Recruited somewhat late in the launch meeting process, I probably arrived having less of a notion as to what to expect this weekend than anyone else on the team. Let us adopt the point of view that this was useful… Despite the fact that I’m not always an unbridled enthusiast of the public gathering, ours was unusually constructive.
The launch was not the feared long-winded cutting of a ribbon featuring endless toasts of increasingly power-sapping vino. It was something very much more potent: a strategically recruited constellation of citizens with a common will to realise their dreams for their community. Judging by the tangible energy generated by the mapping process, they have every chance of succeeding…
If I try to trace my assumptions as to what I took as the installation of the greatest hits of a Edgeryder collective, convergent vision upon a rather unsuspecting community, the proposal looked admittedly fragile. The revelation today is that what I took as an embassy for foreign ideas, is far from an action of imperialism or evangelism. We won’t be walking into endless confrontations with non-comprehending locals. Instead, my worse case scenario has been radically altered. After the exposure to some 40 or so concerned, active voices who sacrificed the first Saturday of spring to be put through the paces by Ben and the formidable Gaia via what can sometimes become a rather flimsy mapping procedure, a sufficiently diverse group of people are primed, hungry and engaged in making our presence a vital catalyst. We will not be fighting for attention, we will be quickly coming in contact with a vibrant group of people eager to run with whatever relevant stimulus they may derive from our presence. Much could indeed be managed without us, If however you are at all flexible during the period we shall be in residence; I urge all Edgeryders to perform a pilgrimage to this truly inspiring community.
For a peek at the physical environment: