Clay Forsberg

“Leadership 2020 Anti-Congress”

In my societal commentary,”Orion” … A Feline Metaphor for Hybrid Governance,” I proposed a hybrid type of governance as alternative to our current political malaise and civic ineptitude. At the center of this hybrid is the Community 3.0 Front Porch civic network. A Front Porch can be the local pub down the street or the coffee-house you get your morning the espresso from. It can be Bill’s garage where everyone hangs out to watch Sunday football games. It can even be your kitchen table. What happens on the Front Porch is what matters … not what it looks like or where it is.

The Front Porch’s purpose is to identify Solutions, whether they be in response of needs or opportunities. These Solutions are designed to help their community pick up the slack and mend its societal safety net. They can range from organizing a cleanup effort, to fixing a playground, to even spearheading a high school mentoring or apprentice program.

As a part of the Community 3.0 platform we’ve put together a roster of several examples of what can come of collaborations in your community’s Front Porches. Imagine, take direct action … and this could be your community.

One of these examples is Leadership 2020 Anti-Congress.

Leadership 2020 Anti-Congress Student Assembly

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Things are not going well! Our nation’s elders, our leaders, well …. they don’t seem to doing a very good job leading. Or for that matter, even following. Our elected officials in Washington and state house nationwide more resemble a group of uncompromising six-year-olds than a body of lawmakers. Congress’s productivity has fallen to levels not seen … ever!

Special interest groups, corporate lobbyists and outright “bad” people are trying to role back environmental laws to levels not seen in decades in their efforts to rape and pillage everything in their path. Their actions are not unlike that of Sherman’s “March to the Sea.”

The Anti-Congress is the student leadership component of Leadership 2020 initiative (initially started at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana). Its members are our community’s “best and brightest.” They are your community’s future.

The Anti-Congress gives these civic stars opportunity to bring the community a different more progressive perspective. The Anti-Congress will present and discuss issues relevant not only to them, but the community as a whole. And with the collaborative efforts of Front Porches (local merchants), these issues will be implemented through volunteer Solution campaigns. Members of the Anti-Congress will also be core component of the Vision Team who creates the community Vision Map, its vision for the future.

Phase One of the Anti-Congress begins with the selection of a key group of college peer leaders. The inaugural members will anchor the development of the Anti-Congress going forward. These students may or may not excel through traditional college avenues. College should include experiences both on and off campus. The more diverse and inclusive this initial leadership — the higher the likelihood it has to be integrated into the community. The Anti-Congress will also be ad hoc recruiters for their college showing high school prospects that their college experience should mean so much more than just preparation for a job.

Phase Two of the Anti-Congress extends membership to area high school student leaders. As with college participants, these prospects may or may not excel through traditional high school avenues. The selection process begins with The Bridge teacher advisory group. These advisors will compile a roster of candidates for consideration. Each candidate will be interviewed by two current Anti-Congress members.

Once recommended this group will also help the student create a civic focus plan for the prospect. The focus plan will serve as a roadmap for mentoring and Solution suggestions and placement. These suggestions will be included in the prospect’s Community 3.0 Member online profile.

While the community will be allowed to sit in, their role will be that as spectators – not unlike that of a city council. Local area NGOs and charity organizations will be welcome to submit suggestions and requests they wish the Anti-Congress to consider for community action. If acted on, collaborative relationships will then be created. However even in these cases, integration with local small business community is required. Any collaboration or community involvement should be looked at as an opportunity for mentorship and setting the stage for post-graduate involvement.

Gatherings of the entire Anti-Congress will occur every month. Spin-out niche meetings will happen when needed depending on project load and status. Below are several recurring topics that will be covered.

current project status
future project brainstorming
acknowledgements
general current event discussion

Project details will be tracked and discussed in the Anti-Congress in the Coffee Shop Slack discussion groups.

The attitude and tone of the Anti-Congress will be action-driven. Community 3.0 does not need nor want any government backing or approval aside from situational permitting as dictating by local jurisdictional zoning and law. Our purpose is to accomplish the things that government and other traditional institutions either can’t or won’t.

You will have an opportunity help your fellow classmates, in ways the government and schools have failed to do so. You will be able to restore that pride in your community, the pride that has gone astray with the numbing sanitizing influence of the Wal-Marts, Targets and Wall Street chains. And as being part of “Millennial Rising” you’ll be able to help mend to the social safety net that has been ripped to shreds through the neglect of our elders.

