Grand Rapids Community Foundation

Ideas that SOAR!

August 11^th, 2009

Remember Malcolm Gladwell's oft-quoted book The Tipping Point? He discusses how some ideas, trends, products, and the like just take off while others just fizzle away. He describes these "things" as social epidemics. Frankly there is much more in the book than that but the point is that we really don't know what the spark is that make ideas soar.

Gladwell's book is what I thought of when I read a profile in the Sunday, July 26th edition of The Grand Rapids Press on Rob Bliss who is a 20 year old Grand Rapids Community College student who has landed (or soared!) on ideas that have brought thousands to downtown Grand Rapids. From pillow fights, chalk fests, to zombie walks, he has helped downtown GR become the happening place for the twentysomethings to people my age and then some!

Rob Bliss did this without hiring anyone to test his ideas and without hiring a national organization that promotes cities and how to design them for a growing population. Not an "expert" hired to help! It is also a testimony to the power of social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter. I have been bombarded by plans in the last few months that promise to find the "it" factor to make Grand Rapids and West Michigan a "happening" place. I guess I am getting a bit tired of the hype and promise. It is going to take patience, vision and bold leadership.

While the ideas that Rob Bliss creates and acts on may or may not be short-lived, it is great to enjoy the moment. I am eager to see what develops in the future!