More video clues to help you locate the 1st cache

the 1st geoquest - can you find it???

Today, our 1st geo-cache has been implemented and awaits you to find out. We filled the cache with some amazing and personal artifacts that meant something to each of us and was our way of sharing a piece of us and getting this project started. Watch the video and you'll learn about the 1st cache and clues to help you be the 1st to locate it. It is near coordinates:

Alex Castro of Urbanite "just watching this grow is..."

This was our last meeting at Urbanite headquarters. This video you hear from Alex Castro of the Urbanite about what it feels like to watch these ideas and teams come to fruition.

Final design is due - we are almost there

At this stage of the project we are meeting with the Urbanite team to give them our thoughts, images and our article (that's been revised several times into the wee hours :-). This video shows some of the process of actually designing the 2 page spread you see in the Urbanite magazine.

It's about 5:30pm, people are getting tired and anxious but Alex, the creative director at the Urbanite is yelling at us for not bringing our images trying to be nice and patient as we explain our ideas to him. He works quickly, like an artist and starts visualizing your thoughts and bringing them to life on the screen before you can even complete them - kinda weird :-) it's really a touch of genius at work!

How do we design this???

Here's a video clip showing some of the thought process behind the 2 page spread we had to create. The meeting was held at this beautiful site called the Woodberry kitchen which is located near the Urbanite HQ - not too far from the Woodberry light rail stop. Certainly a place you should check out - it really gave us the right setting to be inspired.

Paper Moon thoughts

We met up at the Paper Moon for a good Saturday morning breakfast and brainstorming session. At this point in the development of our idea we were still offering a variety of different ideas and we had not yet come to a conclusion of exactly what we wanted to create.

Food was delicious:
Bobbi, ordered grits (she's a major grits fan), Aaron ordered an omelet, I ordered Green tea (decaf-I kicked caffeine long time ago) and egg-white mushroom and green peppers omelet - tasty!

Baltimore of the future-TODAY! by Aaron

Just as something to maybe get people’s minds jogging, I’ve been thinking a bunch about Baltimore’s underused spaces. Places like Pimlico Racecourse, Cylburn Arboretum and I’m sure a number of parks seem to be seriously underused. After hearing Bobbi’s great song to Bonnie Copeland (and since I’m a big sucker for harmonies, the second half of the song got me going!), maybe a monthly music jam at Cylburn would be the kind of thing Baltimore needs! Just think, Oriole Park, widely considered one of the jewels of Major League Baseball, was built on what had been completely undesired land.

Also, what if Baltimore were a great big laboratory? In many respects it already is and is thought of as a sort of social laboratory, but what about if cutting edge science and technologies were part of the city’s fabric?

For instance, if the infield of Pimlico were a solar farm. Or if they tested those kite-like wind generators down south in the shipyard areas? If during the day the indoor soccer field at 1st Mariner Arena was a testing ground for soccer-playing robots?

What if robotic “fish” were programmed to clean up debris in the harbor? Not tobe too much of a robotophile here, but what if the spirit of innovation was ingrained into Baltimore’s everyday places? What if she gave herself over to technological advancement?

Red Line Blues by Aaron

Last night I went to the basement of the Holy Rosary Church on Chester Street near Patterson Park for an information the MTA Red Line, which is the proposed public transportation line that will run from Woodlawn across town to Hopkins Bayview Campus. Tons of info in a not-so-captivating user format can be found here: http://www.baltimoreregiontransitplan.com/.

I was extremely impressed by not only the vision and work that went into it (right now, the proposed line will displace 5 businesses at most, with a decent chance that nobody-homes or businesses-will be displaced. I thought that this particular zero was a pretty amazing number) but also by the incredible interactive and animated displays, maps, charts, and sketches. The three staff members I spoke to were all extremely knowledgable and answered my 15,000 questions with excellent command of their subject. A really well done presentation. I practically wrote a novel of enthusiastic praise on the comment card.

The only thing that bugged me was the low turnout.

I had to have been the only person under 40 there. There were no children or families despite the cool displays. None of the hardened cyclists I’m used to seeing around Mt. Vernon and other parts of town. Just me and a good number of blue-hairs, bless their hearts. And this was in one of the neighborhoods that stands to be most directly impacted by the presence of the Red Line!

It got me thinking about community participation in Baltimore. There are certainly a good number of concerned and involved people in this town, but I get the feeling that there isn’t the same level of citizen involvement here that there is in other American cities. I think there is a role for technology here, and though I get the sense that it is a well-worn question that people have attempted to answer already, I wonder how we can use technology to encourage community involvement in Baltimore. Some neighborhoods have listserv email groups, others have neighborhood bloggers, etc. Since physical meetings don’t always work since people are busy and there may not be an adequate physical space, this seems like a gap technology could fill well.

I don’t want your eyes and brains to get blurry, so I’ll conclude here. I know it’s a big (and perhaps frequently-asked) question, but if I know anything about the two of you, it’s that your aims aren’t exactly small potatoes!