“But with the opportunities available through Community 3.0’s Anti-Congress comes responsibility. After all you will be part of the solution, and a part of a better future.”

Community 3.0 is about the community first … not the individual. With the strength of the community will come the resultant strength of the individual.
The basis of Community 3.0 is “human capital.” How we nurture this capital will determine how we use and maximize the resources we have, ”Resource maximization.” Everyone has something to offer. Don’t worry about what you don’t have, use what you have.
Community 3.0 is a lifestyle. The tenants should be maintained throughout your life.
Wealth is not just about money. It’s about quality of life and your “personal currency” can take any form.
The future is the youth. We nurture them and things will take care of themselves.

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Help us create a foundation for which our communities can build on in their quest for self-sustainability and well-being. As part of our Community 3.0 family, band together with us to provide the assistance that our current and upcoming generations need to flourish today and in the future. No matter what role you wish to play; whether it’s directly in your community or you’re someone who wants to lend your experience and expertise to us in devising network-wide programs … we welcome you.

To get a more full understanding of the Community 3.0 Front Porch concept, please read the post, “Front Porches.” Also please follow us on Twitter at @Community3_0, and check out the main 3.0 web site.

And when you’re ready – please comment below, tell us who you are and how you think you can better the 3.0 community.

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Community 3.0 Solutions:

“Hey … We Need Some Help Over Here”

In my societal commentary,”Orion … A Feline Metaphor for Hybrid Governance,” I proposed a hybrid type of governance as alternative to our current political malaise and civic ineptitude. At the center of this hybrid is the Community 3.0 Front Porch civic network. A Front Porch can be the local pub down the street or the coffee-house you get your morning the espresso from. It can be Bill’s garage where everyone hangs out to watch Sunday football games. It can even be your kitchen table. What happens on the Front Porch is what matters … not what it looks like or where it is.

The Front Porch’s purpose is to identify Solutions, whether they be in response of needs or opportunities. These Solutions are designed to help their community pick up the slack and mend the societal safety net. They can range from organizing a cleanup effort, to fixing a playground, to even spearheading a high school mentoring or apprentice program.

One of these examples is “Hey .. We Need Some Help Over Here!”

“On-demand” Clean-up and Help Services

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In theory it’s great to organize clean-up efforts to beautify a community or neighborhood. But isn’t keeping it clean just as important? Or what about if we see someone in need? We can’t expect the government or public sector to step in and pick after we left off. They didn’t do it in the first place. Through the Community 3.0 program “Help Me … I’m Dirty,” communities and neighborhoods can coordinate clean-up efforts on a scheduled ongoing basis. But that doesn’t do it all. What we need is a system to alert those Merchants responsible for a zone once help is needed.

Community 3.0, through their program “Hey … We Need Some Help Over Here,” and the concept of “Touch-ups” are to provide that system. A “Touch-up” is any little improvement that can be done to better a community. Anytime a Community 3.0 Contributor sees a need in their community, they can alert us through posting a “Touch-up” request on “The Coffee House” forum. And from there, through the Merchants and their network Contributors (customers) … those needs will be addressed. But the goal of the “Touch-ups” program isn’t just clean up ~ it’s the creation of an attitude, an attitude where anyone can and should be part of the solution.

All you have to do is tell what you see; what should be cleaned-up, who should be helped … or what just isn’t right in your community. Just post your comments in “The Coffee Shop” under “Touch-ups.”

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We ask you to be part our efforts to connect ours communities with their residents. Too often we become detached from our physical surroundings sitting idly by expecting the government to fix what’s broken. As we’ve found out, this can be exercise in frustration. They need us to step and help. Help us create a foundation for which our communities can build on in their quest for self-sustainability and well-being. No matter what role you wish to play; whether it’s directly in your community or you’re someone who wants to lend your experience and expertise to us in devising network-wide programs … we welcome you.

To get a more full understanding of the Community 3.0 Front Porch concept, please read the post, “Front Porches.” Also please follow us on Twitter at @Community3_0, and check out the main 3.0 web site.

And when you’re ready – please comment below, tell us who you are and how you think you can better the 3.0 community.

