Why progress is painfully slow in the Triad
Design, Art and Technology Symposium, 2008
University of North Carolina Greensboro
If you’re a student involved in a creative field, your concerns are broad. Probably you’re still searching and for you, the field is wide open. But if you’re a professional you’re primarily interested in getting stuff done. If you don’t know how to do it, you’re interested in connecting with people who do. You recognize it’s not a one way street; either you’re going to pay for expertise or you’re going to trade some of your experience. That is to say, you’re going to collaborate.
Fortunately, the students attending the presentation I attended seemed to know this. They were eager to know the straightest line between what they wanted to do and where their skill level was. Ben Radatz of MK12 gave them the now classic description of how his group got things done: They weren’t sure how they’d make money from their animations, their small group knew what they wanted to do and what they were passionate about, they worked on the cheap, they worked long hours, they focused on the creative and artistic end rather than techie stuff, and then they went about making stuff.
Gaps in Economic Development
Compare this hands-on approach to the top-down initiative of the Piedmont Triad Partnership and you have a snapshot of the region’s creative class. As Margaret Collins reported, the Triad has been in serious economic trouble for many years and the consequences of doing nothing are grave indeed. With tens of thousands of jobs lost, it’s pretty much up to the collective us to figure out how to create the future. Among its first steps PTP is trying to see how it can fill gaps in the existing network of education, business, and community.
But a critical question to ask might be, What got us into the slow lane of economic development in the first place? Could our laid-back attitudes and local institutions themselves share the blame? What’s the real nature of change that might be required to turn the area around? Are the participants ready to make those changes? Social changes of any significance simply do not come quickly, easily, or painlessly.
And since the future of the Triad is at stake, I think it’s best to make a list for all the participants to see of both the benefits and costs of change. If they’re still willing to stay on, they do so knowing they’ve got a dog in the fight and a reason to see change go through.
Right now, it’s the freelancers, lone artists, and small and new design and creative groups that are carrying the biggest risks. They have the most compelling reasons to collaborate, to try new things, and to work long hours. Students about to graduate, too, have a big stake (in the form of their years of schooling and thousands of dollars invested in education) in the Triad’s ability to turn the local economy around. They’ll either stick around because they can get really interesting jobs or because there’s a lot of solid, creative energy in the air that promises them something in the near future, or they will get out.
Bleeding talent
According to a recent News-Record story, the area has been losing young people. In 1990, 20-24 year olds made up 10.8% of the population. In 2006, it was 9.3%. In 1990, 25-29 year olds made up 6.4% of the population; in 2006 it was 6.2%. In 1990, 30-34 year olds made up 8.9%; in 2006 they made up 8.2%. In 1990, 35-39 year olds made up 8%; in 2006 they were 6.5%.
