and headed to the Silicon Valley in early June with dreams of startups and trains in mind.

For those of you who know Kelly, you're aware of what a monumental asset he is to our region. At 27 years old, he has an undying passion for historic rail preservation and an equally momentous passion for helping Fort Wayne discover - create, rather - it's identity. He often describes Fort Wayne as being the "awkward teenager that isn't quite sure which crowd it wants to hang out with yet, so we try a little of everything." I couldn't put that in better terms myself.

But where do historic rail and community identity intersect? What's the relationship between those two? It's a more concrete relation than you would imagine. Historically, Fort Wayne was a rail hub in the United States - freight cars, locomotives, and related rail components were manufactured here. Looking through historical records, the significance is astounding.. yet it seems to be a crucial part of our identity that we've all but forgotten - a beauty we've left to age, wither, and die with other faded memories of what we once were, but no longer are.

At one time, Fort Wayne was a hub for creation, innovation, and transportation. From the conception of the television to the creation of mammoth-sized locomotives, to later becoming a powerhouse for creation of large trucksand military vehicles, we had an identity of mobilization that was constantly moving us towards the future. Somewhere along the line, we broke our love affair with our identity of mobility and began to feel.. awkward. We tested the waters of other messages (the awkward-teenager syndrome), but nothing we tried on really seemed to fit right. The vision Kelly has that he shared with me on that trip offers us an opportunity to reclaim that lost identity and use it to propel us forward in a confident, steadfast manner called Headwaters Junction.

In absolute full discloser, I wasn't fully aware of what Headwaters Junction was nor what significance a rail-themed development had in relation to Fort Wayne's identity until I spent a week picking Kelly's brain in San Francisco - which is rather embarrassing, given that I've known Kelly for some timenow and have been aware of the idea for years. After hearing the passion and enthusiasm in Kelly's voice as he eloquently drew out the relationship between Fort Wayne's history and its identity, I can safely say it's been a long time since something has gotten me this enthused.

I'll only offer a snapshot of what the proposal entails in this post since a plethora of details are available online, but in short - this is an opportunity to connect Fort Wayne's historical identity to its ever-evolving future byplacing a rail-themed development in the heart of our city and utilizing it as a connection hub to numerous disjointed assets, all while involving patrons in an immersive journey to create Fort Wayne's future cemented in its past. The development would be placed on the North River property near the confluence of the three rivers downtown and involve a number of mixed-use structures that provide opportunities to eat, shop, and be entertained. At the heart of it all, you find the beautiful 765 locomotive herself (I suggest you watch this video that Kelly filmed so that you fully understand how majestic it is). View the full development proposal by clicking here.

This isn't your typical mass-mixed-use development, obviously. That's because this is purposeful development; this is something that achieves the much-desired impacts of the North River development (whatever it may be), but also offers the benefits of a historical attachment to Fort Wayne's past, a catalyst for reclaiming our identity, and places an emphasis on connectivity with existing assets so that everything is working in a comprehensive format that further multiplies the desired impact. This is something that makes sense. A lot of sense.

As you scroll through the homepage of the website, one phrase reaches out and grabs my attention: "experience Fort Wayne's story and create your own." Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but the way this is worded sends chills up my spine. Headwaters Junction offers an opportunity for you to experience - to fully immersive yourself - in Fort Wayne's story, while creating your own. You're involving yourself in Fort Wayne's concrete historical identity and using it as a foundation for the evolution of our identity moving forward. Knowing where we've been is critical to identifying where we're headed.

For a long time, I've heard people say that Fort Wayne doesn't know how to talk about itself. I've always hated that phrase because it's entirely counter-productive to the purpose people have for saying it. We may have forgotten who we are, but we have every opportunity at our disposal to continue writing that narrative and pick up the pen once again. We didn't forget how to talk about ourselves, we forgot to keep writing the story. To find our future, we first must remember our past. Headwaters Junction offers us an opportunity to remember and - most importantly - embrace what has made us who we are as we look towards who we will become.

Most of you know I'm a huge fan of organic, community-driven change through visioning followed by implementation. It's been a while since I've posted anything about Millennial 2020, so I thought it was time I offered an update.

As many of you know, I left the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership back in May to fully devote my time to the work of Twelve Cities and its three aspects of programming: Twelve Cities Project, Twelve Cities Fellowship, and CitySquared. Throughout the year that I was with the Regional Partnership, most of my time was dedicated to the conceptualization, development, and implementation of a grassroots millennial visioning process we called "Millennial 2020." This process was an extension of a larger regional visioning process stewarded by the Partnership called Vision 2020, but was specifically targeted towards soliciting input from individuals in the 15 to 25 age range.

