A different view of change

"Although Mr. Keen's objections to the publishing and distribution tools the Web provides to aspiring artists and writers sound churlish and elitist he calls publish-on-demand services a just cheaper, more accessible versions of vanity presses where the untalented go to purchase the veneer of publications he is eloquent on the fallout that free, user-generated materials is having on traditional media."

Very thought provoking article. I'll most likely read his book before commenting in depth, although I think he is stuck on Web 2.0 and has not looked at the possibilities of a Web 3.0 approach, unless that is in his book somewhere.

Anyway, the genie is out of the bottle and although his observations have a lot of merit, the process which has started will not be reversed.

Perhaps he should look into how how to "professionalize" the "amateurs," since this era of organizational and, perhaps, media Darwinism will not always reward and respect tradition, but will reward instead those who adapt best to their environment.

A Paradigm Shift in Communications

As we further develop our "pan-Long Island-ist" approach to creating a Unified Theory of Regional Cooperation as contained within the Long Island 3.0 and Long Island Congress concepts, it becomes readily apparent that the manner in which we communicate with one another will undergo a paradigm shift of significant proportions.

It is only a matter of time before the established methods of receiving and analyzing data, whether through traditional media or otherwise, is turned on its head.

Imagine for example, organizations and individuals having access to a coordinated Long Island data reservoir from which they will be able to determine through established and "ad hoc" formulae information pertinent to their individual needs. Imagine further, that organizations can filter and reconstruct information and events to determine accuracy and to, in effect, create their own individualized "daily newspaper," advocacy position paper or any of the thousands of other uses for news and information. Furthermore, this individualized information will be available on a multitude of devices already in use and those not yet imagined.

All of the players in the news and information matrix will be held to a higher standard. Facts and information will be more readily available and constantly vetted for accuracy. How this information is interpreted, opined upon and ultimately put into practice is what will test the resolve and challenge Long Islanders.

Old forms will vanish and new ones will form as this "Organizational Darwinism" works its way through this new century and beyond.

Keep constantly in mind in how many things you yourself have witnessed changes already. The universe is change, life is understanding. Marcus Aurelius

Long Island Congress: A Virtual Think Tank

Another way, at least in part, to view the Long Island Congress/Long Island 3.0 concept is as a Long Island "virtual think tank." A think tank that creates a dynamic environment for the accumulation, analysis and implementation of new ideas on  a reasonable timetable and in an inclusive manner.

Where is the "clearing house of ideas" housed on Long Island at present? Nowhere that I've found so far other than the usual "static based-identify the issues type." Not a bad thing and certainly part of the puzzle,  just not enough. There are many locations, with many good ideas, using many different methodologies and technologies, but there is no way to create bridges, both technological and conceptual between them all.

How do we interact with one another today? Intermittently, by happenstance in a static manner for the most part. I believe most organizations and individuals want to work cooperatively, but do not have the tools and opportunity to do so.

Substantive change rarely comes by revolution or in one fell swoop. It generally comes in an organic, incremental manner. More so when there are many established moving parts as we have here on Long Island.

Although it may be to organizational or individual advantage to be seen as the agent of great change in a flash of brilliance, the reality is that great shock or rapid change to an "organism" usually harms the organism more than it helps it. 

So in establishing our dynamic "virtual think tank" for Long Island with the Long Island Congress/ Long Island 3.0 concepts we give ourselves the opportunity to create a strong and coordinated region that is incremental, pragmatic and most important of all, sustainable.

As recent events have illustrated, Long Island can not afford to do otherwise.

New Site for Long Island Citizen Journalists

The Long Island Press has entered the world of "Citizen Journalism" with the launch of its new website.

I suggested a few modifications, like the addition of RSS/XML feeds, but overall I think it will be a very useful addition to the "Long Island conversation."

I encourage everyone with something positive or productive to say to sign up and start blogging. Citizen participation is an essential ingredient in the promotion of the Long Island Congress and Long Island 3.0 projects.