First Cut by Aaron

Dearest Bobbi and Mario,
It was great to meet the both of you on Tuesday and I’m really looking forward to getting going with the project. As I believe I mentioned, I applied to this as a reader. So I thought a good way to kick off would be to share what I wrote in the application. I should note that there was a 200-word limit, and that explains why it might seems a bit scattered. But scattered may not be a bad place to start…

What issue in Baltimore would you try to address through the Urbanite Project?

While there are other phenomena in Baltimore that are more grisly (and HBO-ready), none is as barren and yet oddly mesmerizing as “commuting.”

Since my morning way to work is a five-minute walk, I find this to be a most bizarre event. That so many make such a choice is startling, and such an action reflects a great deal about humanity as well as our city.

Of course the subject is pregnant with irony (and thus my quotations): “Commute” as a verb means “to shorten.”

My vision for a project on “commuting” goes beyond imagining attractive non-car alternatives (although I do expect them to be part of the conversation) by examining how the austere spaces of “commute” (Downtown JFX et al.) can better reflect the whimsy and diversity that are so corporeal in the rest of our city. How can we inject the character of Baltimore into this, the busiest—yet most drab—part of town? One specific online component of the project could be an “alternate route generator,” whereby readers can see corridors, arteries, and ways they never knew. A holistic exploration of the meaning and manifestation of the “commute” seems a great fit for the project because of its many possibilities, and I hope we are able to discuss it further.

I mentioned to Bobbi that I’m a bit of a transportation junkie, and that’s probably reflected here. I like the idea of focusing the project on commuting because it’s the primary interaction with Baltimore for so many, and yet it is overlooked as such.

I’m also interested in promoting entrepreneurship, and in particular, getting people access to knowledge and advice to help them get started. I’ve always thought that the primary barrier to entry for many is the lack of access to know-how and advice on getting started. Start-up capital of course an issue, but how might we help people access knowledge on getting started? Might there be a role for technology here? Or is a physical space more appropriate? Friends and I have kicked around the concept of a coffee shop that employed a few financial advisors in addition to the normal kitchen staff. People could come in and talk about their ideas over coffee. As you both have each been catalysts in the building of lasting institutions, what was the most crucial help that you received and how did you find and employ it?

Well, those are a couple of half-baked ideas that have been floating around me for a little while. I’ll be getting a few more blogged in over the weekend. I’m anxious to hear your responses and deep dark ideas for Baltimore. Let’s hear it!

Idea from Bobbi

Alright, I’ve been thinking. Between the three of us we have activism, art, technology, and a strong belief in relationships. What if we create the possibility of people from around the city relating to each other through an art installation that uses technology?

I was thinking about two things: when I was little and living in Chicago my dad (Herb, great guy, you would have loved him) used to take us all (I am the youngest of 5) to the museum of science and industry (all chicago museums were free!). Anyhow, there was this cool room, huge and filled with great stuff. At each end of this huge, loud, crowded space was a little glass shell on a platform. When you stepped up and whispered into the glass shell, the person standing in the other one, at the other end of the room could hear you clearly, and you could hear them. The part that was so memorable, was that unless you planned ahead with someone, you didn’t know who you were talking to. The room was so big, you could not see the other shell. So, it was just two strangers whispering to eachother across a crowded space of inquiry. What did we whisper?
The other thing that came to mind is the new sculpture in Millenium Park in Chicago. Check out the link: http://www.millenniumpark.org/artandarchitecture/crown_fountain.html

This sculpture has images of chicago people projected through the water, and folks play in the fountain. It is pretty cool to be standing downtown and connecting with people in this way.
What if there was a way to create something for Baltimore that allowed city kids and teachers and parents to communicate in this way? In a public, artistic, whispering way?

Let the ideas flow

Hi folks this blog entry kicks off our team transparent blog - aka our “TTB”. This TTB will document our ideas, thoughts, processes and brainstorms of this experience with the Urbanite Magazine. We have been tasked to create a new idea with a clean slate, no filters, no politics, no red-tape for the Urbanite Project.
This blog serves as the central home of this project and we encourage you to be involved and to assist us in shaping it. There are 3 of us on the team Bobbi Macdonald, Aaron Meyers & Mario Armstrong and we are just starting the brainstorming process. So feel free to comment and add to this blog and to participate in this journey with us.

The Photo Shoot at Urbanite HQ

Then they send us upstairs to go and have our photos taken as a team. One of these shots will actually end up as the image in the Urbanite paper on March 3rd 2008. Which photos do you like the best?
1. photo 1
2. photo 2
3. photo 3

This video is where it all begins. This was our first time meeting the other participants for the project and our first time meeting with the Urbanite staff.

Urbanite staff explains the project

Here is a video I shot to give you an inside glimpse as to the initial meeting our team had with Urbanite magazine. At this meeting in early November they shared the idea behind the Urbanite Project and its purpose. It was kind of different - they were very cautious not to add more than needed, they were extremely careful in their words as to not influence our ideas in anyway. When was the last time you were truly give a "clean slate" to create what you wanted with no strings attached? That's what this moment felt like - as if we knew we were embarking on a tremendous journey of excitement, optimism and innovation but with absolutely no direction!