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Community 3.0 Solutions:

“Pop-up Community”

In my societal commentary,“Orion … A Feline Metaphor for Hybrid Governance,” I proposed a hybrid type of governance as alternative to our current political malaise and civic ineptitude. At the center of this hybrid is the Community 3.0 Front Porch civic network. A Front Porch can be the local pub down the street or the coffee-house you get your morning the espresso from. It can be Bill’s garage where everyone hangs out to watch Sunday football games. It can even be your kitchen table. What happens on the Front Porch is what matters … not what it looks like or where it is.

The Front Porch’s purpose is to identify Solutions, whether they be in response of needs or opportunities. These Solutions are designed to help your community pick up the slack and mend its societal safety net. They can range from organizing a cleanup effort, to fixing a playground, to even spearheading a high school mentoring or apprentice program.

One of these examples is “Pop-Up Community.”

Vacant Commercial Space Optimization

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Several years ago I read book called “How Buildings Learn” by Stuart Brand, founder of the Whole Earth Catalogue. The premise of the book was that a building whether it’s a house, a factory, or an office building should be designed to adapt with its owners. As a family goes through the different stages of its life, so should its home. If it can’t then the family will have to pack up, move and find a new home more suitable to its current needs. Such is the same for businesses.

Unfortunately this is not always the case. In fact, normally it’s not the case. Brand vilified vaunted architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright because his buildings, especially his houses, were built for one specific family at one specific time of their life. If anything in this family’s life changes … their residence wasn’t appropriate for their needs since it could adapt.

We can take this same principle and put it to communities. Inevitably communities and cities change over time. Detroit is a dramatic example of this. Unfortunately, unlike a family, a community can’t pack up and move down the street or to the next town. Its stuck where it’s at, abandon buildings and all.

But it doesn’t need to be like this. There are three main impediments to a community’s adaptability; individual design of its buildings, zoning laws and mindset. I the first two can be structurally and administratively overcome. A building, with a little imagination – can be converted into something more appropriate for the community’s needs at the current time. Zoning laws can be changed, maybe not without a lot of kicking and screaming … but they can be changed.

The third impediment, mindset – is not so easy though. Adaptation and evolution can either be embraced and helped along, or it will come on its own terms. And in the latter, it’s often not pretty. Again we look at the example of Detroit. Once the decline of the Big Three American auto industry started in the ’80s, the city (and especially the auto unions) turned a blind eye to it. “This can’t be real. Nobody’s going buy those foreign cars. We’ll be back bigger and better than ever.” Detroit did not embrace its enviable evolution. Now we see what happens when evolution comes on it terms. It’s pretty much like a real life version of the four headless horsemen in the “Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”

It’s easy to do the same old thing the same old way, day and day out – and just expect the world to take a break. But it doesn’t work that way. This reluctance to change and except new ideas is the core reason for the generational gaps we’ve had in past, have now and will have in the future. The older generations want things like they were, and the younger generations want things like they’ll be – and the transformation can’t be fast enough. Well, let me tell you – there ain’t any time machine, so we’re not going backwards, at least in time (attitude maybe). For a community to prosper, or even survive – it needs to embrace adaptability. It can hold on to its heritage and history, and it definitely should. But it has to take that heritage and bring into the future and make it relevant to the members of all its generations.

This embrace has to take place with the local presence, the locally owned businesses and commercial property owners. It has to happen with the city leaders. Adaptability requires being on the pulse of the community, recognizing where its resources are and maximizing them. That’s the advantage local businesses have over the box stores and the national chains. Locally owned businesses can adapt immediately, while the latter change course like the Titanic. In fact that’s the prime advantage a local business has over an “out-of-town conglomerate.” They can’t compete on price. But they can compete on relevance.

But there’s more to adaptability that just changing product mix or revising hours or even sponsoring local events and sports teams. It’s about changing one’s mindset from the old fixed location “brick and mortar” two-year lease – to none of the above. Imagine if you had never known a world where a business was committed to a fixed location for fixed time period.

You ever walk around an old downtown area and see all the buildings with nothing in them. It’s not like the downtown is dead or doesn’t have potential, a new potential – it’s just not be utilized or maximized. What if a business could go into one of those buildings for two months and then pack up and leave. And then another business, of a different type would come in a couple of months later for stay three months and leave. It may not be a two-year lease for the building owner. But then again the building owner isn’t getting the two-year lease anyway. Plus having the building occupied, generates traffic and revenue for neighboring businesses … and keeps that “living dead” feeling from creeping in.

