RadioBack

Poynter Summer Fellowship

Dave's Log:  Cyberdate 7.28.07

"David, have you ever wondered what causes people to write about other people?"

We notice Emma is in an inquisitive mood today.

"My first reaction Emma, is to say people want to learn more about themselves.  My second is out of curiosity."

"David, I've been running a scan to locate people who are just starting out in the profession of writing about others.  I set my search parameters to exclude college seniors and concentrated on who is out there trying to improve the art of journalism.  I located an institution that I thought you might be interested in.  They have a program called the Poynter Summer Fellowship.  Can we please visit?"

Before I can even utter one word, Avelina speaks out:

"Destination: the planet Poynter located in the quadrant of Creativity."

Emma's curiosity has aroused ours.  Throughout our travels we have encountered more folks in the writing profession than any other.  But we have never encountered folks so young.  This will be a treat.  We love the spirit of this generation.  We love their passion.  We love their need for freedom, connection and expression.  We think we understand mostly where they are coming from.  Gabriele has schooled us and we have paid attention to life as it tries to slip around us.  What we are looking for today is a better understanding on what drives them to write.

Emma lands the Starship out in Tampa Bay and we boat to shore.  We are greeted by Ashley Mills on the last day of the program.  She tells us of incredible hard work, endless editing and new friendships.  Ashley's need to capture stories seems to revolve around a need for acceptance, especially from her mentors.  A crowd of the program's graduates gathers and we begin to mill about.

Julia Robinson is on a journey.  A journey to overcome her fears which in turn, as a photojournalist, will allow her to connect with people and to create picture-telling-stories.  Chasity Gunn stared at us as if we were from another planet.  (We were wearing pants, weren't we?)  There was heat-seeking curiosity in her eyes.  We couldn't get to why Chasity writes.  She asked too many questions and we became the subject.  Matthew Pleasant has discovered at an early age, what will propel him along his life's journey - journalism.  Matthew possesses an ability that seems to run common with this crew - the ability to sculpt a metaphor from a life event and to use it as a tool of understanding.  The art of doing this and the insight gained will enrich their careers beyond the wildest of expectations.  Marissa Harshman beams a will to excel.  Marissa writes because something deep insides says that she must.  Also deep inside is this ability to, as Emeril says, "kick it up a notch!"  Bam!

The red alarm signals on our cultedge meter, Emma has finished.  Perhaps we didn't discover the reason why all of the folks from this group write, but we caught a glimpse of the passion that will continue to surface again and again in their stories.

On the return trip home we notice that Elle is furiously writing in a notebook.  Passion breeds passion.

deviantART

Dave's Log:  Cyberdate 6.9.2007

Prior to today's mission I sat alone in my study contemplating the Edge...

My study resides between the general living area and bedroom in my quarters on the Starship.  A recliner faces an eight by eight window that looks into Space.  A writing desk flanks the chair, surrounded by walls lined with books.  Although I am one click away from mankind's total collection of knowledge, thanks to a Google project years ago that began by scanning books and of course evolved, I relish books, paper and pen. This is the only location on the Starship where I can personally disengage Emma...and I have.

I am thinking about the Edge this morning and our mission to travel there and RadioBack coordinates to the Universe of different to others.  Who am I however, to determine what or who is different?  Am I not revealing to the whole wide world just how under-exposed that I am?  Yes, I guess so.  Do I not consider these adventures opportunities to learn?  Yes.  So, if I can remain cool about my own naivety and continue to venture forth, maybe I'll learn some stuff and beam light on darkened corners of the Universe for others.

Today's mission is a neighborhood cafe for millions of people.  For me however, it lies out on the Universe's periphery.  It is a world of intrigue and one that my soul needs.  It is someone from this or a similar world who we need on the Starship to handle RadioBack's graphic and illustration design.

"Destination: The planet of deviantART  in the quadrant of Creativity."

...Avelina's voice gently rolls throughout the Starship, increasing our anticipation. 

The Starship's powerful engines engage and in no time we land on deviantART.  Two characteristics of deviantART nearly blind us before we take a step; Talent and Community...and by community we mean BIG community.  Emma syncs with Wikipedia and downloads a briefing to our headsets.

We must move forward with great care on this planet.  The culture is rooted in painters, photographers, writers, illustrators, graphic designers, animators and cartoonists.  To casually describe deviantART as a planet of artists is wrong.  That would be like a broad brush stroke across a canvass of one million brush strokes, each radiating their individual passion and desire.  Each must be heard.  Although Emma downloads the culture and knowledge of deviantART, we feel we must touch, feel, smell, listen and let our eyes take pleasure in the here and now physical world that begs to bombard our senses.

Elle emits a soft moan as we move along.  She's made contact.  We encourage her to share.

"I have connected with one of deviantART's leaders David."

Elle: Tell us about your passion for community $spyed.

$spyed: We have built a community for artists and those who appreciate their craft, to gather, share their work, passions and desires. 

Elle: How does this help the artists?

$spyed: Our community removes walls and reduces the size of our planet.  It flattens the playing field and gives unknown artists a chance to be heard and seen.  It gives all artists a chance.

Prior to leaving, we experience an overwhelming feeling from those who dwell on deviantART.  It is a sense of graciousness.  Nearly everyone who we met with expressed great appreciation for folks who visit and comment upon their work.  We know, from our experiences aboard the Starship over the last decade, that this characteristic is one we discovered in the most powerful communities.  $spyed, his staff and team have something extraordinarily special here.  We feel privileged by this experience.

