Tomorrow marks the beginning of Pittsblog's fifth year, and as Pittsburghers have always said, "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose."
But there is hope. 2007 was Pittsburgh's Year of the Cupcake. It was about this time a year ago that Dozen Cupcakes and Coco's both opened their doors. With help and encouragement from an assortment of winking and nodding up-to-no-goodniks, I christened their proprietors and customers "the Cupcake Class," the tier of Pittsburghers who, through their wealth and fashion and food sensibilities, supposedly hold the keys to the city's future prosperity. Search this blog's archives for "cupcake" for the proverbial taste of the argument. Steel? Bah. As the cupcake goes, so goes Pittsburgh. Ha.
In the cupcake world as elsewhere, what goes around comes around. One year on, word comes that local cupcake business is booming. Dozen is expanding to Lawrenceville, and CoCo's is on the cusp of opening an Oakland location. Is life imitating art? Is the Cupcake Class a real phenomenon after all?
Time will tell. Happy New Year!
(H/T to Chris at Rusty Bridge)
Monday, December 31, 2007
Sunday, December 30, 2007
An Iowa Presidential Caucus Primer
If you think that Pittsburgh politics are played by an arcane set of rules, then you've never been part of the Iowa presidential caucus system. As most adult Americans are aware, the 2008 presidential campaign is well underway, and the Iowa caucus on January 3 is the first "official" event leading up to the nomination of candidates by the two major parties. The Post-Gazette's pre-caucus story today (link here) does such an awful and misleading job of what the caucus system is about that I feel obligated, as a former political organizer in Iowa, to correct the record.
The PG hammers on some conventional themes: Iowa is an unrepresentative state, where a handful of voters wield disproportionate impact over the identity of the next president. Much, however, depends on turnout.
That narrative makes Iowa sound simply like an early primary in a thinly-populated state; the problem is that some unknown and possibly random population turns out to vote.
But there is no voting in an Iowa caucus, and turnout isn't unpredicable -- not, at least to the campaigns.
Campaigns win or lose in Iowa (or beat expectations, which is far more important) based on their organization, and organization is built in an old-fashioned face-to-face way: one caucus-goer at a time. For more than a year, the major campaigns have been assembling lists. By caucus night, each candidate wants to know the name, address, phone number, and (where possible) email address of every soul in the state who plans to attend a caucus for the candidate. That night, the task of the campaign is to ensure that each of those souls shows up, at the right place at the right time, and stands in the candidate's group to be counted. If extra souls show up, that's a bonus. But no campaign manager goes to sleep on January 2 (if she goes to sleep) wondering what will happen on January 3.
Today's New York Times feature on the Iowa caucus captures some of this flavor. The Edwards campaign is built on a backbone of true believers from 2004; Clinton and Obama are trying to expand the system by recruiting new caucus-goers. The endgame is the same for all three -- build a list -- though the Times overstates the novelty of the Clinton and Obama strategy. I did exactly the same thing in 1983 and 1984, when I worked the Iowa caucus. We didn't have computer data to generate predictions, however. We identified new caucus goers the old-fashioned way. We built phone banks, and we made thousands of telephone calls.
Among other things, the emphasis on organization means that the representativeness/unrepresentativeness argument loses almost all of its force. Iowa became a significant campaign event in 1976, and remains occasionally a significant campaign event, not because Iowans have any special sense (though Iowans would contend that they do!), but because Iowa is a testbed for a candidate's ability to organize and maneuver. Four years ago, I knew in the early Fall that Howard Dean's campaign was doomed -- even though he registered well in the polls and had all kinds of neat-o Internet stuff going on. No meaningful organization on the ground.
Voting? What do I mean that there is no voting?
Caucus-goers register their preferences by standing in the corner of a room with other supporters of the same candidate. There is no ballot box or voting booth; by definition, your preference is public, not private. The caucus occurs at a specific time -- it begins at 7 p.m. -- and you have to attend in person if you want to participate. There is no absentee balloting; you can't register your preference earlier in the day.
And not only is your preference public on the night that you express it, but it is public for all time. The Iowa Democratic Party runs its caucuses, not the State of Iowa, and the IDP has a comprehensive and robust database of caucus attendance that goes back at least to 1980, and which includes what candidate each caucus-goer supported.
