Florida Creatives – Creating a Community of Innovation

Fractured Atlas is: a non-profit organization that provides services and support to artists and arts organizations. Also: a community of over 50,000 artists and arts groups from every discipline across the country and around the world.

(from the Fractured Atlas blog: http://www.fracturedatlas.org/site/blog/)

Adam Forest Huttler | Dec 16, 2008

The Economist recently had a short piece about the opportunities and pitfalls in Obama’s plan to make massive investments in infrastructure projects. The writer observes that the US has historically underinvested in infrastructure, while the projects that are carried out are funded in a haphazard manner through Congressional member items with little or no federal oversight or planning.

In our current rush to stimulate the economy by funding many projects as quickly as possible, it's more important than ever that we have a coherent strategy to ensure that infrastructure spending is really an investment in economic growth instead of just a way to provide some short-term jobs. Part of that strategy should include targeted investments aimed at bolstering the creative sector.

I've spent several days in November at CoLab, Orlando's first coworking space, mostly because of the $49 deal announced for November, and because of the fact that desk fees are temporarily waived for Tuesdays. Personally, I can walk there from my house, and there's lots of good coffee and food on the way, so it's all pretty nice.

You are hereby invited to the first ever Florida Creatives Steering Committee meeting - this is not a Board of Directors, as there is nobody to direct. Participation is voluntary, and the agenda is flexible, but it's long past time for this group to achieve something closer to its full potential.

The Employ Florida Digital Media Banner Center at SCC had their first-annual Digital Media Workforce Summit in November 2008. Here is some video from the event, captured on my point-and-shoot camera.

Greetings Coworkers!

CoLab Orlando is our first Coworking space in Central Florida, and I believe the second one in Florida, after Brikolodge in Miami. I am sitting in the space right now as I write this post.

CoLab is laid out with a general admission area as well as some private suites for rent. I believe the anchor rate will be $250 once this gets swinging, but for November, they have announced a monthly rate of $49, which I was happy to pay.

A full list of rates and amenities should be available over at CoLabOrlando.com

WiiToMidi allows you to convert signals from a Nintendo Wii controller to MIDI signals. It is a Cocoa application for Mac OS X and uses the DarwiinRemote WiiRemote framework to decode Wii controller signals. It also supports the Nunchuk controller.

I was going to stop with the first video, but this next guy's video was just too funny. All tutorials should be like this, instead of all these YouTube videos with a silent pair of hands. I want to buy this guy a beer.

Alex Williams, a New York Times reporter, sent out a request through the Likemind organizers mailing list asking a few questions about the event that has grown to be an international affair every month. Here is a sample of his article:

To Erin Middleton, a 27-year-old brand strategist in Dallas, the word “networking” calls to mind “stodgy business types in suits,” who are “very uncomfortable and poor at engaging conversation,” she said in an e-mail message.

Melissa Clark, an advertising account manager in Minneapolis, said there is “something smarmy” about the word.

Peter Bihr, 28, a media consultant in Berlin, was even stronger in his denunciation. “ ‘Networking,’ as a word, makes me feel like I get a physical reaction, I hate the term so much,” he wrote in an e-mail message. “It sounds all like strategically talking to people and trying to be their friends. It’s not authentic.”

So, what exactly, are these three doing at 8 a.m. on the third Friday of each month, meeting with other young professionals at their local coffeehouse?

They are participating in likemind, a monthly kaffeeklatsch for creative professionals, held in 55 cities around the world, including Mumbai, São Paulo, Shanghai, and Malmo, Sweden.

Read the rest of the Likemind article on the New York Times' website

The article calls out the no-agenda, no-hard-sell nature of Likemind, the differences with Meetup.com events, the similarity to Unconferences, or Green Drinks, and even gives some literary reference.

Our next Likemind in Orlando (or anywhere else) will be Friday, December 5th. Jim Hathaway and Ryan Price are the co-organizers of the Orlando Likemind.

If you work in marketing, design, advertising, or something more squirrely, please check out Likemind, the conversation and the coffee are never cold, and always welcome in the morning.

We just wanted to share the news with all of you. Brikolodge, Miami's first coworking facility, got some press last night on CBS 4 News (local station). Please check it out... I hope you enjoy it! And if you are ever in the Miami area, please don't forget to stop by.

Ali & Eduardo from Brikolodge
www.Brikolodge.org

Peter of rad-info.net at BarCamp Tampa Bay

A birds-of-a-feather meetup for hacking, MAKErs, TED talks, and having fun with electronics at BarCampTampaBay with Matt:

The Great Internet Migratory Box Of Electronics Junk