By Mark Baratelli
Owner
Last month, a small group of guests (me included) invited by the Mayor's office and the Chamber of Commerce were asked to meet at the Chamber of Commerce building and were introduced to the book For the Love of Cities book and it's author, Peter Kageyama. There, we learned about the Mayor's plan to hold a 150-person brainstorm this Fall that would culminate in a list of activities that empowered locals to exclaim why they love Orlando. This program is something the author brings to cities across the US. He facilitates the brainstorm.
About the brainstorm:
On Monday August 29, 2011, the group reconvened for a second meeting inside the Fairwinds Tower Room at the Amway Center to discuss in more detail this 150-person meeting. Below are photos from Monday.
One thing already that's come out of it so far is a Facebook page on which you can exclaim why you love Orlando.
What do I think of the "Why I Love Orlando" (official name for now) project? It's too early to say. I do like that the author's $10,000 fee to facilitate this project will not be paid by the city of Orlando, but through private donations. I predict that whether it succeeds or fails, whether if it brings in the true creative community or a room full of business people and city employees, whether if it creates truly engaging messaging and not flimsy marketing, it will inspire others to pick up the challenge and start their own projects. This has the potential to start the conversation. Or if you've been to (or spoken at) the Urban ReThink "ReThinking the City" series, it continues it.
This is an example of an outcome of one city's brainstorm. This is a sticker folks can wear that exclaims something they love in their city.
Owner
Last month, a small group of guests (me included) invited by the Mayor's office and the Chamber of Commerce were asked to meet at the Chamber of Commerce building and were introduced to the book For the Love of Cities book and it's author, Peter Kageyama. There, we learned about the Mayor's plan to hold a 150-person brainstorm this Fall that would culminate in a list of activities that empowered locals to exclaim why they love Orlando. This program is something the author brings to cities across the US. He facilitates the brainstorm.
About the brainstorm:
On Monday August 29, 2011, the group reconvened for a second meeting inside the Fairwinds Tower Room at the Amway Center to discuss in more detail this 150-person meeting. Below are photos from Monday.
One thing already that's come out of it so far is a Facebook page on which you can exclaim why you love Orlando.
What do I think of the "Why I Love Orlando" (official name for now) project? It's too early to say. I do like that the author's $10,000 fee to facilitate this project will not be paid by the city of Orlando, but through private donations. I predict that whether it succeeds or fails, whether if it brings in the true creative community or a room full of business people and city employees, whether if it creates truly engaging messaging and not flimsy marketing, it will inspire others to pick up the challenge and start their own projects. This has the potential to start the conversation. Or if you've been to (or spoken at) the Urban ReThink "ReThinking the City" series, it continues it.
The Mayor welcoming us
What the desired outcome of this150-person brainstorm is
What will transpire
A t-shirt design will be brainstormed
During the brainstorm, participants will be asked to look at the city from various perspectives.
Who's coming? The folks in the room will invite 4-5 people they feel will do well in a brainstorm like this. A large discussion about inclusion followed, to make sure the entire city was represented.
In New Orleans, this project asked locals to write on their hands what they loved about their city and then be photographed.