The past few weeks, my schedule was packed with events that addressed the importance of creative solutions through dynamic collaboration.
The events that impressed me included Sunday Soup and 5x5 Night.
Each event shares boldness at its center when starting or creating something (rather than nothing).
At Sunday Soup, an international, but community-focused funding project, attendees listen to proposals from local artisans and then vote as a group, selecting who will receive the unrestricted monies so that the chosen project can be realized.
The projects vary, ranging from the creation of art to music production to even publishing 'zines or comic anthologies.
At the March event, held the last Sunday of the month at
The DAAC, I was impressed by the showmanship of the band Ribbons of Song. The group needed completion funds to finish their newest recording.
Part of their pitch involved band members working together to wrangle cable as lead singer Ben Scott-Brandt hoisted their massive '80s boom box high in the air so the audience could hear the new, unmixed tracks.
It was Ribbon of Song's boldness on many levels, from submitting to this event to putting it out there in their presentation that resulted in their win.
While there are differences between Sunday Soup and 5x5 Night, boldness is at the center of this creative funding event as well.
The latest
5x5 Night happened a few days later at Grand Rapids Art Museum.
Five proposals are selected from hundreds of submitted applications. Five presentations are made before a 5-member panel who listen to the applicants and lob questions about the projects at the creators.
When the 5x5 Night process concludes, the panel members choose the winner rather than the audience. Members of the audience, however, were able to submit questions to the jurors via Twitter.
I was one of the guest jurors on the panel that also included Gwen O'Brien of Plenty Creative, Cynthia Kay of ThinkCK.com, Mike Morin of MediaGuide and ArtPrize creator Rick DeVos. Five wonderful ideas were presented during the event, but one individual and her idea captured my heart.
Margarita Barry's proposal
71 Pop is about the creation of a free space for emerging entrepreneurs and artists from Detroit who want to sell their wares within a temporary pop-up shop space. Pop-up stores have been the rage for a few years in major markets, but this was one of the first times such a store would solely focus on selling the emerging, rather than the established brands.
I monitored Twitter for audience questions as Barry presented her project idea. I was a bit put off by a few comments that questioned why someone from Detroit would come over here and seek funding from West Michigan.
While I have learned to adapt to a world marketplace and avoid the pitfalls of protectionist (and often mean-spirited) attitudes, I also understood a strong need to support local. But the definition of local according to Barry's proposal suggests all of us need to be bold as we look at our entire state with a new vision.
For the past couple years at Rapid Growth, we have not only acknowledged the power of collaboration within our community in order to bring solutions to our region, but also suggested a new way to approach the phrase 'no man is an island.'
Barry's proposal was not only beneficial for those in her community, but could have spread good ideas across our state.
Although Barry did not win, she did clearly win the hearts that night of many of the audience members and panelists for her boldness to bring an idea to our side of the state. Others noticed, too: Crain's Detroit, Advertising Age, The Detroit Creative Corridor Center, Real Detroit Weekly, B.L.A.C. Magazine, our sister publication Model D and now Rapid Growth.
I share these two stories this week prefacing another announcement. Following the release of this editorial on boldness, more news will be shared via social media and on Michigan Public Radio about
Rapid Growth's first trip to Detroit. Our bold move caught their attention.
While the details have been in the works for only the past few weeks, the idea was one that has germinated over time within our publication with subtle hints passed along from time to time. Our planning had one firm rule and that was not to talk too much about it, letting the idea develop within our group. We needed to create space for the idea to bloom and so avoided the urge to publicly talk about it.
NoPattern's Chuck Anderson, a member of our creative community, reminded us (although unbeknownst to him) to strike the balance between talking and doing when he said on his Twitter, "Telling everyone around you about a great new idea you have is usually a pretty good way to make sure it never gets done."
Now, we are excited to take those first bold steps with a few members of our community as we establish new relationships between Detroit and Grand Rapids to produce something good for both cities. If we succeed, then we will have earned the right to be proud as we attach a "Yes, Michigan" bumper sticker to our vehicles of choice -- be it a car, a bus or a bicycle.
Lots of people love to talk, but here in Rapid Growth we love those who dare to dream and then do. So, as we move forward as a community, if your project goes beyond barroom chatter and begins to take shape, I would love to hear from you.
The Future Needs All of Us (to be bold.)
Tommy Allen, Lifestyle Editor
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