This is “Resource Maximization.” And this is what communities will need to do to prosper in our “warp speed evolving future.” And the people navigating this “warp speed.” are the younger generations. These “kids” want flexibility to grow with “trial and error.” And a two-year lease in a fixed location just doesn’t cut it. This is the main reason for boom in “office hubs” or shared office space in recent years. I belong to one in Los Angeles. It works perfect for me since I’m only in L.A. a couple of times a year, but for a month at a time. When I’m there, I pop in and do my thing, network, attend events or just socialize.

If a community truly wants to move ahead then it will have to position itself to attract these young entrepreneurs and their crazy ideas, whatever they are. On that note, I’d like present my idea of the next evolution of community, or I call Community 3.0, and the “Pop-up Community” is big part of it.

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Please help us build a Community 3.0 “Pop-Up Community” mindset in your town or city. Help us create a foundation for which our communities can build on in their quest for self-sustainability and well-being. No matter what role you wish to play; whether it’s directly in your community or you’re someone who wants to lend your experience and expertise to us in devising network-wide programs … we welcome you.

And when you’re ready – please comment below, tell us who you are and how you think you can better the 3.0 community.

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Community 3.0 Solutions:

“Making the Transition”

In my societal commentary,“Orion … A Feline Metaphor for Hybrid Governance,” I proposed a hybrid type of governance as alternative to our current political malaise and civic ineptitude. At the center of this hybrid is the Community 3.0 Front Porch civic network. A Front Porch can be the local pub down the street or the coffee-house you get your morning the espresso from. It can be Bill’s garage where everyone hangs out to watch Sunday football games. It can even be your kitchen table. What happens on the Front Porch is what matters … not what it looks like or where it is.

The Front Porch’s purpose is to identify Solutions, whether they be in response of needs or opportunities. These Solutions are designed to help the community pick up the slack and mend its societal safety net. They can range from organizing a cleanup effort, to fixing a playground, to even spearheading a high school mentoring or apprentice program.

One of these examples is “Making the Transition.”

Apprenticeships and Post High School Transition Assistance

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The teenage years are precarious, to say the least. Maybe these days even more so. The younger generations are submersed in a vortex of what is likely to be an uncertain future. The jobs, employment and security that were there for their parents look to be nothing more than illusion to them. They go to school often feeling more like prisoners than the future hope – as they walk through metal detectors past armed guards peering at them as if they are a crime just waiting to happen.

Today’s teenagers are looked at by older generations as narcissistic and shallow as they burrow into Facebook, Twitter and “selfies.” The “powers that be” in the education world are obsessed with students taking endless standardized tests and hours of homework so to keep up with the plethora of irrelevant facts that must be memorized. Connection to the real world is a luxury – as is guidance on making the transition to the future.

We feel that once high school is over, our children will be ready to tackle their futures on their own. If we don’t send them out into a world littered with minimum wage jobs, then it’s off to college to accumulate tens of thousands of dollars of debt. Very seldom is high school set up to provide needed transitional advice. Most schools are just happy to get their students to graduation. What happens after that is the furthest thing from their minds. “It’s not their job.”

Through “Making the Transition,” Community 3.0 has enlisted it’s local business community (Merchants) to provide on-the-job training experiences or apprenticeships along with career guidance. These experiences will give recent graduates or even current high school students the opportunity to see the “ins and outs” of a profession before they jump in with both feet. Community 3.0 has also obtained the help of professional recruiters ready to share their expertise to willing candidates looking for advice on which way to take their future careers.

This brainpower lies squarely with the “best and brightest” of the younger generations. It’s up to the community and its local businesses to nurture these future leaders and prepare them for their transition. It’s very apparent our public education system isn’t doing it.

“Making the Transition” is the means to feed this “pipeline” by providing real world mentoring and introduction to actual career opportunities. Community 3.0 Merchants will give students and recent graduates the chance to try something out without diving “head first” into a college commitment and the crippling debt tied to it.

