...and come to Howard!
I spent my Friday energizing my brain at the OTA Sessions in Sioux Falls. It was a sprawling, multi-headed hydra of an event, with activities ranging from practical advice on social media and content generation to insights on marketing and workplace organization to straight up motivation and inspiration.
Mr. Vilhauer aptly summarizes the event; Mr. Knutson extends and lauds the OTA conversation, which is logged on Twitter under #ota11. (By the way, OTA started as a catch-term for the "-ota" states, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota. Now the term is morphing into O+A, for originality + action.)
The major lesson I drew from the event was a reinforcement of my growing belief in collaboration and participation over hierarchy. The top-down command-and-control system is being replaced by distributed, open collaboration. In business, this means you no longer just make stuff and invest millions in slick advertising to shout "Buy my stuff!" You engage your customers in conversations. You make their input part of your product and your story. Instead of shilling, you share and solve. You make yourself a resource even as you recognize your customers are a resource.
In government, collaboration means almost nothing happens behind closed doors. You don't just open the door and say "We'll listen to your input." You (school board member, city commissioner, state representative) go out that door, get in people's faces, and solicit input from people who might never come to a formal meeting. You use the Web to make it possible for folks who always work the evening shift to view your meetings, read all of your agendae and minutes, and provide their input in an open, accountable fashion.
The best part of the OTA Sessions was the action session. I love a good speech, but the action sessions rearrange everybody. Instead of one or two peope on a stage and everyone else in neat rows facing the speakers, the action sessions put everyone around tables, building and testing ideas in small group conversations (is this sounding familiar?). Over lunch and in an all-too-quick afternoon session, various business and social entrepreneurs got to convene meetings with self-organizing clusters of local brainpower to discuss their projects (a rural artist's retreat, a regional storytelling project, and a couple dozen more) and seek advice, resources, and connections. The organizers provided three main questions to address—offer insight, identify needs, and propose next practical steps—but beyond that, there was no hierarchy in the room, as three hundred-some people turned the conference hall into a popcorn-popper of hot ideas. That's mass collaboration at its finest.
Some side notes on the day:
- The OTA Sessions are evolving. Come this fall, OTA will hold a "solutions session" to bring area folks together to talk about real, achievable projects to benefit South Dakota. The venue: the new Maroney Rural Learning Center in Howard. The building's not even done yet, and it already has a conference booked. That's a hundred energized professionals coming to town to think big thoughts, make big plans... and quite likely buy some gas and coffee and maybe stock up at Rusty's. Howard entrepreneurs, get ready to cash in!
- The Rural Learning Center made my attendance at OTA possible. Thanks, guys!
- OTA also gave me a chance to chat with Leslee and Allen Unruh. They both dig compost and gardening... though Allen was quick to emphasize he also enjoys eating animals, as do I.
- Rod Arnold tells a heck of a story, about the mission of his non-profit Charity:Water and about his personal life and the values that motivate him. Bonus: Arnold said that he's moving his family from New York City back to his home stomping grounds of Watertown. South Dakota will be all the richer.