I won't venture a meaningful prediction this year. But here's a tidbit. Mostly lost in the media's affection for polling data and campaign rallies is the fact that Clinton's Iowa campaign is being run by an Iowa native and caucus veteran named Teresa Vilmain. That's a strong signal that Clinton will do well; Teresa Vilmain knows how to run a caucus, and she may know how to run a caucus better than anyone else in the Democratic Party. I knew Teresa briefly during the 1983/84 campaign, when she worked for Walter Mondale. (I worked for Alan Cranston, the senior senator from my home state.) The Mondale staff and the Cranston staff each relied heavily on veterans of John Culver campaigns (Vilmain got her start working for Culver), and the two teams often drank together late at night at a Des Moines bar called Carl's. (To the best of my knowledge, Carl's is still around, though I don't know whether it's still a party hangout.) She's a winner; Mondale took almost 49% of the weighted "vote" in Iowa in 1984.
The larger lesson, however, is that Iowa is a fickle guide to national results. (In fact, on the Democratic side, only Jimmy Carter in 1976 has ridden a surprise showing in Iowa to victory in November. In 1992, Bill Clinton even finished behind "Uncommmitted.") Mondale was the Hillary Clinton of 1984: a candidate so overwhelmingly favored to win in a field of "lesser" candidates that anything less than a crushing win would be viewed as an effective defeat. (I'm not the first to make this comparison; the dean of Iowa political writers, David Yepsen, has written the same thing.) Mondale did secure a crushing win. Gary Hart finished second, with 16.5% of the "vote." But the failure to top 50%, and Hart's surprise emergence, cast a pall on Mondale that lasted through the general election.
The PG hammers on some conventional themes: Iowa is an unrepresentative state, where a handful of voters wield disproportionate impact over the identity of the next president. Much, however, depends on turnout.
That narrative makes Iowa sound simply like an early primary in a thinly-populated state; the problem is that some unknown and possibly random population turns out to vote.
But there is no voting in an Iowa caucus, and turnout isn't unpredicable -- not, at least to the campaigns.
Campaigns win or lose in Iowa (or beat expectations, which is far more important) based on their organization, and organization is built in an old-fashioned face-to-face way: one caucus-goer at a time. For more than a year, the major campaigns have been assembling lists. By caucus night, each candidate wants to know the name, address, phone number, and (where possible) email address of every soul in the state who plans to attend a caucus for the candidate. That night, the task of the campaign is to ensure that each of those souls shows up, at the right place at the right time, and stands in the candidate's group to be counted. If extra souls show up, that's a bonus. But no campaign manager goes to sleep on January 2 (if she goes to sleep) wondering what will happen on January 3.
Today's New York Times feature on the Iowa caucus captures some of this flavor. The Edwards campaign is built on a backbone of true believers from 2004; Clinton and Obama are trying to expand the system by recruiting new caucus-goers. The endgame is the same for all three -- build a list -- though the Times overstates the novelty of the Clinton and Obama strategy. I did exactly the same thing in 1983 and 1984, when I worked the Iowa caucus. We didn't have computer data to generate predictions, however. We identified new caucus goers the old-fashioned way. We built phone banks, and we made thousands of telephone calls.
Among other things, the emphasis on organization means that the representativeness/unrepresentativeness argument loses almost all of its force. Iowa became a significant campaign event in 1976, and remains occasionally a significant campaign event, not because Iowans have any special sense (though Iowans would contend that they do!), but because Iowa is a testbed for a candidate's ability to organize and maneuver. Four years ago, I knew in the early Fall that Howard Dean's campaign was doomed -- even though he registered well in the polls and had all kinds of neat-o Internet stuff going on. No meaningful organization on the ground.
Voting? What do I mean that there is no voting?
Caucus-goers register their preferences by standing in the corner of a room with other supporters of the same candidate. There is no ballot box or voting booth; by definition, your preference is public, not private. The caucus occurs at a specific time -- it begins at 7 p.m. -- and you have to attend in person if you want to participate. There is no absentee balloting; you can't register your preference earlier in the day.
And not only is your preference public on the night that you express it, but it is public for all time. The Iowa Democratic Party runs its caucuses, not the State of Iowa, and the IDP has a comprehensive and robust database of caucus attendance that goes back at least to 1980, and which includes what candidate each caucus-goer supported.
I won't venture a meaningful prediction this year. But here's a tidbit. Mostly lost in the media's affection for polling data and campaign rallies is the fact that Clinton's Iowa campaign is being run by an Iowa native and caucus veteran named Teresa Vilmain. That's a strong signal that Clinton will do well; Teresa Vilmain knows how to run a caucus, and she may know how to run a caucus better than anyone else in the Democratic Party. I knew Teresa briefly during the 1983/84 campaign, when she worked for Walter Mondale. (I worked for Alan Cranston, the senior senator from my home state.) The Mondale staff and the Cranston staff each relied heavily on veterans of John Culver campaigns (Vilmain got her start working for Culver), and the two teams often drank together late at night at a Des Moines bar called Carl's. (To the best of my knowledge, Carl's is still around, though I don't know whether it's still a party hangout.) She's a winner; Mondale took almost 49% of the weighted "vote" in Iowa in 1984.
The larger lesson, however, is that Iowa is a fickle guide to national results. (In fact, on the Democratic side, only Jimmy Carter in 1976 has ridden a surprise showing in Iowa to victory in November. In 1992, Bill Clinton even finished behind "Uncommmitted.") Mondale was the Hillary Clinton of 1984: a candidate so overwhelmingly favored to win in a field of "lesser" candidates that anything less than a crushing win would be viewed as an effective defeat. (I'm not the first to make this comparison; the dean of Iowa political writers, David Yepsen, has written the same thing.) Mondale did secure a crushing win. Gary Hart finished second, with 16.5% of the "vote." But the failure to top 50%, and Hart's surprise emergence, cast a pall on Mondale that lasted through the general election.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Live and In Person
If you're out and about in the South Hills this coming Saturday morning (Dec. 22), stop by Aldo Coffee on Washington Road in Mt. Lebanon and say hello. From 9 am to noon, I'll be having coffee there with my co-Mt. Lebanon blogger Joe Polk and chatting with whoever stops in for a cup. Aldo co-owner Rich Westerfield explains. He even includes a photo of me -- so you'll know what I look like.
Aldo is a great place -- great coffee, great atmosphere, and free wireless. Liveblogging may ensue.
Aldo is a great place -- great coffee, great atmosphere, and free wireless. Liveblogging may ensue.
Cake Eaters on the March
NPR's Morning Edition did a piece this morning on the surprising persistence of the steel industry in Pittsburgh. ("Pittsburgh Still a Player in the Steel Industry") What surprised me about the piece wasn't the premise ("Pittsburgh used to be the center of the steel universe, and now look at it!"), nor the basic theme ("But there is still a lot of steel business in the region"). What surprised me was that there wasn't single reference to the contemporary operations of U.S. Steel. If you listen literally, it's as if the company has disappeared, along with the Mon Valley Works (and the Edgar Thompson Plant), and the Clairton Works, and the company's recent announcement that it plans to invest $1 billion in the latter. But Pittsburghers know better.
Obviously, nothing today rivals the scale of Pittsburgh's steel industry of the middle part of the 20th century, but NPR's reporter seems to have been misled by the nostalgia distributed by guides for Rivers of Steel, who were featured in the piece. These well-intentioned folks seem to be singing a Pittsburgh-contemporary version of Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi: "They tore down the Homestead Works, and put up a Dave & Buster's." You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.
To top it off (or make it worse, or both), Rivers of Steel encouraged the reporter in the idea that the phrase "cake eaters" is a fair description both for the white collar managers of steel works long gone and for the white collar owners and employees of steel firms today. Ouch! If there's cake-eating in Pittsburgh today, it's being done by the domestically-inclined Cupcake Class, which is a far cry from steel, especially if you take yours rolled cold.
Down here in Mt. Lebanon, we're especially sensitive to use and misuse of that outdated term "cake eaters" (in fact, some folks take an obtuse pride in the mistaken presumption that Mt. Lebanon is the home of the cake eaters). Can't we all just get along?
If you want to talk back to NPR, don't tell the network to ignore Pittsburgh's long-gone steel past in favor of its clean-room future. Let NPR know that Pittsburgh is proud of its steel tradition, and it's bullish on its steel future. But we'll leave the name calling to others.
Go Steelers! Beat the Lambs!
Obviously, nothing today rivals the scale of Pittsburgh's steel industry of the middle part of the 20th century, but NPR's reporter seems to have been misled by the nostalgia distributed by guides for Rivers of Steel, who were featured in the piece. These well-intentioned folks seem to be singing a Pittsburgh-contemporary version of Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi: "They tore down the Homestead Works, and put up a Dave & Buster's." You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.
To top it off (or make it worse, or both), Rivers of Steel encouraged the reporter in the idea that the phrase "cake eaters" is a fair description both for the white collar managers of steel works long gone and for the white collar owners and employees of steel firms today. Ouch! If there's cake-eating in Pittsburgh today, it's being done by the domestically-inclined Cupcake Class, which is a far cry from steel, especially if you take yours rolled cold.
Down here in Mt. Lebanon, we're especially sensitive to use and misuse of that outdated term "cake eaters" (in fact, some folks take an obtuse pride in the mistaken presumption that Mt. Lebanon is the home of the cake eaters). Can't we all just get along?
If you want to talk back to NPR, don't tell the network to ignore Pittsburgh's long-gone steel past in favor of its clean-room future. Let NPR know that Pittsburgh is proud of its steel tradition, and it's bullish on its steel future. But we'll leave the name calling to others.
Go Steelers! Beat the Lambs!
The Pittsburgh Diaspora Does a Hotel
Says Pop City:
That's not the piece that caught my eye; Pop City didn't break this story. This is the piece that caught my eye:"A new $48 million mixed-use development is coming to SouthSide Works. Spearheaded by DOC-Economou, the project will feature a 140-room upscale hotel, for-sale condos, a world-class spa, and event, office and retail space."
That's a great quote, and it's something that didn't make it into the Post-Gazette report of this deal. The P-G did note that Phil Hugh is from Fairchance, Fayette County.The complex calls for a variety of upscale eateries, such as a sushi restaurant
and steakhouse. “We’re doing projects all over the country—Pittsburgh is my hometown. We like that we can give back and create jobs from a hospitality and career perspective,” adds [Phil Hugh, with DOC-Economou], who says that 400 temporary and full-time construction jobs and 100 hotel and hospitality jobs will be created. “We’re working in concert with SouthSide Works to deliver the best possible project to Pittsburgh."
Community Connections Awards Announced
"Community Connections, an initiative of Pittsburgh 250 administered by The Sprout Fund, today announced the selection of 100 regional and grassroots projects to receive a total of $1 million in funding for activities and events occurring during the region’s 250th anniversary in 2008."
The announcement culminates a six-month process that began last May with a call for proposals.
Link (apparently a full list of funded projects will be posted after a press conference today)
The announcement culminates a six-month process that began last May with a call for proposals.
Link (apparently a full list of funded projects will be posted after a press conference today)
Jacques d'Amboise Coming to Pittsburgh
I'm just getting around to posting a note about new January's CityLive!/No Wall Productions event featuring Jacques d'Amboise: "Not. Just. Dance!" It's next January 16 at the New Hazlett Theater.
I'm no dance connoisseur, and most ballet doesn't appeal to me (despite the fact that dancers are often amazing but underappreciated athletes), but just about anyone who paid attention to 20th century American arts knows and admires Jacques d'Amboise. I have a personal affection for the man for having danced in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, which for all of its flaws features one of the two great barn-raising scenes ever committed to film by Hollywood. Witness, of course, contains the other.
Jacques d'Amboise has spent his career sharing dance with everyone. He'll being sharing it with Pittsburgh next January. I'll be there.
I'm no dance connoisseur, and most ballet doesn't appeal to me (despite the fact that dancers are often amazing but underappreciated athletes), but just about anyone who paid attention to 20th century American arts knows and admires Jacques d'Amboise. I have a personal affection for the man for having danced in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, which for all of its flaws features one of the two great barn-raising scenes ever committed to film by Hollywood. Witness, of course, contains the other.
Jacques d'Amboise has spent his career sharing dance with everyone. He'll being sharing it with Pittsburgh next January. I'll be there.
Entrepreneurship News
Pop City has a nice roundup of recent early stage funding for local companies, much of which is linked to Innovation Works.
Last summer, after Cori Shropshire left the Post-Gazette and the Post-Gazette largely stopped covering what had been Cori's economic development beat, I volunteered to try to fill this gap by posting news and notes about the local tech scene. After a handful of these "Pitt's Bytes" posts, I gave it up. Unlike Cori, I didn't (and don't) have the time to chase down stories on my own, and my handful of occasional correspondents stopped sharing the news. (I had a couple of conversations about getting on the IW press release mailing list, but that never happened.) It's nice to see Pop City come out with the occasional piece on this vital community. It would be even better if a local funder could figure out a way to finance a full-time "entrepreneurship" beat writer for the Post-Gazette . . . or the Trib . . . or Pop City . . . or Pittsburgh Quarterly . . . or the Business Times . . . or a local blog.
