Ketchup.
Jerry’s jumped back on the blogwagon. And inspired me to follow suit.
Lately Jerry’s brain has been consumed by possible vectors of LOVELAND evolution. I’m gonna go ahead and say that I’m partially to blame. We’ve been talking about these things a lot but never really getting traction. Until I (of all things) made him watch the Social Network.
In his former life Jerry had what I will call a “traditional” VC experience. Couple of guys in their 20s with a cool idea get a couple million dollars from some venture capitalists to make their idea happen. Everybody moves from Brooklyn (Silicon Ghetto) to San Fransisco (Silicon Valley), the VCs start staffing the team with their own people, midnight board meeting is held, and BOOM our hero arrives to work in the morning to find his stuff packed up and his office locked.
Not exactly how it worked out for Mark Zuckerburg, but enough of the story lined up for Jerry.
Anyway the point of that long digression was that revisiting the problems that the Wello team encountered in the startup world started a line of thinking that is now informing the future of LOVELAND.
So we’ve been reading and re-reading and watching and re-watching interviews with some of these interwebz wiz-kidz and looking at what they’ve built and how they organized their company.
With the Imagination Station we’re taking advantage of the cold weather to get moving on the organizational end. And the design team is beginning to really kick some butt. If all goes well we should be able to hit the ground running this spring and get moving with some hardcore rehab. We’ve also applied for a grant through the Knight foundation which would allow us to focus on building out the community engagement aspects of LOVELAND’s Living In The Map tool. You can read our application here. (and vote for it too, we’re currently ranked #1!!! <3)
So what else? A couple of great partnerships!
We’re still working with LEMONADE: Detroit, and there’s just one day left to have your frames matched by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan…. so you put in $1, they put in $1, same goes for donations of any other amount! Which means this is a really cool way to help fund a really cool movie. And you get credited as a producer! Cool? Very. So buy a frame or two!
We’re also working with SUPERFRONT, a gallery out of Brooklyn and Los Angeles. They’re hosting a show called Detroit: a Brooklyn Case Study. This show opens in LA in January, will stay there for a few months and then make its way across the country to Detroit (where LOVELAND will host the exhibition!) and New York!! There’s even still a few days to support the exhibition through Kickstarter.
And we’re working with a number of groups that range from historical conservation, artists, entrepreneurs, to civic development to further populate Living In The Map in addition to the community engagement work we’re doing with the Imagination Station. So stay tuned for more updates. Larry is making mapping magic!
LOVELAND is growing! I’m always astounded by how big an inch actually is! <3
