BRIDGE TO OMAHA
I wrote a post right before Big Omaha called Big Omaha This Week - Then What? I was concerned that Big Omaha would come and go, and we’d get back to our lives as if nothing happened. I knew the event was going to be great, but I wondered what would happen after everyone went home.
Well, here’s what happened. Buzz about the event lasted for weeks. Tons of people blogged about it and gave the event a huge thumbs up. Then the organizers, Jeff Slobotski (@jjsnyc) and Dusty Davidson (@dustyd) of Silicon Prairie News, started posting videos of the speakers and that gave the event another boost of momentum.
But I’m back to feeling like something else needs to happen. A community was born out of Big Omaha and we shouldn’t wait until next year to get everyone back. People made connections. Some have continued, while others faded away. That’s natural. But what’s unnatural is the force that Big Omaha created. We need a way to foster this outside of the event.
Another post I wrote last month, Big Omaha, was in a sense a rallying cry alerting the creatives in Omaha that there was a ton of work out there for all of us to share in. I had just spent time in L.A. meeting some really fantastic people and wanted those in Omaha to know that “West Coasters” were sincerely interested in working with them. We have the talent here and they need our help. This post got a lot of people excited and I was hopeful that Big Omaha would be the catalyst that connected that bridge.
Now all of that has come and gone, and I still get the feeling that something more needs to happen. Here’s what I propose: We need to take the community built out of Big Omaha, combine that with the interest the coasts have in working with us, and develop a place where we can all connect. My friend Kurt Daradics (@KurtyD) kept mentioning that he wanted to make a bridge from L.A. to Omaha. He took action and along with Jolie O’Dell (@joileodell) and Jon Dingman (@dingman) put together Roadtwip. They hopped in a car and drove to Omaha, discovering other tech communities along the way. I was really inspired by their trip so I started thinking about what Kurt said. He wanted to build a bridge to Omaha. He wanted to connect us with L.A. He saw the talent that exists in Omaha and wants to foster it. Kurt is a visionary and understands that communities like ours are going to be the creative powerhouses of the future. So I propose that we create that bridge. Let’s not wait for the coasts to discover us. Let’s send out the signal that we’re ready to work - we’re ready to be thought leaders and move technology in the right direction.
I purchased BridgetoOmaha.com today to do just that. I envision this as the place where the world can connect with the talent here in Omaha. We’re fragmented right now, but this can bring us together. I see it showcasing each and every tech company in Omaha, showing what our strengths are and how to contact us. I was very sincere in saying in the Big Omaha post that the new way to do business is through collaboration. There’s so much work out there that we can all benefit. There’s no need to try to destroy our local competition. We can all succeed. And the great thing about us all succeeding is that Omaha will be better off because of it.
BridgetoOmaha.com is going to need a lot of input. I don’t see this as being a SecretPenguin project. It needs to be your project. It needs to be our project. As much as I hate projects done by committee, I think we’ll probably need to put one together to see this thing through. I’m looking for people in Omaha who subscribe to the philosophy of collaboration. I’m especially looking for business owners in tech/creative who want to build that bridge, not only to L.A., but to the rest of the world. If you’re looking to insert yourself so that you can try to hoard all the work, then we don’t want you. You can stay home. But if you’re honestly interested in supporting our community, understand that you and your competition can both succeed, then we want your input.
Send me an email (matt@secretpenguin.com) if you’re interested in participating. The more businesses we can add to this site the better. There truly is strength in numbers. Once I get an idea of how many people/businesses want to be a part of this I will send a note to everyone detailing what the next step will be.
I look forward to working with each and every one of you to make Omaha even better than it already is.
June 1st, 2009 at 7:42 am
Wow, Matt. That was a good read and right on. Felt this way about a lot of things around my town that come and go with all the best ideas and intentions but a mad fizzle out on the other side.
June 1st, 2009 at 9:13 am
There are two ways to keep the momentum of Big Omaha Alive:
One is cooporately (spelling intentional), like Matt intends to do with B2O, leveraging a group of people with a unified purpose.
The second is for those of us that attended Big Omaha and met people there to put effort into nurturing the relationships that we formed. Follow up, get together for lunches, become friends. Make time to get out of the office or make the phone call or type the email. This is the type of thing that helps to spur the organic growth necessary.
June 10th, 2009 at 4:13 am
I love this post, Matt. Damian Rintelmann and I are working to accomplish the same thing in Toledo, Ohio. Our little town was also a stop on RoadTwip and it was an inspiring visit for all of us. But unlike Omaha, we’re a little further behind in development. There are a ton of bright, creative individuals in Toledo. They just haven’t found each other yet.
This city has all of the potential in the world, we’re just a bit disconnected at this point. But Damian and I have decided to try to push the needle in the right direction. We’re starting to organize an “innovation summit” along the lines of BarCamp to bring Toledoans from many different areas of expertise together. The goal is to connect people and watch the sparks fly. Our goals in Toledo and Omaha might be different, but in many ways, they’re the same. Maybe we need a BridgeToToledo.com as well.
Matt, I’m sure it wasn’t your intent to spark a nationwide movement. But sometimes things just happen. What if there were a bigger Bridge To… organization that allowed Bridge To Omaha, Bridge To Milwaukee, and a potential Bridge To Toledo to connect to one another? In this case, I’d love to hear your feedback and best practices on getting momentum behind a movement like this. But in the future, our often-overlooked communities could possibly benefit from an interconnectedness (is that an actual word?) that many bigger markets already enjoy. Maybe I’m putting the cart three miles ahead of the horse. I’m a dreamer. But I’m also a realist. And the only thing stopping us from making something like this happen is nothing: doing nothing. What do you say?