Last summer, after Cori Shropshire left the Post-Gazette and the Post-Gazette largely stopped covering what had been Cori's economic development beat, I volunteered to try to fill this gap by posting news and notes about the local tech scene. After a handful of these "Pitt's Bytes" posts, I gave it up. Unlike Cori, I didn't (and don't) have the time to chase down stories on my own, and my handful of occasional correspondents stopped sharing the news. (I had a couple of conversations about getting on the IW press release mailing list, but that never happened.) It's nice to see Pop City come out with the occasional piece on this vital community. It would be even better if a local funder could figure out a way to finance a full-time "entrepreneurship" beat writer for the Post-Gazette . . . or the Trib . . . or Pop City . . . or Pittsburgh Quarterly . . . or the Business Times . . . or a local blog.
PittsburghToday Featured
John Craig's PittsburghTODAY "regional indicators" project got a nice boost in this morning's Post-Gazette, with coverage of a presentation that John and Paul O'Neill made to the Pittsburgh Technology Council. I've had a link to the project itself on the blogroll (left) for some time. I just added a link to the PittsburghTODAY blog.
John and PittsburghTODAY are quite explicit about something that the P-G's coverage leaves ambiguous. This is a project about the Pittsburgh region, not a project about the city of Pittsburgh. Click here for an introduction to their various definitions of the Pittsburgh "region," the broadest of which includes parts of West Virginia and Ohio.
Link to the PittsburghToday, the regional indicators project.
Link to the PittsburghToday blog.
John and PittsburghTODAY are quite explicit about something that the P-G's coverage leaves ambiguous. This is a project about the Pittsburgh region, not a project about the city of Pittsburgh. Click here for an introduction to their various definitions of the Pittsburgh "region," the broadest of which includes parts of West Virginia and Ohio.
Link to the PittsburghToday, the regional indicators project.
Link to the PittsburghToday blog.
Monday, December 17, 2007
IntoPittsburgh: A Motto?
At Burgh Diaspora, Jim Russell is blogging up a storm about IntoPittsburgh, our evolving real/virtual Pittsburgh diaspora connectivity project. There are a lot of irons in the fire, which suits Steelers country.
We could use a motto, and I came across a quotation recently that may suit us well:
from Goethe's Faust. In the original: "Was du ererbt von deinen Vätern hast,Erwirb es, um es zu besitzen."
We could use a motto, and I came across a quotation recently that may suit us well:
"What you have as heritage, Now take as task, / For thus you will make it
your own,"
from Goethe's Faust. In the original: "Was du ererbt von deinen Vätern hast,Erwirb es, um es zu besitzen."
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
The British Are Coming?
Lost in the xenophobic hysteria over word that Kennywood has been sold to Spanish-based amusement parks operator Parques Reunidos is the fact that Parques Reunios itself is owned by British buyout firm Candover Investments. Here's the Candover profile of its Parques holding.
Two things about the deal leap out at me immediately, one serious and one not:
The serious: There is no evidence that any of Kennywood Entertainment's parks will close, will lay off staff, or will not be run by local management teams. There's no evidence that Parques Reunios doesn't want Kennywood Park itself to remain a part of the cultural fabric of Pittsburgh. That's in contrast to Don Barden, owner of the Majestic Star casino now officially underway in Pittsburgh. Said Barden to Pittsburgh: Drop dead!
The change here is symbolic, and it's emotional. A core piece of Pittsburgh-iana (is that a word?) is now part of a global entertainment network. Is there any better evidence of old Pittsburgh's role in the new global economy than Kennywood's becoming part of an international amusement park company? Even the Steelers long ago became an international brand.
I think that Pittsburgh should welcome that kind of trans-national connectedness -- even though I understand that Pittsburgh traditionalists prefer to think of this as the destruction of Alderaan: "a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced." Certainly, there is a loss of local affect. But the benefits will, I predict, outweigh the costs. As I often do, I prefer a Star Trek metaphor to one from Star Wars: "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra."
The not: Does this mean that Pittsburgh will finally have enough Spanish-speaking residents to justify Spanish-language television on our cable systems? Temba, his arms wide.
¡Bienvenidos a Pittsburgh!
Two things about the deal leap out at me immediately, one serious and one not:
The serious: There is no evidence that any of Kennywood Entertainment's parks will close, will lay off staff, or will not be run by local management teams. There's no evidence that Parques Reunios doesn't want Kennywood Park itself to remain a part of the cultural fabric of Pittsburgh. That's in contrast to Don Barden, owner of the Majestic Star casino now officially underway in Pittsburgh. Said Barden to Pittsburgh: Drop dead!
The change here is symbolic, and it's emotional. A core piece of Pittsburgh-iana (is that a word?) is now part of a global entertainment network. Is there any better evidence of old Pittsburgh's role in the new global economy than Kennywood's becoming part of an international amusement park company? Even the Steelers long ago became an international brand.
