First, the definition of bilingual - communicating in two languages fluently, or to further define language, communicating in two different methods of exchanging information fluently. Second, the definition of social network - is the organic gathering of individuals into specific groups; or from wikipedia, “a social structure made of nodes (generally individuals or organizations) that are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as values, visions, ideas...” This can be physical, or virtual.

In the best-selling book, Bowling Alone, author Robert Putnam laments the loss of social groups like bowling leagues and membership clubs. However, if you ask the millennials/gen yers and progressive gen xers, they feel those measures of community aren’t spontaneous and fluid enough in a world where a hundred people who never met can gather in a square at the exact same time, and have a pillow fight. Many stick around in the aftermath and make new friends, strengthen old ones. Think of it as the light-hearted opposite of a community coming together to build a dam of sandbags during a natural disaster. However, how is that these people were able to pillow bond seemingly out of the blue?

They’re bilingual in social networks. That is, they’ve formed virtual groups on platforms like Facebook, Ning or Meetup, and use those to build face-face groups with people of like-minded interests. However, here’s what makes this evolving skill for community building (and crowdsourcing) so effective…

Just like those who are bilingual with spoken languages, those who are bilingual in social networks can flow in between the virtual and physical world seamlessly, fluently, without even thinking about it.

One example of a bilingual social network is CreativesDC, a virtual social network of 300 creatives (and growing) in Washington DC that meet up face-face once a month to network, experience interactive performances, and introduced to other social networks and crowdsourcing opportunities.

Do you see the value of jumping between the two worlds with ease? Which social network platform do you use, and why? Comment/vote below…

Update: Six days later, a Facebook pillow fight.

First of all, what's a viral loop? Viral comes from viral marketing - using pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or sales. A loop occurs when a person is invited to a social network, accepts the invitation, then either:
1. invites others themselves or;
2. creates their own social network.

Pictured above is a series of these viral loops, called a viral loop network. Viral loops and their networks have long been happening in the physical world (e.g. tupperware parties), but are taking off exponentially in the virtual world (e.g. Facebook widgets)...

...and to answer the title question, here's an excerpt on this phenomenon from my favorite magazine, Fast Company, featuring Ning, the most popular social network platform,

"Viral loops have emerged as perhaps the most significant business accelerant to hit Silicon Valley since the search engine. They power many of the icons of Web 2.0, including Google, PayPal, YouTube, eBay, Facebook, MySpace, Digg, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Flickr. But don't confuse a viral loop with viral advertising or videos such as Saturday Night Live's Lazy Sunday or the Mentos-Diet Coke Bellagio fountain. Viral advertising can't be replicated; by definition, a viral loop must be."

This is the process by which our cities will witness an economic, social and environmental renaissance. However, it does beg the question: Because this core loop is replicated repeatedly, how can you be sure to get the first one right? More tomorrow...

Having fun connecting with people over food, play and making an impact

There are many of us who feel that food, play and contributing to a cause can start to get routine-like. Thankfully, the innovation-tracking folks at Springwise have spotted some new ways to spice things up in those areas of our lives.

Group dining: You know there are people in your social or work circle that want to try out new restaurants or return to old favorites, but which friends, and which restaurants? Crazymenu not only allows the group to vote on where to eat, but once you pick one and choose to order out, you even have the option of allowing them to submit exactly what they want.

Group playing: Miss the days of playing Twister, Perfection, Rock'em Sock'em Robots or even Musical Chairs? Not those who venture out to Play Date Atlanta, where for $10 you enter what they bill as the alternative to the 'club, bar, lounge scene' and get down for spontaneous games of Scattergories and Hungry Hungry Hippos.

Group greening: If you're looking for something more meaningful, check out Green Thing, where participants are given a 'green thing' to do each month, record what they've done about it online, then watch as their impact is collectively measured. The current green thing is to walk once (how fitting, no pun intended), so there's an activity your friends can creatively find to do together and actually have your resultant environmental savings recognized for posterity...

...then at the end of the walk, meeting at the restaurant you voted on...

How does your city stack up among 'America's Most Romantic'?

Some cities have that intangible quality that sets them apart. I think a large factor in creating that essence is how much romance it inspires. The folks at Tango Magazine: Smart Talk About Love via Reader's Digest spent a compelling amount of time looking into this in their write-up, America's Most Romantic Cities.

They singled out New York, Miami, New Orleans, San Francisco as the most romantic, but better yet, they provided insight on where to...