"As you think, so you act. As you act, so you become."

As we have previously stated, the Long Island Congress and Long Island 3.0 concepts are as much about a new way of thinking as they are about hard and fast solutions.

It is important to think about solutions for Long Island in a "global" and inclusive manner rather than in the fragmented approach that exists on much of Long Island at present. A house divided against itself cannot stand.

We do ourselves a disservice as a region and subject ourselves to the fickle machinations of Albany and Washington when we keep ourselves in a fragmented and weakened state.

Think inclusively and we will act inclusively and we will become inclusive. The more of our citizens who prosper from a united Long Island, the stronger we will become.

Think in a coordinated manner, and we will act in a coordinated manner and will will become a coordinated and powerful region.

We must fully utilize and develop all aspects of our educational and library systems, business development and accelerator projects, advanced technology centers, community and advocacy organizations, local governments among many others, and weave it into a strong, flexible and unbreakable fabric.

If we depend too greatly upon others for support, we run the risk of allowing others to play one Long Island group off of another, keeping us is a constant state of disarray.

We must think as a Long Island region and be proud of and relentlessly promote and defend Long Island. Too often, I think, some think of Long Island in the abstract; as a place to come from on our way to somewhere else.

We must infuse a sense of urgency and devotion to the Long Island cause, and build upon what we have; and what we have is pretty good already.

We can achieve greatness.

Think regionally, act regionally, become a region.

Viral Organization Building?

"One of the driving forces behind any successful discipline, institution, business, and any organizational structure for that matter, is the constant application of innovative ideas. Without innovation, things stagnate and can never realize their full potential. Advertising, as a creative social science, continually searches for innovative ways to capture audiences'€™ attention in order to communicate a particular message."

Good article on viral marketing. 

What we are attempting to do with  Long Island Congress and Long Island 3.0 is, in part, to create a form of sophisticated "viral" information sharing containing the "constant application of innovative ideas" for public policy development.

The Long Island Congress/Long Island 3.0 is then, in part, an "organic structure" constantly changing and adapting to meet any challenges that may occur and allowing Long Island to prosper as a region in this era of "Organizational Darwinism."

Two more good signs for Long Island

"In the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, metro-area suburbs welcomed dozens of companies looking to relocate, reduce risk and spread out their operations. Called the 9/11 effects€ by real estate brokers, city firms took hundreds of thousands of square feet of office space outside Manhattan, filling buildings in New Jersey, Connecticut, Westchester County and on Long Island."

If this trend continues it will be a great opportunity for Long Island to attract more high skill, high paying jobs. Apparently, Long Island is a bargain for the right type of companies. Perhaps there is a way to work with companies relocating to Long Island to address the issues of housing, energy and transportation in a coordinated, comprehensive manner.  The dynamic method we describe in Long Island 3.0 could create the right structure for even greater positive change.

"The energy center is not the only one under development at Stony Brook. Construction is underway on the Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology."

Stony Brook continues to keep Long Island in the forefront of technology and business growth. We must find ways to replicate their model all across Long Island and to tie it all into a dynamic engine for job growth and institutional change.

 Who knows what we can accomplish if we work together? 

Two on the right track

"In a first-time regionwide initiative, five major Long Island philanthropic groups have pledged a half-million dollars to help 12 grassroots organizations improve the quality of life in distressed communities."

Another good idea and a good start towards a "unified theory of regional coordination" we've been promoting with Long Island 3.0 and the Long Island Congress (and even since 1993 with Oyster Bay 2000). We've emailed most if not all of these groups the Long Island Idea Factory blog for a number of months now.  They don't respond, but maybe they read it occasionally.

It is important that "like minded" organizations begin to engage in this type of behavior so that when there is a "multi-disciplinary" approach to addressing Long Island issues, they have already coordinated and analyzed how they wish to approach particular issues. That is not to say that when they are "thrown into the mix" with other "disciplines" their opinions may change and have to be modified, but it is a good start nevertheless.