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We ask you to help us create a foundation for which our communities can build on in their quest for self-sustainability and well-being. We ask that you, part of our Community 3.0 family, band together with us to provide the assistance that these up and coming generations need to flourish in the future. And with the connections created with the “Making the Transition” initiative, this future might very well happen right here in your community. No matter what role you wish to play; whether it’s directly in your community or you’re someone who wants to lend your experience and expertise to us in devising network-wide programs … we welcome you.

And when you’re ready – please comment below, tell us who you are and how you think you can better the 3.0 community.

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Community 3.0 Solutions:

“This is what I think … “

One of these examples is “This is what I think …”

Collective Student Writing Project

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There’s very little that can stimulate and develop the mind more than writing. Reading is great, but writing is about creativity and expression. However in the pursuit of more and more standardized testing, not being able to be assessed by an oval and a #2 pencil, writing has been rendered irrelevant in many today’s schools. Writing not only develops the mind, it provides that outlet, the outlet that is needed as our children make that transition into adulthood. It’s a skill that will stay with them for life, giving them the personal gift of self-expression that will undoubtedly serve them well.

One of the most important things for a young person is to find their place in society, to find their identity. This is not easy, especially for those that come from sociologically challenged upbringings. Often to find “their place,” they fall under the spell of gangs or others of the wrong element. For those that are not athletically inclined, the written word can be this outlet.

“This is what I think … “ is a Community 3.0 initiative that steps in where the schools leave off by creating a creative writing program assisted by Community 3.0 Merchants, that will help these future authors, bloggers and influencers hone these skills. And as a culmination to this effort, a publication of the same name, “This is what I think …” will be produced for all the community to see and be proud of. Versions of “This is what I think …“ be available both physically in printed book form and online.

If you wish to join us at Community 3.0 making “This is what I think …” a success and impactful on numerous young students lives, then please contact us and tell us what role you’d like to play. We are looking for mentors, editors or just about anyone who thinks they have something to offer. But most of all, we need young writers … or those just waiting to write.

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We ask you to help us create a foundation for which our communities can build on in their quest for self-sustainability and well-being. We ask that you, part of our Community 3.0 family, band together with us to provide the assistance that these up and coming generations need to flourish in the future. No matter what role you wish to play; whether it’s directly in your community or you’re someone who wants to lend your experience and expertise to us in devising network-wide programs … we welcome you.

And when you’re ready – please comment below, tell us who you are and how you think you can better the 3.0 community.

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Community 3.0 Solutions:

“Get Out of the House”

One of these examples is “Get Out of the House!”

Adult Activity Leagues (physical and mental)

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We see the statistics almost weekly. America is fat! According to 2013 numbers over 35% American adults are considered obese. This is the 2nd highest rate for large countries in the world, exceeded only by Mexico. And it’s probably even higher today. The reasons for this vary according to who you talk to. One culprit that frequently comes up is our increasingly sedentary lifestyles. American doesn’t move around anymore. And I’m not talking about going to gym or running a 5K. I’m talking about just moving around.

People are social animals, they’re going to socialize somewhere ~ where and how they do will determine in a large part how healthy they are (mental and physically). For better or worse, their primary source of social interaction is sitting in a chair in front of a computer on Facebook or Twitter. “Real life” interactions are becoming less and less. And with this comes the lack of movement needed to interact in-person … the walks, the bowling nights, the window shopping.

“Get Out of the House” is Community 3.0‘s attempt to combat this sedentary lifestyle and get your community moving around. And best of all, the program can accommodate any age. Through “Get Out of the House,” Community 3.0 and its network of Merchants will organize leagues and activities that get people “up and out of the house” and meeting in beneficial healthy places. Instead of sitting at your computer updating your status, or when you do get out, meeting your friends at the bar – meet them on the software field, or the basketball court or even at a chessboard. Each participating Merchant will sponsor teams, recruit talent from their Member clientele and battle for bragging rights.

“Get Out of the House” also give you an opportunity break outside your network of close friends and co-workers and meet other people in the community. Whether it’s for new social or business connections, or possibly even the genesis of a new venture, Community 3.0 gets you out of house extending your circle of contacts.

Below are just a few of the options that Community 3.0 can assist you with.

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We ask you to be part our efforts to build the minds and bodies of those around us. The stronger, mentally and physically, we all are individually – the stronger our communities will be collectively. Help us create a foundation for which our communities can build on in their quest for self-sustainability and well-being. No matter what role you wish to play; whether it’s directly in your community or you’re someone who wants to lend your experience and expertise to us in devising network-wide programs … we welcome you.