Meet: On the beach in Miami at the Nikki Beach Club (pictured); a coffeehouse in Seattle; between the lions at the New York Public Library; cajun dancing at Tipitina's in New Orleans (NOLA)
Build the excitement: At an open-air Latin dance club in Miami;
Fight On the subway platform in New York; in the surf in Miami; at Pike's Place Market in Seattle; the Saturn Bar in NOLA
Hide and sulk: NY's Metropolitan Museum of Art with a view of the Hudson; Ocean Beach in SF; Cafe Sambal with a terrace overlooking Biscayne Bay, Miami;
Make up: Strolling through Manhattan's Diamond District or public gardens; on NOLA St. Charles Avenue streetcar; served dinner in private alcoves with platform beds at B.E.D. in Miami;
Celebrate the reconciliation: A drink at the Ponchartrain Hotel in NOLA, truly make up at The Soniat House or Hotel Maison de Ville; and recover at Commander's Palace in the Garden District;
Have daring sex: Back of a cab or between stops on the G train in New York City; Twin Peaks lookout in SF
Bring up taboo topics: Good Vibration' Antique Vibrator Museum in SF
Relive famous pairings: J. Lo and... in Miami; Sharon Stone and Michael Douglas in Basic Instinct; Woody Allen and Diane Keaton in NYC; Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in Seattle
Only in ... can you: Stay up all night and then go out for dinner in NYC; rollerblade in a string bikini without attracting attention in Miami; make out at the top of Space 'Needle'.

Can you make up a list for your town? Or rather, do you live one?

Image source: JoDiver

When building community, focus on the content, not the process

You've been to those evening neighborhood meetings... lots of talk about resistance to change, addressing complaints, reaching out to government, fundraising, what this committee and that committee are doing... it feels more like a day job, it's not fun, there's contention in the air, and it often doesn't result in making a progressive impact in your neighborhood.

Perhaps the group should focus on content, like what kinds of buildings, shops, restaurants and streets you'd like to see, backed up by the investors willing to capitalize it, and leave the process to 'committees' during the work day. It's not as simple as that, but it is indeed time for a fresh and evolved model that reflects a demand-driven shift in our economy and culture.

At a recent beta community meeting (where future tenants/patrons crowdsource a new business/building/neighborhood with the investing sponsor) for a new third place, the discussion slowly went from what kind of events, experiences and educational events to have to whether or not to limit the size of the beta community, how to form committees and structure tasks normally handled by the business owner. Thankfully, the beta community self-recognized its digression and vowed to focus 100% on content at the next meeting, trusting the structure to the business owner and beta community catalyzer.

The energy and vitality of the group shifts dramatically when attention is on either content (animated) or process (stagnant), and being creative is all about having that inner vitality.

Social responsibility a boon to local neighborhoods

How valued is the word local in the modern economy? A lot.
Last week's entries on the importance of local investment is covered extensively on Trendwatching.com this month. The report, (Still) Made Here, documents "the comeback of all things local, all things with a sense of place, and how they're surfacing in a world dominated by globalization... where a growing number of consumers are seeking out the local, and thereby the authentic, the storied, the eco-friendly and the obscure.”.

Trendwatching presents the trend toward the local via three drivers, social responsibility, status and community.

A look at how social responsibility promotes the local economy, culture:

- Books emphasizing local economies are proliferating (one of the best being Deep Economy mentioned in the previous entry), supermarket products and shoes display carbon impacts, produce displays their farm origins, and organic food is increasingly being grown locally.

- On the CoolTown front, you'll see an emphasis on local businesses vs chains, green buildings using local materials, and support for growing fast-growth small businesses locally rather than stealing corporations from other cities. What's the big deal? More money stays in the neighborhood, and a refreshingly healthy amount of authentic, local culture as well, like that local coffeehouse that lets you stay extended hours, promotes local artists, listens to you and supports community events, vs the national coffee chain that is focused foremost on efficiency and profit for its HQ. Check out more on this aspect at Where.

Next: How status and community affect local neighborhoods.

Image: It doesn't get more local than in Venice. Thanks to Kevin Kawasaki for the image.

Community vs money? Is it really that simple?

Balancing a sense of community vs. financial wealth isn't a known inversely proportional correlation, but probably more so than you think.

Based on the recently published book, Deep Economy by Bill McKibben, here are some interesting perspectives:

- From a study measuring happiness, increases in incomes produce large hedonic gains in developing countries, small variable gains in Europe, and negative gains in the U.S., while companionship "yields more happiness in individualistic societies (like the U.S.) where it is scarce, than in collectivist societies (like China) where it is abundant." Economist Richard Layard
- The richer you get, the more you tend to move to the suburbs, then to the exurbs, becoming more and more isolated.
- Many of us look upon our college years as the best years of our lives, when we were at our poorest and lived more closely and intensely as a community than at any other time.
- Local, indie restaurants/retail can't compete with the leases national chains/franchises are able to pay, but they contribute much more to the local community.

What does this mean for cities and neighborhoods? People in the U.S. are increasingly more willing to open up their wallets for events and experiences that build community in a way that suits their contemporary needs (ie social networking amenities in buildings, MySpace, American Idol, cause-oriented happy hours, dodgeball leagues...) rather than the latest and greatest coffee maker, luxury car or stereo system.