"The Long Island Regional Planning Board basically has no jurisdiction and authority per se. We do have the bully pulpit. I am, I think, also very skilled in listening to advocates and at conflict resolution, and that's what this is going to take."

Mr. White seems like a bright fellow looking to "coordinate"  land use issues on Long Island for a productive end. He would be well served by "broadening" the pool of talent available to him, whether land use related or not. Different disciplines have different ways of looking at things.  A "fresh eye" on different issues is almost always useful.

Again, the Long Island Congress, Long Island 3.0 concepts allow for the kind of dynamic multi-disciplinary approach required for the "sustainable" long term health of Long Island. 

Just keep connecting "connecting the dots."

Taming the Feral Beast?

"British newspapers will and should be subject to some form of new external regulation, the outgoing prime minister, Tony Blair, said yesterday in a broadside that attacked the media for behaving like feral beasts and eschewing balance or proportion ... He admitted that his own attempts to bypass traditional media through websites and press conferences had been "to no avail". He also conceded that he was partly to blame for the predicament, saying his determination to convey the Labour message in the period of opposition and early years in government had made him complicit in the decline in news standards."

Mr. Blair is probably stepping down just in time.  True the press can be as unfair, incompetent and brutal as anyone else in society. But this didn't start with Tony Blair and this press. Yes, there is more of it and yes, it is a business where being first is often worth more than being accurate, but different times present different dilemmas requiring different solutions.

Ours is a time of rapid change in media technology and the empowerment of the masses. The press feels the pressure not only to compete with one another but with, literally, the man on the street. This circumstance will escalate until the the next media "plateau" is reached and there is a sorting out and stabilization of how we receive news and information and how we process opinion.

If  Mr. Blair was incapable of getting his message out with all the apparatus available to him both politically and governmentally and with the ease with which  technology can make one person into a virtual media empire, then perhaps it was not how he got his message out, but what his message contained. All politicians have a shelf life. Mr. Blair has reached his.

"The town square may be too traffic-ridden in most cities for speakers to be heard today, but diverse voices still reach us each day in the virtual town square that is the editorial pages of American newspapers. There, we converse, challenge and opine on topics as diverse as taxes and prescription drugs, baseball rules and stadium construction, women's suffrage and civil rights, immigration and education, religion and ethics, freedom and fishing licenses."

Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings -- that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide. Buddha

In the frank expression of conflicting opinions lies the greatest promise of wisdom in governmental action. Justice Louis D. Brandeis quotes

Long Island is no different than the rest of the world. Our challenge in to find a way to convey accurate information both to the organization and to the individual and to process that information for the common good.  

There will always be differences of opinion, personal ego, business concerns and a thousand other reasons not to cooperate. 

The Long Island Congress and Long Island 3.0 concepts are an attempt to allow for "more light than heat" on our important public policy issues.

More good work ...

"...Sarah Lansdale is the executive director of Sustainable Long Island, which helps communities plan for the future. Lansdale said a key to our region’s success is getting people involved in the development process...."

Good article with Ms. Lansdale. She seems to be on the right track in her particular area of expertise.

I'm sure that if her good ideas were pooled with others in different disciplines, the result would be a more comprehensive, coordinated, and ultimately more successful, approach to resolving public policy issues.

Artifice as Reality? Part One.

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."

"What is emptiness? Emptiness (shunyata) is the reality of the existence of ourselves, and all the phenomena around us. According to the Buddhist point of view, seeking reality and seeking liberation amount to the same thing. The person who doesn't want to seek reality doesn't really want to seek liberation, and is just confused."

“The most dangerous thing is illusion.”

“It was more in our spirit to let things come to rights by the plain dictates of common sense than by the practice of any artifices.”

So much of what is done on Long Island seems to be done for "theatre" rather than for substantive change.


I don't think, however, this is done as some evil plot against the citizens of Long Island, although that would sell a lot of papers!


