Eb81122 meetings and MEETINGS

Over the past couple of weeks I experienced the perfect storm of all day meetingsi. I had 5 by incumbents and 1 by a disruptive innovationist. It was a grand metaphor for the challenge facing advocates of eLearningi transform of K-12.

P20 Council Data committee met in the Decision Theater at ASU. An Arizona Board of Regents researcher presented their complex econometric type system-scenario model of the Arizona college student population over the next twenty years. Disruptive scenario tools such as online learning, types of courses of learning and informal college level education were not addresses.

P20 Council Annual Retreat met in the Fiesta Inn in Tempe. They reviewed and advanced the work on eight goal areas: public awareness, data, teachers, prekindergarten, literacyi, college-career readiness, pathways, and baccalaureate degrees. In the pages of descriptions, extensions and sub-topics only in: Pathways, f. high school modernization, ii. was the single word “E-learning” written. The support of informal learning support like MIT or online learning like university of Phoenix was not addressed.

Preparing Infrastructure for an Arizona-2030 of 10 million people met at ASU. Education and Telecommunications were listed as the most important infrastructure needs for the economy. Then most of the presentation time focused on transportation, energy, health care, and water. The currently underfunded public sector system infrastructure (cost minus revenues) is about $288 billion over the next 25 years. There was no indication that the accelerating adoption of eLearning and telework – which could ameliorate large school and highway construction costs with lower cost broadbandi – was not considered. 

FCC/USDA Rural Broadband Workshop (1 of 4 nationally) met in my hood, Sunnyslope. The presenters addressed technology and services, benefits of broadband and how under–served rural communities could apply for federal grants. Rural folks ranging from California to Native Americans from North Dakota attended. Distance learning and Telemedicine grants of a total of $334 million ($1 per U.S. citizen) were available. There was no mention of a major federal initiative to assure broadband into every home that South Korea and Singapore have delivered.

Sun Corridor – Mountain Megapolitian by the Morrison and Brookings Institutes met at ASU with our governor and many other officials attending. Our Megapolitian region from Prescott to Nogales has a current 5.5 million population that will grow to 7.8 million in 2030. This is by far the highest growth rate of the 20 Megapolitians in the U.S. The message at the meeting was that Arizona could lose this challenge of $trillion high growth, quality jobs and global completion. We must “get in the game” with federal policy and support, and squarely face the future within our Arizona political and revenue/funding system.

Over the past two week’s this tour-de-force of situation assessment and strategic planning delivered prescribed solutions for just about every economic, social and civic issue facing Arizona. Our political, economic, educational and business leaders engaged world class experts and studies. Throughout, the message was opportunity, coping and change using best practices and tried and true solutions. By looking to our history – these means should provide continuous improvement of our incumbent systems. This evolution is vital because we must grow our foundation as we evolve our society.

We can look back to the early 1990’s to see similar happenings – the Phoenix Futures Forumi and Arizona Strategic Plan for Economic Development. These multi-year efforts engaged thousands of Arizona leaders. There was a strong element of innovation that resulted in the first use of economic enterprise clusters throughout our country and a delightful set of detailed visions by Francine Hardaway that included the good, bad and ugly. 

This is a great way to segue into my 6^th and final conference:

3rd Arizona Entrepreneurship Conference at The Marriott Buttes in Tempe by Francine and her merry band of disruptive innovators. I got there early and stayed well into the evening – although I passed up the incredible after-party at the Gangplank. Where is my youth now that I need it?

The sponsors were entrepreneurially focused law firms, banks, cities, newspapers and of course enterprises. 

Gary Vee of www.winelibrary.tv did a Khrushchev shoe banging to bring home the point of “know thy customer.”

Panels: Anil Jain TiE AZ, Products that Sell, Dan Willis Microsoft, Local Successes; and Sandra Watson AZ Dept. Of Commerce, Climate for Startups. Pat Sullivan of Flypaper and Bill Harden Osborn and Maledon hit hard on Lessons Learned. Rick Gibson Hot Ventures chaired Funding in Arizona.

Matt Mullenweg www.automattic.com started Akimet because he did not want his mother to see spam on blogs.

Dan Willis announced the Microsoft BizSpark program that licenses and supports free any and all Microsoft products for three years to qualified small entrepreneurial software based startups.

After Sustainability Initiatives and Notable launches, things started getting weird (for me) with Blogosphere, online video, justine.tv,/ijustine, social media, Facebook, and Twitter. It reminded me of my mother being baffled by computers in her county library in the late1970’s.

These entrepreneurs with their disruptive innovations are the key to Arizona’s success. If they succeed like Arizona’s transformational pioneers of the past 150 years, then Arizona’s future in 2030 and beyond is secured. Our incumbents have a critical role. They must learn innovation theory and assure there polices and systems support and do not impede disruptive innovation. They must provide our innovators with critical infrastructure – and then get out of their way. I know I will. My day may be fading, but theirs is just begun.