Positive Change in a Weekend of Work
Andrew Miller, WOSU Commentator

COLUMBUS, OHIO (2008-08-18 ) Recently I paid an organization $40 to let me work my tail off for 54 hours straight. I know, I know – what kind of nut job did WOSU put on the air?

The event was called Startup Weekend and brought together a couple hundred highly motivated folks who were interested in seeing what it takes to startup a technology company in the matter of one weekend. From voting on an idea Friday night to a prototype product Sunday afternoon; 11 breakout groups managed to make some amazing things happen.

What made this experience worthwhile wasn’t just walking away with a business or what I learned from people outside of my discipline. Those were benefits but what made this experience worthwhile was much bigger than that. Learning how much is possible when a group of people come together with a mindset that roadblocks don’t exist, or are at best something to overcome, is powerful. Negativity was off the table. Possibility was our roadmap.

So how about applying this same sort of attitude to our daily lives? I have been fixated on this ever since walking out of TechColumbus at the end of that Sunday. I mean; Hey! Positive impact on your community may be a mere 54 hours away!

Most people you talk with will gladly share their opinion about one (or many) community issues they hope would change. I suggest we take that potential for change and turn it into action. Instead of Startup Weekend for tech company upstarts what about giving highly motivate people the opportunity to Startup Community?

The initial lure of the event was the ability to learn how to startup a company and network with other like minded people. Would the same sort of lure work to attract talented people to tackle community issues? I believe it would.

Already highly motivated young people are coming together in online communities, finding ways to harness their talents to make their local communities better; to shape them in a way that fits with their lives. Look at these recent facts: Columbus ranked 6th in the nation for volunteerism and 8th for connecting to each other online. The next logical step would be to get the business and civic leaders in the same room with these young and young at heart change makers to give them the power to make an even larger positive impact.

The impact wouldn’t just be the tangible community improvements. The impact would include a morale boost to everyone involved, the opportunity to learn about your fellow residents and peers, and most importantly a new positive outlook on your locale. Throw in some business advertisement and tax breaks and what more could you ask for? All for a mere $40 and 54 hours.

Call me crazy, but knowing what I know now about the impact this event had on my perspective – especially the potential impact that could come to my community – I feel like I got one heck of a deal paying $40 to work my weekend away.

Andrew Miller hosts the blog Elephants on Bicycles.

© Copyright 2008, WOSU

On Friday around 6pm I arrived at TechColumbus not quite sure what I was looking to get out of the weekend. Prior to the start of the weekend a friend of mine touched base that he would be in town and, having not seen him in years, I wanted to make sure to catch up with him. Knowing this as well as a couple of other engagements I had during the weekend meant that my original plan was to just sort of hang loose at the event. I quickly realized this was not something I could do.

Approximately 150 attendees arrived and the energy was incredible. After 50 one minute elevator pitches of start-up ideas, the group whittled those down to the 11 which remained our companies for the weekend. I really enjoyed the opportunity to pitch an idea in front of such a large audience even though mine wasn’t selected. By the end of the evening I had attached myself to what became known as Freightchatter.com.

Throughout the weekend our group morphed and congealed into the form we left with. Our group is now sixteen committed individuals with a strong business case, a plan structure and some back-end programming done. TechColumbus awarded one of the companies a shot at this quarter’s $50k TechGenius grant and our group missed the award by a single vote.

The most amazing part of the weekend wasn’t in the commitment of those attendees, nor the chance at winning such a sizable grant; it was in how people took all of the “No’s” and doubts off the table. This simple act allowed each group to accomplish amazing feats in a terribly short amount of time (54 hours to be exact). Imagine if your work group, business as a whole, or even your community took this same approach to problem solving?

I learned a great deal from all of the different backgrounds than mine and met some fantastic people. I believe all of the businesses that came out of the weekend and the groups as a whole, intend to continue the work that they started and see where it leads them.

I would highly recommend this program to anyone interested in personal growth – regardless of your interest level in technology. Startup Weekend is perspective changing!