Taking matters into our own hands.

The most interesting subject discussed at Coffee with Likemind a couple weeks ago wasn’t the Noseys. It wasn’t the Roseys. The most interesting – and important – conversation was about responsibility and empowerment. It was about creating our own future. It wasn’t about what we’re saying, but what we can, should and must do.

From the conversation came an amazing idea: Let’s organize a multi-day “creative festival” of events. (As some of you know, we’ve put on two events we call Show & Tell with our friends at Pinch. The folks over at Struck put on an event about social media. And over at Nemo there was the Who Killed Social Media event. Others have put on equally informative and inspiring events around town.) We’ll do a Show & Tell. Nemo will do something else. Struck will do a third thing. And others will step up to put on their own events, large and small. A rolling coffee to talk about bicycle framebuilding? Great. A brewery tour to learn about the craft of organic beer? Terrific. Maybe it’s the same week as Ignite Portland. Maybe it’s the same week as the Roseys.

It probably won’t be perfect. But it will show what the people and agencies of Portland are capable of, the creativity and culture our city fosters, and the intellect we have, as a community, of approaching challenges in different ways.

This isn’t one person’s responsibility. It isn’t one organization’s responsibility, or even the city’s responsibility. We are all responsible. We are empowering ourselves. Let’s take matters into our own hands.