That bit of philosophizing was meant to justify my suggestion for an active, promoted Gangplank mailing list, since my connection to other Gangplankers is relatively weak but that doesn’t mean I’m not interested or capable of supporting the community– I’m just not well-connected despite my intentions/efforts to be so. I feel more “in tune with” the defunct Refresh Phoenix, since that list gets emails almost daily.

I absolutely agree. Gangplank has been attempting to include more. It is top priority for our near future. I think people will be amazed about some announcements we will have for 2010.

What about “recordkeeping” and “reciprocity”…Maybe we could publish a list of local individuals/teams that have worked together and exchanged services?

“relationship” + “depth”… Do we know each other better than just on the surface, like “Oh yeah I saw him at place X on day Y”?

“investigation” + “ritual”/”traditions”…Do the weekly brownbags at GP count as this? Could we do more of it? Could it take different forms?

“leadership” + “awareness”…Who is leading what? What do they do? What do they need?

“invest” + “celebration”…Could we do community-based crowdfunding of parties and events at Gangplank or elsewhere? If everybody contributed $10, could we hire a live band to play at Hacknight?

“produce” + “commonality”… If we don’t have existing common ground, is there a way we could BUILD some? Create some commonality where once there was none at all? What would it mean to do this?

I think that Kristen’s idea of art is important to this outreach. The social media scene in Phoenix seems to be heavily focused on the technical/design side of the creative spectrum, with little visible connects to the art side – visual, mucical or performance.

An integral part of this such outreach needs to include Nicholas’ idea of nurturing new members. This is especially true if we want to expand the role of artists in the community. Nurturing will help strengthen both the breath and depth of involvement in our community as mentioned by Alan.

A community will rise to it’s level of participation. I have been in organizations that stagnate. They don’t increase power, scope or energy because the members are comfortable where they are. Leaders who don’t push further support the status quo.

Right now, this community of creatives forming in Phoenix is amazing. And it is small. From the list above: strengthen involvement depth and (if I may add) breadth is what we should work on next.

6) As the community grows with the absorption of new people and ideas, we should fortify the new additions by actively nurturing them. Ensure quality growth by guarding against the pernicious effects of perceived isolation, confusion, and hazing that can cause new participants to fall away.