I think much of it is done out of a sense of frustration with the lack of communication and the "layers of complexity" surrounding almost every issue of public policy. Having many moving parts (organizations/individuals) doesn't necessarily make things complicated if there are permanent, common "bridges" of communication and a willingness to cooperate. This is the driving force behind the Long Island Congress and Long Island 3.0 concepts. Give people the means and the opportunity to cooperate and they will cooperate. Sort of like a "unified theory of regional cooperation." In future posts we'll explore what it takes to cooperate and to break down the "silos" and "fiefdoms" while still encouraging organizational autonomy and personal choice.

Some good lessons in leadership.

Leadership demands the expression of an authentic self. Try to lead like someone else - say, Jack Welch, Richard Branson or Michael Dell - and you will fail. Employees will not follow a CEO who invests little of himself in his leadership behaviours. People want to be led by someone real. Leaders and followers both associate authenticity with sincerity, honesty, and integrity. It is the real thing - the attribute that uniquely defines great leaders.

But while the expression of an authentic self is necessary for great leadership, the concept of authenticity is often misunderstood, not least by leaders themselves. They often assume that authenticity is an innate quality - that a person is either authentic or not. In fact, authenticity is a quality that others must attribute to you. No leader can look into a mirror and say, "I am authentic." A person cannot be authentic on his or her own. Authenticity is largely defined by what other people see in you and, as such, can to a great extent be controlled by you. If authenticity were purely an innate quality, there would be little you could do to manage it and, therefore, little you could do to make yourself more effective as a leader.

The ability to strike a balance, and to preserve one's authenticity in the process, is precisely what distinguishes great leaders from other executives. The challenge of great leadership is exactly that of managing one's authenticity, paradoxical though it sounds. (click for entire article)

Breaking Down Silos

We've posted multiple times about the need to "speak a common language" and to create an a "dynamic interaction of organizations and information" as part of our Long Island 3.0/Long Island Congress leitmotif.

The following (click for entire article) does a good job of explaining the process in a corporate setting which, of course, closely parallels what we hope to achieve on a larger scale here on Long Island. We may have more "moving parts" but the concepts are still valid.

"Using mapped folksonomy to break corporate silos
A problem in getting people in corporate silos to communicate is that they do not speak the same language even when they are talking about the same thing. Mapped folksonomy can bridge the language gap. The trick is to have people participating in the folksonomy label a good number of the same underlying things so you can see how the labels correlate across participants."

Meta-Editorialism: Part Four

''A smart mob is a form of self-structuring social organization through technology-mediated, intelligent "emergent behavior". The concept was introduced by Howard Rheingold in his book Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution. According to Rheingold, smart mobs are an indication of the evolving communication technologies that will empower the people.''
Wikipedia, Smart Mob

What does this mean for the ability of mainstream media to influence public opinion and drive public policy? What does it mean for political parties? What does it mean for Long Island?

It is absolutely a brave new world folks. Will it help Long Island come together or drive us further apart?

I prefer to think the former rather than the latter.

What do you think?

What do we want?

What do Long Islanders want?

Like most folks, I would imagine it is "maximum liberty with minimal governmental intrusion." This is not a plug for the libertarians out there or any other ideology, it is just a simple observation of how most folks live their lives.

The issue then remains what "liberty" and "governmental intrusion" mean to the individual. Is it an intrusion on my liberty not to have health care provided to me for the taxes I pay? Is it an intrusion on my liberty to pay taxes for health care I do not want? The liberty-intrusion formula is a complicated and ever shifting dynamic.

I would say that most Long Islanders want and expect safe neighborhoods, a clean environment, opportunity for good paying jobs, reasonable services at a fair tax rate, you know, all the perennial favorites.

I would also say that most people on Long Island are fair-minded, clear thinking individuals who care a great deal about their communities. The same can be said for the multitude of organizations that abound on Long Island.

Diversity and individuality must be part of the Long Island psyche. Does this mean Long Islanders won't cooperate? Not at all.