Erica Hahn, Vision 2020 Coordinator for the Regional Partnership, is heading up M2020 with the help of Tori Rowe who came on board shortly after I left. They've done a phenomenal job pulling together an event slated for late-July called "M2020 Spark Tank" - a Startup Weekend-style event that encourages Northeast Indiana millennials to "spark change" by pitching an idea, forming a team around it, and rapidly moving from conceptualization to implementation throughout the course of a one-day event. The hope behind it is that, by involving millennials in the implementation of their vision for Northeast Indiana, it will instill a sense of attachment between them and their home by bringing them in as an integrated part of the regional visioning process (Vision 2020). 

Spark Tank isn't the facet of Millennial 2020 that's exciting to me - in fact, it's only one of many. The program kicked off in early 2012 with an extensive survey process offering Northeast Indiana's young people the opportunity to put their vision for our region into words and pin-point what themes, ideas, and characteristics are important to them. From that survey, the process moves forward in two components - implementation of the "millennial vision" through events like Spark Tank, as well as more localized implementation through a regional leadership body they've convened called the Millennial Leaders Alliance (MLA). The MLA consists of at least one millennial and one current leader from each of the ten counties that the Regional Partnership serves and offers a vehicle for collaborative leadership to advance priorities now, and into the future - all feeding into Vision 2020's mission of attracting, retaining, and developing talent.

To me, this is exciting on multiple fronts. Not only is it a grassroots level, community-driven visioning process that allows millennials the opportunity to engage in changing our region's story for a brighter future, it also sets the stage for members of my generation to step up and start creating the kind of change they want to see here. All too often I hear my peers complain about a lack of outreach to their generation from local government, nonprofits, leadership, and economic development agencies. While I don't think this is always the case (I'm obviously biased, having worked for / closely with many of those entities and seeing the amount of hard work put into reaching millennials), their concerns obviously show a disconnect. Well, millennials, here's your opportunity to get involved and create the visible, tangible change you've been wanting to see. You have the backing of regional leadership, the support of our largest economic development entity in Northeast Indiana, and vehicles to turn your ideas into results. This is a fantastic opportunity to get plugged in and have your voice heard or - more importantly - get your hands dirty. This is your opportunity to make things happen.

Good things are happening in Fort Wayne - especially underground. Yes, I mean that literally.

Welcome to the Lion Den. 

In the basement of the STAR Financial Bank building on Berry Street in downtown Fort Wayne, a collective of startup-lovers and entrepreneurs are making things happen. For those of you who know me well, you know that's a phrase I don't use lightly - I tend to be very skeptical of projects I see producing more attention than results. At the Den, they seem to have the opposite problem - they're making more things happen than they're receiving attention for - perhaps because the space has only been operating in this capacity for a few months.

Earlier this year, the space was the new home of Panzit - a startup company founded by Alex LaPrade, Alex Smith, and Shane Aruajo. They quickly realized they had much more space than they needed. During the same time frame, Aruajo and Smith worked on a project for A Better Fort (a nonprofit they founded to increase civic engagement among Fort Wayne's young people) called Hip Hop 4 the City. The three of them were becoming increasingly attached to Fort Wayne, had a drive to see it realize its full potential, and were entrepreneurial by nature. Given their passions, motivations, and extra space - the Lion Den was born.

I'm a bit of a traveler around downtown who works from coffee shops, offices, and occasionally a park (not in this heat, though). Over the past few months, I've found myself spending an increasing amount of time in the Den thanks to two primary attributes of the space: the type of people it attracts, and the social nature of it. Everyone who works from the Den shares a common passion for our city and a drive to see its entrepreneurial community strengthen. Similarly, we realize we all have different talents we can bring to the table to make things happen. By pooling our resources together, some exciting products, websites, and ideas have already spawned from the Den.

I've always been a fan of organic, community-driven change. The Den is a near-perfect embodiment of that. People are coming together in a common space, sharing common interests, and pooling their resources together to bring about positive change throughout Northeast Indiana. Not only are they working together in an ultra-collaborative format, they've also slowly begun to crowdsource engagement and opinions from their own networks (which overlap to an extent, but are still rather diverse) to increase the overall impact of what's being produced. On a given day, you might find a half-dozen developers, a few nonprofit leaders, a couple of creative-types (myself included), and economic development leaders passing through (Marla Schneider of The Alliance pictured above, as well as Bill Brown of the Downtown Improvement District earlier this week). The amount of ideas, connections, and capital (whether human, social, or monetary) that passes through the space in a given week is outstanding - and certainly something noteworthy.

