FLCreatives Discussion Series

September 30 2009, 11:15am

What if we create an event to help establish the identity of Florida Creatives as a place for learning and sharing in the community? Gather tons of likeminded people, like we always do, but ask certain members to share their experience. The subjects we could cover with such a diverse group are numerous, and the world is changing so rapidly, we can't expect everyone to know everything, so let's give the stage to a few of our peers and try to learn from their experience.

BarCamps and large events are great, but they only happen once a year in a given city - it would be hard to organize them too often. Happy Hours and Likemind are fun, but we try to keep the agenda out of those events. Ignite is great as a showcase of local talent, but there is no real theme to the event. The idea here is to pick one subject and pick it apart from several view points.

I always like following up a great discussion with some brainstorming, time to make plans and get things done, so my ideal would be to follow a great discussion with a "think tank" the following day - this is what the unconference format is great for - have an empty schedule and fill it with all of the things in your head after you get energized and inspired, then have a room full of people who are willing to talk about anything.

The discussion series should be followed by a BarCamp-like event to let people workshop on the discussion's topic from the previous evening. It's great to have time to "sleep on it", go and reflect, then get back together and get stuff done.

The Role of Media in a Community A collected panel of community leaders with a successful track record will be given the stage and a chance to share their thoughts and stories using media to communicate with:

 Their community members
 Traditional media
 Other organizations
 Their volunteers and employees

New forms of media seem to appear every day, and what used to work in a print, TV and radio world may not fly in the world of social networking and YouTube. Some more established community leaders will have had to adapt, and those with newer missions will have had to make it up as they go along. We can hear from both sides in a panel like this.

BATT

disqu