Tremendous

Major Highfield, Me, Rodney Jordan, Wes Garnett, Steve Roettger, Chris Brogan, Mitch Joel & Julien Smith

I didn’t sleep last night.

And I didn’t sleep because my head is exploding with ideas. Now those of you who know me know that I have an idea problem. Ideas are always popping into my head. But not like this. It’s like a burst dam inside my oversized cranium.

Yesterday I drove to Wilmington to attend the first Trust Summit presented by the Archer Group with bestselling authors Chris Brogan, Julien Smith (authors of Trust Agents) and Mitch Joel (author of Six Pixels of Separation). First of all, the magnitude of these people coming to Delaware, together, for an appearance is greater than most people realize. I took to telling people that if there was a Mount Rushmore for social media, they’d all be on it.

What amazed me most of all is that three people who have emerged as leaders in this space, when each given 40 minutes or so to speak, brought three different perspectives – Joel’s passion, Smith’s depth & Brogan’s showmanship. I learned a massive amount from each, and I’m not exactly new to this stuff.

And none of them talked about technology. Mitch Joel even pointed out at the end of his talk that he had not done so. All three seemed determined to focus on the mindset, the paradigms, that need to change. Economy 2.0 is an attitude, an approach. Social media are just a suite of tools and platforms used to implement that new approach.

I’m not going to go into the specifics of each presentation but suffice it to say I’m as convinced as I ever was that business as we know it and as you practice it is changing forever right now. And it’s people like The Archer Group who are out in front.

Can you see down there, down the road a few years, when the new economy is in full swing? The Archer Group is already there.  You should take the time to learn about Lee & Patrick and their team and what they do. (Lee & Patrick have a hotly anticipated book – Engage Your Brand – coming out in a few weeks, too.) These guys are visionaries in this space and they’re right here in Delaware. The drop-in appearance by the Governor at yesterday’s event just highlights that fact and the importance of where the economy is moving.

Another reflection from yesterday concerns Ken Grant. I’ve known Ken for quite some time, before social media emerged. So I have a little different perspective than most, but seeing Ken take the reins of the social media movement in Delaware has been awesome. Yesterday, when Chris Brogan stayed around for two extra hours at the request of the Governor and Whitney Hoffman to meet with some government economic and communications officials, it was Ken Grant who ran the show. Now Ken is not a government official or the representative of a business or nonprofit group. But yet there he was, running the show.

And he deserves it. While many people are doing great work to increase the use of social media in Delaware (Whitney Hoffman, Rodney Jordan, Rebecca Faber, the Governor, AGS Printing, the VRG guys, I could go on and on), Ken has been the guy who steadfastly steps on the gas at every opportunity. He’ll deflect all the credit and take none for himself, so that’s why it’s absolutely critical to shine the spotlight on him. Ken’s a doer, and there’s no higher honor I can bestow.

Between meetings, I had the opportunity to stop at the nearly-completed coworking space in Wilmington, the CoIN Loft. This fundamentally necessary operation is the brainchild of Wes Garnett & Steve Roettger of the Verge Business Group. These young guys are full of ambition and generosity of spirit and are hell-bent on creating a thriving, vibrant incubator of entrepreneurial endeavors in Downtown Wilmington. Much like The Archer Group, these two guys will be a driving force for Economy 2.0.

So again I travel northward and return enthused about the future of our great state. Now it’s time to take action on these new Brogan/Smith/Joel-inspired ideas.