It's a morpheus space, however, that will continue to evolve and find its identity. The number of tenants (or those who use it on a regular basis) has grown to include Vertical Leap, SASSI Systems, Guild Press, along with a collection of others who are calling it home. For me, this isn't home - but it is hope. It gives me confidence that our region has a bright future with a growing number of attached, action-oriented people doing what they can to bring about positive change for their city. They're claiming ownership over it and setting an example for us all to follow - that action really does speak louder than words. And those in the Den aren't the only people following this example; I've spoken many times about the hard work of Dan Swartz with Wunderkammer Company and Kelly Lynch's visionary dream for the North River property (stay tuned for a more in-depth post about it, by the way - in the meantime, watch this breathtaking video he produced). It's as though we all started on separate paths but were headed towards the same destination - we're nearing an intersection of efforts with the power to propel economic, cultural, and entrepreneurial growth beyond our current dreams.

As of late, quite a few people have been asking me what's on the horizon for the Twelve Cities Project. I've been hinting towards "exciting things to come in the future," and Thursday night, I unveiled the next leg of the Twelve Cities Project before a crowd of nearly 100 people in Wunderkammer Company's new space on Fairfield Avenue in Fort Wayne.

Welcome to the Twelve Cities Fellowship.

Those of you who know me well know that I'm constantly looking for ways to extend opportunities to young people that have had an immense impact on my life and have enabled me to maximize my potential as an individual. The Twelve Cities Project has done that and more - yet after a number of conversations with young entrepreneurial types throughout the country, I've found that many of them have the ideas, wherewithal, and stamina to take on something similar to what I'm doing, but lack the network of support to get it off the ground, which was preexisting for me due to my history working closely with a number of economic development-focused entities throughout Northeast Indiana.

Thursday night's theme, as I've been told, rang throughout the halls of Wunderkammer and was still ringing in the ears of attendees the following day. During the presentation and unveiling, I emphasized the importance of social connectivity as a driver of economic growth, particularly in two facets:

Internal connectivity - resident-to-resident connection / communication, and

External connectivity - resident of city A to resident of city B

When these two facets are paired together effectively, they have the ability to funnel immense amounts of intellectual, creative, and social capital into a region that can stimulate entrepreneurial growth and foster innovation.

Thursday evening's announcement of the Twelve Cities Fellowship paralleled that theme perfectly. The fellowship will be used as a talent attraction tool for Northeast Indiana (and other regions in the future - more on that in the coming months) to import the best, brightest, and most entrepreneurial young people throughout the region and anchor them in Northeast Indiana for a period of at least three years. During their tenure as a fellow, they will be tasked with visiting twelve cities throughout the country to study entrepreneurship and startup culture side-by-side in an apprenticeship-style format with successful entrepreneurs, CEOs, startup founders, and community leaders to learn the ins-and-outs of launching a venture of their own. Additionally, they will be tasked with launching a venture of their own and investing into it the social capital they've collected along the way in order to stimulate growth.

The full text of the announcement can be seen below. As with any venture, the fellowship is subject to pivoting - the first year or two will be an experiment for us to find out what works, what problems need to be solved, and what solutions can be developed for those problems. I'm excited to see it take form and look forward to the opportunities it holds ahead!

Fort Wayne Teen Unveils Fellowship Program for Young Entrepreneurs

Program aims to strengthen Northeast Indiana’s entrepreneurial ability

FORT WAYNE, IN – In September of 2011, then 18 year-old Fort Wayne native Nick Arnett began an ambitious tour of twelve cities across the country in a quest to study how other locations attract talent, foster innovation, and catalyze economic growth. Thursday evening, he took it to the next level by unveiling plans for a fellowship program to increase entrepreneurship among Northeast Indiana’s young people.