I think that Pittsburgh should welcome that kind of trans-national connectedness -- even though I understand that Pittsburgh traditionalists prefer to think of this as the destruction of Alderaan: "a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced." Certainly, there is a loss of local affect. But the benefits will, I predict, outweigh the costs. As I often do, I prefer a Star Trek metaphor to one from Star Wars: "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra."
The not: Does this mean that Pittsburgh will finally have enough Spanish-speaking residents to justify Spanish-language television on our cable systems? Temba, his arms wide.
¡Bienvenidos a Pittsburgh!
Friday, December 07, 2007
Back Steel
At Tube City, Jason Togyer strikes just about the right tone in celebrating U.S. Steel's Austin Powers-ish announcement that it will invest $1 billion of its own money in the Clairton Coke Works.
IntoPittsburgh
We have a name: IntoPittsburgh.
BurghDiaspora's Jim Russell explains:
BurghDiaspora's Jim Russell explains:
Jim's reference to Alan Paul is a reference to this column in today's Wall Street Journal Online. Alan is a Pittsburgher and expat living in China. Alan writes about the special importance of place, emotionally as well as physically. He's the embodiment of the Pittsburgh Diaspora. Congrats, Jim, for making that connection.IntoPittsburgh isn't an organization or a marketing campaign. It is a collection of people (and existing initiatives) who matter and who are into Pittsburgh. Feel free to self-identify. I did exactly that.Blogging is an exercise in humility. I didn't invent the idea of leveraging the Burgh Diaspora for purposes of regional economic development. But not only do the like-minded fail to find each other, we fail to do something once we connect. My vision for IntoPittsburgh is doing by connecting.
What IntoPittsburgh will do depends on the people and organizations involved. I'm part of IntoPittsburgh to help people motivated to return to Pittsburgh to do so by becoming entrepreneurs or freelancers. I'll continue to advance this initiative via this blog.But I will also link the world to other IntoPittsburgh projects, many of which are already in the pipeline. Alan Paul is a Pittsburgher thriving in China. We should celebrate his success. He's sharing IntoPittsburgh with the rest of the world and I want to take this opportunity to say that all you natives should be proud.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Pittsburgh: Not So Special
Over at Burgh Diaspora, Jim Russell is dropping heavy hints about a forthcoming initiative about Pittsburgh-yet-to-come. Here are his posts yesterday (the "Pittsburgh Entrepreneur Network") and Tuesday ("Pittsburgh Connected"). My post last Monday titled "Pittsburgh 2.0" was in the same spirit, and it's connected to the same initiative. There's more to come.
Today I want to pick up and extend Pittsburgh 2.0. I'm inspired by this post at Rough Type by Nicholas Carr, a writer and analyst who first attracted broad attention a few years ago with a book punnishly titled, "Does IT Matter?" Nick always has something thought-provoking to say, and on Web 2.0 -- sociability technologies and Internet platforms -- he notes:
In other words, what I hear all the time, on this blog and elsewhere, is this question: Sure, I can move (back) to Pittsburgh, but how can I find the people that matter? The people who can give me (a job) (a social network) (financing) (a partner/spouse)? How can I meet "Pittsburgh," which people assume is already an established place and group? And which is -- one tends to assume -- a closed place, open only to those who plug in using the local "special (cultural) software."
Instead, how about asking: How can I build my Pittsburgh, or our Pittsburgh? That's Pittsburgh 2.0, one follows that Nick Carr's premise, one in which "no computer or special software is required." It's connected to the existing Pittsburgh, certainly, but not absolutely dependent on it or beholden to it.
Beyond the very partial answer that I gave last Monday, I have no easy answer to that question, that is, no easy way to build out a Pittsburgh 2.0. Study the successful Web 2.0 models and you'll see, however, that they do two things: One, they make it easy and easier to see the social network. You can find your fellow travelers, and you can contact them. Two, their technologies are porous. The network isn't self-determinable. In other words, you can connect inside the network or outside or both, virtually or V2V or F2F or some combination of those things. Connections are necessary, but they aren't sufficient. *Loose* connections and *less* control mean *more* room for what some sociologists call "play" (as in: play in the joints, not play with the toys), that is, enhanced probabilities of innovation, growth, and success.
In shorthand: Some of my best blogging experiences involve meeting people for lunch and dinner. Because you never know exactly where a post will lead.
