Positively Glorious!

There’s this florist in Portland who has a really great idea.

He’s not your normal florist… well, he’s not actually a florist at all, in that he doesn’t sell flowers. His name is Rick Turoczy and he started a blog in Portland (The Rose city) about Silicon Forest technology- the startups, people and blogs that fly under the RADAR of major media. He named it Silicon Florist, and it’s become one of the major stopping points for all things PDX Tech. There’s a lot of great stuff happening in PDX tech- much of it never seen by most people. Rick is there to shine a light.

Now, the cynical side of me does see the market potential in such a plan. I mean, Rick does own a business called Return that specializes in helping startups. It could be that he woke up one day and said “Hey, that’s a kick-ass way to let the people constantly see my name- equate me with the center of PDX tech- then hire my company.” In other words, it could all be a sly marketing gimmic.

Then there’s this other side- this as yet unsuccessful entrepreneurial side of me- that thinks: “Of course it is, stupid.”

Seriously, folks, the man would have to be… well… just really really dumb not to think that.  Rick’s a smart guy. Does that change things? I think not. You see, there’s also another side to me: the community-centered, small town romantic.  That side sees Silicon Florist doing one thing exceptionally well:

Making people look good.

I can’t express to you enough the awesome power of this single concept.

I can’t express to you enough the awesome power of this single concept. Imagine, there’s a person there who wants nothing better than to find you, learn about what you’re slogging away on, and tell people how cool it is. You can’t people how cool it is because you’re too busy slogging- and don’t know who to tell anyway- and even if you did, they’d say “of course you think it’s cool- you’re slogging away on it.”

Enter The Silicon Florist.

Eventually, people starting telling the Florist about what they are working on. People send tips about what was going on, more people read it to see what other cool stuff people were slogging away on. And, yes, Rick did end up as one of the foci of PDX tech, a position he likely encourages- as do I, now.

You see, he never charges for any of it. He never sells. You never interact with Rick and think “When is the pitch going to come?” That’s because, whether it’s because he’s crazy or because he’s honestly altruistic, he actually wants to make people look good.

I know, I didn’t get it at first, either. But it does make sense.

He’s even started another organization centered specifically getting feedback for what you’re slogging at. Hello Kumquat is a site specifically designed because, as it says:

“We believe that there are far too many people, working far too hard, with far too little meaningful feedback.”

What? A site specifically designed so you can track feedback for what you’re slogging away on? Another site just to tell the world that what you’re slogging away on is really cool?

Man, this dude’s setting up mad infrastructure just so you look good!

Is it marketing? I hope so- because having his consulting gig stay successful is the best way for him to have the time, money and energy he needs to help the rest of us look good. Of course it’s marketing, but it’s also…

…Wait a minute… that’s it! It’s marketing and community involvement all in one.

And it’s genius.

It’s like 2am and I wake up and think “Shit, the man’s not just smart, he’s brilliant.”

I woke up a few weeks ago with that thought. It’s like 2am and I wake up and think “Shit, the man’s not just smart, he’s brilliant.” I’ve been trying to figure out how to accomplish something here in The Gorge, and could never put my finger on a workable solution. He figured it out years ago!

My wife, The Glorious One, has spent the better part of two years developing a visioning process for The Columbia River Gorge called The Gorge Future Forum. This is incredible work she’s doing: conferences, town hall meetings, research- work. All of it to find out what we- the entire Columbia River Gorge Community- want our community to be. It’s a vision, and it’s probably one of the most important things to happen here since the Scenic Area Act was signed.

And about 16 people have heard of it.

That makes me mad. Because the possibilities of this are astronomical. Why don’t people know about this? If they know, why don’t they see its importance? I struggled with how to get the word out, and could think of nothing short of standing on top of Dog River Coffee every morning and shouting at the top of my lungs. It seems to work for people in Pioneer Square, so I tried it. Unfortunately, Bruce- our chief of police- told me to shut up and get down from there.

I went home and tried to think of where else I could shout from. I wanted people to know about it. Then, I started thinking about the other great people here. The ones doing smaller, everyday things to make The Gorge great. They need recognition too. This should all be part of the same goal. The things that people are working on to make our community better.

Of course, you see where this is going- the complete and shameless theft of an idea.

I’m not as smart as Rick, so I’ll have to keep my unrelated day job. However, over the next couple weeks, I’m slowly building up the infrastructure for a way to Engage The Gorge (the Site launch scheduled for November 1st). It’ll start small, because that’s all I can do. It’ll just be an article here and there thanking someone for what they’re doing. Just some quick write-ups and podcasts helping to make people look good. Maybe one day I’ll have the time to make it as important as The Silicon Florist.

Of course, it may not work at all, but I have to at least try. It’s just such an amazing concept that I can’t get it out of my head.

Thanks Rick!