The Twelve Cities Fellowship, a program of nonprofit Twelve Cities Project Inc., was announced before a crowd of nearly 100 people Thursday evening at an event held in partnership with Wunderkammer Company, a not-for-profit that will soon be housed in what was formerly Casa D’Angelos. Arnett presented observations, stories, and findings from his first four trips and emphasized the importance of social connectivity in catalyzing economic growth – something the fellowship aims to build. The fellowship is set to debut in July of 2013 by sending three fellows on a year-long voyage to study entrepreneurship in twelve different cities across the country. Each trip will last one week, during which fellows will be learning the ins-and-outs of launching their own venture from CEOs, successful entrepreneurs, and leaders throughout the country in an apprenticeship-style format. In between trips, fellows will work with area partners and community groups to help foster a culture of entrepreneurship among Northeast Indiana’s young people through guidance, mentorship, and providing access to resources they have collected throughout their visits.

In addition to the visits, fellows will be tasked with launching a venture of their own during their tenure as a fellow and committing to locating it in Northeast Indiana for at least three years. $2,500 of seed money will be provided to each fellow accepted into the program, as well as access to a local network of mentors to help them conceptualize, plan, and launch their venture. The fellowship’s first three years of programming are expected to cost roughly $300,000, but it is hoped that the program will be entirely self-sustaining by the fifth year as fellows will be asked to dedicate a small percentage of their venture’s revenue to the ongoing work of the fellowship for a period of four years following their tenure.Tonight marked the launch the fellowship’s fundraising campaign and the establishment of a national mentor network. Applications for the program will be available in January of 2013.

“Northeast Indiana is in the midst of an exciting entrepreneurial revolution. From my travels to other cities over the past several months, I can tell that we’re nearing a tipping point of catalytic economic growth,” said Nick Arnett, founder of the Twelve Cities Project. “I’ve never witnessed such an exciting time to live in this region. The fellowship program offers Fort Wayne an opportunity to dramatically enhance its connectivity to the nation’s startup scene and produce real, tangible benefits to residents at the same time in the form of knowledge, future job growth, and increased access to capital. It’s a win-win scenario.”

Arnett reported that before the fellowship launches he intends to first complete his tour with the Twelve Cities Project, having eight more cities to visit. He emphasized the importance of connectivity between Fort Wayne’s residents and the residents of other cities in fostering innovation, spurring entrepreneurship, and enhancing Northeast Indiana’s quality of opportunity. Within just a few short years, the fellowship program has the potential to dramatically increase Fort Wayne’s connectivity to entrepreneurs throughout the country.

Life is full of adventures and opportunities. Sadly, we put many of them on the backburner until they shrivel up and disappear.

Taking back opportunity - running towards it, rather - seems to be a theme rippling through Fort Wayne right now. As many of you already know, my good friend and mentor Steve Franks recently announced that he will soon be leaving his position at the Northeast Indiana Innovation Center to pursue some exciting opportunities on the horizon (one of which I'm involved in, and very excited about). Another close friend of mine, Ray Angel, recently took the leap as well to invest his time in a startup he's launching and the continuation of his work with Vertical Leap. The list goes on to include another 4 or 5 local entrepreneurs who are taking big risks in hopes of helping our city make big progress.

But it wasn't until yesterday that inspiration finally met me full-on. I met up with an ambitious young person by the name of Ryan Schnurr. A recent graduate of Huntington University, your first assumption would be that Ryan is like many of his peers - talented, bright, and ready to start down the stable career path he's prepared himself for over the past four years. Your assumption would be wrong. He's a risk-taker, much like the others I mentioned above. He has an entrepreneurial spirit, big dreams, and game-changing spirit. He's the type of person who realizes dreams are never meant to be put on hold and that progress without risk isn't really progress at all.

A few months ago, Ryan was offered a "dream job" opportunity in his field. He turned it down. Instead, he chose to pursue a few promising ideas he has for radically changing the way we talk about our city, communicate with others, and share stories. He's charging fearlessly into the unknown and working hard to make ends meet. He realized that in order to make big things happen, you have to take big, outrageous leaps of faith. You have to dream and you have to dive. You have to take risks. Ray Bradbury, a favorite author of mine, describes it perfectly:

"Living at risk is jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down."

What would it be like if we all had the kind of tenacity that Ryan has? What if we all shared a mentality of making big risks to achieve big rewards? Too many times have I watched friends put their aspirations on hold for stability, only to dread and regret it years down the road when they're sucked into a routine without ever knowing "what could have been."