Today I want to pick up and extend Pittsburgh 2.0. I'm inspired by this post at Rough Type by Nicholas Carr, a writer and analyst who first attracted broad attention a few years ago with a book punnishly titled, "Does IT Matter?" Nick always has something thought-provoking to say, and on Web 2.0 -- sociability technologies and Internet platforms -- he notes:
What does this have to do with Pittsburgh and especially with Pittsburgh 2.0? I apply Nick Carr's insight metaphorically. I think and hope that the insight means this: A future Pittsburgh does not, should not, and cannot require that individuals and groups "plug in" to one specific model of how to live, work, and play "as a Pittsburgher." That applies to economics and business development, to social and community development, and to cultural institutions. Don't only look for ways to buy into the existing landscape. Build it yourself.The problem with "Web 2.0," as a concept, is that it constrains innovation by perpetuating the assumption that the web is accessed through computing devices, whether PCs or smartphones or game consoles. As broadband, storage, and computing get ever cheaper, that assumption will be rendered obsolete. The internet won't be so much a destination as a feature, incorporated into all sorts of different goods in all sorts of different ways. The next great wave in internet innovation, in other words, won't be about creating sites on the World Wide Web; it will be about figuring out creative ways to deploy the capabilities of the World Wide Computer through both traditional and new physical products, with, from the user's point of view, "no computer or special software required."
In other words, what I hear all the time, on this blog and elsewhere, is this question: Sure, I can move (back) to Pittsburgh, but how can I find the people that matter? The people who can give me (a job) (a social network) (financing) (a partner/spouse)? How can I meet "Pittsburgh," which people assume is already an established place and group? And which is -- one tends to assume -- a closed place, open only to those who plug in using the local "special (cultural) software."
Instead, how about asking: How can I build my Pittsburgh, or our Pittsburgh? That's Pittsburgh 2.0, one follows that Nick Carr's premise, one in which "no computer or special software is required." It's connected to the existing Pittsburgh, certainly, but not absolutely dependent on it or beholden to it.
Beyond the very partial answer that I gave last Monday, I have no easy answer to that question, that is, no easy way to build out a Pittsburgh 2.0. Study the successful Web 2.0 models and you'll see, however, that they do two things: One, they make it easy and easier to see the social network. You can find your fellow travelers, and you can contact them. Two, their technologies are porous. The network isn't self-determinable. In other words, you can connect inside the network or outside or both, virtually or V2V or F2F or some combination of those things. Connections are necessary, but they aren't sufficient. *Loose* connections and *less* control mean *more* room for what some sociologists call "play" (as in: play in the joints, not play with the toys), that is, enhanced probabilities of innovation, growth, and success.
In shorthand: Some of my best blogging experiences involve meeting people for lunch and dinner. Because you never know exactly where a post will lead.
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Wear (Where?) Pittsburgh
Belated congrats to Pittsburgh blog chief Mike Woycheck, who recently launched a line of Burgh-o-spheric t-shirts under the WearPittsburgh name. Here's a link to the WearPittsburgh site. Check it out.
Congrats also to the other Pittsburgh-area businesses involved in the launch. Cindy Closkey's Big Big Design firm did the website. Katy Delancey and Katy D Design Studio did design work on the shirts. Spreadshirt, with an office in Greensburg, did the manufacturing.
I suspect that this may be the first real Pittsburgh start-up hatched in -- or at least in connection with -- the Burghosphere itself, other than PodCamp, which counts only in a meta-kind-of-way. Cindy was one of the first to set up a local blog (though this link goes to her current blog). Mike was also an early blogger and is the brains behind Pittsburgh Bloggers. The Post-Gazette claims that some folks refer to him as "the Godfather" of the Burghosphere, but that's a misnomer. If that title belongs to anyone, it belongs to Dave Copeland, who was out there blogging before almost any of us. Bloggers are entrepreneurs. Who knew? (Answer: We did.)
By the way - given the look of the shirts, is it safe for me to use the "Y" word? To wear it?
Congrats also to the other Pittsburgh-area businesses involved in the launch. Cindy Closkey's Big Big Design firm did the website. Katy Delancey and Katy D Design Studio did design work on the shirts. Spreadshirt, with an office in Greensburg, did the manufacturing.
I suspect that this may be the first real Pittsburgh start-up hatched in -- or at least in connection with -- the Burghosphere itself, other than PodCamp, which counts only in a meta-kind-of-way. Cindy was one of the first to set up a local blog (though this link goes to her current blog). Mike was also an early blogger and is the brains behind Pittsburgh Bloggers. The Post-Gazette claims that some folks refer to him as "the Godfather" of the Burghosphere, but that's a misnomer. If that title belongs to anyone, it belongs to Dave Copeland, who was out there blogging before almost any of us. Bloggers are entrepreneurs. Who knew? (Answer: We did.)