And when you’re ready – please comment below, tell us who you are and how you think you can better the 3.0 community.

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Community 3.0 Solutions:

“Play Ball”

One of these examples is “Play Ball.”

Youth Leagues (physical and mental)

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The teenage years are precarious, to say the least. Maybe these days even more so. The younger generation is submersed in a vortex of what is a likely to be an uncertain future. The jobs, employment and security that were there for their parents are completely alien to them. They go to school often feeling more like prisoners than the future hope as they walk through metal detectors and past armed guards peering at them as if they are a crime just waiting to happen.

Today’s teenagers are looked at by older generations as narcissistic and shallow as they burrow into Facebook, Twitter and “selfies” while ignoring their parents ideas of social interaction. With today’s obsession with rote memorization and endless standardized, homework often takes them well traditional bedtime hours. Teenagers are social animals, they’re going to socialize somewhere … and online is often the only way they can do it, without disengaging from school and resort to just “hanging out” and participating in often nefarious activities.

The “perfect storm” is occurring in our American schools right now. Reliance on testing, for just about anything from teacher evaluations to the fate of the schools themselves – combined with budget cuts and outright contempt by the Boomer generation has led to the gutting of pretty much all activities except math and science. Gone is art and music. Gone is physical education. Gone are more esoteric activities, like chess club. Gone are the means for this younger generation to express and find themselves.

All it takes for some kids to engage and flourish, is to give them an option, that one that they will be able to identify with. This is especially the case in depressed areas, such as the inner cities. These are also the areas where parents often can’t be there for their children. It’s in these areas and others where Community 3.0’s “Play Ball” initiative and its network of Merchants comes in. “Play Ball” will provide them with that option.

Through “Play Ball,” Community 3.0 will organize leagues and clubs for activities that would be otherwise ignored. These pursuits can be physical or cerebral. Either way, the goal is the same … provide that outlet that constructive outlet that otherwise wouldn’t be there, that outlet that provides and a positive result.

It will up to each community and its Community 3.0 Merchants and Contributors (customers) to determine what types of activities are appropriate. Below are just a few of the options:

Basketball: This is a given. Even with virtually all communities still retaining high school basketball teams, the participation options for student are limited. Only a handful will make teams with the rest relegated to broken down school yard courts with ripped nets. In coordination the program, “Recess Time,” courts will be revitalized or arrangements will be made to use indoor facilities for the leagues. Community 3.0 Merchants will help organize the leagues and sponsor teams.
Soccer: With the multi-cultural fabric of today’s youth and the publicity of the sport in recent years, soccer is also a given. But not all schools, especially smaller ones, offer soccer as a school sponsored activity. But Community 3.0 can … and will.
Drama: Performing arts are often one the first extracurricular activities to be “thrown under the bus” in times of educational austerity. Unfortunately however, the teenagers that often gravitate towards drama are often the most talented, underestimated and misunderstood. But through the Community 3.0 Merchant family they will be given their “stage.”
Science competitions: With technology being what it is in today’s world, the “shell of the oyster” has been opened and the pearl is waiting to be had. Can you say robots! The options available for science competitions and collaborations are endless. With the assistance of a 3D printer and fabricator, anything can be made … anything. Community 3.0 and it local network will arrange for the equipment and facilities to make the imaginations of these young people come alive.
Visual art: Imagine a shared studio space where teenagers can come in and create. No matter the medium, there has to be an option for these young artists to express and hone their talents. We will make that happen. Consider the alternative – roaming the streets, waiting for “nothing good” to happen.

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We ask to you be part of providing this younger generation an alternative to the diminishing means of organized self-expression available to them. Help us create a foundation for which our communities can build on in their quest for self-sustainability and well-being. As part of our Community 3.0 family, band together with us to provide the assistance that these up and coming generations need to flourish in the future. No matter what role you wish to play; whether it’s directly in your community or you’re someone who wants to lend your experience and expertise to us in devising network-wide programs … we welcome you.

And when you’re ready – please comment below, tell us who you are and how you think you can better the 3.0 community.

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Community 3.0 Solutions:

“Getting Up to Speed”

One of these examples is “Getting Up to Speed.”