Today, I took that leap. I'm diving off the cliff and building my wings. This afternoon, I resigned from my position with the Regional Partnership to pursue the promising opportunities that I've been placing on the backburner for far too long. I still fully support the work of Vision 2020 and the Regional Partnership in their quest to develop, attract, and retain talent - but I also came to the difficult conclusion that, if I have dreams that I'm putting on hold for stability and a paycheck, I'm doing a diservice to myself, my colleagues, and this community. I preach all day and night about the great things happening here, but talking and doing are two different things. The people I praise from day to day for the gamechanging ideas they bring to the table are people that are risking it all for a region they love and believe in. It's time for me to do the same. If there were ever a time life provided for us to purposely take risks and big leaps of faith, it's while we're still young. 

In the coming weeks, I'll be spending lots of time ramping up the Twelve Cities Project as we prepare to take it to the next level, as well as investing more time into two startups I'm involved in: CitySeven and Paradigm Literary Magazine. Keep your eyes and ears open though - I've got some exciting things up my sleeves that I can't wait to roll out. Fort Wayne is nearing a critical mass of game-changing people with big, bold, outrageous ideas to execute, and cities everywhere are on the edge of an entrepreneurial revolution. As I dive into a world of instability, constant pivoting, big dreams and steadfast loyalty to my personal mission of helping this city become all it can (and will) become, my comfort comes from knowing that - at the end of the day - I tried, and I gave it 110%.

I'll leave you with a visual display of why I love what I do - a beauty I'm so committed to. As you watch this video, turn up your volume, play it in fullscreen, and when you think of those old dreams that you've put on the backburner for too many years.. remember Eleanor Roosevelt's words:

"Do one thing everyday that scares you."

On a beautiful day like today, it's only natural to walk to lunch and sneak outside every opportunity you get. So, I decided to do just that.

As I stepped out of my Main Street office this afternoon to grab some coffee, something caught my attention - Park Place (most recently L'Asiantique), a restaurant space that has been sitting vacant in the first floor of a 10-story office building downtown for years, suddenly had life in it again. Dozens of people were moving things in and out, rearranging the space, and appeared to be prepping for something big - perhaps a restaurant again - to move in. I was excited, and kept walking after snapping a quick picture.

I turned the corner onto Clinton Street. A few hundred feet away from me, a group of colorfully dressed people were singing, dancing, and circling a May Pole on the courthouse lawn. Though there were only a couple dozen people that were part of the celebration, dozens more stood on the sidewalk watching, taking photos, and enjoying the unique site downtown.

The nice weather appeared to have had the same effect on everyone else as it did on me. Hundreds of people were out walking, sitting, enjoying lunch, or just taking a break outside on the sidewalks of downtown. Unfortunately, sites like this have become a rarity in Fort Wayne over time. We don't enjoy the amount of vibrancy in our downtown area that we once had - but today, things were different. Today, there was life, things were happening, and the energy was contagious. Regardless of whether or not you started your day in a good mood, you were bound to end up in one after a walk through downtown.

I stepped into my favorite coffee shop downtown (Higher Grounds Star, shameless plug) and rambled on and on to the owner about how vibrant and exciting things seemed downtown today. I sat down to each my lunch for a few minutes, but could only keep myself from wandering around outside for a quick second. I wanted to be part of the action, part of the excitement - the way I perceived it, downtown was full of life today and good things appeared to be just around the corner. We had a mix of event-based activity (the May Pole dancers), and built development / physical activity (the Park Place space). The vibrancy and excitement we were all enjoying this afternoon was sure to last for some time to come.

On my way back, however, the May Pole dancers had already packed up and left. The spectators had parted. Most people had finished their meals and returned to their offices, and upon returning to Main Street a UPS driver bursted my bubble by telling me they were filming a commercial in the Park Place space, not preparing it for something new. As quickly as life had entered downtown, it left in the same fashion and with the same speed. My excitement and energy levels plummeted as I returned to my desk.

What's my point in telling you all of this? Perhaps we limit the capacity of our city's urban core by limiting our imaginations. When we perceive downtown to be active, vibrant, and exciting, we carry that energy with us. We rethink Fort Wayne. We re-imagine spaces and interact with them differently. Because we perceive our surroundings to be full of life and vibrancy, we too become energetic. Simply put, happy people enjoy happy places.

It reminds me of the inspiring work my Chattanooga friends have done through CreateHere and are continuing to do through Glass House Collective. They realize that perceptions are important and, for a space to experience truly sustainable change, any alterations made to that space must be guided by the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of the people who interact with it on a routine basis. Without a vision of what that space could be, though, it can never realize its full potential. Getting people exciting about places and teaching them to re-imagine them is critical to the development of exceptional, inviting, attractive public spaces.