There is a bubbling here in Lansing, I can feel it. I light rumble beneath my feet filled with creativity and innovation. Under the rusty foundation of a once great General Motors I can feel Lansing coming alive. For the past few years I have been noticing the growing creative class of entrepreneurs who wish to walk there own path here in this great city. Behind all the rust of a fading Industrial Age there is a beauty to this city and its residents and many creatives like me would like to craft our stories without moving to “greener” pastures. To do what we love for a living, accepting the consequences of that journey no matter what it may entail. Like a small voice it’s been whispering to me and I am dying to hear these stories. So I have decided to create a blog to record these stories. I want this site to be a conduit that will allow people to not only share there creative journeys but also connect them with other like minded individuals. My hope is to create a community that will be able to support each other both creativity and personally.
So when I say the creative class a term coined by Dr.Richard Florida what do I mean. The creative class is a subset of workers in the USA who comprise 30% of the US work force, who use there mental prowess to create innovative products that inspire and connect with people emotionally and culturally. Florida breaks the creative class into two subset groups the super-creative core and creative professionals. My main focus of this blog will be the super-creative core. The super creative-core consists of the those mainly working in the technology, art, design, and media fields. So when I refer to the creative class I am referring to the super-creative core.
The focus of this blog will be to give light to those in the Lansing creative class. I do not only want to explore the business side of what they do but also the personal changes they experience. I want to dig deep into the trails and triumphs that are experienced as creatives walk this journey. Intent on doing what we love for a living and let that thought drive our feet forward. I thinks this is going to be an interesting walk and I hope you will take it with me.
If you would like to learn more about the creative class I suggest reading Dr. Richard Florida’s books. They are fun reads that will give you a different perspective on the current changes developing in the world economy.
- The Rise of the Creative Class, Richard Florida
- The Flight of the Creative Class, Richard Florida