Student Tutoring

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Schools are designed around a curriculum that is learned in increments. Learn one thing and then move on the next thing. One builds on the other. But what if you didn’t understand that first thing. How can you learn that second thing or the third, fourth or fifth. In many cases you don’t. And then you just fall further and further behind. And with that comes disengagement and very often dropping out of school all together.

When my daughter, Alex, was in 2nd grade – she went to school in Tiburon, just north of San Francisco. Tiburon is a very affluent area and its school system is considered one of the best in California.

With school budgets being just another target of austerity efforts, there’s little that can be done for those that fall behind. And not all parents can do or have the time to do what I did. This is where you and Community 3.0 come in with our “Getting Up to Speed” tutoring program. With the help of our benevolent Merchants and their patrons in our network, Community 3.0 will be the seamstress that will mend the academic safety net. Our Merchants will organize tutoring efforts with local schools for students who need that little “hand up.” The health of your community depends on its future generations. To abandon them is equivalent to having your community commit suicide.

We invite you to be part of the solution and share your experience and share your knowledge. There are too many students of all ages, for fault not of their own – that are hanging in the balance. With that little assistance, someone that’s not their teacher or their parents; they may establish themselves firmly on the side of success.

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If you wish to join us at Community 3.0 making “Getting Up to Speed” a success and impactful on numerous young students lives then please tell us. Help us create a foundation for which our communities can build on in their quest for self-sustainability and well-being. We ask that you, part of our Community 3.0 family, band together with us to provide the assistance that these up and coming generations need to flourish in the future. No matter what role you wish to play; whether it’s directly in your community or you’re someone who wants to lend your experience and expertise to us in devising network-wide programs … we welcome you.

And when you’re ready – please comment below, tell us who you are and how you think you can better the 3.0 community.

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Community 3.0 Solutions:

“Stop and Smell the Roses”

The Front Porch’s purpose is to identify Solutions, whether they be in response of needs or opportunities. These Solutions are designed to help its community pick up the slack and mend their societal safety net. They can range from organizing a cleanup effort, to fixing a playground, to even spearheading a high school mentoring or apprentice program.

As a part of the Community 3.0 platform we’ve put together a roster of several examples of what can come of collaborations in your community’s Front Porches. Imagine, take direct action … and this could be your community.

One of these examples is “Stop and Smell the Roses.”

Neighborhood Beautification Efforts

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Flowers brighten up anyone’s day, and even more so if they take the place of garbage in a vacant lot. Step One example of a community beautification effort is of course the clean-up. That’s where “Help Me … I’m Dirty” comes in. While it’s good start, it’s still just a start.

“Stop and Smell the Roses” will take you and neighborhood to the finish line. With the help of Community 3.0 local Merchants, you can be instrumental in making your community visually everything it can be, enhancing its personality. We will help you organize beautification efforts complete with flower planting and upkeep. Rather than walking by garbage, the members of your community will be able to “stop and smell the roses,” literally.

“Stop and Smell the Roses” is an initiative that encompasses both public and private properties.Community 3.0 Merchants will sponsor neighborhood areas divided up by postal carrier codes, much the same way it’s done with the “Help Me … I’m Dirty” clean-up efforts. Once the beautification areas are established and sponsors assigned, the ground work begins (excuse the pun).

While cleaning up trash and debris is one thing, and most landowners are not going to object to you cleaning up their property … planting flowers might be different. A point person must be assigned for an area to run interference and get approval from all the necessary parties ahead of any action. In case of public properties, approval will have to be obtained at a city or county level. This approval will most likely be coordinated via the Community 3.0 Node Director (lead city evangelist). But in this time of local government austerity, I would hope no bureaucrat would stand in the way of a free community beautification effort. But I would be naive not to think it wouldn’t happen. If such is case however, we will just have to go to the our friends at the media.

Once all the approvals have been gotten, the fun begins. Like “Help Me … I’m Dirty,” “Stop and Smell Roses” is a multi-part process. The first step is the strategy; where to plant, what to plant and where is the product going to come from. Creativity is the key here, from both selection and resource acquisition. Each neighborhood zone should have a central theme, unique to its geography, social feel and complementing what’s already there. It helps to augment its micro-local identity. Each zone should be treated just like your own property. Work every “nook.” Input should even be gotten from the residents of the neighborhoods being beautified. After all they’re ones that will see it everyday. A neighborhood park can be something for one person … and someone else something complete different. It’s this personal expression that make a community what it is … an individual itself.

