City Share Mini Conference

CreateHere is constantly working to develop a curriculum for seeding innovative projects, and one of our first outlets for testing that work-in-progress occurred during the City Share Mini-Conference held in Chattanooga in February of 2010.

The City Share Mini-Conference brought bright minds from across disciplines together to teach, share, plan, and change. Delegates from Charlottesville, VA; Chattanooga, TN; Chicago, IL; Knoxville, TN; Wichita, KS; Windsor, Ontario; and the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), based in London worked together to tackle issues.

Designed to inspire innovation here and abroad, the conference included intensive, facilitated conversations focused on site-specific problems and successes. Over the course of two days, teams developed three projects, which delegates have now brought home to incubate, edit, and implement.

The result? International knowledge-sharing; a growing network of change-makers; and organizations across the world better equipped to serve cities, for one, for all.

The Projects

Kiss & Tell: Wichita
Brand development for a provocative and witty marketing campaign that introduces Wichitans to their greatest asset: themselves. Kiss & Tell recommends “speed-dating” for organizations, fostering connectivity locally.

Love, Your Neighbour: Windsor
Curriculum and brand development for a program that connects classes in Detroit and Windsor, two cities separated by national borders but connected in economic decline after the fall of the automobile industry. Students are offered passports, and the three-month cultural exchange ends with face-to-face collaboration.

The Seam: Charlottesville
Planning for a DIY arts center and community space that bridges two disparate communities in Charlottesville. With the construction of new public housing nearby, the center’s role as a connector could be increasingly important.