Top 10 ways to build a modern sense of community

A common question is how does one build a sense of community? Here's a CoolTown take on that, based on the article, The Top Ten Ways to Kill a Community, from the infinitely resourceful work-life blog, Lifehack.org.

Local investment
- Support economic gardening where cities invest economic development dollars in growing their own companies vs stealing them from other cities.
- Invest in local lenders that care and know how to assist in the development of local businesses vs attracting only national lenders who have no ties to the local market.
- Establish programs to hire and train from within the community with the help of the beta community vs training local companies to rely on outside entities for talent.
- Identify the core beta community of conscious creatives in your region/city/neighborhood and draw on them for leadership, vision and talent vs hiring people from outside the community. Related to above.

Leadership
- Maintain the diversity in leadership meetings by including local, younger and emerging businesses and creative organizations vs relying on only the more established representatives that often represent maturing and declining industries, trends.
- Ensure that government officials are located in or at least near the neighborhoods they make decisions for vs allowing governmental authority to migrate to distant locations, which is why inner cities are often denied high achievement-oriented charter schools by suburb-residing boards.
- Keep gifted leaders in the local communities that they know so well and have helped prosper vs forcing them to move to a larger governmental body as a 'promotion'.

Industry
- Encourage experience industry development that emphasizes local culture vs the traditionally lower-paying service industry that doesn't.
- Pay people what they're worth in a meritocracy - more talented people will come and stay, your company will grow, and so will the local economy... vs paying people by seniority only and watching the opposite happen along with inflation.

Placemaking
- Build the most beautiful places: streets, building, blocks, parks and plazas that you/your city can afford throughout the city vs allowing the build up of substandard housing in one area and luxury housing in another, with the conscious creatives, the source of your job and culture creation, left with little choice than to move to the suburbs.

Thanks to Robert Richman, director of community for PeopleJam for the reference.

Face-face social networking on the rise in condos

We all know emerging populations are migrating to social networking websites by the millions, so it was a matter of time before this manifested in the built environment, as hinted at in an earlier entry here.

Based on the recent NY Times article, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, new condos in the city come with bricks-and-mortar social networking amenities as standard equipment. Instead of virtual chat lounges, discussion boards and group portals, residents are enjoying physical:
Cinemas (some with day beds), wet bars, squash courts, outdoor rain showers, poker tables, big screens, barbecue areas, wine cellars, libraries, children’s playrooms and pools, gyms, sun decks and lounge areas, cinema with day beds, lap pools, covered outdoor dog parks, outdoor basketball courts with bleachers...

Instead of spontaneous digital get togethers, residents participate in face-face:
Movie nights, book clubs, water volleyball, Monday night sports, spring flings, Friday night cocktails, floor mixers, TV show nights, rotating summer parties, golf tournaments...

Not to be left out, these buildings also have YouTube, Flickr and MySpace web pages for 24/7 networking.

Some of the resident quotes from the article:

“Instead of staying up in our apartment, we always stay here [community spaces]. Sometimes we have two, three tables joined so everyone can talk.”

“It has a small neighborhood feel to it, like its own little town.”

“Everyone was so friendly upon my arrival,” she said. “All of my neighbors came out to say hello to me and ask if I needed anything.”

Last night, 14 people - Lisa, Angela, Christian, Mike, Sarah, Joey, Justin, Ayari, Raj, Ritu, Heather, Robert, myself and business owner/VIBE Linda - met over pizza, beer and wine to discuss, as a beta community, what Washington DC's next cafe/bar/coffeehouse should be. It was the first ever VIBE beta community, as well as DC's first beta community. Two hours later we had laid out the foundation for what very well may be the coolest, most innovative venue in Washington DC.

You'd actually have to live in the area and join the DC Beta Community to find out what happened at the meeting. The group decided to keep their ideas open source, but only to participants - the norm for open source development. However, please do submit a request to join here, along with your answers to the three questions everyone at the meeting answered:

1. Your name/background
2. What your interest in the beta community is
3. What one of your favorite relevant venues are and why (or if you could combine two of your favorites together, what would they be).

That took up most of the first half of the meeting, followed by Linda's vision for opening a new venue using the open source methodology.

The fun took off in the second half with everyone's (and I do mean everyone's) input into what will make this the most desired third place in DC, followed by a discussion on how the beta community would be compensated and recognized as 'co-owners' so to speak.

All I can say is this won't be just another bar/cafe/coffeehouse, but a triple-bottom-line destination that establishes a sense of community beyond the neighborhood and becomes a portal for related business ventures that reinforce its core vision.

The bottom line is you need to establish a VIBE beta community in your neighborhood!