Local greenhouses need to be approached for the product. Again, this may be the job community Node Director or better yet participating merchant with connections. Once the peak growing passes, many greenhouses donate their remaining stock to civic causes, and Community 3.0 definitely qualifies as that.

Step two is the planting. Zones can be tackled at one time; for example: having a “beautification weekend” or spread out. It all depends on the manpower the sponsoring Merchant has at its disposal.

The third step is the maintenance. As we are all too aware, flowers and plants normally don’t take care of themselves. They need to be watered and weeded. Individual plots within a zone should be delegated one person to be in charge. It’s then up to that person to maintain the plot and determine the resources and people needed (mainly water) and where it’s going come from. These “Plant Care Brigades” should include residents in the neighborhood. The more local involvement and inclusion the better. Beautification doesn’t have to stop with vegetation. A little touch up paint here or there can’t hurt either.

Pride in one’s community and specifically in one’s neighborhood is tantamount to its success. Without it – its residents won’t make that extra effort to make it great. And without that extra effort, it’s likely the community will gradually fall into disrepair, making it even harder to muster up the energy and motivation to “fix it.” “Stop and Smell the Roses” is just another tool to make sure that won’t be the case.

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We ask you to help us create a foundation for which our communities can build on in their quest for self-sustainability and well-being. We ask that you, part of our Community 3.0 family to band together with us to create a “Stop and Smell the Roses” initiative in your community. No matter what role you wish to play; whether it’s directly in your community or you’re someone who wants to lend your experience and expertise to us in devising network-wide programs … we welcome you.

And when you’re ready – please comment below, tell us who you are and how you think you can better the 3.0 community.

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Community 3.0 Solutions:

“Label the Town”

The Front Porch’s purpose is to identify Solutions, whether they be in response of needs or opportunities. These Solutions are designed to help the community pick up the slack and mend their societal safety net. They can range from organizing a cleanup effort, to fixing a playground, to even spearheading a high school mentoring or apprentice program.

One of these examples is “Label the Town.”

Community Landmark QR-Code Labeling

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How much do you know about your town or your even your neighborhood; and how much do your kids know? What do you know about that bridge you drive over everyday, back and forth to work – or that old building at the end of Main Street? Imagine if you knew “everything” about where you lived. Imagine if your children did too.

“Label the town” is a Community 3.0 program designed to energize a community by telling them all about where they live. Through a cross generational effort, school students get an opportunity to interview your town’s “old timers” about the places they take for granted. With this information, the younger generations will create an informational blog containing the community’s historical “places of interest.” The individual entries will be able to be accessed via QR codes mounted on the building, bridge, park, etc. Imagine the tourist interest, as well the learning and cross-generational possibilities for your town’s residents. Through the program “Label the Town” we hope to accomplish the following:

spur interest by the youth in the community and how it came to be what is
create a sense of ownership in the community by all residents no matter what age through local knowledge and education
create cross-generation rapport amongst the youth and the older generations of their grandparents age
create a community “sense of pride” through knowledge all that is good and unique on their streets and in their neighborhoods

Whether you are a teacher, a student or even just a community member – we need your help. We need the older generations to provide wealth of knowledge to fill in the gaps that written archive material may not be able to do. We need them to provide an account of their experiences that ultimately created the tapestry of your community.

We need to the teachers to be the organizers, the conduits. And plus, the teachers can incorporate the knowledge of the community into their daily lessons as well as shepherd along the students to actually do the research. And most of all we need the youth of your community. For it’s the youth that will do the leg work and make “Label the Town” a reality. They are also the ones that have most to gain. Through their efforts they will see where they really live. They will see it’s more than just a Wal-Mart or a McDonalds. They will see the history of your community and hopefully will wish to continue making that history themselves for generations to come.

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Please help us and join the Community 3.0 “Label the Town” project. Help us create a foundation for which our communities can build on in their quest for self-sustainability and well-being. No matter what role you wish to play; whether it’s directly in your community or you’re someone who wants to lend your experience and expertise to us in devising network-wide programs … we welcome you.

And when you’re ready – please comment below, tell us who you are and how you think you can better the 3.0 community.

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Community 3.0 Solutions: