The end is in sight!

Hello everyone. I've just traveled to three different cities over the past four weeks. It's been somewhat of a whirlwind but things are starting to get back to normal. We are in nearly at the end of our new local journey in terms of general observations. This last question will be followed by an attempt to tie the major elements of our discussion into some cogent writing or powerpoint type presentation. Our final question is:

What is the impact of the new local of international relations?

A Map of "The New Local"?

Here's a question. What might be the map of "The New Local"? What would be the countries, the states, the cities, the towns, and the neighborhoods of this territory that we see as important? Is it even a reasonable question?

Would we need new technologies to browse such a map? Or are there already websites in place that are tracking this?

The Impact of the New Local on Government

Next up - the impact of the new local on government. This should get rather interesting......

Onward and Upward

Seems like the topic of the impact of the new local on business has played out. Next step is to discuss the impact of the new local on consumers. What does this mean?

The New Local - What does it Mean to Business?

Great posts! To get us back on somewhat of a structured track, let's move forward to the next segment in the outline - the effect of the new local on business. What does the new local mean for business? We've had a few references to this in some of our previous posts. What types of businesses will be most affected by the new local. What businesses are immune - if any? How can a business capitalize on the new local? Up next - the impact of the new local on consumers.

There's no "there" there

This quote first came to me from a high school buddy, and it seems to shed some light on what is "The New Local".

Gertrude Stein wrote this quote first in her book "Everybody's Autobiography" about returning to Oakland, CA to visit her childhood home, but she could not find the house. Hearing the way my highschool friend used the quote, it means a place has no sense of being some place.

A childhood home is full of memories, it has a strong sense of place. If the house is torn down, or the neighborhood changes dramatically, that sense of place is gone. But notice it is a very personal feeling. For the people who live there, perhaps they have a strong sense of place, but perhaps it will be temporary and only for them.

In the "new local", it needs to have a sense of "there" when you're there. Those creating virtual localities for their businesses or communities will need to pay attention to this. Google has seemed to have created a sense of place. It started small, and it started with a strong sense of purpose and with high ideals. Apple seems to have this in their many different Apple Stores - go visit one. How many people feel a sense of place around their Microsoft products these days? Perhaps a reason their stock has been flat for years now, hmm?

The new remote?

While we write about the new local, what is the new remote? In the DVD for "The March of the Penguins", a movie about the emperor penguin and its difficult mating ritual, there was included a documentary about the making of the film in which the french explorers talked about how difficult and impossible it was to communicate the depth of the experience. And the explorers also spoke about how they would have to have everything they needed for the six month winter, as the place was completely inaccessible. Yet they still had email, and now the movie is everywhere.

Where is the new remote, any ideas?