By the way - given the look of the shirts, is it safe for me to use the "Y" word? To wear it?
Monday, December 03, 2007
Pittsburgh 2.0
I'm bullish today.
Harold Miller's most recent "Regional Insights" column for the Post-Gazette did a good, succinct job of laying out the bird's eye view of what needs to change to get Pittsburgh's reinvention process off the ground.
Well said, and so true. But what else can and needs to be done? Specifically, what can you do? The title of this post -- "Pittsburgh 2.0" -- borrows a little meaningless web-marketing jargon to make the point that if you care about Pittsburgh's entrepreneurial, job-creating potential, you don't have to sit on the sidelines and wait for the angels to find you. Pittsburgh 2.0 means that the future starts with Pittsburghers -- current Pittsburghers, past Pittsburghers, future Pittsburghers, and virtual Pittsburghers. Like the Web 2.0, it's user-generated, networked, interactive, iterative, and emergent. Here is a short list of how to get yourself underway:
(i) Celebrate what's right with Pittsburgh (I'm stealing that line from Dewitt Jones). How?
(ii) Publicly align yourself/your blog/your organization with what I'm calling Pittsburgh 2.0, for now. (A better name will emerge.) That's not all.
(iii) Publicly commit to making yourself/your organization/your network accessible to others who want to get involved/invest in Pittsburgh/start a business/grow an enterprise/energize a community. A lot of would-be Pittsburgh evangelists, business owners, move-ins, etc. don't know who to call or contact. Let them call you. Let them email you. When they call you, be sure to introduce them to someone else you know. (That sounds a bit like "Pay It Forward," which isn't a bad motto.) I'll start a list: People in Pittsburgh Who Will Help. Look to the left column of this blog.
Tax reduction, government consolidation, and Internet social networking technologies can buy us only so much. Nothing substitutes for building the future by personal connection.
Add other ideas in the comments.
Harold Miller's most recent "Regional Insights" column for the Post-Gazette did a good, succinct job of laying out the bird's eye view of what needs to change to get Pittsburgh's reinvention process off the ground.
First on the Assembly's list of recommendations is placing a higher priority on promoting entrepreneurship. This is a particularly critical issue for the Pittsburgh region, since data recently published by the Pittsburgh Regional Indicators Project (www.PittsburghToday.org) show that, in virtually every industry, we rank dead last among similar regions in the rate at which new startup companies are created.
Key steps to helping startup companies are increasing access to early stage capital, also known as angel investment (see "Regional Insights: City's Future is In Angels," Jan. 7, and providing training to prospective entrepreneurs. But it's more than just creating programs for entrepreneurs; it's creating a culture of entrepreneurship in the region. The Assembly report urges that "The leadership of these metropolitan areas -- public and private -- needs to celebrate, reward and incentivize entrepreneurial behavior as a key pathway to economic growth."
Well said, and so true. But what else can and needs to be done? Specifically, what can you do? The title of this post -- "Pittsburgh 2.0" -- borrows a little meaningless web-marketing jargon to make the point that if you care about Pittsburgh's entrepreneurial, job-creating potential, you don't have to sit on the sidelines and wait for the angels to find you. Pittsburgh 2.0 means that the future starts with Pittsburghers -- current Pittsburghers, past Pittsburghers, future Pittsburghers, and virtual Pittsburghers. Like the Web 2.0, it's user-generated, networked, interactive, iterative, and emergent. Here is a short list of how to get yourself underway:
(i) Celebrate what's right with Pittsburgh (I'm stealing that line from Dewitt Jones). How?
(ii) Publicly align yourself/your blog/your organization with what I'm calling Pittsburgh 2.0, for now. (A better name will emerge.) That's not all.
(iii) Publicly commit to making yourself/your organization/your network accessible to others who want to get involved/invest in Pittsburgh/start a business/grow an enterprise/energize a community. A lot of would-be Pittsburgh evangelists, business owners, move-ins, etc. don't know who to call or contact. Let them call you. Let them email you. When they call you, be sure to introduce them to someone else you know. (That sounds a bit like "Pay It Forward," which isn't a bad motto.) I'll start a list: People in Pittsburgh Who Will Help. Look to the left column of this blog.
Tax reduction, government consolidation, and Internet social networking technologies can buy us only so much. Nothing substitutes for building the future by personal connection.
Add other ideas in the comments.
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