I saw it in action

Two weeks ago I asked "How do you Build a Community?".

I got my answer on Saturday at the Piedmont Blog Conference.

On paper it doesn't look like much. A hastily thrown-together conference with less than four weeks notice. No real panel of "experts" scheduled to make speeches (although there were experts in various fields present to lend sage advice). A turnout of just around 60 "commoners". Even some of the supplies for refreshments were "borrowed" from a certain bagel shop.

So you put 60 people in a room with one common interest...in this case, blogging. You let them bounce ideas and knowledge off of each other for the better part of 3 hours. You let them see each others faces and get a feel for how they think in person and not just on some computer screen or in some newspaper. You throw in just enough break time mingling for people to get to know each other in an informal setting and suddenly something special started to happen.

No great problems were solved. No treaties were signed. No peace accords were arranged. But I'll bet most everyone left that auditorium Saturday with a newfound sense of community. The "un-conference" format gave everyone a chance to speak. A chance to be recognized and voice what was important to them. A chance to belong to a community.

Like it or not, a community was formed on August 28th, 2004. It wasn't that hard. It just gave everyone a chance to feel like they were part of something much bigger.

It makes me wonder why the power brokers in Greensboro can't figure something like this out. Obviously you can't invite 200,000 plus people to an "un-conference". It would be a disaster. But a series of smaller regularly held get-togethers, perhaps in each district in the city, would go a heck of a long way towards making at least some of the population feel like they belong to something.

I know some might say they everyone has that power now. They can go to the voting booth or attend any number of government meetings. But neither one of those options builds a community. A voting booth is, by design, an anonymous thing. And I know from covering hundreds of school board, city council and county board meetings during my days as a reporter, that most people are too intimidated to come before a government body and voice their opinion until something comes along that threatens them or really pisses them off. But put those same people in a room sitting next to their elected officials instead of across from them and you'll build a community.

I think the future of Greensboro depends on the ability of it's people to reverse this trend of separatism. I think a new vision for Greensboro and a new sense of community could come out of meetings like this. The question is, does anyone have the vision, ability and guts to make it happen?