What has been missing from the "Long Island equation" is the ability of organizations and individuals to communicate clearly and rationally with one another. Thankfully we live in age where the communication revolution is in full swing. What is needed now is to take a step back, take a deep breath, assess where we are and devise a flexible plan to move us forward as a region while maintaining the individuality and diversity that still make Long Island a place many folks want to call home.

Hopefully our Long Island Congress and Long Island 3.0 concepts will play a small part in the "new" Long Island model.

I think we all know what we want.

Now it is time to get it done.

More required reading ...

"Second is the forging of new partnerships and strategies of governance beyond just the role of government. This is really important to me because it defines the essence of what public policy's all about. Thirty years ago, public policy was largely about training students and doing research that related to the role of government and in making public policies at the state and national level. The needs then were to make the work of government more rational and more analytical. Today, public policy involves a lot more than government. It involves the non-profit sector. It involves the roles of NGOs (non-governmental organizations), international government organizations, foundations. It involves the private sector playing different kinds of roles and engaging in new ways in the public policy arena."

Some good news ...

Apparently, all my writing and ideas have not been for naught.

We should have some good news about the creation of a Long Island Congress and a plan to implement some Long Island 3.0 concepts pretty soon.

Thanks to all who have agreed to participate.

Connect the Dots Redux

Another good proposal by Senator LaValle.

How does it connect to this or any of the dozens of other good ideas out there?

Long Island 3.0/Long Island Congress will give us the means and opportunity to cooperate.

What it won't give us is the will.

Maybe Blue Gene can help?

Long Island Must Help Itself.

"When Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced plans to expand the "I Love New York" tourism campaign, his office issued a release saying it would "foster economic development throughout the state." But as Moke McGowan, president of the Long Island Convention & Visitors Bureau and Sports Commission, points out, the release also said the initiative would "encourage greater upstate tourism.""Right now, [the initiative] is not going to do a whole lot for Long Island," McGowan said. But he later tempered his comments by saying a stronger New York brand would help Long Island. He added that the bureau has operations of its own - particularly those focused on Internet-based and international marketing - that are paying dividends in local tourism. McGowan talked with Newsday's Daniel Wagner ... Then what will be the impact of the governor's spending? It's going to take them five years to develop the state agency, both structurally and organizationally. I think the low-hanging fruit is, Saatchi & Saatchi is going to take the money to develop a media plan for fall and winter. "

Granted this is tourism, an important part of the Long Island economy, but only part of the economy nevertheless.

Long Island can no longer wait on the "good graces of others" to develop itself into a regional powerhouse. Yes, New York State must help all regions, especially the economically depressed upstate region, but we should be able to do more than one thing at a time and do it well, shouldn't we?

Long Island must make itself a priority which contributes to the state economy, but is not dependent on NYS government to move forward on its initiatives. Yes, Long Island should get its "fair share" of state resources, but we must deal from a position of strength.

This is why I believe the time has come for a Long Island Congress and related Long Island 3.0 ideas. Maybe the State of Long Island is a bit extreme (today anyway!), but a coordinated and powerful Long Island is not.


February 1950

Congressman James Delaney of Astoria raised eyebrows in February 1950 when he announced, somewhat tongue in cheek, that he wanted to make the State of Long Island. A member of the House Rules Committee investigating admitting Hawaii and Alaska as states, he claimed that Long Island would make a much better case for statehood, and “if you throw in New York City, there is no comparison.” He continued, “Alaska, with 90,000, has 1/4 the members of my district.” The proposed state, with 26 members in Congress, would have about the same sized congressional delegation as California or Illinois. Jamaica would be the proposed capital of the state of 9 million.

It is time to become self sufficient.

If there's an e-Trikala, why not a Long Island 3.0?

Interesting approach to a new way of providing government services here.

While the Long Island 3.0, New York 3.0 and Long Island Congress concepts take in to account more than government, the above article does provide guidance as to some of what is possible.