Roger von Oech

Dave's Log:  Cyberdate 6.2.07

We start off today in the Starship's Film Room.  It's actually a soundproof theater richly appointed with plush, built-in recliners.  Of course film no longer exists but the retro feel of the name delights our senses.  Emma has extracted a five-year old memory from Dave's mind and we are about to view it.

Rosemary and I walk into Circle Books on St. Armands Circle in Sarasota, Florida.  Having discovered my right brain five years earlier, I am in search of books that will help me to develop it.  My main quest is a book containing Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken."  Discovering it though, it doesn't quite quench my appetite, my need.  Driven by the desire of different, my eyes land upon Roger von Oech's Expect the Unexpected.  I open it and am sold.  Its words mainline to my right brain.  It puts an arm around my shoulder and says, "David, lets walk down the creative path together."

All of our missions at RadioBack so far have begun by flying to the Edge.  Sometimes the Edge however, is our state of mind.  And sometimes folks whose state of mind is out on the Edge and have always been there - are waiting for us.  And sometimes these folks are not immersed in the new economics.  Sometimes they deal with the new by dealing with the old.  Roger von Oech's like that.

Emma softens the lighting and Gabriele appears in the theater's corner.  "Not only are Roger's teachings timeless, they transcend generational differences."  She continues, "And, even though Roger is deeply intellectual, learned and schooled, he speaks the common man's language."

"Bell bottoms."  We turn to the other corner of the room where Elle is standing.  Elle, unlike Avelina and Gabriele, is a real live person.  She is thirty-two years old with long jet black hair and crystal blue eyes that twinkle stardust across her naturally tanned, athletic body, stands with hands on hips staring at a point above the rest of us.  Elle has the ability to communicate telepathically across time and space.  Usually communications are initiated by others.  She'll hold these conversations oblivious to her surroundings.

"Elle, who are you speaking to?"

Elle: He asks, "Where has the "Thuban Phenomenon" worked in your life?"

With a trail of mystery following her, Elle walks out of the theater, her hip hugger bell bottom jeans swaying ever so slightly.  Emma knows, but we must link out and think for ourselves.

We are grateful to Emma for bringing Roger to our attention today and grateful to Roger for helping us to be more creative.

Richard Florida

Emma has the Starship trim, tuned and ready for our inaugural flight.  She has chosen a few songs played at a little 1967 California get-together and loaded them into her audio banks.  Today we are headed into the quadrant of Creativity.  We're in search of a fellow who goes by the name of Richard Florida.  Florida lords over the planet Creative Class .

When logic and proportion
Have fallen softly dead
And the White Knight is talking backwards
And the Red Queen's "off with her head!"
Remember what the dormouse said:
"Feed your head
Feed your head
Feed your head"

...Gracie Slick's pipes reverberate throughout the Starship as we blast ahead, chewing up and laying down a vapor trail of space dust.

Emma tells us that Richard taught at Carnegie Mellon University for nearly twenty-years and that he wrote a book, published in 2002, titled The Rise of the Creative Class.  We suspect that Emma knows a whole lot more.  The thing is, she relishes in our learning experiences...like the teacher who does not tell, but instead, guides. 

It is Richard's book that peaks our attention and fuels our drive to learn more.  He talks about a new economic class of people, the Creative Class.  This group includes writers, scientists, engineers, designers, the entertainment industry, arts and architects at its core.  Orbiting the core are people in law, health care, business, finance and related fields.  The key distinction between the Creative Class and groups such as the Working and Service Class is, the former groups here are paid to execute according to plan, whereas the Creative Class is paid to create.

Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

...Simon and Garfunkel provide the background music as we near our destination.

Landing on Creative Class, the first thing we see is:

The Creative Class Group (CCG) is a global think tank headquartered in Washington, DC that develops new ideas and strategies for business, government and community competitiveness. The CCG team is comprised of next-generation thinkers and strategists who offer companies, associations and regions access to leading-edge knowledge, trends, research, consulting, education and professional development.

Hmmm, next generation thinkers..., looks like we indeed are out on the fringes.  The Creative Class Group's strategies catch our attention.  Analyzing whether or not creativity and innovation are taking place in a business, focusing on attracting and retaining the best and brightest along with a few other initiatives, show us that the inhabitants of this planet are out here trying to make a difference.

While we have been learning about the Creative Class Group, Emma has taken it upon herself to sync directly with their information systems.  She seems to be infatuated with the data that Richard and his associates have compiled on the Creative Class.  We point out to Emma that this is wrong and can be considered stealing.  Emma slightly raises her volume, in a slow, deliberate, firm but patient voice she says:

"David, we are not in the status-quo world that you are used to.  Information, knowledge and ideas are not guarded and protected out here.  Instead, they are shared freely.  Neither competition or money exist in this sector of the universe.  It is the grace of evolution." 

We are pretty sure most folks back home cannot comprehend this.  Fringe dwellers like Richard and his associates are not operating in this manner.  Hopefully Emma will be patient with us.  She sees beyond what is to what can be.  As we RadioBack our coordinates today, we hope that you folks can be patient with us.

Emma feels good.  As she guides the Starship back home a flower falls from her computer banks...

All across the nation such a strange vibration
People in motion
There's a whole generation with a new explanation
People in motion people in motion

For those who come to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
If you come to San Francisco
Summertime will be a love-in there