Open Letter

Dear NW Creative Social Group

            You are involved in an interesting experiment in community building. What you are trying to do could not possibly have been done ten years ago and it seems like it may not be entirely possible now. Some of you seem to be getting what you want from this community, but the community as a whole must be considered a failure so far.

            There are other Meetup groups that have successful well attended events and they seem to be building community cohesion. Why does our group fail to do this? I think the there are two problems that challenge this group:

1. I think this group is too broadly defined. It is clear that there is a wide diversity in the creative pursuits of this group’s members. There doesn’t seem to be enough in common to bring these people together in a real community.

2. The expectations of the members are also too diverse. Some members say they want to meet in person and build real relationships with other creative people in this city; others are only interested in on-line communication and relationships.

            The first problem makes it difficult to bring people together, because there just does not seem to be enough in common to make them participate as a group. The Thursday Art Walk would seem to be a great way to bring people together to view the latest art work coming out of the Pearl District, but this monthly event is plagued by low attendance and poor communication.

            The second problem may be the most significant problem because there are many members who never intend to participate in the group’s events. These people are only interested in having on-line communication with other creative people and they seem to be at odds with the stated goals of the group. The other members, who say they want to meet in person with other creatives, either are not telling the truth or for some other reason they just don’t participate. This lack of participation results in a great deal of frustration and leads to most of the problems in this group.

            The most important lesson I have learned about community from my membership in this group is that with limited time and energy it is important to consciously choose the communities I wish to be a part of.        In some cases we are members of communities by default without our personal choice; for example our family or our ethnic group. Other communities we choose freely, especially with on-line groups. I have decided that I chose not to be part of this group any longer, because the stated goals don’t really have anything to do with the reality of the group and only seem to lead to frustration.

            It is too early to tell whether this group will break through and begin to really achieve its goals. The technology is too new and people are still learning how they relate to it and how to use it to best advantage. I encourage anyone who is interested to keep trying.