Piece of Mind: The Big YOP!

Remember Whoville?

I've been thinking a lot these past few days about the tiny town drifting on a speck of dust through space in the Dr. Seuss classic Horton Hears a Who. I've been thinking about how much Whoville has in common with Detroit.

For decades, Detroit drifted along, carried forward by fortunes of the automobile industry. There were ups and downs, but for the most part, making cars kept Detroit on an even keel, until the powerful winds of change sent the city - and the state of Michigan, for that matter - tumbling through space.

As in Whoville, people picked silly battles with one another, while disaster loomed.

As in Whoville, the mayor's attempts to lead citizens through the crisis were muddled by his own personal problems.

As in Whoville, people are waiting for someone to find them a safe, soft place to land.

But no one really saved Whoville.

Horton the Elephant believed in Whoville's existence, when no one else did. But ultimately, the citizens of Whoville had to shout at the top of their lungs to be heard. The smallest, least likely Who yelled louder than everyone else, loud enough so that everyone in the outside world could hear.

Horton the Elephant didn't save Whoville.

Whoville saved itself.

Last night, I sat with a group of Detroit area folks brought together by Barbara Tronstein, owner of Gardner-White Furniture, and social media consultant Leslie Carothers, owner of The Kaleidescope Partnership. Working through Twitter, they invited people to brainstorm an idea to help families. It has to be manageable with Gardner-White's existing resources and make life better for families on a scale large enough to draw positive, national attention to Detroit.

The idea makes sense. Not enough people know about all the cool stuff happening in Detroit right now. An incredibly positive, national news story could be leveraged to develop media attention beyond the Kwame Kilpatrick saga. We need... well, in the words of Dr. Seuss, we need a great big YOP!

A brave thing

Barb came to the meeting with no agenda, an open mind and a very practical point of view. About half-way through, I realized she was doing kind of a brave thing. Social media is largely uncharted territory for business owners. As she rightly pointed out, most can't afford to wait months for social media strategies to take hold. Return on investment has to be measurable, and it has to be immediate: A television ad runs, you track your sales, you know how it worked.

Still, she took the time to sit down with a group of people whose only common connection is their participation on Twitter. And she's willing to tap into a groundswell of positive energy building on that social media platform.

Those who gathered at Urbane Space, an awesome co-working facility in Birmingham, shared many interesting ideas: a Detroit corporate version of last month's SXSW road rally sponsored by Chevrolet, urban farming, unique art projects and support for business start-ups. We didn't exactly come away with one, big idea, but I did leave with a few good-sized thoughts:

1. The business world and the social media world aren't nearly as far apart as people think they are. Business owners worry that social media will become a giant black hole, sucking all the productivity out of their employees. And based on some recent statistics, those fears aren't entirely unfounded. But what if a business owner looked at social media as a way to position the company as a trusted authority? Then blogging, Facebook, Twitter, et al, become tools to reach people looking for reliable information. And perhaps the reason people are wasting time on social media at work is because they haven't been shown how to use it for work. Just a thought.

2. Via Charlie Wolborg: Detroit social media is something of an echo chamber. I have come to know many amazing people via Facebook and Twitter. I have also poured a great deal of energy into finding and maintaining those connections on-line. That energy will go to waste unless I continue to build relationships with those people off-line. However, the longer I interact with people on-line, the more I see potential in it for businesses, for non-profits, for job seekers. Social media can be a powerful community-building tool. And the larger the community, the more powerful the energy. The only way to build, though, is off-line. Anything else is preaching to the choir.

3. In the words of the great philosopher Yoda, "Do, or do not. There is no try." More than one person made the point that we can talk up great positive energy - but it won't mean much if everybody goes home and back to business as usual. Ideas without tangible, significant support quickly lose momentum. Big change is scary, and it's a lot easier to talk about than it is to do. Still, do, we must.

Honestly, I have no idea what's next. But I have a good feeling the people involved will not let this stop with one conversation.

I believe everyone is more than ready to create the YOP! heard 'round the world.

 --Joni Hubred-Golden